Q&A with Deborah Santana

  

 

 

Deborah Santana is the author of the new memoir Loving the Fire: Choosing Me, Finding Freedom. Her other books include Space Between the Stars. She is also the founder of the Do A Little Foundation.  

 

Q: What inspired you to write your new memoir?

 

A: I was inspired to write Loving the Fire for my three adult children. I wanted them to have a record of the many experiences that formed me as a person, to know the strength of their ancestors, and the influence of the activists and artists I’ve been fortunate to meet and be in circle with.

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: I wrote a poem that said “I wish my mother had not died before I found my way through a burning forest, flames crawling up bark and branch, singeing my legs as I ran…” It was a poem about going through divorce and feeling on my own, with no one pulling me from the flames as my mother would have.

 

The memoir is a story of how I grew to appreciate the fire I went through as it burned away what I no longer needed and I expanded into the soul I was created to be.

 

Q: How would you describe your marriage to the musician Carlos Santana?

 

A: Marriage, like life, is a school. Relationships teach us about ourselves and how to hold love with another person. If one is lucky, marriage is magical, full of aliveness in every cell, with effervescent wonder and passion.

 

Each person has an intention in the marriage. Mine was to be together until we grew old, but life brings change. I invested time in my children, my spiritual life, returning to college after our third child was born, and focusing on issues facing women and girls. After 34 years, we grew apart.

 

Q: What impact did it have on you to write this book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?

 

A: I have written many versions of Loving the Fire! It has been arduous to add significant details, to take some chapters away, and to work with my editors to shape what is in the final book. I was committed to show how my daily meditation and seeking truth and awareness have created a beautiful life.

 

Finishing this memoir impacted me in ways of feeling full, offering gratitude that I can tell my story, and humbled by the glorious experiences I’ve had. I want readers to know it is never too late to choose yourself, to breathe in the wonder of spirit and to live in truth.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I continue my work with my Do A Little Foundation and am a lead investor and co-chair of the Courage Museum Steering Committee, a museum that will open in 2027 in San Francisco’s Presidio National Park.

 

This museum will provide visitors with an interactive teaching environment where the artifacts on display are stories and statistics of courage and resilience told by survivors of violence and injustice.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Archbishop Tutu said, “Peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but the presence of deep and abiding justice.”  May we walk in ways that promote justice for all. Thank you.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Randi Smith

  

 

 

Randi Smith is the author of the new young adult novel Ada Holloway's Had Enough. She also has written the book It Came from the Sky. She lives in Kentucky. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Ada Holloway’s Had Enough, and how did you create your character Ada?

 

A: This story started out as an assignment in my classes as a publishing major at Belmont University. This was back in 2023 when there was a lot of news about book banning efforts and the court cases against them.

 

For the first time in my life, I was made aware that book banning was happening in the US—in my own state and town—and I had no idea. That oversight stuck with me. When I had to write a story for one of my editing classes, I chose a topic I already couldn’t escape—book banning and how it affects communities.

 

Ada herself is based a lot on how I was as a teenager: opinionated but shy, thoughtful yet timid. Ada’s arc throughout the story mirrors how many teens grow up struggling to figure out who they are and then express that change to their loved ones.

 

Her character arc mirrors how I felt writing her because I was the lost college kid about to enter the real world with no idea of how it would end up, just like Ada struggles to define her life after high school.

 

Q: The Foreword Review of the book says, “Moving between action scenes, dialogue, and Ada’s instances of introspection, the novel ably balances concerns related to Ada’s inner turmoil with the issues facing her city.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I honestly can’t read that review without smiling. I paid special care to showing Ada’s growth from a passive bystander to an active participant in her own life—and often struggled to write said protagonist passively on the first go.

 

And while this book is, at the end of the day, made to entertain, I also hope it inspires legitimate concerns and empathetic conversation about continuing book banning and censorship attempts in the US.

 

I hope Ada and I inspire honest conversations between teens and the trusted adults in their lives, whether parent, teacher, or librarian. Reading this review, I think that just might happen.

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: Yes and no! As a short story, the novel only went to the midpoint of the finished project. I would’ve kept it that way if my professor-turned-agent hadn’t insisted there was more to Ada’s story. She was right, of course. The rest of the novel was crafted not long after.

 

I use Story Beats to outline my ideas, and while I desperately need the structure to write, my outlines are never set in stone. Ada’s cousin, Molly, was spontaneously written into existence when I began the first draft. Beckett Forsythe’s character arc happened in a similar fashion.

 

So even though I try to limit my changes to small decisions, you can see that they often have important consequences on the novel as a whole.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?

 

A: I want readers to walk away from Ada Holloway feeling empowered—not just about book bans but also about how to start tough conversations respectfully and honestly. Ada makes lots of mistakes before she figures things out, and as Ada grows from them, I hope readers do, too.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Everything and nothing! I’m currently on a second draft of a fantasy YA manuscript, and I’m making progress on an adult rom-com that’s proving fun and challenging.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Anyone looking for more information about me or Ada Holloway can find out more on my socials—I’m on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Substack at RandiSmithWrites—or at RandiSmithWrites.com.

 

For any educators or librarians out there, I’m working on some great book banning handouts and discussion guides for classroom and event use. They’re completely free and available on my website!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Barbara A. Berger

  

 

 

Barbara A. Berger is the author of the new book Yes! No. Maybe?: Three Little Words That Change Everything. She is also a career and executive coach, and she lives in South Carolina. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Yes! No. Maybe?

 

A: A sentence dropped into my mind over 10 years ago. I didn’t know what it meant… until I did. That line, “If there is only one of me, would you be the other?” became the anchor line for the book.

 

Q: What do you think Brent Pettit’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: Our ideas of how to represent light did not always match. Thankfully, Brent got me to see the value of showing light in relation to darkness. His illustrations are magically abstract and beg readers to pause and decipher what an image means to them. For an adult reading to a child, the illustrations offer the opportunity to ask questions to prompt deeper discussion.

 

This is a quote from Brent that says it all: “Drawing a giraffe is drawing a giraffe, but I don’t often get to create from a soul level and that’s magical.”

 

Q: How did your work as a career and executive coach factor into the writing of the book?

 

A: The book breaks coaching down to its foundational elements: 1) Claiming who you are. 2) Identifying what’s keeping you stuck. 3) Taking action.

 

For over 12 years, I worked with hundreds of clients to help them align who they are with what they do. This book is the simplest expression of that process.

 

This book brings coaching to younger and wider audiences by using words we already know to easily integrate into daily life. Imagine children growing up with this awareness… this language. Humans love to overcomplicate things. I prefer to make them simple.

 

Q: What impact did it have on you to write the book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?

 

A: The process of writing the book took me through the entire Yes! No. Maybe? cycle of feelings.

 

Beginning with honoring the call from that “download” and leaning into the spiritual thread, to experiencing feelings of unworthiness to shepherd this message, to looking silly on social media, to trying a Maybe and doing it anyway, the impact to my personal growth is exponential. Specifically, owning my voice in a very public space.

 

My goal in writing this was to help others do that. Turns out, the process helped me, too.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Until now, I’ve kept my spiritual side and professional sides separate. This book blended the two and I’m continuing in that direction with more holistic training, Reiki certification, and possibly a new offering of services rooted in this blended approach.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I wrote this book while our soul dog of 16.5 years was in his final months on this earth. I spent hours on the couch with him and those sacred hours are when this book poured out. Choncho said “Yes” to our family, and we are all forever grateful for him.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Readers who join us on this virtual book tour have the chance to win one of four signed hardcover copies of Yes! No. Maybe? Three Little Words That Change Everything by Barbara A. Berger, PCC. One lucky grand prize winner will also receive a virtual author visit!  

Q&A with Maxine Rose Schur

  

 

 

 

Maxine Rose Schur is the author of the children's picture book Day of Delight: A Jewish Sabbath in Ethiopia, which is now available in a new edition. Her other books include When I Left My Village. 

 

Q: What initially inspired you to write Day of Delight, and how did this new edition of the book come about?

 

A: I’ve always been interested in learning about Jewish cultures in faraway places and in other times.

 

As an example, my middle-grade novel The Circlemaker tells of the  little-known Cantonist period in Russia when Jewish boys, some as young as 8, were conscripted into the army for a 25-year service, or Sacred Shadows, my YA novel about life for Jews in Poland, not during the Holocaust but between the two world wars.

 

In the early ‘90s I first heard of the Beta Israel with news of the Ethiopian famine and their persecution. I wanted to know more and write about them for young people.

 

The book was originally published in the ‘90s by Dial Books for Young Readers. I’m grateful to Kalaniot Books for creating the opportunity for Day of Delight to be available to a new generation of children. I am hoping that its 2026 publication will inspire new interest and appreciation for the lives of the Beta Israel.

 

I am also grateful to Kalaniot for including a note in the book by Rabbi Sharon Zewde Shalom. He works in a program that supports the integration of Ethiopian immigrants  into Israeli society. As an Ethiopian Jew who immigrated to Israel, he also lectures on Jewish ritual and tradition.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?

 

A: I did a lot of research in libraries because the Internet wasn’t as robust as it is now. I used the Jewish Library in San Francisco and the public library to piece together as much information as I could.

 

In doing so, I learned about their history and their way of life. I also learned that they believe themselves to be descendants of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Certainly, archaeology supports a Jewish presence in Ethiopia dating to about 600 BCE.

 

The Beta Israel speak Amharic like other Ethiopians, but their sacred texts are not in Hebrew; they are in the ancient language of Ge’ez.

 

Another important fact I learned is that in Ethiopia, the Beta Israel have been persecuted by their non-Jewish neighbors. The Beta Israel men traditionally have worked as blacksmiths, and in Ethiopia there is a superstition that those who can mold and shape metal can also reshape themselves —just as the devil can. So many of their neighbors believe that the Beta Israel have the powers of witchcraft.

 

I think the thing that surprised me the most was to learn that for centuries the Beta Israel were so isolated that they believed themselves to be the only Jews left in the world. They didn’t know that white Jews existed!

 

In addition to my book research, I was fortunate to be able to interview Beta Israel immigrants in Los Angeles. In those interviews I learned important details of their daily life that I incorporated into my story.

 

Q: What do you think Brian Pinkney’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: Brian Pinkney’s illustrations added authenticity to the story. I had sent him photos of the Beta Israel and being the artist he is, he evoked the very look and feel of the people and the countryside in Gondar province.

 

Brian is a Caldecott award-winning illustrator, so I was honored that he was the illustrator for my book. He works in the scratchboard technique, which allows both fine detail and emotional power.

 

Brian also illustrated When I Left My Village, the sequel to Day of Delight, and his pictures beautifully expressed the deep emotion and suspense of the story.

 

Q: How did readers react to the book when it first came out, and what do you hope people take away from it now?

 

A: After five years of rejections, the reaction to Day of Delight was so gratifying to me. The reviewers said such nice things about it.

 

For example, Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, calling it “[f]ascinating” and calling it “[a]n economical evocation of an entire way of life.” School Library Journal called it “a gem.” And The Horn Book described it as “[s]imple and tenderly told— a beautifully crafted book.” 

 

The book became the  winner of the 1994 Parent’s Choice Award and was a Sydney Taylor Award nominee and a Smithsonian Best Children’s Book of 1994. It was also an honor to have the story narrated in an audiobook by the late Gregory Hines.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Several things! For adults, I just finished my second book of travel essays, titled How I Came to Fear French Doors, and I’m starting a new book on the appreciation of beauty in our lives.

 

For children, I’m seeking a publisher for a picture book I completed about a remarkable woman who as a teenager escaped Kristallnacht in Austria and sought asylum in Mexico where she became the world’s expert on Mexican folk art and a champion of the Indigenous people of Mexico.

 

It’s a beautiful story of being persecuted for being “the Other” in Austria and in Mexico sticking up for “the Other” through retaining curiosity, empathy, and love.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: The success of Day of Delight is just one example in my long writing career in which, after years of rejection, a manuscript is at last accepted and appreciated. That has taught me that if you believe in the value of your work, don’t give up, for it will ultimately find its audience.

 

I also want to stress the importance of learning about Jews in all locations and times. The Jewish people have lived in countless countries across the globe, yet we often focus only on the lives of Jews in Europe and North America. Our history is rich with diverse customs, beliefs, and lifestyles, so there are endless more Jewish stories to learn and share.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

April 21

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 21, 1816: Charlotte Brontë born. 

Q&A with Lori Wilde

  

 

 

Lori Wilde is the author of the new novel Our Extraordinary Summer. Her many other books include The Summer That Shaped Us. She is also a registered nurse and a yoga instructor, and she lives in Texas.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Our Extraordinary Summer?

 

A: The idea started with a question I couldn’t shake: What if healing had a place? Not a perfect place, but one that held space for grief, for second chances, for all the things we carry but don’t always know how to set down. Hobby Island was my answer to that question, and Our Extraordinary Summer grew from there.

 

Q: How did you create your characters Calista and Athena, and how would you describe the dynamic between them?

 

A: Calista and Athena come from the same past, but they’ve made very different choices about what to do with it. One runs. One stays. One questions. One believes. That push and pull is at the heart of their relationship.

 

Q: What is the relationship between this novel and your novel The Summer That Shaped Us?

 

A: Both novels are rooted in Hobby Island. It’s the same place, but it becomes something different depending on who arrives there and what they’re carrying. If The Summer That Shaped Us is about the moments that define us, Our Extraordinary Summer is about what comes after—and whether healing is possible when you finally stop running.

 

Q: The novel is set on an island in the Gulf of Mexico--how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: Setting is incredibly important to me, because I don’t see it as just a backdrop, I see it as part of the story itself. Hobby Island isn’t just where the novel takes place, it shapes what the characters are willing to face, and what they’re finally ready to let go of. The isolation, the beauty, the quiet… it all creates space for transformation.

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on new stories that expand on the kind of emotionally layered, place-centered storytelling I love—stories about healing, second chances, and the moments that change us. I’m excited about where these projects are heading and the new directions they’re opening up.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: If there’s one thing I hope readers take with them, it’s the sense that healing doesn’t have to be perfect to be real. Sometimes it looks quiet, sometimes it looks unexpected, and sometimes it begins in the last place you thought to look.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Lori Wilde. 

Q&A with Mark Budman

  

 

 

 

 

Mark Budman is the author of the new young adult novel My Friend Is an Earthling. His other books include The Lives and Deaths of Vladimir Lenin. He lives in Boston.

 

Q: What inspired you to write My Friend Is an Earthling, and how did you create your character Slavik?

 

A: Many books and movies describe space aliens as monstrous invaders. I thought of turning the cliché on its head. Slavik, one of my protagonists, is a descendant of the refugees from Earth to the remote planet Krasny. His people are taught from birth to think that the Earthlings are the real monsters. But when Slavik digs deeper and escapes to Earth, the answer surprises him.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Slavik and Rita?

 

A: They are quintessential aliens to each other at first. Their dynamic becomes mutual fascination, then grows into cooperation and respect, and then into the beginning of teenage love. It helps that Slavik is a talented wizard and Rita is a psychic. And they are destined to prevent an interplanetary war together.

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: Slavik had many friends on his home planet, Krasny, but after escaping to Earth, he didn’t expect to find the best friend of his life there. Hence the title.

 

Q: How did you create the world in which the novel takes place?

 

A: The world of Krasny is complex. It’s a religious society, beginning as refugees, but it grows into a totalitarian regime, governed by the evil Council and protected by its all-female Elite force. And they practice magic, including teleportation. Magic is taught in schools, and Slavik learns it well. And did I tell you that the fauna and flora at Krasny are out of this world?

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m putting the finishing touches on two novels.

 

No Deaths Allowed, a novel combining speculative science fiction, magic realism, a dash of romance, and a pinch of humor, is just the story you might love. It explores the double-edged sword of possible immortality, escape from chronic pain, and the plight of refugees denied a haven in space.

 

The Mirage is about two immigrants searching for what they believe is a lost diamond, but instead find the Breastplate of God, which can predict the future. The novel combines the adventures of Raiders of the Lost Ark with the comedy of The Twelve Chairs.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Everyone needs to know how much I appreciate everything you are doing, Deborah. Thank you.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Mark Budman.