Guest Author Interview with John St. Clair
I recently had the opportunity to interview John St. Clair about his writing process and his debut novel, Stalin’s Door. I hope you enjoy the Q&A! – AJ
Hi, John. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to interview you today. Can you introduce yourself and your book(s) to our readers?
Hey there, AJ! I’d like to express my appreciation for the opportunity to do this interview with you!
For those that don’t know me, my name is John St. Clair, and I’m an indie author. I live in Reston, Virginia, USA, and I’ve been writing full time for a few years now. My debut novel is Russian historical fiction and is entitled Stalin’s Door. I published in 2021, after what felt like a long and torturous research, writing, and editing period of five years. I was so relieved to get my book out into the world, let me tell you! Shortly thereafter, I discovered the awesome Twitter indie #writingcommunity, with whom I regularly interact with. I have found tremendous support there and encourage all authors at every level to come and join us! I also have read so many excellent books from fellow indie authors in the last couple years. Their level of talent and imagination is truly inspirational.
Would you like to talk a little about your writing process?
This is an excellent question! Of course, my methods may be different from yours, which is neither right nor wrong. There’s really no wrong way to write, unless you’re not writing at all! For me, an overall 50,000-foot view of the plot comes first. Sometimes I’ll even come up with just a really cool concept and a killer title from the beginning. Then comes the arduous task of getting going. For those that may not be aware, a “plotter” is someone who will map out, sometimes to the nth degree, everything that’s going to happen within a story, before actually writing it. The “pantser,” as they’re known, is someone who prefers to have a general idea of where the story is going to progress but has absolutely no concept of the nitty-gritty details. Things in the pantser world just play out—often times taking the author by complete surprise. I like to think of myself as a bit of a hybrid, a “plantser” if you will. I do a fair amount of plotting in the higher realm, but let dialogue, and character interactions play out in the pantser style!
One thing I’d like to mention about my writing environment: I require complete silence, and even wear earplugs! This is required to achieve total concentration!
Your debut novel, Stalin’s Door, was a wonderful read. Though it’s fiction, it was very clear you did a lot of research to support the writing. First, I’d like to hear more about the Russian names primer you included in the book (thank you for that, by the way!) Can you explain the primer and its importance for our readers?
So, one of the most interesting aspects of Russian culture are the intricacies of how their names work! Russians can go by several names, all at the same time! For the uninitiated, this can be particularly confusing, especially when reading Russian literature or Russian historical fiction. Depending on the social setting, circumstances, and the age of the person, the exact usage of one’s name will change, often without notice to the reader. In Russian culture there are given names, patronymics, family surnames, diminutives, and double diminutives.
My main character’s given name is Yevgeniya, and she is called Zhenya by her parents and closest of friends—which is her diminutive. Her patronymic is a derivation of her father’s name and is Avksentyevna (daughter of Avksenty.) Her coworkers and acquaintances would call her Yevgeniya Avksentyevna. Her last name, or family surname, is Kanadina. In legal proceedings, Russian’s list the family surname first, followed by the given name and patronymic: Kanadina Yevgeniya Avksentyevna. Finally, as if their names aren’t complex enough, Yevgeniya is called Zhenechka by her grand aunt, which is her double diminutive.
I know all of this sounds super confusing; however, I wrote the primer at the beginning of my novel to give every reader a baseline. I think the particulars of how Russians address one another gives my novel a little something extra, which you may not see every day!
I feel that the time period featured in Stalin’s Door is often underrepresented in literature—and in school history classes, at least in the U.S. It’s an important time period, and I loved that your book showed it from a Russian perspective. Did you find it difficult to locate information and/or survivor stories, given that there was so much secrecy involved with Stalin’s government?
I agree that the period of Russian history under Stalin is underrepresented—which is why it was appealing to me in the first place. That said, I did indeed choose a subject that, even to this day, has a lot of secrecy still surrounding it. My five years of copious research were absolutely required for me to tell the story in what I believe is the most authentic way possible. My research was extensive, yes, however there are three primary sources of information which I relied heavily upon. I give a special acknowledgement to these sources at the beginning of my novel.
What was your favorite topic of research when writing Stalin’s Door, and why?
Certainly the most rewarding topic, and the one that really kicked off my research into what would become the basis for the novel, is what is called The House on the Embankment. This gigantic luxury apartment building, in the middle of Moscow, was home to all of Stalin’s most important and trusted bureaucrats and military leaders. The enclave was akin to a “city within a city” and the senior commissars and generals had no choice in the matter of living there. Because Stalin was super paranoid, having all of his most important underlings living in the same place made it exceedingly easy to spy on them, with his secret police force, known as the NKVD. This location serves at the place where my novel begins, and ends. It’s a real location and is still there today. They even have a museum on the premises which is dedicated to the time period I write in.
Do you have any upcoming releases you’d like to talk about? What project(s) are you currently working on, and can you share anything about them?
My next novel, which is entitled Lucky Dainéil McElheney, has been a labor of love. I am super nervous about my sophomore release, as it’s in a completely different genre, country, time period, and culture, than my debut novel. I can’t reveal too much at this juncture except to say it takes place in the year 2007, and involves, loosely, the mob in Boston. I hesitate to place any kind of release date here—because as I discovered when writing my debut novel, just getting the first draft done is just the beginning. Then comes the arduous work of properly editing it and getting help from your trusted alpha and beta readers! I hope one day soon I’ll be invited back here to discuss this work!
Besides being a writer, what do you like to do in your spare time?
Because I’m blessed to be a full-time writer, I suppose my free time revolves around the never-ending marketing for my work and raising awareness of me as an author. When I’m not working on my work-in-progress, I’m also competing in various writing contests, beta reading for other authors, or eating heartily from the excellent meals that my wife Chef Nancy makes for us! We also have an 8-year-old Redtick Coonhound named Grover who demands constant attention!
Do you have any parting thoughts you’d like to share?
I’d like to thank you again, AJ, for this terrific opportunity and for this interview! If anyone would like to interact with me, I’m usually found on Twitter every day, hanging out and networking with other terrific indie authors of the #writingcommunity! My Twitter handle is @uusaint. I hope you’ll consider looking up my novel, Stalin’s Door too! Here’s where you may find more information: mybook.to/stalinsdoor
A big thank you to John for taking the time to chat about his book and writing process!