Interview with the Historical Fiction Book Club

Interviewer is Candy Little of the Historical Fiction Book Club:

Are you a reader/writer? 

I was an avid reader before I wrote The Sandoval Sisters' Secret of Old Blood, and remain one, although when I'm actively writing it's difficult for me to read books of a similar genre. Fortunately, there are no other historical fiction novels dealing with this time period and area of the U.S. I think that will soon change.

What are your fondest memories of reading? 

My childhood was lonely in New Mexico and the winters were long and cold. Our adobe home was heated by a free-standing gas appliance in the back of the house, so no warmth reached my room up front. Mom got a little portable electric heater which we put on a chair next to my bed. I read by the light of its toasty red beam late into the night and was transported to another world. I lost all sense of physical boundaries, of time and discomfort, and fought sleep. Even after the book ended, I walked around in a dream, still captured by its spell. Writing The Sandoval Sisters did much the same thing. The characters spoke to me, weaved their magic behind my eyes while I was making grocery lists or carpooling.

What are some of your favorite authors and books? 

I don't limit myself to one genre, but in the historical fiction category I prefer a variety of settings and time periods. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, The House of Spirits by Isabelle Allende, People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, The Devils of Loudun by Aldous Huxley is nonfiction, but a huge influence. I own every book written by Antonia Fraser. Anne Rice's A Cry to Heaven and Feast of All Saints.

If you could describe what writing/reading means to you, how would you do so? 

Writing is a declaration of independence for me. It's an acceptance of the gluttonous fantasist which not only nourished my youth, but threatened to carry me off permanently. There were times when I questioned my sanity back then, only I put it in plainer terms, “What's wrong with me?” 

In those days I dreamt symphonies and technicolor adventures where I vanquished my fears (the enemy of creativity) and was loved and appreciated. That dream world was so real that I slept for 14 hours or longer, so important to me that when I was forced to go to school it was as if I sleepwalked through the halls, and barely noticed the stares or heard the jibes. Yeah, I was bullied (see the author's writing on Bullying here here and here.) 

In college, I used behavior modification to reduce my fantasy life. Fifteen minutes of study would net me forty-five minutes of daydreaming. Gradually, the ratio was reversed, until the day arrived when I daydreamed no more. Instead, I set goals and met them with a ferocity that had never been present in my life. I established a successful business, married and had children. Thank goodness I still read and took classes: anthropology, oceanography, astronomy, marine biology. 

After listening to my mom tell the story of our maternal ancestors, the Sandovals, I signed up for an Introduction to Fiction class at UCLA. Fantasies reentered my life; I put out the welcome mat for them. Woohoo! Only now I write them down, give them structure, and share them with readers all over the world.

Which book do you think was best adapted into a movie? Why? 

Two movies pop into mind, not so much for the sameness of book to movie, but for how the movie organized the material: The English Patient was a complicated book in terms of time jumps. The cinematic adaptation made those transitions seamlessly. I enjoyed both the book and film, but I'm glad I saw the movie first. The Hunger Games was a page turner, but I felt the movie developed character better. Been a while, but The Name of the Rose was made into an accessible movie.

Why do you like to read/write historical novels? 

I'm a lifelong learner, and while my high school history teacher bemoaned my lack of devotion to history (in the classroom), historical novels have sparked my curiosity for more history, and I've gone on to research the “facts” on my own. I've also developed preferences for how I like time periods and settings and wars and such to be written. I don't like the facts thrust at me in an intrusive fashion.

Write your favorite quote and explain why you picked it? 

Two quotes at the beginning of The Sandoval Sisters' Secret of Old Blood:

Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again.
Willa Cather

Memories play a huge role in my novel, and in my life. As Oratoria says on the first page, “Which are the more true, the memories then or those simmered over time?”

No Statue of Liberty ever greeted our arrival in this country...we did not, in fact, come to the United States at all. The United States came to us.

Luis Valdez

American Progress, John Gast, 1872

Manifest Destiny

In my research, before I had even decided to write a novel, I was trying to find an answer to why cultural and ethnic antagonisms existed in Santa Fe, to why I had been bullied. So, I read some history and learned more about New Mexico and America than I'd ever imagined. But my goal was not to indict anyone, just to understand. There is a worldview expressed by the Sandoval sisters and it's been shaped by my experience and what my research revealed.

Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself? Are you married? Any kids? Where do you live? 

I'm married and we raised two sons. We have a happy empty nest in Los Angeles that we've filled with a dog, a cat, and two quarrelsome parakeets.

Congratulations on your awards, Sandra!

The Sandoval Sisters' Secret of Old Blood
Best Historical Fiction and Best First Book.

Signing The Sandoval Sisters at the L.A. Festival of Books

UNBELIEVABLE FESTIVAL SPECIAL

ME!!!

Saturday

I’ll be signing THE SANDOVAL SISTERS 

@ 

Women Writing the West, Booth #160: 

12:00-3:00 

&

4:00-6:00 

@Booth # 953 (GLAWS)

Sunday

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.  @ #160 &

12:20-2:40 @ #953

Wonder what GLAWS is? Stop by and say Hi!

All will be explained.

www.thesandovalsisters.com

ISBN: 978-0615615103 

La Gente Press

Review: A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Witches, vampires, daemons . . . oh my! An athletic, somewhat obtuse, but yet brilliant protagonist buries and denies her own ancient powers; she's someone with whom any woman can identify.  It's a romantic adventure thick with historical references and sketchy sexual innuendo. Secrets abound.  Powerful forces are at work here and not just between the two lovers: one (the macho vamp) intent on rescuing the damsel in distress and the other (the witch) unwilling to submit.  Repeatedly, she is advised to do so from evil, power hungry daemons, witches and her mother-in-law.  The other threat is from a council of creatures intent on regulating relations between creatures, mainly of the copulatory kind, sort of like anti-miscegenation laws in the U.S. The writing is good, but not lyrical, and the repetition of gestures grew tiresome. I keep thinking of Ann Rice's Interview With the Vampire, which also captivated me during the holiday season many years ago. Her story was much darker, but it was also laden with unbidden desire and even love. The adventure in A Discovery of Witches is paramount; the romance between the main characters doesn't seem real, nor does their fear. That said, the rich historical, literary and alchemical references added a great deal of intellectual interest for me: I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.


View all my reviews

Book Club Love Letter

Bookclub in Manhattan Beach Sunday night, and The Sandoval Sisters was the book.  Trepidation, thy name is Sandra because this wasn't any old bookclub, but the most fun, wild, and critical book club on earth where for decades these women have read, and sipped wine, laughed uproariously, shared feelings, and opinions . . . on everything.  We usually eat and drink and weave in and out of our book discussions, and this was no different, although they seemed a bit in awe of my work.  Not sure if I should be insulted or complimented.  I guess I come off kooky (read: outrageous) sometimes, but with this book not only is my inner nerd on display, but also my latent romanticism (tinged with tragedy and irony, of course).  They seemed relieved that the sex in the book was palatable, and when it turned edgy, they just rolled their eyes, and thought, “That’s our Sandra!”  Our hostess, who is an outstanding chef-mom-businesswoman, served spicy posole with sweet potato, and stuffed peppers, and a pimiento cheese dip.  Delicious!

*original sketch above found on Google images by Moore.  Only one I could find featuring wine and not coffee.  Can't fathom drinking coffee at bookclub!

Coming Soon: Everyday Changes and Internet Clouds

I didn't write this piece, and I don't know who did.  It was sent to me in a forwarded email, but since I write frequently about memories, it seemed appropriate for this blog.  If you know who wrote it, drop me a line.

Coming Changes 
 
Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come!


1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.


2. The Cheque. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.


3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.


4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.


5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they're always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.


6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates simply self-destruction. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."


7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing all lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.


8. The "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.


9. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7 "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again. All we will have that can't be changed are Memories.