Q: First, congratulations on the huge success of Conceit. Can you tell us a little something about your novel?

At the heart of Conceit is the extraordinary love of Ann More and the poet John Donne, who was a contemporary of Shakespeare. The main character is their daughter, Pegge, who is obsessed with their love story and desperate to find passion of her own. So it's about the sexual curiosity of a girl and where it leads her.

Q: How have you enjoyed the experience of publication?

It's marvelous--everything I hoped it would be and more!

Q: Writing is generally thought to be a solitary process; what then first drew you to Booming Ground?

I wasn't far along in Conceit when I realized the enormity of what I was setting out to do. A novel is a huge undertaking, five years of your life, maybe more. You have to be solitary to write, but you need to be gregarious to see it through to the end. I knew I needed support and was looking for a writing group. I was lured to Booming Ground by the opportunity of working with other emerging novelists, and also by the quality of the mentors. Six of us were in Thomas Wharton's group in 2002, the inaugural on-line class.

Q: In what ways was the feedback you received helpful to the development of your manuscript?

I felt wonderfully challenged by writing for a published author whose work I admired. Before, I had just pleased myself, and maybe my spouse; now I had to listen to someone who loved my book a whole lot more than me!

There was a big push to get the monthly installments done. To keep moving and agonize later. This was good for me because I'm an accomplished agonizer. I was reluctant to move from John Donne, the character I'd started with, to Ann More. In those days Booming Ground began with a week on the UBC campus. When I was sitting on the grass with Thomas for our one-on-one, he stood up and shouted, "If you don't write about Ann, I will!" Needless to say that lit a bonfire under me.  

Q: Out of Booming Ground, your writing group SPiN was formed--how valuable has this support network been to you? And can you tell us a little about what the other members have been up to?

During the workshop, I received insightful comments from the other students and when it was over June Hutton, Jen Sookfong Lee, and I decided to keep critiquing installments to force us to complete our novels.

Jen finished her book first and landed an agent. Once we had a foot in the door, we raised our sights. We got tipsy celebrating and vowed to stick together until we all had publishing contracts.

Quite likely we would have given up if not for the support and camaraderie. We learned how to revise, to read our work in public, to approach agents, to do interviews, as a group. We are quite different writers and our novels are very much our own, but the journey has been much more fun with companions.

In March 2007, Jen's The End of East was published by Knopf's New Face of Fiction, in September 2007, Conceit was published by Doubleday, and in Spring 2009, June's Underground will be published by Cormorant. Now we're working on new books together.

Q: Writers sometimes find themselves challenged by not only creative dilemmas, but professional ones also. Did you face any challenges in the process of getting Conceit to publication?

Q: Can you tell us anything about your next project?

I've begun work on a new novel, set in 18th-century London, though I'm still in the early stage of writing in journals. I'll be posting bulletins, as well as other news, at www.marynovik.com and updates about SPiN can be found at www.spinwrites.com We do quite a few readings and enjoy meeting other writers, so please come and introduce yourselves!