Adriana Chartrand: On Isolation Leading to a Novel
Adriana Chartrand is a mixed-race Native woman, born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and living in Toronto. Her father is Red River Métis (Michif) and grew up in the rural Métis community of St. Laurent, and her mother is a mixed white settler. Adriana is the Lead, Indigenous Initiatives & Content Analyst at Telefilm Canada. She lives in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Adriana Chartrand
Photo by Kikki Guerard
In this post, Adriana discusses how her love of horror and her desire to read about contemporary Indigenous life led her to her debut literary horror novel, An Ordinary Violence, how ignoring writing advice helped her write the book, and more!
Name: Adriana Chartrand
Book title: An Ordinary Violence
Publisher: House of Anansi
Release date: October 31, 2023
Genre/category: Literary horror
Elevator pitch: A chilling, cosmic horror novel about the violent legacies of colonialism we all live with, told from the point of view of a young Indigenous woman in Canada.
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What prompted you to write this book?
Many things came together to prompt the writing of this book: my love for the horror genre and my desire to read more horror that deals with contemporary Indigenous life; my desire to read more horror with strong but flawed female characters; and my own experiences—and my family and friends’ experiences— living on the prairies.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
I started writing the book in April 2020 during the beginning of Toronto’s very long COVID lockdowns, and House of Anansi bought it in April 2022 –it will be published on Halloween 2023. The idea didn’t so much change as the structure of the story.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
It was all a learning moment as I am new to the publishing world and did not know what to expect. My editor and the rest of the team at House of Anansi have been great at keeping me informed and teaching me about the process.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
It surprised me when the writing just kept coming. I didn’t start writing this with the expectation that it would grow into a book, but that’s what happened. Being in my apartment alone with nowhere to go and the high anxiety many of us were feeling at that time forced me to focus my energies more succinctly, and I just kept going with it. Ideas would come while walking or showering or thinking about something else, and eventually I realized I was writing a book.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I hope they will connect with the characters and the story while feeling disturbed on a visceral level, because I wanted to capture the feeling of navigating a colonial society as a contemporary Native person. I hope readers will connect with the book’s exploration of what happens when we are caught in the vortex of violence and its far-reaching effects.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Don’t listen to anyone’s advice about writing! (haha) I always felt I wasn’t a real writer because I didn’t sit down and write every day, or write at the same time every day, and that perception held me back. Write in your own way.