Interview with David Angsten by Jennifer Minar-Jaynes

In this Q&A, Chicago-born novelist David Angsten, author of the highly-praised mythic thriller, Dark Gold (Thomas Dunne Books, '06), discusses his greatest challenges as a novelist, what he considers to be the best and worst aspects of the job, and, of course, the much-anticipated second title in his"Night-Sea Trilogy," Night of the Furies (Thomas Dunne Books, '08), which hit stores this week.

Here's what Angsten had to say:

WB: What inspired you to write your latest novel, Night of The Furies?

The first book I read as a kid--the first book I actually discovered myself and pulled off the shelf and read intensely from cover to cover--was Edith Hamilton's Mythology. She retold the Greek myths in a very simple, straightforward manner, and I took it to be some sort of history book. I had no concept of "myth." To me it was all real. The petrifying Gorgon, the flying chariots, Odysseus blinding the Cyclops. I thought it all actually happened, way, way back in the distant past. Which--when you think of it--is how the ancient Greeks probably saw the myths themselves.

Those stories have always stuck with me. They're fantastic and exciting, but also true-to-life, full of relevant insights into motives and behavior. They really were a kind of ancient psychology, a peering into the unconscious. Those myths form the archetypes of the Western mind, the templates of our narratives. Whether you've actually read them or not, they're a kind of dream-life that underlies everything we do, and how we see ourselves.

So Hamilton's Mythology was branded on my brain. That's what I went back to when I wrote my first book, Dark Gold, a treasure-hunt, sea-monster story. It was a kind of updating of Jason and the Argonauts, or Odysseus and the Sirens, with my very own manta ray Charybdis.

With Night of the Furies, I went directly to the Greek Isles with a contemporary take on Euripides' The Bacchae. Like Dark Gold, the story has mythic underpinnings, but is set in a flesh-and-blood, contemporary world. It begins with a playful hint of water nymphs and ends in the insanity of a Dionysian cult.

WB: Tell us a little about the novel.

The heroes in the book investigate the two most important spiritual phenomena of the ancient world: the Oracle of Delphi and the Eleusinian Mysteries. I've been fascinated by both for years.

How did the Oracle make her often uncannily prescient pronouncements? In 2003, a team of scientists discovered that the priestess of the Oracle actually did inhale vapors from deep inside the earth, just as the legends had it. They were ethylene fumes from a fissure that led to limestone beds deep under the Temple of Apollo. The ethylene put the priestess into a trance, and she spoke in the "voice" of Apollo, answering petitioners' queries. Earthquakes eventually closed up the crevice, and the Oracle went out of business, but I love it that the ancient Greeks had found a way to communicate with the divine. Unlike our God, theirs was not silent.

The second element, the Eleusinian Mysteries, was the biggest spiritual event in the ancient world for nearly 2,000 years. Yet we know next to nothing about what actually took place--the initiations were held in secret under penalty of death. Every year, thousands poured out from Athens in a raucous, 12-mile procession to Eleusis. There, at night, on sacred grounds near the outskirts of town, they entered a huge, windowless auditorium and drank an elixir called the kykeon, which many have theorized was hallucinogenic. Secret "sacred objects" were revealed. From what has come down to us, the experience was overwhelming. People felt transformed--people like Socrates, Plato, Pericles, Augustus, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius.

Pursuing the secret of the Mysteries, the heroes of the story come across yet another ancient enigma--the worshippers of Dionysus, the mad cult of the Bacchae. That's where the real trouble begins.

WB: What's a typical writing day for you?

Wish I had a simple answer. Ideally, I start by 9 or 10 A.M., and finish by 5 or 6, with a couple breaks in between. But I'm an insomniac, and I often write in the middle of the night, then crash in the middle of the day. Or get up at 4 A.M. and write until noon. I don't recommend it. It's best to set yourself a schedule and stick to it daily. That's what I'm always aiming for. That, and trying to avoid answering email.

WB: How long does it usually take for you to complete a novel?

A year. But when you add in time waiting for editor's notes and doing rewrites, it can easily take 18 months or longer.

WB: How long did the submission period take for your debut novel, Dark Gold? From the point of getting it in front of publishers to being offered a contract?

It took about a year and a half. In fact, from the time I started writing to the time I held the finished book in my hand, five years had passed. That's a year longer than it took me to get a college degree.

WB: What would you say is the "best" and "worst" aspects of this job?

The best is when you complete a sentence or a paragraph or a scene that gets at some truth or idea or character you've been struggling with. When you find the precise sequence of words that best express your thought. Often you don't actually know what you're thinking until you find those words. Writing is not just a craft, it's an art form and a science, a method of investigation, experimentation, discovery. It probably goes back to something primal, like exploration or hunting. I'm never happier than when I can say, "There--that's it, I nailed it." That is and should be the writer's deepest pleasure.

For me, the worst aspect is deadlines. Investigation, experimentation and precision take time. I don't mind putting in the hours; I just don't like rushing through them. It forces you into using clichés, which are always the first things that come into your mind.

WB: How do you approach research for your books?

Warily. I tend to go overboard. Too many books, too much time at the library, too many hours on the Internet. I end up with reams of notes. Research can sometimes be an excuse for not writing. You end up reading for solutions to the story, when they might be better discovered by writing.

I try to use Jim Rollins' method now--narrow the pile down to maybe half a dozen texts, let them be the basis of the story.

WB: What can fans expect from you next?

I'm going to follow these characters into Asia for the third and final installment of my "Night-Sea Trilogy." Jack and his brother are tracking down the ancient plant from which soma was derived, and seeking to find the utopian source of the legend of Shambhala.

WB: What is your ultimate goal as a writer?

To get out all the stories in my head before the Big-Author-in-the-Sky decides it's time to kill me off.

WB: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Two things. One is to learn to listen to those tiny, whispering voices in your head. Those faint words and images that can barely be perceived, lingering at the edge of consciousness. The tendency of your ego is to go blindly charging past them. You have to learn to be patient and receptive. Allow these subtle yearnings to emerge.

The second thing is enthusiasm. The word comes from the Greek enthusiasmos, meaning "inside the god." The ancients thought of it as being possessed by the divine. You have to let your enthusiasms carry you away. Get lost in them, explore them, dig deep into the heart of them. They can offer up great treasures and insights into life. What Robert McKee calls "tools for living." It's a cliché, I suppose, but it's true: Ultimately, the writer serves something larger than himself.

Night of the Furies is now available. To learn more about Angsten and his titles, visit www.davidangsten.com.