Masha Hamilton is a journalist and fiction author, and her fourth novel, 31 HOURS, is released from Unbridled Books today. Ms. Hamilton is known for her coverage of the world’s hotspots and for her poetic style, and this chillingly timely topic sits at bold juxtaposition to her lyricism.

We’d like to thank her for taking the time out to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Masha: I was one of those who always knew I needed to write. In elementary school, I had a poem in a national anthology, submitted by my teacher, and at the same time, (although this isn’t really a publication credit), I was producing bi-monthly editions of a family newspaper, full of news of the most local kind! I think some of those still survive somewhere.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Masha: 31 HOURS is my fourth novel. I wrote the first draft in one intense month sequestered at Blue Mountain Center, a nurturing artists’ retreat, in a tiny room overlooking the calm and non-judgmental Blue Mountain Lake. The location allowed me, in the writing, to touch on my deepest fears as a mother, as an American and a New Yorker. (Then, of course, I needed many more months of revision to truly get it ready.) The novel takes place in and around the subway system. The edgy poetry of the subway is the foundation for the story, which is about missed connections, about the search for religious or spiritual guidance, and about mothering a young adult in this chaotic world. It asks the reader to suspend easy judgments, so it’s a demanding book in that way. It’s also a story that takes place with a ticking clock in the background – as the novel opens, there are just 31 hours left to change the course of not just one young man’s life, but the lives of many.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Masha: The support of my family has been crucial. My agent, Marly Rusoff, is the very best in the business in every way. The wise editing eyes of Unbridled’s Fred Ramey, ditto. The entire Unbridled Books team daily goes out on a limb for their books. For a writer, that’s an enormous gift – bigger than I can ever truly thank them for.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Masha: When my kids were very little, I got up at 4 a.m. so I could write before my day dissolved into fish sticks and wet wipes. I still usually do my best work in the morning, but sometimes I find myself  working into the night as well.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Masha: Probably the same advice I keep trying to give myself: keep writing, no matter what, and write into your deepest issues, the ones you care most about, the subjects that scare you or that seem forbidden or risky. Then love the revision process as if it were your best friend, which it probably is. If you need support during the long lonely process of writing, reach out for it – either by going to workshops or by diving into poetry or hiking in the woods or near water, something that grounds you and connects you again to both yourself and the world around you.

31 HOURS is available now in bookstores and is available, just for the clicking and credit card, at Amazon.com.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 at 10:30 am and is filed under *Jamie's Posts, 5 Minutes Alone, AuthorScoop Exclusives, Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.