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Dan Spencer is a poet and debut author of the novel, Cat Lover.
Recently, I spoke to Dan about his feline-themed novel, literary inspiration from across the globe, and of course some book recommendations. He also offered some brilliant, and quite extensive, advice for aspiring novelists.
I hope you enjoy the interview, and if the book tickles your fancy, do consider picking up a copy and supporting a fellow writer.
Hey Dan, thanks for taking the time to talk to Tales from Absurdia. It’s a delight to have a fellow cat lover on the blog!
First and foremost, it would be awesome to find out a bit more about yourself and your journey into publishing.
Hi, John! Thanks for the chance to chat about the book.
So, it’s been a longish road to my debut. I studied Creative Writing as an undergraduate at UEA and on the master’s at the University of Glasgow. I then began publishing pieces in literary journals (a lot of flash fiction, prose poetry and autofiction).
As more pieces were published, I began to find journals that my work chimed with and to gain an understanding of what editors liked. Meanwhile, I still found it hard to complete what I’d call a ‘successful’ novel.
Next, after over ten years of living in Glasgow (My wife and I are from southeast England), our family made a move to Osaka. Whilst working there, I would write novels in Muji notebooks during my combini lunch breaks.
The first of these didn’t get published, but it got me a handful of interested agents. The second one I started was Cat Lover. When we returned to the UK, during Covid, I sent it out and, this time, one of those previously interested readers (the lovely and perceptive Cara Lee Simpson at SLA), became my agent and got me signed with Atlantic Books.
I was so lucky that my editor there, Kate Ballard, also really ‘got’ the book. It’s a dream come true to be with Atlantic. I’ve genuinely loved them since their early days when they published In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut, which was a massively important book for me.
Do tell me more about Cat Lover.
It’s such a curious premise, and the preview in Gutter Mag left me both amused and a little unsettled at the same time!
What should readers expect from your novel? And where exactly did the concept come from?
I’d say it’s a little weirder than your typical ‘cat novel’, though it does look closely at a cat’s experiences and behavior, so cat lovers will find that there.
I’d call it a thoughtful, character-led book that aims to place you right inside the psychology of Ivy and Berry, a doctor and her pet cat, who are struggling with a new man in their lives.
One inspiration was my father’s cats. My parents separated when I was young, and it seemed like my dad’s cats saw a more intimate side of him than I did. They were there in those quieter moments when my brothers and I weren’t. In Cat Lover, Berry observes other characters in their more private moments. I think ‘intimacy’ is a key theme of the book.
I’ve also said that I began writing the book in Japan, but it’s set in Glasgow, so one reason for writing was to connect with and reflect on that city. The story takes place over one winter in a tenement in Glasgow’s West End. The characters and surroundings are unique to that world.
I’ve also said that I began writing the book in Japan, but it’s set in Glasgow, so one reason for writing was to connect with and reflect on that city.
The story takes place over one winter in a tenement in Glasgow’s West End. The characters and surroundings are unique to that world.
I think it’s also relevant that this isn’t the first novel I pitched to agents (let alone the first I’ve written). So, when I came to write Cat Lover, I was making not my ‘forever novel’ but one story that engaged me. That’s part of why it worked (for me at least), because it developed as a focused and constrained story.
Which writers are you enjoying the most right now? And who are your big influences?
I’m trying to increase my reading of recent literary fiction. At the moment, I’m getting into Bryan Washington. His UK publisher is also Atlantic Books (though I don’t know him).
I’d already noticed him as a very cool, new, lit fic writer on a publisher that I loved, but I’m finally reading him. Memorial is set partly in Osaka, so as an erstwhile Osakan, it’s an easy win for me.
In terms of influences, I’ve mentioned Galgut. I can see the traces of so many writers in my work (Muriel Spark, John Berger, Nathalie Sarraute, Maguerite Duras, Italo Calvino, Lydia Davis, and many more).
Murakami’s novels gave me permission to write whatever I wanted. Modiano is a writer I’d like to read more and more of and to move towards in my own style.
Yukio Mishima is a huge influence. In fact, Cat Lover takes its structure from The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea, which is also a weird love triangle within a constrained time period and setting. A Cat, a Man, and Two Women by Junichiro Tanizaki was also an influence.
Do you have any writing rituals or habits that help you stay creative?
Oof, there’s so much to say. But I can give a few random pointers.
One: Write what interests you. I mean, always write only what feels compelling to you. I handwrite a full first draft start-to-finish in a notebook. If I begin to feel there’s no impetus to what I’m writing, I stop and pursue a different thread.
Two: See it all as a long, ongoing process, because (at least in my experience) it’s often two steps forward and one step back.
A case in point is finding an agent. When I first tried to publish a novel, I used the Writers & Artists Handbook (with a year’s subscription), as well as Google, and kept a spreadsheet about what I’d sent and when.
Ultimately, I had about 70 rejections! But from this I got a handful of quite interested agents I could try next time. These were the first people I sent Cat Lover.
Specific to finding an agent, I’d say you should find someone who’s growing their list, so a newer, hungrier agent. By now, I’ve been in contact with my agent for about four years, and, in that time, she’s also been developing as an agent whilst I’ve been growing as a writer.
Also (and I’m not great at this), whatever happens with your writing, you’ve got to live your life.
And finally, what are you currently reading?
I’ve mentioned Bryan Washington. Aside from that, I’ll just have to list the pile of books by my bed, all of which I should have already finished, if I could only stop looking at my phone.
- Open Water, Caleb Azuma Nelson
- Orbital, Samantha Harvey
- Forbidden Colours, Yukio Mishima
- The Promise, Damon Galgut
- The End of the Story, Lydia Davis
Thanks so much for talking about the book, John!
Cat Lover, published by Atlantic Books, is available in paperback and ebook.
You can pre-order your copy from all good bookstores, or order directly from the publisher to support an indie publisher.
