Check This Out: An Impossible Distance to Fall

On the blog today is the second of my awesome Secret Gardener classmates, the marvelous Miriam McNamara. No stranger to the blog is Miriam. (Click here for her last visit.) She’s here to talk about her young adult historical novel, An Impossible Distance to Fall, published by Sky Pony Press on July 2. (Click here for a synopsis.)

   

Miriam is represented by Linda Epstein. After our conversation, stay tuned to hear about a giveaway of An Impossible Distance to Fall.

El Space: Four quick facts about yourself?
Miriam: 1. I’ve never flown a biplane or wing walked, but like Birdie, I’ve always loved to dance! The dance scenes were some of the most fun for me to write as I played with how movement and emotion interact in the body creatively. Yum!

2. I went to college pretty young—when I was sixteen—around the time a lot of upheaval in my family of origin was happening. When I got to school, I was kind of adopted by a group of queer upperclassmen who looked out for me and invited me to things, and made sure I was doing okay. Birdie’s departure from her family and integration into the barnstorming circus is based on that experience.
3. I started this novel during the Recession after 2008, when the stock market crash of 1929 and how it affected people seemed particularly relevant. My generation and the young adults of today are still dealing with a lot of financial uncertainty, so I think these lessons of the past are particularly interesting.

4. I have a lot of tattoos, but Birdie’s tattoo that she gets in the novel is based on a stick-and-poke tattoo that I gave my friend Ivy in college. It was a flock of bird silhouettes, just like Birdie’s, and done in the same manner, with a needle and thread and India ink.

Miriam at her book signing at MOON PALACE BOOKS in Minneapolis

El Space: Your last novel was about pirates. What was the inspiration behind this novel about wing walkers and a barnstorming circus in 1930?
Miriam: A nonfiction writer read aloud from a work-in-progress about a real-life wing walker from the ’20s at a workshop I attended, and my mind was blown. I’d never heard of such a thing. As I listened to her read I thought, I would NEVER take such an insane risk as walking out on the wing of a flying airplane! But at exactly the same time, I remembered who I was when I was sixteen, and knew that that me would have done it in a heartbeat. It made me want to write a story about that person.

El Space: What do you hope teens will gain from your main character Birdie’s life and the times in which she lived?
Miriam: Birdie’s external life explodes when the stock market crashes—but what causes her deepest pain is the loss of her father when he disappears. For young Birdie, life and her dad both seemed ideal. She has to learn to accept that things aren’t always perfect. People and circumstance will let you down over and over. You have to love and honor the good stuff while acknowledging that other stuff sucks and it’s okay to be hurt and to grieve. And when your life explodes or falls apart, it also leads to so much possibility and openness that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. Storms bring rainbows, you know?

El Space: Birdie interacts with a large cast of characters who aid in her evolution as a character. Who were the most fun or the most challenging to write about?
Miriam: I think the most challenging for me was Gilda, the woman that Birdie’s father chases after. Birdie initially thinks of her as this Jezebel character who has stolen her father away. It was challenging to really communicate Gilda’s complexity. She plays this seductive character professionally as a lounge singer, but she’s actually a real person who did nothing wrong, and Birdie’s anger is misplaced. It took me a few tries to show who she really is beyond the role she plays in Birdie’s life, which leads to a lot of growth in Birdie.

The most fun to write, though! It’s so hard to choose. I loved writing Colette, the tattooed lady; she’s so cranky and deadpan and soooo NOT impressed with Birdie—but then at the crux of the novel, Colette lets Birdie know that she sees and values the person struggling inside of Birdie’s perfect veneer.

But then there’s June. Sigh. . . . I love writing a love interest! June is so sexy. I loved writing her lanky tomboy-in-a-flight-suit Southern Charmer personality.

 

El Space: This is your second historical fiction novel. What is it about historical fiction that appeals to you?
Miriam: I love reading historical fiction, but queer people, especially queer women, have been so written out of history, always relegated to tragic plot devices if they are included at all. I want to write them back into history, and give them so much love and life and joy along with their struggles.

El Space: What was your research process? How did you keep the details you gleaned from research from overwhelming the story you wanted to tell? [One of the tips offered for historical fiction writers in this post here.]
Miriam: With my first novel, I often felt like the details overtook my narrative! The struggle is real. With this novel, I let the narrative guide me into my research. How did banks fail? How did the larger stock market crash impact the financial chain? Who were some wing walkers and women pilots and barnstormers I could use for inspiration? I tried to stick to the story I wanted to tell without getting sidelined by too many interesting details as I came across them. Once I had a strong narrative, then I went back to add in a lot more fun historical stuff—and that led to a lot of richness being layered in once the story was there.

El Space: What books or authors inspire you?
Miriam: This year I decided I was going to read as many books by queer people about queer people as possible. I am very inspired by LGBTQ+ authors telling their stories, especially for young readers. So over the past few months I’ve been super inspired by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy, some VCFA friends who are writing all sorts of queer stories; I finally was introduced to Jillian and Mariko Tamaki’s graphic novels, which are amazing; I read awesome books by Kacen Callender and Lev Rosen and Alex Gino; and a Minneapolis author, Junauda Petrus, has a queer young adult love story coming out this fall called The Stars and the Blackness Between Them that I haven’t read yet, but I’ve heard excerpts read aloud, and I know it’s going to inspire the hell out of me.

 

El Space: What will you work on next?
Miriam: I’m taking a break from research and writing a contemporary YA novel, but I also have an idea for a historical fantasy that I’m itching to write. I’m definitely taking it slow and feeling out where I want to go from here. Publishing two books in the past two years has been such a whirlwind, accompanied by a lot of life craziness. I could go anywhere from here, you know? Kinda like Birdie. Anything is possible from here. . . .

Thanks, Miriam, for being my guest!

Looking for Miriam? Look no further than her website or Twitter. On Instagram she is booklovemiriam.

Looking for An Impossible Distance to Fall? (Taken out of context, that question is very interesting.) Check out your local bookstore, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Indiebound. Also look no further than your very own mailbox or Kindle (if you prefer), since one of you will get a copy of this book simply by commenting below! Winner to be announced one day next week.

Royal Bee looks skeptically on as Neon practices her wing walker routine. “Looks more like a mummy walking than like Birdie,” Royal Bee quips.

Book cover and author photo courtesy of Miriam McNamara. Author photo by Rose Kaz at Rose Photo. Other book covers from Goodreads. Wing walker image from wallpaperim.net. Dance image from clipground.com. Newspaper clipping from balkanplumbing.com. Old airplane photo from pxhere.com. Other photos by L. Marie. Neonlicious and Royal Bee OMG dolls are products of MGA Entertainment, Inc.

The Language of Flowers

On my walk the other day, I was drawn to the peonies in the yard. I love this time of year, with its abundance of green grass and trees, and especially with flowers blooming everywhere. And since we’ve experienced a ton of rain in my neck of the woods (with a flood advisory in some areas ☹️), the flowers are growing quite nicely.

Looking at the flowers got me to thinking about what flowers symbolize in the floral arranging community. When I checked online, I learned a new word: florigraphy—the language of flowers. According to howstuffworks.com, the following flowers have these meanings (captions and punctuation as per that website):

Peony = I’m shy, but I like you a lot.

 

Iris = Thank you, or Sending sympathy.

Gerbera daisy = Cheer up, or Thank you.

Tulip = Happy housewarming, or You’re a great host.

Red rose = I love you.

But during my walk, the peonies spoke a different message to me. The closed bud below reminded me of how I sometimes approach life—with a closed mind when opportunities to stretch or change come my way, or with closed hands when asked to give time or energy that I think I don’t have.

Or I’m like the peony below: sort of open but still wary.

The fully open peony reminds me of open-handedness or open-mindedness. I wish my default mode was flexible/open. But as of late, I’ve realized how cautious I’ve been about trying new things. Perhaps that’s a factor of getting older. But I know I’ve played it too safe at times. I’m working toward being more open. How about you?

Jennie, I hope you have an open hand to receive your copy of Mary Quattlebaum’s book, Brother, Sister, Brother, Sister, Me and You.

  

And Charles, the same goes for you in regard to Andy Murray’s book In Brigantia. Please comment below to confirm.

 

Tia Tigerlily and her mini-me are pleased at the floral theme of the post and the fact that the FTD site mentioned that the tiger lily symbolizes “confidence, pride, and wealth.” “Very fitting for me,” she said (though she probably has about 37 cents to her name).

Photos by L. Marie. Tia Tigerlily Shoppie is a product of Moose Toys.

Photos by L. Marie

Check This Out: War of Nytefall—Rivalry

Thank you to L. Marie for being a great host and helping me promote my newest book, War of Nytefall: Rivalry. This is the third volume of my vampire action-adventure series, which takes place in the same world as Legends of Windemere. Okay, I think I covered the promo bases, so let’s get to the meaty stuff. Wait . . . My name is Charles E. Yallowitz. Knew I forgot to introduce myself. Oops.

The overarching story in War of Nytefall involves the Vampire Civil War that takes place right after the Great Cataclysm. During this global disaster, a vampire named Clyde is about to be executed by the followers of the Sun God. Magic is going haywire, so their spells actually turn him into a new species. Unlike the old-world vampires, Clyde and his “children” don’t lose their strength in the sun, they possess heartbeats, can eat regular food, and each has a triad of powers in place of the ability to cast magic. Since his blood can turn old-world vampires into what are called Dawn Fangs, Clyde sets off a war with those who consider him an abomination and a threat to their society. Every volume touches on a different event of this lengthy, but slow-moving war that happens in the shadow of Windemere. It’s the old-world vampires versus the Dawn Fangs . . . most of the time.

A twist in War of Nytefall: Rivalry is that someone has shown up to threaten both sides. The Vampire Queen has been a rumor for centuries, but has revealed her existence by kidnapping the leaders of both factions. Her intention is to choose a Vampire King from the strongest of their species and then conquer the world. Well, there’s another goal, but that’s more personal. Either way, she has turned herself into a common enemy of the old-world vampires and the Dawn Fangs. This isn’t an easy thing to write about considering the characters, especially Clyde, have monstrous tendencies towards violence and grudges. Why wouldn’t he just take out his most hated enemy, Xavier Tempest, and deal with the Vampire Queen later? Taking out the leader of the old-world vampires would end the war and give him victory. So, how does this story even work while keeping the war going to the next volume?

       

Mostly, this comes down to Clyde not being a reckless idiot. Yes, he’s the strongest vampire and hasn’t lost a fight. His confidence and brutality are incredibly high, so he could make short work of everyone around him. Yet, he doesn’t know what the Vampire Queen is capable of or if she has something else going on. Also, Clyde is a man who has always had a gang to work with, so he doesn’t even realize that there’s a discomfort towards working alone. This is why he needs Xavier on his side even if he does have the strength to win. What Clyde has in brute strength and cunning, Xavier has in magical power and intelligence. So, they actually work well as a team, which is why they used to be friends. It’s almost like they are being forced to fall into ancient habits in order to survive even though they really want to kill each other. Left alone with the Vampire Queen, neither man is sure they can survive. One could see why the war has been raging slowly for decades here because Clyde and Xavier are both cautious.

That only covers the character motivations though, and most readers will accept that if it remains in the realm of possibilities. I’ve established that these two are careful survivors, so a temporary alliance makes sense. Of course, this brings in another problem: How do I write this without making Clyde and Xavier good friends and endangering the war with a truce? If they get along so well, then you can’t really believe that they hate each other enough to continue fighting if they survive the Vampire Queen. On the other side of the coin, you need them to get along enough to work as an effective team. My answer to this came in two parts:

1. Clyde and Xavier settled for insults instead of punches. You can demonstrate that the bad blood is still there by how they talk and act. Maybe they don’t really try to protect each other from harm, but only step in to prevent death. Insulting names instead of real ones is an option. There has to be at least some animosity that can grow as the climax nears since stress can make them more hostile to each other.

2. I accepted that they might mellow out a bit in regards to the hate. This is something I considered while planning this story. It wasn’t something I liked, but I knew it was a strong possibility. Hard to truly hate a man who you just survived an ordeal with. This is why I had to come up with an event that will reignite the hate in a later book. Xavier and Clyde do accept that they cannot coexist and will continue the war if they survive, so they’ll need another push. A real nasty one too.

I have to admit that this was probably the hardest aspect of the book. Putting everything else together was a cinch, but I had to keep an eye on the overall story. You see in many stories that enemies will unite against a common threat, so I did some research. A big part of this was seeing what not to do because it didn’t make sense. Won’t say what that is because of spoilers, but this one part really did take up a lot of my attention. It even forced a few outline rewrites because Clyde and Xavier were getting too chummy. Needless to say, I’m happy with how this shaky alliance has come out, but I’m also nervous. One false move on something like this and I’ll have to rethink the future. Part of the job though.

Hope everyone enjoyed this post. Catch you in the comments and check out War of Nytefall: Rivalry on Amazon!

About the Author

Charles E. Yallowitz was born, raised, and educated in New York. Then he spent a few years in Florida, realized his fear of alligators, and moved back to the Empire State. When he isn’t working hard on his epic fantasy stories, Charles can be found cooking or going on whatever adventure his son has planned for the day. Truthfully, his tales of adventure are much more interesting than his real life, so skip the bio and dive into the action.

Blog: www.legendsofwindemere.com
Twitter: @cyallowitz
Website: www.charleseyallowitz.com

L. Marie here. Comment below to be entered into the drawing for a copy of War of Nytefall: Rivalry. Winner to be announced on April 10. Double post this week, y’all.

Covers and author photo courtesy of Charles Yallowitz.