Calista : A reading by Laura Rahme

I will never be the sort of author that is fond of face to face interviews, writer panels or even book signings. 

The discomfort, exhaustion and overwhelm that I experienced at my own wedding in 2015, despite every intention to have fun, and in spite of the bliss I felt, signal to me that unfortunately, I have a low treshold for public attention, and that as you would expect from someone who is neurologically hypersensitive, writing is my preferred medium.

But even if I might be reluctant to conduct public readings of my novels, I can thankfully capture my own voice in the privacy of my home.

I recorded this reading last year and thought it might make a decent clip to promote my novel, Calista.

This is not my every day tone but it suits the historical setting at least. I hope you enjoy. 

Writers on the Couch: Lisa J Yarde

"Never stop. 

If I could give one piece of advice 

in my whole life, that would be it." - Lisa J Yarde

Undaunted by new ground, she has penned a six-part series set in Moorish Spain, her favorite place to travel is Spain, and she has devoted 20 years of research into Spain's history - she is, the pioneering and fearless, Lisa J. Yarde.

I am thrilled to have this talented writer on the Writers Couch today. Based in New York City, Lisa is a writing and publishing powerhouse, with work translated in four languages. A member of the Historical Novel Society, she was a presenter at its 2015 Denver conference and serves as the co-chair of the Historical Novel Society – New York City chapter. Lisa is also an avid blogger and moderates at Unusual Historicals. She is also a contributor at Great Historicals and History & Women.

Whew!

To break the ice, Yarde warns me that her worst sin is that she curses too @#$%&*@% much. I am delighted that we are in for an honest and passionate discussion - a real treat. But before we begin, I need to say how excited I am about Yarde's upcoming novel. I have been a huge fan of the Sultana series and am very much looking forward to the final book, Sultana: The White Mountains, out this Spring.

The exact release date has not yet been disclosed...hopefully it will be soon. For those not familiar with these artfully crafted novels, the Sultana books bring to life multiple generations of Spain's powerful ruling dynasty, the Nasrids. Sultana: The White Mountains is set during and after the fall of Granada and follows the exiled ruling family into Spain's Sierra Nevada.

Having read a number of books set in Spain that delve into Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon's conquest of the Alhambra fortress, I always wondered what became of the Moors who had built and ruled this beautiful place for centuries. Where did they go? What happened to them? Well, Sultana: The White Mountains will paint this story. And judging from Yarde's solid efforts in the past, it will be a story well told.

Now for those who are asking, YES, there will be a 'Dracula' novel, likely a couple. Yarde's Order of the Dragon which is slated for release in 2018, will focus on the 15th century Wallachian ruler, Vlad Dracul, and his sons. This is one subject I suspect will enthrall fans of  Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, and though Yarde has offered to say no more, we may have some scoop... When asked about a travel scene or landscape she admired in a novel, Lisa J. Yarde mentions "the dark almost mystical descriptions of 15th century Wallachia in C.C. Humphrey’s Vlad: The Last Confession". Is this anything to go by for the upcoming Vlad books? We can only hold our breath in suspense...

Vlad Tepes

For now, enjoy this exclusive interview with the amazing Lisa J. Yarde.

Lisa J Yarde on the Writers Couch

Your memorial. What is it, where is it located, and what is it you are remembered for?

It’s at a floral garden alongside a beach in my birthplace of Barbados. There’s a small, flat marker that reads, “She loved with her whole heart and learned from a lifetime of encounters. But she didn’t pass any of the lessons on to you because life is a unique experience for all. Go live it and make it count!”

 A strong childhood memory

It isn’t from childhood, but rather my early twenties. One night, just spontaneously, my mother and I sat up talking until 4 am the next day. Although I had to go to work in the morning. We spoke about everything imaginable. She was a vital, energetic force in my life and I’ve missed our conversations every day since she died. I inherited my mother’s personality and I think she would be equal parts amused and horrified, like me, at the current state of the world.

Who is your favorite literary villain and why?

Less of a villain in the classic sense of the word and more an antagonist, it’s Inspector Javert in Les Misérables. Not only is he utterly relentless in the pursuit of Jean Valjean, but Javert’s dogged efforts remain well-intentioned, even if his methods are flawed. I prefer to read and write about determined villains in the mold of Javert, with a set of principles or a “code” for living. My ideal villain must, like him, have a purpose and never lose interest in their goal, regardless of the consequences.

Inspector Javert, Les Miserables

A Hollywood studio is all over one of your books. Which is it and tell me about the director and/or cast.

I can’t say which of the Sultana series would be best suited for adaptation, but I’d like Bernardo Bertolucci or Ang Lee to direct and Oded Fehr or Amr Waked should get the lead. Bernardo Bertolucci has directed some of my favorite films; The Last Emperor, Little Buddha and Besieged among them. His films are a sumptuous visual feast. The film wouldn’t be complete without Ashraf Barhom and Said Taghmaoui playing some important roles.

[Ok, we have just Googled Oded Fehr and, wow, we completely approve. You know what to do, Bertolucci.]

A writer who has moved you

That’s like picking a favorite child! So many fellow writers have stirred the strongest emotions in me over the years. To the point where I’ve thought, okay, I may as well give up right now because I will never craft anything as evocative as this. If I had to narrow it down to an author I’ve read in the last six months… Taylor Brown is debut author with an incredible novel, Fallen Land. Events occur during the Civil War. His descriptions are amazing; I smelled Atlanta burning as I read the scene.


If you could rewrite the ending of any book of film, which would it be and how?

Book: I’m going to cheat here and say, none, strictly as a professional courtesy to other authors. I can’t place myself in their heads to understand why they chose certain endings.

Film: Titanic, of course! I don’t care what the director James Cameron has said about the ending of the film. There was enough room on that wood for Jack AND Rose. I would have found a way for the lovers to survive and have their happily ever after, especially after they’d sold that huge diamond. Despite evidence to the contrary, I’m a hopeless romantic at heart.


How do you deal with dark/emotional scenes in your writing?

I love them and embrace the process of writing them wholeheartedly. I prefer deep point-of-view, to immerse myself and readers in characters and the events surrounding them. There have been times where I’ve looked up from my computer keyboard and reminded myself that I’m not in Moorish Spain and medieval England. For me, dark or emotional scenes should provoke corresponding feelings in readers. If they don’t then I haven’t done my job as a writer.

"They are often women or those marginalized in history, 

so I write to give them a voice 

and reflect on their experiences." - Lisa J. Yarde

Recurring themes in your writing

Survival against almost insurmountable odds and the importance of family, two values I hold in high regard in my personal life as well. My protagonists aren’t the victors ultimately; they are often historical figures who lost the great battle, as in the Sultana series or On Falcon’s Wings. They are often women or those marginalized in history, so I write to give them a voice and reflect on their experiences.

Self-published vs traditional. What was your experience?

I’ve sought traditional publishing; established relationships with editors, but nothing came of it. Self-publishing was an option I ignored for too long; I should have pursued it two years earlier than I did in 2010.


Your advice to new writers

Never stop. If I could give one piece of advice in my whole life, that would be it. Writing is hard, publication is harder, marketing is the hardest of all. But the personal rewards are so satisfying. If I could give another piece of advice, I’d add, set realistic goals so you are never mired by defeat and can celebrate easy victories. Whether that is the act of writing each day, reaching a certain word count, getting your first sale, responding to your first piece of fan mail, or speaking engagements and signing books at an event. Just give yourself the time and tools to accomplish those goals. Above all, stop comparing yourself to other writers, whether it’s their output, fan base or sales.

This is precious advice, thank you, Lisa J. Yarde. It has been an honour to have you drop by our Writers Couch. From Andalucia to Wallachia, we wish you a wonderful journey.

Writers on the Couch: Megan Chance

Today we are humbled and excited to welcome the wonderfully talented Megan Chance to our Writers Couch.

Megan Chance is the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of over 12 books including, The Visitant, Inamorata, An Inconvenient Wife and The Spiritualist. Girlposse.com calls her a “writer of extraordinary talent.” A former television news photographer with a BA from Western Washington University, Megan Chance lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two daughters.

Chance joins our interview session today following the release of her latest historical novel, A Drop of Ink. The book already has readers and reviewers enthralled and we can see why.

A Drop of Ink - a mesmerizing, complex

and darkly passionate reimagining

of the Lake Geneva summer that inspired Frankenstein... 

Set in Geneva in 1876, A Drop of Ink spawns an intricate tale that sees a group of five people meet at the Villa Diodati - the place that inspired the writing of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, sixty years earlier. It turns out that everyone of those five characters has something to hide.

Villa Diodati, Lake Geneva

A Drop of Ink is a richly imagined, emotionally nuanced tale of passion, ambition, inspiration, and redemption. Many of us will love that it pays homage to some of the great writers of that period. 

To paraphrase Seattle Times, 'historically minded readers will particularly enjoy this bumpy ride, and the parallels between Chance’s re-imagined literary quintet and the actual participants in that long-ago gothic writing session.'  

Megan Chance was kind enough to drop by and answer ten probing questions for us - we hope you enjoy learning more about this inspiring author as much as we did. It turns out, Victor Frankenstein is her favorite villain. Want to find out more? Read on.

Megan Chance on the Writers Couch

A Hollywood studio is all over one of your books. Which is it and tell me about the director and/or cast.

Thus far, the only one of my books that has actually garnered any Hollywood interest—and which was briefly optioned—is An Inconvenient Wife, so I suppose I would pick that one. I do hear often that it would make a good movie. When I write, I always visualize actors as the characters, because, as I write, the story unfolds as if I’m watching a movie in my head. This means that my office perpetually looks like the bedroom of a 15-year old girl, with movie star pictures everywhere. For An Inconvenient Wife, I envisioned Kate Beckinsale as Lucy, Johnny Depp as Victor Seth, and Kevin Spacey as William. They’re all too old to play those parts now, although (ironically, given how Hollywood treats women of a certain age) Beckinsale might still be able to pull it off. For the director—well, at the time I would have said Martin Scorsese, given how beautifully he did The Age of Innocence, but now I’d rather have a female director. I think Jane Campion, or Catherine Hardwicke would be great, but I think my first choice might be Sam Taylor-Johnson.

My favorite non-writing day...

Consists of waking up, not exercising, reading the Sunday New York Times for about the three hours it takes, baking something challenging and fun and delicious, reading more, and hanging out with my family. Perhaps doing Latin homework. I started studying Latin this year, for no other reason than I’ve always wanted to. I was persuaded not to study it in high school because it was a dead language, which is a decision I’ve always regretted. I’m really enjoying the puzzle of it, and finding it tremendously rewarding. I really enjoy learning new things, and pushing myself until I’ve perfected them, and that is what I most like to do on my non-writing days.

Tell us what excited you in your latest travel holiday

My husband and I went to New York City—a city I have always loved—with no agenda other than going to the Belmont to watch American Pharaoh run the last leg of the Triple Crown. Beyond the race, we had no schedule, and spent our days simply going wherever we wanted to go, taking the subway, walking, popping into unknown restaurants. It was a great trip because there was nothing we had to accomplish. Then, what made it even better was the Belmont. The racetrack was packed, the lines were long, the trains to get there were overwhelmed, but the sheer energy and excitement of that race was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced. People were screaming, shouting and stomping. The stands were shaking. Everyone was hugging everyone else, and we were all strangers with nothing in common but wanting that horse to win. To watch him do that … I can’t really describe what it was like. We were all one person and one voice in that moment, and all of us were with that astonishing horse, and I will simply never forget it. 

Which historical period holds your fancy for male/female clothing

I am one of those people who likes comfort over fashion. My husband and my oldest daughter are both much more fashion conscious, and they despair over me. So, given this, I think it’s odd that I have a secret fascination for men’s clothing. I love looking at the fashion spreads in Esquire, for example. I love reading their articles about men’s fashion. I love it when a man wears something a little different. I have no love for suits, tuxedos, or uniforms. They’re all so boring. But give me a jacket in a deep blue or green velvet, or a tuxedo that’s cut like a frock coat or a duster, maybe with a Nehru collar, or colorful vests, and I’m in love. I rue the late nineteenth century, when men’s clothing, which had until then been made up of a mix of colors and fabrics, moved toward a singular color, and that mostly black or blue. I love the early century, when there were different cuts of trousers and coats, and when men might wear checked trousers with a form-fitting frock coat, along with a vest of any of a multitude of colors and fabrics, and a broad swath of a silk neckcloth. And let’s not forget a watch chain decorated with all sorts of baubles and ornaments. It was a very individualistic period for men’s fashion, and some of the cuts were gorgeous, and really showed off a man’s form. I love to see a man who’s a bit of a peacock—why shouldn’t they be as unique as women when it comes to fashion?

Who is a writer who has moved you?

There are many, but my favorite these last several years has been Elizabeth Knox. She’s a New Zealand writer, and she’s lyrical, smart, challenging and emotional. Her The Vintner’s Luck is probably my very favorite book. I have read it several times, and it never fails to completely satisfy and move me. I have no idea why, and I almost hate sharing it, because the book feels so very personal to me. I recommend it often, but I have no desire to discuss it with anyone, or debate it—it feels secret and lovely and mine alone. I also love her Billie’s Luck, which was the first book of hers I read, and which kept me up until two in the morning to finish. I’ve also read that several times.

Who is your classic writer soulmate?

Can I have more than one? Balzac, Byron, and Edith Wharton. Balzac, because he’s prolific, cynical, smart, funny, realistic and I feel I relate to him on a cellular level. Byron for all the same reasons, plus I know Byron’s life well enough that I can often read between the lines of his work, and so his pain and his rejection of that pain and his struggles for love and acceptance are real and moving. Lastly, Edith Wharton, whose emotional novels about women are so true and lovely and heartbreaking that I am slayed every time. I think each of these writers writes about the things I am most interested in—that is, how our emotions control and define us, how we live with the consequences of our decisions, and how those decisions are often limited by social strictures and judgments. Society likes to keep things in their proper place, and these writers all write about what happens when someone slips out of that place to try to make a different kind of life for his/herself. So in that way, they are all my literary soulmates.

Honoré de Balzac, French author

Who is your favorite literary villain and why?

Probably Victor Frankenstein, who—make no mistake—is the villain of Frankenstein. It’s not that his motives for making the creature are bad, it’s simply that every single decision he makes is. He is weak, self-deluded, self-righteous, defensive and ultimately immoral in the way he turns away from the creature he has created. His decisions are what set himself and the creature he brings to life—who, by the way, is more human, compassionate and moral than his creator in every way—on their destructive path. Victor Frankenstein is, as we all are, both the hero and the villain in his own story. He is the classic man against himself, and that makes him interesting as a villain. Reading his arc in Frankenstein is like watching a trainwreck, and he’s got no one to blame but himself for everything that happens.

What kind of writer are you?

I know most writers either refer to themselves as a “pantser” or a “planner,” but I am somewhere in between. Once I’ve done the research, and I’m devising the story, I generally have a sense of 1) where to start, 2) what happens at the quarter point that turns everything on its head, 3) what happens at the halfway point to turn it again, and 4) a turning point at three-quarters of the way through. I may not know the end, and I have NO idea how I’m going to get from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4. That’s where the story comes alive for me. Knowing too much tends to kill it, knowing too little leads to frustrating dead-ends. This structure seems to be a happy medium.

I’m a very disciplined writer—that is, I write every day, though I try to take one day on the weekend off. I learned early on that I could not tell the difference between the writing I did on days I was inspired, and the writing I did on days when I was not, and so there was no point in waiting to be inspired, and in fact, inspiration is made, not born. I go to my office to work at about ten a.m. every day, and I don’t stop until I’ve written at least five pages. Why five? Because I also discovered that it took me five pages to hit “flow,” or “inspiration,” or whatever you want to call it. If I could get to five pages, I could go on to ten, or sometimes fifteen, or now and then, twenty. But if I never got to five, I never hit “flow.” Some days, of course, it doesn’t happen, and five pages are all I end up with. But if I don’t get to five, I never get beyond it.

I’m also not one of those people for whom every word must be perfect before I go on. For me, a book is made during the editing and revising stages, and so what I try to do in those early drafts is just to get a sense of the story and the characters. For any book, my process is this: I write 200 pages and hand it off to my critique partner, who helps me refine and brainstorm new avenues. Then, usually, I end up throwing out those two hundred and starting over. I may do this several times before I get to a point where the story starts to definitively gel. Yes, I wish I had an easier and less page-intensive process, but I don’t seem to have much control over that. The process is what it is. It’s usually at about Draft Four—though it may be Draft Five or Six or Seven— that I feel everything mostly works. After that, it’s all about editing and refining plot, character and language. Some books are easier, and some are harder, but they all move along pretty much in this same way.

What is your favorite fairy tale?

I have two, actually. Beauty and the Beast, and The Goose Girl, which is a little more obscure. In looking at them again, I can see that the stories are similar thematically. While the Goose Girl is a kind and honest princess who is betrayed, and the Beast is a spoiled prince who betrays himself, the moral of both stories is that people are not always what they seem, which (see below) also seems to be a theme I pursue often in my own writing. Not only that, but The Goose Girl has a magical talking horse, so there’s that.

What are the recurring themes in your writing?

 I think all of my recurring themes tend to radiate from one big premise, which is that the biggest lie we tell ourselves is that there is a central “truth,” when it fact, truth is an incredibly malleable concept. Truth is not only subjective, but it is not even real. It depends completely on who is seeing it and who is interpreting it. I would say that more terrible things have been done in the name of “truth” than nearly anything else, because we use the concept of truth to control those who are not like us, and to further our own personal agendas. Whenever a single human soul is subjugated, marginalized, or silenced, for whatever reason, we all lose. That is a pretty consistent theme in my work. Related to this are two of my other favorite themes: first, people are not always what they seem to be (which is why the fairy tales I’ve chosen are not really a surprise), and that sometimes we are not even who we think we are. Also, I am fascinated by the decisions we make and the truths we believe that inform those decisions, and how we live with the consequences. We are really so very messy, after all, which makes for some really good stories.

Wow, thank you again, Megan Chance, for visiting our Writers Couch. It has been an honour. Also a huge congratulations on the release of your gorgeous new book, A Drop of Ink.