Please
tell us a little bit about yourself:
By
profession, I'm a freelance writing and research tutor. I never
thought of myself as a creative writer since I believed my talent was
for research and writing about Literature. I surprised myself,
however, when I began writing my first stage play, L. is forSayers, in 1998 followed by a screenplay, Jack Marlin, PrivateEye: The Case of the Barbary Blackbird, two years later, both of
which I completed and self-published.
The funny thing is that my
family always told me my imagination and temperament would make me a
good novelist, but I never bought it. Then, unexpectedly one day, in
came the muse—it spoke and I wrote. In terms of Literature and
storytelling, however, my research background proved to be
providential since one needs to conduct a fair amount of research in
order to write a credible, satisfying story. It also makes the
difference in being able to show rather than tell.
Looking back, I
can see that I have always been involved in writing of one type or
another, but I did not presume to think of myself as a writer, not
until my family began using the term. For me, writing entails a lot
of responsibility since words have a major influence on shaping
people's worldview and influencing their actions.
You
mentioned that you write about Literature. Can you tell us a little
more about it?
I
am including here the titles of the articles I have published
beginning with the most recent. I believe that when a person is drawn
to the study of Literature, he or she wants to explore a variety of
genres. I suppose this remark leads us to ask what is Literature? The
simplest definition I can think of is writing (novels, plays, poems,
essays etc.) that serves what Socrates has termed "The Good."
I am especially interested in foundational works. In other words, I
want to study the same books that served as the inspiration for my
favourite authors.
For example, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were
great fans of Rider Haggard whose work inspired the creation of
Indiana Jones. I too am interested in Haggard and plan to write a
piece on his dealing with subterranean themes.
- "Dark Journey into Light: On the Road with Jack Kerouac." Saint AustinReview. (November/December 2014).
- “Burnett, Grahame, and Barrie: Neopaganist Idealism during a Golden Age.” Saint Austin Review. (March/April 2011).
- “Don Quixote: Madman or Mystic.” Saint Austin Review. (May/June 2010).
- “Teaching Ian Fleming’s James Bond Thrillers from a Catholic Perspective.” Saint Austin Review. (May/June 2008).
- “Walker Percy’s Love in the Ruins: Moving beyond Paradise to the New Jerusalem.” Saint Austin Review. (May/June 2008).
- “Rosemary Sutcliff’s Arthurian Trilogy.” Saint Austin Review. (December 2002).
What
genre, and what is Romana about?
The
story is about a quest and is medieval themed rather than a strict
historical account. One person put it very nicely when she said my
book is more about how things should have been, could have been,
rather than how they were. Yet, I believe we can't just say the
Middle Ages was this and not that. History unfolds on a continuum and
is being made as we speak. One of my favourite passages of fiction
that best describes my own values and motivation for writing is from
Tolkien's Return of the King where Sam sees the light of a
lone star shining down on the smoking ruins of Mordor and
The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.
I
believe the Middle Ages, in spite of warfare and politics, was like
any other time in history—there is always a good side to people
who, in spite of the times, retain their humanity and seek to defend
and preserve it in others.
What
type of Reader is likely to enjoy this story?
Fortunately,
I have had good success with people from all walks of life enjoying
my story. I think one of the reasons for this is that I strive to
make my writing accessible to everyone no matter their taste in
Literature. My motto for writing is to make people feel good about
themselves and the world they live in—in a word, to give them hope.
I try to communicate this idea in everything I do ranging from
editing students' papers to storytelling.
Surely, people who are
interested in the Middle Ages might relate more easily to the story,
but I have written it with a diverse reading audience in mind. Books
similar to Romana are the ones which have nurtured my own
inspiration and whose authors have served as my mentors. Some of my
favourite examples include C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy L.
Sayers, and Ian Fleming.
Where
did the idea for the story come from?
Apart
from an ongoing fascination with everything Medieval, some of the
early chapters were inspired from RP gaming and my interest in
swordsmanship. In the beginning, it was not my intention to write a
book, then one day I realized I had enough material for a full-length
novel. The ideas just kept coming. It was as if I was taking
dictation from my characters. And I discovered that the more rounded
the characters, the more animated and articulate they become.
One of
the most delightful things about creating characters is to hear the
way they speak to one another. One asks a question and the other
answers, and sometimes it happens so fast, I have to laugh and write
fast to keep up with their antics. I also learn from them. When faced
with a difficult task, I sometimes ask myself how would one of my
characters handle such and such a circumstance. Lewis and Tolkien
both shared that they wanted to write the kind of books that they
themselves would enjoy reading. I believe my story has its roots in
this same sentiment.
What was your favourite and least favourite part in researching
for the novel?
My
favourite parts of the research had to do with learning bushcraft and
outdoor living. The Internet provided me with invaluable information
on everything I wanted to know about survival in the wildness. It
also enriched my outlook on life and fostered a more intimate
connection with nature. As part of my research, I reread Sir
Gawain the Green Knight, both Tolkien's and Simon Armitage's
translations, paying close attention to the descriptions of the
landscape and accounts of field dressing. In terms of hunting and
field dressing, it was amazing to learn how little has changed over
the centuries.
I also read Hilaire Belloc's, The Path Rome
which chronicles the author's walk from France to Rome and has
beautiful descriptions of the people and natural landscape
throughout.
I
can't really say that I had a least favourite part of the research
since I enjoyed the entire venture. The book itself was my own
personal quest. But to be fair, there were some parts that were more
challenging than others. The two most difficult challenges involved
creating a variation in food and landscape. I remember once reading
about how Ian Fleming's publisher told him that James Bond could not
always be eating scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee, which was one of
Flemings' favourite meals. This advice led to the books' more
affluent (shaken not stirred) fare later on.
For my story, I
researched medieval cookbooks and films in addition to the literature
of the time after which I added some touches of my own that I
believed were entirely possible, and will continue to use in the
second volume. In terms of varying the landscape, the work of
creating no two sunrises or sunsets the same really took me to task.
Why
did you decide to venture into self-publishing?
One
reason I decided to self-publish was because I had been turned down
multiple times or simply ignored by publishers for other projects.
Looking back however, I am grateful since venturing into
self-publishing has provided me tremendous scope for controlling
every aspect of my work.
What
has been the hardest part with promoting your work?
I
believe one of the hardest parts of promoting my work is keeping
one's mind on the task at hand while waiting for the book to sell.
Equally difficult is the job of encouraging people to buy the book,
read it and recommend it to their friends. When I really feel down
about people not buying my books, I picture Miguel de Cervantes
unjustly sentenced and sitting in jail, penniless, a family to
support, and the author of one of the greatest books of all time.
Aside from your question, let me add that when I first graduated with
my masters in English Literature, I was at a loss for what to do
next. I had been working as a private tutor, primarily for
international students, which I still find very rewarding. Yet, I was
in a kind of circling and hovering pattern trying to stay a step or
two ahead of the bailiff. In desperation, I immersed myself in
Cervantes' novel Don Quixote and had a revelation, a kind of
inner vision; I saw my life as a puzzle floating around my head in a
million pieces and reading Don Quixote brought all the pieces
together in a beautiful whole.
I believe this is what convinced me of
the healing, life-affirming power of Literature and of wanting to
promote my work for that purpose.
What
tips would you give to others considering self-publishing that you
wished you knew when you started?
The
first tip is to make every effort to ensure that one's punctuation
and grammar is correct since revisions can be very costly and
compromise one's credibility. The second tip is to be careful of
having too high an expectation. We all need some type of expectation
and motivation to keep us going. I think that the greatest motivator
for beginning and finishing a writing project is to believe with your
whole heart and soul that what you have to say has some value. But it
saves a lot of heartache not to have too high of an expectation that
a book will sell. Unfortunately, writing is rarely the magic bullet
for paying the bills (as a rule). However, I believe if we write for
the love of the craft, and to help people to feel good about
themselves and the world they live in, we begin to move on the right
track.
Where
can we buy your books?
My
books can be purchased through Amazon.com and CreateSpace Direct, also in Oakland California they're availble at BlackSwan Books 4236 Piedmont Avenue.
And there's also a Facebook page for Romana.
Thanks so much for sharing your writer's journey with us, Victoria, I wish you (and Romana) all the best :)
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