An Interview with Tom Trondson

Tom’s debut novel, Moving in Stereo, about a troubled tennis professional from the nineties, won an American Writing Award. He received an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University, where he’s also taught creative writing, and his work has been published in Glimmer Train, The Under Review, and elsewhere. With his latest work, one reviewer wrote, “a novel steeped in a vivid sense of place and culture…women confront men, men confront themselves and each other, and life goes on.” He calls Minneapolis his home.

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Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I’d had dreams about writing as a profession as far back as college. This was the 1980s, when Bret Ellis and Jay McInerney were like celebrity writers. It wasn’t until my daughter was born in the late nineties that I thought about focusing on writing. At the time, I was working a corporate job. I remember thinking, ‘Is this the person I want my daughter to know me as?’ Within a year or so, my wife and I made a plan where I’d be a stay-at-home dad and work toward an MFA in Creative Writing, and she’d pursue a career in business. It still took me about twenty years to get published! Though I wouldn’t change a thing—my first priority was raising our kids. And we did a good job!

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I was a pretty intense junior tennis player. After college, I used those skills to coach some of the most gifted players in the world, at a famous tennis academy in Florida where Andre Agassi and Monica Seles trained. It was long hours on court but huge, huge fun.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

Sport & Leisure came about late in the process. Originally, Jubilee was the running title, and in hindsight, maybe the better title (but too late now!). Sport refers to a script a film producer has gotten hold of that he thinks can be his Raging Bull. I find leisure such a fascinating word. The word came into its own during the Industrial Revolution in England. Nowadays, it’s such a huge part of cultures all over the world.

What part of publishing your book made it feel real for the first time?

For me, it’s getting close to the final edit. I get super nervous that I missed something important or that the book will be full of mistakes and typos, that there’ll be a huge hole in the plot, that the book won’t work as a cohesive whole.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

Great question! One of my protagonists is a huge Springsteen fan. The titles of his chapters are based on Springsteen’s songs. By the way, the guy has the best song titles. Songs include: Prove It All Night, Spirits in the Night, State Trooper, and Glory Days.

What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?

That the world is a messy, violent place where people feel misunderstood and not heard, but that most people, no matter what side they’re on, want to thrive and love and live in a peaceful country.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

It’s always great to finish, to know you’ve done everything you could to make the story work with whatever gifts and tools you have at your disposal during the process. And also, being okay that it’s not perfect, that it is what it is.

What creative projects are you currently working on?

I’m working on a coming-of-age novel that takes place in 1984, about first love and the heart-wrenching heartbreak that follows.

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