Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with Anne Coray

What inspired you to write “Lost Mountain”?

Coray: The book was written over such a long period that it’s hard to recall the initial inspiration. I think it started as just imagining the world through the eyes of a recent widow, the pain and emptiness that lingers after a woman has lost her husband. Then I introduced my male character and during that time I became immersed in news of a mining prospect near my home on Lake Clark. I’d already written a lot of eco-poetry, so the idea of incorporating the mining threat into a love story came naturally. 

The mining threat in Lost Mountain is inspired by the Pebble Mine prospect, a very real and very ugly development project that threatens the entire Bristol Bay watershed and the greatest wild salmon fishery left on the planet. Although reference is made in my book to commercial fishing in Bristol Bay, the people in Whetstone subsistence fish for salmon.

The proposed mine site is about thirty-five miles from where I live on Lake Clark. My husband and I started hearing rumors about Pebble in the early 2000s, and within a few years it was way more than a rumor. We started paying a lot of attention. We read newspaper articles and scientific reports and learned about open-pit mining, which was something we were totally unfamiliar with. Pretty soon the Pebble Mine was looking like a very real threat. All this became the background for Lost Mountain. Of course the names of the mine and the mining company are fictitious in my book.

How did you come up with the names of your main characters?

Coray: Great question. I sometimes choose names based on my love of assonance. So one of my two protagonists is named Alan Lamb, while his antagonist is Dan Broderman. Note the echo of the short “a” and “an,” respectively. In several cases I use full, three-syllable names—i.e. Barbara, Carolyn, Patricia, rather than their shortened counterparts. It’s just a personal preference. And two of the women in Lost Mountain have unusual names. Dehlia, the other protagonist, is introverted and mysterious. The origin of the name is Greek, and it simply means “born on the island of Delos.” In my novel she is of Greek descent. I chose the name because it sounds exotic, especially with this alternate spelling. Wikipedia tells me that Delia, with no “h” does appear in a Yeats play as well as in a Zora Neal Hurston short story. But even this spelling seems uncommon in literature. Another antagonist in my novel is Meredith. Again, it is an unusual three-syllable name, and I hoped that in using it her character would stand apart.

Is there anything that you want readers to know about you, your writing process or your book?

Coray: I’m a lifelong Alaskan, and my husband and I lived 17 years at my birthplace on remote Lake Clark as adults. This is roadless wilderness, accessible only by small aircraft. Part of Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, the rugged, mountainous terrain makes it a truly scenic area of Alaska. We now divide our time between the lake and Homer, a small coastal town on the Kenai Peninsula. Homer is another beautiful landscape. It’s no wonder that the natural world has weighed heavily in my writing.  

Are there any tips that you would like to share with other aspiring authors?

Coray: I once heard the actress Patricia Neal say, “You have to be stubborn as hell.” I echo that for any artistic discipline. Keep writing, keep sending work to trusted readers, keep revising, keep sending out work, something will happen eventually.

What is your favorite book, genre, and/or author?

Coray: I started out as a poet, and I still enjoy poetry. But I read more literary fiction. I’m reading contemporary works now, but some of my favorite novels of all time are All the King’s Men, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and All the Pretty Horses. They are romances as well as historical and cultural novels, so that may explain why Lost Mountain is a love story as well as an eco-novel.

What are you working on next?

Coray: I have another novel manuscript that is close to being ready for an eager publisher. The setting is much the same as that of Lost Mountain, but the place names are different. The single first-person narrator is Jenny, an independent young woman with a background in theater arts. She is caring for her older brother, Terrence, who is compromised by mental health issues. Jenny establishes a small community on the homestead where she and Terrence live.  A mysterious illness appears among the residents. The human health component of this novel echoes the many environmental concerns I’ve been preoccupied with over the years.

Learn More About the Author and Lost Mountain here:

https://www.facebook.com/anne.coray

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