Meet Katrina Onstad, whose novel—‘Stay Where I Can See You’ explores the complex and paradoxical nature of good fortune.
In honour of ‘Stay Where I Can See You’ being Cityline’s current book club pick, we chatted with Katrina about the inspiration behind the read and her writing process.
Cityline: What made you think of the concept for “Stay Where I Can See You”?
Katrina: It’s always character first. I was really interested in that moment where a teenage daughter is leaving her mother and I thought it would be really interesting if there was another kind of crisis later on top of that or some big event that would force them into reckoning about the relationship and who they are. So I picked the lottery! Because what’s not interesting about the lottery because everybody plays this game. It’s like the ultimate fantasy. It felt like a really great container for this family under pressure. It was a lot of fun to play with. Kind of a scary, weird, secret, revealing, dynamic in which to place this family.
Cityline: Have you ever won the lottery?
Katrina: No! I don’t win things. I don’t win door prizes. I don’t really buy lottery tickets. I mean I feel like i’m lucky just to live my life because I have a decent life and lots of people around who I love and love me back. But in terms of material luck. None, really nada. I just don’t win them. But maybe i’m going to start. I feel like it would be kind of great, like full circle if I did actually win $10 million dollars. So I gotta star buying those tickets I think.
Cityline: How does each family member respond to winning this money?
Katrina: Well, for Gwen it’s kind of a surprise awaking. It brings out some secrets from her past that have been long buried because her family moves from suburbs back to the city where she had kind of a tough youth on the streets. And some pieces of that come floating back to her. So really what it does it puts the family under siege. Of course winning money awakens all kinds of desires. I think it also forces people to figure out what really matters. And when that happens in a city as big as Toronto it forces kinds of connections and revelations about one’s own privilege. That’s really what their daughter Maddy goes through. So has it kind of reverberate throughout the entire family in very different ways some of which are scary and all of which are very emotional.
Cityline: What does the writing process look like for you?
Katrina: It’s hard. Writing is really really hard. I have always written my fiction and my creative work around day jobs. So wedging it in around raising family and paycheque has always been challenging. This one was really hard; it took five years and many iterations. I just couldn’t find a story, I really struggled with it. Im happy with where it ended up, but sometimes I think about those other versions too. So I sit up in my little office, it has a window which is the best. I have to be able to see some green space. And I try to just stay in that chair and force the words out. That’s really all it is, you just have to do it.