Q&A with Constance Lombardo

 

 

 

Constance Lombardo is the author of the new children's picture book Itty Bitty Betty Blob. Her other books include Everybody Says Meow. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Itty Bitty Betty Blob, and how did you create your character Betty?

 

A: This book started with an idea to write a “school story” focusing on Picture Day. My childhood memories about it: the agony of getting my untamed hair vigorously brushed by Mom, choosing the perfect outfit (think yellow macrame vest,) and putting on my best smile (braces!), inspired me.

 

Add in my experience as a mom myself (“Is that what you’re wearing? Want me to brush your hair?”) and I had my starting point.

 

But, as I tell kids on school visits, every good story needs a twist. Though I’m not a fan of scary monsters, I do love CUTE monsters (Grover is my favorite). And we writers know “what ifs” lead to brainstorming, so what if it were Picture Day at Monster School? (my original title!)

 

What if instead of smiling, monsters are expected to scowl and gnash their teeth for the camera? What if they make their hair even messier and sport their most ghoulish outfits? And one more twist: what if one tiny, adorable monster does not want to do any of those things.

 

So my subversive Itty Bitty Betty blob was born. Blobs are mutable, full of possibilities, fun! And Betty is definitely not the blob you need to beware of (1950s movie reference!).

 

She is a shining, pink light in the dark world of monsters. She dances where other monsters stomp. She sings when other monsters “GRRR!” And none of her art turns out ugly. Betty is the best kind of hero: one whose revolutionary act is simply being true to her authentic self.

 

Q: What do you think Micah Player’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: I’ve been a huge fan of Micah’s art for years, so I was thrilled when we got paired by our agent, Lori Nowicki of Painted Words, for this project.

 

Illustrations in picture books are always half the story, but Micah brought even more than that. His vision of all Betty could do as a blob (melt in the shower, squeeze under a log), how the book evolves from blacks and greys to full color (like the Wizard of Oz!), and everything about Betty’s irresistibly adorable pink self added many layers of visual dynamism and meaning.

 

He turned a good and funny story into an incredibly beautiful and heartfelt picture book. His contribution to this book is hard to quantify, so let’s just say a million. (Bonus: we’re friends, and I love working with him!)

Q: The BookPage review of the book says, “Itty Bitty Betty Blob’s nicely balanced combination of humor, emotion and inspiration makes it an absolute treat of a read—a warm and wonderful reminder to celebrate our differences and dare to share joy with others.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I honestly love it! Because, yes, Itty Bitty Betty Blob is about sharing joy and celebrating differences. Though in my view, we are all “different” in our own way.

 

I believe understanding our true self, embracing it, and letting the world see that is such a powerful act of bravery. Betty has gotten so much love since she first blobbed her way into the world, and I’m so grateful for all of it.

 

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

 

A: I always knew Betty’s smile would disrupt the status quo in the world of monsters. And YES we made so many changes along the way. One line from my original manuscript that I was sorry to lose was about someone’s “snapping-turtle-neck sweater.”

 

Mom in particular went through various incarnations, as my editor Jill Davis and I debated her role. Should she be supportive or more challenging? In the end, Mom is one of my favorite parts of this story – she’s such a loving presence and Betty’s biggest fan (exactly how I feel about my son!).

 

Actually, the only exact text that survived from the original are the words the little monsters say instead of “cheese!” while the photographer snaps their pictures. (Bees! Fleas! Scabby knees!)

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Betty’s getting a sequel: Itty Bitty Betty Blob Makes a Splash!

 

Betty must choose an afterschool activity and lands on the diving team. To her dismay, the Devil Divers are all about cannonballs and bellyflops, while she dreams of divine dives. Can Betty be a team player while staying true to herself?

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Writing (and sometimes illustrating) kids books is my dream come true. It took me 10 years of rejection letters to finally get my wonderful agent. She connected me with my excellent editor, and we make a great team.

 

To anyone out there dreaming of becoming a published author, keep writing, keep submitting, keep hope alive!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Rebecca Rego Barry

 

Photo by Charlotte Barry

 

Rebecca Rego Barry is the author of the book The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells: Investigations into a Forgotten Mystery Author. She also has written the book Rare Books Uncovered. She lives in New York's Hudson Valley.

 

Q: What inspired you to write this book about mystery novelist Carolyn Wells (1862-1942)?

 

A: I was really inspired by a question, “Who gets remembered?”

 

I first learned of Carolyn Wells in 2011 because I noticed her name on a bookplate in an old book my husband had given to me as a gift. It took years before I realized that she had been a famous mystery author in addition to being a book collector.

 

Then someone clued me into the fact that she had also been a famous poet and a beloved young adult novelist. I found it almost impossible to believe that a woman who wrote more than 180 books was not someone I had ever heard of — as a lifelong reader, a bibliophile, an English major, etc., I had never once heard her name.

 

Why not, I wondered? That question nagged at me, and once I learned that she had spent her final 25 years as an author and collector in a luxury apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, I also wondered where all her “stuff” had gone. It felt like a mystery I could unravel.  

 

Q: The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells combines Wells’s biography with your own search for her story--how did you decide on the book's structure?

 

A: The fact that there was so little biographical information available about Carolyn, and that there is no “archive” that holds a substantial amount of her letters and manuscripts, meant that piecing together her story required an unusual approach.

 

It lent itself to the notion of “detection,” which, because she was a mystery novelist, seemed apt.

 

I also realized pretty early on that reading 300 pages about someone you’ve never heard of might be more interesting with a subplot of sorts.

 

So I settled on the idea of taking my readers on the journey with me, visiting Rahway, New Jersey, where she was born and worked as a librarian in her early years; to New York City, where her literary career blossomed; to the Library of Congress, where she donated her collection of rare Walt Whitman editions; to the home of Carolyn’s great-niece, the owner of an amazing heirloom album of art and autographs supplied by Carolyn’s famous friends.

 

Overall, I hoped this structure would feel like I was taking the reader on a treasure hunt. One reviewer called it a “process biography,” and I quite liked that description.   

Q: Why is Carolyn so little known today?

 

A: There were many factors at work. As she was primarily publishing between 1896-1942, she certainly ran into her share of misogyny, including one magazine editor who told her straight out, “No women contributors.”

 

Relatedly, while she wrote in various genres, the two most prominent were young adult and mystery. At the time, those genres were still very much “less than” Literature, utterly forgettable. (It didn’t help that after she died, some of the mid-century mystery critics went out of their way to bash her as old-fashioned.)

 

But I believe the primary reason for her quick slide in obscurity was the lack of a literary estate or agent to manage her affairs after her death. There was no one advocating to keep her books in print, and without that, it is easy for an author to disappear.  

 

Q: The writer Laurie Gwen Shapiro said of the book, “With meticulous research and intriguing insights, Barry offers a gripping portrait of a literary luminary whose impact has been all but erased. A poignant reminder of the transient nature of fame and the enduring power of rediscovery, Wells’s enigmatic disappearance from literary history will captivate you.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Well, of course I love that description! But seriously, I hope that Carolyn’s story does provoke questions about how and why other authors were likewise erased.

 

Was it because they came from a historically marginalized group? Or wrote in historically marginalized genres? Or made enemies of the top critics? Or had no torchbearers after their death? 

 

Famous one day and forgotten the next; even Stephen King has suggested this will happen to him one day. That’s unlikely! 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’ve been working with books in some capacity since college. First in book publishing, then, after earning a graduate degree, in academic libraries working with rare books and archives. I moved from that into writing about those topics as a journalist, culminating in hundreds of articles and two books … so far!

 

For the past couple of years, I’ve been working at The Raab Collection, a private dealer of historical documents and manuscripts.

 

Even more recently, I’ve partnered up with a few folks to revive a small press called Purple Mountain Press here in the Catskills. So the written word is everywhere in my life. I do hope to write another book, perhaps another biography, as I really enjoyed the research process.    

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Well, the big exciting news for me right now is that I’ll be giving a talk about Carolyn at the Library of Congress on March 13. The program will be called: “Women Collectors and Authors: The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells.” 

 

There will be a display of Carolyn’s books—both the rare ones she owned and the ones she wrote—bookending a short lecture, a Q&A with me and rare books reference librarian Amanda Zimmerman, and a book signing.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Tessa Bickers

 

 

 

Tessa Bickers is the author of the new novel The Book Swap. She is also a journalist and a singer-songwriter, and she's based in the UK.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Book Swap, and how did you create your characters Erin and James?

 

A: There was a Little Free Library that I used to pass when I would take my daughter to the playground every day. It was quite a lonely time in the early months of motherhood and I would look forward to passing the library and seeing what new books had been left behind.

 

I started to wonder what other reasons there might be for someone to look forward to visiting a library and whether it was possible to create a love story set around one. James, Erin, and Bonnie arrived in my head quite quickly afterwards, and I started to plot The Book Swap!

 

Q: The writer Cesca Major called the novel “[b]oth a gorgeous romance between two broken people, and a love letter to books and reading.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I think Cesca’s description is perfect. I really wanted The Book Swap to reflect the importance of novels and the power that books can hold for those of us who love reading.

 

They aren’t just escapism, they teach us so much about life and when we read one line that sums up how we feel it’s as though someone else out there understands us and shares our experiences. It make us feel less alone.

 

I also always knew that Erin and James would need to heal themselves and each other and so describing them as broken really highlights who they are when we meet them.

 

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

 

A: I always knew how The Book Swap would end and I knew the journey I wanted Erin and James to go on, separately and together. How that happened definitely changed as I went along. I really enjoyed weaving in their friends and family to help them progress and those roles definitely grew more, the more I wrote.

 

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

 

A: I hope that readers find The Book Swap inspiring and hopeful amongst the pain.

 

There were many themes within the book that felt really important when I was writing it and I think self-forgiveness is up there as one of the most important. That it’s possible to live with the mistakes we make and it’s possible to keep going, even if we’re hurting or troubled.

 

I hope there are a few lessons within the book that readers can hold onto, in particular around grief, and I also just hope that they enjoy it as a book and are carried along by the story.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have just finished an edit of my second book, which I can’t reveal the title of just now but I believe an announcement on that is coming soon from HarperCollins! Watch this space…

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I absolutely love receiving messages from people who’ve read The Book Swap so if anyone has read it and has any questions, please do write through my website or via Instagram. I always try to reply.

 

It’s a funny thing to sit behind a laptop all day and write words and a lot of the time the only people you speak to are the characters inside your own head, so to receive messages amongst it makes my day.

 

It also reminds me that there are people out there who will one day read the words that I’m typing away and that really keeps me going.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Joyce Sanderly

 

 

Joyce Sanderly is the author of the new novel Wild Irish Yenta. Her other books include the poetry collection The Shomer. Also an attorney, she lives in the Washington, D.C., area.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Wild Irish Yenta, and how did you create your character Patricia?

 

A: Wild Irish Yenta is set against a backdrop of a suburban Maryland reform temple, and explores interfaith marriage, misbehaving clergy, Biblical myth, and the beauty of religious traditions.

 

The novel was initially inspired by my own experience with the difficulty of finding clergy to officiate at my own interfaith marriage.  

 

When my husband and I decided to get married, we agreed that we wanted to have a Jewish ceremony in Cleveland where I grew up and my parents still lived. My parents had remained  members of Fairmount Temple, where I had been confirmed and studied from first grade through high school.

 

The temple was a very reform progressive congregation with an eminent head rabbi, Arthur J. Lelyveld.  He was an outspoken advocate for social justice and civil rights and even went to Mississippi to help register black voters in 1964 where he was beaten up by segregationists. In any event I was looking forward to having Rabbi Lelyveld officiate at our marriage. 

 

Well, easier said than done. I assumed that the very liberal Rabbi Lelyveld would be happy to perform the ceremony. But when I called to talk to him, I was informed that he would not even consider officiating at a wedding between a Jewish girl (no matter how nice) and a non-Jewish man (also no matter how nice and even if he was willing to commit to raising the kids Jewish).

 

I was highly insulted and hurt. I did eventually forgive Rabbi Lelyveld because he came to visit my parents in the hospital when they were sick. However, for a long time I remained furious at his refusal to perform our wedding ceremony. 

 

And in case you are wondering, my husband and I did eventually find a rabbi to officiate at our wedding in Cleveland although not at a temple but at a hotel. My husband also had to take a Basic Judaism class. 

 

Wild Irish Yenta’s plot begins when the body of custodian Roberto Gomez is found in Temple Israel’s parking lot. Patricia Weiss, nee Reilly, exchanges her suburban-mom sneakers for gumshoes to investigate the hit-and-run. An ardent new convert to Judaism, Patricia is grappling with her outsider status at the upscale Reform congregation.

 

For Roberto, the stakes had been much higher. He was struggling to be accepted by a new country and learn a new language. Inspired by her Irish-Catholic detective dad, Patricia is compelled to find out who-dun-it.   

 

Why did I make the main character Patricia Reilly Weiss a Catholic-raised woman who converts to Judaism after she marries a Jewish cardiologist and his mother? Good question.

 

Rabbi Lelyveld’s refusal to officiate at my marriage ceremony made me feel like an outsider. I think everyone feels like an outsider at some point in their lives. The exclusion may be based on race, religion, ethnic identification, wealth, beauty, or social pecking order. I was made to feel like an outsider by my own religious community.

 

I felt like this book needed to be written from the point of view of an outsider. Patricia is trying to gain recognition from a community she already considers herself to be a member of, but she feels like she is being treated as an other, an outsider.

 

I wanted Patricia to have both an insider’s access and an outsider’s ability to troubleshoot when the seemingly simple death of a custodian evolves into both a potential crime and a threat to her beloved mentor Rabbi Deborah, who vanishes after she delivers a controversial sermon in support of interfaith marriage.

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

 

A: The title of the book uses the word yenta. What is a yenta, you may ask. As with most Yiddish words, there is no precise English equivalent.

 

In the novel, Patricia’s buddy Brenda defines yenta as a wise and knowledgeable female who distributes essential information to parties who have a need to know, kind of an analog version of social media, a Jewish Facebook. A less complimentary definition of the term yenta might be “busybody.” 

 

Eventually Patricia and her friend Brenda form the yenta patrol to investigate the death of Roberto and the disappearance of Rabbi Deborah at Temple Israel.

 

The novel’s complete title Wild Irish Yenta reflects Patricia’s Irish heritage. Hopefully the title presages the multi-cultural nature and humorous aspects of the book. 

 

Q: The writer Michelle Brafman said of the book, “In Wild Irish Yenta, Philip Roth meets Agatha Christie, and the result is a page-turner that also explores the interlocking dynamics that exist within an interfaith marriage, a family, and a Maryland synagogue.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I love Michelle Brafman’s description. My goal was to write a book that took a humorous and insightful look at marriage, insular suburban cliques, and the politics of religious institutions while poking fun at cultural stereotypes.

 

The novel interweaves biblical stories with question of contemporary concern. Can a nice Catholic girl find happiness with a Jewish cardiologist and his mother even if she converts? Can Patricia’s yenta patrol detect a connection between a custodian’s death and other troubling happenings at Temple Israel?

 

With so many readers searching for satisfying books in these challenging times, I hope that Wild Irish Yenta provides both an entertaining story and a fulfilling educational experience about comparative religion and the beauty of all religious traditions.    

 

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

 

A: I began drafting Wild Irish Yenta a number of years ago. Because of family and work obligations, I had to put the beginnings of the novel aside.

 

When I retired from the practice of law, I returned to the novel project and continued to revise the plot up until the book was accepted for publication. I also continued to research customs, doctrine, and biblical interpretations of various religions as well as aspects of securities and criminal law relevant to the plot.

 

I found formulating a plot for a full-length work of fiction to be challenging. I am a big fan of mystery authors, e.g., Laura Lippman, Megan Abbott, William Kent Krueger, Jonathan Kellerman, Michael Connelly, Tana French (Irish), Jane Harper (Australian), and Lianne Moriarty (also Australian). Faye Kellerman, Susan Isaacs, and Julia Dahl write Jewish-themed mysteries that add a layer of cultural complexity to their plots.

 

All these writers explore the multi-faceted relationships among family, friends, lovers, and enemies. Their novels delve into the psychological impetus behind their characters’ crimes. I find the interplay among characters and their motivations for crossing over the legal line to be fascinating.

 

I have attempted to follow in the footsteps of these authors in crafting a story that explores the dynamics within an interfaith marriage, a family, and a friendship, as well as the politics of religious institutions.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am taking a breather from novel-writing for a few months and concentrating on poetry. I am a Pushcart-nominated poet whose work has been recently published in Loch Raven Review, Clackamas Review, Slipstream, Dos Gatos Press, Atlanta Review, Folio, Delmarva Review, Peregrine, Sow’s Ear, Moment, Another Chicago, Lilith, and Common Ground, among others.

 

My poetry collection The Shomer was a finalist for the Blue Lynx Prize and a semifinalist for the Elixir Antivenom Award and the Codhill Press Award. I was awarded first place in the Dancing Poetry Festival, received an honorable mention in the Ginsberg poetry contest, was shortlisted for the O’Donoghue Prize, and awarded first place in Poetica’s Rosenberg competition

 

I am in the process of putting together a second poetry manuscript.

 

However, I already have a crime in mind awaiting the sleuthing skills of Patricia and Brenda. I plan to write Wild Irish Yenta Returns in the near future. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Everyone has a story to tell. And writing that story can be very rewarding. It’s just a matter of sitting down to write.

 

The story may be memoir, fiction, flash, poetry, essays, song, advice, influencing, video, TikTok, dance, whatever. You can journal, use a diary, write online, send letters to the editor and to family. The story is one that is important to you for any reason.

 

Perhaps you want to write a legacy for the next generation or not. The important element is the story should be what you want to write, not necessarily what you think your children or family would want or like. Do not let perfection stand in the way of progress. There are lots of classes and writers groups out there to support your writing. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Ericka Verba

 

 

 

Ericka Verba is the author of the new book Thanks to Life: A Biography of Violeta Parra. Verba is Director and Professor of Latin American Studies at California State University, Los Angeles.

 

Q: What inspired you to write a biography of Chilean musician and artist Violeta Parra (1917-1967)?

A: Violeta Parra’s music has accompanied my life’s journey ever since I was first introduced to it by a Chilean family who moved to my town when I was in high school. The more I learned about her life the work, the more curious I became.

 

I ended up writing my undergraduate senior thesis on her autobiography in décimas, a traditional poetic form found throughout Latin America. As a musician, I have been performing her songs for decades. Their lyrics have become part of my internal language, coming to the surface of my mind when I need them the most.

 

As a professor of Latin American history, first at California State University Dominguez Hills and now at Cal State LA, I decided to pursue writing Parra’s biography.

 

It turned into a years-long project that has taken me to Chile, Argentina, France, and Switzerland, and has put me in contact with fellow Violeta-maniacs throughout the world. I can truly say it has been my life’s work.

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

A: “Thanks to Life” is the English title for Parra’s most famous song, “Gracias a la vida.” The song has been translated into more than 20 languages and performed and recorded by an ever-expanding roster of musicians, including country music star Kasey Musgraves, cellist Yo-Yo Ma (instrumental version), Latin pop singer Shakira, K-pop duo Davichi, folk singers Joan Baez and Mercedes Sosa, and Cuban singer Omara Portoando of the Buena Vista Social Club.

 

Parra wrote the song in the last years of her life. In it, she gives thanks for her senses and what they enable her to see and hear, for sounds and the alphabet and what they allow her to express, for her tired feet and the many places they have taken her, for her heart that allows her to discern good from evil, and for laughter and tears that let her distinguish joy from sorrow, the materials of her song, which is also your song and everyone’s song.

 

I found the simple phrase “thanks to life” a perfect title for her biography.

 

Q: The scholar Matthew B. Karush called the book a “deeply moving biography and provocative meditation on the production and uses of authenticity.” What do you think of that description?

A: I was very pleased to hear my book described as “deeply moving.” Although a historian by training, I knew that I wanted to write Violeta Parra’s biography so that it would be accessible not just to academics, but to a broad audience curious about her life and work.

 

Karush’s words made me feel as if I succeeded. His reference to authenticity is a reflection of how Parra projected herself and was perceived by others, as “authentic” is the term most frequently and consistently associated with her, during her lifetime, through her impressive afterlife.

Q: How did you research Parra’s life, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?

A: My book draws on decades of research, virtual and in person, in archives across two continents.

 

They include the Violeta Parra Foundation; National Library of Chile; Archive of Chilean Popular Music; Center for Documentation and Research of Leftist Culture (Buenos Aires); National Library of France; Archive of the Museum of Decorative Arts (Paris); French National Audiovisual Institute; the archive of the French Communist Party (Saint-Denis); the Geneva Library; World Festival of Youth and Students Collection (International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam); Kansan Archisto (central archive for the Finnish Left); BBC Written Archives Centre; and the personal archives of Alan Lomax, Paul Rivet, Jorge Edwards, and others.

I’m not sure how much it surprised me, but what impressed me the most about Parra was the way that she did not seem to understand the concept of “impossible.” On the contrary, she seemed confident that she could accomplish anything that she wanted if she put her mind to it

 

To give just one example, when she was a well-known musician in her early 40s, she decided to try her hand at the visual arts. She ended up creating vast embroidered tapestries using old burlap sacks and scraps of yarn, as well as oil paintings and wire sculptures. Within a few short years, she was showing her art in galleries and museums across Europe.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I am hoping to get my book translated into Spanish and French, so my next project is to find the right translators and publishing houses to assist me.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: One question I am often asked when I tell people about Violeta Parra’s life and work is: “Why didn’t I know about her before?” That so many people ask me this makes me very happy because I wrote Parra’s biography precisely because I think people will find her as amazing as I do once they learn more about her.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Feb. 28

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Feb. 28, 1894: Ben Hecht born.

Q&A with Meryl Gordon

 

Photo by Nina Subin

 

 

 

Meryl Gordon is the author of the new biography The Woman Who Knew Everyone: The Power of Perle Mesta, Washington's Most Famous Hostess. Gordon's other books include The Phantom of Fifth Avenue.

 

Q: What inspired you to write a biography of Perle Mesta (1889-1975)?

 

A: In 2019, I saw a revival of the 1950 Broadway show Call Me Madam, by Irving Berlin and two co-authors, which was inspired by Perle Mesta’s extraordinary life.

 

I wanted to know more, and in reading up about her, I discovered there had never been a biography of Perle, even though she was one of the most famous women in America for decades.

 

Q: The Kirkus Review of the book says, “Spoofed in the musical Call Me Madam, with Ethel Merman playing the lead, Perle was more than a flighty socialite: As Gordon portrays her, she proved to be an able goodwill ambassador and savvy political operator.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I think the Kirkus Review got it right. Perle was primarily known for being a popular hostess, but she was so much more than that – an able diplomat, a powerful advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment, and someone who brought politicians from both parties together.

Q: How did you research her life, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: Since Perle died in 1975, her contemporaries were long gone. But the Truman, Eisenhower and LBJ presidential libraries, the National Archives, and the New York Historical Society all had voluminous material – letters and oral histories and useful background info.

 

I was able to interview the children and grandchildren of her friends, and Washington reporters who covered her parties. And I read thousands of newspaper and magazine stories, dating back to the turn of the century.

 

Q: What do you think Perle Mesta would make of today’s Washington, D.C.?

 

A: Perle Mesta was a Republican who became a Democrat. She was friendly with politicians from both parties. I think she would be dismayed by the current Washington vitriol, and the inability of politicians to work together for the good of the country.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Before I began working on this book, I was unaware that Perle was such a big supporter of job opportunities for women. She wrote op-eds and lobbied politicians to try to make that happen. For me, this book was a chance to revisit American history and see it from Perle’s perspective.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Meryl Gordon.

Q&A with Elizabeth Staple

 

 

 

Elizabeth Staple is the author of the new novel The Snap. She is also an attorney, and she has worked in sports public relations. She lives in Connecticut.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Snap, and how did you create your character Poppy?

 

A: The Snap is largely based on my background and experiences working in sports public relations, which was my first career. It was something that I genuinely loved but also have complicated feelings about, and this book was an attempt to work through how those realities can coexist.

 

The earlier timeline when Poppy joins the team as an intern is a version of me as I was—pretty naive, really eager to belong and earn a place for herself, and willing to do almost anything to make that happen.

 

In the later timeline, Poppy is much more established, both in her career and as a person. On a micro level, she could never be pushed around the way that her younger self was, but overall, she’s been compromised through years and years of integrity papercuts.

 

I wanted to show how the first person becomes the second, and to create a discussion about power. Is it more valuable to have clean hands but no agency to create change, or to have sullied yourself in a really significant way but be in a position to make things better for the ones who come after?

 

Q: The writer Holly Gramazio called the book an “engrossing feminist sports whodunnit that made me care about the baffling logistics of American football...” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Holly’s description and overall support of this book is incredibly generous!

 

I think her mind is the most exciting kind of creative, where there’s an ostensibly ordinary and very straight-laced set-up that then takes a hard right turn, but with no blink toward the fact that it’s no longer within the ordinary world—almost a Will Forte of fiction.

 

I take Holly’s description as a high compliment, because to me it says that the story is Not Boring, and as a writer, what more could you ask of your readers?

 

Q: As you mentioned, you’ve worked in media relations in the sports world, but did you need to do any additional research to write the novel?

 

A: My greatest strength in writing this novel was also my greatest weakness—I haven’t worked in sports media relations in more than 10 years, and while that gave me the professional freedom to write this book without worrying about job security or professional blowback, a lot can change in that time, especially with the advent of team social media presences.

 

I reached out to a lot of friends and former colleagues who still work in those spaces to get a sense of how the weekly schedule has changed or adjusted, what’s the same, and what of my experience would be really outdated at this point.

 

Surprisingly, almost everything was still the same, from both a scheduling and temperamental standpoint. That has been really underlined by younger women in the field who’ve read the book and then reached out to say how much it resonated with them. It’s incredibly gratifying, on one hand, but on the other, of course I wish it all felt less familiar by now.

 

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

 

A: I almost never know how a book will end when I start writing.

 

I’m really jealous of authors who work from a neat outline and then write from page one through to the end, but I tend to have tentpoles instead—scenes that stand out in my mind, major plot points, even lines of dialogue that I hear very clearly and know I want to include. I write all of those first, and then work forward and backward, incorporating new ideas as I go.

 

It’s definitely not the most efficient way to work, but as I write I surprise myself by twisting this way or that way, and I genuinely don’t think I would be able to start from a blank page and visualize all of that without actually walking on the path, if that makes sense.

 

For this story, the original ending was even less resolved than it is now. I wanted something that felt very true to life and left the reader with the full frustration of the fact that these things happen, all the time, and most often go unpunished.

 

Without spoiling the ending, my agent and editor convinced me that for the sake of the narrative, it would be worthwhile to give readers a little bit more of an answer, even if a lot is still left up to interpretation and imagination. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Right now I’m working on a novel that plays around with perspective. I don’t want to say too much, but my main goal when writing books is always to start a good conversation.

 

With The Snap, it was to really challenge readers to consider what they would do in Poppy’s situation—not as their best selves, not as readers sitting on the sidelines, but as actual people whose careers were truly dependent on the tough choices they were being faced with.

 

In this next book, I’m hoping to start a conversation about how everything we experience is shaded and colored by everything we’ve experienced before, so that you and I can take almost identical walks through the park but come out the other side having processed what we saw and heard in completely different ways.

 

It’s slow going, but I’m excited when I think about what the finished product can be.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who has read this book. There’s nothing that I love more than browsing in a bookstore, and the experience of walking into one and seeing my own book on a shelf will never, ever get old. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Keely Parrack

 

 

 

 

Keely Parrack is the author of the young adult novel 10 Hours to Go. Her other books include the YA novel Don't Let In the Cold. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

Q: What inspired you to write 10 Hours to Go, and how did you create your characters Lily, Natasha, and Elke?

 

A: I knew I wanted to write a friendship story as they’ve always intrigued me. And friendships change so much from grade school to middle school and beyond. The friends you were so close to 

can seem like a strangers a few years later. And it can hurt so much when a friend suddenly drops you!

 

I also wanted to explore power dynamics, especially when three people are involved. So that was my start!

 

Lily revealed herself and her home struggles pretty quickly as I was drafting. Elke came next and finally Natasha, who I know is harder to love, but I wanted them all to be well rounded and understandable, and have connections that show how they’d all let each other down at various points. All morals to me are shades of grey!

 

Once I find the voices, they all start taking to each other in my head, which is also when the characters become real!

 

Q: Why did you decide to set the novel amidst West Coast wildfires?

 

A: The summer before I started writing this there had been a dry lightning storm in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I live. It started off being really dramatic and amazing but then went on so long, and started hundreds of fires. The sky turned blood orange - it was eerie and surreal and very scary!

 

The effect of climate change can be seen everywhere. A wild fire had completely destroyed the city of Paradise a few years before, and it’s such a terrifyingly new reality in our lives.

 

I wanted that to be the elemental danger Lily, Natasha, and Elke faced, on top of their own petty but dangerous revenge plans. 

 

I was also traveling up and down the 10 hours between Portland and the Bay Area a lot while I was writing and revising this book and often saw the wildfire smoke, delays, and damage, so it was a perfect place to get Lily, Elke, and Natasha lost!

 

I always want to make situations as bad as possible for my characters and I knew how bad this could get! And giving any kind of potentially lifesaving advice was a bonus! 

 

And now a year after the book came out - to see L.A. burning! It’s so awful seeing the horrific damage wildfires can bring not only in forest and rural towns but right into the heart of our cities. 

 

Q: The writer Stacey Lee called the book a “thrilling ride of a novel with friendship at its burnt core.” What do you think of that description, and how would you describe the dynamics among the three friends (or ex-friends)?

 

A: I loved Stacey’s description so much. She totally nailed it! That feeling of besties forever and then betrayal and Lily not realizing or accepting that maybe she was at least partially to blame, and how everyone remembers the same situation slightly differently!

 

Intense is how I would describe their relationship with each other, even after all this time. I mean Lily did get Elke expelled, without ever accepting any blame herself! (Trying not to give spoilers here!) So “burnt” core seems really apt.

 

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

 

A: I knew how the story would end from the start. When I play with a new idea, I normally have some kind of vision of the beginning, the main character and the setting, and their initial problem. It’s literally like a movie playing out in my mind. 

 

So for Lily it was how to get back home from the college she was visiting, after wildfires had stopped the Amtrak she was supposed to take.

 

I normally have a vision for the end as well, so I knew (vague here because spoilers!) how I wanted their relationships to be at the end.

 

But I didn’t know how the middle was going to pan out. So the middle was where I had to work hardest to develop and revise the story to make it all come together.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am working on a new YA - I am so excited about it I don’t want to give too much away. But it’s a speculative horror, set in San Francisco, with a Mulder and Scully type, strangers to lovers B plot!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: For some reason both my YA thrillers have dogs in them! Ottis was planned in Don’t Let In the Cold from the start and literally saves them as he’s a St. Bernard and that’s his job!

 

I didn’t plan to add a dog to 10 Hours to Go, but saw Snowdrop limping along the road to them (again like a movie in my mind) and just had to include her! I don't have a dog, but I love my friend’s dogs. Maybe that’s why they appear in my books! 

 

Both books are in paperback, ebook and audio. 10 Hours to Go is a JLG selection. My website is keelyparrack.com and I’m @keelyinkster on Insta and Threads.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Deborah Rudell

 

 

 

Deborah Rudell is the author of the new memoir Grit & Grace: The Transformation of a Ship & a Soul. Also an educator, she is based in San Diego, California.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Grit & Grace?

 

A: I kept photo journals of the Elixir Project, planning to submit articles to Wooden Boat Magazine, but time and life flew by.

 

It wasn’t until 2009 when a neighbor met me on the beach and asked about the boat, building it and then sailing it across the Pacific. He encouraged me to write the story. The biggest encouragement was him saying “just start anywhere.” That is the thing you know, there is a big story and it’s daunting to know where to start!

 

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

 

A: The book’s working title started as The Elixir Project, the name of the boat. Within a year it was Grit & Glue referring to sandpaper and epoxy, but also to what I was discovering about myself and my inner resilience and tenacity.

 

I also, in my mind, knew there was a huge element of Grace, or I could never have accomplished the project or even survived the gales in the ocean crossing.

 

My publishers helped me decide on Grit & Grace. The subtitle, The Transformation of a Ship & a Soul, was there from the beginning of the writing project because it is what the book is about: transforming an old boat, and at the same time, discovering and rebuilding my own soul after leaving a communal life with a spiritual master; healing after disillusionment.

Q: Did you need to do any additional research to write the book, or was most of it based on your memories?

 

A: The story is based on my memories and experiences.  I researched dates and milestone events around Rajneeshpuram and the photo journals were invaluable in reconstructing timelines and boatbuilding details.

 

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

 

A: Writing this memoir had more of an impact on me than I expected. I learned more about myself than I dreamed was there! It has been, and continues to be, an amazing experience of self-discovery.

 

I am able to put the puzzle pieces of my life into their places but also, with hindsight, the resolution of the life-images keep becoming clearer. I can see the interconnectedness of things that appear to have no relationship to each other. For example, what does building a boat have to do with spirituality?

 

It is my hope that people can read this book and find inspiration to follow their dreams despite how impossible those dreams may appear.

 

It is also my hope that this book will find those who have been disillusioned in their life and be an example of how one person navigated those stormy waters, and even though it felt like I was lost and drowning, there has been a way through.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am currently recording the audiobook for Grit & Grace. And as anyone who has published a book knows, the lead up to, and the launch of a book is time consuming with marketing -- making sure readers know about it!

 

And yes, there are a few drafts and outlines in my Scrivener folder that I can’t wait to have the time to start developing!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Yes, I am very grateful for the adventures I have been able to experience in this life, and they just keep coming … like with being on this publishing train for example!

 

Thank you for the opportunity to talk with you about Grit & Grace.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb