Interview with Leland Pitts-Gonzalez, author of The Blood Poetry

Leland studied Creative Writing and Ethnic Studies at San FranciscoStateUniversity where he discovered the enormous possibilities of poetry, experimentation, and critical theory. He eventually earned an MFA in Writing from ColumbiaUniversity on a merit fellowship. He has published fiction in Open City, Fence, Dark Sky Magazine, Drunken Boat, and Monkey Bicycle, among other literary journals. He is also the project director for an upcoming literary event series, Phantasmagoria: Language and Technology of Suffering, for which he received fiscal sponsorship from the New York Foundation for the Arts. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

About the book:

Is Epstein a despicable man?

He’s certainly trying desperately at something. When his wife disappears he’s frantic to talk to his daughter. But what can he tell her? There must be a reason and he’s all but sure about the gruesome answer. Can he protect Sylvia from the truth, from her terrible lineage and, ultimately, from himself?

Off-beat and sordid, The Blood Poetry is a twisted, yet honest look at our desire to connect with others and the ways in which we are often stymied by our own efforts to get closer. Epstein is a curious mix of monster and romantic struggling to maintain a shred of dignity in his dingy, beat down world.

Interview 

What was your inspiration for The Blood Poetry?

The title of my novel, The Blood Poetry, came to me quite a while after I finished several drafts.  I plucked the title from a line in the novel where an evangelical preacher of a church led by conjoined-twins who date back to the Civil War, refers to his sermon as “blood poetry.”  That seemed very fitting to me as a title.  The novel literally and symbolically revolves around “blood”—as nutrients for the undead characters; the blood of explicit and implicit violence; and, perhaps most importantly, blood as the central metaphor for “family and lineage” which, for the main character, is the source of his suffering.  Also, as a fiction writer and reader, I’m very drawn to voice and adroit uses of language—not simply lyricism, but the odd ways one can craft language to demonstrate a character’s state of mind; the manipulation of cadence and tempo to convey tension rather than relying on plot; and, when it comes down to it, I like reading other writers who invent bizarre ways of narrating because it feels like I’m being invited into a really strange and, maybe, dangerous place.

Tell us something about your hero and/or heroine that my readers won’t be able to resist.

I don’t think there are any true heroes in my book.  The protagonist ultimately transforms into an “anti-hero.”  He’s our narrator, our vehicle into the novel’s world, and the character with whom a reader may feel very conflicted empathizing.  I hope he’s more complicated than simply being despicable—he is, in fact, empathetic, too; pretty funny, vulnerable, and victimized; and really does have a sincere interest in the wellbeing of his daughter, Sylvia.  The question is: Can he overcome all the uglier elements of his personality?

Is there a villain or villainess in your story? Tell us about him/her.

Although I just described Epstein as an anti-hero, the villain that he reveals to us as the epitome of evil is Professor Applebaum—his mother’s boyfriend during Epstein’s childhood.  Professor Applebaum—as a bloodsucker and stand-in for forces which terrify us most as children—transforms Epstein’s mother into “a monster.”  He observes—and is complicit—in the suffering that Applebaum imposes on victims.  Although our main character was a child during that time, the fact that he was complicit in the pain of other people devastates him.  Epstein is not, at his core, an evil man.

Who is your favorite character in the book and why?

I think my favorite character in the book is the daughter, Sylvia.  As the writer, I was able to develop a lot of empathy for her; plus, in the beginning, she’s very rambunctious and rebellious, morphs into someone who is more introspective, but still has a lot of verve.  Sections which involved her were a lot of fun to write because I allowed myself the freedom of messing with the language, as well as mimicking her internal voice.  She seems to be the smartest, most empathetic, and most humane character in the novel.

What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?

I’m not totally sure, but I’ve always liked the opening.  It begins immediately with Epstein sprinting toward Sylvia’s school—the set-up is tense, and I hope the language reflects that.

What do you love most about being an author?

I really, really like making things up—characters, worlds, and voices.  And it’s always exhilarating to affect people who appreciate dark fiction in a meaningful, impactful way.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell my readers?

Thanks for still finding wonder in the world of words.

Author’s twitter: @lpitttsgonzalez

Author’s facebook: www.facebook.com/TheBloodPoetry

Link to excerpt: www.goodreads.com/book/show/15727062-the-blood-poetry

Link to purchase page: www.amazon.com/gp/product/1935738259

Link to book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheBloodPoetry2012

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“Wrestling with Point of View in Writing,” by Holly Robinson, author of SLEEPING TIGERS

When I was in first grade, I had an art teacher who shamed me into crying in front of the entire classroom.

She had given us an easy assignment. Handing out blocks of wood, she asked us to draw faces on them. I loved art, and happily got to work drawing a man’s face. When I’d finished with his features, he looked more alien than man, I thought, so I painted his face bright blue. (I blame my mother: she had been reading to me from her science fiction novel rather than any of those boring children’s books.)

My teacher went down the row of student desks, nodding and smiling as the children held up their wooden faces for praise. And then she got to me, and nearly went into one of those whirling fits of rage I now associate with Roald Dahl characters.

“You painted your face blue?” she shrieked. “You can’t paint a face blue! What kind of face is that?”

“It’s an alien’s face,” I said, tearing up.

I might as well have said “Satan.” The art teacher hauled me over to sit in the corner and made me do another face while the rest of the kids tittered.

Now, this story happens to be true, but if I were writing fiction, I could have chosen to relay from a different perspective. For example, I might have written it from the teacher’s point of view, or from the point of view of the town sheriff, who is called into school after the art teacher is found dead…or after an alien invasion, during which the art teacher and several other people in town are abducted! Then I might have used multiple points of view.

Wrestling with point of view is something that writers do every day in fiction, and it’s one of the most frustrating—and fun—aspects of writing. Sometimes it takes several drafts before you get the point of view that works for a particular story; for instance, if you’re writing about an alien invasion, you might want what’s called an “author omniscient” point of view, which basically means that you’re relaying the story from on high, from multiple points of view or even in multiple time frames. If you want a scarier, tenser read, you might choose a first person point of view, where the narrator doesn’t really know what’s happening, leaving the reader to ride along on her coattails as she figures things out.

In Sleeping Tigers, my first novel, I chose what’s called a “limited third person” point of view—this means that I can only be inside the main character’s head, and nobody else’s. I did this because I wanted to create a tight emotional connection between my protagonist, a young woman named Jordan, and my readers, while still having the freedom to write lush descriptive passages of other characters and the setting (San Francisco and Nepal, in this case).

For my next novel, The Wishing Hill, to be published in spring 2013 by Penguin, I created the story of two women who are bound in ways they don’t suspect, so I decided to alternate points of view between them. That lets the reader discover their complex interconnectedness even before the characters themselves know what’s going on. Now I’m writing a paranormal mystery; for that one, I’m using a first person point of view to ramp up the scare factor.

Take a closer look at the book you’re reading right now and check out the point of view. Think about how the story might have been different if the author had chosen a different one. Did the author make the right choice? What would you have done?

About the author:

Holly Robinson is a journalist and comic whose work appears regularly in national venues such as Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Huffington Post, Ladies’ Home Journal, More, Open Salon and Parents. Her first book, The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter: A Memoir, was published by Harmony Books in May 2009 and was released in paperback in June 2010. It was a Barnes & Noble memoir selection as well as a Target Breakout Book.

Ms. Robinson holds a B.A. in biology from Clark University and an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She and her husband have five children, two cats, a single gerbil and two very stubborn small dogs. They are currently renovating an antique house north of Boston, and will probably never finish it.

To learn more about Holly Robinson, please visit www.authorhollyrobinson.com

Sleeping Tigers
By Holly Robinson

Jordan O’Malley has everything she ever wanted: a job she loves, a beautiful home, and a dependable boyfriend. When her life unravels after a breast cancer scare, Jordan decides to join her wildest childhood friend in San Francisco and track down her drifter brother, Cam, who harbors secrets of his own.

When Cam suddenly flees the country, Jordan follows, determined to bring him home. Her journey takes her to the farthest reaches of majestic Nepal, where she encounters tests—and truths—about love and family that she never could have imagined.

Funny, heartbreaking, and suspenseful, Sleeping Tigers reminds us all that sometimes it’s better to follow your heart instead of a plan.

Get it for the Kindle and in paperback.

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Book Review: Black Cow, by Magdalena Ball

Magdalena Ball’s latest novel, Black Cow, is the engrossing, poignant story of a family trying to spiritually survive in a world ruled by materialism.

James and Freya Archer live in one of Sydney’s poshest suburbs. Together with their teenaged children, Cameron and Dylan, they live the good life surrounded by luxuries and everything money can buy. James has an executive position in a top firm, drives a Jaguar and wears Gucci silk ties. Freya works in real estate–not that she needs the sporadic commissions, as James’ corporate career allows her to enjoy weekly manicures and beauty salons, tanning sessions and $900 bags. Cameron and Dylan have the latest smartphones and laptops.

Yet, are they happy? Far from it.

The family is trapped in an endless cycle of “consumption without limits” where money and possessions have become dangerous obsessions rather than a means to happiness. The kids have no idea what money is, as if the coins and bills fall automatically from the sky. They waste food, throwing away platefuls and buying more:

“It was a consumption binge: an endless cycle of buy and chuck out.”

The kids, always hooked to their electronic gadgets, don’t even raise their eyes to greet their parents when they come from school, lost in their own virtual realities and always in a bad mood in spite of their ample allowances and all their latest goodies.

Freya is profoundly frustrated by her real estate job and by the fact that she must be a constant actress in order to pimp for houses. James, on the other hand, is constantly tortured by stress. He often complains of shoulder pain, headache, stomach upset. As if that isn’t enough, he drinks way too much alcohol on a daily basis. Freya knows that something is definitely wrong. She also knows she must do something before it’s too late.

The one day James suffers a nervous breakdown: depression, exhaustion, his hands and feet jerking spasmodically. He’s had a close call, but what will it be next time? A stroke? A heart attack?

What James and Freya crave is simplicity, going back to basics. What they crave is change. With this in mind, they decide to leave the city and all their luxuries and try their luck in a remote farmhouse in the peaceful island of Tasmania.

“Life was too short, and before you knew it, after a lifetime of putting off what matters, the family you love have grown and you’ve forgotten who you are…”

But will it work? What is real happiness? Is it a state of mind unrelated to location?

I really enjoyed reading this novel. I have been reading nothing but genre fiction lately, so this was definitely refreshing. Black Cow is the absorbing, moving story of a family trying to stay together in a world full of consumerism, a place devoid of spirituality and deep emotional connections. This is a tale that will make you pause and ponder about the quality of your own life. Ball writes with skilful perception and attention to human emotions and motivations. The characters, especially those of James and Freya, are deftly drawn, real people with fears and tribulations and especially, filled with contradictory feelings about what they think they want and what they need out of life. They’re devoid of idealism. Our society is a force that shapes us all, and Ball shows this through her characters, telling it as it is, with its own ugly realities. Most readers will identify with James and Freya and their predicament. I especially enjoyed Freya’s and James’ inner monologues and their takes on life. Ultimately, Black Cow gives us hope.

Get the book:

Amazon

Book Depository

Bewrite Books

Click here to read an excerpt

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Interview with CS DeWildt, author of Candy and Cigarettes

CS DeWildt lives in Tucson Arizona with his wife and sons. His novella Candy and Cigarettes was recently released by Vagabondage Press as an ebook. His short stories can be found online at Bartleby Snopes, Word Riot, The Bicycle Review, Foundling Review, and Writers Bloc.

About the book

In the face of revenge, innocence is meaningless.

Death is omnipresent to small-town loner Lloyd Bizbang. Today proves no exception. After being attacked yet again by a pair of sociopaths who have targeted him since childhood, Lloyd stumbles upon a sight he wishes he could unsee in the town junkyard. Now as he just tries to live through another day, the bodies are stacking up in the town of Horton, and Lloyd finds himself connected to each of them via the drug-and-drink-addled, unhinging police chief, yet another person who has an old score to settle with Lloyd. A game of revenge and survival is underway, but will there be a winner at the day’s end?

Interview

Thanks for stopping by The Dark Phantom. Tell us a bit about your novella, Candy and Cigarettes, and what inspired you to write such a story.

The setting initially. I wanted to set something in a fictionalized version of the town I grew up in, something dark, something that explored the nature of revenge and redemption. So I got to work and put my main character, Lloyd Bizbang, on shoulder of the main highway that ran through town and the story just took over from there.

How would you describe your creative process while writing this book? Was it stream-of-consciousness writing, or did you first write an outline?

I don’t outline. I’ve tried it and it doesn’t work for me. I work better without a plan so I start with a vague idea of where I’m going and then take the scenic route. I find interesting stuff along the way and if I get lost it doesn’t matter, I always end up someplace.

Do you get along with your muse? What do you do to placate her when she refuses to inspire you?

Ah, the muse. So easy to dismiss unless you’ve really tried to create something true.
I wait, plain and simple. My muse is wild and runs out on me often, like a bad-for-you lover you just can’t break free from. She’s high maintenance, but she’s mine and I know she’ll come back to me eventually. She knows I’m faithful to her. I just keep at it and she returns, tearful, remorseful, and full of sweet surprises.

From the moment you conceived the idea for the story, to the published book, how long did it take?

I spent two months getting a quality draft together. Then I submitted it to a few appropriate small presses, waited for the rejections, got them, and then finally received word Vagabondage Press was interested about nine months after I finished it. From there it was almost another year for editing and finally publication.

Describe your working environment.

I try to keep it sparse with as little distraction as possible. I try. But most of the time it’s a mess. I just moved to a bigger place and now I have a room just devoted to my writing. It’s the first time I haven’t had to share my space with a houseguest or washing machine or the accumulated crap of my three plus decades as a good consumer.

They say authors have immensely fragile egos… How would you handle negative criticism or a negative review?

It goes with the territory, so you better get used to it. If someone says something especially spiteful, well that says more about them than the work. And you just have to realize that writing is a highly subjective art form. Take any great work of literature and read the reviews on Amazon.com. No matter what it is some people will love it and some people will hate it. That said, I take constructive feedback, but in the end it’s my party and if you don’t like it, you can go someplace else.

Are you a disciplined writer?

More than most, less than some. It’s tough to say. My goal is to get something on paper every day and most days I succeed. But I’m sure there are other writers who would consider me lazy if we’re talking word count only.

How do you divide your time between taking care of a home and children, and writing? Do you plan your writing sessions in advance?

I solved that problem by waking up earlier than everyone else. I love to write in the early morning, when it’s still dark and the world is quiet. It’s as if I’m the only person alive and I’m doing exactly what I want to do.

What is the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

You can’t be a writer if you don’t write, so put in the time.
I think I saw that on the television.

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Interview with Cuban Playwright and Novelist Teresa Dovalpage

Please welcome my special guest, award-winning Cuban playwright and novelist Teresa Dovalpage. She’s here today to talk about her novel, Habanera.

Teresa has a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature and is the author of five novels, three in Spanish and two in English, and a collection of short stories in Spanish. Her plays has been staged in Chicago by Aguijon Theater and in small theaters in Miami. Her articles, reviews and short stories have appeared in Rosebud, Latino Today, Afro-Hispanic Review, Baquiana, La Peregrina, Letras Femeninas, El Nuevo Herald and other publications. She currently works as a freelancer for The Taos News and the bilingual paper Mas New Mexico. Visit her website at www.dovalpage.com.

Teresa presently lives in Taos, New Mexico, where she teaches Spanish and Spanish Literature at UNM-Taos. Her blog in Spanish, that complements her narrative workshop, is http://dovalpage.wordpress.com/ and her blog in English, where some of her articles are posted, is http://teredovalpage.wordpress.com.

Q: Thanks for this interview, Teresa! When did you decide you wanted to become a writer?

A: Thank you, chica! Now that I think of it, I probably decided to become a writer when I was a teenager. I grew up in Havana during the 80’s and entertainment options were quite limited then—camping out in rustic settings or going to Saturday night parties. I was never the cheez boom bah type (in fact, I was a nerd) and was afraid of snakes so I stayed home in the company of books. After reading thousands of pages, there came a time when I thought, “Hey, I bet I can write one too.” And I began to write…some really awful stories, according to my mother.

Q: Did anyone in your family write or have creative interests?

A: My grandfather used to have long conversations with himself and he often wrote them down. He transcribed them carefully, in dialogues between two characters “Yo” and “Mí mismo” (I and Myself). I don’t know if this counts as creativity, though… I tried to depict a few of his eccentricities in Ponciano, the main character’s grandfather in my novel Habanera, a Portrait of a Cuban Family.

Q: Did you have any struggles or difficulties when you started writing?

A: While I lived in Cuba I didn’t think there would be any opportunity for me to publish my books so I just keep writing for the love of it, por amor al arte. But I knew I would eventually leave the island, which happened in 1996. Once I came to “La Yuma,” as we call the United States, it was quite a smooth road. I didn’t even have an agent when I began, just sent the manuscript of A Girl like Che Guevara to as many publishing houses as I could think of. “Someone is going to pick it up, someday,” I figured.

Q: Did you have any mentors?

A: Pues claro! There are two writers that I greatly admire and consider my mentors, mis maestras. One is Lorraine Lopez, author of The Gifted Gabaldón Sisters and a finalist of the 2010 PEN /Faulkner Award. I always learn a lot about plot development and structure from reading her books. And my fellow Cuban Ana Cabrera Vivanco, currently living in Spain and author of Las Horas del Alma, a brilliant novel that I expect to see translated into English soon.

Q: Let’s talk now about your novel, Habanera, which has garnered some rave reviews. What is it about and what was your inspiration for it?

A: It started as a memoir, but at a given moment I realized I had reinvented history too much. After some prodding from my mother, who called me a liar among other things, I decided to turn it into fiction. It is loosely based on my own family, though I added many events that never happened in reality. (There was no ghost at home, at least that I knew of.) But the characters are inspired in my parents and grandparents who were—and are—a weird and motley crew.

Q: Habanera combines quirky humor with compelling drama. How do you decide when to incorporate humor in this type of novel? Is it a conscious decision or does it come natural?

A: Well, some things that people find funny were never intended to be humorous at all, hehehe…

Q: One of the reviewers wrote: “Dovalpage is a master of quirky, loveable characters, and emotionally resonant narrative.” How do you create your characters and make them genuine? How do you make your prose shine with emotion?

A: In this case, I copied most of the characters from reality so creating “genuine” characters was relatively easy. After all, I knew the models well… As for the emotion part, I try to give as many details as I can, to get inside the characters’ heads and let hem do the talking.

Q: What was your writing process like while working on Habanera? Was it difficult to go back in time and relive that experience?

A: Since I started it as a memoir the writing process was like keeping a journal backwards. I wrote down a series of episodes as they came to my memory (the unfortunate event with the Christmas pig at home, the visits to the cemetery…) But when I decided to turn it into a novel I changed the timeframe, from the 80’s to the 90’s, so I had to go back and rewrite some scenes… In general it was fun to relive my childhood experiences. I could see for the first time how quirky it really was.

Q: Tell us what the revision process is like for you. Do you edit as you write or do you edit later?

A: Both. I edit as I write and when I finish the manuscript, I have someone read the final draft too, particularly when it is in English. Ay, these pesky prepositions! My husband Gary has been very helpful in that respect.

Q: How was your road to publication?

A: It hasn’t been too difficult. After my first novel in English, A Girl like Che Guevara, was published by Soho Press, I had three more novels (in Spanish) published—Posesas de La Habana Posesas de La Habana, (Crazy Ladies of Havana, PurePlay Press, 2004), Muerte de un murciano en la Habana (Death of a Murcian in Havana) that was a runner-up for the Herralde Award in 2006 and El Difunto Fidel (The Late Fidel) that won the Rincon de la Victoria Award in Spain in 2009. It was a little more complicated to find a home for a collection of short stories in Spanish, Por culpa de Candela and other stories, but I finally did. And then came Habanera…

Q: What do you love most about the writer’s life?

A: The fact that I can write at home when I feel like it, surrounded by my cats and dogs…And wearing my moo-moo, though I only do that when my husband isn’t around. And most importantly, to hear from the readers, to get the personal feedback that makes all the butt-hours spent in front of the computer worthy. There is a fan of Cuban Literature in Spain who has created a website called La Biblioteca Cubana de Barbarito (Barbarito’s Cuban Library). When I get a message from him or from another reader, I feel in seventh heaven…

Q: What Latina authors have inspired you?

A: Many of them! But I want to mention Elena Avila, who sadly passed away last March. She wrote Woman Who Glows in the Dark, a national bestseller about curanderismo, and several beautiful plays. I used Woman Who Glows in the Dark as a textbook in my Santeria and Curanderismo class at the University of New Mexico and it inspired me to write a book on that topic, 101 Questions to a Curandera, that I am presently co-authoring with an eight-generation curandera, Patricia Padilla. The only thing I regret is not having been able to meet Elena in person.

Q: Did you establish a connection with other Latina writers when you started writing? How important do you think is a supportive community for budding writers?

A: Bueno, we have a very supportive and active community in NuncaSolas! I also have a wonderful circle of Latina writers and we trade first drafts and give each other advice. It is an invaluable help.

Q: What advice would you give aspiring writers?

A: Don’t store rejection letters… I have heard that some writers do it but can’t imagine anything more depressing, plus it seems like bad Feng Shui. And above all, keep writing!

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Meet Scientist-Turned-Author Bob Boan

Bob Boan has been a member of the space community for over twenty-five years developing RF and optical systems for communications and sensing satellites. He has multiple patents and publications in his field. Previously, he served in academia. He earned a BS from Campbell University, a master’s from the University of Mississippi and a doctorate from Florida Institute of Technology. He’s with us today to talk about his latest novel, Bobby Becomes Bob, published by Twilight Times Books.

Visit the author’s website to read reviews and find out more about his work.

About the book:
(blurb provided by Bob Boan)

Bobby Becomes Bob is story of coming of age set in small-town North Carolina. The story depicts life in rural areas across the U.S. in the Fifties through early Seventies. The events are seen through Bobby Padgett’s eyes. It is a story of sharing. It is a story of great happiness. It is a story of unfortunate events. Bobby was nurtured and sheltered by a small, caring community. Ultimately, that loving little town could not protect him from misfortune in the world-at-large. Perhaps it also proves that all good things and most bad things come to an end. His extended ordeal finally ended allowing him to return to St. Umblers. Was it too late to regain the love of his life – Sam? He and Sam had been nearly inseparable before his departure. Sam, though she had no way to know it, was largely responsible for helping him through his darkest moments.

Read an excerpt here.

Thanks for being my guest today, Bob. From space scientist to literary author… will you share with my readers how this came about?

Mayra, I first flirted with the idea of being a literary author as a young teenager. I wondered if I could tell tales as well as some of my favorite authors. Being the confident optimist that I have always been, I’m sure that it was more like “I’ll bet I can write a story every bit as well as they can.” Nonetheless, I put that thought aside for more traditional teenage activities. It wasn’t until I was in my 30s that I revisited the concept of becoming a writer. I made several unremarkable attempts at writing over the next dozen or so years. Frankly, looking back, what I wrote wasn’t very good. I found I needed concentrated blocks of time which were unavailable to me in order to write partially because I am severely typing challenged. If I were going to be a successful writer, I was going to have to overcome my time constraints. I retired to write. I flunked retirement several times continuing to delay the fulfillment of my desire to be an author. I finally got retirement about right, I think.

You were a voracious reader as a child. Were you also a young writer or did writing come later?

As I think back to my youth, I wouldn’t say I was so much a writer as a verbose user of words much of the time. When I wasn’t being unnecessarily wordy, I was blunt and brief. Neither of those is a highly desirable trait for an author. Good thing I didn’t have to rely upon income from writing to live during my youth though it probably would not have afforded a much more Spartan existence.

Your enthusiasm for literature was somewhat blunted when you took high school and literary courses. Can you tell us why?

As I mentioned before Mayra, I never lacked confidence. I have been told that I successfully demand to be different. Perhaps there were those who needed the teacher to tell them what a passage or a story meant. That was not me! Maybe I was being a brat but I wanted to get from my reading that which I wanted to get. I wanted to be the one to fill in the bandwidth as opposed to some instructor telling me that when I read the snow was accumulating in deep drifts really meant that the author was in a dark mood. I didn’t see and didn’t want to see the instructor’s interpretation. I pretty much shut down and left the printed word behind except for required reading.

Interesting. I’m sure many students can identify with that. Let’s move on to your latest novel. Bobby Becomes Bob is a coming-of-age literary story set in a rural town. What was your inspiration for it and what themes do you explore in the novel?

More than once, I had heard the advice, “write about something you know.” That sounded reasonable to me so I chose to follow that advice. I grew up in a rural North Carolina town quite similar to St. Umblers during the time frame of the story—the 50s through the 70s. Bobby Becomes Bob is a story of real-life. When I started planning the book, Bobby was going to approximate a superhero. It was only after one of my daughters asked me to tell her about my life growing up that I decided to change the tone of the story partially to answer the questions she didn’t know how to ask. I found Bobby more likable after I made him invulnerable. He was certainly much more realistic. I made Bobby an Everyman. The hero could have been almost anyone from a large number of rural towns across the country. I focused on the ups and downs of life to which any one of us might have been exposed during that period of history.

You’ve also penned two other books, An Introduction to Planetary Defense: A Study of Modern Warfare Applied to Extra-Terrestrial Invasion (Brown Walker 2006) and Williams Lake Was Once The Center of The Universe (Verbal Pictures Press 2008). How was your background helpful in writing these books?

My science background was extremely instrumental in being able to co-author An Introduction to Planetary Defense as it is a science text. It was necessary to do significant research in a variety of technical disciplines to compile the data to complete that book. Williams Lake Was Once The Center of The Universe is a novel. Once again, I had to do research albeit a different variety. This time I sought out stories associated with Williams Lake and other similar venues from the second half of the 60s. I called upon some of my memories as attenuated by 40 years or so as well as those of several friends. It was also necessary to do research for the historical content in the second part of the book.

Bobby Becomes Bob, however, is quite different from these two, and doesn’t have anything to do with space and science. What compelled you to take this new direction?

My desire to write was always genre-free. When I was thinking of writing I actually never thought about fitting into a genre such as fiction or science. I consider myself more versatile than that.

Has the writing of this novel transformed you as a writer?

I’ve learned several lessons as a writer from the experience of going through the process of getting this book published. One of the things that I learned is that I used the word “that” far too frequently. I had to reduce the number of repetitions of the word “that” by at least an order of magnitude. I also found that I had a tendency to oversell a point by repeating it using different terminology. I thought that I was helping the reader understand the point of emphasis; however, in truth I was probably losing the reader. Another major transformation which took place during the publishing process was to understand the importance of maintaining a consistent point of view. Failure to do so can be confusing and frustrating to the reader.

How do you combine your left-brained scientist self with your right-brained creative self when you sit down to write? Does your ‘logical’ side get in the way at times? By this I mean, do you edit methodically as you write, or do you allow your creative side to take control and just ‘write down the bones’?

When I sit down to write I trust my creative side and allow it significant freedoms; however, I have to come back with the logical side and test timelines, accomplishments and the like to make sure that they are within the realm of the possible. While there are exceptions, as a rule I write the entire story before beginning to edit unless my logical nature tells me that there is a problem. If that happens, I stop and edit the sections involved.

Are you a disciplined writer? I read somewhere that you’re able to write 7,000 words in an 8-hour working day!

Being a task-oriented person, I think of myself as a highly disciplined writer. When I write, it becomes my job; I dedicate myself to it day in and day out according to a schedule.

Mayra, I’d like to routinely write 7000 words in an eight-hour day. But, that 7000 words per day was a calculated theoretical upper limit for my output as a metric to help me understand how much time I had to set aside to write a book. Hitting that mark would enable me to write a typical novel in approximately 15 days. The truth is I was falling far short of that level of output. In practice, I was taking more like 60 days eight-hour days. Speech recognition technology was partially responsible for achieving my level of production. In the last couple of years, the technology has improved enough to allow me to approach that 7000 word day on occasion.

I admire your productivity! Sixty days is still quite impressive in finishing a book!

I understand that, as a writer, you were deeply affected by Mark Twain and Jane Austen. Can you tell us what about them you’ve found most influencing?

On the surface, they appear quite different. In practice, they are very similar. They reached their endpoints from opposite directions. Mark Twain used folksy humor to tell his stories while Ms. Austen used the elegant language of the upper crust. Despite their difference in delivery, they both had the ability to relay life in simple, entertaining terms.

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

My website, www.bobboan.com, is up and running while undergoing reconstruction. I hope to have the improved version operational by mid-August. I don’t have a blog at the moment; that’s something that I have been considering. Mayra, your readers and others can find me on Facebook which is as close to a blog as I have.

What’s next for Bob Boan?

I am working on a couple of mystery novels. The first of those, Don’t Tell Brenda, is forthcoming from Twilight Times Books, within the next few months. The other is a collaborative effort with Travis S. Taylor. The first draft is currently titled The Defense Affair. It is somewhere in the range of 60% finished. We hope to have it in bookstores early next year. We will begin the search for a publisher by September. Any help finding one would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the insightful interview, Bob, and best of luck with all your writing endevours!

Thank you, Mayra. It was a pleasure being with you. I hope we have a chance to chat again.

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Magdalena Ball talks about the poetry writing process…

I’m sure that it differs for each writer. We all have our quirks and idiosyncrasies, but for me, the poetry writing process is quite different than the fiction one. With fiction, it’s much more craft than art—with deliberate plotting, careful construction, character spreadsheets, and timelines. I’ve got to have a pretty clear outline before I start and tend to work in quite a regular, linear way, focusing primarily on the storyline and the character development as I progress. With such a long term process, discipline and scheduling is the only way to get on. With poetry, it’s very different.

I usually start with a concept or theme. I know, for example, that my topic will be Christmas. I need to write Christmas themed poems for a collection I’m pulling together with my writing partner Carolyn Howard-Johnson. But it’s May for crying outloud, and I’m so not in the mood to write about Christmas (not sure I was in the mood in December either!), so I need to find some twist or inspirational hit that will give my work something fresh and interesting to engage my muse. So I’ll go exploring. Usually, in my case, somewhere sciency like Scientific American, NASA, or New Scientist (the quality of their writing is excellent, and inspiration is always easy to find there).

Other pretty regular sources of inspiration for me are Seth Godin’s blog, where he recently did a post on The Levy Flight – about the random but regular patterns that animals take when foraging and how that might apply to marketing. This may not sound very Christmassy to you, but because poetry must be fresh, the combination of an idea like the Levy Flight and Christmas can often spark some fairly original thinking. I found a recent article on New Scientist about some new thoughts on a Theory of Everything, and began a piece titled The matrix, with its opening lines “Stuck in the attic, behind retired lights, cracked ornaments, and threadbare tinsel” and then let the images work almost intuitively, moving the poem into a region that develops as I begin playing with the images until there’s a very clear picture that I’ve presented. Once I’ve got it – the overall picture, then the revision begins, and like all writing, that’s where the real change happens. You must revise, and change and tighten, and eliminate superfluous words or any concept that isn’t crystal clear. With poetry, I would say that revision is even more important than other forms of writing because you only have a few words to convey a huge amount of meaning. It has to be perfect, tight, and evocative without being either too obscure, or too overt/trite.

That’s a balancing act that only comes with a lot of work on finding the perfect, exact word or image to illuminate what you’re trying to say. Nearly every decent poem I’ve written has been revised many times, and often (possibly always) with the help of someone objective.

Magdalena Ball runs The Compulsive Reader. She is the author of the poetry book Repulsion Thrust, the novel Sleep Before Evening, a nonfiction book The Art of Assessment: How to Review Anything and four other poetry chapbooks Quark Soup, and, in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Cherished Pulse, She Wore Emerald Then, and the newly released Imagining the Future. She also runs a radio show, The Compulsive Reader Talks.

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“How to Create Literary Fiction,” by Magdalena Ball

As a book reviewer, I get anywhere from fifty to one hundred review requests a week. Of these, I might accept five or so. While I do occasionally take nonfiction books, most of what I accept will be in the genre known as literary fiction. But just what is literary fiction? What differentiates literary fiction from what most publishers class as commercial or genre oriented fiction, and why am I biased towards it? It’s a question I get asked regularly. Some, like author David Lubar (“A Guide to Literary Fiction,” 2002) equate the label with work that is pompous, dull, plotless, and overly academic: “If you’re ever in doubt about whether a story is literary, there’s a simple test. Look in a mirror immediately after reading the last sentence. If your eyebrows are closer together than normal, the answer is yes.” Publishers often use this label for work which defies other genre distinctions, eg it isn’t romance, isn’t “chick-lit,” isn’t science or speculative fiction, isn’t a thriller, action, or political drama. It is meant to denote a fiction which is of higher quality, richer, denser, or, as the literary fiction book club states, work which “can make us uncomfortable or can weave magic.” These distinctions aren’t always clear, and there are some superb exceptions to the genre rule, such as Margaret Atwood or China Mieville, whose high quality work fits the speculative fiction genre, or Umberto Eco and Iain Pears, whose work is full of mystery and suspense. All writers feel that their work is high quality, and most write fiction with the goal of producing great work. So how can we ensure that our work is literary fiction rather than some other form? Here are five tips to guide writers who are inclined to produce literary fiction:

1. Aim for transcendency. The one quality which seems to be present in abundance in literary fiction and much less so in other forms, is what agent and author Noah Lukeman calls “transcendency.” It isn’t easy to define, and in his exceptional book, The Plot Thickens (St Martin’s Press, 2002), Lukeman presents a number of points, such as multidimensional characters and circumstances, room for interpretation, timelessness, relatability, educational elements, self discovery, and lasting impression. I would say that transcendency equates to depth, to writing which does more than entertain its readers, and instead, changes something, however small, in the way they perceive themselves. How do you get transcendency in fiction? With a deep theme, deep and powerful characters, complex plots, and exceptional writing skills. Sound easy?

2. Read quality literature. This is a lot easier than transcendency, though not unrelated. Since achieving literary fiction is a subtle and difficult thing, you’ve got to develop your literary senses. The best way of doing that is to read books which fit this genre. If you want to create literary fiction, chances are, you probably are already reading it. These are books by the writers we call “great.” Your list of names may differ from mine, but these are the writers who win prizes like the Booker, the Pulitzer, the Commonwealth Prize, and the National Book Award to name just a few. The more great literature you read, the better able you will become at recognising the elements which make a fiction literary.

3. Don’t get defensive! Lubar’s article is lots of fun, but literary fiction isn’t meant to be snobbish, academic, plotless, or boring in any way; just well crafted. That may be daunting if you are a writer, but it won’t help your work to shrug off quality by calling it dull or unachievable.

4. Re-write. This may be the single most important distinction between literary and other types of fiction. Work which is timeless takes time. There’s no other way to achieve literary fiction than re-writing, dozens, and maybe many more, times. It isn’t glamorous, nor is re-writing dependent on a muse or inspiration like the first draft is. It is just going over and over a work until every word is relevant and integral to the story. This process cannot occur solely in the fingers of the author. Every writer of literary fiction requires an ideal reader, a critique group, a mentor, or someone who can provide the kind of objective advice which will transform your inspiration into a stunning creation.

5. Don’t stress about it! Of course there is no point in worrying so much that you get writer’s block (and if you do, get hold of Jenna’s terrific book on the topic . If you read great books, write fiction which is true to your own creative vision, and revise (with feedback from others) until the work is as perfect as you can make it, you will produce literary fiction. That’s all there is to it. Writing a novel is about as hard as writing gets. Writing literary fiction can take years, often with little reward, at least until the book is completed (and in many instances, thankless even after publication, assuming you are published). But if you can’t stop yourself; if the desire for producing something truly beautiful outweighs utilitarianism, then you are really and truly a literary writer and your work will have transcendency. I’ll look forward to reading and reviewing it!

Magdalena Ball runs The Compulsive Reader. She is the author of the poetry book Repulsion Thrust, the novel Sleep Before Evening, a nonfiction book The Art of Assessment: How to Review Anything and three other poetry chapbooks Quark Soup, and, in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Cherished Pulse and She Wore Emerald Then. She also runs a radio show, The Compulsive Reader Talks.

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On the Spotlight: Reyna Grande, author of Across a Hundred Mountains

It is my pleasure to have here today a very special Latino young writer. Her name is Reyna Grande and she is the author of the acclaimed novel, Across a Hundred Mountains, winner of the 2007 American Book Award. Her next book, titled Dancing With Butterflies, will be coming out later this year.

Thanks for being here today, Reyna.

Your novel, Across a Hundred Mountains, has won awards and garnered excellent reviews. Did you expect such acclaim when you first started writing the novel?

Honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect. It was my first book, and i didn’t know it would be published. I didn’t even know what Publisher’s Weekly was. Now I know all about book reviewers, and sometimes I wish I didn’t. It adds too much pressure.

Across a Hundred Mountains deals with the loss of a father, while your upcoming novel, Dancing With Butterflies, focuses on the unhappiness that comes from the loss of a mother. Is the theme of loss recurrent in your work? What other themes obssess you?

Loss is one of the themes I write about because I experienced the loss of a mother and father when my parents left me in Mexico when they came to work in the U.S. I don’t think I’m obsessed with anything. I just write about what is important to me or interests me. I like to write about things specific to my culture, as well.

What’s a typical writing day for you? How long does it take you to finish a book?

Every day is different for me, but in general this is how I write 1) when my one year old daughter takes a nap 2) late at night (like right now it’s 3 am and everyone is sleeping 3) sometimes if I really can’t get my characters out of my head I have to take the kids to the sitter for a couple of hours 4) in airports and airplanes and hotel rooms when I’m traveling (which is often) 5) when I’m driving around L.A. and I’m stuck in traffic I write in my head.

You do a lot of school visits and read your work to young adults. What is their usual reaction and what do you think appeals to them from your work?

The usual reaction I get from students is that they are just happy to meet a real flesh and blood author. The latino students are happy to meet someone who LOOKS like them, who has experienced something similar to what they are going through and who writes about things they can relate to. I grew up reading books like Sweet Valley High and when I first read The House on Mango Street I was 19 years old and it impacted me so much because it was one of the first books I read where I could SEE myself/experiences in those pages…I think this is how students feel when they read Across a Hundred Mountains.

What advice would you give aspiring Latino novelists who are looking for a publisher?

I think first of all they need to work really hard in making their work the best that it can be. There’s a lot of competition out there, and we need to work extra hard in order to stand out. Just like with any other job, where you need to be twice as good. I also encourage aspiring writers to attend writer’s conferences because you need to meet other writers, both professional and non-professional, and everyone in the book business. It’s good to make connections.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

I want aspiring writers to remember that there’s always room for a good story, and to not give up. We are latinos. We are fighters. We don’t give up.

Thanks, Reyna!

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Review of The Violin Lover, by Susan Glickman

The Violin Lover is a beautifully written novel, one that fans of violin music, as well as readers of serious literary fiction, will particularly appreciate.

The story takes place in England during the start of the Second World War, just before the invasion of Hitler into Germany. Young widow Clara Weiss lives with her three young children in a Jewish sector of London. Her oldest son, Jacob, is eleven years old and a gifted pianist. Clara lives for her children and is extremely protective towards them, her nurturing qualities sometimes falling into compulsive obsession.

At a Christmas concert one night, Clara is introduced to Ned Abraham, not only a medical doctor but also an accomplished violinist. At once, Clara is taken with the tall, mysterious man with the dark hair and black, deep-set eyes. Jacob’s music teacher insists he should play a piece with Jacob in the future, and this is how Ned takes young Jacob under his wing. Soon, the attraction between Clara and Ned intensifies, and they become secret lovers. In time, and as their relationship progresses, Clara begins to feel jealous of Jacob and Ned’s bond and resents their friendship. Their liason, which is mostly characterized by Clara’s dependence and Ned’s indifference, ends up having tragic consequences for all involved.

The Violin Lover is a compelling, unusual read. Though it moved a bit slow in the beginning, it picked up pace after the first few chapters and by the middle I had become quite engrossed. Glickman is a fine writer and this shows in her smooth, sometimes symbolic prose. There are small segments in the story which really are allegories of Clara’s obsessive dependence and controlling behavior, like the part where she insists that ducks in the river must be fed or they’ll die; she’s unable to realize that ducks may very well survive on their own. This also symbolizes her over protectiveness toward her children, especially with Jacob, who is growing into a young man and needs more independence, something she is unable to offer.

The relationship between Clara and Ned is both dark and fascinating. Glickman’s has an obvious gift for characterization, as well as for showing the characters’ emotions rather than spelling them out. The story is mostly narrative with not as much dialogue as I expected. There are many sections where the story is quickly narrated instead of being shown with actual dialogue and characters’ actions, and this made the pace feel a bit rushed at times. It is a novel that will make readers ponder: who is the villain and who is the victim? Clara or Ned? I think readers will love and hate both of them at some point or another.

If you love classical music or play the piano or the violin, you will enjoy the music descriptions, told with the sensibility of someone who shares this same passion.

This novel is available on Amazon.

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