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An Interview With Nino Ricci - Page 3

© Paula E. Kirman

combination of those kinds of things.

In Canada, it was also at a time when the whole discourse of multiculturalism had actually penetrated into the general consciousness, so people were probably a little more open to writing from outside of the mainstream than they might have been ten or fifteen years earlier. So a lot of it was that kind of coming together of various factors. I hope the book was also well-written -- that may or may not be a factor. One can point to any number of books that are not especially well-written and still do well.

Kirman: When you saw how well Lives of the Saints was doing, did you ever get worried that you would not be able to follow it with the same momentum?

Ricci: At the time I didn't worry about it. I worry about it more now. As I get older I find my mental faculties are getting weaker and so I do sometimes wonder if there is a kind of youthful energy that can never be recaptured or recreated. Particularly with the first book you are so innocent, you don't even really know what a book is or what you're allowed or not allowed to do, so you just go out and do something. At the time I had no idea whether the book would ever be published; it was hard to write it for that reason because everyday you're thinking it might be just a waste of time. At the same time there is a kind of freedom in your early efforts that you can never get back again.

I think about that now and I'm constantly looking at other writers thinking, "well how did they do with their later books; did their books get better and better? Is it a natural progression that you improve?" There are any number of examples of writers out there who maybe have a strong first book or a strong third book; it's very unpredictable how these things come about. I think every writer worries about every book that they write. They wonder if they'll ever write another book again. They wonder what strange combination of factors it was that helped them write any book that they have finished. I feel that all the time. At the same time I have no shortage of ideas, so it's not like I have to rack my brain to come up with some new project. I have a whole list of projects laid out well into the next millennium.

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Next Time: Nino Ricci talks about the ethnic influences in his work, his influences, and his process of writing.

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