With Kaylie Seed
Waub, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Moon of the Crusted Snow and I’m really looking forward to doing this interview with you about this haunting dystopian novel as well as your writing process!
I, personally, love a dystopian plot and Moon of the Crusted Snow knocked it out of the park! Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Moon of the Crusted Snow?
Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve been a big fan of dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction since I was a teen, and when I started writing creatively, I made a goal of one day trying to write a story like that from an Indigenous perspective. The main influence, though, was the big blackout of August 2003 that impacted a big part of eastern North America. I was living in Toronto at the time, but that day I happened to be back in my home community of Wasauksing (which is about two hours north of Toronto) visiting family. When we learned it was a widespread and very serious outage, my two younger brothers and I started making survival plans. We thought about the people in our community we could partner with to make sure everyone was fed and safe. It seemed like a natural response for us, and it was actually very comforting to be there in a time of potential crisis. When I started dreaming up Moon of the Crusted Snow, I often recalled those days and how as Anishinaabeg, we had a very different response to a potentially world-ending moment compared to a lot of the dystopian books I’d read throughout my life. Also, I was very aware of the apocalypse my people already survived by being colonized and displaced. So all those factors came together quite organically for me.
The central setting for Moon of the Crusted Snow is a Northern Reserve in Canada. Can you tell our readers more about the setting and its importance in your novel?
It’s a fictional First Nation in far northern Ontario, about 300 km north of the northernmost fictional city. I wanted to make it more of a remote place to create space between the people who live there and those in the south to slowly build tension as the world-ending event - a power and communications blackout - unfolds. The people who live there were displaced from their original homelands closer to the Great Lakes by the federal government. They have a close connection to the land, and live mostly according to traditional land-based teachings. But it’s a community in transition because of new infrastructure like a road connection to the south, a hydroelectric dam, and more reliable cell and internet service. As a result, some residents are becoming a little detached from the land as this crisis strikes. The ones who cope best are those who can still find sustenance in the land. That’s one of the key themes in the story.
Evan Whitesky is incredibly smart and resourceful. Where did your inspiration for Evan come from?
Evan is based on the everyday people in reserves everywhere who are doing good things for their communities. I think the majority of people living in First Nations are like him. They’re resourceful, family-oriented, and dedicated to their nations. He’s a bit of an amalgam of some friends and relatives from Wasauksing. I’m inspired every day by the people back home who work hard to keep the community running in a good way. The pandemic has really brought those communal efforts into focus. A lot of people came together to ensure everyone stayed safe and healthy. I’m really inspired by them, and I’m proud of what they do for all of us. I often call Evan a “Rez everyman” because people like him help bust stereotypes about Indigenous people.
You incorporated Anishinaabe language and tradition into your novel. Was this something you learned as a child or was it something that you had to do some research on while writing Moon on the Crusted Snow?
I was fortunate to grow up in my community during a time in the 1980s when a lot of people were reconnecting with Anishinaabe traditions. So I took part in ceremonies and customs from a very young age. I learned how to sing at the big drum and dance in powwows. What drew me most to my culture, though, were the stories. I was eager to learn about my heritage through the stories the elders told, whether they were about our history or fun trickster tales. I know some Anishinaabemowin (the language), but I’m nowhere close to being a fluent speaker. But the dialogue and words in the book are the extent of my knowledge. Fortunately one of my brothers is nearly fluent, so I consulted with him to ensure I had some phrases right. Otherwise I didn’t have to do too much research regarding the Anishinaabe cultural elements.
What was the most surprising thing that you learned while going through the process of creating and writing Moon of the Crusted Snow?
The most eyeopening part of the whole process was learning how to pace a story like this. I worked with a wonderful editor at ECW Press named Susan Renouf who really helped guide me through streamlining the narrative to make it develop in an effective and interesting way. It was the first time I really tried writing something in this genre, so I really appreciated Susan’s guidance. We ended up cutting a lot of excess from the front end of the story to better build the tension. She also really encouraged me to bolster the Anishinaabe elements, especially the language. You often hear horror stories of Indigenous authors having to scrub or whitewash culture in their stories to make them more palatable to non-Indigenous readers. By my experience with Susan was quite the opposite. She empowered me to highlight these elements proudly.
Do you currently have a new novel in the works? If so, can you tell us a little about it?
I’m writing a sequel to Moon of the Crusted Snow! I’ve been commissioned by Penguin Random House Canada to develop the next part of this story. I hope to have a first draft done in about a year. I can’t give too much away, but the novel will pick up about a decade after the end of the first one, and will follow the characters as they journey south to see what’s left of the world. I’m really excited to revisit these characters!
Since you’ve published a couple of books, what advice would you give to aspiring authors in regards to writing and publishing?
Write away! Get that story done and get it out into the world. Don’t be afraid to reach out to authors for advice on getting published, or writing tips. And read as much as you can. I went to school for journalism and didn’t have a whole lot of knowledge of the publishing industry when I decided I wanted to pursue a fiction career. But I knew I had to get a book-length project written before I started showing it around. So I put some short stories together that I’d written when I was younger, which eventually became my first book, Midnight Sweatlodge. I applied for an emerging writers grant through the Canada Council for the Arts to get that done. By then, I’d been able to make contact with other Indigenous writers who had great advice on how to get published. But getting back to my first point, keep writing!
What is your “must-read” book recommendation and what book has had the most impact and influence on your writing?
I have two “must-read” recommendations: Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson and Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King. Both were very influential on my writing. It’s hard to narrow down just one book that has had the most impact on me. But for Moon of the Crusted Snow, it was definitely The Road by Cormac McCarthy.