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Interview With Poet Claudia Burbank

Claudia Burbank recently agreed to an interview with myself and 32 Poems. And here is what she had to say.


How would you introduce yourself to a crowded room eager to hang on your every word?  Are you just a poet, what else should people know about you?

I’ve come to writing after retiring from the corporate world (telecommunications).  I was one of those road warriors you see running through the airport.  I knew I was traveling too much when the airline crew celebrated my birthday.  Lacking a background in English or writing I had to start from scratch.  Reading has been a lifelong delight though. 

I’m a graduate of Vassar College and a 30 year subscriber to the Metropolitan Opera in NYC.  Few people know I’m proficient at wallpapering and installed a tub surround with sliding glass doors by myself.  

I received a Fellowship in poetry from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, won the Inkwell Award (Alice Quinn, judge), and had my work featured on Verse Daily.  I’ve published about 90 poems so far, most recently in Subtropics, Hotel Amerika, and Passages North.

Do you see spoken word, performance, or written poetry as more powerful or powerful in different ways and why? Also, do you believe that writing can be an equalizer to help humanity become more tolerant or collaborative? Why or why not?

Most writers are better at writing than reading their work aloud which often tends to be dull, interminable, largely indistinguishable and unmemorable.

The written word tends to be more powerful and lasting and easier to grasp.  Studies show that the brain is actively engaged in creating the experience when you read as opposed to being a passive listener.  If your mind wanders you can simply start over. 

On the second question: if only.

Do you have any obsessions that you would like to share?

I tend to be obsessive about most things I do.  This month that includes Ken Ken puzzles, keeping my teeth extra clean, and the adagio from Beethoven’s “Emperor Concerto.”

If you’ve enjoyed Claudia’s answers so far, I suggest you check out the rest of my interview with her over at 32 Poems Blog. Once there, you can find out about her workspace, her inspirations, and much more. Feel free to leave me comments about her interview or your thoughts on poetry in general.

Interview With Poet Ann Fisher-Wirth

From Carta Marina

December 16

Red taillights lead me uphill, downhill—
I watch them from the bus’s steamy window,
pressing my cheek against cold glass
as I’m carried from the airport past fields and factories,
past Märsta in the midnight
where the old men still hunt elk-moose
till bloody haunches fill their freezers.
It’s not this man or this man, not
these golden daughters or this dream-ravened swaddle:
no, it’s the doors closed or the doors opened,
it’s the heart gone night. The gods
stream back and forth across the threshold.
You can ride it, you know,
get on the dark bus and let it carry you.
That’s how I’ve always been, going home, going nowhere—
uphill, downhill, the taillights like rubies,
past fields where the trees are just darker effacings.

Ann Fisher-Wirth agreed to an interview with myself and 32 Poems. And here is what she had to say.

How would you introduce yourself to a crowded room eager to hang on your every word? Are you just a poet, what else should people know about you?

I’d never say anyone was “just” a poet, because a poet is a pretty amazing thing to be. But writing poetry is not the only thing I do. I teach American literature, poetry workshops and literature courses, and a wide range of courses in environmental studies at the University of Mississippi.

I also teach yoga, and that is a really important part of my life. I’ve been married for nearly 26 years to Peter Wirth. We have five grown children—mine, his, and ours—and rapidly expanding numbers of grandchildren. We live in a very cool old Victorian house with two huge pecan trees in front of it, in Oxford, Mississippi.

I’ve lived in the South for almost 30 years, but I grew up first as an Army brat all over the world, and then in Berkeley, California, so I love to travel and hold many places in my heart.

Do you have any obsessions that you would like to share?

Environmental issues and consciousness-raising are my obsession. Truly they are. I am convinced from everything I’ve read that we have very little time left before we reach a catastrophic tipping point for life on earth. We may already be there.

One helpful book is Lester R. Brown’s Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, which can be downloaded free from the Earth Policy website, and which fully documents how desperate a situation we humans have created environmentally, and how thorough-going and rapid our response must be—far beyond anything now being considered by those in power.

In terms of friendships, have your friendships changed since you began focusing on writing? Are there more writers among your friends or have your relationships remained the same?

It’s true, most of my friends are writers, and if they are not writers they are professors. I have gotten to know hundreds of writers since I began focusing on writing, and some of them have become wonderful friends.

I’m also very close to a number of people I know through the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment—again, writers and academics. But how could I escape it? My mother was a teacher, my sisters, brother-in-law, husband, and two of our five children are all teachers. It’s a great way to live.

If you’ve enjoyed Ann’s answers so far, I suggest you check out the rest of my interview with her over at 32 Poems Blog. Once there, you can find out about her workspace, her inspirations, and much more. Feel free to leave me comments and discuss Ann’s work (sampled above), her interview, or your thoughts on poetry in general.

Interview With Poet Thomas Stemmer

Thomas Stemmer recently agreed to an interview with myself and 32 Poems. And here is what he had to say. 

How would you introduce yourself to a crowded room eager to hang on your every word? Are you just a poet, what else should people know about you?

I cannot imagine a crowd eagerly listening to poetry. However, in 2008, when I was invited to a conference in Pakistan, I took part in a Mushaira (a traditional poetry reading), and indeed, everybody was very eager to listen. Even a peasant there knows verses of – let’s say – Rumi or local poets for example. This is incredible. But, I am just a poet, yes, a romantic in a way.

Do you have any obsessions that you would like to share?

Yes: My mechanic typewriter. I JUST LOVE IT!

From Shortest Poems these Days:

The Law of Grace
There is
Some good fat
Bavarian sausage
In the refrigerator.

 

Poetry is often considered elitist or inaccessible by mainstream readers. Do poets have an obligation to dispel that myth and how do you think it could be accomplished?

Poetry is not elitist. If you WANT to read poetry, you can. Everybody is responsible for himself. The accusation of elitism is just an excuse to cover up a certain – maybe unconscious – unwillingness, I suppose.

Do you have any favorite foods or foods that you find keep you inspired? What are the ways in which you pump yourself up to keep writing and overcome writer’s block?

Foods? No. But in order to overcome a writer’s block, I use to draw, to make collages on paper or to do more of my scientific work as a orientalist. On of these doors is always open. In case of poetic emergency: hours of daydreaming! That helps ALWAYS.

If you’ve enjoyed Thomas’ answers so far, I suggest you check out the rest of my interview with him over at 32 Poems Blog. Once there, you can find out about his workspace, his inspirations, and much more. Feel free to leave me comments and discuss Thomas’ work (sampled above), his interview, or your thoughts on poetry in general.

Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal

Shilpa Agarwal‘s Haunting Bombay immerses readers in a deeply saturated drama and literary ghost story reminiscent of the Bollywood films the Mittal family’s driver Gulu adapts into his own adventures.  Set in Bombay, India, the story spans two decades from the end of World War II into the 1960s.

Each member of the Mittal family is vivid from the main protagonist Pinky, a thirteen-year-old girl uncomfortable with her place in the family and grandmother Maji, who keeps the family unit running smoothly and keeps all of its secrets secure to self-centered Savita, Maji’s daughter-in-law bent on driving Pinky out and her seventeen-year-old son Nimish, who always has his head in a book and is too timid to talk to the girl he has a crush on.

“Pinky dreamt she was drowning.  She felt herself being pushed down into water, down, down, down until her lungs began to burst.  The only way out was to push her head farther in, to stop thrashing, to trust that she would not die.  But each time she grew afraid, each time she thrashed.  Each time she startled awake just as she was about to pass out.”  (Page 111)

Pinky’s mother dies during the partition of India, forcing her to become a refugee, but Maji takes her granddaughter into her bungalow, along with her son, his wife, and their three boys.  The mystery of the bolted bathroom door at night is resolved when Pinky in a fit of frustration unbolts the door.  Haunting Bombay is about the secrets buried within a family and the ghosts tied to those secrets until they burst through the bathroom door.

“Here it was, proof that she had once inhabited this place at the world’s rim, before she had begun to bleed, before the women had gathered, their salty voices crooning the ancient tale of the menstruating girl who caused the waves to turn blood-red and sea snakes to infest the waters.”  (Page 4)

Agarwal’s poetic language is like a siren song, pulling the reader into the Mittal family’s struggles with one another.  With the start of the monsoon season accompanied by the heavy rains, the ghost grows more powerful and the drama more turbulent.  Readers looking for a ghost story will get more than they bargained for with Haunting Bombay.  It’s a ghost story, mystery, and historical novel carefully crafted to hypnotize the reader.

Shilpa Agarwal kindly took the time out of her busy schedule–at the last minute, I might add, because I am incredibly out of sorts with my own schedule–to answer a few questions.  I graciously thank her.

1.  Please describe yourself as a writer and your book in 10 words or less. 

Myself as writer: A researcher, thinker, poet, dreamer.

Haunting Bombay: A literary ghost story set in Bombay, India.

2.  Haunting Bombay features a ghost story; what inspired you to use a haunting to illustrate family secrets and how they are uncovered? 

Haunting Bombay takes place in a wealthy Bombay bungalow and opens the day a newborn granddaughter drowns in a brass bucket while being bathed. The child’s ayah (nanny) is blamed for the death and is immediately banished from the household.  The child and her ayah are silenced in the realm of human language – they have no voice or power in the bungalow – so I had them come back in the supernatural realm in order to speak the truth of what happened that drowning day.  I remember a quote from Buddhist nun Pema Chodron that is something like, “Fear is what happens when you get closer to the truth.”  I wanted my characters’ journey to discovering the truth to be both frightening and enlightening, involving self-reflection, compassion, and sacrifice. 

3.  Do you have any particular writing habits, like listening to music while writing or having a precise page count to reach by the end of each day or week? 

When I was writing Haunting Bombay and my children were very young, I used to get up at 4:30 each morning to write because that was the only time in the day I had to myself.  Now I write while they are at school.  I always light a candle before writing, put my editorial hat away, and allow the story to unfold as it comes to me.  Later I go back and rewrite but I always like the first draft to come from a place of emotion and instinct.  My writing process is very organic.  I never write an outline because, inevitably, the story will take an entirely different direction than the one I’ve plotted out.   So I let the story flow, and however far I get that day is fine with me.

4.  Name some of the best books you’ve read lately and why you enjoyed them.

During my book travels these past months, I’ve met wonderful authors whose books I subsequently read, including Cara Black’s Murder in the Marais (Aimee Leduc Investigation), David Fuller’s Sweetsmoke, and Diane Gabaldon’s Outlander.  This weekend I spoke at an event with Judith Freeman, Ann Packer, and Jacqueline Winspear so Red Water: A Novel, The Dive From Clausen’s Pier: A Novel, and Maisie Dobbs are on my current reading list.  There is something almost magical in reading a book after hearing an author speak about it, and in this process my own interests have expanded into new genres of literature.  I also recently read Kathleen Kent’s The Heretic’s Daughter: A Novel which I thought was an engaging work of historical fiction.

For the rest of my interview with Shilpa Agarwal, check out my D.C. Literature Examiner page.

Thanks again to Shilpa Agarwal, Soho Press, and TLC Book Tours.  I have 1 copy of Haunting Bombayfor my readers anywhere in the worldTo Enter:

1.  Leave a comment about why you like ghost stories or describe a scary story you heard or told.
2.  Leave a comment on my D.C. Literature Examiner interview and get a second entry.
3.  Tweet, Facebook, or blog about this giveaway and leave a comment.

Deadline is Oct. 16, 2009 at 11:59 PM EST.

Interview With Linda Wisdom

I recently reviewed Hex in High Heels by Linda Wisdom, if you missed the review, click on the link to check it out.  It is the fourth book in her paranormal, romance series.

Today, Linda took time out of her schedule to answer a few interview questions on her tour stop with Sourcebooks.  Let’s give her a warm welcome.

What inspired you to write about sassy witches? 

They chose me. I used to hear “write dark edgy vampires” and my muse said “not for you”. Shapeshifters didn’t pop, but Jazz did. And the minute she entered my imagination I knew, just like Goldilocks in that third bed, that this was just right. To this day, I haven’t felt as if this was a wrong decision.

Have you always been interested in the paranormal and have you had a paranormal experience?

Yes, I have. I wrote my first paranormal romance in the late 80s and a few others after that and knew there was more in my future. As for paranormal experiences, I’ve had a few. We have a house ghost who likes to take things and we had something dark in the back yard several years ago that I still don’t like to think about! 

Could you describe a typical writing day for you and what helps you punch through writer’s block?

After I’ve had enough caffeine to feel human, I check my email, see if there’s anything that needs immediate attention and check any blogs I’m on that day. Then I pull up my book file and write. I refuse to stare at my screen when I’m blocked. I shut off the computer for an hour or so. Sometimes do something around the house or I go out. There’s been many a time that ideas flow when I’m driving around.

Do you read books in the genre you write or could you name some of the most recent books you’ve read that you enjoyed?  

Definitely. I recently finished Victoria Laurie’s Doom with a View, Wendy Roberts latest. 

Some writers have obsessions or listen to music while writing.  Do you have similar obsessions and what are some of your favorite groups or bands? 

For me it’s movies. I watch all genres and it depends on my moods. For music it’s Celtic and golden oldies. I tend to change playlists according to the witch I’m writing at the time. Maggie, my present witch, leans toward Zydeco. 

If you were a witch with magical powers, what spell would you love to conjure and why? 

Oh, the power! I’d want to snap my fingers and see the house magickally cleaned. And I’m talking all corners, grout, high places, and top of the refrigerator. :} Anything else I’m fine with, but I’d sure love to have a clean house in the wink of an eye.  

Sourcebooks is offering 1 U.S. or Canadian reader a copy of Hex in High Heels and Wicked by Any Other Name by Linda Wisdom as a set to 1 winner.  

To Enter:

1.  Leave a comment on this post about an interview highlight.
2.  Leave a comment on my review of Hex in High Heels and leave me a comment here.
3.  Blog, Tweet, Facebook this giveaway and leave me a comment.

Deadline is Oct. 9, 2009, 11:59PM EST.


Interview With Cathy Marie Buchanan

I already reviewed The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan earlier in September for the Amazon Vine Program; click on the link for my full review. After posting my review, I discovered Buchanan was on a blog tour for her book.

I was happy to learn that she would answer a few questions and sponsor a book giveaway for my readers and its international. Please give Cathy Marie Buchanan a warm welcome.
1. Was the main character Bess modeled on the real wife of William “Red” Hill, whom the character of Tom Cole is based? Or is she based upon yourself or people you know?
 
(Please see the following photo provided by Cathy Marie Buchanan, courtesy of the Niagara Falls (Ontario) Public Library): “Red Hill Junior moments before his fateful plunge”

In the very first bit of The Day the Falls Stood Still that I wrote−it’s long since been scrapped−Bess was an old woman, bitter and hateful of the river. I’d conjured her up from the little I knew of Red Hill’s wife, who was quoted as saying she hated the river, that she was afraid of it. 

In addition to being a hero, Red Hill was a daredevil. He risked his life shooting the Whirlpool Rapids in a barrel three times. In 1951 the eldest of the couple’s sons died attempting to go over the falls in a barrel constructed of inflated rubber tubes, canvas and fishing nets, and another son was killed in an accident in a hydroelectric diversion tunnel under the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario. 

Clearly, she had cause to hate the river. She is where I started with Bess Heath, but once I decided not to incorporate the daredevil side of Red Hill into Tom Cole−that his reverence for the river would run too high for that−Bess evolved into the strong, intelligent, supportive woman I hope readers find in between the covers of the book.

2. What prompted the inclusion of the mock newspaper articles? Was that your idea or something the publisher wanted to include?

I have to give my clever U.S. editor, Sarah Landis, credit for the idea of incorporating the newspaper articles. After reading an earlier version of the manuscript, Sarah came back with the comment that she wanted to know more about Niagara’s fascinating lore and suggested that newspaper articles might be an interesting way of adding more of the stories.


3. For a debut novel, The Day The Falls Stood Still, is incredibly stunning. Niagara Falls is a great location for this emotionally charged story. Do you have plans to write additional books in this setting?

Born and bred in Niagara Falls, I grew up awash in an endless stream of local lore─the Maid of the Mist and her canoe, Sir Isaac Brock and the War of 1812, Blondin and his tightrope, Annie Taylor and her barrel, William “Red” Hill and his daring rescues, Sir Adam Beck and hydroelectricity, Roger Woodward and the miracle at Niagara.  

With such a storied past and the staggering beauty of the falls themselves, it’s tough to definitively say that I won’t write about the area again. Still, I think I’ve told the story I wanted to tell about Niagara Falls. I’m currently working on a story set in and around the Paris Opera in the 1880s.

4. Most writers are readers. Name five of the last books you read and enjoyed. 

 

I discovered Donna Morrissey this year, first reading What They Wanted. I loved it, and I loved Sylvanus Now, too. No one does the Newfoundlander voice like Morrissey. No one makes you feel the feral beauty of Newfoundland in quite the same way. Another favourite was Laura Moriarty’s While I’m Falling. I happened to be reading it when Elle came out with its September reader’s picks, books that were subsequently pitted against one another in a reader vote. 

I was thrilled to find The Day the Falls Stood Still included in the picks, particularly considering that the other two books on the list were new novels by former Grand Prix Book-of-the-Year winners. My book came in a very close second to While I’m Falling, the very book I was savouring. 

The most recent book to knock my socks off was Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, a collection of linked stories. In every story, she shows a remarkable understanding of human nature. Over the years I’ve read loads of books to my boys. The book that most stands out from the last year is John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I read it with my eleven-year-old, and I think we loved it equally.

Photo Credit: Nigel Dickson

5. You hold a BSc (Honours Biochemistry) and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario. What was the turning point in your life that prompted you to write novels and short stories?

I spent my teenage years disgracing myself in English, often getting upwards of 20 percent deducted for spelling mistakes on high school English exams. When it came time to head off to university, I picked my courses using the criteria that I wouldn’t have to write−that is spell−a single thing. Hence, the BSc and MBA. 

I spent the bulk of my non-writing work life at IBM. By then spell-check had been invented, and I took a night school creative writing course, on a whim really. I was smitten, and soon enough I wanted more time to write than that tiny gap that existed between scrubbing my children clean and falling into bed myself. I quit my corporate job and have been writing five days a week while my boys are at school ever since.

I hope you enjoyed the interview with Cathy Marie Buchanan and learning about Niagara Falls.  Please check out the book trailer.

Also, check out the Sept. 30, 2009, teleseminar for the end of Cathy Marie Buchanan’s Virtual Book Tour:

  • What: Going Over the Falls: A Telephone Chat With Cathy Marie Buchanan
  • When: 3:00 pm EST on September 30th
  • Who: Anyone who is interested
  • How: Just dial telephone number 718-290-9983, and enter conference ID code 100925# when promted.  Free, except for normal long distance charges.
  • More info:  http://overthefalls.eventbrite.com/

***Here’s the audio clip link of the teleseminar.***

Hyperion Books and Cathy Marie Buchanan have offered 1 copy of The Day the Falls Stood Still to one lucky reader of my blog anywhere in the world.

To Enter:

1.  Leave a comment on this interview about what you found most interesting.
2.  Leave a comment on the book review and let me know on this post.
3.  Tweet, Blog, Facebook, or spread the word and leave me a link or comment on this post.

Deadline is October 9, 2009, 11:59PM EST.


Interview With Emily Wilson of books, the universe, and everything

Last year, my favorite part of Book Blogger Appreciation Week was the interview swap, in which I get to check out a new-to-me blogger and ask them some questions so we can all get to know him or her better.

I signed up to participate again this year, and was given Emily Wilson of books, the universe, and everything. Check out her blog to see what she asked me.

1. What’s the story behind the creation of your blog–books, the universe, and everything?

I started my blog almost four years ago, a few months after moving to New York City.

I’ve been an avid reader and book lover my entire life, but it wasn’t until I moved to NYC that I became book obsessed: a bibliophile. I think that was caused by a combination of several things: all the wonderful bookstores in the city, all the fantastic book events in and around the city, and also finally having the time to read more (I had just graduated college and thus had no more homework to clog up nights and weekends).

When I wanted to start a blog, books were the natural core focus – I needed a place to talk as much as I wanted about my passion.


2. What kinds of books do you blog
about, what parts of the universe are you discussing, and how much of everything makes it onto the blog?

I have pretty broad tastes in books – I definitely wouldn’t say I like everything, but I like a good variety: contemporary fiction, classics, biographies, food writing, cookbooks, fantasy, graphic novels, kid’s literature, kid’s picture books, non-fiction, poetry.

I mainly only blog about the books I buy and read, but occasionally I’ll post about a book that looks good or has something unusual or interesting about it. Sometimes it’s their covers – I love book cover design.

As for the Universe and Everything, I’d have to admit that I don’t discuss those as much as I used to. I like to post photos from travels or NYC related adventures, and I like to post photos and recipes from some of the things I bake. If I had to sum up my blog in three topics, those would be it: books, traveling, and baking.


3. I noticed some photography on your site and that you have a flickr page. What kind of camera do you use? And what would be your dream camera?

My camera is a Canon Powershot SD1000, which I bought mainly because it was super small. I wanted to have a camera I could always keep in my purse, so that I’m always prepared to take a photo.

For my next camera, I’d like to get a better camera. Even the newer models of Powershots take better photos, since they have image stabilization. I’m very much an amateur in every way, but I enjoy taking photos and am always trying to get better.

4. Of the books you’ve read in 2009, which books would you recommend to a friend or stranger and why?

For a stranger, I’d have to select books that I think would have a very wide appeal, so I think I’d go with:

Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl
Thank You, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet

Here’s a list of some of my favorite books read this year that I’ve been recommending to my friends consistently: (not including the books above, which I’ve also been recommending)

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenburg
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

5. Have you always been a reader? And what book do you think started you on this bibliophile journey?

I’ve been a reader my entire life. Both of my parents read to me when I was young, and during my entire childhood they helped keep me surrounded by all the books I could ever want, mainly through frequent trips to several area libraries, and they also bought me quite a few. I had all the Babysitter’s Club books. 🙂 There’s not a time in my life that I can remember not having a deep love for reading and books.


One specific book that had a huge impact on my love of books was Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. It was the first classic adult novel that I picked up on my own and decided to read for me, not for a class. I fell in love with it and it grew my passion for reading in general into a passion for good literature and authors. Not to mention it was the start of my love for everything Vonnegut. 🙂

6. In the book blogging community what are some of your favorite memes or weekly activities? What do you like best about them and what do you like least?

I’m not very good at keeping up with memes or weekly activities myself, but I do enjoy reading them on other people’s blogs. I like Booking Through Thursday, and really should try to participate more. I also like Library Loot.

7. Tell us one wacky aspect of your personality or about any obsessions you might have other than books.

One of my other obsessions is baking. I’ve been baking a lot this year and love to experiment to find the best recipes for my favorite treats.

I like to share photos and recipes of some of the best things I’ve made on my blog.

8. Write a six word memoir for yourself.

“Can’t go anywhere without a book.”

Did you enjoy this interview? Interested in winning Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro? Here’s what you have to do to enter:

1. Let me know what you liked about the interview.
2. If you purchase any of the books, using my Amazon affiliate links this week (Sept. 15-19), that’s 5 extra entries (just send me an order #/invoice).
3. Tweet, blog, Facebook, or spread the word about the giveaway for additional entries, just leave me a comment about it.

Deadline to enter is Sept. 19, 2009, at 11:59 PM EST


Interview with Mahbod Seraji, Author of Rooftops of Tehran

Mahbod Seraji, author of Rooftops of Tehran, kindly took time out of his schedule to answer a few interview questions.

If you missed my glowing review of Rooftops of Tehran, you should check it out. It is one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Please give Mahbod Seraji a warm welcome.

In Rooftops of Tehran, you chose to tell the story of an adolescent boy. Was there a particular reason why you chose this protagonist as opposed to telling the story from the point of view of Pasha’s father or that of the Doctor?

Well, the choice of the narrator and his/her voice is one of the most critical decisions an author makes.

I wanted to make sure that the story was told through the unbiased eyes of a smart but inexperienced 17 year old. I think the readers identify with Pasha because they understand his struggle to make sense of all the senselessness that is happening around him. Together they are surprised and stunned as to how cruel life can be under a despotic, repressive regime, and I think that common struggle is what endears Pasha to the readers.

Iran in the 1970s was considered an enemy of the United States and Iranians thought the United States supported the tyrannical regime at the time, but yet Iranians still dream of escaping to the land of opportunity. Was this dichotomy intentional in Rooftops of Tehran or something that emerged on its own?

Iran became an enemy of the United States at the very end of the decade and after the 1979 revolution. Prior to that, the two countries were considered strong allies. There was a huge number of American expats living in Iran before the Islamic Revolution and a large population of Iranians living in the states. So the relations between our countries were great at one time.

Now, in 1953, the U.S. government overthrew a democratically elected prime minister (Mossadegh), replanted the Shah who was ousted by the people, and created, with the help of CIA, the SAVAK agency which perused, arrested, tortured and even murdered anyone who opposed the Shah. So the events of 1953 became the impetus for a deeply rooted mistrust of the United States not only in Iran, but also in the entire Middle East.

To give your readers a perspective on whether that’s a legitimate gripe, imagine Canada coming to the states and overthrowing President Obama or President Bush, when he was president, and planting a puppet regime here and keeping that regime in power by creating a brutal force that severely punished people opposing it. How would we feel about Canada? That scenario would be inconceivable to any American, right? Well, that scenario is exactly what happened in Iran.

As for the second part of your question: There weren’t many universities in Iran in the 1970s to accommodate the increasing number of high school graduates and so it was just an accepted practice for many to come to the states, go to Canada, England, France, and Australia for education. In Rooftops, I picked the United States because of the historical connection between our countries.

Did your experiences in Iran inform your depiction of them in your novel, and could you pinpoint a scene or two that are most representative of your memories?

Rooftops of Tehran is a highly fictionalize semi-autobiography!! In fact if the characters in the story read the book they would recognize themselves. Of course I changed some of the names, dates, and even descriptions of people and events for obvious reasons but much of the story is based on actual personal experiences. The school scenes, by the way, are totally accurate, and funny, I’m always told.

If you want to hear more from Mahbod Seraji, check out my D.C. Literature Examiner page.

Also, please check out Mahbod Seraji’s Website.


Interview With Mary-Ann Tirone Smith and Jere Smith

I reviewed Dirty Water: A Red Sox Mystery by Mary-Ann Tirone Smith and Jere Smith earlier this month.

But the Smiths were kind enough to take time out of their busy schedules to answer a few questions by email.

1. What first spawned the idea to use real-life people as characters in your mystery novel, Dirty Water: A Red Sox Mystery?

Jere: We thought about using fictional Red Sox players, to avoid the book quickly becoming obsolete, since players change teams so often these days. But then we realized how lame that would sound. We decided to just make the book take place in the year we were writing it. The fact that they ended up winning that year’s World Series kind of justified our idea. Suddenly we had a book about a world champion team–one that had less written about it than the 2004 team, which broke the 86-year drought.

2. How difficult was it to include the Red Sox players in the novel? Was there a particular process you had to go through to use their names?

Mary-Ann: The Red Sox players are in the public domain. You may fictionalize people with name recognition as long as you don’t slander them. Something we’d never do, naturally, as the Red Sox are our heroes.

3. You co-wrote this novel with your son. Did you share the writing duties or did one of you play more of a role than the other in writing each draft?

Mary-Ann: First, we brain-stormed a plot. We wanted to write about a real crime that was connected with Major League Baseball and came upon the story of the Arocha Pipeline, the name for a route used to smuggle ballplayers out of Cuba and into the United States. This is called human trafficking for profit, a crime dangerous to the players which puts Coast Guardsmen and FBI agents in grave danger. Once we had that down, we worked on how to mesh that plot with the 2007 Red Sox season. I wrote a majority of the mystery section, Jere wrote most of the blog, and then we revised each other’s work, back and forth until we both agreed on every line of the final draft. (Same way we did this Q & A.)

4. Could you describe your experience writing a novel with writing memoir? How were they similar and how were they different?

Mary-Ann: In writing a novel, the writer makes up plot and fictional characters out of thin air even though the basis for either might be an actual event or an actual person. Our DIRTY WATER Red Sox discovered an infant in the clubhouse at Fenway. The actual players did not. A memoir is simply the writer’s memory of people and events in his/her life.

If you want to hear more from Jere and Mary-Ann Smith, check out my D.C. Literature Examiner page.

Check out Jere’s Blog A Red Sox Fan From Pinstripe Territory and the book’s blog, Dirty Water: A Red Sox Mystery.


Interview with Joseph Sohm, Part 1


If you missed my review of Visions of America, please check it out.

In the meantime, Joseph Sohm, author and photographer of the book, took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions.

Please check out the first part of the interview at D.C. Literature Examiner.

More of the interview to come over the next few days.

Interview With Amanda Grange, Author of Mr. Darcy, Vampyre

If you missed my review of Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange, feel free to check it out.

Amanda Grange was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to answer a few of my questions about her latest novel and her writing. Don’t forget the giveaway following the interview.

Please welcome Amanda to Savvy Verse & Wit:

1. How difficult was it to return to Mr. Darcy of Pride & Prejudice following your successful book, Mr. Darcy’s Diary, and then transform him into an immortal vampire in Mr. Darcy, Vampyre? Could you explain part of the process?

I did it by taking a step back and seeing a larger picture, one in which Mr. Darcy had a terrible secret. Then I looked at Pride and Prejudice from this new vantage point and I saw that it fit in well. It gave Darcy a new reason for his aloofness, his reluctance to fall in love and his absences for long periods of time in Pride and Prejudice. I then imagined a future for Lizzy and Darcy where this great secret lay between them and I explored the effects that would have on their relationship as well as thinking about the extraordinary things that would happen to them. I wanted to create a story that would test their love to the limits, and the rest followed quite naturally from there.

2. Most authors dealing with classic characters fell in love with them early on, but wanted something more. Is this how you felt about Darcy, and what is it you sought to do that Jane Austen had not?

Yes, that’s exactly how it happened with me. I first read Pride and Prejudice when I was about 13 and fell in love with the whole Austen world, including Darcy, but I still wanted more. So I sought to provide more with Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, which of course is the one thing that Austen didn’t do.

3. If you were to create a playlist for Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, what five songs or scores would be on that list?

Interesting. I think one would be Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, I think that would go very well with the first chapter of the book. Then I’d have Yesterday by the Beatles, when Lizzy starts to realize that something is wrong. I’d have Angels by Robbie Williams for a part of the book where Darcy watches Lizzy sleeping, and Something by the Beatles for when Darcy is explaining his love for Lizzy. And of course I’d have Bat out of Hell by Meatloaf!

4. Do you have any obsessions that you would like to share?

You mean apart from Jane Austen? The thing about one obsession is that it doesn’t really leave room for any others (apart from chocolate!)

5. In Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, you’ve created an exciting and exotic world in which Darcy and Lizzy go on their wedding tour. What inspired you to write these vivid settings? Was there any particular paintings or travels that inspired you?

The inspiration came originally from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Mrs Radcliffe. Udolpho is mentioned a lot in Jane Austen’s own Gothic novel, Northanger Abbey, because both the hero and the heroine have read it and thought it was wonderful. In Udolpho, the heroine travels through France, crosses the Alps and goes on into Italy.

I wanted Lizzy and Darcy to follow her journey as an homage to Udolpho and I thought Janeites would really enjoy it as they would get the references. Having made that decision, I then based the descriptions on my memories of my own holidays in Europe. I remember my first holiday to Italy vividly. I had never been out of England before and the light was incredible. Here in England it’s often dull, with low lying cloud, and the colours are muted, but in Italy everything was dazzling.

There’s a bit in Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, when Lizzy and Darcy arrive in Venice, which says: “Light was everywhere. It poured from the sky and it danced from the water. It leapt from the gilding and twirled from the stones.” That’s exactly how it seemed to me the first time I went there.

6. Many readers are eager to know which character or characters authors most identify with, so in your latest novel, which of the characters do you identify with and why?

Hm, that’s difficult. I think I identify with Lizzy and Darcy equally. I try to put myself inside the heads of my characters when I write, and I found myself equally at home with both Lizzy and Darcy.

7. Which books have you been reading lately, and are there any you would like to recommend?

I’ve been reading Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie and I’d happily recommend it. I love Agatha Christie. Her plots are superb and I think her writing style is underrated. It’s actually very difficult to write in such a seemingly simple style and still hold a reader’s attention. I’ve now moved on to Mariana by Susanna Kearsley. I haven’t got very far with it yet but so far I’m really enjoying it.

8. Finally, following Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, do you have any other projects in the works? Do they deal with other classic literature or do you see yourself flourishing in the Pride & Prejudice market?

My next project is a prequel to Mr. Darcy, Vampyre. Oddly enough, I don’t have any interest in writing books based on other classic stories. Somehow it’s just Pride and Prejudice that keeps inspiring new ideas in me because I can’t get enough of the characters or the perfect love story of Lizzy and Darcy.

If you want to check out the other stops for Amanda Grange, go to the Mr. Darcy Vampyre blog.

Sourcebooks has kindly offered 2 books of Mr. Darcy, Vampyre for 2 of my readers in the United States and Canada.

1. For one entry, leave a comment about one of your favorite parts of the interview.

2. For a second entry, Tweet, Facebook, or otherwise spread the word about the giveaway on your blog, etc.

3. For a third entry, let me know if you already follow or just started following.

Deadline is August 14, 2009 at 11:59 PM


Susan Helene Gottfried Reveals her Past and Inspiration

Susan Helene Gottfried, our good blogger friend, mind behind West of Mars, and author of Shapeshifter: The Demo Tapes Year 1, was kind enough to grant me an interview about her time at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md.

If you haven’t read Shapeshifter yet, you should get your hands on a copy of this bird’s eye view of the rock and roll universe.

Where is this interview you ask?! It’s on my D.C. Literature Examiner page. Check out, leave some comments. I’m sure Susan will be by to check out your thoughts.

Still not convinced you should read Shapeshifter, check out these reviews from Diary of an Eccentric and She Is too Fond of Books.

***In Other News***

I updated my Book Review Policy and added a note to my readers.