Barry Wilker spent forty-three years working as an interior designer for a myriad of clients across the United States. Retirement has provided him time to assemble all the fragments of his wild imagination into this, his first novel. He lived for a number of years in the Los Angeles area and currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. Here's here today to talk about his novel, The Lapone Sisters.
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INTERVIEW:
Mayra Calvani: Please tell us about The Lapone Sisters and what compelled you to write it.
Author: I hatched the idea of The Lapone Sisters over a period of almost forty years. Being an interior designer for forty-three years was at times a tedious and sometimes a stressful profession. During downtimes in my business, ideas for the story sprang like seedlings that over time grew and multiplied into pieces I knew someday would be a fully realized story. During those free times, I wrote thoughts about these imaginary sisters on pieces of paper and put them into a folder or squirreled them away in the back of my mind. I am really not sure how or why this novel finally came to fruition. Possibly because of Covid and retirement I suddenly had the time to concentrate on the entirety of the story. I pulled out my folder and separated the scraps of ideas into piles in my home office. As I already mentioned, bits and pieces of the story had incubated for more years. I had stacks of unrelated ideas sitting on my desk. For nine months I began to sew together a story and imagine events that propelled my characters into the story they became. It was a fun, tedious, and stressful time.
M.C.: What is your book about?
ܳٳǰ: The Lapone Sisters is a smart and seamless coming-of-age novel centered on the lives of three sisters–and a thoughtful and thought-provoking tale that unfolds against a backdrop of a simpler time and place. The Lapone Sisters introduces the reader to three dazzling and decidedly different sisters: Schmellda, Sorina and Esmerelda. They are wildly disparate, wholly entertaining, and mesmerizingly comical individuals. The three sisters are swept up into a whirlwind of adventure when each begins to chart a course toward discovering purpose, meaning and direction for their lives.
In the summer of 1976, the three sisters launch a journey like no other when each begins the task of uncovering her individual course in the world. Schmellda, the eldest daughter, is a frumpy, self-appointed mother hen cautiously setting out on her own for the first time in her life. Middle sister Sorina is a stunning-and-stuttering beauty tentatively venturing out in search of her dreams. Esmerelda is the youngest and boldest of the three who is outspoken, sharp-tongued and an unfiltered fireball ready to catapult from the nest.
Born to loving parents who provided a safe and nurturing environment, Schmellda, Sorina and Esmerelda could not be more different. When the sisters are swept up in an unimaginable spiral of events that change their lives forever, they discover more about themselves and each other than they had ever dreamed.
The girls compete and commiserate. They take road trips and chances. They get makeovers and they make waves. They grow and bloom and blossom. Even though they change, they remain true to their core selves. Most of all, they follow their hearts. They even fall in love. Over the months of a fateful and blissful summer, the sisters cross paths, cross wits and come across a menagerie of misfits, loners, losers and dreamers making for an adventure like no other. For these three sisters, life will never be the same.
The Lapone Sisters is a beautifully rendered tale that celebrates taking chances, embracing individuality, innocence, and the unmistakeable power of love. Resplendent with charm, peppered with wry humor, sometimes seasoned with satire, and replete with a richly drawn cast of characters, their story is destined to stay with readers long after the last page is turned
M.C.: What themes do you explore in your novel?
Author: Individuality. Innocence. The power of love, acceptance, and coming of age. Stuttering and the power of language. The capability of change. The importance of knowing we are all part of and have contributions to make to a community much bigger than just ourselves.
M.C.: Why do you write?
Author: I write now because I have the time. Being retired, I feel able to do anything. I don’t write for income. I write because I want to write. I wrote this novel because I wanted to show life in an absurdly creative way. I wanted to create a lightness on the surface that opens the reader’s mind to what I consider the truly important themes I mentioned above.
M.C.: When do you feel the most creative?
Author: Since I am not creating beautiful homes for a living any longer and constantly thinking about them 24/7, my imagination is still at full speed. I feel creative all the time.
M.C.: How picky are you with language?
Author: I am very conscientious about language. I consider my writing to how I performed as an interior designer. I was meticulous with my jobs. It was my goal to execute a beautiful and liveable environment for my clients using the best materials and craftsmen available. Words are now my floor plans, fabrics, art and furniture. I want language to be perfect.
M.C.: When you write, do you sometimes feel as though you were being manipulated from afar?
Author: No. Not in the least.
M.C.: What is your worst time as a writer?
Author: When I am a loss for an idea. When I am at a loss for the correct word. When I wake up in the middle of the night and realize that I missed something in a time line. When I am somewhere and I have a great idea and have no way to write it down.
M.C.: Your best?
Author: The opposite of all of the above . . . the times when thoughts, ideas and the rest flow seamlessly.
M.C.: Is there anything that would stop you from writing?
Author: I suppose if my debut novel does not work out for Joe Public. I would not stop writing. I would stop publishing.
M.C.: What’s the happiest moment you’ve lived as an author?
Author: When the three editors and I came to the “Aha!� moment that set my manuscript free to go to print.
M.C.: Is writing an obsession to you?
Author: It certainly was an obsession while I was writing The Lapone Sisters. Long ago in school I loved to write poetry. At the moment, writing isn’t quite the obsession it was. I’ve told my primary story. Now I have other loves. I paint, sculpt, read. I am 69 and retired. Now is mostly play time.
M.C.: Are the stories you create connected with you in some way?
Author: The only part of The Lapone Sisters that connects me to my novel is I was once a stutterer. I still am at times. I really wanted to raise awareness of how stuttering as an adolescent affects a person.
M.C.: Ray Bradbury once said, “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.� Thoughts?
Author: I don’t agree. I wrote this novel as a contrast to the chaos, hate and negativity in today’s society. I wanted to write a happy and meaningful book that was filled with positive and humorous distractions.
M.C.: Do you have a website or blog where readers can find out more about you and your work?
Author: . But really, after anyone reads this blog they know more about me than what is on my website. I would like to thank you for reading this and hope that you will read my novel The Lapone Sisters. I also want to emphasize to readers that I have two footnotes in my novel on pages 199 and 300 that reference songs I sincerely hope they will listen to before turning the page. And again, thank you!
Barry’s book, The Lapone Sisters, is available from your favorite online retailer.
posted by Mayra Calvani on November, 29 ]]>
, cheerful partners in crime, coauthor mystery, suspense, and fantasy fiction. Rosemary and Larry have published award-winning novels, short stories, and essays. They co-authored the popular Paco and Molly Mystery Series; Hawaii adventure/thrillers Cry Ohana and Honolulu Heat; and three volumes of short stories, many of which appear in anthologies. After forty-plus years in Maryland, the Milds currently make their home in Honolulu, where they cherish time with their daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren.
THE MILDS are active members of Sisters in Crime where Larry is a Mister in Crime; Mystery Writers of America; and Hawaii Fiction Writers. In 2013 they waved goodbye to Severna Park, Maryland and moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where they cherish quality time with their daughters and grandchildren. When Honolulu hosted Left Coast Crime in 2017, Rosemary and Larry were the program co-chairs for “Honolulu Havoc.�
Over a dozen worldwide trips to Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Great Britain, France, Italy, Israel, Egypt, and more have wormed their way into their amazing stories. In their limited spare time, they are active members of the Honolulu Jewish Film Festival committee, where Larry is the statistician and recordkeeper for their film ratings. Visit their to find out more.
INTERVIEW
1. How many books, in total, have you written together?
Thirteen: ten novels and three books of short stories, with more to come.
We have also published three memoirs:
By Rosemary: Miriam’s World—and Mine, about our beloved daughter, Miriam Luby Wolfe, whom we lost in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988. And Love! Laugh! Panic! Life with My Mother.
By Larry: No Place To Be But Here, My Life and Times. It is not only my own story, but that of my family: how my two wives, three children, and five grandchildren have shaped my life as much as I have molded theirs. Tragedy is certainly no stranger as I dealt with death, cancer, murder, and global terrorism, not only on this written page, but in my own life.
2. How did you get started writing together?
Rosemary: Larry and I met on a blind date in October, 1986, at my house in Severna Park, Maryland. We came from rather different worlds. He had lost his wife to cancer. I’d been divorced for eight years, happily accustomed to having my own space, thank you. In the car, on our way home from dinner, he said, “When I retire I’m going to write a novel and I want you to help me.� Now neither of us had ever written fiction. I was an editor; he was an electrical engineer, and I’d only known this man for four hours. So I chirped, “Okay!� Instinct told me he was Mr. Right—and I‘d better not let him get away. True to his word, when we retired, he sat down and wrote Cry Ohana, Adventure and Suspense in Hawaii.
3. What is your process of writing together?
Rosemary: Larry inherited a creative gene from his grandfather Charles Gluck, who was an excellent artist. We have his paintings in our living room. Larry’s mind works in imaginative ways, so he makes up all our plots and writes the first drafts. Then he hands the manuscript over to me. I flesh out the characters and streamline passages to pick up the pace. I call it “judicious pruning,� an expression I learned as an assistant editor at Harper’s Magazine. Originally, Larry would reply, “I worked hours on those two paragraphs!� Then, with sleeves rolled up, we would negotiate. In our early days, I would not have received a doctorate in diplomacy. Today things go a lot smoother.
Larry: Our manuscripts are always better after Rosemary works her magic. She has this wonderful feel for people and human nature. She breathes life into my minimalist characters: physical appearance, sharpening the dialogue. Sometimes she adds a scene for more conflict. She’ll take an anecdote I told second-hand and turn it into real-time drama, like an ugly shouting match between two women in a crowded restaurant.
4. How do you get the ideas for your novels?
Larry: From life! From keen observation of people, from newspaper articles and books (I’m a voracious reader), from eavesdropping (Yes!) and from our own personal experience. We wrote Cry Ohana (ohana means family) when we were winter “snowbirds� in Honolulu, weaving in all the local places we knew, which gave the book authenticity and color. For instance, we have a chase scene in Chinatown during Chinese New Year, which we always attended, wading ankle-deep in firecracker paper. But we also leap into other times and places with our sci-fi novella Unto the Third Generation.
5. How do you get the ideas for the characters in your novels?
Rosemary: We draw many of our characters from real life. Most are composites of people we’ve known. When Larry and I started writing together, we hadn’t even considered writing mysteries—until we visited my psychoanalyst father, Dr. Saul K. Pollack, in Milwaukee. That visit set us on a happy new course. My father, a widower in his seventies, had a housekeeper/gourmet cook named Dorothy. She was sixty-three, with a beachball figure, waddle walk, honey curls, and good-natured, nosy-body personality. Dorothy had exquisite culinary skills and a unique way of expressing herself. “I have to take my calcium so I don’t get osteoferocious.� During our visit, my father pulled out a piece of paper from his desk drawer and handed it to us: his secret list of Dorothy’s 177 sayings. He thought we could submit it to Reader’s Digest. Back home in Severna Park, we decided Dorothy was too good a character to ignore. Forget Reader’s Digest. She belonged to us. We named her Molly, and her witty sayings Mollyprops. But we also needed a policeman, so Larry invented a semi-retired detective and named him Inspector Paco LeSoto. Larry actually met the real-life Paco when he was a field engineer for RCA. So Locks and Cream Cheese, our first mystery, was born. The lovable psychoanalyst Dr. Avi Kepple is patterned after my father.
6. Tell us a little about the process of writing your latest novel, Death Rules the Night. How did you come up with the plot? How long did the writing process take?
Larry: Death Rules the Night is our fourth Dan & Rivka Sherman Mystery. Dan and Rivka think they’re buying into a pleasant, predictable life. Instead, they become unwilling, frightened sleuths in the wake of a mugging, robbery, kidnapping—and murder. I chose to set the crime inside the bookstore. A tell-all hair-raising book about the prominent Atkins family has disappeared. The real focus of the book is the Atkins family’s eighteenth-century house in Annapolis. The ancestors of three unhappy sisters and a reprobate brother date back to the American Revolution. I delved into research—as long as it didn’t overshadow the plot—touching on the Revolutionary War, the Underground Railroad, and Prohibition. How long did the writing process take? About a year. We always send our final draft to our eagle-eyed proofreader friend. That takes her a month or so.
7. Your popular Dan and Rivka Sherman Mystery series is filled with charm. Are there any autobiographical components in these wonderful characters—and if so, what?
Larry: We made Dan and Rivka a lot like us, but much younger: a Jewish couple in their early fifties. They abandon thriving careers to buy the fictional Olde Victorian Bookstore in Annapolis, Maryland.
Rosemary: Physically, Dan is his own man. Tall and gangly, he sprawls when he sits. He has bushy black hair and eyebrows. The only thing that’s thin about Larry is his gray hair. However, Dan’s personality is very much like Larry’s: analytical and practical, a born problem-solver. Rivka is a lot like me. Affectionate, addicted to chocolate, and feisty—I came out of the womb arguing. In Death Rules the Night Dan secures a manuscript copy of the tell-all missing book. One night an intruder breaks into the bookstore. Dan thinks that’s what he or she was trying to steal. Rivka despairs. “Oh, Dan, do you think the intruder is violent? Are we in some kind of danger? Forget trying to discover the Atkins family secrets. You are being so pigheaded!”�
8. What’s the best part of writing with your spouse?
Larry: We’re never working in a vacuum. We always have each other to bounce off our ideas. When Rosemary read my first draft of Death Rules the Night, she said the plot seemed a little thin. I was able to immediately come up with a juicy, seductive subplot and we talked out the details.
Rosemary: Larry’s my soul mate. I’m convinced we knew each other in a previous life. Writing together gives us daily structure and the joy of seeing our books in print. Larry also formats all our books for Kindle, and we even have a talking book. Death Goes Postal, our first Dan & Rivka Mystery, is available as an Amazon Audible Audiobook.
9. What’s the most challenging part?
Larry: She could work a little faster. We’re getting “behinder� by the day. And when she edits out some of my favorite paragraphs, I call it slash and burn. She replies with a quote by Stephen King: “To write is human, to edit is divine.”�
Rosemary: I know it’s aggravating for Larry to have to wait for me. You see, I have another creative life of my own: writing personal essays. In addition to my memoirs, I just published my essay collection In My Next Life I’ll Get It Right, my quirky takes on everyday life from the hilarious to the serious.
10. What’s next for authors Rosemary and Larry Mild? Any new books in the works?
Rosemary: Yes, two. Charlie and the Magic Jug is a collection of mystery and suspense stories—plus some delightful fractured fairy tales and our own Hawaiian menehune legends. Larry is also working on a new novel called On the Rails, A Boxcar Bertie Adventure.
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posted by Mayra Calvani on September, 13 ]]>
Connie Berry is the author of the Kate Hamilton Mysteries, set in the UK and featuring an American antiques dealer with a gift for solving crimes. Like her protagonist, Connie was raised by antiques dealers who instilled in her a passion for history, fine art, and travel. During college she studied at the University of Freiburg in Germany and St. Clare's College, Oxford, where she fell under the spell of the British Isles. In 2019 Connie won the IPPY Gold Medal for Mystery and was a finalist for the Agatha Award’s Best Debut. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America and is on the board of the Guppies and her local Sisters in Crime chapter. Besides reading and writing mysteries, Connie loves history, foreign travel, cute animals, and all things British. She lives in Ohio with her husband and adorable Shih Tzu, Emmie. You can learn more about Connie and her writing at her website .
Link to book:
Amazon:
Indiebound:
INTERVIEW:
Mayra Calvani: Please tell us about The Art of Betrayal and what compelled you to write it.
Connie: Hello, Mayra! Thank you for inviting me to chat about my books. When someone asks why I wrote The Art of Betrayal, I usually say (flippantly) to fulfill my contract obligations, which is true. But the real answer is because I’m interested in Kate and her circle of friends in the village of Long Barston. I love involving them in new and challenging circumstances so I can see how they react. Over time, characters change and develop. Hidden skills and flaws come to the surface. Their past histories return to cause problems. They must change and adapt. Right now I’m working on the next book in the series, and I’m already thinking ahead to what’s next for everyone. Change is a constant in both the real and fictional worlds. Nothing remains the same. People (and characters) must learn to deal with change or perish. How they do that is what interests me.
M.C.: What is your book about?
Connie: American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton is spending the month of May in the Suffolk village of Long Barston, tending her friend Ivor Tweedy’s antiquities shop while he recovers from hip surgery. She’s thrilled when a reclusive widow consigns an ancient Chinese jar—until the Chinese jar is stolen and a body turns up in the middle of the May Fair. With no insurance covering the loss, Tweedy may be ruined. As DI Tom Mallory searches for the victim’s missing daughter, Kate notices puzzling connections with a well-known local legend. This complex case pits Kate against the spring floods, the murky depths of Anglo-Saxon history, a house with a tragic history, and a clever killer with an old secret. It’s up to Kate to unravel a Celtic knot of lies and betrayal.
M.C.: What themes do you explore in The Art of Betrayal?
Connie: A major theme in all my writing is the effect of the past on the present. No one lives entirely in the present. Hidden below the surface are the people and the history that have shaped our lives and the world we live in. As an antiques dealer, Kate is used to living with the objects of the past. Her father once called her a divvy, an antiques whisperer. Sometimes she senses the emotional atmosphere in which an object existed, as if it had seeped into the cracks and crevices along with the dust and grime. That’s how the past clings to the present. They can’t be separated.
On the level of theme, Kate has been damaged by past losses and must learn to face them and move forward. England is a perfect place for her to do that work because in England, the past is only an inch deep. Strike the ground with a spade anywhere, and you’re bound to dig up history. In my current WIP, Kate reflects upon the foundations of a ruined tenth-century priory, recently discovered beneath a Waitrose parking lot.
Other themes I write about include love, courage, the nature of good and evil, deception, and friendship. What a book is really about usually becomes clear to me only after I’ve finished the first draft.
M.C.: Why do you write?
Connie: Like most authors, I’ve always been a writer. As a child I loved books, and I wrote and illustrated my own. Because my mom was a saver, I still have many of them, and interestingly, just about all of them revolve around some kind of mystery—though not a murder. I love creating stories. I love the “what if� question: “If this were to happen, how would my character respond? What would be the outcome?� I also love the power of language to communicate emotional truth without having to spell everything out. One of the skills writers develop over time is the ability to trust the reader to read between the lines.
M.C.: When do you feel the most creative?
Connie: I love the pre-writing phase, when all possibilities are open and literally anything could happen. What would make life harder for my protagonist? What would deepen the mystery? As the book begins to take shape in my mind, choices must be made to take the plot in one direction or another, but for me, those first weeks are the most creative.
M.C.: How picky are you with language?
Connie: On a scale of 1 to 10, I’m probably a 12. As I’ve already said, I love the power of language to communicate emotional truth. And I’ve always been in love with the rhythm and cadence of the English language. The words on the page should flow, carrying the reader along without jarring stops and starts. Unless you want them, of course. One of the characters might have poor communication skills. But even then, the language must communicate easily.
Language also has the power to make us laugh. When I was 12 or 13, I discovered in the stacks of my local library the writing of the British humorists P.G. Wodehouse and Jerome K. Jerome. I’d never read anything so funny in my life. Social anthropologist Kate Fox said in her book Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behavior, “In other cultures, there is a ‘time and a place� for humour; it is a special, separate kind of talk. In English conversation, there is always an undercurrent of humour. We can barely manage to say ‘hello� or comment on the weather without somehow contriving to make a bit of a joke of it, and most English conversations will involve at least some degree of banter, teasing, irony, understatement, humorous self-deprecation, mockery or just silliness. Humour is our ‘default mode�....� The fact that I set my mysteries in the British Isles makes me an heir of that tradition.
M.C.: When you write, do you sometimes feel as though you were being manipulated from afar?
Connie: Sometimes I wish I were, but no. Writing for me is hard work. Once the words are on the page, the fun starts. I love revision. One of my favorite quotes, mistakenly attributed to Dorothy Parker, is “I hate writing. I love having written.� That could be my motto.
M.C.: What is your worst time as a writer?
Connie: My worst time is what they call “the dreaded middle,� where nothing is resolved and all the threads of the plot appear hopelessly tangled. I always think, “I can’t do this. I’ll never pull it off. This is crap.� That’s when I have to put on my big-girl pants and persevere. I heard an interview recently with several very experienced authors. The moderator asked them what they’d learned in the years they’d been writing and publishing. One of the authors, Anna Lee Huber, said something like, “I’ve learned confidence—that I will solve the problem and finish the book.� I want that confidence.
M.C.: Your best?
Connie: My best time is having written. Editing and revising are such creative fun for me. This is where the magic happens, where the words are honed and the forward momentum is achieved. This is where a manuscript becomes a book.
M.C.: Is there anything that would stop you writing?
Connie: Yes, of course. My highest priorities in life revolve around my family and the people I love. If I had to focus on caring for someone who needed me, I would drop everything and do it. Also, I love taking writing pauses, short periods of time when I’m not writing but observing and thinking. Those are the times when I “fill the tank,� so to speak, creatively. If a writer isn’t continually observing and thinking and “what-if-ing,� the well runs dry.
M.C.: What’s the happiest moment you’ve lived as an author?
Connie: Every writer needs encouragement. My happiest moment was the night I received the news that my first novel, A Dream of Death, was a finalist for the Agatha Awards Best Debut of 2019. Just to be nominated is a great honor. It was quite late when I got the word (was it an email or a text? I can’t remember.). My husband was already sound asleep, and I didn’t want to disturb him because I knew he had an early morning, so I went to bed smiling to myself. That was fun.
M.C.: Is writing an obsession with you?
Connie: I hope not because an obsession, to me, is unhealthy. I love writing (read “having written�), but I love lots of other things too. I write, not because I’m obsessed but because creating stories and characters to fill them is a joy and a privilege. Not everyone gets to combine work with pleasure.
M.C.: Are the stories you create connected with you in some way?
Connie: Absolutely. Since everything comes out of a writer’s mind, all she has to draw upon are the people and experiences she’s personally had, observed, or read about. This is why it’s so important for writers to be great readers and observers. We can’t possibly experience everything—and we certainly don’t want to experience horrible things like murder—so we must experience them vicariously. But these vicarious experiences are ours as well because they’ve been filtered and shaped by what we have experienced in life. I like to say that every one of my characters—both the good and the bad—have something of me in them.
M.C.: Ray Bradbury once said, “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.� Thoughts?
Connie: That’s an interesting thought. I wish I could ask Bradbury to explain further. If he means writers must nourish their creativity, I agree. However, I just had one of my fictional characters say, “Real life is always more interesting than fiction—and more complex.� I think that’s true. One of the reasons that’s true is because our lives sit on the top layer of history, but we are supported by the layers beneath. The layers in fiction are by nature limited. In real life, they are unlimited. There’s always another layer to peel back.
M.C. Do you have a website or blog where readers can find out more about you and your work?
Connie: Thank you for asking. If readers are interested in learning more about me and my writing, I invite them to check out my website: . There they will have an opportunity to sign up for my monthly newsletter, The Plot Thickens.
Mayra, thank you again for inviting me to visit your blog.
posted by Mayra Calvani on June, 25 ]]>
writes novels, short stories and personal essays. She is the Director of Northern Colorado Writers. Her novel All The Broken People was recently selected as the Colorado Author Project winner in the adult fiction category. She's been published in We Got This: Solo Mom Stories of Grit, Heart, and Humor, Flash! A Celebration of Short Fiction, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for Nurses, and Splice Today, as well as Novelty Bride Magazine and ESME.com. She was raised in New Mexico and now lives in Colorado with her husband and children. She holds degrees in psychology and political science, two topics she loves to write about.
Connect with Amy on the Web:
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INTERVIEW:
What got you into writing?
I’ve always enjoyed writing, but my professional journey took me in a number of different directions first. After twenty years in management and marketing, I became the director of a sexual assault services program. I developed a passion for violence prevention and I got to see first-hand how victims and perpetrators behave and how the criminal justice system functions in such cases. When I moved to Colorado, I started writing in earnest. First, I wrote an essay about one of the forensic nurses I worked with. Then I wrote my first novel—the story of a woman hiding behind her career to avoid getting hurt. I’ve been truly blessed with the opportunity to write full-time for the past six years.
What do you like best about being an author?
I love working on my characters. As a reader, I want characters who are complex and fully developed, so it’s probably no surprise that that’s where my focus lies in writing. Human behavior is fascinating, and I love thinking about all the reasons a person might react a certain way or do a particular thing. Sometimes we focus too much on the big influences or events. I like to consider all the little things that might impact the way a person thinks about things. The way they see the world.
When do you hate it?
Not sure I hate anything about being an author. I’m not terribly patient, and there’s a lot of waiting so that can drive me a little crazy at times.
What is a regular writing day like for you?
I’m definitely a morning person when it comes to writing and I don’t write everyday. I try to take at least the first hour or two of my day for actual writing, and save administrative things for the afternoon when my coffee has worn off. Being an author isn’t all about writing. There are a lot of business and promotional tasks that have to be done regularly or they pile up on you and become a distraction from writing. So, on a writing day, I start by booting up the computer, taking care of any urgent emails, and then diving into writing. When my mind starts to wander, I make some coffee and push through until lunch. Of course, if I’m in the middle of something or I’m on a roll, all bets are off. I just write until I can’t write anymore.
Do you think authors have big egos?
Some do. I think being an author requires a certain amount of ego because you have to balance that against all the rejection and negative criticism you invariably get. As an author, you’re sort of stuck in this perpetual tug-of-war between euphoria and abject terror. For instance, when I hold my book for the first time, I go from excitement and pride to the overwhelming sense that the minute I let that book out of my hands it’ll all come tumbling down. A little bit of ego helps you sit back down and write some more regardless.
How do you handle negative reviews?
Some authors say never to read your reviews, but I admit, I do. Sometimes reviews are really just a person’s emotional reaction to the book but as I read them, I can look for patterns and use what I learn to improve my craft. That doesn’t mean I believe all the negative reviews and I understand that you can’t please everyone, but I also know that by the time a book goes to print, I’ve read it so many times I start to lose perspective. Reviews, even negative reviews, can help me get that perspective back.
How do you handle positive reviews?
I say a little “thank you� to the Universe, smile, sometimes do a happy dance, and then move on. I’m always elated when a reader connects with my story and characters. I am so grateful when a reader takes the time to leave a review.
What is the usual response when you tell a new acquaintance that you’re an author?
They say “have I heard of anything you’ve written,� and I try not to chuckle because there are so many authors and books and I’m constantly being introduced to authors I’ve never heard of—even in my own genre. What’s really startling is when they HAVE heard of my books and they recognize my name or a title. Then I feel like I might just be doing something right.
What do you do on those days you don’t feel like writing? Do you force it or take a break?
I never force it. When I try, what I write is usually total crap so it doesn’t really do me any good. That being said, I never lack for things to do. I run a writing organization and right now I’m homeschooling my two kids so spare time isn’t something I usually get. If I don’t feel like writing, my to-do list will happily keep me busy the rest of the day.
Any writing quirks?
I like to have movies playing while I write. That’s my background noise. I love music, but it feeds my emotions and sometimes that can be distracting, so I have a handful of movies I watch over and over again. Right now, I’m “watching� The Client for the gazillionth time.
What would you do if people around you didn’t take your writing seriously or see it as a hobby?
I’m sure some people do, but the people in my life who matter most have always supported and encouraged me. I try to pay that back because I know not everyone is so lucky. What frustrates me is that it takes so much time and energy and creativity to write. It’s hard work. If a person wants to be a writer, they are committing to doing the work, facing the rejection, and juggling all the other aspects of their lives. The least we can do is encourage them.
Some authors seem to have a love-hate relationship to writing. Can you relate?
I can understand, but my own relationship with writing is somewhat different. I came to this profession after years of owning my own businesses and running organizations so I’ve always approached my writing as a job. It’s a job that I love, but it still has all the highs and lows of any other task you do day after day. I definitely have some dancing-around-my-office scale moments of joy. And there are days when I’m feeling low and looking for a day job seems like the thing to do. But mostly I approach my writing as a project or series of projects. I break it down into tasks. I celebrate my victories. Learn from my mistakes. Mostly, I try to stay even and balanced so that I don’t go insane.
What’s on the horizon for you?
More writing! Complicit is book one in a series. Originally, I envisioned a trilogy, but as I continue, my protagonist Kate has a lot more to say. I also write short stories and essays as I go, so there are a lot of moving parts in my writing life. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to share them with you.
Leave us with some words of wisdom about the writing process or about being a writer.
Just write! There’s really only one thing that can keep you from being a writer. If you sit down and do the work, if you make room for improvement and growth, then the sky’s the limit. Whether you’re putting aside hours in your private office or stealing a few minutes to write in a notepad on your kitchen counter, just write. As much as you can, as often as you can.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A tangled web of deception and duplicity where predators are shielded by respectability and no one is safe
Kate Medina had been working as a forensic psychologist and loving every minute until a violent attack left her shaken to the core. Retreating to her hometown where it's safe, she accepts a job where the prospect of violence is slim to none. As a high school psychologist, Kate tends to the emotional needs of the students. It's not the career she envisioned for herself.
Five years later, a student disappears, leaving the school in crisis and Kate at the helm of another traumatic event. Roman Aguilar, the lead detective, reaches out to Kate for assistance. Kate's position at the school and her training make her an ideal ally, but her complicated relationship with Roman puts them at odds.
When the girl's body is found, changing the focus of the investigation to homicide, Kate finds herself in the middle of a situation she never anticipated. What started as her desire to help puts Kate directly in the crosshairs of an enemy who remains largely in shadows. As her past and present collide, Kate is dragged into the middle of a dangerous game where only one thing is clear-no one can be trusted.
Find out more.
posted by Mayra Calvani on April, 27 ]]>
Rosemary is an award-winning writer of personal essays that have appeared in the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Chess Life, Generations, and elsewhere. As a retired editor, she’s a long-time member of the Society of Professional Journalists and was a Silver Owl (twenty-five-year member) of the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Rosemary grew up in Milwaukee and graduated from Smith College. In 2013, she and Larry moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where they cherish time with their daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren. When not dreaming up outrageous ideas for her essays, she and Larry stalk villains and solve crimes as coauthors of more than a dozen mystery and suspense novels and story collections. They’re members of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime (Larry’s a Mister), and Hawaii Fiction Writers.
About twenty-five years ago, after leaving my career as an editor (which I started at Harper’s Magazine in New York). My second husband, Larry, and I lived in Severna Park, Maryland, a bedroom community between Baltimore and Annapolis. I had a chance to write four articles on “Artists of the Chesapeake,� for the Baltimore Sun. Then I felt inspired to write essays about my own life: Playing Barbie Dolls with our little granddaughters. My run-in with a bank because I accepted a new credit card just to get a free T-shirt at a baseball game. I published a bunch of those in Washington Woman and Washington Parent.
What is your book about?
My essays reflect my quirky, sharp, often laugh-out-loud view of life, like taking the wrong cart at the grocery store. My senior “decade.� Auditioning to become a contestant on Jeopardy! Medical mishaps pushing Larry in his wheelchair. The risks of a grandma’s bragging rights. I also encompass the opposite spectrum, poignant and appreciative, including our son-in-law in the Honolulu Marathon and delivering Meals on Wheels.
In “Life with Larry� I tell how, on our first date, he asked me to write a novel with him—even though neither of us had ever written a word of fiction. I have another chapter on our writing murder mysteries together. And haven’t killed each other yet!
The last chapter is the most heart-rending, about our twenty-year-old daughter Miriam Luby Wolfe. We lost her in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. She was a superb writer. I end the book with her inspiring words, beautiful advice we can all use.
What was your inspiration for it?
My mother was a professional writer. She wrote feature stories for The Milwaukee Journal, Parents Magazine, American Home, Colliers, and elsewhere. She was my role model.
Who is your target audience?
Adult women probably. When I wrote the back-of-the-book copy, I gave it to our two granddaughters here in Honolulu for their opinions. I said that my essays were a combination of Nora Ephron and Erma Bombeck. Our granddaughters, ages twenty-two and thirty-two, had never heard of either one. I deleted the reference, even though in some ways they still influence me.
What type of challenges did you face while writing this book?
Trying to weave my own personal writing in between coauthoring fiction with Larry. It’s tough on both of us. Larry is extremely focused. When we have a new book we’re working on, it’s hard for him to sit back and wait until I finish a nonfiction project. It’s hard on me, too. Mystery and suspense novels require tremendous concentration—intricate clues; fleshed-out characters; convincing, logical solutions.
I’ve also taken infinite amounts of time to write three memoirs: Miriam’s Gift; Miriam’s World—and Mine; and Love! Laugh! Panic! Life with My Mother.
What do you hope readers will get from your book?
I hope readers will agree with the Readers� Favorite review. “A wonderful heartwarming collection of stories that you instantly resonate with. I could not put this book down. Rosemary takes us on such a rollercoaster of emotions, from laughter to tears and everything in between. A highly recommended read.�
Did your book require a lot of research?
Yes. My “Close Encounters…� with famous people sent me to research on what made them famous. My essays on “Renoir and Raphael�; “Pearl Harbor and Punchbowl�, etc. But I also included threads of research throughout, such as the number of participants in the 2013 Honolulu Marathon; and facts about Jazzercise, my amazing exercise program that satisfies my desire to be a Rockette.
What was your publishing process like?
Our original self-publisher was not respected in the industry. If I had done my homework I would have learned that the company had the reputation of publishing the telephone book if you submitted it. For Boston Scream Pie we did have a reputable commercial publisher, but, sadly, we submitted it at the time the business was falling apart. Of course, we had no way of knowing that.
We’re our own “indie� publisher now, under the imprint Magic Island Literary Works. For printing, we use Lightning Source, Inc. in Tennessee (owned by Ingram). We submit every book already formatted. Larry does the formatting using Lightning Source’s InDesign. He's a retired engineer, so he's excellent at using their program, which is all in code! (I could never do it.) We like LSI’s printing quality. We have a friend who’s an excellent proofreader; she proofs all our final drafts for us.
What is your advice for aspiring authors?
1. Don’t be intimidated, first drafts are never perfect anyway.
2. Fear of the blank page is something to be skirted. Don't give up, go on to the next scene, and come back later.
3. Write about what you are comfortable with.
4. Develop clear mental images of your central characters.
5. Become more aware of people and places. Carry a notebook with you and jot down observations. Tune into both the unusual and the commonplace.
6. Take a community college writing class. Maybe also join a critique group.
7. Subscribe to The Writer or Writer’s Digest. (Either print or online.)
What has writing taught you?
Writing is like my right arm; it comes naturally to me. But there‘s no end to the learning process. My favorite authors are always teaching me something. Some are superb at descriptions. Others specialize in clever plotting. No matter how zealously I work on a project, no matter how satisfied I am with it, I always feel afterward, Well, maybe I could’ve said that in a slightly more vivid way.
posted by Mayra Calvani on April, 13 ]]>
From the pen of talented historical novelist Joan Schweighardt comes another well-crafted, meticulously researched story about family, community, immigration, oppression, the environment, and having to face the consequences of one’s actions.It’s 1928 and the Great Depression is looming around the corner when two impoverish but talented mixed-raced—Amerindian and European—Brazilian immigrant cousins travel to NYC to find a better life and fulfill their dreams. Estela, a singer of arias and a product of the Teatro Amazonas during the time of the rubber boom, has a beautiful voice and dreams of becoming a famous opera singer; Jojo is a fisherman and a gifted artist. As a start, Estela is offered a seamstress position at the Metropolitan Opera House while Jojo is offered a scholarship at an art school. Will they achieve their dreams against all obstacles? If yes, at what price?
River Aria is the third installment in this author’s series and is focused on the next generation of the family featured in the first book. There is so much I enjoyed about this novel! The worlds of art and music in 1920s NYC come together engrossingly. The multifaceted, original characters—you don’t often read stories about indigenous people from Brazil—and their struggles to find purpose and meaning in a complex, ruthless city that is a character all on its own, kept me riveted. Parentage and identity are big themes with both Estela and Jojo as they struggle with their origins and how it affects their lives. Having read other books by Schweighardt, I’ve become familiar with her literary prose. She always strives for depth, and she pays great attention to detail.
The author visited the rainforest, as well as Manaus, the Amazon, and Rio Negro as part of her research, and considering the authentic feel of the plot and characters, I’m not surprised. In spite of this, however, the writing doesn’t get too heavy-handed, which is sometimes a problem in this type of book. I particularly recommend River Aria to historical fiction fans who have a special interest in the rubber boom that took place in Brazil in the early 1900s and how it affected the fishing villages and the indigenous people living there.
posted by Mayra Calvani on December, 15 ]]>
Why does your tummy ache? Why does it make noises? What happens in your stomach after you eat? Why should you eat slowly?
posted by Mayra Calvani on November, 02 ]]>
is the author of
, 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. Currently touring the blogosphere, she’s here today to discuss her novel, her series, the themes in her work, and her research conducted in South America. Visit her at .comThanks for chatting with us today, Joan! What drew you to write a historical series partly set in the rainforests of Brazil? What attracted you about this setting and time period?
A decade ago, a publisher hired me to speedread some of their backlist books and write short descriptions for their website. One of the books was a slim and heavily annotated true story based on the edited diaries of a rubber tapper working in the Brazilian rainforest in the early 20th century. At the time I knew nothing about rubber tapping. I found the information fascinating, not only the tapping process but also the impact the industry had on Manaus, Brazil, the sleepy fishing village which became its headquarters. And having been a devotee of jungle stories since childhood, I loved reading about the beauty and dangers of the rainforest. I began to imagine writing my own rubber-tapping-in-the-rainforest story.
I visited the rainforest for the first time soon after, specifically to travel to the territories of the Achuar people on the Pastaza River in Ecuador with a small group that included environmentalists, sustainability enthusiasts, and guides and translators. It was a transformative experience, and by the time I came home, I was ready to start doing the research my story would require. When I finished my first good draft of what would eventually become the first book in a “rivers� trilogy, I returned to South America, this time to visit the city of Manaus and to travel on the Amazon and Rio Negro with a guide to see, among other things, rubber trees.
In a nutshell, can you tell us a bit about your as a whole and the overarching arc across the different books?
Collectively the three books cover the years 1908 to 1929 and concern two different groups of people: an Irish American contingent living in New York and New Jersey and an Amerindian/European contingent from Manaus, Brazil. Book one, entitled Before We Died, begins with the two Irish American brothers leaving New Jersey because they have heard that rubber tappers in South America are making a lot of money, and they want to try their hand at it. The results of their effort are tragic, and when one of the brothers returns home without his sibling, relationships among the Irish American contingent must bend and shift accordingly, which happens over the course of the second book, Gifts for the Dead. In book three, River Aria, a young woman—the product of an affair one of the brothers had back in book one—travels to New York with a companion in the hope of finding success in the world of opera.
Let’s talk about the 3rd and latest book in the series, River Aria. Why the title?
As noted above, the South American rubber boom is the jumping off point for all three books in the trilogy. And central to the rubber boom—a symbol of both its short-lived success and its ultimate failure—is the Teatro Amazonas, the grand opera house built by wealthy rubber barons who hoped to attract world-class performers to Manaus. But the boom came to an abrupt end in 1912, and the Teatro Amazonas was basically locked up and went unused for many years.
That’s the actual history. In my novel, I took the liberty of making some changes: namely, a European voice instructor arrives in Manaus post boom, and seeing that everything is falling into a state of decrepitude, decides that he will use his remaining years to teach opera to a handful of “river brats� who would otherwise have virtually no education at all. Local dignitaries allow him to use the grand lobby of the Teatro Amazonas for his lessons. Estela, who narrates River Aria, is one his students. Her dramatic story connects the two great rivers in the novel, the Amazon and the Hudson. Since she is a singer of arias, and since arias are by definition extended songs sung by one voice, and usually very theatrical, River Aria seemed like the perfect title.
There’s quite an array of interesting characters in your novel. Which character was most challenging to write? Which one surprised you the most?
JoJo, Estela’s “cousin,� was both challenging and a complete surprise, literally, because he wasn’t supposed to have much of a role in . He is a baby in Before We Died, the first book in the series, and he is mentioned in passing in the second book, Gifts for the Dead. I didn’t plan to do more than mention him again in River Aria either. But then a friend of mine sent me a gift for my birthday�
Often things happening in my life during the time I’m writing a book come to influence the book in some way, even if there doesn’t seem to be a direct connection initially. The gift my friend sent me was a copy of The Art Spirit, by Robert Henri. Henri was a leading figure in the Ashcan school of American realism and also a popular teacher at the Arts Students League in New York City. He and his followers were great proponents of immigrants in a time period when (not unlike now) immigrants, especially those with darker skin, were not especially welcomed. As I read this wonderful book, I began to look for ways to connect Estela to Henri’s art crowd. But I had already committed Estela to the music world; it seemed like too much of a stretch to connect her to the art world too. But then I thought of JoJo, the baby from book one, who would be about Estela’s age. Once I decided to have him travel to New York with Estela, the whole plot got messier—and much more interesting. I had to invent both a good reason for JoJo to want to travel to New York and a good reason why it would have been as easy for him as it was for Estela.
Family roots and blood relations seem to hold a vital part in the story. Is this a recurrent theme in your work?
Yes, now that I look back I would have to agree with you. I write a lot about families, and sibling relationships particularly.
You made two life-changing trips to South America over the course of writing the books. What did you discover and/or corroborated that you later used in the novels?
After my first rainforest trip I began reading one book after another, trying to learn everything about the rubber boom—and the rainforests where it took place—to support the fiction I wanted to write. But it wasn’t until I came across a book based on the journals of Roger Casement, an Irish Nationalist who had been sent by the British Foreign Office to investigate stories of the mistreatment of indigenous tribes by rubber industry bosses, that I realized that the indigenous people played a huge part in the rubber boom. The recruits the rubber barons had been sponsoring were dying left and right, because most of them had no previous experience in the rainforest and were unable to cope with its dangers. So the rubber barons began to set their sights on indigenous people, taking them from their lands, enslaving them, and subjecting them to atrocities that defy imagination. Casement’s study focuses on the exploitation of one particular tribe, but it hinted that the problem was widespread, and I found evidence of this in my research thereafter, once I knew where to look.
Having seen the way the indigenous people live for myself—the beauty of their beliefs, their regard for their lands and love for their ancestors, their spirituality—corroborated for me what was lost when the rubber barons violated them.
How do you address immigration and concerns about the destruction of rainforests in these books?
I let the history of the time period guide me. The Irish American brothers who start off the trilogy in 1908 are from Hoboken, New Jersey. They are products of their parents� immigration story. But Hoboken was populated at that time by immigrants from Italy and Germany as well as Ireland. Since the second book in the trilogy covers American involvement in WWI, and since the doughboys left for Europe from the docks in Hoboken, it was impossible not to include the story of the division among immigrant groups caused by the war, especially regarding the German Americans, who were sorely mistreated. And that is only one of many immigrant stories that came up organically in writing about this particular time and place.
Likewise stories about the destruction of the rainforest are inherent to the time and place I’ve chosen to write about. The rubber boom might have come to destroy much of the rainforest, but it didn’t, actually, because it ended soon after it began, when rubber trees planted on plantations in English territories in Southeast Asia began to produce. Henry Ford tried to create a plantation of his own in the rainforest some years later, which would have been the size of Connecticut, but he was not successful either. The fact is, there is a blight in South America that infects rubber trees when planted close together; you can’t have a plantation there. But even these failed attempts to tap the resources of the rainforest had an impact, mostly on the people who dwell in the rainforest and along its rivers. And these attempts were only precursors to the ongoing attempts unfolding in modern times, particular regarding oil drilling and mining and burning land to provide for cattle grazing. It’s an extremely important issue.
What other themes do you explore in the 3rd book, River Aria?
I’ve tried to explore what it means to be a young artist, again in a particular time and place. JoJo can barely read and write, but he paints beautifully. Estela can sing, but she has no patience. She is a slave to her fluctuating emotions. I’ve set obstacles before each of them, to see who will come closest to their respective ideas of success.
What effect did the writing of these books have on you? Were you transformed in some way?
It’s been exactly ten years since I first began to think about writing these books. That’s a long time, but you have to remember that I was freelancing for clients throughout, and weeks went by when I could not write a single word on behalf of any of my own projects. But even when I was not able to be working on the trilogy, I was thinking about it; I was reading books that touched on the subjects I wanted to explore and making notes. I was completely immersed. In The Art Spirit, Henri says, “The object of all art is intense living, fulfilment and great happiness in creation.� I have experienced all that and more.
I understand the books stand alone on their own. This is quite an achievement when writing a series. What was the most important thing to keep in mind in order to accomplish this?
Book two was the most difficult to write in such a way that it would function as both a book in a series and as a standalone novel. Of the two main characters, one, Jack, knows exactly what happened in the rainforest in book one, because he lived it, but he has reasons not to want to share that information. On the other hand, Nora, the woman he loves, feels that their relationship will remain in jeopardy if she doesn’t learn what Jack knows and is keeping from her. My job was to migrate the right amount of information from book one to book two while keeping the plot of Jack and Nora’s story moving along. I had to make sure it wouldn’t feel redundant to anyone who had read book one—or confusing to anyone who hadn’t. It was challenging. I wrote a lot of drafts before I was happy with it. I also asked fellow writers to read drafts and advise me. The third book, River Aria, relies much less on the information from either book one or book two. It was easy, relatively speaking, to bring the essentials in organically.
What’s on the horizon for you?
River Aria is the last of three books in a historical novel trilogy. I have been utterly immersed in this series for a number of years. Because some parts of the trilogy take place in the South American rainforest, I have made two trips there. I’ve read lots of books as part of my research. This project has been intense and very enjoyable, and I think it will be hard for me to turn around and start on another novel right away. I’m thinking of taking a nonfiction break in the meantime. I hope to write something about my sister, who died a few years ago.
Thank you, Joan! And best of luck with River Aria!
posted by Mayra Calvani on October, 25 ]]>
For Immediate Release
Contact: Maryglenn McCombs (615) 297-9875
Somebody Else’s Troubles by J.A. English Slated for September Release
Published by Zimbell House, Somebody Else’s Troubles will be available on September 22, 2020
Nashville, Tenn. � Somebody Else’s Troubles by J.A. English will be released in September. Published by Zimbell House in hardcover (ISBN: 978-1643901145, 398 pages, $32.99) trade paper (ISBN: 978-1643901152, 398 pages, $19.95) and eBook ($6.99) editions, Somebody Else’s Troubles will be available where fine books are sold on September 22, 2020.
An inventive, intriguing, and extraordinarily thought-provoking tale, Somebody Else’s Troubles centers on a titillating question: who among us hasn’t dreamed of walking to the corner store and simply disappearing?
About Somebody Else’s Troubles: Ohio businessman Travers Landeman has plenty of troubles. Between a marriage that is loveless at best, a hateful, greedy, self-consumed wife, and a family business changing in unexpected and unwelcome ways, Travers copes in the best way he knows how: by making a conscious effort not to think. But when his teenage nephew, Matthew Calkins, reaches out to him for help, Travers turns away. When his inaction causes unspeakable guilt, Travers fakes his death on the Caribbean Island of Mabuhay, an act that sets into motion a most unusual series of events—events that will bond together a most unusual cadre of people.
Years pass and it appears that Travers, now settled in to a new life with a new family and a new name, has gotten away with it. Or has he?
The Atlantis Fidelity Insurance Company hires Albert Sydney McNab to bring Travers back to Ohio. But McNab, a bumbling, sore-footed, ne’er-do-well with a litany of failed careers—waiter, bus driver, door-to-door salesman—is surprisingly somehow hot on Travers� trail.
Chicago bookseller Joe Rogers leads a group of amateur archaeologists to Mabuhay. Dealt a fistful of trouble when he acquired Chicago’s oldest bookstore, The Yellow Harp, Joe Rogers has a penchant for vodka, an abject ineptitude for following orders, and an abundance of useless knowledge. But at a dig site in Mabuhay, Rogers discovers an ancient treasure—a jeweled mask. Will Joe, who has his own axe to grind with Atlantis Fidelity Insurance, step off the sidelines and get back in the game?
Esmerelda McNab, United Nations Ambassador of the UN’s newest member nation, the Commonwealth of Mabuhay, has her own set of troubles—protestors who denounce her part in the sale of the mask that Joe Rogers discovered as “cultural genocide.�
Do love, peace, and redemption even exist on Mabuhay? Or are somebody else’s troubles just that?
A brilliantly-rendered tale, Somebody Else’s Troubles takes readers on an unforgettable journey spanning from the streets of Chicago’s gritty Austin neighborhood to the remote island paradise of Mabuhay. Resplendent with richly-drawn characters that spring to life in the novel’s pages, Somebody Else’s Troubles is peppered with wit and subtle humor. Novelist J.A. English delivers a clever, captivating, smart, seamless story replete with fascinating historical detail and literary allusion. A beautifully written literary novel about escape and inertia, action and inaction, faith and doubt, and finding home—and hope—in the unlikeliest of places, Somebody Else’s Troubles is destined to stay with readers long after the final page is turned.
A proud native of Paterson, New Jersey, J.A. English came of age in Mexico City, Mexico. He received his B. A. cum laude from Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and an M. A. from Rice University in Houston, Texas. English is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. He has lived for a half century in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s west side, where he still maintains a residence, but now spends much of his time in Sosua, Dominican Republic. English is a widely-published writer whose works have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Reader and Co-Existence, the literary journal which featured the works of Henry Miller. Visit J.A. English online at:
Zimbell House is an independent publisher headquartered in Michigan. Members of the news media wishing to request additional information about novelist J.A. English or Somebody Else’s Troubles are kindly asked to contact Maryglenn McCombs by phone: (615) 297-9875 or by email: [email protected]
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posted by Mayra Calvani on October, 07 ]]>
Marilea C. Rabasa is a retired high school teacher who moved west from Virginia eleven years ago. Before that, she traveled around the world with her former husband in the Foreign Service. She has been published in a variety of publications. Writing as Maggie C. Romero, Rabasa won the International Book Award, was named a finalist in both the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards and the USA Best Book Awards, and earned an honorable mention in The Great Southwest Book Festival, for her 2014 release, A Mother’s Story: Angie Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. She lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a number of years and now resides in Camano Island, Washington. Visit her online at: 
Q: Congratulations on the release of your book, Stepping Stones: A Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and Transformation. What was your inspiration for it?A: My desire to heal from substance use disorder and gift my children and grandchildren with the salient lessons I have learned on how to live well and happily. I want to pay it forward for the next generation and make a difference where it most matters to me. In the beginning of my memoir, I wrote a letter to my grandchildren. They and all who come after them were my inspiration.
Q: Why was the writing of Stepping Stones important to you?
A: Often, just writing down our thoughts, pouring our hearts out onto the page, is a cathartic and healing experience. My first memoir was an attempt to heal from losing my daughter to substance use disorder. I shined a bright and candid light on her illness, for the most part, but I wasn’t entirely forthcoming about my own. At that point I was very much in denial about my drinking, and it was clear that I needed to turn the focus back on myself. This increasingly conspicuous and unhealthy behavior was starting to get in my way, and I knew that much more recovery work awaited me. So, I determined to wrestle with the illness that had clouded my childhood, my young adulthood, the mothering of my children, and was threatening to end my life prematurely as it had my father’s. History doesn’t have to repeat itself. Writing this book became a necessary exercise for me to put my demons to rest once and for all and strive to live with more kindness and integrity, towards myself most of all. The lessons found on the pages of this second book are incorporated into my life every day so that my friends and family members, who are most important to me, will be the direct beneficiaries of my recovery.
Q: How was your creative process like during the writing of this book and how long did it take you to complete it? Did you face any bumps along the way?
A: It took about five years to finish. The biggest hurdle was in crafting a whole new structure for the unfolding events in my life. I had to distill seventy years into a reasonable book length and make it readable. So, instead of using the traditional chapter format, my life story is comprised of 132 vignettes. By shortening the pieces, the writing now relies on the power of the images among the vignettes resonating and deepening the emotional impact on the reader.
Q: Could you talk a little about your publishing process?
A: Very enjoyable and simple. She Writes Press vets all of their potential authors and we are put on one of three tracks: ready to be published; no need for editing; in need of line editing, which costs money on an hourly basis; and in need of developmental editing, also costing extra, a lot extra because of all the time added. I was accepted on track two, which was a godsend for me. I thought I had submitted a flawless copy, but it needed a great deal of work! I don’t know how authors can manage without good editors. All I can say is that I’m deeply indebted to the professionals who made my book so much better.
Q: What discoveries or surprises did you experience while writing this work?
Some friends and family, though supportive on the surface, were quiet on the subject. It’s 2020, and the topic of substance use disorder is still a loathsome one in contemporary American culture. We live in a surprisingly puritanical society, and it’s heartening to see how some foreign countries—Portugal comes to mind—handle the same issues with more kindness and common sense. Keeping quiet only perpetuates the problem and doesn’t offer practical solutions. The “psychache� that fuels many forms of substance use disorder is a deep and prevailing force in our American culture and one which could be addressed differently. In many ways our society today is rudderless. The breakdown of the family system isn’t helping. Between that and the violent drug wars that make these drugs available to the population, it’s easy to see why substance use disorder has reached epidemic proportions in our country. It’s become an easy solution to a much more complicated and fundamental problem. And no, I’m not an expert social psychologist. I don’t have an answer!
Q: What is the one thing you hope readers will take away from Stepping Stones?
A: I hope they pick up some tools for facing life as it comes, all the good and all the bad, without resorting to substance use disorder—without emotional eating, or popping pills, or taking one too many drinks. Substance use disorder is not about the substances themselves anyway, but rather the emotional and/or physical pain that fuel them. There are better ways to endure what life throws at us without destroying our health. I hope my readers will come away with the assurance that, if they are determined to live well, there are a myriad of ways to cope with life on life’s terms. There are also millions of men and women out there who share their isolation and loneliness, and together they are finding healthier solutions every day. There is enormous strength and beauty in the 12-Step fellowship that has given me my life back and the lives of so many others.
Q: How do you define success as an author?
A: I’m carrying my message to others, shining a light on how I’m recovering from substance use disorder. If I’m making a difference in the lives of any others, then I feel that my journey in self-discovery and healing has been successful.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring nonfiction writers? Could you offer some tips or resources that have been helpful to you?
Be fearless.
Be honest.
Dig deep.
Dig deep.
Dig deep.
Stop when you reach China.
Q: Anything else you’d like to tell my readers?
A: Enjoy the writing, but be open-minded: you might have thought you knew what you wanted to write about and ended up in a different place. Do you always want to know where you’re going? Be flexible. And most of all, BE TEACHABLE. There’s so much in life that we don’t know. Writing your memoir, really listening to that voice inside of you, might be the most powerful guide you have to let go and surrender to the process.
Thank you, Marilea, and best of luck with this meaningful work!
posted by Mayra Calvani on July, 08 ]]>