Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with Shawn Mahler
Book Titles: Chizawa Bay: As ugly as I am
Released: 10/20/2020
Genre: Literary Fiction
Interview by Heather L. Barksdale
What inspired you to write “Chizawa Bay”?
Mahler: When I first moved to Japan in 2005 I was quite naïve and my worldview was very limited. I used to interpret a lot of the actions and behaviors I experienced through a ‘Western’ or American lens. This would lead to a lot of confusion and frustration. Many times I was left wondering, “Why can’t we understand each other?” It went further than language. There was a gap in my cultural knowledge I needed to bridge.
This next part sounds obvious, but in practice it is quite hard to do: when you’re new to a foreign environment it’s to your benefit to let go of established pedagogies and adopt the philosophies and rationales of the local culture. You have to see the world through their lens. It transforms your mind and gives you, what I might call, a second-set of eyes. I began interpreting the world from two vantage points. I could see where there was common understanding and I could also see where belief-systems drifted far apart. When I started doing this a lot of the confusion and frustration disappeared.
Chizawa Bay started out as my attempt to present everyday Japanese philosophy and worldview to a Western audience. Through the characters and setting I established commonalities between ‘East’ and ‘West’. But through the events of the narrative, character motivations and reactions I wanted to show the differences in our mindsets. Not necessarily that either mindset is right or wrong, but that there is always more than one way to view a situation. And if you can see the rationale behind an action, you’re less likely to reject it and become more understanding of it.
Is there anything that you want readers to know about you, your writing process, or your book?
Mahler: I believe in the power of ‘story’. Whether it’s fables, parables, sagas, fairy tales or modern literature; the absorption of messages, morals and ideas through storytelling remains integral to human understanding. Life is filled with a multitude of crazy and inexplicable events, some of which we struggle to rationalize. Sometimes there is no rationalization for them. But the irrational is very disturbing. Storytelling and narrative may still be our most effective tool for taking the irrational and distilling meaning from it.
I’m primarily a plot-writer and an outliner. I focus heavily on themes and messaging. My process involves a massive amount of research, observation and notes which often outweighs the actual writing time. If I were to add up the hours, Chizawa Bay was probably 2~3 years of research and about a year of writing out the narrative.
Unfortunately, this makes my output for large projects slow. But as an artist I want to deliver the best possible work I can. I feel I can only do this if I have a full and thorough knowledge of my subject and this usually requires, for me, an extraordinary amount of time.
Are there any tips that you would like to share with other aspiring authors?
Mahler: Literary writing is a craft. It involves technique, skill and training. Some of it comes naturally but all of it can be learned. Literary writing is a process of constantly evolving and improving. Your initial works are going to have problems and mistakes, I’ve made quite a few myself. But if you can analyze your work honestly, see what can be done better, and apply it to future projects, you will achieve success.
And on the topic of success. Fame and financial reward are typically the standards by which we hold artists as successful or unsuccessful. And there are many good reasons for upholding artists who have mass appeal, who can tap into the zeitgeist, as paragons of excellence. But it can be counterproductive to measure yourself against them. Success is in the quality of the art you produce. If you can write a story from beginning to end, tell it clearly and powerfully, with style and voice, and have the reader understand all that you wanted to say, then you know you’ve written a good book.
When you encounter writer’s block, what do you do to break yourself out of it?
Mahler: I’ve been repeating this phrase to myself for several years, “When you can’t write, read. When you get tired of reading, write.” This usually does the trick for me. Because I’m so research-centric in my approach I find that writer’s block is usually due to a lack of knowledge or sometimes inspiration. I go back to my source materials and through my reading lists to look up more information. When I find it I can continue writing again. Prose and style are sometimes hang ups. When I write too soon after reading a lot of academic journals, histories, reported accounts, etc. it can make my prose pretty bland and boring. So, I’ll pick up my favorite style-writers and read through their books again to help me regain a sense of prose writing.
If "Chizawa Bay" were adapted into a movie, who would you like to see cast to play your lead characters?
Mahler: It would be one of the craziest movies about Japan ever made. As for actors, I’m a fan of using new talent when possible. But if we’re going for celebrity, I could see Shun Oguri as Sensei and Ken Watanabe as Makoto. A lot of the characters in Chizawa Bay are of the rough and tumble variety, so we’d need a bit of machismo and physical stature on screen.
What is your favorite book, genre, and/or author?
Mahler: I am a big fan of the now niche genre of Literary Fiction. I love stories of everyday people and places. Slice-of-life narratives fascinate me. When done well, it opens your mind to other ways of thinking and exposes you to new worldviews.
I have my personal ‘Big Four’ authors who influence me the most. Each for a different reason. In no particular order they are John Steinbeck, Ayn Rand, Somerset Maugham and Kurt Vonnegut. I’ve read pretty much everything available, officially and unofficially published, from each of these authors. A favorite title from each would be, Cannery Row by Steinbeck, Atlas Shrugged by Rand, The Razor’s Edge by Maugham and Galapagos by Vonnegut.
I like to believe my writing style is a weird amalgamation of these writers. Each of them has put their stamp of the literary world in a significant way. I can only hope to honor them by one day putting my own stamp on it too.
What are you working on next?
Mahler: The next project is a massive one. It’s a three-part epic fantasy that is laser-focused on race and systems of power. I’ve already spent three years researching it and doing the worldbuilding. I’ve only just recently begun writing the narrative, which I estimate may take one and a half years to finish the first book. It’s not for the faint of heart but I think it’ll be an important story to tell. Especially given the events of recent years. Race, racism and cultural ideologies are clashing in very chaotic ways and my new project explores the roots of the problem, the power behind it and what might be done about it.
I’m also juggling a few theater productions and serving as Creative Director of Nagoya Players. It all keeps me very busy. I have a pretty full plate at the moment, but I’m doing the type of work I love and having a lot of fun in the process.
Learn More About the Author and Chizawa Bay Here:
Homepage: https://shawn-mahler.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20834019.Shawn_Mahler
Instagram: @shawn_mahler_jp
Twitter: @shawnmahler2
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