More Questions and Answers

A continuation from my December 4th Post

Something about my Journey

Back on December 4th, I answered questions about my book. If you missed it, here is part one. Link to Dec 4th Post This is a continuation of that discussion of questions people have asked or I wish they’d asked about my book.

Tell us about some of the characters in the book.

I’ll talk about Cholan as he is an important character who provides a fresh take on the concept of the road not taken. Cholan hails from Sri Lanka and learned how to channel when he was a young boy. Here is a link to my post about Sri Lanka and the setting of this portion of the book. Sri Lanka Post

I came up with the idea of “channeling” as I didn’t want or need the complexity of time travel or a time loop. Instead, I went with the idea of being able to peek at the road not taken and experience that life for a bit. I worked to make channeling as “real” as possible, sharing Cholan’s backstory and throwing in Schrodinger’s cat references to help explain the concept and included MIT grad students for gravitas.

I did research the theory of the multiverse and was able to absorb just enough to help explain the concept of channeling. I’ve had several readers share that they thought channeling was real so mission accomplished.

Were any of the characters inspired by anyone in real life?

When Marta is growing up, she feels out of step with others as her parents are immigrants from Romania. I wove in stories my husband and his sister shared about how they felt growing up being second-generation immigrants like Marta. One important issue I included from their upbringing was not having enough outfits for each day of the week. This theme carries through the story and Marta is very sensitive about it. After reading the story, my mom thought that must have been the case for me. Even after I explained that that part of the story came from my husband’s experiences, not mine, she would tell me how bad she felt that I didn’t have enough clothes growing up. Remind me not to ever write a memoir.

What character are you most closely related to?

Despite what I just said about Marta not being me, Marta does have whispers of me. We both love to read, and books are an escape. I inserted some of my favorite books growing up, like Harriet the Spy and the Black Stallion, into the story. Also, we both grew up in the 1970s and 80s, so we have that in common as well.

The book starts in the 1970s. What from that period did you use in your book, and why?

The 1970s were rich with complex and dynamic themes and cultural shifts in entertainment and music. I loved the idea of music to help establish the setting of the book. I chose Don McLean’s American Pie to do that.

The song includes themes of change, loss, and nostalgia from that generation. These themes resonate with Marta and Kevin’s story. The song has the rare quality of timelessness as it has remained relevant even today. Everyone knows the words, though we struggle to understand their meaning. The song is an important connection point for Marta and Kevin. Like the rest of us, Marta wonders what the song is about, and she comes to understand for them as a couple, it’s one long goodbye. If you missed it, American Pie Newsletter includes even more background on the song. American Pie Post

Was there a character or a scene that you could say is your favorite?

There is a scene when Kevin has just moved away, and Marta is brokenhearted. She imagines herself a dried hollow leaf floating aimlessly into the air. This foreshadows Marta’s ability to channel and provides the theme of rebirth that the story touches upon. A leaf withers and dies during winter, but after that season of hibernation, new life emerges in the spring. All that is wrapped up in Marta’s imagined journey as a dried leaf.

Photo by ifer endahl on Unsplash

Thanks again for your interest and your support for my book and my newsletter. It warms my heart on these snowy cold winter days.