Interview with Janelle Meraz Hooper, author of Bears in the Hibiscus

Janelle Meraz Hooper is an Anglo-Hispanic writer who was born in Oklahoma; she now lives in Washington State. An award-winning author, her books are character-driven and lean heavily on the lives and challenges of women. She has been awarded the 2002 Bold Media Book Award for Fiction, the 1999 Surrey Writing Contest 1st Place for Fiction, and was also a finalist at the 2004 Oklahoma Book Awards. Her books include A Three-Turtle Summer, As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries, Custer and His Naked Ladies, Bears in the Hibiscus, and Free-Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories.

Why don’t you start by telling us a bit about your latest book, and what inspired you to write it?

Photo by Bonnie King

My latest published book (2010) is Bears in the Hibiscus, a humorous romance about a woman in her late thirties starting over. This is the first book I’ve written that isn’t based on my family. I’m sure they breathed a sigh of relief when I emailed them to say I’d finally stopped writing about them!

I wrote the book because so many of my friends are starting over. Some of the for the third and fourth time. Love isn’t just for the young. It’s for all ages, just with different challenges.

Are you a full-time writer or do you have another job?

I’m a full-time writer.

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 work with an outline. I’ve tried it both ways but the outline method works the best for me. For me, the main difference is it’s faster!

Do you use index cards to plot your book?

No. I do everything on the computer.

How long did it take you to write the book?

I wrote this one in a year. In 2011, I wrote two books, one was a romance, the other a literary novella. Neither one is published yet.

What seems to work for unleashing your creativity?

I like to go places where I can people-watch. When I was a child in Oklahoma, on summer nights it was too hot to sleep. It was a popular past time to go downtown, buy an ice cream cone, then sit in the car and watch the people go by. Lawton was great for people-watching. The streets were full of Indians, cowboys, Hispanics, blacks, and Asians, and more. An awful lot of them were our friends. I’ve never forgotten those nights. Many of those people are in my Turtle Trilogy (A Three-Turtle Summer, As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries, and Custer and His Naked Ladies).

How was your experience in looking for a publisher?

Well, not good. I sent out my first novel to agents and publishers right after 9-11-2001 and most of my manuscripts were sent back unopened. Someone said they were afraid of bombs. I finally self-published in 2002.

What words of advice would you offer those novice authors who are in search of one?

I’d advise them to carefully watch everything I do—and do the opposite!

What type of book promotion seems to work the best for you?

The best way for me to sell a book is at a book event. I have to put the book in a potential reader’s hand. The next best way is on Facebook. My Facebook readers are very faithful. I have blogs and websites that get a lot of hits but I have no way of knowing if any of them result in sales.

Share with us some writing tips!

I have a section on writing tips for students on my web page. My favorites are:

Exercise! Writing is exhausting work. Having enough stamina to do that one extra rewrite can make the difference between success and failure.

Listen- Are you listening? Really listening? I used to be a big talker at parties. Then I figured out that I’d be better off if I listened more. I listen not only to what people say but how they say it. Also, listen to the sounds around you. Listen to the sounds a prom dress makes when it dances across the floor. Listen to the different sounds the leaves in the trees make in the different seasons. Listen to the sounds of children playing.
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Read. Everything- Well…almost everything. Let’s stay in the deep end of the IQ and morality pool. Remember that old computer saying: Garbage in, garbage out!

The best tool a writer can have is self-discipline. ‘Nuff said.

In college, an English instructor told me that I’d be a good writer someday when “I’d lived enough”. My first two novels are about my childhood. All I gained by waiting was perspective.

What authors or type of books do you read for fun?

I have a lot of interests so I like to read books on American Native history, marine science, archaeology, geology, interior design, biographies, etc.

Do you think a critique group is essential for a writer?

Yes, if you can find a good one. My definition of a good critique group is one that is nurturing and sociable. I seldom get out. When I do, I want to have a good time! Most of the serious critiquing goes on through email the next day.

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

Yes. My main ones are:
www.JanelleMerazHooper.com
A site I started for local indie authors: www.NorthwestAuthors.org
A blog: http://JanelleMerazHooper.blogspot.com
Social networks include Facebook and National Society of Hispanic Professionals.

Do you have another novel on the works?

I have a new light romance, Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie, but it isn’t published yet. I imagine it won’t be out until September. I’ve turned it in to my publisher but it is in a long queue. He’s putting it on Kindle for me to begin with. The paperback will come later. (All of my other books are available on Kindle and paperback.)

Would you like to tell readers about your current or future projects?

Right now, I’m writing a one-man show for a Hollywood actor (Rudy Ramos) on Geronimo. It’s a very different take on the Chiricahua Apache. I’ve been interested in him since childhood. It is so different I haven’t had the nerve to show it to anyone yet, not even my husband.

I’m holding on to a literary novella titled The Welfare Resort because I thinking of expanding it into a novel.

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

Anyone who has read my Turtle Trilogy will realize I’ve had a very unusual life as an Anglo-Hispanic. To the first part, I was never white enough to fit in. To the second part, I was never brown enough to be really accepted. But to be fair, my Hispanic mother’s side of the family was very sociable and loved to play cards till all hours of the night and ballroom dance. I was just a nerdy little kid sitting on the floor of the living room reading a stack of library books. I didn’t play cribbage. I didn’t dance. I didn’t tell funny stories. But oh, how I loved them. Especially the women. They were the inspiration for my Turtle Trilogy.

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Meet Lucha Corpi, author of Death at Solstice

For Lucha Corpi, art has always meant activism. As a woman, a Hispanic, an immigrant and a mother, she has always found herself breaking down barriers in both life and literature. Her initial writing forays led to the exploration of poetry in Spanish as an outlet for her creativity. In 1970, she received a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship for poems later included in several collections and anthologies.

After her first collection of poetry appeared, Corpi experienced a long and personally worrisome poetic silence. To ease the tension, she turned to prose, penning several award-winning short stories. In 1984, she wrote her first story in English and her first English-language novel, Delia’s Song, was published by Arte Público Press in 1989.

The publication of Eulogy for a Brown Angel: A Mystery Novel (Arte Público Press, 1992) was the culmination of a life-long dream. The novel won the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award and the Multicultural Publishers Exchange Best Book of Fiction. Corpi’s second mystery novel featuring Chicana detective Gloria Damasco is Cactus Blood (Arte Público Press, 1995), which was reissued in paperback in 2009. Black Widow’s Wardrobe (Arte Público Press, 1999) and Death at Solstice (Arte Público Press, 2009) are the two most recent editions to The Gloria Damasco Series. In between the publication of these works of fiction, she compiled and edited Máscaras (Third Woman Press, 1997), a collection of essays on writing by prominent Chicana and Latina authors. In addition to poetry and mystery novels, Lucha Corpi also writes for children. She holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from UC-Berkley and an M.A. in World and Comparative Literature from San Francisco State University. A tenured teacher in the Oakland Public Schools Neighborhood Centers Program for 30 years, she retired in 2005.

The Interview

Thanks for this interview, Lucha. Why don’t you begin by telling us a little about yourself?

I was born in a small tropical town in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. There, people fostered both the creation and the performance of poetry and music, together with the art of storytelling. I was also fortunate to be a daughter of parents who believed in educating the two girls in the family equally well as their six sons. My father used to tell my sister and me that “When you educate a man, you educate an individual. But when you educate a woman, you educate the whole family.” My parents expected my sister and me to excel in school. We did.

I, however, did not start writing poetry or stories until I was twenty-four, already living in Berkeley, California, where I had moved after getting married. By then, I was going through a divorce, had a young child, no family in California, and very few friends. But when I started writing, I felt that I had found my destiny. As my grandmother used to tell us, your destiny is what you were born to do in this world. Except for teaching and motherhood to various degrees, nothing else makes me feel whole and content as writing does, whether poetry or narrative.

When did you decide you wanted to become an author?

I became “an author” when I published, that is, made my literary work public, beginning with my first collection of poetry in 1979, followed by six novels, a second poetry collection and two children’s books.

In a way, the author is a writer’s public persona. The writer, however, is a private person. Anyone who expresses life’s experiences—their own or someone else’s—in writing is a creative writer, and for him or her, the most important concern, the passion, is the writing itself.

Writing is a vocation and a trade as well. I was born already with an above-average affinity for the spoken and written word, with the voice-vision of the poet and writer, and a strong urgency to express what I perceive and experience using as medium the written word. These three elements, combined, amount to what we call “talent for writing.” But talent alone is never enough if the poet or writer is not willing to apprentice, to learn the craft, to fine-tune the engine that carries the poem or the story from beginning to end. And, the most difficult task of all: to keep one’s butt on a chair long enough to get the writing done.

Writers and poets learn and develop their craft from other writers and poets, either by reading the works of others or by taking writing workshops. In my case, I read, and my reading interests are varied. I like the sciences, especially the biological and physical sciences, but I also love history, philosophy, mythology, poetry, and literature in general.

Do you have another job besides writing?

My avocation, my second passion, was teaching. I was an ESL teacher in the Oakland Public Schools Neighborhood Centers for thirty-one years. I was a single mother, too, and I had to work to support myself and my son. I consider myself blessed to have been as passionate about teaching as about writing and motherhood, all creative endeavors. Creativity, however, does not spring eternal, and its well is not bottomless. Teaching and parenthood took most of my time and energy. And I had to do my writing for two hours a day only, from five to seven in the morning. But I wrote every day.

My son is a professor now, with children of his own. Most of all, he is a good man and a sensitive caring father and husband. And although I loved teaching, I knew it was time to leave and let the next generation of energetic, creative, enduring young teachers take over. But only I can do my writing. I did not want to die saying, “I could have written.” So I retired in 2005 to devote entirely to writing.

Tell us a bit about your latest book, and what inspired you to write such a story.

Death at Solstice comes to light as I celebrate forty years as a writer. It is the fourth of the Gloria Damasco mystery novels. Eulogy for a Brown Angel, Cactus Blood and Black Widow’s Wardrobe—each of the mystery novels in the series deals with aspects of the history and culture of Mexicans in the U.S., in California in particular.

Gloria Damasco is hired by the owners of the Oro Blanco winery in California’s Shenandoah Valley, in the heart of the legendary Gold Country, to investigate the theft of a pair of emerald-diamond earrings rumored to have belonged to Carlota, Empress of Mexico in the 19th century.

Shortly after, Gloria becomes aware that there is so much more than the theft of the family heirloom. A young woman considered by many to be a saint, able to perform miracles, disappears at the same time that the nurse who takes care of the young woman is found murdered. Add to the mix mysterious accidents, threatening anonymous notes, and the sightings of a ghost horse thought to have belonged to the notorious Gold Rush hero-bandit Joaquin Murrieta, and Gloria is soon struggling to fit together all the pieces of this puzzle before someone else is killed.

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

I do not write a chapter by chapter outline and the main premise, that is, a synopsis of the novel, before I sit down to work. But I do begin with a list that includes topics I must read, i.e. about the history or science in the novel, or firearms, etc. This research also involves frequent and extended visits to the sites/locales where the action is to take place. I also do a lot of thinking (the non-physical aspect of the writing process) about the crime(s) that trigger the investigation. My research takes me from six to eight months, and I try to complete it before I sit down to do the actual writing of the novel.

I tend to over-research, but I don’t mind. It is amazing how little we remember even about events and experiences of personal importance. The larger and deeper the well of knowledge, the easier it is for me to feel safe and secure in it, to be sure that I am as accurate and factual as possible, and to develop believable characters, who react in their own unique ways or betray what they’re capable of as they deal with extraordinary situations or unusual experiences. But it isn’t until I do the actual writing that I discover all of these aspects, including how much of the research is integral to the plot.

That said, I suppose my personal style of writing is one of discovery, of being open to surprises, allowing myself to let the characters reveal themselves as they see fit, and let my detective guide me as the investigation develops.

And at this point, I think I can guess what you must be wondering about: If what I say is true, then what is the role of the writer in all this?

My role, as I see it, is to tell the best story I can, with no agenda of my own, without manipulation of content or character. To make sure the characters, even the minor ones, are multi-dimensional, the plot is solid and every detail or question raised is accounted for or answered to my satisfaction at the end.

My first draft is usually from 50 to 80 pages longer, fatter, than it might need to be. So my second draft, my first revision of the work, is intended to pare down, to edit out every bit of material that adds little or nothing at all to characterization, setting or plot. And of course, if need be, I plug holes in the plot. The second revision or third draft has to do with checking the accuracy of facts pertaining to the historical, cultural, and socio-political content of the work. And in the fourth draft, third rewriting, I work on the fluidity and appropriate use of language and form.

I ask then two or three people I trust to read this fourth draft for their feedback. Based on what they tell me, and focusing on the similar issues raised by them, I revise the novel one more time, before I send it to my publisher. Subsequent rewrites of the novel are in conjunction with my editor at the press.

Who is your target audience? What will the reader learn after reading your book?

I write crime fiction. My novels will be of interest to anyone who likes mysteries that are not necessarily conventional, that offer more than the solution of a crime and the restoring of social order as the perpetrators are brought to justice. If I have done my job right, and I believe I have, my novels offer all of that. But they also provide a larger view of the life, culture and history of Mexican Americans and Latinos in the U.S.

It’s been said that Gloria Damasco is the first Chicana private detective in American literature. By that, I believe critics mean that Gloria is the first fictional private investigator to be deeply rooted in Chicano/Mexican culture in the U.S., written by someone—me—who is as deeply anchored and steeped in the culture as she.

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

I usually read critical reviews of my novels and my poetry, and consider the issues raised by individual critics, positive or negative. Sometimes my ego is wounded, and I walk around like a bird with a broken wing, or a homeless person with three raggedy blankets on yet chilled to the bone in the sunlight. Then I remind myself of the true reasons I write, because writing is what keeps me breathing, living, and what helps me make sense of myself and the world around me. I need to write; I am addicted to it.

Nonetheless, I re-read the negative comments. And if two or more of those critics agree that my work is lacking in particular ways, I heed.

When Eulogy for a Brown Angel, my first detective novel, came out, critics praised the “dazzingly evocative prose,” the “original and highly charged moments” and the fact that with this work, I “expanded the genre.” They liked the characters, the historical background offered. Yet, more than a few found the novel lacking in terms of the plot. I listened and began to apprentice how to plot not just a novel, but a mystery novel. My apprenticeship was the writing of my second novel, Cactus Blood. Each of my novels is an apprenticeship in terms of the craft so I can tell the best story possible, be the best writer I can be.

Thanks for stopping by! It was a pleasure to have you here!

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Review of Evenings at the Argentine Club, by Julia Amante

Evenings at the Argentine Club
By Julia Amante
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-446-58162-2
Copyright 2009
General Fiction

Evenings at the Argentine Club is a tale of love and family relationships set in modern Southern California. It centers on two families, The Torres and the Ortellis, who came to the US from Argentina to follow their dreams and ‘make it’ in America. Together with other families, they formed The Argentine Club, a place where they meet on Sundays for entertainment and as a way to preserve their traditions.

The story begins many years after the club was formed and our protagonist, Victoria Torres, is already twenty-eight years old. Victoria still lives with her parents, helping her father with his restaurant business, La Parrilla. From the start, we get the feeling that although Victoria loves her family with all her heart and wants to make her father proud, she also silently regrets not finishing college and pursuing her dreams to become ‘someone’. She feels a bit lost, mostly following the plans set out for her—mainly by her father—and putting her desires aside.

Then one weekend, during an evening at the club, Victoria meets Eric Ortellis, the son of her parents’ best friends. From that day on, Victoria’s life begins to change. The change doesn’t happen overnight but gradually. Eric is considered a ‘black sheep’, a lost son who has come back to his family after many years of being away. Eric had his reasons—to make it on his own and somehow ‘escape’ the fatality of their little town—but no one seems to understand. Soon Victoria is influenced and affected by his ambition and views about life and the Argentine culture. A transformation begins to take place in Victoria’s character, one that deeply affects her relationship with her family but especially with her father, who has never given her total credit for the smart young woman that she really is. More tension arises when Victoria and Eric begin to feel attracted to each other.

The story is told from various points of views, including Victoria’s and Eric’s parents, offering a clear snapshot of their family dynamics. In the end, it is not only Victoria who changes, but her friends and family as well.

Evenings at the Argentine Club is an absorbing novel that sheds light into the Argentine immigrants living in the United States. It is also a love story between two different people who share the same cultural background. The author has done an excellent job in creating everyday, genuine characters that shine on every page. The secondary characters are as compelling as the protagonists. I was hooked from the start by Amante’s simple, smooth prose and by the lives of these people, their culture and beliefs. Even though the story centers on an Argentinean family, the themes and family dramas explored in the novel are universal. Above all, I loved the author’s genuine voice and unpretentious writing style. I recommend you pick this one up!

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Interview with Julia Amante, author of Evenings at the Argentine Club

My guest today is the very talented Latina author Julia Amante. A fellow Examiner, Julia is here to talk about her latest novel, Evenings at the Argentine Club, scheduled for released by Grand Central Publishing on September 25th, 2009.

About Julia Amante:

Julia Amante is the pen name of Lara Rios. Lara had the misfortune of growing up away from the extended family that is so valued in the Latin culture, but missed out on very little of what it means to be Argentine. Asados were sacred meals shared together on weekends. Cheering for the Argentine soccer team was a must, as were the weekly pilgrimages to the Argentine Club in Los Angeles where the young Americanized kids hid under the tables and watched the adults dance tango until the wee hours of the morning. Lara giggled right along with the rest of the kids at how “geeky” the parents looked, but secretly, was intrigued by the romantic culture and passionate music.

Not a surprise to most of her family members that she would grow up to write romance novels featuring Latino characters. Lara believes in love and happy endings, and all the magnificent emotions romance novels offer their readers.

Lara lives in California with her husband, son, daughter, and one pampered dachshund. When she’s not writing she enjoys challenging herself physically. Feats to date include five marathons in one year; biking down a volcano in Hawaii; and the latest – walking across a fiery bed of burning coals all the while praying she didn’t become another of her father’s asados. But of course, spending time with her family is what she treasures most of all.

Thanks for this interview, Julia. It’s a treat having you here today. Tell us a bit about how you started writing and your first road to publication.

I’ve been writing forever, but when I sold to Grand Central, I had taken my kids to a piano camp where strict piano teachers wanted absolute silence. My cell phone went off and it sounded like a fire truck passing through a church. I scrambled to get it out of my purse, and when I answered, it was my agent with an offer from Grand Central to buy the manuscript that became Evenings at the Argentine Club. I was so excited that I ran out of that piano room, ignoring the frowning teachers and shouted as loud as I wanted.

Congratulations on the upcoming release of your novel!  What was your inspiration for it?

Since my parents were immigrants and their journey really impacted my life, I always wanted to write a story about what it’s like to move away from everything you know to start a new life. It amazes me that people can do that, and I’ve always felt that it was extremely courageous. The realities often turn out different from what immigrants expect, and this has been true for all groups, from long ago pioneers moving west to immigrants today.

But what really sort of pushed me to pursue this idea was a gift my grandmother gave me a few years ago when I went to Argentina to visit her. She gave me a notebook full of letters that my father and my grandfather wrote to each other when my father first moved to America. His entire first couple of years in New York were there for me to read. Reading the letters full of my young father’s dreams and hopes was unbelievably moving. As a child, you never think that your parents were once twenty, uncertain, and full of dreams that didn’t include you. Sadly, his American dream didn’t turn out like he expected, but in Evenings at the Argentine Club I had control over my character’s outcomes, which allowed me to create a nicer story.

How long did it take you to write it? What were your writing habits like?

For this book, it took me a way over a year from beginning to final draft. But this was because when I originally turned in the first copy of my manuscript, I had concentrated on the main character, Victoria’s weight issues — the immigrant story was in the background. Luckily, my editor saw the real story hidden underneath, which was the relationship between Victoria and her immigrant parents, and helped me focus on what was really important in the story. Once I rewrote the book, concentrating on the deeper aspects of the plot, this story really blossomed. But it took a while to get there. I think as writers we are sometimes reluctant to write things that are too close to us. In general though, I’m finding that most of my books are taking a year to complete these days. I have to work late at night when my family goes to bed (like many authors do), which doesn’t allow me to produce as quickly as I used to. For me, as long as what I finally write is quality work, one book a year is enough.

Do you get along with your Muse? What do you do to keep her happy?

Absolutely. I don’t believe in writer’s block. When it’s time to work, I tune everything else out and simply write. People that call me while I’m working will often ask if I was sleeping because I’m so into the world of my book, and it happens instantly, the second I hit my computer.

I read once that Agatha Christie got her best ideas in the shower, and that Steven Spielberg gets his while driving on the highway. Where do you get your best ideas?

Hmm, just from observing life and people. Because I write about relationships, I observe people all the time. I listen to radio talk shows about people’s problems – real people are much crazier than book characters! Other than that I think I’m always seeing possible stories. Most, when you sit down to write don’t amount to much, but other do.

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

Yes, my website is www.JuliaAmante.com, my blog is at http://juliaamante.blogspot.com, and my facebook page is here.

You also write for the Examiner. Tell us all about your column!

Sure! This is completely unrelated to my fiction writing. The reason I decided to write for Examiner was because being a home schooling mom, and a teacher as well as a writer, I found myself giving writing advice a lot to parents. So, I thought this would be a perfect way to share what I know about writing with other mom’s trying to help their kids, and with young writers who themselves are interested in writing. I’m constantly looking things up for my own children, so why not share information with others as well. It’s very different from writing books, and it allows me to combine my two loves, writing and teaching. I’ve learned a lot about writing articles, which is great. Finding images is the hardest part!

What’s on the horizon?

My next book is titled (for now) Family Vines, and it’s about a woman who owns a winery, and is suddenly thrust into motherhood when a family member dies in an accident and leaves her as sole custodian of her children. But after a lifetime of running a business, the last thing she wants is to now become responsible for children.

Thanks for the interview, Julia!

Evenings at the Argentine Club is now available for pre-order on Amazon and B&N.

 

–Mayra is an author and book reviewer, visit her at www.MayraCalvani.com.

 

 

 

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Interview with Cuban Author Teresa Dovalpage

Cuban author Teresa Dovalpage has published three novels, one in English, A Girl Like Che Guevara (Soho Press 2004) and two in Spanish, Posesas de la Habana (Haunted Ladies of Havana, PurePlay Press, 2004) and Muerte de un murciano en La Habana (Death of a Murcian in Havana, Anagrama, 2006), which was runner-up for the Herralde Award in Spain. Her collection of short stories, Por culpa de Candela, was recently released by Floricanto Press in 2008. Her short novel, El difunto Fidel (The Late Fidel) just won the Rincon de la Victoria Award in Spain. Dovalpage currently lives in Taos, NM. Visit her at www.dovalpage.com.

Thanks for this interview Teresa. It’s a pleasure having you here. Tell us a little about your childhood? Were you an avid reader?

I grew up in Havana, in a house full of books. And I was definitely a bookworm, or, as my mother liked to call me, una ratona de biblioteca —a library mouse. I could always be found with a book in my hand or scribbling something. I was too shy to play with other kids and that made me long for the company of those quiet, faithful paper friends that don’t talk back or tease.

When did you start writing?
When I was a teenager I wrote my first short story. Quoting my mom again, it was horrendous. It had something to do with a deadly plague, and not too cheerful… But I didn’t get discouraged. I bought an ancient Underwood typewriter (it was during the 80’s, in Cuba, and computers were then considered as science fiction devices) and continued to write away.

What was your inspiration for A Girl like Che Guevara?
My American friends, who kept asking me how life in Cuba was. I started writing a series of vignettes about Santeria, life in the school-in-the-fields (a program in which high-school students used to spend a couple of months working on the tobacco fields) and other Cubanese stuff. And it turned out to be a full-length novel after all!

On average, how long does it take you to write a novel?
The first decent draft (not the “vomit draft”, eh, but a well-polished one) may take several months, from six to eight. It seldom takes longer because I start getting bored with the plot and the characters. But I have learned to put it on the back burner for a while and return to it before sending the ms. out. I always find a lot of things to change in that phase so I start rewriting it… Then, all together, maybe a whole year.

What is your writing ritual? Are you a disciplined writer?
I write for several hours every day when I have the opportunity. I work part-time as a Spanish professor at the University of New Mexico and that allows me to devote time to writing. Though I wouldn’t use the word “disciplined” to describe me in this context. I need discipline to go to the gym, to study a new language and even to get up early. But I love writing so I keep doing it whenever I have a chance.

Did you have a smooth path to publishing?
It wasn’t too rough. I sold my first novels by myself and now I have two very good agents who take care of that part of the business. But still, it does take time, energy and commitment. And discipline (here I would definitely use the word) to send the manuscripts out and not to get discouraged with rejections.

Do you have any favorite authors? What type of books do you read for entertainment?
Yes! In English I love Ann Tyler. I have read all her books several times. One of my favorites is The Accidental Tourist. I also admire Lorraine Lopez, who just published The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters and who is also a creative writing professor at Vanderbilt University. I like the Spanish classics of the nineteenth century (Benito Perez Galdos, Leopoldo Alas, Armando Palacio Valdes). In fact, I brought all the way from Cuba a ragged copy of La Regenta. I supposed that I could find the book here but just in case…I am also a big fan of Daina Chaviano and Pedro Juan Gutierrez.

What’s on the horizon?
My play Hasta que el mortgage nos separe (Until Mortgage Do Us Part) will be staged on Chicago by Aguijon Theater in May and June and my short novel El difunto Fidel (The late Fidel) will be published by Editorial Renacimiento in Spain so I will be promoting them this summer. I am also working on another collection of short stories in English.
 

Thanks, Teresa! And good luck with your work!

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Interview with Misa Ramirez, author of Living the Vida Lola

My guest today is Misa Ramirez, author of Living the Vida Lola. Misa’s work combines elements of humor, romance and mystery. In this interview, she talks about her inspiration for the novel, her busy schedule, and her future projects.

Thanks for being here today, Misa. After reading your book, I was surprised to find out that you’re not Latina by birth, but by marriage. How did you come to idendity so well with Latinas? 

A.   I am thrilled that you feel I did justice to the Mexican culture and to Latinas!  In a lot of ways, I do feel that Lola Cruz is my ‘alter ego’ if I were a Latina.  I think it comes from being so involved with my husband’s family for so long.  We’ve been married for 19 years.  Various members of his family have lived with us at different times, including his parents.  They have always been a dynamic family with so many strong personalities, yet their culture has always been a subtle part of who they are and how they live.  That’s what I wanted to capture through the characters in my book.  Not every Latino’s experience is the same.  Not everyone thinks the same, has the same sensibility of cultural values or expectations, but they each embody some elements of the culture.  I really wanted to have Lola be an American who was also Latina.  I wanted her to balance all the different parts of who she is, all the while being true to herself.  I think my approach, and being “Latina by marriage” made me super aware of not falling into stereotypes, as well.  None of my husband’s family are ‘stereotypical’ Latinos.  They are all complex, multi-cultural individuals and I’ve learned so much from them.  I love the culture and my husband and wanted to write something that in some way represented who my children are on some level, as well.

When did you start writing? Do you have another job besides writing?

I wrote in college, but got a little more serious when I first started teaching middle school.  But then I had children and writing took a backseat.  I came at it again after my 5th baby was born and I needed an outlet.  I’d had the good fortune of having a children’s book published and kept working toward getting another one published.  But the magic wasn’t happening.  I was writing to prompts and Lola was born.  Her family came next, and pretty soon the whole book was pouring out of me. 

Of course then I went back and rewrote it SO many times, working in more character development and adding plot points.   I also went back to teaching which left little time for writing.  But I persevered, landed the most awesome agent ever, and Living the Vida Lola was published by St. Martin’s Minotaur!  Now I’m writing full-time, dabbling in some part time teaching, and loving my new career.

What compelled you to write Lola’s story? 

Like I mentioned above, I really wanted to tell a story about someone like my own children.  I wanted to capture the bi-cultural aspects of my husband.  And I wanted to write a fun, sassy, strong, smart woman who wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted most of all–a career as a writer–oh, no!  That’s me!–a career as a detective. 

I love Lola and her family.  They really are real to me! 

Describe to us a regular writing day in Misa Ramirez’s life. Are you a disciplined writer?

 

Unfortunately I’m not disciplined enough.  Since our recent move to Texas (from California), I’ve jumped into some community work.  It’s taking more of my time than I’d anticipated!  But I’m definitely the type of person who will just keep working.  In fact, I probably work better under a little pressure. 

The typical day:  Wake up; Wake up children (6 year old takes 15 minutes minimum to get out of bed!); supervise the kids’ breakfast and drink coffee (me, not the kids); make their lunches if they are running late, or supervise their lunch-making if they’re not (I believe in teaching them how to do things for themselves!); take them all to school; go for a walk (or do yoga on Thursdays); come home, clean up, chores (never-ending), and go into office to begin working (this is assuming there is nothing child related or community activist related on the calendar for the day); write, drink more coffee, tea, or water; eat something carby (argh!); pick up kids from school; help with homework; check email and do miscellaneous tasks on the kitchen laptop computer as time allows; do sports, piano, guitar lesson runs; dinner; reading to kids; playtime (if there’s time); bed for the kids; watch a recorded or Netflix show if one is available, read, or back to the computer.  Next day, begin again. 

More detail than you wanted, right?!

What’s in the horizon? 

Book 2 in the Lola Cruz Mystery Series is in production.  I believe it will be released in winter 2010.  No date yet, and no title yet!   Beyond that, I have books 3 and 4 in the works, a proposal for another series–this one about a curandera, am working on a middle grade proposal, and am doing some freelancing.   I also am a columnist at www.romancingtheblog.com, and co-operate http://chasingheroes.com, a very cool website all about hero archetypes (and heroine archetypes) and so much more.  Always something in the works!

Anything else you’d like to tell readers? 

Thank you for having me, Mayra!   And thanks to those of you who’ve read Living the Vida Lola.  It’s hit the local (Dallas-Fort Worth area) bestseller’s list and I’m thrilled that so many people are loving Lola! 

Visit my website at : http://misaramirez.com for contest information and more...

Thanks, Misa, and good luck with your work!

 

Read my review of Living the Vida Lola.

 

–Mayra Calvani, www.MayraCalvani.com

 

 

 

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