Tag: author Q&A

A Q&A with Bushra Rehman, author of Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

February 28, 2024

Bushra Rehman with her book, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

We are excited to host Bushra Rehman, author of Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion on Saturday, March 16 at 6:30 at Hugh’s View. Prior to hearing from her in person, we had the opportunity to ask a few questions:

Q: Would you tell us a little about Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion and what you hope readers will get out of it?

A: Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion is a story about female friendship and queer desire in a Pakistani-American community. The main character, Razia grows up amid the wild grape vines and backyard sunflowers of Corona, Queens, with her best friends by her side. As she and her friends get older, they embark on a series of small rebellions: listening to scandalous music, wearing miniskirts, and cutting school to explore the city.

When Razia is accepted to high school in Manhattan, the gulf between her and her world in Queens, between the person she is and the daughter her parents want her to be widens. At her new school, Razia meets Angela, an Italian-Greek girl, and is attracted to her in a way that blossoms into a new understanding.

Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion is a book for anyone who’s ever had to leave the world they grew up in to be who they needed to be, anyone who’s felt different or struggled with limiting expectations. It’s for those who remember what it was like to be queer and not have the words to express it at first.

Razia is a character I’ve always wanted to see in literature: a young Muslim woman experiencing both her Muslim spirituality and her queer desires. I’ve rarely seen three-dimensional portrayals of us as Muslim women or of our families: our love, resilience, and humor. I hope Roses lessens that void.

Q: For you, as a poet and a fiction writer, what do you feel your work as a poet brings to your fiction?

A: The seed of Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion was a series of poems I wrote about the beauty of Corona. I wanted to share both the danger and the joy of what it felt like to grow up there. As the poems started to become a novel, the character of Razia Mirza emerged. Even when the poems morphed into fiction, I treated each sentence as a line of poetry. This is probably why it took forever to write this book.

Q: Sense of place appears to be incredibly important to your work (the New York Public Library named Corona, your prior novel, one of its favorite books about the city), what do you find yourself noticing or paying attention to about other places as you travel?

A: I love to travel, and I treat all travel like a journey. I love going to oceans, mountains, rivers and forests. When I travel to towns, I love visiting bookstores and public parks. Wherever I go, I like to spend time walking, observing and journaling. And what I love about Key West is it’s an adventure of a walking island with deep literary history.

Q: And on a similar point, what are you looking forward to doing or seeing in Key West?

A: I’m excited to see the sunsets in Key West, to eat food at local restaurants, to soak in the sunshine (it’s been a grim winter in NY!) and to meet up with old and new friends. I’m so honored and excited to meet readers at Books & Books @ The Studios of Key West and to join in the literary world of Key West.

Thirty years ago, ago, when I was much younger, I used to spend time in Key West with a friends who lived here. I used to get on the Greyhound from NYC! I even wrote a story in which Razia is on the way to Key West. Perhaps this trip will inspire the chapter of what happens next. I’d love to weave in Key West’s distinctive literary history into this story.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to share about works in progress or upcoming publications?

A: I’ve been writing about the adventures of Razia after the ending of Roses. The Key West story is one of these stories. There are also stories that take place at a Puritan village in Salem, Massachusetts, and in the Strand bookstore in NYC. In the Strand story, Razia has just returned to NYC and gets a job at the Strand. The year is 1989 and The Satanic Verses controversy is raging. While other stores stop carrying the book, the Strand continues to sell it. Razia is swept up into protests, counter-protests and debates on freedom of expression that are marred by Islamophobia. She finds solace in her mentors at the Strand, including the iconic bookseller Ben McFall.

Q: What are you reading and recommending these days?

A: I’m currently reading and recommending Ibtisam Barakat’s A Palestinian Childhood, Kamilah Aisha Moon’s She Has a Name and Starshine & Clay, Noor Hindi’s Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow, Mosab Abu Toha’s Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear, the collection A Light in Gaza, and Lamya H’s Hijab Butch Blues.

I also love recommending books which influenced me early on: Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Toni Morison’s Song of Solomon, Audre Lorde’s Black Unicorn and Sister Outsider, Vijay Prashad’s Karma of Brown Folk, Sharon Olds’s The Dead and the Living and Satan Says, Dorothy Allison’s Bastard out of Carolina and of course Judy Blume’s books especially, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. I related so much to Margaret who has her own relationship with the divine. I saw myself in her. I hope readers will feel the same about Razia.

A Q&A with Meg Cabot

July 26, 2023

by Robin Wood

We are always so excited when Meg Cabot has a new book coming out! Meg is the author of The Princess Diaries series, the Little Bridge Island series (set on a fictional island in the Florida Keys, starting with No Judgments) and many other books. We are proud to call her a friend of the store – you can regularly get personalized, signed copies of her books from our store.

The Quarantine Princess Diaries, #12 in Princess Diaries series, is out March 28.

Get ready to read about Princess Mia’s personal (and political) battles while imposing health restrictions on her small European nation; life during lockdown (even in as idyllic a location such as a palace on the Riviera); a suspected royal affair; the invention (and implementation) of an intranasal vaccine by Michael Moscovitz that could change the course of the pandemic – or at least the lives of every citizen in Genovia; and one very demanding royal grandmother.

While we wait for the new book, we had the opportunity to chat with Meg Cabot.

Q: What was it like revisiting the Princess Diaries at this time?

A: So much fun! When the Florida Keys shut down in Spring of 2020 due to COVID, we were all living with so much uncertainty. I kept sane by returning to the world of The Princess Diaries, and writing about how an adult Princess Mia would handle the crisis in Genovia. So this was a comfort read for me—and I hope it will be for others, too.

Q: If you would, tell us a little about VOW for Girls and why this organization is important to you?

A: I was shocked when, during the pandemic, I was contacted by real life Princess Mabel of the Netherlands, who asked if I could help promote the charity she founded, VowForGirls.org, which hopes to end child marriage. For every 18 year old girl in the US who graduates from high school, 6 girls the same age or even much younger are forced into marriage around the world, and that number is only growing higher due to COVID and other recent global disasters. That’s why I’m donating 10% of my author proceeds from Quarantine Princess Diaries to VowForGirls, which devotes 100% of its funding to community-based efforts to help girls choose their own future. Very princessy!

Q: What can you tell us about the Princess Diaries 3 movie? Are you excited?

A: I’m not allowed to say much, but I CAN say I’m excited. I love the direction they’re going.

Q: If you don’t mind saying, what are you working on these days?

A: Thanks so much for asking! I’m actually heading north for my next book, to the fictional town of West Harbor, CT, which appears to be on the verge of apocalyptic collapse. Only a modern day witch can save it (with a little help from a handsome stranger). Enchanted to Meet You, a paranormal rom-com for adult readers, will be out just in time for Halloween 2023!

Q: How long have you lived in Key West? What originally brought you here and from where?

A: Like so many people, my husband and I came to Key West on vacation from New York City. We loved the funky, artistic vibe, which reminded us so much of Greenwich Village—but with tropical weather! So nearly 20 years ago, we bought a house here, intending to split our time between Key West and Manhattan. But as so often happens in Key West, our house came with a cat who adopted us, so we ended up staying full time—and love it more every day!

Q: What are you reading and recommending these days?

A: For readers looking for something light and romantic, I recommend This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang. It’s YA, but set in Beijing, so in addition to all the fun teen drama, there are tons of descriptions of delicious Asian street food. And for readers looking for something slightly more serious, I’m loving Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder, a non-fiction exploration of one doctor’s experience dedicating his career to helping the homeless in Boston.

[Ed. note: If you want a signed, personalized copy of The Quarantine Princess Diaries, include the personalization in the order comments.]

A Q&A with Lucy Burdette

July 26, 2023

by Robin Wood

Lucy Burdette is the author of the popular Key West food critic mysteries and the standalone novel, The Ingredients of Happiness (Severn House)

Q: Would you tell us a little about the new book, The Ingredients of Happiness? What inspired it? Is it a standalone or the possible beginning of a new series?

A: Thank you so much for asking me about The Ingredients of Happiness, my first venture into contemporary women’s fiction. The story follows Cooper Hunziker, a new Yale professor, who also has also has a pop psychology book on happiness about to be published. She’s under a lot of pressure at work because four people are vying for the same job. Plus the chair of the department is unhappy about her fluffy sideline project. As penance, she’s sentenced to co-lead a self-help happiness group at the New Haven library, which forces her to examine her own life. Is she happy with the path she’s chosen? Does she have the kind of warm friendships that the women in the group seem to have? Like Cooper, I’m a clinical psychologist. I also spent time at Yale during my internship and post graduate training, though I never faced the kind of pressure that she has. But this question intrigued me: what if an expert on happiness is not happy herself? I love reading this kind of story, the kind that focuses on the emotional journey of the protagonist – not a dead body to be found. HAPPINESS will not be a series, but I’m hoping to take one of the minor characters and put her front stage in a novel set mostly in Paris.

Q: Speaking of series, you also have a new Key West food critic mystery coming this summer. What can you tell us about it? How do you keep a long series fresh?

A: I am also very excited about A Clue In The Crumbs, number 13 in the Key West food critic mystery series, arriving August 8! I’m a little surprised about how long this series has continued, though thoroughly delighted about it too. I’m passionate about trying something new in each book so that I am not foisting a retread of the same plot on potential readers. Luckily, Key West has so many layers that it’s easy to find potential threads and motives for murder. For example, in A Dish To Die For, there was an historical angle based on the Woman’s Club and an old cookbook. In A Clue In The Crumbs, the Scottish Scone sisters from book 11 come to visit Key West to launch a baking contest. This takes place at Williams Hall with the chef (and talented real person) Martha Hubbard in charge. I also work hard to think and write about how the characters will grow and change over the course of the books, as that’s the part of a long running mystery series that I love most.

Q: How did you happen upon a food critic as your protagonist? Are you a foodie yourself?

A: I am not a food critic, but I love to eat, read, and talk about food. I enjoy cooking but also love visiting the Key West restaurants that my character will be reviewing. Back in 2010, as I was searching for the subject of a new mystery series, I heard about an editor who wanted to acquire a series about a food critic, preferably in a tropical setting. Hayley Snow was born!

Q: How long have you called Key West home, and how did you end up here?

A: My husband John and I first visited Key West in 2008, and as happens with so many visitors, we fell in love with the island. By 2014, we’d become residents and now live here six months out of the year. We love being part of the story, rather than outsiders. A big bonus of this for me is serving on the board of the Friends of the Key West Library. This is my fourth year as president, and we’d love to have you join us! https://www.friendsofthekeywestlibrary.org/

Q: What are you reading and recommending these days?

A: I’ve recently read and loved Laura Hankin’s The Daydreams, and J. Ryan Stradal’s Saturday Night At The Lakeside Supper Club. As soon as I finish The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry, I’m looking forward to Barbara Ross’s new Maine clambake mystery, Hidden Beneath, Sarah Stewart Taylor’s A Stolen Child, and Gabrielle Zelvin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (because I adored The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry.) I have a teetering TBR pile and the newsletter from Books and Books always adds to the problem—so many books, so little time. All we can do is plug along!

A Q&A with Michelle Gallen

June 30, 2023

by Robin Wood

Michelle Gallen (photo credit Brideen Baxter and Deci Gallen/Simpletapestry.com)

She’s the author of our July featured staff pick, Factory Girls. Questions by Emily Berg, store manager.

Q: This is a work of fiction, but it does take place in a time and place you lived. Of the three girls, is there one whose feelings and experiences most closely reflect your own?

A: I think each character has strengths, weaknesses, griefs and talents that I envy or fear, and that’s why they are all so vivid to me. I also feel incredibly close to both Deirdre – Maeve’s sister – and I adore Fidelma, the fist-fighting factory worker who elbows her way into the narrative.

Having said that, when I worked in a shirt factory, I did press shirts, and the hard physical experience of that is one I brought to the book. In one way, it was an incredibly zen job – I have never since got so ‘lost’ in my work, or felt so in the flow. But I found the socio-political side of working in the factory hugely stressful – I worked alongside lots of clever, quick-witted people who were also watchful and wary – I never felt like I could keep up with the ‘banter’, and disliked the underlying current of mistrust.

Q: Maeve has some memories of programs set up (in school and out) to bring Catholics and Protestants together. Did you participate in any such programs and, if so, did you find they were successful in anyway?

A: I think the fundamental problem with these programs is that they are based on premise that children who have been brought up in a society that is structurally biased and segregated at almost every level, run by adults who aren’t doing all that much to change the dynamic, will bring about peace simply by hanging out for the weekend and doing some mildly risky outdoors activities. If it were that easy, Mo Mowlam and Bill Clinton would’ve had a much easier time of it in the peace process. I think these programs were better than nothing. But they also placed an enormous burden on our shoulders, while giving us almost no power to make changes. I think if the adults and interested parties had placed all that energy and funding into integrating the schools, our peace process would be a lot more advanced than it currently is – and the current school system would be spending its money on a shared education instead of wasting money segregating students.

Q: The book captured the feeling of having that first apartment, out on your own with a friend. What was your first apartment like?

A: Oh I didn’t live independently until I got to university, and it wasn’t the same experience, as I knew nobody in Dublin and had to room with a total stranger. I know that’s quite a common college experience in the US, but very unusual in Ireland, where everyone knows each other or has family they can stay with. I lived with a student from Newry and one from Tipperary. We were all utterly different from each other but I bonded well with the student who had come from Northern Ireland. Our lives were much more similar than students who had never experienced the Troubles, who had no idea of what the conflict was like. Although I didn’t drink, I loved hosting friends and parties in my flat. I had the only computer in the building, so lots of geeks came to hang out and use the program Eliza to work through their problems, or to play basic arcade games. We also had ‘sessions’ where we’d get together to sing and play guitar. The building I lived in was occupied mostly by students – so I got to meet and mix with people from all over Ireland for the first time. It was an incredible experience, even if I was also homesick for the North.

Q: Have you heard the audio book version of Factory Girls? Did you think the narrator’s accent was accurate? (I believe she’s English.)

A: I actually had the opportunity to hear the shortlisted narrators before the final choice was made, so I was thrilled to discover that Northern Irish actors were in the line up. I loved the selected narrator, Amy Molloy, who grew up in Belfast. She captures all the different voices and characters just beautifully. Nicola Coughlan – who plays Clare in Derry Girls – narrated my first book, Big Girl Small Town. Nicola isn’t from Northern Ireland, but obviously her work in refining her accent for Derry Girls helped her nail the narration too.

Q: What are you currently reading?

A: Oh I’m reading about 10 books at the moment because I’m a bit overloaded juggling the the chaos of a renovation, work and travel. So to escape into the world of a deliciously eccentric character, I’m reading Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent. To improve my French and consider the horror of always being in the first flush of love, I’m reading Mon Mari by Maud Ventura. And to keep myself doing ‘The Work’ I’m reading Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine.

Ed note: In English, Mon Mari is My Husband by Maud Ventura, translated by Emma Ramadan.

Q: Are you working on anything new?

A: I’m silly busy writing at the moment 😱 I’m trying to finish a fourth book instead of redrafting my third, simply because every time I sit down to start the redraft of the third book, the narrator of the fourth book grabs me by the throat and won’t let go until I’ve exhausted that voice. I’m also working on the adaptation of Big Girl Small Town for screen with BBC production company Lookout Point, and working on the adaptation of Factory Girls for TV with Irish Production company Deadpan Pictures. I feel like I am being jostled on all sides by characters, locations, voices and events – on top of finishing up a house renovation, parenting, and travelling for work in the ‘real’ world. It’s funny how exhausting having your dreams come true is 😂

Q: One of my favorite quotes from the book is “If Aoife fell into a barrel of c*cks she’d come out sucking her own thumb.” Is this an idiom I just may not have heard as an American or a Michelle Gallen original phrase? I love it.

A: Hahahahah no it’s a phrase I first heard in Belfast. I can still remember how hard I laughed. It’s TERRIBLE. It’s brilliant! I’m heading up to Belfast shortly for an event and I can’t wait to catch up with all my friends there – it will be like drinking pure comedy gold.