Hi guys!
This’ll be the first in a series of q&a posts about The Queen of Water. These are questions I didn’t
get a chance to answer on the live chat I did last week as part of Primary
Source’s Global Reads online book club. (Thank you SO much to everyone who
participated, and sorry I didn’t get to everyone’s questions during the
session!)
First, here’s a comment
from a high school student, Karen...
“I loved your
book!!!! I am originally from Peru and I connected so much with the story
because my grandmother story was like Maria's (actually my grandmother's name
is Maria too!!!) she was from a remote part in Peru and she arrived to the
capital, Lima when she was 12 to work as a maid for a family.... I imagine my
grandmother perhaps going for a situation similar to Maria... it was very emotional to me.....!!!!! I wonder
if the book is gonna be published in Spanish so I can give it to my grandmother
to read... again I LOVED YOUR BOOK!!!!”
Thank you, Karen! I’m
really honored that our book helped you connect with your grandmother. It's very moving to hear how much the book means to you. I *wish* it were available in Spanish, but
our agent wasn’t able to sell Spanish translation rights. Maria Virginia and I
are trying to make it happen through other avenues, though. Please give your abuelita an abrazo from us...
Kevan -- Any thoughts
about a movie?
We wish! Our agent
didn’t sell any movie options, unfortunately.
I think it would make an inspiring movie, though, and would make her story
available to a much bigger audience.
From Linda: Laura,
what is your next book?
My book The Jade Notebook (set in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico) just came out this year. It’s
third in an international travel-adventure-mystery-romance trilogy. (The Indigo Notebook, set in Ecuador, is the first in the series. The Ruby Notebook, set in France, is the second.)
From Linda: Do you provide any royalties to Maria for her story?
Maria Virginia and I decided to split our advance and all
royalties down the middle, 50%-50%. Our
agent directly deposits Maria's money in her account. Individually, I also donate a percentage of my royalties (at least 5% per year) to non-profits that support indigenous
rights in Latin America.
In the book, many
Spanish words are used. How did/do you decide which ones to translate rather
than have in English?
All my books contain some words in phrases in languages
other than English (Spanish, French, Mixteco, Quichua). I make the decisions pretty intuitively— honestly, it just
comes out that way when I write. I think
the foreign language terms I incorporate are usually words or phrases that don’t have a great English equivalent, or terms
that have special cultural /social significance attached.
Anonymous: Did Maria Virginia ever meet the
actor who played MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson)?
I have tried really, really, REALLY hard to get in touch with
Richard Dean Anderson! I’ve done detective work online, and had some leads, but I've been met with dead-ends every time. The
agency that I *think* represents him hasn’t returned any of my phone
calls. Argh! Maria and I have a signed copy of
the book that we want to give him… and we think he’d like it if we could just
get it into his hands!
When you listen to
her stories and or those of similar background and history, do you ever feel
guilty about our often over-privileged lives and how do you face/deal with
that?
I do feel that compared to most people in the world, my life
is very privileged (as far as having education, necessities and luxuries, safety, social freedoms, etc.) I’m very aware of this fact, every day. (Living for two years in an impoverished
region of Oaxaca, Mexico, really brought this home for me.) I believe that since I had the random luck of
being born into this life, it’s my responsibility to do what I can to help
people in tougher circumstances become empowered to change their lives. Writing is one way I do this. (I’d say that if you feel guilty about our over-privileged
lives, turn that guilt into fuel for taking action to promote global social
justice!)
Okay, my freshly baked apple tart awaits me now... Thanks for reading! I'll be posting another batch of questions and answers soon, so stay tuned!
***Also, on a different note, if anyone's interested in a personalized, signed copy of any of my books (for yourself or for a gift), you can order it from Old Firehouse Books, my wonderful local indie bookstore. Here's their website-- in the comments section of the order form, you can write who you'd like me to personalize the book for. Or, you can just email or call Old Firehouse and tell them you'd like me to personalize your book. I live close to this book shop, and can easily swing by to sign books... just make sure that you order the book at least a couple weeks in advance if you want it to arrive in time for the holidays. ***
xo,
Laura
