|
One of the characters of the novel
says, “Your parents and grandparents are always with you; their spirits twist around you like unseen ivy.” That is the way
this novel came into being, poking into that ivy. The snakes and snails came out of the ivy along with the parental spirits,
but they add color to the work.
A passion for secrets and storytelling planted the germ of this
novel years before I had any capacity to write what I saw in my head. Lowry Pei, the best of all teachers, set me on a path
of writing, but I didn’t have time to follow his advice to the full. Only now that I have both time and facility have I started
a long-term project.
The story is set in a place that I have in my blood; for five generations,
my family has been drawn to La Jolla. The stories my grandmother told of picnicking on the beach have mutated in my thoughts
to a story of a family struggling with the burdens placed on them by chances of birth, but struggling in paradise. When I
began writing in earnest, I was fortunate to have the assistance of some able writers.
With the
help of wonderful companions in the Writing Center, I realized that my first novel needed some background work. In order
to understand the family’s heritage, one needed to see the parents and grandparents of the principal characters. As the background
investigation took on a life of its own, I gave in to the urging of ghosts who wanted their sides of the story explained.
I
hope the ghosts whose lives inspired this tale will assist me further when I tackle the next step in the birth of a family,
but that is the next book.
|
