We Ate the Road Like Vultures launch

Finding my absurdist voice

Friday, April 8, 2016
Why this Avondale lecturer wrote a beatnik novel

Lynnette Lounsbury launched her latest novel We Ate the Road Like Vultures on Tuesday this past week (April 5). Set in the style of the beat generation of the 1950s, Vultures tells the tale of young Lulu, an Australian girl who journeys to Mexico to discover a very-much-alive Jack Kerouac. Lounsbury, a lecturer in communication and ancient history at Avondale College of Higher Education, discusses her writing process and relationships.

You wrote your previous novel, Afterworld, for young adults. How does writing for an adult audience compare to writing for a young adult audience?
I’m free to explore more adult themes. I don’t have to self-censor, which allows for more freedom of thought. I can allow my characters to be themselves—and some of my characters are wild old beatniks who don’t speak in a way that would be appropriate for young adults. I still love writing for young adults, though. There are so many themes around the growth and power struggles of youth that I want to explore.

How did your writing process for Vultures differ from your other works?
My other projects have been set in science-fiction and fantasy worlds, and the creation of these is methodical and takes time. The plot always has to mesh with the world you are creating, so writing can be slow, difficult and a lot of hard work. Vultures is absurdist, magical realism set in our world. I set up a story where I could do and say whatever I wanted, and so writing it was a joy—most of the time I didn’t know what my characters were going to do or say next. It was an absolute pleasure from start to finish. My process was heavily influenced by the style and energy of Kerouac, which lends itself to speed and freedom. I’ve found a really strong voice with this style. I’m writing more of this sort of prose all the time.

How does your family fit into your writing process?
My husband is also a writer, so we bounce ideas around together. We read and critique each other’s work and even share a literary agent, although we often have to compete for time to write. My kids have never known anything different—they just see me sitting at my laptop whenever I have a spare moment. I don’t think it means too much to them since they haven’t read my work yet, but they are heavily involved in the publicity and launches. My son interviewed me about Vultures for his YouTube channel, Fiction with Finnian. My work is heavily influenced by history, so I always get my history teacher mother to have a read—she is, quite usefully, a grammar Nazi and helps clean up my messes.

How do you feel about the self-promotion that comes with publishing after the intensive time alone you get through writing?
I’m fortunate to be an extrovert, so I do love people, and the people I’ve met through writing have been magnificent. Writers are so supportive of one another, and I feel like I find family when I find other writers. But I don’t love the necessary self-promotion. It’s important—people want to know who you are and why you wrote something—but I don’t think you’ll find many authors who wouldn’t rather be sitting in a café and writing.

To what extent do the relationships with your publishers and audiences impact your writing?
Publishers have to be very fiscally minded, so they help to balance out the writer’s tendencies to do whatever they want. Vultures was written without much punctuation at all, as an experiment. My publisher kindly reminded me that while it’s all well and good to be artistic and experimental, no one will have any idea what you’re trying to say. So, we punctuated it. Audiences are more difficult—there are those who passionately love everything you write, and there are those who may hate certain aspects of your work or even the whole thing. You have to find a way to engage with your audience while remembering that everyone reads through their own perspective. People who love the beats and Kerouac will probably love Vultures—people who don’t, or don’t know them, might think I’ve gone insane. So, I do listen and take certain comments on board, but as a writer you can only allow a certain amount of your creativity to be influenced by anyone.

Photograph caption
Launch of We Ate the Road Like Vultures at Berkelium Books in Paddington on April 5. From left: Author Lynnette Lounsbury, her son Tenzin Lounsbury, master of ceremonies Charles Firth and Donna Ward from publisher Inkerman and Blunt. Credit: Bron Bates.

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Sara Bolst
Author

Sara Bolst

Sara edited alumni magazine Reflections and served as Assistant Public Relations Officer during her tenure at Avondale College of Higher Education.