#WriterWednesday Interview with Tong Ge

I’d like to welcome Tong Ge to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Favorite thing that you always make time for: Reading and writing.

The thing you’ll always do just about anything to avoid: Starting a legal battle.

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: my computer, my glasses, and a cup of water.

Things that distract you from writing: social media posts.

The thing you like most about being a writer: In the fiction world you created, you are the god. you decide who does what, even who will die and who will live.

The thing you like least about being a writer: doing my taxes. Being a writer just makes it more complicated.

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life:

In 2006, I signed up for my first creative writing course. I remember feeling so happy on my way to the classroom at Mount Royal University—something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Even though writing has been my lifelong dream, I always felt I had to make a living first and had no time to indulge in creative writing. It was the best gift I ever gave myself. On top of that, I had endured so much pain in my life, with the most recent being my boyfriend’s suicide in 2005.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over:

We all make mistakes. Some are more painful than others. Last April, I was working with the editor from my publisher. We were editing my book chapter by chapter, with the last section due from my end by the Easter long weekend. As I’m always self-conscious about my English, I decided to ask ChatGPT to check the grammar for the final quarter of the book, and I ended up adopting its suggestions. I worked until 4:30 on Good Friday morning and sent the final draft to my editor. By the late afternoon, she called me and asked what I had done. She said I somehow had lost my own voice. Even worse, after making those changes, I had saved only the revised clean copy because there wasn’t any time for back-and-forth revisions anyway. As a result, my editor and I had to work together over the phone for hours on Good Friday, line by line, to restore my original version. Although we eventually got it done, the stress of the situation caused me to reinjure myself. I had suffered repetitive strain injuries in both arms due to excessive computer work back in 2001 and had never fully recovered. This episode put me right back into the depths of that pain, leading to a year-long disability leave. If I could do it over, I would’ve never asked ChatGPT to check my grammar.

Something you’re really good at: I’m really good at my job which is financial planning. I’m also very good at investing.

Something you never learned how to do: Fixing my car or building a deck.

Things you always put in your books: Real lifetime events.

Things you never put in your books: My personal sex life.

Favorite things to do: Reading, writing, attending live theatre, traveling, watching good movies, connecting with friends, swimming and learning new things.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Jumping out of an airplane or bungee jumping.

The funniest thing to happen to you:

The funniest thing happened to me earlier this year when I was scheduled to give a presentation at a public hearing in my city. Before leaving the house, I was doing my makeup, but then I got a phone call. After the call, I realized I was running late, so I quickly jumped into the car my friend was driving. As we neared City Hall, for some reason I checked my makeup in the car mirror—and I was horrified! I had only done makeup on half my face. The only way to fix it was to find a store, buy some cosmetics, and quickly finish my makeup before my name was called.

I pulled out my phone and found a nearby Shoppers Drug Mart. We detoured to the store, but there was no parking in front. Normally, I would have asked my friend to idle the car and wait, but there was a police car parked right there, along with a few cops. My friend had to drop me off and circle the block. I rushed inside, explained my situation to a clerk, and she asked which brand I preferred. I said, “The cheapest one!” She led me to a shelf with budget products, and I quickly bought foundation, lipstick, eyeshadow, an eyeshadow brush, and eyeliner—no blush or brush, since I could use my finger to apply lipstick to my cheeks.

When we finally made it to the main hall of City Hall, I heard my name being called just then. Luckily, they were calling four or five names at once, so I knew I had a bit of time. I told the gate keeper guarding the meeting room that I just needed to dash to the washroom. In the washroom, I hurriedly applied makeup to the other half of my face, but to my horror, the lipstick broke at the base.

In the end, I managed to make myself presentable and delivered my presentation in front of the city officials and the public, both in person and online—God knows how many people were watching! Thankfully, no one commented on my makeup. What my friends remembered were my words.

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you:

When I was a graduate student, we had a course where each student had to give a presentation to the entire class. At that point, I had been in Canada for only two years, but I was confident that my English was good enough for academic studies. When it was my turn, I stepped onto the stage and began speaking. Then I noticed the professor burying his head in his hands, trying to hide his uncontrollable laughter. To my horror, I realized I had been saying "sexual" instead of "structural" every time I used the word. Oddly enough, the other students didn’t seem to notice the funniest part of that class!

The nicest thing a reader said to you: My debut novel, “The House Filler,” was the best book she had ever read.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: A review on Goodreads mentioned that if she had known my next two books weren’t out yet, she wouldn’t have read the first one. I wouldn’t call that the craziest thing, though.

The best job you ever had: I once worked as a mortgage insurance underwriter for CMHC, a Crown corporation of the Canadian Federal Government. I loved the job because of the excellent learning environment. The company paid for our travel to different cities for courses and also covered the cost of our French lessons.

The worst job you ever had: Oddly enough, it is the same job. I was injured on the job, resulting in a permanent disability that forced me to leave. I’ve never fully gotten over it. I still often dream of returning and have mourned the loss for the past 23 years.

About Tong:

Born and raised in China, Tong Ge came to Canada in the late 80s as an international student. Since 2012, she has been publishing poems, prose, and short stories in both English and Chinese across North America, England, and Taiwan. With four literary prizes already received, she is also a finalist for four others. Her debut novel, The House Filler was published in Canada in 2023 and is one of five worldwide finalists for the 2023 Eyelands Book Awards in the Historical Fiction + Memoir category. It is also the winner of the 2024 Independent Press Award for New Fiction and a finalist for the 2024 Canadian Book Club Awards.

Let’s Be Social:

Website (Coming Soon): Tong-Ge.com | Author

X: @Tong_Ge1

Instagram: @writertongge