What was the most challenging part about writing Cane River?
I had never written so much as a short story before. I was full of insecurity about whether I could deliver this story. I knew that I had hold of an incredibly powerful story. I just didn’t know whether I was up to the task of telling it. So, everyday I felt a tremendous responsibility and burden to teach myself to write in time to deliver the story. I must have written about 14 drafts, but I had to keep rewriting and rewriting. • What kept you going? I felt one of the characters looking over my shoulder—it was my great-great-grandmother (Philomene). When I was discouraged or tempted to stop or thought that this was too hard or told myself that no one wants to read this, she was the one to keep me going. I was afraid of her. Even though I never met her, I felt her presence in a big way and I felt that it was my responsibility to tell this story. She was the strong force. I could see that in the records that I uncovered. She was the one that got the land that allowed the family to come
