September 2022 Featured Artist
Bestselling Author Shines a Light on Her Ability to
Create Characters that Literally Leap off the Page
An Interview with Author and Educator
Kim Wozencraft
Kim Wozencraft
Photo Credit: Dash Stratton |
Kim Wozencraft has authored six novels, including the recently released title Neglect, from Arcade/Simon and Schuster, and the internationally bestselling Rush, adapted into a film starring Jennifer Jason Leigh. She co-edited the book Slam, a companion edition to the award-winning film, was executive editor at Prison Life magazine, and has written for HBO Films.
Norman Mailer called her book, The Catch, "the best novel I've read about drug smugglers and narcs." Her work has appeared in The Best American Essays, Texas Monthly, New York Newsday, the Los Angeles Times, and numerous literary magazines and anthologies. Kim holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University and teaches English literature and writing at SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Ulster. She lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York. Praise for Neglect... "Don't even try to look away from this incandescently furious chronicle of a woman's return from hell." ~ Kirkus (starred review)* *Full Review |
Myrna Beth Haskell, executive editor, had a thought-provoking conversation with Kim Wozencraft about her latest book, Neglect, her first novel, Rush, her writing process, and her thoughts on how our various institutions and agencies handle drug addiction, trauma and domestic issues.
Your breakout novel, Rush, was made into a movie with the same title starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jason Patric (1991). It was based on your experiences as a green, undercover narcotics officer and your inevitable battle with addiction to cocaine. How much input did you have on the screenplay?
Like most novelists, I had zero control. They did use some of the dialogue. I was very fortunate because the person who did the adaptation was Pete Dexter, a very fine writer who won a National Book Award for his novel Paris Trout.* The producers took me and Pete out to dinner. We had a nice chat. Pete wanted to know how I saw the story, but then he went away and did his work. So, the adaptation is completely his.
*Pete Dexter wrote the adaptations for both Paris Trout and Kim Wozencraft's first novel, Rush, which were both released in 1991.
Were you happy with the final product?
I was. I thought the film was visually beautiful, and I loved Jennifer Jason Leigh [as Kristen Cates]. She’s one of my favorites.
Your breakout novel, Rush, was made into a movie with the same title starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jason Patric (1991). It was based on your experiences as a green, undercover narcotics officer and your inevitable battle with addiction to cocaine. How much input did you have on the screenplay?
Like most novelists, I had zero control. They did use some of the dialogue. I was very fortunate because the person who did the adaptation was Pete Dexter, a very fine writer who won a National Book Award for his novel Paris Trout.* The producers took me and Pete out to dinner. We had a nice chat. Pete wanted to know how I saw the story, but then he went away and did his work. So, the adaptation is completely his.
*Pete Dexter wrote the adaptations for both Paris Trout and Kim Wozencraft's first novel, Rush, which were both released in 1991.
Were you happy with the final product?
I was. I thought the film was visually beautiful, and I loved Jennifer Jason Leigh [as Kristen Cates]. She’s one of my favorites.
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Jennifer wanted to know everything. I went to visit her in California, and we hung out for an afternoon. She wanted to know so many little details about me, such as what toothpaste and shampoo I used, to help her get into the character. It was a lot of fun working with her.
The novel was focused entirely on the woman’s story. And I understood that had to shift a little bit for the time the movie came out. The movie was more about the story of a couple. But I thought they captured the essence of what it was like. |
Praise for Rush... “Harrowing…This is inside stuff, and it’s terrific.” ~ New York Times Book Review |
I’d like to discuss this quote from an interview with Texas Monthly Magazine (1998): “I realized that if we continue to run drug addicts through the system at the current rate, and we don’t look for another way to deal with addiction, a significant percentage of our majority-rule nation will soon be felons.” In your opinion, has anything changed since the late ‘70s?
I do think there have been some positive changes, mostly in realizing that addiction is not a crime. But addiction itself has not been taken out of the criminal justice system. You can still get put away for possession of small quantities of certain drugs. I have been speaking out against the drug war ever since I had my experience with enforcing it. I saw how insane it is to lock people up for being addicted to drugs.
The law enforcement agencies rarely have the ability to get to the supply level. And even when they can take out a big supplier, there is someone ready to take that supplier’s place. So, you can’t really attack it from that angle.
[We can’t fix this] until we deal with the demand issue, which is so interwoven with inequality in America and in the world. People say they don’t understand how someone can get strung out on heroin. If you wake up in the morning feeling hopeless, and you have no job and no car, it’s pretty easy to say, ‘Why bother?’
I do think there have been some positive changes, mostly in realizing that addiction is not a crime. But addiction itself has not been taken out of the criminal justice system. You can still get put away for possession of small quantities of certain drugs. I have been speaking out against the drug war ever since I had my experience with enforcing it. I saw how insane it is to lock people up for being addicted to drugs.
The law enforcement agencies rarely have the ability to get to the supply level. And even when they can take out a big supplier, there is someone ready to take that supplier’s place. So, you can’t really attack it from that angle.
[We can’t fix this] until we deal with the demand issue, which is so interwoven with inequality in America and in the world. People say they don’t understand how someone can get strung out on heroin. If you wake up in the morning feeling hopeless, and you have no job and no car, it’s pretty easy to say, ‘Why bother?’
Is there a correlation with mental health?
Yes, absolutely. It’s a very intersectional issue with mental health and lack of opportunity. No one reason is the cause. It needs a broad-spectrum solution.
Even with the educational efforts, there is still a stigma in large portions of our society. There’s this prevailing question, ‘Why can’t you just have willpower not to take the drug/drink?’ It’s not a question of willpower. If it were just a question of willpower, there would be no substance abuse. Nobody wants to be an addict.
Your portrayal of Erin’s addiction to alcohol in Neglect very much mirrors Kristen’s addiction to cocaine in Rush. Many people do not perceive an addiction to alcohol the same way they perceive addiction to illegal drugs. What’s your take?
There’s a pressure in our society – a toxic masculinity – that a real man can hold his liquor. And, more increasingly, women are put in that situation, too. Alcohol is seen as a party drug, but it does as much or more damage as illegal drugs. We tried prohibition, and it didn’t work. So, there is less of a stigma with alcohol because of the way we look at it.
When I’m writing about addiction or violence in my books, I’m writing from personal experience. I have PTSD. It’s been with me most of my adult life, since my early twenties when I woke up to a double-barrel shotgun tapping me. I understand what people feel when they’re suffering in that type of situation. I drank for many years to deal with it. I might be some place, and I suddenly get blindsided. It’s no longer a straightforward flashback but an incredible feeling of discomfort and anxiety, and I recognize that I’m in a hyperalert state. I’m looking around at a heightened level and anticipating that someone is going to attack me. Something triggers that feeling of being threatened.
Yes, absolutely. It’s a very intersectional issue with mental health and lack of opportunity. No one reason is the cause. It needs a broad-spectrum solution.
Even with the educational efforts, there is still a stigma in large portions of our society. There’s this prevailing question, ‘Why can’t you just have willpower not to take the drug/drink?’ It’s not a question of willpower. If it were just a question of willpower, there would be no substance abuse. Nobody wants to be an addict.
Your portrayal of Erin’s addiction to alcohol in Neglect very much mirrors Kristen’s addiction to cocaine in Rush. Many people do not perceive an addiction to alcohol the same way they perceive addiction to illegal drugs. What’s your take?
There’s a pressure in our society – a toxic masculinity – that a real man can hold his liquor. And, more increasingly, women are put in that situation, too. Alcohol is seen as a party drug, but it does as much or more damage as illegal drugs. We tried prohibition, and it didn’t work. So, there is less of a stigma with alcohol because of the way we look at it.
When I’m writing about addiction or violence in my books, I’m writing from personal experience. I have PTSD. It’s been with me most of my adult life, since my early twenties when I woke up to a double-barrel shotgun tapping me. I understand what people feel when they’re suffering in that type of situation. I drank for many years to deal with it. I might be some place, and I suddenly get blindsided. It’s no longer a straightforward flashback but an incredible feeling of discomfort and anxiety, and I recognize that I’m in a hyperalert state. I’m looking around at a heightened level and anticipating that someone is going to attack me. Something triggers that feeling of being threatened.
Click book cover for exclusive excerpt in Sanctuary.
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How important is it to live what you write? In Neglect, you delve into the experience of living in a war zone as well as the rape of a female soldier by her superior. These scenes are described without gory details, but you still manage to capture your characters' extreme emotions, reeling the reader in to experience the scene intimately. For Neglect, I did a considerable amount of research. I spoke to military people about their experiences. Additionally, violence is violence – [provoking] a feeling of being extremely threatened and desperately needing to find a way to survive. I was able to transfer [my own experience with violence] to a war zone setting. Like many, many women, I’ve been raped – as early as high school. So, I have that personal experience in my emotional vocabulary. Those are the most difficult scenes for me to write. I don’t want to use any one detail that is too much. I want to show just how devastating this is for an individual, but I don’t want graphic violence. |
It’s clear you have a finesse for getting inside the minds of your characters. While reading Neglect, I was so frustrated with the system’s “abuse” of Erin that I had to put it down several times. I felt the same way about Kristen in Rush. You have a gift for drawing the reader into the story in a tangible way.
That’s a wonderful compliment. When I was studying creative writing in college, which I went through late, one thing that really stuck with me is that God is in the details. It’s the very select little bits of detail that are carefully placed in the sentences and paragraphs that will make the scene come alive.
A lot of times, I start out – like many people – with just ‘telling’ a story. I have this story in my head, but it’s not fully formed. I just sit down and tell it first. Then, I realize oh that’s not a scene or that needs to go entirely. I threw out so many pages in Neglect, at least as many as those that are now in the book. I did at least four major rewrites. I have a fantastic and supportive person [helping me through the process]. Betsy Lerner is my agent and my editor. I’m so lucky to have her.
What about those authors who claim they just sit down and write, seemingly in a stream of consciousness style?
I wish I could just sit down and crank it out, but it’s very hard work. I love it, though, and I always learn something when I’m writing a book – either about the world or something new about myself.
In Neglect, Mrs. Copley is a caricature, a cog in the wheel that is ‘the agency.’ She is a robot, blindly following callous protocols. She never has a moment of clarity in the book. How do we change the Mrs. Copleys of the world?
The story is about what the system is doing to her [Mrs. Copley] as well. She’s new, and she gets sucked into a system so overwhelming that it creates these automatons.
I don’t know if there’s hope for her. It’s really difficult to escape that. It’s a steady job with a reasonable income. But she’s traumatized, too. She deals with it by just getting harder and harder, so it doesn’t get to her. It’s what happens to many police officers.
This system allows the state to kidnap children and hold them hostage until parents jump through a sufficient number of hoops. And, yes, there are situations when children need to be removed. But I personally think this happens more often than it needs to. Systems that create people with extreme power – and being able to legally kidnap children is a good example – corrupt the people in charge. It’s a situation that subjects people to burnout, and they develop a skewed vision where they can’t see what’s really going on. Perhaps, it’s a willful ignorance, [one that encourages] them to keep the cogs moving through in order to keep the programs funded.
That’s a wonderful compliment. When I was studying creative writing in college, which I went through late, one thing that really stuck with me is that God is in the details. It’s the very select little bits of detail that are carefully placed in the sentences and paragraphs that will make the scene come alive.
A lot of times, I start out – like many people – with just ‘telling’ a story. I have this story in my head, but it’s not fully formed. I just sit down and tell it first. Then, I realize oh that’s not a scene or that needs to go entirely. I threw out so many pages in Neglect, at least as many as those that are now in the book. I did at least four major rewrites. I have a fantastic and supportive person [helping me through the process]. Betsy Lerner is my agent and my editor. I’m so lucky to have her.
What about those authors who claim they just sit down and write, seemingly in a stream of consciousness style?
I wish I could just sit down and crank it out, but it’s very hard work. I love it, though, and I always learn something when I’m writing a book – either about the world or something new about myself.
In Neglect, Mrs. Copley is a caricature, a cog in the wheel that is ‘the agency.’ She is a robot, blindly following callous protocols. She never has a moment of clarity in the book. How do we change the Mrs. Copleys of the world?
The story is about what the system is doing to her [Mrs. Copley] as well. She’s new, and she gets sucked into a system so overwhelming that it creates these automatons.
I don’t know if there’s hope for her. It’s really difficult to escape that. It’s a steady job with a reasonable income. But she’s traumatized, too. She deals with it by just getting harder and harder, so it doesn’t get to her. It’s what happens to many police officers.
This system allows the state to kidnap children and hold them hostage until parents jump through a sufficient number of hoops. And, yes, there are situations when children need to be removed. But I personally think this happens more often than it needs to. Systems that create people with extreme power – and being able to legally kidnap children is a good example – corrupt the people in charge. It’s a situation that subjects people to burnout, and they develop a skewed vision where they can’t see what’s really going on. Perhaps, it’s a willful ignorance, [one that encourages] them to keep the cogs moving through in order to keep the programs funded.
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Your female protagonists have infinite inner strength. Do you feel women draw their strength from a survival instinct?
Women are incredibly strong. Very early on, we learn to use our wits and intelligence to survive in this world. Unfortunately, there are predators in this world, and we are oftentimes the prey for those predators. When a woman finds herself in a vulnerable position, she has to draw on her inner strength to survive. My characters hit points of despair, and they have to drag themselves back. |
Praise for Neglect... "I finished Neglect on a late summer afternoon, stunned and weeping. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so moved, been so deeply a part of the fraught intricate lives of characters whom I have come to know almost as well as I know myself." ~ Abigail Thomas, Author of Safekeeping and A Three Dog Life |
Of all your books, which was the hardest to write?
I was most at sea while writing Rush because I hadn’t written a novel before. But Neglect was the most difficult to write.
With Neglect, the difficulty was [the process] of writing about those traumatic situations. I didn’t know how traumatic it would get [for me] while writing the book. I went into the world of war and discovered the pointlessness and lack of urgency. Of course, I know war is horrible, but living in that world for the four or five years that I was writing this book…it was very difficult.
When the book [Neglect] was published, the war in Afghanistan ended. A few months later, it was Ukraine. It’s like this rash that keeps popping up on the surface of the planet. When I finished the book, I just did not want to even look at a newspaper, but I couldn’t get away from it because of what was going on. Also, writing about a mother who was so emotionally devastated was very, very difficult emotionally.
Have you found it more difficult to publish in today’s digital world than you did 30+ years ago?
Much harder. It almost feels like an endangered species at this point. Many of the small, independent publishing houses were bought out by these five corporations which are controlling the traditional route of publishing right now, and they’re about making money, not supporting fledgling writers.
On the other hand, anyone can write a novel today. You just sit down and let your thoughts flow and post it out there. In a way, it’s wonderful that there aren’t just a few gatekeepers who can lose manuscripts in the corner of their offices and, as a result, someone who should be published never gets that opportunity. If someone has enough stamina and know-how to put work out there, s/he has the opportunity. But the reverse side is that there’s a lot of crap out there that needs a lot more work.
Just as fine and performing artists need to create to feel fulfilled, writers need to write. Do you agree?
I love to write. I love the whole process of writing. There have been times, though, that I’ve tried not to write because I start to think that I can’t put myself through that level of turmoil again. An analogy that is often used: You walk into the woods, and you know you’re going to get lost, but you do it anyway.
If one of your students shares “I want to be a famous author,” what is your response?
I would say, ‘That’s wonderful. But I’m not going to delude you and say it’s fabulous. It’s a lot of work. [It’s imperative to] have a lot of persistence and stamina as well as a real love of language.’
Where do you find sanctuary?
I walk in the woods with my dog. He’s a rescue: half Shepard, one third Border Collie, a whole bunch of other things, even eight percent wolf. He’s fantastic. I also find sanctuary riding my bike by the reservoir, and I hike, too.
I was most at sea while writing Rush because I hadn’t written a novel before. But Neglect was the most difficult to write.
With Neglect, the difficulty was [the process] of writing about those traumatic situations. I didn’t know how traumatic it would get [for me] while writing the book. I went into the world of war and discovered the pointlessness and lack of urgency. Of course, I know war is horrible, but living in that world for the four or five years that I was writing this book…it was very difficult.
When the book [Neglect] was published, the war in Afghanistan ended. A few months later, it was Ukraine. It’s like this rash that keeps popping up on the surface of the planet. When I finished the book, I just did not want to even look at a newspaper, but I couldn’t get away from it because of what was going on. Also, writing about a mother who was so emotionally devastated was very, very difficult emotionally.
Have you found it more difficult to publish in today’s digital world than you did 30+ years ago?
Much harder. It almost feels like an endangered species at this point. Many of the small, independent publishing houses were bought out by these five corporations which are controlling the traditional route of publishing right now, and they’re about making money, not supporting fledgling writers.
On the other hand, anyone can write a novel today. You just sit down and let your thoughts flow and post it out there. In a way, it’s wonderful that there aren’t just a few gatekeepers who can lose manuscripts in the corner of their offices and, as a result, someone who should be published never gets that opportunity. If someone has enough stamina and know-how to put work out there, s/he has the opportunity. But the reverse side is that there’s a lot of crap out there that needs a lot more work.
Just as fine and performing artists need to create to feel fulfilled, writers need to write. Do you agree?
I love to write. I love the whole process of writing. There have been times, though, that I’ve tried not to write because I start to think that I can’t put myself through that level of turmoil again. An analogy that is often used: You walk into the woods, and you know you’re going to get lost, but you do it anyway.
If one of your students shares “I want to be a famous author,” what is your response?
I would say, ‘That’s wonderful. But I’m not going to delude you and say it’s fabulous. It’s a lot of work. [It’s imperative to] have a lot of persistence and stamina as well as a real love of language.’
Where do you find sanctuary?
I walk in the woods with my dog. He’s a rescue: half Shepard, one third Border Collie, a whole bunch of other things, even eight percent wolf. He’s fantastic. I also find sanctuary riding my bike by the reservoir, and I hike, too.
