Q&A with Chanchal Garg

  

Photo by Carolina Luna

 

 

 

 

Chanchal Garg is the author of the book Unearthed: The Lies We Carry & the Truths They Bury. She is also a speaker and executive coach.  

 

Q: What inspired you to write Unearthed?

 

A: Well, I never initially planned to write a book. Unearthed began as a personal journaling process. At first, I was just writing my own thoughts and experiences to process them and over time, it evolved into something I wanted to share with my children.

 

I wanted them to have an example of a woman who speaks up and doesn’t stay silent and confuse that silence for loyalty. In my lineage, I’ve seen generations of women who could not fully acknowledge their own existence. I did not want that to be the legacy I passed down.

 

I am also an executive coach and as I wrote, I began to see how universal these narratives are; how many women feel pressured to shrink themselves or people-please in ways that lead to losing themselves. I wrote Unearthed to share my story knowing that there are not yet enough of these stories out there.

 

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

 

A: The title Unearthed really emerged organically as I wrote. In the book, I explore a lot of the questions I had at those moments in my life, or even questions I wish I’d asked but couldn’t. That process felt like unearthing layers of my own story.

 

For me, the word “Unearth” is deeply tied to my cultural roots and that connection to the earth itself. I think of it as if I’m turning over what’s buried and asking, “What’s underneath all this?” Our culture can be beautiful, but it can also bury truths that we need to bring to light.

 

The title Unearthed signifies my own process of digging deep, reclaiming my own voice, sharing my story, and staying true to myself in relationships and leadership. It is about revealing the truths that were buried by narratives telling us to stay silent. The name came slowly, but when it did, it felt exactly right.

 

Q: The author Carole Robin called the book “a gift of vulnerability, strength, and transformation.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I think Carole’s description reflects her own experience of the book, and I’m honored by it. It’s meaningful to hear someone frame vulnerability as a strength and a doorway to transformation.

 

Often vulnerability is seen as weakness, so having someone like Carole acknowledge it as a powerful force is something I really appreciate and think we need more of in the world.

 

At the same time, I know that the book is deeply personal and that different readers will resonate with different aspects of it. While Carole’s words capture one beautiful angle, each reader might unearth something unique that speaks to them.

 

To me, that is the beauty of sharing a personal story. It can be a multifaceted experience that offers different gifts to different people.

 

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

 

A: Writing Unearthed was a layered healing journey. Many of the experiences I write about in part three happened as I wrote. I didn’t always know where I was going in my writing as it was an active healing process.

 

After the book was published, I continued to question my own narratives as I engaged in conversations with readers. It’s been a reminder that healing is ongoing.

 

What I really hope readers take away is a sense of questioning and reclaiming their identity. I want them to use the book as a mirror to ask: “Is this who I really am, or is this who I was taught to be?” Unearthing those inherited narratives that could have been confused with their own identity and seeing if their actions truly align with what is in their heart.

 

I hope the book invites them into their own journey of reclaiming who they really are.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working closely with women leaders at the intersection of identity, power, and influence. When faced with challenging power dynamics, I’m working with women to hold onto their own power and dignity as they cultivate influence.

 

I’m speaking at women’s leadership conferences and within organizations that are actively supporting their women leaders. I’m guiding these women to rethink old conditioning and step into leadership where they have real impact, so their influencing outcomes rather than just navigating them.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Unearthed is not just a story, it is meant to spark reflection. There are questions at the back, perfect for book clubs or individual reflection, especially for women leaders thinking about their own choices and leadership. If that’s of interest, I’m always open to supporting that conversation.

 

If anyone reads the book and wants to share thoughts or ask questions, I’d love to hear from them.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Donica Merhazion

  

 

 

Donica Merhazion is the author of the new novel Born at the End of the World. A former journalist and educator, she is based in Eritrea, Zambia, and the United States.

 

Q: How much was Born at the End of the World inspired by your own family history?

 

A: Almost everything in the book is true and represents their experiences. I had initially written it as a nonfiction memoir, but it didn't have the storytelling voice that my parents possess, so I rewrote it to give the reader a sense of hearing a storyteller weave a tale.

 

I wanted to stay as close to the facts and truth as possible. I recreated a few conversations and stitched together timelines in certain parts, but what is in the book is based on fact.

 

I have listened to my parents tell their stories all my life, but really started to tune in as an adult when I had children of my own, and the magnitude of what they experienced dawned on me. Initially, I wanted to preserve their story in the form of an essay that I could give to my children, and it evolved over the years into a book.

 

The stories you read about are all based on interviews I had with both my parents over several years. In our tradition, oral storytelling is how one generation passes information to the next. Because of what happened during the Red Terror, so many of my parents' generation were displaced, suffered greatly, and many unfortunately ultimately lost their lives.

 

All these stories need to be told, and I chose to tell them in a novel format so that they can reach as many people as possible. Perhaps those who have parents or grandparents who lived through that turmoil can also be inspired to turn to their parents and grandparents and learn their own family history.

 

Q: What did you see as the right balance between fiction and history as you wrote the book?

 

A: It is very important to me to tell the history as it was and honor the experiences they went through as accurately as possible. What I used my imagination for was describing certain scenes, like how Elen walked away from her home at 13, her internal dialogue, how she felt the world around her, and so on.

 

I recreated dialogue in certain scenes which may not have been the exact words spoken at the time, but I felt it was necessary to have so the readers can be immersed in the moment.

 

My parents have been through so much, they can sometimes sound casual when they recall their suffering or what they had to do to stand on the side of justice. I interpret that as their way of giving themselves joy and happiness in the present moment and moving away from dwelling on the horrible things they experienced. 

 

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

 

A: Alem Bekagn is the name of the prison the Derg sent my mother to when she was pregnant with me. It held many political prisoners at the time. The name of the prison is an Amharic phrase that can be interpreted to mean "end of the world" or "I have had enough of the world." 

 

This is the place where I was born and where my mother took care of me for a year and a half. The building was torn down, and in that location, the African Union building was built in its place.

 

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

 

A: My primary sources of information were interviews with my parents. What was surprising was that when I delved into research on what was available online, so much of what they said was corroborated, and I even found digitized copies of the magazines my father mentioned reading at the time.

 

What I found most urgent, though, was how many of the stories were not told. Amnesty International, The New York Times, and other major media outlets reported on what was happening at the time right up until the Derg came into power.

 

After the foreign media representatives left Ethiopia, it seemed as though a void was created, leaving behind silence. Considering the scale of the atrocities, not much is documented, just people like my parents who pass on the information orally. 

 

It was also so interesting to get calls and messages from many people who had similar experiences after the announcement of the book. That gave me the urgency to write this story, and hopefully, it will spark more dialogue so we can remember and honor those who came before us.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have an exciting middle-grade novel I'm working on. I'm fascinated by twice exceptionality and how one can navigate the world when two extremes exist in one person.

 

In this story, we follow a young teenager who tries to escape her debilitating social anxiety as an anonymous master gamer. She gains a massive online following until a cross-continent move and a family crisis force her to confront a reality that no line of code she creates can control.  

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Stories have the power to uplift, encourage, and inspire. The power of a story well told is the connections they make between us, regardless of where we come from.

 

This novel may be far removed in both space and time for many readers that it might reach. My hope is that it reaches through and connects with each reader's own resilience and courage, no matter where they live or their life circumstance, and that this story helps each reader who holds it to see all the ways their lives are also a light to those around them.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Hays Blinckmann

  

 

 

Hays Blinckmann is the author of the new novel Tiny Little Earthquakes. Her other books include In the Salt. She lives in Key West, Florida. 

 

Q: In Tiny Little Earthquakes’ acknowledgments, you write, “So I’ll answer what I know will be everyone’s biggest question: Was this story true? Yes--mostly.” Can you say more about that, and about how you balanced fiction and memoir as you wrote the book?

 

A: I initially wrote much of Tiny Little Earthquakes as a memoir, but it wasn’t working. I felt like I was shouting anecdotes at the reader (tiresome). I wanted a stronger story, with a proper arc and cadence that would keep the reader engaged.

 

I switched gears. I spent a year reworking the initial draft. Elliot, the main character, acted as a more effective catalyst for the other characters. Then I added fictional scenes to serve as bridges between the major events.

 

It was more important to create a good novel than push a crappy childhood on a reader. In the end, it was more emotionally satisfying for me. I do love a good work of art.

 

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

 

A: I wait until I write something, a phrase or word that strikes me. There is a paragraph in which Elliot says her life is built on “tiny little earthquakes.” And that rang so true—all of her trauma was based on a multitude of smaller events, not one big catastrophe.

 

And every time Elliot readjusted and got her footing, another calamity would happen, usually caused by an outside force like her mother and sister. The title sets the tone for the whole book.

 

Q: Did you need to do any research to write the book, or did most of it come from your own memories?

 

A: Mainly, I got to research the '80s and loved it. I had to Google things like “TOP TEN 1986” sitcoms, movies, trends, etc., to make sure my memory matched up. I firmly believe Gen X is timestamped by the entertainment of our time.

 

Also, interesting, I did find my great-grandparents in the New York society pages — I describe their divorce, “Darlington charged his wife with having flirted on their honeymoon, with smoking cigarettes in public, with association with undesirable persons, with telling him she did not love him, and with declaring she was sorry she was the mother of his child.” Those were real charges!

 

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

 

A: I want readers to relate specifically to a young girl trying to tell the world, “she’s fine.” Elliot was, and she wasn’t, and that’s very much a part of the Gen X culture.

 

We raised ourselves, and did the best we could, but we were just kids, navigating the adult world without a lot of guidance. We come with the disclaimer, “Don’t fault us if we aren’t perfect.”

 

But that doesn’t mean we are off the hook. In real life, I had to take ownership of the hidden resentment I had toward my parents because I actually wasn’t fine. Elliot’s agency is realizing what does and does not serve her in life and how to move past her parents’ shortcomings.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: It’s called “What If, Otis Bell.” This is the first time I follow a main character, Otis, through the span of a life. Otis has a special gift for being emotionally intuitive and empathetic, which both helps and hinders him. Because of his innate sensitivity, his life has taken many directions since birth, and he, like most of us, constantly questions, “What if?”

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: While my subject matter leans toward the more serious afflictions of our humanness, I am not that dark! In fact, I take comedy and being an entertainer equally seriously. I won’t take you down without bringing you back up again. Inappropriate humor is the bloodline of both my real and fictional life. And I don’t do sex scenes. Eww.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Feb. 19

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Feb. 19, 1917: Carson McCullers born.

Q&A with Linda Rhodes

  

 

 

Linda Rhodes is the author of the new memoir Breaking the Barnyard Barrier: A Woman Veterinarian Paves the Way. She was a dairy cow veterinarian, and she also spent many years working in the pharmaceutical industry. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write this memoir?

 

A: In 1978, I was one of a very few women large animal veterinarians. I had to work hard to prove myself every day to a bunch of skeptical dairymen who had never seen a woman vet, and to my colleagues who were pretty sure a woman couldn’t do the job.

 

I thought the story of how I succeeded, including all my doubts and fears, the grit that was required, might be useful, and hopefully even inspirational, to young women in any male dominated profession.

 

Secondly, I wanted my son, who is now in his 30s, to hear the stories from my time on the dairy farms, since he only knows his mother as an entrepreneur, researcher, and developer of medicines for animals, which was my second career.

 

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

 

A: My working title was “Lady Cow Vet”, which is the nickname my dairymen gave me, but my publisher thought it might be confusing. They suggested “Breaking the Barnyard Barrier: A Woman Veterinarian Paves the Way” which gives a much clearer idea of what the book is about.

 

The barnyard barrier was the prejudice that being a large animal veterinarian is a man’s job—only men belong in the barn. The book is about how I challenged that belief by showing up and taking good care of their cows and calves.

 

They gradually came to realize that I was capable and dependable, and this in turn, paved the way for other women who wanted to practice large animal medicine. The dairymen could no longer say that a woman couldn’t do the job because they had seen me do it!

 

Q: What did you see as the right balance between your personal and professional lives in the memoir?

 

A: My readers get right inside the barn with me, and hopefully experience the smells, the sights, the drama of a middle of the night c-section, a twisted stomach surgery out in the pasture, the bleeding bull.

 

Along the way they learn about dairy cows and their various ailments. I wanted to make sure my readers felt the conflict of such hard work and long hours, with the needs of a marriage, and the anguish of dealing with serious health issues of parents.

 

I wanted to show how the personal and professional parts of my life were intertwined, rather than separate.

 

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

 

A: Writing a memoir helped me sort through so many memories—I had make multiple timelines in order to remember many of the scenes in the book. And one memory led to another that I thought had been lost, and I had some memories that when I checked with family and friends, that were mis-remembered. After all the stories were written, I had a real sense of pride in what I had accomplished.

 

I hope readers take away inspiration to follow their dreams, even when everyone is discouraging and things get tough. Particularly for women, I hope they see how it is possible to break into a challenging profession, with enough grit and determination.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am writing a follow-up memoir about the next stage in my life, when I was ready to step away from dairy practice. I went back to school, got a Ph.D., and entered the pharmaceutical industry, making new medicines for animals, remarried, and had a son.

 

The stories of that time in my life are focused more about breaking into an industry that also had its prejudices against women, and where the path to success was more nuanced and difficult.

 

My other interest is writing braided essays. I am writing a series of short essays about various scientific discoveries, and how they relate to my personal life.

 

For example, did you know that women’s tears cause a decrease in aggression in men? There was a fascinating article in a science journal about this effect, and I wrote an essay intermingling this study with my personal experience of my crying and its effect on the men in my life.  

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I am excited to bring this book to young veterinarians who know little or nothing about how the role of women in veterinary medicine has changed over the last 50 years.

 

Today 80-90 percent of new grads from veterinary schools are women, and women are now the majority of veterinarians in the country. This is in contrast to the early 1970s, when most schools only admitted one or two women per class. 

 

Over the next few months, I will be doing readings at a half dozen veterinary schools across the country, hoping to connect with young vets about their career aspirations, and share the story of my journey.

 

This work has sparked my interest in women who have accomplished success against the odds, and I have a substack called Gutsy Women (Rhodesl.substack.com) that will feature women who have succeeded against the odds. Stay tuned!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Paul Coccia

 

 

Paul Coccia is the author of the new children's picture book The Bear Fairy. His other books include the young adult novel Recommended Reading. He lives in Toronto. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Bear Fairy?

 

A: I drew a doodle of a fat, hairy, male fairy with the legs of a bear when texting with Heather Smith, a very accomplished and talented writer and friend. Heather told me I should write a picture book about the bear fairy I had drawn. So, I did.

 

My dad’s town in Italy was home to a yearly fairy festival with these deadly, cloven-hooved, wildly dancing fairies that lived in the caves of the mountain above the village, so the idea of an animal-legged fairy was inspired by that.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between your character Spencer and the fairy? What about between Spencer and Mariah?

 

A: I described the relationship between Spencer and the Bear Fairy as having uncle energy. I love being an uncle and older cousin because I don’t have to be the parent. There’s something nice about not having to worry about enforcing bedtimes or eating vegetables.

 

Mariah is an antagonist. She’s blunt. She can be rude. She’s also sure of herself. I can see Spencer and Mariah being called frenemies although my editor and I used a different word to describe Mariah at times.

 

Q: What do you think Fred Blunt’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: There would be no book without Fred Blunt. From conception, so much of the story was told visually. The original manuscript was only dialogue so the story was reliant on Fred’s visual storytelling as much as my text.

 

When I saw Fred had chosen full-colour, I was delighted as he added so much liveliness, energy, and sparkle and he helped move the plot and characters forward. I am still discovering and getting thrilled by the small details Fred added (like ‘80s action figures) that flesh out the world and bring it to life.

 

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

 

A: I hope kids enjoy reading it before all else, and will want to read another book as a result.

 

Beyond that, readers (children especially) are smart enough to take whatever message they need from a story at the time they read it. One kid might see something about accepting people as they are, not as you imagine them to be. Another may see body-positivity.

 

Another, and I do think this is the universal takeaway, will probably walk away thinking they too want to be left alone to eat potato chips.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’ve usually got a couple of things in various stages of writing, but nothing contracted.

 

However, I can share I am in the early development stage of an adult romance for Julie Murphy’s Bittersweet Books, the team who came up with the concept for Recommended Reading. It’s so embryonic there isn’t much to say except it’s been a lot of fun so far.

 

I love Julie and the Bittersweet team. Words really can’t express how thankful I am to work with them again and to get to delve into a new genre.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: It sounds like making the leap to writing a picture book was simple as I described it above: I was told to write a picture book. I wrote one.

 

In reality, writing a picture book is very hard. My first drafts sucked big time. They were told in a traditional narrative style. They didn’t fit the story. When I went for a less traditional dialogue-only narrative, it worked better. My editor, Margot, made suggestions that improved it immensely. Fred, of course, was an integral partner in telling the story.

 

All this is to say, it’s OK to fail and get frustrated, but not to let it paralyse you. It’s also to say how much deeper my admiration for picture book authors and illustrators is now I’ve had the privilege of experiencing the process from the inside.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Paul Coccia. 

Feb. 18

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Feb. 18, 1909: Wallace Stegner born.