Interview with Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa, author of DAUGHTERS OF THE STONE

 

My guest today is the talented Puerto Rican author Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa. Raised in New York City, she taught in the New York City school system before becoming a young-adult librarian. She’s won the Bronx Council on the Arts ACE and BRIO awards, as well as a Literary Arts Fellowship. Daughters of the Stone is her first novel. She lives in the Bronx.

It’s a pleasure having you here today, Dahlma. Tell us a little about your background and how you started writing.

I was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in New York City, mostly the Bronx. When I was ten I was sent to live with my grandparents in rural Puerto Rico. I was an urban kid so when I got there, I was in shock. I thought harmless lizards were baby crocodiles and I felt that hens were perfectly justified in pecking my hands when I was sent out to get eggs. I thought it was gross that milk actually came out of those swollen utters. I just wasn’t ready. I wanted nothing more than to come home to the Bronx. But that’s also when I first started hearing stories about events that happened in the past that I knew nothing about. I remember sitting on the porch into the evening hours listening to stories about hurricanes and cane cutters and old-school dances and the way my grandfather courted my grandmother. I guess I was recording it all in my tiny brain. Who knew so much of it would end up on the pages of a novel so many years later?

Your first novel, DAUGHTERS OF THE STONE, has just been released by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press. How does it feel to hold that first published book in your hands?

I couldn’t really believe it was happening until I received my first copy. That night I fell asleep holding my book and dreaming about walking down the aisles of a superstore where every shelf was packed with my book. I loved seeing the book cover reproduced over and over again, like mirrors reflecting on other mirrors. It was great! I woke up smiling. I’m still smiling.

The novel has already garnered some excellent reviews. What is the novel about and how did you come up with the idea for the story?

The novel is about five generations of women in an Afro-Puerto Rican family. The basic question is what does a woman leave her daughter when she owns nothing, not even own body? The novel is an exploration of legacy. What are the things that are bequeathed to each generation that helps us survive and thrive?

Did you have to do a lot of research?

I took a number of trips to Puerto Rico and interviewed many elders. I took pictures of old houses, visited ruins of plantations and restored plantations. I asked questions, dug into albums, sought out genealogical charts. I haunted the bookstores and bought every book I could find on the life and conditions of slaves in PR. But this book is about social rather than ‘objective’ history (if such a thing exists).

 

Who is your favorite character in the book? Why?

That’s like asking a mother who her favorite daughter is. Each character is near and dear to my heart. I love Fela’s determination, Mati’s strength, Concha’s resilience, Elena’s independence and Carisa’s curiosity. But if I had to pick only one, I think I would pick Mati because of her connection to a magical/mystical time. She exists on a totally different plane. She was the most fun to write because I could let my imagination soar.

Is there a villain in the story? Tell us about him!

Why do you assume it’s a male? I suppose Romero would be the obvious villain. His self-hate makes him a sociopath. He thrives in the service of others who use his pathology to keep their hands clean. So who is the greater villain?

Your story spans five generations of women. Did you do detailed character sketches for each one? Did you work from a detailed outline?

I did do detailed character sketches. But it took me a while to get to that point. At first, I let the story grow organically, without putting any restraints or imposing an external structure on it. It all came out on the pages of my journal. Once it became obvious that the journal entries were part of a larger narrative, I had to begin to organize and hone the work. So the characters sketches grew out of this process. There were too many characters, to many stories and too many complex relationships. Things were getting out of hand. At that point, I had to step in as writer and take control.

Do you have a website and/or blog where readers may learn more about you and your work?

My website is www.llanosfigueroa.com. It’s an on-going project. But there is a lot of information in there and a way of entering into a dialogue with me. I’m really interested in what my readers are thinking about the book.

Is there a second novel in the horizon?

There are already several books on the horizon. There are short stories and travel pieces and maybe even a dramatic monologue. But if you are asking is there a sequel to this book, all I can say is that I don’t think I’m quite done with all these characters. After all, I had to trim two hundred pages out of the original manuscript. And I never throw anything out.

Thanks for the interview!

 

–Mayra Calvani’s latest book is a satire titled, Sunstruck.