Q&A with Kim Sherwood

  

 

 

 

Kim Sherwood is the author of the new novel Hurricane Room, the third in her Double O trilogy, based on Ian Fleming's iconic James Bond character. She is also a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Edinburgh.  

 

Q: Hurricane Room is the third in your Double O series--what inspired the plot of this novel?

 

A: In Hurricane Room, the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance—US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand—develop an artificial intelligence programme known as Panopticon that harnesses the power of Q, MI6’s quantum computer, to spy on the world.

 

However, Colonel Mora, leader of terrorist organisation Rattenfänger, has plans to hijack Q and blind the West. Johanna Harwood (003) has freed James Bond from brutal captivity at Mora’s hands, and the Double O section need his help to bring down a traitor, but Bond no longer trusts his team – or himself.

 

The original seed for the plot was a conversation I had with someone peripheral to the intelligence world, who shall remain confidential, or else they’ll have to kill me…

 

After that, a significant turning point was discovering the work of Trevor Paglen, who makes art using spy satellites and underwater internet cables.

 

Visiting Bletchley Park was another key source of inspiration, and the legendary World War Two code-breaking site features as the location for a big set piece in the novel.

 

But ultimate credit goes to Ian Fleming himself. It was a throwaway line from Bond to M in Moonraker that triggered the start of the novel.

 

Fleming writes a scene where Bond sprinkles pepper on his vodka and says: “It’s a trick the Russians taught me that time you attached me to the Embassy in Moscow.” We hear no more of this period in Bond’s life, and Hurricane Room is my attempt to fill the gap.

 

Q: What initially inspired you to write the series, and how would you describe the relationship between your books and Ian Fleming’s original James Bond character? 

 

A: I am a lifelong Bond fan and getting the commission from the Fleming estate to expand the world of 007 was quite literally a dream come true. I first read Fleming when I was 12 and he had a seismic influence on me as a writer.

 

My Bond is Fleming’s Bond, with his experiences, passions and problems, but transposed from the 1950s to the 2020s, which means finding viable contemporary explanations for his mid-century psyche.

 

That meant looking to his past—as an orphan, a widower, a man who loses the two great loves of his life, driven by willpower and devoted to a cause—to explain why he can’t commit to staying alive, let alone a relationship.

 

Q: Did you need to do any research to write the book, and if so, did you learn anything that especially surprised you?

 

A: A ton! I’m a very research-inspired writer, that’s my joy. I was surprised to learn that cloud data centres are often built inside hollowed-out mountains to keep the servers in cool darkness. If anything cried out to be a Bond villain’s lair…

 

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

 

A: The emotional heart of the novel is Bond’s relationship with Harwood. The pair have been lovers, lost everything, and now must learn to trust again. I hope the conclusion of Harwood’s arc stays with readers.

 

I’ve also tried to write Bond as he’s never been seen before—in his mid-20, pre-Double O status, and his mid-40s, broken and scarred. I hope readers come away with a new angle on this beloved character.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’ve stepped into the world of screenwriting and I’m working on a few shows in the action-thriller genre. I’m also writing my next novel, which bridges my love of literary historical fiction and spy fiction.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’m pregnant, due end of June – so Hurricane Room is set to come into the world a month before our baby does! It feels like an exciting and momentous way to end the trilogy.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Susan McGuirk

  

 

Susan McGuirk is the author of the new novel Dear Missing Friend. She has worked at HBO and Anthology Film Archives, and she lives in New York City. 

 

Q: You’ve said that an inspiration for your new novel came from your own family history--can you say more about that?

 

A: In a sense Catherine found me, not the other way around. While doing family research like so many people, I came upon an advertisement her husband Michael placed searching for her.

 

It wasn’t until I happened upon another advertisement placed by him four years later, still looking for Cath, that my imagination went into overdrive. Why didn’t she answer him? Was she alive? Why did he use her maiden name in the ads? A story was born.

 

The settings were places the characters actually lived, and I researched their travels and pursuits to follow the tale wherever it led me.

 

Q: Why did you decide to write an epistolary novel?

 

A: I spent years working in film programming for television and a museum. I read a lot of scripts and felt comfortable with dramatic writing. I’m also a big theater fan, so dialogue and images are how I thought about stories. When I had my own to tell, letter writing just seemed the natural way to express my penchant for dialogue.

 

Q: The Midwest Book Review’s review of the novel says, “McGuirk creates a powerful foundation for a story that embraces many elements, from history to mystery, using Catherine’s strengths and character to bring this era to life.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: My first thought was being grateful for the kind words. I did try to remain faithful to the time period and tried to stay as accurate as possible. My editor became exasperated at times with me insisting on mid-1800s usage. For instance, they did not use the word “work” for employment, using “labor” or “trade” instead.

 

Much of what Catherine endures is directly related to her place in history, so it was a natural adversary for her. The same problems she had are still with us, like prejudice against immigrants and women, but it was as though they were on steroids then.

 

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

 

A: The title is based on the Missing Friends column that was syndicated to newspapers nationally. It was where Irish people placed advertisements looking for lost relatives and friends in the new world. Michael used it twice looking for Cath, and his sister to find him. The “dear” was to signify the epistolary genre.

 

A hundred and fifty years ago, our lifespans were much shorter. Loss was a common occurrence, as medicine was primitive and indoor plumbing virtually nonexistent. As lives went along loved ones became missing, especially mothers giving birth and vulnerable children. There was a certain degree of expectation and acceptance of this – it was a different way to behold life from how we see it now.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I want to continue the story with a couple of characters in the next generation.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’m very excited for my pub day on May 19 for Dear Missing Friend. Thanks for the opportunity to speak with you and for the thoughtful questions, Deborah.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Amy Friedman

  

 

 

Amy Friedman is the editor of the new collection A Secret Chord: Poetry, Stories & Art. It features the work of teenagers who participate in the POPS and PATHfinder Clubs for young people affected by incarceration, detention, or deportation. Friedman is a criminal justice activist and co-founder of POPS, and she is based in Los Angeles. 

 

Q: What inspired this new collection of poetry, stories, and art?

 

A: At The PATHfinder Club (www.thepathfinderclub.org), we are committed to annually publishing a collection of works created by the youth we serve—teens and young adults whose lives have been altered as a result of incarceration, detention, or deportation.

 

And so, the start of a new school year was initially the inspiration for A Secret Chord.

 

Each year, as soon as we release a title, we open the door to submissions for the next year’s collection. Submissions come in slowly, and as they do, I read the poetry, the stories, the essays, the first-drafts and second; I study the paintings, drawings, collages, and other works of art.

 

And each year I’m struck by the marked differences that seem to reflect the mood of the nation and the rumblings of the world all around us, and that mood that colors the work is how I discover the theme.

 

In 2024/25, as work poured in, I kept hearing music, feeling a rhythm, sensing a collective composition emerging. By the time we neared deadline, this year’s theme was vividly clear.

 

Q: How was the collection’s title chosen, and what do you see as the connection to singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen?

 

A: The title came directly from the theme. Most people know Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah, even if they don’t know that it is Leonard Cohen who wrote the song because it has been covered by so many disparate artists—from Willie Nelson to Jeff Buckley, from Brandi Carlile to Yolanda Adams, and so many more.

 

Two things sparked the title of this collection.

 

First, the creators’ works kept playing music that rolled through my mind. The connection is less to Cohen himself than to that idea evoked in the line he wrote (and sang): “I heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord…”

 

The extraordinary work by these young people felt like altogether they created a secret chord with their truths revealed, the melody of their many different, distinct voices, the rhythms of their language, and the heartbeat of their passions.

 

When I saw Ruby Pena’s photograph of the bird on a branch, once again Cohen’s words sounded from his "Bird on a Wire." That’s when the book coalesced, in a kind of magical moment that happens just once in a blue moon.

 

Q: What do you see as the importance of creative work at a challenging time in this country?

 

A: In a world drowning in misinformation and disinformation and the cruelty spreading of lies about our immigrant population, it is vital that we amplify true stories and nurture the abilities of young people to trust themselves and to use their innate talents, [and to] use art-making to better understand themselves and each other and to share those true selves with the rest of us.

 

As dark as these times so often feel, in the creative spaces that are these clubs, there is tremendous light and strength.

 

This is more than ever a moment when we all need to be creative in whatever ways we are able—to bring our best selves to each moment, and to support our youth in their creative and intellectual endeavors. Truth telling is cleansing; creating something out of nothing is inspiring.

 

I think of the recent moonwalk—the joy nearly everyone in the country felt as we followed the astronauts seeing what no human eye had ever before seen. That revelatory moment, just knowing that this was possible, healed and inspired something in nearly all of us. That is what creating does.

 

And creating forges connection. We see that in the clubs, and in these books. Everyone who has ever the TPC/POPS collections has found one or 10 or 20 pieces that seem say precisely, in words or visuals, precisely what that reader needed to hear and thus makes that reader feel less lonely.

 

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

 

A: Joy and a deeper understanding of how very wise, deep, honest, and resilient these teens are. I hope that with that understanding, readers will experience the pleasure those of us who work with these young people experience—the hopefulness about our future; the curiosity to know more; and an inexplicable, invigorating relief.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Two things.

 

We are working on our 2027 release. The deadline has just passed, and I’ve just discovered the theme—and title, and cover—of next year’s book. For the moment, I’m keeping it a secret.

 

We are also working on putting together a collection based on the Best-Of from our earliest books that were self-published, between 2013 and 2019, prior to Out of the Woods Press (outofthewoodspress.com), which has published these collections ever since it was established in late 2019.

 

Separate from The PATHfinder Club but inclusive of some of the youth we work with at TPC, I’m working on a project I launched in December 2025, All-American Story (All-AmericanStory.com).

 

Each week on Substack (ourallamericanstory.substack.com), we publish true stories, artwork, music, and other creative works created by American immigrants, and 1st- and 2nd-gen Americans. So far, a number of young people who were previously published in our anthologies have been, and are about to be, published.

 

All-American Story will also be doing LIVE performances across the country. Our Live performances launched in Los Angeles on April 26 at The Wende Museum. I trust many more of these amazing young people will be published by AAS.  

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Only this: The immigration raids have traumatized so many of the young people we work with, and their strength, their ability to continue to go to school despite their terror and sorrow and losses mounting is astonishing. I hope everyone will buy these books and if they love something they read, send a letter to the writer c/o publisher@outofthewoodspress.com.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Amy Friedman. 

Q&A with Patricia A. Billingsley

  

 

 

Patricia A. Billingsley is the author of the new book Lorca in Vermont: The Spanish Poet and His American Lover. She lives in Delaware and in Massachusetts.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Lorca in Vermont?

 

A: It all began almost 20 years ago, when I picked up Ian Gibson's seminal biography of Federico García Lorca (1898-1936), a Spanish poet whom I knew almost nothing about.

 

Fortunately, Gibson’s comprehensive account of Lorca’s eventful life and tragic death included a short description of his unlikely friendship with a young Vermont poet named Philip Cummings in the late 1920s.

 

As Gibson explained, the two first met in Spain in 1928, then spent 10 days together in Vermont the following August during Lorca’s summer break from his studies at Columbia University in New York City.

 

Gibson’s version of the story seemed straightforward, but it left me with a host of unanswered questions I couldn’t get out of my head: Who exactly was Philip Cummings and where did he come from in Vermont? What drew him to Spain in 1928 and how did he get there? Most importantly, how did he meet Lorca and how did they become friends?

 

I started searching for answers to these questions very casually at first, but as I began to learn more about both men, I became intrigued by the mismatch between the prevailing view of their relationship and the information I was finding.

 

Many Lorca scholars seemed to treat Cummings as nothing more than an avid fan of the poet, and the Vermont episode as a completely inconsequential time in Lorca’s life, but it became increasingly clear to me that there must be more to the story.

 

I began to suspect that Cummings and Vermont had played a far more significant role in Lorca’s life and work than was commonly assumed, and I resolved to follow every clue and connection I could find that might help me better understand what had happened between them.

 

Q: How would you describe the relationship between Lorca and Philip Cummings?

 

A: Lorca and Cummings were two young, gay men with much in common when they first met, but they were at very different points in their lives when they reunited in Vermont in August 1929.

 

Lorca was 31 years old and already well-established as one of Spain’s most important young poets. But even after several painful, unrequited attempts to find a man who shared his desire for a sustained romantic attachment, he still held out hope that such a relationship was possible.

 

Cummings, however, was only 22; he had just finished college and was eagerly anticipating his move to a new city and the start of his teaching career. While he treasured his friendship with Lorca and enjoyed their sexual encounters, he had no interest in long-term commitment or in challenging social conventions as part of a same-sex couple. 

 

As Lorca gradually came to terms with their fundamental differences, he expressed his deep sense of loss and disappointment in the only safe way he knew, through his poetry.

 

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

 

A: I started my research by reading every book and article I could find about Lorca and Cummings, but soon realized I’d have to dig deeper.

 

I began searching for relevant original source documents in archival collections across the United States and Spain, and was able to visit many of those archives in person.

 

I talked with Lorca scholars and biographers who had known Cummings personally, several of whom gave me unpublished materials they had never shared with anyone else.

 

And I spent as much time as I could in the places where Lorca and Cummings had been together, especially northern Vermont.

 

The most surprising thing I learned was the importance of Lorca’s time in the Catskill Mountains of New York State to the story. I knew that Lorca had traveled to the Catskills to visit friends immediately after he left Vermont, and wrote multiple poems during his stay there.

 

But it was only when I started examining how the mood and content of those poems reflected Lorca’s experiences in the Catskills that I began to see how they also revealed the longer-term impact of his time with Cummings.

 

Q: How would you describe Lorca’s legacy today?

 

A: Lorca was only 38 years old when he was executed by Nationalist forces in Spain in August 1936, but even now, 90 years after his death, he remains an iconic literary and cultural figure in Spain.

 

In addition, his poems, plays, and essays continue to attract readers and inspire writers, musicians, and social activists outside the Spanish-speaking world. For example, Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen credited his teenage discovery of Lorca's poetry for his own decision to become a poet, and to name his daughter Lorca.

 

In 2009, Lorca was one of the first 20 people awarded a permanent plaque on San Francisco's Rainbow Honor Walk, a city landmark that honors men and women whose lives have inspired greater tolerance and social change.

 

In 2016 and 2017, Simon Stone’s award-winning adaptation of Lorca’s play Yerma enjoyed wildly successful runs in London and New York. And in 2020, the New York Public Library included Lorca's Poet in New York on its list of the 125 books that best embody the city and its people.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on a series of short essays on topics related to the book. Some are about various people and places mentioned in the book that I want to explore in greater detail. Others are about the many unexpected connections, coincidences, and discoveries that happened over the course of my research, a series of events that inspired me to continue even when I had no idea what might result.

 

For more news about current and upcoming book-related publications and events, please see my website: www.lorcainvermont.com.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I began this project knowing almost nothing about my subjects, only that I wanted to understand more about their lives and their relationship. I simply followed the story wherever it led, with no preconceptions about what I might find.

 

I encourage others to do the same, to pay attention when something about a historical account seems illogical or incomplete, and see where your curiosity takes you!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

May 19

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
May 19, 1930: Lorraine Hansberry born.

Q&A with David Hirshberg

   

 

David Hirshberg, the pseudonym for an entrepreneur and business executive, is the author of the new novel Crossing the Bronx. His other books include Jacobo's Rainbow. He lives in Westchester County, New York.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Crossing the Bronx, and how did you create your character Jay?

 

A: All my novels—My Mother’s Son, Jacobo’s Rainbow, and now Crossing the Bronx—comprise my Mid-Century Trilogy, works that illuminate the 1950s and ‘60s, a time framed by World War II and the Vietnam War, when Jews began to shed their outsider status, and integrate into the fabric of American society, cloaked with both its goodness and strife.

 

For the narrative arc of each novel, I’ve picked a central event and used it as the crux of the story around which all the action takes place.

 

In the case of Crossing the Bronx, I’ve always been fascinated by the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway in the 1950s, which destroyed the Tremont area of The Bronx and was representative of the way in which governments exercised eminent domain without the input and consent of the local population.

 

The November 10, 2019, issue of Real Archeology had a story entitled “The Cross Bronx Expressway and the Ruination of The Bronx,” and The New York Times published an article on September 8, 2022, that gave an in-depth analysis of the destruction of the local community. I was hooked.

 

Since The Bronx was an ethnically diverse borough, setting a story about the Jewish, Italian, Black, and Puerto Rican people whose lives were disrupted gave me the opportunity to write about how the “little people” are affected by the (oftentimes callous) decisions of government officials and business interests.

 

The main male character—Jay—was not the first character I created. His father, Ike, was conjured up first, and once I wrote the following paragraph (which originally was the opening of the novel in an early draft), Jay emerged.

 

My father was more Italian than Jewish. deVenezia, from the original ghetto. Orphaned, which may explain his lust for acceptance by those in power and his rage when he beat the shit out of me. Or maybe not. Let’s face it, I’m not the shrink.

 

He was the only Jew in the orphanage with a hundred Catholic kids, and it was his good fortune that he had the physical characteristics to stand up for himself.

 

At 12, he pried a crucifix off one of the walls and used it to pound the daylights out of a kid four years older who’d taunted him in front of the others on account of his circumcised dick. That night, so he said, he got rid of Isaac and became Ike.

 

I had the idea from the beginning that Ike (né Isaac) would have two sons, so naturally they were named for Jacob and Esau (Jay and Eric). Jay’s persona and the story flowed from there.

 

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

 

A: After reading the above-mentioned two articles, I dug in to learn more about the construction of the expressway and its fallout with the people of the community. And, also, living in New York, I had some familiarity with different sections of The Bronx going back to my childhood.

 

What surprised me was the rapaciousness of the interests that were aligned to construct the expressway and the depth of the extraordinary disruptive effect on the local community.

 

It’s one thing to read about a few people whose homes were seized by eminent domain, but an entirely different matter when one recognizes that 40,000 people were displaced, hundreds of businesses had to be located, and most of all, a sense of community was utterly destroyed.

 

One friend of mine commented that it was the 20th century version of Pompeii. Obviously an exaggeration, but there are similarities.

 

Q: The author Esther Amini described the novel as “both timeless and timely.” What do you think of that assessment?

 

A: Esther’s comment strikes at the heart of the book, in that it implies that the kinds of events that are recorded in the novel (both real and fictitious) have gone on forever, and are evident today.

 

The anecdotes are always different, but they speak to the same issues of the “little people” against “city hall” and the obstacles that ordinary people face when confronted by government and business interests that appear to have all the power.

 

Esther’s description is also relevant to the romantic relationship between Jay and his girlfriend Francesca, as well as the friendly relationship between Jay and Francesca’s brother. And, too, it recognizes the oftentimes tumultuous intrafamily relationships that don’t always end with all parties celebrating a “kumbaya” moment.

 

As it is said, “Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose” – the more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

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

 

A: The book can be read on three levels:

 

(1) The story of what it was like to have lived through the Depression and World War II era, and into the one that emerged after 1945—a society that was being altered almost unknowingly into something that would turn out to be significantly different in terms of social activism and ethnic politics;

 

(2) A metaphor for what is going on in cities today, in terms of the conflicts between “ordinary people” and powerful politicians and business interests; and

 

(3) How a Jewish family emerges from dysfunction to find its way despite daunting implacable obstacles in its way.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have written drafts of screenplays for both Crossing the Bronx and Jacobo’s Rainbow. A screenplay is a completely different can of worms compared to a novel. Very challenging, but I am highly motivated.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Crossing the Bronx is a 1950s fiction depicting the clashing of cultures, as well as the intersection of politics, business, and community – a metaphor for today.

 

Recent events that deal with the interconnected worlds of political and financial corruption are generally framed as two-dimensional stories of good vs. evil, many times without shades of gray, and frequently have a political angle to them as portrayed in the media.

 

In Crossing the Bronx, the narrative digs down to give a full picture of the complexity of behaviors, and how the decisions—that have both intended and unintended consequences—are made by those who are powerful and connected, as well as by those who are just “regular folks.”

 

Persuasively illustrating how the world really works, Crossing the Bronx captures the essence of what drives us forward under the most daunting of circumstances.

 

While the novel exposes the underbelly of the criminal and political world, evidenced by brutality, rapaciousness, and a never-ending desire to seek retribution, the love story between Jay and Francesca counter-balances the grimness to show how some people can overcome the odds stacked against them by their birth and places of origin.

 

Smart, savvy women (Francesca, Jay’s mother Rebekah, Francesca’s grandmother Daniela Lagana, and Jay’s therapist Dr. Silverman) provide a strong counterbalance to the lies, thefts, beatings, concealments, murders, and prejudice evidenced by some of the men.

 

In addition to sustained tension-filled action, Crossing the Bronx is a story of romance, commitments, and beliefs, told with perceptive insights and humor. The characters come to life in a realistic fashion to illustrate who we are, how we behave, and what causes us to change.

 

It is intended to generate the kinds of reader reactions that audiences have when watching movies such as On the Waterfront, The Usual Suspects, and Gone Baby Gone.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with David Hirshberg. 

Q&A with B.W. Jackson

  

 

 

 

B.W. Jackson is the author of the new novel The Brotherhood of Barnabas. It's the second in his Rise of Lazarus series. He lives outside New York City. 

 

Q: This is the second in your Rise of Lazarus series--how did you come up with the plot for The Brotherhood of Barnabas?

 

A: There were definitely questions burning in my head after the first book. That was the natural springboard.

 

I think with any series, you have to try to balance providing satisfying answers with raising intriguing questions. The Brotherhood of Barnabas tries to address some of those questions from the first book. For instance, how does this whole Lazarus society thing work? And, if Aaron and Grandpa Moshe and Miriam are basically the good guys, who are the bad guys?

 

The other important element was Grandpa Moshe. I really wanted to explore his character and story more. He captured my attention, which is why he drives much of the plot in The Brotherhood of Barnabas.

 

The funny thing is that the first book was originally a short story, with only Aaron and Professor Freeman. But I couldn’t find a satisfying ending, and so I kept writing. That’s when I introduced Grandpa Moshe. Or, in a way, he introduced himself to me. That process is mysterious.

 

Q: Do you think your character Aaron has changed from one book to the next?

 

A: I think he has absolutely changed, or I hope he has, because his world gets turned on its head at in the first book. He starts out the series as a lazy and arrogant college kid with loads of potential, but he gets humbled. He’s forced to listen and learn, and he’s rewarded for it. He gains perspective and a sense of purpose.

 

In book two, Aaron begins to play a slightly more active role in the unfolding of the story, even though he takes a back seat to Grandpa Moshe. He doesn’t stop learning, though. That’s the crucial piece.

 

I’d say he is gradually developing into more of a true main character, which I like. In a way, it’s a good counterbalance to the main character syndrome that’s going around. We all have to face it. Maybe you’re not yet a main character in the first book. Maybe you never get to be a main character. Or maybe you have to listen and learn for a while and then you become a main character in book three or four or five. We’ll see.

 

Q: Do you recommend reading The Rise of Lazarus before turning to this novel?

 

A: Thank you for asking that question! Yes, it is crucial to read The Rise of Lazarus before The Brotherhood of Barnabas. The first page of book two comes right after the last page of book one, and it will be the same for book three. That was my vision for the series. Ideally, readers will finish one book and reach for the next. Of course, unfortunately, that’s not exactly how it works in publishing. It takes time to prepare a book for release. 

 

Once book three is out, my dream is that a new reader might go through them all in a few days. The pressure is on me to make them as quick and gripping as possible. 

 

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

 

A: First and foremost, I hope the book provides an escape into another world, a break from the day to day. Beyond that, I hope the book inspires some reflection.

 

Compared to book one, The Brotherhood of Barnabas is more playful in some parts, and more serious in some parts. Ultimately, it is still meant to be a book for any age—a book for the full family book club, from teenage grandchild up to grandparent.

 

I would say, though, that the second book introduces some more adult concepts and sinister elements, and also raises ideas about history and values for possible reflection.

 

Part of finding your voice as an author is coming to understand your capabilities and what aims are realistic. Whether I’m writing thrillers or literary fiction, I aspire to produce clever stories that read quickly, books that are engaging and thought-provoking. That’s the goal with the Lazarus series. I hope readers can’t put it down, and then I hope the ideas stick with them.

 

The challenge is finding the right balance. Ideas should always enhance the story, never distract from the story.

 

Q: What’s next in the series?

 

A: The Cave of Cleopas is the third book in the series. It’s coming along! I don’t want to give anything away about the book two ending, but I can say that the heroes are going to dive right in.

 

The series starts out as a story within a story, and, with twists and turns, the story comes to life in the here-and-now. Book three keeps that trajectory going, even if the series will always be rooted in history and legends and storytelling.

 

In the beginning, the stories come to Aaron, but that starts to change in book two, and it changes even more in book three. Aaron may not be able to stand on the sidelines so much anymore. As I said, he definitely has true main character potential. We’ll see how he develops.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: At the moment, I’m doing a thorough reading and editing of book three, which can be excruciating and invigorating at the same time, sometimes in the same sentence. When you let the manuscript lie fallow long enough, the ground gets nice and soft. It’s easier to dig out those ugly roots that wouldn’t budge before, and plant a few flowering shrubs.

 

Otherwise, I’m always jotting down notes for more books in the Lazarus series—the burning questions that come up as I go along. There is a whole world of Lazarus that has developed in my head, and only a bit at a time can make it into a book. Ideas have to wait their turn. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with B.W. Jackson. 

May 18

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
May 18, 1925: Lillian Hoban born.

Q&A with Mary Keating

   

 

 

Mary Keating is the author of the memoir in verse Recalibrating Gravity. She is the poetry editor of ScribesMICRO, and is an attorney. She lives in Connecticut.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Recalibrating Gravity?

 

A: In 1973, when I was 15, I got into a teenager's Mustang convertible and never walked again. The moment the car crashed, I was transported to an alternate reality. One where I wasn’t “me” to the outside world. I was a trope.

 

I tried to find authentic books or stories about my new life. They didn’t exist. Disabled people were either tragic or inspirational, but not real people.

 

Except this one book my parents got me, called You Can Do It From A Wheelchair, with a cover that featured a middle-aged woman right out of the ‘50s. She was in a wheelchair mopping. Mopping! What an ambition to strive for.

 

I used to joke with my boyfriend about writing a book called You Can Do It In A Wheelchair and really shatter stereotypes. I think that’s when the idea to write my life story germinated.

 

It’d take me 50 years to compile it. And I never dreamt I’d write it in verse. But that makes perfect sense. The immediacy of poetry breaks the barriers that stereotypes create.

 

My memoir is the one I wanted to read when I was first injured—to know I could do it (life) in a wheelchair, go far beyond mopping, as long as I didn’t forget to laugh.

 

Q: The poet Ed Ahern said of the book, “These autobiographical free-verse poems are achingly honest and subversively creative.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: It’s a great feeling when another poet acknowledges the power of my work—it tells me the poems are doing what I hoped: shifting perspectives.

 

I chose verse so readers experience disability on a deeper level, with form always enhancing meaning. A long, narrow poem called “Hospital’s Care” might topple over at any moment, while “Still,” shaped like a wheelchair, reflects the glacial pace of progress in spinal cord injury care and cure compared to space travel.

 

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

 

A: After my accident, I couldn't sit without support. None of my core muscles worked. In rehab, my physical therapist said that my paralysis changed my center of gravity. He told me I had to find a new one.

 

That concept stuck with me long after I learned to sit without falling over, because recalibrating gravity is a metaphor for learning to adapt to, and navigate in, an alien world.

 

When it came to choose a title, Recalibrating Gravity clicked. My memoir is far more than a disability memoir—just as my life is far more than being a paraplegic.

 

Life is learning to keep balanced no matter what happens—to keep centered. That's a learned skill honed by adversity. We are recalibrating life’s gravity all the time. The title captures the physical, psychological, and spiritual recalibration illustrated in my memoir.

 

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

 

A: It was and continues to be empowering. From reconnecting with old friends to making new ones at speaking engagements and author events, I’m delighted how my world continues to unfold in ways I never imagined.

 

A Facebook friend shared a poem about my accident with a young woman who subsequently stopped getting into her boyfriend’s car when he’d been drinking. Hopefully, she stopped him from driving while intoxicated as well.

 

I hope my poems help others to recalibrate the gravity of any hardship or difficult time they are going through. That they realize disability is human and love is really what this life is all about. Each of us can make this world a kinder place. We don't have to be heroic. Small acts accumulate over time. 

 

One in four people are disabled, over a billion people. Ideally, my readers start insisting places are accessible to everyone. That would be a dream come true.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I just finished a new poetry collection, My Brain is an Octopus Hiding Haiku, which is loosely structured on the feminine hero’s journey. The overall arc is enhanced by my scuba diving experience of how pressure shifts while navigating a fluid space. The octopus is a perfect metaphor for intelligence, adaptation, and survival.

 

There’s still a dearth of authentic disability stories, especially on the big screen. I’ve written a few short stories. I hope to finish the screenplay I mapped out which is about a high school athlete who becomes paralyzed in a diving accident and discovers how to reinvent her life. And finally, I’ve begun a novel where the protagonist is a woman who uses a wheelchair and outsmarts her kidnappers.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Not so much what you should know, but things to remember: Take care of each other and the planet, hug a tree, and don’t park—even a millimeter—on the hatched-out lines next to accessible parking. You’ll block me from getting in and out of my ramp van. Then how will I, or others like me, be able to engage in this amazing world?

 

Readers can contact me through my website, www.MaryKeatingPoet.com.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb