Where do you think Jackson got the inspiration for her stories?

Shirley Jackson got her inspiration for her stories from her own life and childhood.  A life-long feeling of being the outsider, Shirley’s characters reflect that.  She was never comfortable in the world of her socialite mother as a child, or living in the small New England town where her husband chose to teach.  Many of her stories involving young women have them going on strange journies, much like the ones Shriley went on when she first went away to college, then moved to New York City after getting a writing job there, and finally to Vermont, where she lived until her death.

How do you think her childhood affected her writing?

Shirley often wrote about childhood experiences in her novels.  In the Hangsman she writes about a dark experience which mirrors child molestation, describing one of her uncles in the process.  This has led many to believe that this was her way of expressing something that actually happened to her. 

Do you think Jackson's interest in the mentally ill was influenced by her own mental turmoil?

Shirley had a keen eye for seeing the little things that tend to push people over the edge.  I don’t believe she created mentally ill characters, but normal people who were pushed beyond their limits, resulting in some demons being brought to the surface.  I think she always felt that she was writing about herself and her own demons, which she kept well hidden.

In the novel Hangsman do you think that Natalie’s friend Theo was real or just a figment of her imagination?

I think Theo was a part of Natalie.  An alter-ego so to speak.

In many of the reviews that I have read critics thought that Jackson's works (Life Among the Savages, and Raising Demons) were some of her weaker works. Do you agree?

I don’t think they were weaker, just not as organized.  I think Shirley was trying to show the world her “true self,” not realizing she was giving people what they wanted to see, instead of who she really was.  She probably wrote them to impress her mother.

I've read many places that Jackson was a self-proclaimed witch. Do you know how this affected her stories or life?

I think dabbling in witchcraft as Shirley did was more a need for power in her life than an actual devotion to the religion.  Her characters, such as MarriCat in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, used witchcraft to protect herself.  Nailing books to trees and burring coins were rituals, just like every religion has rituals, which made MarriCat feel like she was doing something to protect herself, since she was powerless to do anything significant.

 

Do you think the books published after Jackson's by her family were up to the same quality they would have been if she had published them herself?

I think some of them were.  I enjoyed several of the stories immensely and some not at all.  I think it’s arbitrary. 

What is your favorite novel or short story by Jackson?

My Life With R.H. Macy from the book The Lottery and Other Stories and Sundial.


Who do you think is the strongest character in her stories?

MariCat is definitely the strongest character Shirley Jackson ever created. 

If you could talk to Jackson today what questions would you ask her, and why?


I would ask her if she’d written any stories lately and if so, could I read them?  Shirley Jackson is the most underrated author of the 20th Century.  Mostly likely because she is a female and her work mainly appeals to the female population.  Men just don’t get her, and that’s fine with me.