Our tiny, useless hearts by Toni Jordan: 9 March, 2017

"Toni Jordan’s latest novel, Our Tiny, Useless Hearts, is a romp through the contemporary complexities of living well. Very quickly, Jordan introduces us to a cast of wonderfully flawed characters all trying desperately to live honestly and without regret. Narratively driven, reading this crafty, clever and comical novel is not unlike eavesdropping on your crazy neighbours." – Chris Gordon

Toni Jordan is the author of four novels. The international bestseller Addition was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, Fall girl was published internationally and has been optioned for film, and Nine days was awarded Best Fiction at the 2012 Indie Awards, shortlisted for the ABIA Best General Fiction award and named in Kirkus Reviews' top 10 historical novels of 2013.

Toni will join us for a Q&A on Thursday, 9 March between 8 and 9pm. Please leave any questions you have below. (And discuss her writing at your leisure!)

Want to buy Our tiny, useless hearts? Receive 10% off when purchasing it from Readings at State Library Victoria. To receive the discount online, enter the promo code BOOKCLUB in the promo code box during online checkout. To receive the discount at our State Library bookshop, simply mention the Thursday night book club at the counter.

Hi Toni,

I've always found the characters in your writing to be well realised—they read like real people. What's your approach to "building" characters or fleshing them out (assuming you have a process at all).

Thanks!

Hi Cory! Thanks so much for asking this. For me, characters begin to take shape once I hear them speak. Dialogue is the most important thing. I often walk the streets with my dog, practising sentences out loud. (People in passing cars think I'm talking to the dog.) Once I hit upon a sentence that a character would say, I'm getting closer to who they really are. xx toni

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Hello! Thanks for doing this Q&A :)

Could you share a highlight you had and challenge you faced while writing this book?

Hello Laura! It was fun (and a bit scary) to write something that I hoped would make readers laugh. Scary, because if comedy fails, there's nothing worse. Beautiful writing can exist on a scale of, say Michelle de Kretser (for me) to ugly, but comedy is either funny or not, success or failure. I really just had to be brave and say it was a comedy, without worrying too much.
As to a highlight--I'm lucky, because I love writing fiction. I more than love it. I'm addicted to it. I'd marry it if I could. Sitting down every day, making up characters and having them do things--it's the greatest privilege and the greatest pleasure. Every day I worked on the book was a highlight. xx toni

Ahhh such a great answer Toni :) Thank you so much.

Also I agree re: comedy, I love that you were brave and owned it xx

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Hey Toni!

The farce style of your novel seems very theatrical to me!
Have you ever considered writing for theatre? Or have you ever before?

Thanks :)

Hello Matthew! That's my (not so secret) dream. I love the theatre, especially farce. One of the first plays I saw as a teenager was Mario Fo's 'We can't pay, we won't pay'. I thought it was absolute genius--I laughed myself stupid. I'm hoping that someone will adapt 'Our Tiny, Useless Hearts' but I might have to write something specifically for the theatre. xx toni

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Hi Toni 👋🏼 do you work on a specific outline for a plot or just see where an idea takes you?

(Oops I put this answer in the wrong spot so I'm copying it here)
Hello Sarah! I'd love to be one of those people who have an outline for a plot and work to it. It sounds like such a grown-up way of doing things.
I am not one of those people, unfortunately. I have no idea what's going to happen, seriously. I usually have some kind of idea for an opening scene, because that's the most important thing. The beginning is the scene where everything changes. I don't know who these people are, not yet. But I know if I keep working forward, scene by scene, it generally resolves itself in the end. (Not always--I have two dead manuscripts in my bottom drawer that I couldn't make work.) I'm a big believer in the power of the unconscious mind--perhaps I should have been a Freudian analyst? xx toni

Thanks Toni!

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Hello Sarah! I'd love to be one of those people who have an outline for a plot and work to it. It sounds like such a grown-up way of doing things.
I am not one of those people, unfortunately. I have no idea what's going to happen, seriously. I usually have some kind of idea for an opening scene, because that's the most important thing. The beginning is the scene where everything changes. I don't know who these people are, not yet. But I know if I keep working forward, scene by scene, it generally resolves itself in the end. (Not always--I have two dead manuscripts in my bottom drawer that I couldn't make work.) I'm a big believer in the power of the unconscious mind--perhaps I should have been a Freudian analyst? xx toni

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