Talking Craft with Historical Novelist Joan Schweighardt

Joan Schweighardt is the author of River Aria , which is both a standalone novel and the third book in a trilogy, as well as other novels, nonfiction titles, and children’s books. She is also a freelance writer and ghostwriter. She’s here today to talk about the craft of writing historical fiction.

INTERVIEW:

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, River Aria. To begin with, can you give us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it? 

A: River Aria is narrated by Estela Hopper, who, as a ten-year-old girl living in the impoverished fishing village of Manaus, Brazil in the early 20th century, is offered a twist-of-fate opportunity to study opera with an esteemed voice instructor. During her years of instruction, Estela, who is talented, passionate and dramatic by nature, dreams of leaving Brazil to perform in New York. But as her beloved instructor is not able to convince the managers of the great Metropolitan Opera that they should bring on a mixed-race immigrant who grew up on the banks of the Amazon River to become an elite performer, Estela accepts what they do offer, a position in the sewing room, and leaves Brazil on a ship with her cousin JoJo in the year 1928.

The challenges that befall Estela and JoJo in New York are plentiful. Estela’s father, an Irish American who came to her village nearly twenty years earlier (at which time she was conceived), has a plan for what her life should look like once she is settled. Her relationship with JoJo changes drastically when he learns he was lied to about his own parentage, and again when he takes a dangerous job working for the owner of a speakeasy. And of course her personal challenges of finding some modicum of success in a place like New York are not only enormous but crushing to her once robust sense of self.

River Aria is a standalone novel, but it is also the last book in a trilogy that begins in 1908, in Manaus. Basically what happened, historically speaking, is that after the invention of the automobile, rubber, which had been used previously for things like shoe soles and manufacturing parts, was suddenly in extremely high demand. The Amazon rainforest is full of rubber trees, so entrepreneurs from all over Europe rushed to Manaus, which is centrally located on the Amazon river, and made it their headquarters for the rubber industry. There was nothing there, so they had to build their own mansions, hotels, restaurants, schools, and they built them all with the best materials, imported from Europe. But in 1912, rubber trees that had been planted on British territories in Southeast Asia began to produce, and the industry in South America came to a standstill. All the wealthy Europeans fled, and the amazing structures they had built to accommodate them were left to decay—which happens quickly in a region on the equator surrounded by rainforests. The centerpiece of their architectural achievement was the Teatro Amazonas, a magnificent opera house the rubber barons hoped would entice the world’s most elite performers to come to Manaus. The rubber boom was my inspiration for the entire series, but the Teatro Amazonas inspired River Aria.

Q: What do you think makes a good historical novel? What would you say are the three most important elements?

A: I can narrow it down to two: research and the ability to weave the garnered information into the plot without getting heavy-handed.

There are basically two categories of historical fiction. One is when you are writing about a historical person or group of people, and the other is when you are using a historical event or time period as a backdrop for your story. River Aria is a based on a time period (1928-29) unfolding in two particular settings, Manaus, Brazil and New York City (and a nearby section of New Jersey). It was fairly easy to research New York/New Jersey because there is a wealth of information about that area during the Prohibition years…and also because I grew up there, and while I wasn’t alive at that time, I know people who knew people who knew people, and I can imagine what it was like. Studying that same time period in Manaus, Brazil was much tougher. I’ve read lots of books about the South American rubber boom, which took place from about 1879 to 1912, but my main characters were born at the end of the rubber boom, and Manaus changed drastically after the boom ended and all the rubber barons fled. I wound up reading white papers, lots of them. Also, Estela and JoJo are are mixed race on both their mothers’ sides, Amerindian and European. The Indian people from whom they are descended were taken captive by missionaries 300 years before the start of my story. But while they were separated from their sacred lands, their myths and legends would have survived at least to some extent. All that had to be taken into account and woven into an ever unfolding plot.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A: I knew that I was going to write about a young woman coming from Brazil to New York to try to succeed in the world of opera, and that one of her many obstacles would be the expectations of her American father, whom she has only met, briefly, once before. But just as I was about to begin writing, serendipity struck. A friend sent me a book by a Robert Henri, who was a prominent artist living in New York at the time Estela would be traveling there. My initial outline had already provided Estela with an artistic cousin her age, JoJo, and after reading the Henri book, I got the idea to further complicate the plot by having JoJo accompany Estela to New York. The book wouldn’t be the same without him.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A: Even though Estela grows up in poverty, in a location that is in many ways closed off from the rest of the world, she herself has this incredible opportunity to study with an accomplished voice instructor who comes to Manaus from Portugal to try to make a difference in the lives of a few young people. In once sense, this renders Estela worldly. But at her core she is still a “river brat” who who loves loud Brazilian music, indigenous folk lure, and her freedom. Her unusual background provided several guidelines for building out her character, and I added to them over the course of several drafts.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: River Aria doesn’t really have a villain. What it has is people with good intentions who make mistakes with devastating consequences. One of those people is Estela’s father. He is overbearing with his daughter. He is possessive and he doesn’t trust her to make wise decisions on her own. But he is tolerable…right up until he loses his job and external factors begin to plague him. Other characters in the book make mistakes with serious consequences as well.

I’ve always enjoyed books like The House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Debus lll. In that story, everyone is well intentioned (at least in the beginning) but flawed. They make assumptions and then act on them, and their actions result in great misfortune. To me, that kind of story is more intriguing than a story with an obvious villain, though I like those too. Before We Died, the first book in the rivers trilogy, has a more obvious villain. He is more or less a composite of the rubber barons I read about in my research.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical tips?

A: This is one of the good things about writing historical fiction. The time period I am writing in comes with its own suggestions. Prohibition, speakeasies and rumrunners were making lots of news in New York in 1928/1929. The jazz scene was in full swing (pardon the pun). The Metropolitan Opera House itself was making news. The Great Depression was looming. So yes, I tapped into all of that in the process of moving the plot forward. But again, I think in this book a lot of the tension comes from knowing that the characters are are making mistakes and not knowing what the ramifications will be.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: I traveled to South America twice, once to spend time in the deep jungle and once to visit Manaus and travel on the Amazon and Rio Negro with a guide. Even though I was reading books constantly on all subjects related to my story, I wouldn’t have had such a feel for the rainforest if I hadn’t been there myself. My river guide, for instance, grew up on the Amazon

and was able to give me all kinds of great information I wouldn’t have found in books. And of course while in Manaus I visited the Teatro Amazonas, the opera house that is the main inspiration for Estela’s story.

This is not to suggest that a writer must visit every location she wants to write about. For years I never traveled anywhere, because my kids were too young or I didn’t have the money. The Internet provides alternative ways to get a feel for a place. A friend of mine who was writing a YA novel spent a lot of time on Pinterest putting together her own scrapbook of photos that she thought would enhance her setting descriptions. Unfortunately, she died recently and will never get to complete her novel, but when I visit her Pinterest page, I can imagine what she was going for.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

A: All three books in the series of which River Aria is a part share themes concerning immigration, oppression, community, and family. In addition, River Aria focuses on music, art, folklore, etc. I started off thinking in terms of staying in line with the history of the times, and the themes snuck in as the plot developed.

As far as recurrent themes, I write a lot about families, especially sibling relationships.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: When Estela and a few of her fellow “river brats” first start studying with their instructor, Carlito Camilo, he tells them that what he will teach them is magic, meaning the magic of opera and all that it entails. But then he backs up and corrects himself, saying, “No one can actually teach magic, and no one can actually learn it. What I will teach you is to be slaves to the consideration of magic, to pay homage to it physically and spiritually and visually and technically. I will teach you to invite magic into your lives, knowing full well it will likely elude you. But we can invite it just the same; we can prepare the way for it; we can behave as if we expect it—because sometimes it simply appears in those places where it knows it is wanted.”  

I think it is the same with craft and art. As writers all we can do is get the craft down as best we can and then hope we have achieved some level of artfulness as well. As far as editing, I don’t see how anyone can not edit. But maybe that’s just me.

Q: What makes a successful novelist?

A: The answer depends on how you define success. There are so many great writers out there who don’t get picked up by big publishing houses and who wind up with small publishers and never sell a lot of books. Or they wind up self publishing but don’t have the marketing skills to drive traffic to their work. But if their writing experience is intense, if they have perfected their craft and provided a great story, who’s to say that’s not success?

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. Thoughts?

A: That doesn’t feel right for me. I can tell you that proofreading is like doing homework. I always work with a proofreader, but then I always have to proofread again anyway, because very few proofreaders, no matter how good they are, catch every single thing. I myself am a terrible proofreader, at least with my own work.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: I’ve enjoyed being in writing groups over the years. There were only three of us in the last one I was in. That was the best, because we were all good writers and we were all seasoned and able to both give and take criticism.

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: In the course of my freelance writing career I came to ghostwrite several books for clients. It’s a remarkable experience to write someone else’s story, to try to present it the way you think they would if they were writing it themselves, in their voice. Because you’ve got to stick to their story, the most important thing you can bring to the project is craft. I don’t think writing someone else’s story is something many emerging writers would want to do, but I would suggest to those who are between books and waiting for new ideas to give it a try, even if it’s only something short for a friend. If I were teaching craft, I would ask all my students to do this. It’s a great way to develop skills.