Alle C. Hall’s
WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING TOUR
OF
As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back
Book Summary
Nominated for The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Book Award, Alle C. Hall’s debut literary novel, As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back is a-girl-and-her-backpack story with a #MeToo influence:
Carlie is not merely traveling. A child sexual abuse survivor, as a teen she steals ten thousand dollars from her parents and runs away to Asia. There, the Lonely Planet path of hookups, heat, alcohol, and drugs takes on a terrifying reality. Landing in Tokyo in the late 1980s, Carlie falls in with an international crew of tai chi-practicing backpackers. With their help, Carlie has the chance at a journey she didn’t plan for: one to find the self-respect ripped from her as a child and the healthy sexuality she desires.
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
ISBN-10: 1685131476
ISBN-13: 978-1685131470
Audio Book AISN: B0C3NVGNS
Print Length: 267 pages
Purchase a copy of the book on Amazon, Bookshop.org, or Barnes and Noble. Make sure you also add it to your GoodReads reading list.
Author Interview
- At what point did you decide to be an author and what was your path to publication?
In was the early 1990s. I was recently out of in-patient treatment; reception was the only job that I could hold down, full time. Additionally, I’d been freelancing as a journalist for about four years, which satisfied my creative side. Receptionist, however, involved lots of filing. One day, I was filing and hating it and I thought, “I wish that when I was a teenager, I had stolen a big chunk of money and run away.”
Of course, children who have been groomed from birth do not run away. We normalize the trauma and try to stay alive. But a girl who was not raped until her teens would be able to run. As I was filing, the idea for As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back popped almost complete: the girl, the ongoing trauma; stealing the money. Directly prior to treatment, I lived in Japan for three years and traveled a fair amount in Southeast Asia, so having Carlie run away to Asia was not even a decision. It was just logical.
I didn’t know that finding the right publisher would take 23 years! I did what all author-hopefuls do: I researched agents, submitted, got rejected; got input on the manuscript, and kept submitting. One thing that makes me different from a lot of writers I talk to is that after years and years of rejection, I continued to work on the novel, and continued to submit. If more writers stuck it out, more would have the same story. I wish more would. The reward is so worth all the pain of all those years.
- What do you do when a new idea jumps out at you while you’re still working on a book? Do you chase the squirrel (aka “UP syndrome”) or do you finish your current project first?
New ideas for novels don’t come at me fast and furious. That does happen when I have my head in journalism. In those instances, I write down the idea and keep on with the work at hand. For me, to finish one piece is better than having a dozen laying around, needing work.
Of course, once a draft is complete, there is still a lot of work to do on it. I can edit a short piece while working on other projects, even a novel. But I’ve ponly been able to work on one novel at a time.
- Who is your favorite character to write, and why is that person your favorite? If picking a favorite character would be like picking a favorite child, which character seems to be the most demanding or your attention and detail as a writer?
The main character, Carlie, is my favorite. I’ve made her more savvy than I was, but our level of commitment to healing is the same. Although pulled off course by addictions and the lessons that needed to be learned from them, we were going to heal. It is gratifying, so see that part of my story in print. I hear from readers that it gives them hope. Which I did not expect, and which is a thrill and an honor.
The most demanding characters were the men Carlie sleeps with when she is backpacking around. None of them are “bad” guys, the way the pedophiles who rape her are. (The pedophiles were remarkably easy to portray.) But two of the backpacker guys, first Bob and then Simon, they are just flawed humans with addictions that perfectly compliment Carlie’s. And so, as those relationships are bound to go, it’s a mess for all concerned. But a perfect mess, offering each exactly what she or he needs to learn at the time. But if any of them learned it at the time I gave them to learn in, we’d have no story!
- Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot and plan, or is your writing more organic?
I am terrible at plot. It feels counterintuitive. I just want to follow these interesting people that come out of nowhere and see how they deal with life. That’s probably why I like backpacker travel: no real agenda beyond the exploration.
- What are some books or authors that you would recommend to our readers?
Especially right now, I think it would do people a great deal of good to read stories by African American women. Toni Morrison is my absolute favorite. She is so creative with language and story. For nonfiction, I cannot get enough of Joan Didion’s essays. No one makes a better sentence. Someone did an actual study, trying to figure out why her sentences were so outstanding. The conclusion was: can’t tell! Her sentences are just better that everyone else’s.
- Tell us what you enjoy most about writing literary fiction?
That’s a great question; hard to answer. Literary fiction doesn’t have to use big words and fancy phrases. In fact, to me, that’s the worst kind of literary fiction. I like simple, clear sentences that convey a unique vision of the world and are shocking in their ability to bring up emotion. I love that literary fiction gives leave to play with how you tell a story. Tropes are to be avoided. Standard villains and heroines don’t do well. Risks are encouraged. As long as something makes for good reading, you can do it.
- What have you found to be most challenging about writing in literary fiction?
The above. Also, finding a publisher. Literary fiction is much harder to place than commercial.
- Have you been able to incorporate your previous experience in your jobs/education in your writing?
I am sure that working as a journalist and then essayist helped me write As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back. With journalism, I learned to do research, to hit deadlines, to take on whatever I was assigned and do it well. As an essayist, you have to go deep, furiously and fearlessly. You have to dance naked.
- Do you identify with your main character or did you create a character that is your opposite?
Once I made the first change between Carlie and me—the onset of the abuse—everything about Carlie had to be different than I was. You can’t change one critical element and then go back to yourself. People are everything that has and has not happened to them.
The writing became exploring how my understanding of the ways abuse affects a child and how I could transfer that information into fiction. All that became Carlie.
- Describe the book in 10 words or less for people who are just learning about it.
A teenaged sexual trauma survivor uses Tai chi to heal.
- Is there anything you would like people to take away from your book?
Hope. Hope hope hope hope hope.
- Do you have any odd (writing) habits?
Ug. I stay up all night a lot. It is terrible for my health, and not great for my kids’ respect for me because I then sleep for six or so hours the following day. They end up thinking that’s what I do with my life: sleep all the time. But I get so goddamn much done in the dark and quiet. It’s like being in a train station of focus. You just get on that train.
- What has been the toughest criticism you have received as an author? What has been the best compliment?
The first critique group I was in hated this novel. They hated the introspection—one woman literally yelled at me about what she called “navel-gazing.” Thank you.
The group also hated reading about the results of abuse. They had no problem reading the abuse itself. They loved the drama. Eventually, one perfectly horrible woman called me and told me I was out. That was rough—ego-wise, of course; and because the group was about two thirds of the way through the manuscript. Now, I would have to start all over with a different group. I knew by the end of the first month that this group that as not for me, but—I just didn’t want to begin at the beginning somewhere else. Lazy never pays off.
The best I’ve ever came from a blurb for As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back from the Kavanagh Sisters, Joyce, June and Paula, founders of Ireland’s “Count Me In! Survivors of Sexual Abuse Standing Together for Change.” The first sentence of their blurb was, “Alle C. Hall may never know how many people she will help with this novel.” I cried when I read that.
- Share some advice for aspiring authors. What advice would you give to your younger self?
To aspiring author, I would say: don’t quit before the miracle. Expect the miracle. Work for it, be prepared for when the time is right, and always, always continue to write. Even if you give up on publishing for a while, the writing will sustain you.
For my younger self, the abused child, I would say: there is a God and things willwork out. To my earlier writer self, I would try to help her believe that there would be a time and a place for As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back. I said that a lot, and mostly believed myself. Yet it was hard to believe it fully because—well, I didn’t have a book deal. It’s a lot easier to trust that I will have a career now that I have a novel published.
- What is your favorite line from your book?
Oh, everything I write is an absolute pearl, so it’s hard to choose one. Today, it’s, “If I ever want it from you, Brian, I will let you know. Until then, keep your distance.” That line shows Carlie growing into her agency. Critical, for an abuse survivor.
- To date, what is your favorite (or most difficult) chapter you have ever written?
In the novel I am working on right now, there are a lot of fight scenes. (It’s a literary thriller.) It is really challenging to write a fight so that the reader sees it all, believes it all, yet has the feeling of it happening fast. I am discovering that fights happen fast but have to be written slowly.
- What is your take on book boyfriends? Do they actually exist? Or do they set the bar for “real life men” impossibly high?
The author has to write a real person with his own wants and needs, his own reason for being in the story beyond “boyfriend.” If the author can do so, that character will have the needed flaws that lead to conflict, drama, and sexual attraction. That last little bit makes for wonderfully dramatic dysfunction. In As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back, Carlie’s driving force is her desire for a healthy emotional primary relationship. So who she falls for at each stage of the novel reveals a ton about her increasing ability to love and be loved, and—since we are all adults here—to have healthy and joyous sex.
- Have you ever experienced writer’s block? How did you deal with it?
After I had my second child, I went so deeply into postpartum depression that I returned for seven weeks to the treatment center I went to twenty years earlier, when I was first addressing the PTSD that resulted from my childhood.
I hadn’t been able to write for at least a year, maybe two. My husband deserves so much credit for not leaving me during the worst of it—once, I threw a box of tissues at him. I screamed all the time and was inert for much of the time that I wasn’t screaming. Or binge eating. All my energy went into not screaming at or hitting my children, and offering as functional a living environment as I could manage. Before I went to treatment, that had whittled down to providing a family dinner every night. I ordered pizza so often that we began to get free pizzas.
The only way out was through: to work on the issues and try not to flagellate myself as a failed writer. I relied on my therapist, then of about 15 years standing. Her support and wisdom got me back to myself. We writers don’t generally write because we grew up super-happy. I can’t see having the life that I have today if I didn’t slot therapy as a line item in the budget. And bring to it the willingness to do whatever it took. In writing and in life, never underestimate the power of hard work.
About the Author
Nominated for The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Book Award and—tis just in—winner of The PenCraft Book Award for Fiction – Adventure, Alle C. Hall’s debut literary novel, As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back was winning prizes before its publication, including the National League of American Pen Women’s Mary Kennedy Eastham Prize. Her short stories and essays appear in journals including Dale Peck’s Evergreen Review, Tupelo Quarterly, New World Writing, Litro, Creative Nonfiction, and Another Chicago. She has written for The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, and was a contributing writer at The Stranger. She is the former senior nonfiction editor at jmww journal and the former associate editor of Vestal Review. Hall lived in Asia, traveled there extensively, speaks what she calls “clunky” Japanese, and has a tai chi practice of 35 years running.
Find her online at:
Website: https://allehall.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allechallwriter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allec.hall/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/allechall1
Substack: https://allechall.substack.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alle-c-hall-36a588159/
Blog Tour Calendar
October 2nd @ The Muffin
Join us as we celebrate the launch of Alle C. Hall’s blog tour for As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back. Read an interview with the author and enter to win a copy of the book.
https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com
October 3rd @ Seaside Book Nook
Jill will be spotlighting the award-winning book As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back by Alle C. Hall.
https://www.seasidebooknook.com
October 3rd @ Felicia Guest Writes
Join Felicia as she features an excerpt of As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
https://feliciaguestwrites.com/
October 5th @ Fiona Ingram
Join Fiona for a guest post by Alle C. Hall about travel and travel writing.
https://fionaingramauthor.blogspot.com/
October 7th @ Chapter Break
Julie will be spotlighting As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back on her blog today. She’ll also be interviewing the author.
October 8th @ World of My Imagination
Visit Nicole’s blog for her review of As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
https://worldofmyimagination.com
October 8th @ Just Katherine
Don’t miss Katherine’s feature of an excerpt from As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
https://justkatherineblog.wordpress.com
October 10th @ Just Katherine
Katherine shares a guest post by Alle C. Hall about the topic of joy.
https://justkatherineblog.wordpress.com
October 12th @ Knotty Needle
Visit Judy’s blog for her review of As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
http://knottyneedle.blogspot.com
October 14th @ A Wonderful World of Books
Visit Joy’s blog for a guest post by the author about surviving traumatic, unkind, or simply less-than-nurturing events.
https://awonderfulworldofwordsa.blogspot.com/
October 16th @ Storeybook Reviews
Visit Leslie’s blog for a guest post by Alle C. Hall about coping.
https://www.storeybookreviews.com
October 18th @ Finished Pages
Join Renee as she reviews As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
October 19th @ Celticlady’s Reviews
Kathleen shares a spotlight of As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
https://celticladysreviews.blogspot.com/
October 20th @ A Storybook World
Join Deirdra for her spotlight of As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
https://www.astorybookworld.com/
October 21st @ The Mommies Review
Don’t miss Glenda’s review of As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
http://www.themommiesreviews.com/
October 23rd @ Bring on Lemons
Join Crystal for her review of As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
https://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/
October 25th @ Mire Marke
Join Mire as she reviews As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
October 26th @ Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
Visit Lisa’s blog for her interview with author Alle C. Hall.
October 27th @ Freeing the Butterfly
Visit Michelle’s blog for a guest post by Alle C. Hall about spirituality.
https://www.freeingthebutterfly.com/blog
October 30th @ Jill Sheet’s blog
Visit Jill’s blog for her interview with author Alle C. Hall
https://jillsheets.blogspot.com/
November 1st @ Writer Advice
Visit B. Lynn Goodwin’s blog for her review of As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
November 2nd @ Writer Advice
Join B. Lynn Goodwin again when she interviews Alle C. Hall.
November 3rd @ Choices
Visit Madeline’s blog for a guest post by Alle C. Hall about trauma and creativity.
November 3 @ Boys’ Mom Reads
Join Karen for her review of Alle C. Hall’s book As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
https://karensiddall.wordpress.com/
November 4th @ Boots, Shoes, and Fashion
Visit Linda’s blog for an in-depth interview with author Alle C. Hall about her book As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.
https://bootsshoesandfashion.com/
Lots of valuable insights on the writing process. Hope, hope, hope!
Wonderful interview!