Editor’s Note: Lorrie Moore is the author of the story collections Birds of America, Like Life and Self-Help, as well as the novels Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? and Anagrams. Her new novel, A Gate at the Stairs (click here to read an excerpt), is wOw’s fall book club pick. A professor at the University of Wisconsin/Madison, Moore’s stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times and the Paris Review. 

wowOwow: When writing fiction, many writers draw inspiration from their own life experiences. Are any of the characters in A Gate at the Stairs based on anyone you know?

Lorrie Moore: All of the characters are inventions. There is no single character who corresponds to anyone in real life, though when I imagined Sarah Brink, one of the main characters, the face of Judy Davis kept appearing. There are themes in the book (race, adoption, war) that arise out of personal interest and personal involvement, but the dramas enacted are completely imagined ones. Nonetheless, I feel they reflect certain important aspects of the world generally — and the Midwest specifically. 

LM: Coffee is essential. And no music. I revise constantly, even as I go.

wOw: What do you see as the future of publishing? Do you think e-Readers will take over print books? Do you own an electronic reading device? Do you prefer print to digital when reading books or newspapers? 

LM: I read both, but frankly prefer print. Since I don’t work in publishing, I don’t have any advantage to seeing its future. I do know a lot of writers are watching musicians and the way they’ve bypassed the sinking music industry and struck out on their own.

wOw: The enormous success of your 1998 book Birds of America established you as one of the country’s best short-story writers. Was this your goal? And was it challenging to write a 322-page novel like A Gate at the Stairs? 

LM: There are many short-story writers far more accomplished than I. My intention is only to write the best story I can at the time. As for a novel, it’s usually a rougher journey for a short-story writer who can feel trapped for years inside of one, dying for air, dying to get out. But with this one, keeping company with Tassie Keltjin was a demented pleasure for me, and I was reluctant to give the book up.

wOw: What’s your next project?

LM: I’m working on some stories right now.

wOw: How much do reviewers influence you, if at all?

LM: On the amusement scale, one can rank them one to ten.  But one never thinks about them when writing. And if one does, a trip to a hypnotist is recommended.