Carla Vergot
Haymarket, Virginia, U.S.
Good morning, Carla, and welcome to Vision and Verse, the site for books and art and the dwindling population who love them.What have you written?
I write a pretty funny text message, but that’s probably not what you mean. 😂 My debut novel is called Lily Barlow: The Mystery of Jane Dough, and I am hard at work on the second book in the Lily Barlow series. I also contribute a humorous column about my gardening experiences (and by experiences, I mean failures) to a local magazine called The Piedmont Virginian.
What is your favorite genre to write?
I love personal essay, but my book is…well…that’s a tough question. This book has an identity crisis. I’m thinking of coining a new genre. How does “rom-stery” grab you? A cross between romance and mystery. Or how about “myster-mance”? Have people used those before? I basically like to write light, funny, quick-moving, character-driven stories that take unexpected turns and dip a toe in the pool of romance. That’s my genre.
Favorite food.
Tomato sandwich on white bread with Duke’s mayonnaise.
Tea or coffee?
Coffee with cream and sugar is my hot drink of choice.
Pizza or ice cream?
Ice cream in a cake cone. Any flavor except mint chocolate chip.
Wine or beer?
I will gratefully accept whatever the house is serving, but my husband has turned me on to some wonderful California reds.
Where would you like to visit?
The list is long. Greece. Italy. Spain. Ireland. The Galapagos Islands. I never get tired of exploring new places in Utah. Big Sky Country—Montana. I want to see a cranberry bog.
Favorite musical artist. Do you listen to music when you write? What?
My taste in music is wide and deep, and there’s not one artist I can call my favorite. I spend most of my time on the 70s and 80s stations of XM radio, but I love country, too. I don’t listen to music when I write because I end up listening to music instead of writing.
What makes you laugh?
Dog videos. My husband. Almost anything played back in slow motion. That game show hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, when she drops the loser into a vat of goo or flings the person away in a harness attached to a wire. John Oliver. “Bad Lip Reading of the NFL” cracks me up.
Favorite work of art or sculpture.
I like things I can touch, but often they wouldn’t even be considered pieces of art. Let me give you an example. My ex-husband was a motorcycle racer who rode a bike with two fuel tanks welded together (this was affectionately referred to as the Trans-Atlantic tank). I learned how beautiful a perfect weld is, like a row of nickels laid out. To this day, I get a thrill running my finger over a perfect weld.
Having said that, I LOVE art museums, artist co-ops, galleries and gardens. My favorite artist may be Christiane David who has a gallery in Lancaster, PA. Her lines and use of color touch my soul. I once had a forty-minute conversation with her about a particular shade of blue. Color is incredibly important to me, and I’ll treasure that conversation forever. I own two CD originals—I commissioned a painting of one of our favorite chickens for my husband and I have one of her famous poppy paintings.
How old were you when you started writing?
I was a pen pal extraordinaire in second grade, when pen pals were a thing. I wrote so many letters, I had to have multiple pals so I could always have a response in the pipeline.
Do you plan out your book with outlines and notecards? Or just write?
I just write. I’ve heard my kind called “pansters” because we write by the seat of our pants (as opposed to plotters, who painstakingly outline the plots of their stories).
Describe your perfect evening.
My husband and I would be in the woods with our favorite camping companions as far away from people as we could get. The geographic location doesn’t matter, but the weather does. Clear sky full of stars. Cool enough that the bugs aren’t biting. Dinner done. Campfire crackling. Music playing. People laughing. And marshmallows.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I get inspiration from the most ordinary, every day things. I’ve gotten ideas sitting at a railroad crossing looking at the graffiti on the boxcars. I draw on things I overhear. I do a lot of people watching. The American west inspires me. I love the desert colors. I could spend hours looking at rock formations in Utah. Nature in general inspires me. Any body of water inspires me. Wildflowers. Trying new things inspires me because it helps me keep an open mind.
What do you do when you get a writer's block?
I walk away and try to immerse myself in one of the things I mentioned above. If that doesn’t do it, I try to write through it, knowing I’ll have to trash ninety-six percent of what I generate. But that last four percent will make good fertile ground for the next burst of creativity.
Who is your favorite author?
It’s so hard to pick just one. I think Barbara Kingsolver writes an incredibly compelling story.
Best book you ever read.
It might be Blessed Are The Cheesemakers.
Last book you read.
I’m currently reading Missing Pieces by Michael Golvach.
What would you do for a living if you weren’t a writer?
I am what I have always wanted to be. It took me over 30 years to get here. I don’t want to be anything else.
Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why?
I would say my mama. She planted so many seeds in me when I was a kid, and they continue to bloom. She drew me along, exposing me to things she loved while giving me plenty of room to become my own person. I got my hippie bone from her.
If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why?
My dad. Dad died not long before I met my husband, and I think he had everything to do with the fact that Ricky and I found each other. I believe he’d had enough of me making the wrong choices for myself when he was alive, and he assumed the responsibility of orchestrating my next chapter from heaven.
What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer?
Find your voice. Beginning writers often don’t trust themselves and try to sound different. I would encourage people to try out a lot of styles to find that one version of themselves that rings true on the written page. Once that voice is identified, I would encourage a new writer to practice it. Stretch it. Bend it. See what liberties you can take with it so you know where it stops being your voice and becomes a different voice.
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