Bringing readers and writers together, Part 2
By Linda Sorin May 9, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel Authors’ Sala
Works in Progress readings
Fri, May 9, 5–7pm
Posada de San Francisco
Plaza Principal 2
50 pesos

Tonight, local writers will read from a screenplay (Linda Wolcott Moore), short stories (Al Tirado), young adult literature (Mary Heslin), a novel (William Henderson) and memoirs (Judith Jenya and Cynthia Huntington). This second installment of an interview series begun last week is a way of introducing their work and themselves. 

Atención: Why did you choose this genre to tell your story?

Linda Wolcott Moore: I needed a silver screen to portray the drama and action my mother described so vividly to me. I also feel that the visual medium will juxtapose her photography, known and loved by many. I write a story broader than a biography of a woman. Her story resonates as a reminder of the conditions today that remain in many parts of the world. Not just world poverty, but the dilemma faced by women seeking motherhood, family and a deep personal relationship while nourishing a creative life. I was moved and inspired by the film The Songcatcher. The story was similar to my mother’s in that a strong, independent woman followed her passion, struggled against male dominance and control and prevailed. 

Al Tirado: I believe that short stories follow the rhythm of life. As a photojournalist I have learned to write my stories in a few pages, for a magazine audience. I believe that a novel is intimidating to people not familiar with reading and that I can reach a wider audience with shorter tales.

Mary Heslin: Some of my most searing emotional experiences occurred during my teenage years and those experiences set the pattern for the way I handle sorrow and joy and everything in between. I am constantly drawn to those early experiences, so when I had the idea for Snapshot, I turned to a girl in a young adult novel to tell the story.

William Henderson: I could have shaped the story a number of ways. I don’t believe anyone would be interested in my memoir and a nonfiction book about modern China was too rigorous a task. I chose the novel genre for Because the Moon believing that the readership would be greater. This book is my gift to all those who read it. In addition, I felt that I owed it to myself as a writer to complete this project, where other projects before remain incomplete. So, this became a gift to myself as well. 

Judith Jenya: I have chosen the genre of creative nonfiction or memoir to tell my own story. It is creative because I do not have total recall and I am often looking at myself through a lens of years or more with different perspectives and insights. I believe that all nonfiction about historic and personal events include creativity and invention. Writing today, in this moment, in this place, I can only recollect those events of the past.

Cynthia Huntington: I write this memoir of my life in foreign lands as a way of sharing my experience of our similarities and differences with those who have not been there.

A: Are you a member of a writing group? If yes, what is the value of the group? If no, why?

LWM: At this time, I am not a member of a writers’ group in San Miguel. In the past, I met weekly with a group of writers working in different genres. I enjoyed it very much. As my project developed I found that I needed to concentrate on my genre: the screenplay. I have taken screenwriting workshops and consult regularly with three wonderful screenwriters: one in Toronto and two in Los Angeles. Each have lent me support, taught me the difference between “telling” and “showing” and guided me in crafting the overall theme, vision and structure of the work. 

AT: I am not a member of a writing group at this time.

MH: I have belonged to the same writers’ group for 30 years. The members are an inspiration to each other. They are tough, insightful, but kind critics. I respect their opinions and my own self-critical skills have sharpened as I review and critique their works. I am a better writer for their company.

WH: Living in San Miguel it is hard to meet anyone who is not into art in one way or another. Every time I have coffee in this town, it can become a focus meeting on the creative process, and often does.

CH: I belong to a writers’ group and I feel this really helps me to write in a descriptive and understandable way. I receive good feedback and encouragement. I learn from listening to the other participants’ styles. I find the process stimulating because writing alone can be a lonely occupation. 

A: What keeps you focused on this project?

LWM: How do I stay focused? With difficulty. I would like to write every day and become anxious when I cannot. Rarely does a day pass that I don’t think about the story and see some little piece fall into place or have an insight. When I finally gathered the courage to show my outline to a well-known screenwriter, I fully expected him to pat me on the head and suggest that I put it away for my grandchildren. I would have been relieved to move on, to meet the bright and colorful world of San Miguel beyond my computer screen. Instead, he enthusiastically encouraged me to continue, warning that I had enough material for three films. So I had to go on. Cutting radically without losing the essence of the story, I saw the drama, emotion and action increase. I was in the head of my characters and the story took off in unexpected ways. I became the characters. I lived their stories. I had to finish.

AT: In some ways, this project, a collection of short stories entitled Un Poeta al Paredon, is complete. I self-published the work in New York. The project is incomplete for me because it has not been published in Mexico, because “at the time,” they were not publishing new authors.

MH: The truth: I am not always focused. Revision is hard and it is so much more fun to think about other projects and to develop new ideas. As it is often said, novels are not written, they are rewritten. If I want Snapshot to be a novel rather than just another promising manuscript, I have to plug away. There is no one who can do it but me. Besides, it will be such a relief when the work is done.

WH: Stubbornness. A first-time novelist had better be stubborn.

JJ: Focus is something that does not come naturally to me. I work in several media at the same time: writing, painting and photography. I am also a world traveler so staying focused on completing this book is a major leap for me. My favorite childhood photo is of nine-year-old me sitting in my toe shoes and tutu playing the piano. Multitasking is in my blood. I keep moving forward with my memoir because of my strong belief that there is something of interest and value in the story and I have set a goal of completing it. 

CH: My focus comes from a realization that I will not live forever and that many of my rough-draft stories must be revised and completed.