interview with Vanessa Cuti
My introduction to Vanessa Cuti’s work was her story “Our Children,” which appeared in The Best American Short Stories 2021. I admired so much about that story, including her brilliant use of subtlety. And while there is just as much to admire about her debut novel, The Tip Line, once again her use of subtlety is simply masterful.
The novel follows thirty-year-old Virginia as she begins working as the operator at the local police tip line. She’s eager to meet a man and get married, which is basically her primary focus, even as one tip reveals the location of several women’s bodies. The tip is courtesy of a sex worker, who continues calling to talk to Virginia, providing sordid details about local police officers. As authorities speculate that the murders were done by someone who knows police procedure and Virginia becomes involved with someone on the force, her main concern remains whether her love interest is indeed marriage material. This clever novel delightfully resists easy categorization, and is the perfect summer read for anyone who loves surprising voice-y literary fiction with delightfully unreliable narrators.
I’m so happy Vanessa agreed to this interview!
Did you ever doubt this book would be published?
I had doubts about this book’s publication more often than not, to be honest. It was on submission a long time (almost 16 months) and we got a lot of really complimentary passes but concerns that it crossed genres and so for a while I thought it wasn’t going to make it. But I’m so thankful that my publisher took a chance on my strange little book and that it’s finding its people out in the real world.
Can you share any tips or tricks for staying motivated?
I really think it comes down to being very in love. Being really haunted by the story you want to tell. If you’re not obsessed with it, if you don’t feel that you must tell this story and that only you can tell this story in this way, then I don’t think there will be any motivation to move forward with it. As far as getting published, I think it’s important to develop a certain level of comfort with rejection. And perseverance, definitely, because the nos never stop.
Any reading recommendations?
I’ve been reading a lot of Substacks, actually! For some wild reason, the most totally relevant ones seem to arrive at the exact right time. Substack magic! Some of the ones I’m loving: Before and After the Book Deal, Craft Talk, How to Glow in the Dark and of course Pub Cheerleaders. Sometimes, if I find myself stuck, I will dip back into novels I’ve loved, even if it’s just to reread a few pages. Seeing what other writers have done, what’s possible on a line level, can jar the block loose.
What about music? Did you have a song that feels central to this novel?
I don’t listen to music while I’m writing, but while I was working on The Tip Line I listened to a lot of 2010 playlists in my free time. The book takes place in 2010 and I was trying to remember what that time sounded like. There’s a party scene that’s sort of pivotal and I wanted to know what would have been playing at that party. A little bit of method writing, I guess. Also, randomly, a lot of Peggy Lee and Jo Stafford and the like, especially “My Man” and “Is That All There Is.”
Thank you, Vanessa!