Thank you for joining us at Romance Junkies, Karen! To begin the interview, would you please tell us a bit about your current projects?
Thanks for having me, Pam! I just turned in the final to Medallion Press on THE FOUR QUARTERS OF THE WORLD which is slated for release in February 2006. It's the story of the mad Emperor, Tewodros II, in Abyssinia in 1868. He set out to unify the country and was a visionary genius, but as these things go, it degenerated to the point where he imprisoned dozens of Europeans in his mountaintop fortress. The hero Ravinger Howland is his right-hand man, the American "Captain of War" and adventurer who falls for one of the captives, the surgeon Delphine Chambliss. His dilemma is how to resolve his love/hate for the Emperor, without the deranged potentate throwing everyone over a cliff.
I was attracted to this story because I wanted to explore the nuances of imprisonment, and how you can feel free while essentially being a prisoner. I also wanted to tell a new, 21st century version of "forced seduction." I liked exploring all the power plays.
On your website, you mention having had a near death experience. Has this had an affect on the way you write, and if so, in what way?
Yes, it's amazing I didn't become a paranormal writer! I had malaria and didn't know it, and the doctor later told me I was an hour away from dying by the time I fell into the hospital with a 105.7 fever. This was in San Francisco, and they had to summon a Tropical Disease Specialist because there hadn't been a single case of malaria there before.
I now know the difficulty of other NDE survivors in explaining exactly what happened, although to this day I can picture it clearly. It defies explanation, it really does. Now I have absolutely no fear of death whatsoever because I know how beautiful it is. So I suppose it's affected my writing in that way - none of my characters ever fear death!
Have you ever been in the position of having an editor ask you to cut out or significantly change something in a story that you strongly felt you should not compromise on? If so, how did you handle the situation?
Not so far - Medallion is exemplary that way in allowing author's stories to arrive intact at their final destination. In fact, for THE HINTERLANDS I was asked to add or enhance a few scenes. There's one scene in THE FOUR QUARTERS OF THE WORLD that I adore, but I realize it may be a bit much, so I'm prepared to tone that down.
What do you like best, and least, about writing?
Best? Egads, everything! I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was 4. I'd be hard-pressed to say what I like least. I even like revising - hell, I even love formatting! I suppose the worst part is when you're raring to write, but everyone around you is in your face about cooking dinner, or you have to water the garden, or some salesman comes to your door. But that's not a facet of writing, that's a facet of reality. J
Have you ever experienced the dreaded writer's block, and if so, how did you conquer it?
No. I always have too much to say.
You've traveled extensively in Africa, and it would seem that you use a combination of what you've experienced there as well as things you've read in researching for your novels. Do you prefer to lean more on the personal experience or the written word for your research?
I find that when I'm following a character as they move through the African scenery (because as we all know, they live and breathe in their own dimension and I am merely recording what they're doing!), I can pepper it with little details from having been there - the smell of cook-fires, the joyous raucous sounds of kids playing, the clashing juxtaposition of jungle colors.
Then of course, because I write historicals, I have to layer my experiences in the present era on top of what it was like a hundred years ago. In the case of Africa, it's not that difficult to do, because in almost every case, not much has changed, aside from the addition of Michael Jackson T-shirts, and a few chartreuse lorries. In some cases, things have actually regressed, like in Rwanda and the Congo. Buildings that were shiny examples of colonial architecture a hundred years ago have gone back to the bush. There are chickens in the toilets, goats under the staircases, and vines clambering all over the roofs. Waterfalls pouring into the tiled courtyards.
I revel in this backlash against "civilized" development. I would have to swallow some poisonous merz the day there's a McDonald's in downtown Kisangani. It's the most glorious example of nature reclaiming the land. At the same time, it'd be great if they could get, say, some (American) paving contractors in there to fix the roads, which currently swallow up what few vehicles they have. They need infrastructures and the means to maintain them.
C'est Afrique!
I wouldn't have it any other way.
Would you care to share a couple of your favorite experiences during your travels in Africa? Aside from the malaria, what impact, if any, did these experiences have on your outlook on life?
I was stuck in the highlands of Uganda, because the lorry driver had been arrested for unspecified violations, and up there, you can wait a week for the next vehicle to come by. I wasn't concerned. You learn not to worry about that sort of thing. Anyway, I was immediately beset with about a hundred giggling schoolkids, some of them clutching battered American textbooks, one called INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICS, although they could hardly have had any teachers to back up the book or give lessons. But that's Africa - they want to learn. They have a huge thirst for education.
Some kids pushed the boldest boy forward, and he touched my arm and immediately ran back into the crowd of squealing kids, and I realized - They've never seen a white person! With this revelation, I pulled out my cigarette lighter and lit it, and the effect was profound. I'll never forget standing on that "smoky tropical viridian ridge," as I wrote at the time.
It was humbling, and there's probably something corny in there about how we in America have so much, and they have so little. But sometimes the corniest things are the most profound.
Ishmael, your Newfoundland, is a beautiful dog. Being the "Mom" of a couple of beautiful babies of my own (albeit smaller ones!), I always have a wealth of heartwarming and often amusing memories of life with the girls. Would you care to share a tale or two of life with Ishmael?
My little Angel! I put her into THE HINTERLANDS because Sir Richard Burton said he was given a Newfoundland puppy when he was in Zanzibar, so I figured one could be in the Niger Delta. She's also going to figure prominently in my next, third, novel. I can't talk about it yet, but she's a ship dog, and she winds up going overboard quite a few times. In my first book, her name was Pequod, and in the next, it'll be Queequeeg. Newfoundlands always need a nautical name.
Newfoundlands are famous as "The Gentle Giants." They don't chew anything, bark, or take anything that doesn't belong to them. But Ishmael stands out from other Newfoundlands, too. She has this noble beauty, and good manners. She gets excited, in a regal way, when I give her one of those dried pig ears. She takes it gently in her mouth, and walks all over the house looking for somewhere to "bury" it. (I won't let her bury them in the yard anymore. Have you ever found a reconstituted pig ear thatâ's been under the wet earth when you're gardening? It's like-a real pig ear!) So she buries them in laundry hampers, paper recycling boxes, under couch cushions. She won't let anyone watch, though, because we might become jealous, and steal the pig ear if we knew where it was hiding.
Who is your favorite recording artist or band, and which song of theirs do you like the most? What is it about the song that moves you?
That's a fun question, because I feel like I'm stuck in the 60s-80s musically. I don't know who the heck all these hip-hop people are, and I've never heard a single Eminen or J.Lo recording. I don't listen to the radio, because when I drive, I think about what I'm writing, and dictate into a voice recorder. So I'm pretty much stuck in this Creedence Clearwater/The Who mode, and probably will be for the next forty years, much to my husband's chagrin.
However, in my debut, THE HINTERLANDS, the hero Brendan Donivan was based on Bono of U2. That was pretty much the last "new" band I listened to before I stopped. He's an amazing man who commands the respect of all world leaders - his accomplishments in working for Africa are unprecedented. I have the hugest respect for him. He's eloquent, well-informed, and he gave the Pope his wrap-around shades. :)
MORE FUN...
Which body of water (ie... ocean, lake, river, pond) would best describe you, and why?
Oh, I have a thing for equatorial rivers. I've been up the Nile in a leaky dhow, and down the Congo in a decrepit old steamer. There's something very atavistic about paddling, steaming, or soundlessly sailing on a river. The scenery changes by the minute, you pass by friendly people who are happy because they're near water, you see amazing Paleolithic creatures. Whereas the ocean scares the stuffing out of me.
What would an ideal day of summer fun look like for you and your family?
I just had one of those yesterday!! It was my first day off work in ten months, and it felt very strange, being outside among people ("Why does that guy have a T-shirt on?"). My sister and I took her 2-year old daughter to the county fair. I've been missing out on Mari growing up because I work so much. I usually have to send my husband to babysit her because I'm always working.
We rode inside giant bears, threw darts at balloons, crammed corn dogs down our faces, pet wallabies, and saw pigs racing!
It was definitely an ideal day of summer fun.
Imagine that you have won a contest! The prize is your choice of a chef, a maid, or a chauffeur for a year. Which would you choose?
I suppose I don't need a chauffeur because I never go anywhere, and I'm a pretty mean chef myself, so I'd choose the maid.
I was actually going to say that's my #1 tip for writers-Hire a maid!! I have a housecleaner, but it takes her 4 days to finish my house, because she's always taking a shower or baking fancy cakes from scratch. I come home, and there's flower arrangements all over the place, and she's laid out all my outfits for the next six months. Oh, and she's rearranged my closets. Now, I have to ask her where everything is. "Hey, what's in this box?" "Where did my rhodochrosite collection go?" This weekend we're going to tackle the pantry - together, for once! Because usually I'm too busy to work alongside her.
I can't wait to throw out some of that crap in the pantry! My husband is like Homer Simpson, that time Marge tried to throw out some of his hunting catalogs circa 1994 from the garage. I'm sure he'll be chasing the garbage truck down the street, demanding his "important stuff" back! So, we have to be sneaky and devious, and not let him see us doing it.
If you had one day completely free of obligations, how would you most like to spend it?
Having sex with Sir Richard Burton. As a kid, I read about all the Victorian African explorers, and he's the one I've studied and worshiped. I based the hero in THE FOUR QUARTERS OF THE WORLD on Burton. There has never been a man so virile, outspoken, blunt, curious, and intelligent. He knew twenty-seven languages (in my book, I lowered it to twenty-three so readers could suspend their disbelief) chief among them "the language of pornography."
I knew from the beginning of writing the book that he was going to be a tough act to follow, finding a new hero for the next book. And even after all these decades of study, I don't consider myself a Burtonphile - those people are so much more erudite than I. He was, simply put, the most amazing man who ever lived.
If I cant have that, I suppose second choice would be sailing in a dhow in the Indian Ocean. With Sir Richard Burton.
Thanks, Pam! I think it'd be the best fun to be an interviewer! Next time, let me ask you the questions. J
Thank you so much for being with us, Karen. You're right - interviewing is great fun, and I suspect you'd have a blast with it!
