Welcome to The Enlightenment Show, Winnie! I’m so excited to have you joining us to talk about your novel, Complicit.
· Can you give the readers a synopsis of what Complicit is all about?
39-year-old Sarah Lai teaches screenwriting at a local college but was once an aspiring film producer ten years ago. When she’s approached by a New York Times journalist about a powerful male producer she once worked with, she’s forced to confront the truth of her ruined career in the film industry -- and how she may have been complicit in certain injustices.
· Complicit has a lot in common with your personal experiences with the industry. You pull back the curtain to spotlight those who turned a blind eye to sexual harassment, abuse, and assault. Did you know that you’d be addressing these much-needed topics going into writing Complicit?
Oh absolutely, that was the whole reason I wrote the book! Shortly after the Weinstein allegations
broke, a friend remarked: ‘I don’t get it. If people knew Weinstein had been
doing this to women for years, how was he able to get away with it for so
long?’ And I remember thinking ‘Ah clearly, you’ve never worked in the film
industry before…’ So what I wanted to do in COMPLICIT was show how and why
professionals in these workspaces would turn a blind eye to that kind of behaviour
-- because they don’t want to endanger their job, because they’re ambitious
about their own careers, because they don’t feel like they would even be
listened to or taken seriously.
· Did you and your main character Sarah walk together in healing as you wrote this book? What things did you learn from Sarah along the way?
Ah, interesting question! In
regards to my own experiences, I probably went through more healing when I was
writing my first novel, Dark Chapter.
But writing Sarah and Complicit, I probably did absorb a sense
that at some point, you will have to let things go. Whether that’s bitterness,
anger, pain over things that happened in the past… there is a way to be at
peace with the past if you learn to let things go. If you realize that back
then, you did your best – or what you thought was your best at the time.
· What’s one of your favorite things about writing novels?
Oh man, the sense of freedom! That I can create a completely new world, or construct a completely new character and life story, and THAT IS MY JOB as a novelist. So it’s an escape in many ways, and also a chance to let my imagination run wild -- while at the same time, I’m creating a story that is relevant to issues and experiences I care deeply about.
· Often, when writing those traumatic memories of a story, there’s a need to step back and process. Did you have moments through writing Complicit where you took time to take care of yourself? What were your “go-to” spaces or things that helped with the processing?
It was probably more with my first novel Dark Chapter that I needed to process my own traumatic memories. Complicit was pretty fun for me to write. Because it allowed me to revisit the glamor and the excitement of working in the film industry, while also speaking truth to the inequality and precarity of that work environment. I got to indulge the cinephile part of me and make loads of film references in a way that was relevant to the story and the character of Sarah.
· You openly express your personal story about reframing how we think after sexual violence. What is something that people share with you often after your presentations?
After I do a public talk, people will come up to me with their own stories of sexual assault – or about times when it almost could have happened to them, or when it happened to their friend or their cousin, mother, sister, etc. There are so many hidden stories of trauma or almost trauma that I think sometimes it just takes hearing one other person’s story to trigger a collective sharing.
·
You mention
that people need to be seen, heard, and remembered. Why do you think this is so
important?
As much as we’d like to think it’s just about the art of filmmaking (or book-writing), at the end of the day, humans are social creatures. We have hopes and dreams and egos. And we do care whether or not we feel valued by other people. So it’s heartbreaking to pour so much hard work into a project or a company – and to not have that effort recognized by other people. Likewise, it’s heartbreaking to share a story of trauma – be really open about our own suffering – and not have that pain acknowledged by others. I do believe every person out there has an important perspective and an important story to share, but our society is so used to only hearing about the contributions and stories of certain types of people.
INNER CHILD SEGMENT
· When you were a kid, what were some of your favorite movies that you could watch repeatedly and never tire of?
The Little Mermaid – I must have worn my VHS tape of it so thin from repeated
viewings. My sister and I were also bizarrely obsessed with Gone With the
Wind (for all its faults). We would play it on VHS and record ourselves
speaking over the dialogue on audio cassette tape (remember audio
cassettes?) I was always Rhett Butler.
· What spice is your favorite, and why?
Wow, random question. Smoked paprika. Because it’s smokey and a bit spicy, but not overpoweringly so?
· What’s the oddest food combo that you’ve liked and tried, or just tried?
Hmmm… strawberries and
balsamic vinegar. When I was living in Ireland, some Irish friends of mine had
just come back from Italy, and they were like, ‘Oh this is how they do things
in Italy. They eat strawberries with
balsamic vinegar sprinkled on top.’ It
kind of worked….? I haven’t tried it since, but I feel like over time, one
could acquire a taste for strawberries and balsamic vinegar.
· What advice can you share with our readers about living a
joyful life?
Embrace it all. You never know what’s around the corner, you
never know when you’ll get another chance to enjoy something. I don’t want to cast that in a pessimistic
light. But I was a victim of a criminal
assault where if it had gone another way, I might have died. So I make sure to
take every opportunity that comes my way – and to make the most of the chances
life gives me.
·
Where can
the readers connect with you? Where can they find your book?
