The renovated Allbritton Building is not only home to the Shapiro Creative Writing Center but is now the new quarters of award-winning Writer in Residence Amy Bloom ’75. Bloom was appointed as the Kim-Frank Family University Writer in Residence last spring and over the next four years will teach two classes a year and be the advisor for several creative writing theses. Bloom’s recent novel “Away” and her new collection of short stories, “Where the God of Love Hangs Out,” have both been best sellers. Bloom sat down with The Argus to talk about the two TV pilots she is working on, her monthly open-campus forums on writing, and what it takes to be a writer.

The Argus: How does it feel to return to your alma mater as a professor this time?

Amy Bloom: Aside from physical resemblance, it doesn’t really feel like a homecoming. There are people on the faculty such as Don Moon in Government who I knew as a student. I was at Wesleyan for two years because I came in as a transfer. It’s nice to know my way around campus. I don’t think there was anything really as posh as this [Shapiro Center] lounge when I was here.

A: What are your goals for this semester?

AB: To get acquainted with students and faculty. To help anyone who has a problem with prose or a question about prose, whether it’s just “how do I write this letter to my mother”. I’m there for them, it doesn’t matter if they’re part of the writing program or the English department. It should be like that Charlie Brown cartoon with Lucy, if I can help somebody with something having to do with prose, or reading or writing. It’s like, “The Doctor is In.” I want to have an open forum once a month where students can come and talk to me.

A: Do you have open office hours?

AB: I do. And starting in January I’m going to have an open student forum once a month for everybody. If you want feedback, or you want to have a 10-minute conversation on your writing piece, you can come to my office hours.

A: How do you think the Wesleyan student body has changed since you were a student here?

AB: It’s bigger than when I was here and it was the last of the days when faculty lived near campus. When I was a student, faculty literally had students over to their houses for dinner weekly. That was one of the things I felt then and I’m not so aware of now. There aremore dorms, more cars. I think I just knew one boy with a car, and it was a good thing he had a car because he was not cute.

A: Where did you get the idea for the plot-line of “Away”?

AB: My dad was a journalist, and he liked offbeat stories, and he told me this one story when I was eleven about a Russian immigrant who came to Manhattan and literally walked back to Russia. I was really intrigued with the idea, and I went to Alaska to research the story. I didn’t find anything, but fortunately it didn’t make a difference, didn’t matter to me whether it was a real story or not because I liked the idea.

A: Which do you like better; writing a short story or a novel?

AB: I like them both very much. Novels are daunting. On the other hand you get to explore things more thoroughly. Short stories feel like little novels. It’s like a great poem. I read a lot of poetry but I can’t write it.

A: What are you currently reading?

AB: I’m not reading anybody because I’m writing.  I can’t read when I’m working on deadlines. I read a mystery recently. I have a poetry book by M.S. Merwin I’m reading.

A: What are you currently working on?

AB: I’m just finishing a pilot script for HBO and another pilot script for NBC.

A: What are some of the things that are different about writing for TV than writing a novel?

AB: I think almost anyone can write a script for television that looks correct. TV has its own form, structure, and rhythm that you can look up online and anyone can replicate. This is the sixth pilot script I’ve written. I’m writing dramas — I can’t write sitcoms. The pilots are funny though. They have to be good and watchable and continue to be compelling in order for it to work.

A: I saw that you wrote a book about transsexual CEO’s.

AB: It wasn’t just on transsexual CEO’s but also on cross-dressing cops, hermaphrodites, and transgenders.

A: Wesleyan has such a culture of talking about gender-neutral and sexuality on campus.

AB: I don’t actually know what gender-neutral means. I would say that there was no one I spoke to in the course of researching that book who wants a gender-neutral universe. But I think having people talk about gender and sexuality is good — and even better than talking about it is thinking about it.

A: What advice do you give to people who want to be professional writers?

AB: Write a good and interesting sentence. Read a lot of different people. If you like Charles Dickens, read Stephen King. Don’t just look for your own mirror image in someone else’s creative piece. Take it seriously. Don’t screw around. Don’t pretend your writing is something better than it is.

A: Did you have to send your stories out a lot before they got published?

AB: I only sent out a little. I got lucky. In the modern world there’s going to be somebody somewhere who’s going to like your stuff. There are thousands of literary publications online—somebody will post your work. Ask yourself whether you care more about having your blog read or being a better writer? It’s not to say that you can’t do both, but your time is limited.