无声运行

像许多有抱负的小说家一样， 87年的彼得·昆特一直觉得自己有一个故事要讲. “I just needed to find the words I really believe in and have the confidence and time to buckle down and produce a novel that touches on a topic that has always been very close to my heart—the Deaf experience,他解释道.

今年2月，年纪轻轻就失聪的昆特发表了一篇文章 有弹性的沉默 (救赎出版社)这是为数不多的以聋人角色为主角的#自己的声音#小说之一，作者是聋人。. 被称为“聋人体验悬疑小说”,这个故事主要讲述了两兄弟之间的关系, 因为失去父亲的悲痛而分离, 以及他们在克服各自障碍的过程中所表现出的韧性.

“这部小说 transports the reader into the language experience and life perspective of a young Deaf child first learning to communicate and also that of an adult who experiences the trauma of a sudden-onset hearing loss,昆特写道. “It is a celebration of the Deaf experience as well as an examination of how faith and the search for and dependence on a higher power can lead to true recovery.”

三十多年来，这个故事变成了 有弹性的沉默 在他的脑海里盘旋. 一路上，他经历了许多人生’5个里程碑:结婚、成家、事业有成. (他从刘易斯获得了聋人教育硕士学位 & 1989年克拉克学院, has worked as a teacher of the Deaf for nearly 30 years and has taught as a middle school teacher of the Deaf in the Seattle Public Schools since 2015.)

“要充分发展的前提, 我需要经历一些具有挑战性的生活环境，了解各种各样的人,昆特写道。, 谁也是新生命聋人团契的导师, 一个由聋哑基督徒创建并为他们服务的事工, 也是聋人心光的创始人, 一个针对聋人的分步生活支持项目.“推动这整个过程的是我与上帝关系的成熟和大量的祈祷.”

It took Quint being “stuck on a bus commute for hours each day” to commit the first draft of his novel into a bunch of notebooks. 当疫情爆发时, 暂停他的教学工作几个月, “我得到了意外的意外之财，这使我能够将初稿打造成一个连贯的章节集,他补充道.

在一个Q里&A, 昆特回顾了他作为一名学生运动员在十大正规网赌平台的时光, 他自己作为一个聋人学生适应大学生活的障碍, 以及他希望通过写作分享的信息.

你是怎么来西方学校的?

我是我们家第三代，也是第九个在西方学校上学的人. 我第一次接触奥施康定是在蹒跚学步的时候，当时我父亲(迈克·昆特，58岁)是西方橄榄球队的教练. I remember hanging out with the guys in the stinky old locker room under the rickety wooden stands on the side of the football stadium nearest the street. 当我在高中最后一年选择大学的时候, Oxy的学术质量和丰富的田径传统给我留下了深刻的印象，所以我决定入学.

当我上西方学校的时候, 我是人们所说的聋哑人——我不会使用美国手语，也不具备任何技能. 从那以后，我就从一个口头的、不手语的聋人变成了一个手语的、文化上的聋人. 虽然朱利叶斯(小说的主人公)不像我那样会读唇语, 他的许多经历 有弹性的沉默 反映了我在Oxy的田径和社会经历.

你的大学生活怎么样? 

大学是一段成长的时期，也是一段继续走向韧性的时期. 我学会了如何成为一个更好的作家和批判性思考者. 在体育, NCAA三级联赛对我来说是一个很好的水平，因为它让我既可以作为学生又可以作为运动员在国家一级比赛. I made some good friends and the smaller class sizes allowed me to follow along with instruction in the absence of accommodations for my hearing loss.

It was my first time living away from home and I needed to learn the hard way how to advocate for myself with very little understanding of my rights as a Deaf person. I failed a French class but didn’t know that I could appeal for alternative assessments due to the difficulty of accessing the language via lip reading. It was a bit of a socially awkward time for me because I was not able to access much of the social scene and effectively handle the group dynamics of people who lacked an understanding of Deaf people and people with hearing loss.

你是如何选择英国文学作为专业的?

I originally intended to be a biology major but a low grade in the introductory course prompted me to think I would have more success and enjoyment in English literature as I have always loved to read. Since high school I have had a talent in creative writing and I do credit Oxy for its institution-wide emphasis on solidifying writing skills.

你是奥克斯田径名人堂的一员, 他于2015年入选, 两次入选NCAA三分赛全美最佳球员,000米障碍赛. 你对那件事的兴趣从何而来? 

在高中时, I was a member of the Washington state high school cross country championship team and wanted to continue distance running in college. 我试过几个长距离的径赛项目，但我的天赋主要是在障碍赛上. 我的障碍赛首秀成绩是氧科大一新生中最快的(9分23秒)，所以我主要关注的是这个成绩加上10分,000米. 与其他事件相比, in the steeplechase I found I was better able to keep up with and compete with some of the top 运动员s in the region and nation. 我能够以4:40英里的速度越过障碍，创造了8:58的个人纪录.

作为一名聋人学生运动员参加比赛的挑战是什么?

从我还是个小男孩的时候起, I have practiced overcoming barriers and doing the extra work that it takes to keep up with or even perform better than other people who don’t face the same barriers. That instilled in me a confidence and perspective that gave me a mental advantage over some other talented distance runners who saw the steeplechase hurdles as barriers that slowed them down.

你仍然是一个积极的跑步者吗?

跑步仍然是一项体力活动，我可以参与其中，帮助我的心理平衡. 考虑到我的年龄，我试着保持一个跑步计划，这样可以避免受伤. 现在我设定了5K的时间目标, 因为这似乎是一个很好的距离，可以跑得很快，而且不会因为过度训练而受伤.

你在你的 视频博客 你是在毕业的时候开始构思这部小说的.

从奥施康学院毕业后，我在古吉兰瓦拉的一所基督教寄宿男校工作了一年, 巴基斯坦. 我继续跑着，有一天，我发现自己完全迷失在城市一个贫民窟的街道上. 这个想法的种子 有弹性的沉默 其实是我在迷宫般的街道上迷路时栽赃的. 很自然地，我吸引了一群小孩和一些成年人. 我突然想到，如果我问路, 即使他们会说英语，我也听不懂，因为我无法理解他们的唇读，他们的口音很重.

Later that day I was reflecting on the experience of finally figuring out how to get out of that place and came up with the idea of a story of a Deaf boy trying to navigate his own way through challenging situations where most people around him communicated in a way that is inaccessible to him.

有弹性的沉默 故事发生在21世纪30年代和40年代. 是什么促使你把故事设定在未来?

I wanted to imagine America turning to a measure of self-protection and building border walls in response to a nuclear attack by foreign terrorists. 尽管这种孤立主义并不是故事的主题, 它确实影响了其中一个主角参军的决定，并与一个经常看不见的“他者”作战,这给了他一种使命感.

作为一个作家，谁对你有影响?

There are very few of us Deaf authors who write full-length novels with Deaf characters and depict the community of Deaf people interacting with sign language. 我的一些同龄人是萨拉·诺维茨基 (战争中的女孩)Alison Gervais (我们之间的沉默)劳拉·布朗 (吸引的迹象). The niche I fill is that I tend to write suspense fiction with Deaf characters facing situations that challenge their faith and foundational beliefs. Sometimes these characters make choices that cause them to repeatedly fail and they eventually learn the true meaning of grace. 有时他们永远学不会，这就是生活的一部分.

你的YouTube视频详细介绍了写作和编辑过程. 这本书在编辑过程中发生了多大的变化?

初稿需要大量的工作. 我很幸运能和Redemption Press的一位非常优秀的编辑一起工作, 美国马丁, 她自己就是一位出版过作品的作家吗. 她提供指导, 让我能够重新开始每一章，并通过良好的角色发展推动故事向前发展, 对话, 和行动，使读者有动力继续下一章.

The biggest evolution this novel experienced in the editing process was the development of the relationship between the two main characters—two brothers who start out distant and inaccessible to each other.

对此的反应是什么 有弹性的沉默 到目前为止? 

One of the goals I had in publishing this novel is to draw the reader into a deeper understanding and experience of the life experiences and perspectives of Deaf people. 没有一种方法可以成为聋子. The challenge I am addressing is in showing how a young intelligent Deaf boy who cannot read lips very well experiences the verbal language presented to him and his confusion as he progresses through school and other parts of life. 从我收到的反馈来看, I believe I have succeeded in giving the reader an experience of this confusion as well as the clarity and illumination that often comes when a Deaf person learns the native sign language of their country.

既然你已经发表了 有弹性的沉默你身上还有别的书吗?

有弹性的沉默 追溯了朱利叶斯·麦克莱伦作为一个努力理解和交流的年轻聋儿的故事, 继续他作为一名田径运动员的高中经历，他有着非凡的跑步天赋. 贯穿全书, 他最好的朋友, 艾米, often functions as his Deaf “sounding board” which allows the reader to see and understand Julius’ thoughts and motivations through 对话. 我正在策划续集，是朱利叶斯和艾米的故事的延续.

有弹性的沉默 可以通过昆特的作者 网站 以及通过其他在线书商. 在Facebook上关注他(@peterquintdeafauthor).