It's no stretch to call Leif Gregersen a prolific author. The St.
It's no stretch to call Leif Gregersen a prolific author. The St. Albert-raised writer has self-published a handful of books over the last few years, all ranging between poetry, short story and biography that mostly explores his bipolar disorder and how that diagnosis has affected him. He also maintains a healthy freelancing practice and posts new poems and blog diary entries through his website, www.edmontonwriter.com.
Yes, he is that prolific.
After coming out with a new title just over the summer, Gregersen is back with two more releases: a new collection of short stories called Mustang Summer and Inching Back to Sane, his continuing reflections on his life.
The Gazette sat down with the tireless writer for a Q & A on his new books and his literary career.
Scott Hayes: Describe how often you write and where you find your creative inspirations.
Leif Gregersen: “I try to write every day, even if it is just a poem. I have to admit I get kind of a thrill expressing myself through the printed word and sharing it with people who are often extremely kind and often helpful in making me grow as a writer.”
“When I wrote Mustang Summer, I was writing at least two to three short stories a week. It is hard to say where I get my inspiration from; often what I write is a snippet of different experiences with some creative content as the glue to put different true stories together.”
SH: Do you have any advice to other writers about the creative process, or finding ideas, or simply making the time to write?
LG: “My advice to other writers about the creative process is simply live your life so that you have something to write about. Watch great movies, read great books, start your writing career slow, try and simply write a page of your thoughts in a journal and work your way up to poetry. Look into classes and workshops, any kind of writing you can do will help your creativity grow.”
“I have been stuck a number of times, even in the middle of books, but when this happens I go back and read my own stuff and there is always room to improve it and fix things, then it seems much easier of a transition to get into creative territory.”
“Good writing comes through years of hard work, but a lot of people don't realize they have already put a lot of time in going through school and communicating. A writer once told me simply put down what happens as if you were telling your best friend. For some people, writing a great story or book can be as simple as learning to type and recording what you have to say.”
SH: Where do you think you are on your own creative journey? Where does your fiction go from here?
LG: “In my own creative journey, I am taking three courses through the Edmonton Public Library (which are free for all greater Edmonton residents). I am taking a screenwriting course, a poetry course and an introduction to Internet writing markets course. The poetry course is very dear to me; I feel that my writing is going the way of constantly trying to improve my abilities as a poet. People can witness my growth as a poet on my Facebook page, Valhalla Books, where I have archived all of my poetry for a couple of years now. I think as long as I keep writing, keep forging ahead into new territory, I am a creative person and it really feels great.”
SH: “Any particular story from the new collection that has a fond place in your heart or that you have an interesting anecdote about?
“There is one story in Mustang Summer that I hold kind of dear. It is set in a small Wild West town and the main character is a Canadian. I researched a real mining town and set the story in cowboy days. It was fun to write, and when I sent it to my editor she was really enthused about it.
“In a close second is a story that was previously published, Night Flight Over Fortress Europe. As a former air cadet, this story of a Second World War Spitfire pilot on a secret mission was a labour of love. I really like to learn about new historical settings and places. I find research to be renewing and exciting, and I did a lot of research before writing both of these stories.”
SH: “In regards to Inching Back to Sane (and Through the Withering Storm, the first part of your biography delving into your bipolar disorder), why is it important to you to write about mental illness in general, but your own mental illness specifically?”
LG: “When I wrote my first memoir, which was the first book I ever wrote (I have now penned 10 books), I simply felt it was a good way to get my legs, to write about myself. Later, it became a platform for me to help others who were suffering, and I have found that by being honest and expressing my thoughts and feelings from when I was in severe difficulties, I have given a bit of hope to people who were as bad off as I was for a while.
“I am very excited about a new job I have gotten working for the Schizophrenia Society in Edmonton. I will be going to schools and businesses and speaking about my own experiences with my illness and hopefully selling a few books along the way. The funny thing is that, for a long time, I was very ashamed of my illness and hid my symptoms even from my doctors, but I found when I was honest and told people about my problems despite the risk, quite often they would tell me they had struggles, or that they had friends or relatives that dealt with mental illness.
“Mental illness is much more present in our society than people think, and when we hide it from one another we only serve to fan the flames of stigma and ignorance and all too often the illness will go untreated and end in disaster.”
SH: “Are there any similarities in the processes between writing fiction and non-fiction like this, apart from the obvious?”
LG: “I found it much easier to write non-fiction, but as I grow as a writer, there is a lot of fun to be had in writing fiction. When you write non-fiction, honesty and detail are extremely important, but there are so many more factors to writing fiction. With fiction, there are many literary devices, and in a way you have to kind of get in your reader's head and play with his or her emotions and thoughts a little. I have some abilities to do this, but I have a long way to go.
“In the screenwriting course I am taking, I have found there are formulas that you can follow in different types of storytelling and many ways of drawing your reader in and keeping him or her reading. Since I love writing so much, I am very excited at where the next few years of learning will take me, even if the money doesn't ever come.”
SH: “What do you get out of publishing these books? Is there a sense of satisfaction of having another book under your belt or does it compel you to further projects?”
LG: “One of the things I get out of my writing is a real sense of community, and a great feeling of respect from the people in my neighbourhood. I volunteer as a writer for the Boyle-McCauley News, which goes to all my neighbours, and they always seem so happy to see that I have another book out or was featured in an interview. There is even a local business that carries some of my books and doesn't charge me anything to sell them out of his store. I make a little money from sales, but my priorities are elsewhere.
“I think one of the things I like about being a writer is that, in a way, once you get enough books out there and enough people read them, you become immortal: you live beyond your single lifetime in the hearts and mind of those who read your work. The whole concept of the written word and books, and more lately, ebooks, is a very exciting one because you can share your innermost thoughts and feelings in a poem or a story or novel and people you never met or never thought you would meet share a part of your life. That, to me, is why I write.”
SH: “Have you heard from anybody else dealing with bipolar who has read your books? How did they affect him or her?”
LG: “Quite a number of people with bipolar disorder, diagnosed and undiagnosed, have read my books, but I haven't heard back from too many of them. Where my writing really is the biggest hit is with women in their 40s who have a husband or son or daughter who suffers and they are struggling to understand what to feel, how to act, what to do. If I can help even a small number of these people, I feel I have accomplished a very high purpose.”
