A sensuous book, from beginning to end, and now, available in paperback! I reviewed this book when it first appeared in hard cover, and was absolutely captivated by the depth of emotion in the story. I also enjoyed the action, and fell in love with the very realistic characters.

The main character is Feliu Delgado, who was “almost born happy”. After a nearly disastrous birth, he is presumed to be born dead. His mom wanted him to be named “Feliz” with means “Happy” in Spanish. She had his brother, who was still a young child, write the name on a paper for the man who writes the birth and death certificates. The man could not read the writing, and instead wrote “Feliu”, the name of a saint. Almost born happy. Poor Feliu spends large parts of his life being “almost happy”.

As a child, Feliu receives a gift of a Spanish bow for a cello. Thus begins his love for music, and the adventures it leads him on. For a more detailed review and description of this book, click here.

Author Andromeda Romano-Lax was kind enough to stop by Book Sandwich, and do an interview with me.

Jen Thorpe:Hello Andromeda, and welcome to Book Sandwich.

Andromeda Romano-Lax: Hi Jen! Thanks for this great opportunity.

JT:When you contacted me, you mentioned you were going on a “virtual book tour”. How does that work, exactly? Do you feel the tour is going well? Are you enjoying it? How does it compare to a regular book tour?

A R-L: Often book tours are set up by a company. I had a publicist arrange some virtual opportunities a year ago, when The Spanish Bow was first released, but this time I decided to do it myself, by poking around online, visiting book blogs and sites, including ones that had already mentioned my book. What I’m finding is that I love this new book blogging world, and I love having the opportunity to “talk” directly with readers. Some of my favorite book reviews have been ones written by book bloggers; in some cases they connected with and understood my novel better than print reviewers, or perhaps it seems that way because they wrote their reviews from the heart.

I also started my own blog this year at 49writers.blogspot.com. The blog focuses on Alaska books and authors, in addition to my own writing and publishing experiences. It’s easier and more enjoyable for me to promote other people’s books than my own.

JT:I adore the cover on the hardcover version of “The Spanish Bow”. When the paperback came out, the cover was so different that I did not immediately recognize that it was the same book! Both the covers are very dramatic, in different ways. Do you prefer the artwork of one over the other? Did you have any input about what the two book covers would look like?

AR-L: I loved the hardcover when it first came out – red and rich and atmospheric. But I think I like the paperback cover even better, because it shows the main character and setting more clearly. It almost looks like a movie poster to me, and boy, would I love this novel to become a movie! The soundtrack would be awesome. (To answer the followup question: no, there isn’t a movie in the works, but I have had some nibbles.) I had little say about either cover but I think the designers did a fabulous job.

JT: Music is such an important part of this story, that it is almost, but not quite, it’s own separate character. What kinds of music were you listening to while you were writing this book? Are you a fan of classical music or do you prefer something else?

AR-L: Trivia you’ll find nowhere else; exclusively to Jen: in truth, I was formerly (in the early 1980s) a fan of punk and the first article I ever wrote was about my own experiences as a garage-band guitarist . (This was published in Seventeen magazine when I was 18 years old. I can scarcely believe it myself.)

But then I turned toward the classical world. My passion for the cello was the motivation for writing The Spanish Bow, and I listened to lots of great cello and piano CDs of composers like Manuel de Falla, Elgar, Debussy, Bach, and Albeniz while I was writing the novel. For a while, I had a theme song that ran through my brain for each character. Aviva, for example, was personified by the piece “The Swan” by Camille Saint-Saens. You can find some of these music clips at my website www.romanolax.com.

I should add that The Spanish Bow is being translated into 10 languages, and in some countries, an effort has been made to connect music more directly with the book. In Germany, for example, the publisher had a professional cellist perform at public readings of the book. In China, there has been some interest in putting together a related CD. If I were an American reader, I would stick an Albeniz piano or Yo-Yo Ma cello CD into the player, pour myself a glass of red wine, grab a few olives, and then read.

JT:Do you play any musical instruments yourself? Does anyone else in your family?

AR-L:I play cello – not particularly well, mind you. After I sold my novel, I was able to afford to buy a piano, and in the 3 years since that time, my children have learned to play, eclipsing my own minor musical abilities. I get teary listening to my 14-year-old son play Chopin and my 10-year-old daughter playing the blues. I recently bought an electric guitar as well (those old garage-punk roots die hard) but I think I might do better sticking with classical.

JT:I was impressed with how real this book feels, as though it was a remarkably entertaining autobiography of the main character, instead of a work of fiction. Did the main character, Feliu, exist? Was he based on a real person? Was “El Nino” real? Picasso appears for a cameo, and we know he was a real person, but, what about the other characters? What else in this book was taken from “real life”?

AR-L: Feliu was originally inspired by the great Spanish/Catalonian cellist Pablo Casals, but I changed so many details that the end result is a fictional character. The same is true for Al-Cerraz, who was originally inspired by the pianist and composer Isaac Albeniz. I kept his playboy personality and changed practically everything else, including the time period in which he lived and the major events of his life. For minor characters, I stuck much more closely to the facts, especially for Queen Ena and King Alfonso of Spain, Picasso, Hitler, Franco, Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, and the composers Elgar and de Falla. Yet other characters are completely imagined.

JT:What kind of research did you do in preparation for writing this book? How long did it take before you were able to start putting the story together?

AR-L:I traveled to Puerto Rico, Spain, and France; I studied the cello, interviewed musicians, visited archives and opera houses; I ate Iberian ham and drank cheap Rioja wine and sampled lots of Catalonian liqueurs. I know – it’s a terrible job, but someone has to do it. Seriously, though, I tried to absorb and compress a century of Spanish history and music into a novel that is also about love and friendship. It was a pleasure to research and write, and took me about 4 to 5 years.

JT: Often, when authors write from the viewpoint of a main character that is the opposite gender from themselves, they tend to miss the mark. Feliu, however, was completely convincing. Did you find it challenging to write from his viewpoint, or did it just come naturally? I’m always impressed when authors do this well.

AR-L: Feliu came so naturally to me, that I probably should be worried. Why is there an externally-angst-ridden, internally-passionate little Catalonian man living inside my head? Deciding what he would say or do next was no problem at all; I felt I knew him as well as I know myself.

JT: I cannot think of another fiction book with a cellist as a main character. What can you tell my readers about how and why you decided to write a book about a cello player?

AR-L:Because I love the cello, which to me is one of the most sensuous and human instruments there is. There is something about the voice – so human, so humble – that worked perfectly with the story I was trying to tell. The cello is not show-offy; it is sincere and beautiful in a melancholic way, like my main character, Feliu.

JT:What other projects do you have going on right now?

AR-L: I’m working on novels #2 and #3, not quite sure yet which one will see the light of day, but the research for these latest works has taken me to England and the Middle East, and back home to Alaska, where I live. I also dabble in nonfiction.

JT:Where can my readers go to find out more about you and your writing?

AR-L: My blog at 49writers.blogspot, and my website at romanolax.com.

The Spanish Bow is an exciting trip into an imagined past that is also very real. Readers who enjoy classical music, or who are musicians themselves will connect with Feliu in both how passionate he feels about music, as well as his intense connection with his instrument. This book is also something that will appeal to people looking for a love story with somewhat “star crossed” lovers, and those who enjoy historical fiction. Now that the book is in paperback, it will be even easier on your pocketbook when you go grab a copy for yourself.

As I write this review, the weather is just starting to change, (well, as much change as one can expect in California), and schools everywhere have just begun a brand new year. All across the country, thousands of young people are beginning college, living outside of their parent’s homes for the first time ever, and trying to figure out how to budget for both textbooks and food. People who were legally considered to be “minors” just a few short months ago, (and, who are still considered minors when it comes to alcohol), are making choices right now that will affect the rest of their lives.

Now is the time when many young women are making a huge decision. Should they join a Sorority, or should they stay away from Greek Life? This is where Pledged comes in. Robbins basically went undercover to discover what, exactly, was true about Sorority life, and what was a myth. She presents the book as a narrative, describing the events in the lives of four different girls, all of whom had decided to join a Sorority. You will find this book in either the Sociology or the Women’s Studies section of bookstores, but, it reads as easily as a fiction novel.

I had absolutely no interest in joining a Sorority when I was in college. At the time, I was pulling all nighters playing Dungeons and Dragons with a group of my (mostly male) friends, and looking forward to the next LAN party. I hardly ever wore makeup, and never gave a thought about what designer my clothing might have come from, (if any). The first time I saw a giant sign on campus that said “RUSH”, I was trying to figure out how they managed to get so big a band to come to our campus, and where I could buy tickets to see the show. Seriously! Clearly, Sorority life was not for me.

I decided to read Pledged entirely based on the recommendations of all the women who I helped to locate a copy of this book in the bookstore I work in. They were all so enthusiastic about this book. What could be so interesting about a book about Sororities? I decided to find out for myself.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was the “Preface to the Paperback Edition”. Robbins explains that she gets a lot of email from girls who are in Sororities, that complain about how awful and filled with lies her book is. In the same email, they tell her that they have not even read her book, and that they never will! As you read on, you learn that many Sororities are basically banning this book, and not allowing any of their girls to read it. Many are going so far as to punish or expel girls whom they catch with a copy of Pledged in their possession.

When any organization starts banning a book, it makes me think two things. One, That organization is extremely fearful of the information uncovered in the book, and two, I should get my hands on a copy right now! Everyone should read banned books! Knowledge really is power.

I found the information contained in this book to be shocking on many levels. First, it seems that when Robbins went to the various Sorority chapters to ask permission to talk with their girls, and attend their events, she was not only refused, but often escorted from the premises, and told not to return. She was kicked out not just by the Chapters on one campus, but by the national headquarters for all chapters, across the United States. Instead of giving up, Robbins resorted to going undercover in order to write her book, protecting the individual girls she spoke with by changing their names, or combining their identities into one character. There was no other way.

I learned that for many women, (especially white women who live in Texas, or some of the Southern States), there is no choice but to join a Sorority. Their mothers and grandmothers were part of a certain house, at a particular college, and so, they must, make the exact same choice. Many girls are taught from a young age that their life will be a complete waste unless they are also accepted into that particular Sorority. Without it, they will never make the right contacts to get the right job. More importantly, they will never meet the “right” husband! I am appalled that so many mothers are pressuring their daughters to participate in degrading and sometimes dangerous activities, just to become a part of this toxic system. Adults should know better.

I fear for the young women who are compromising their own values in the hopes of being accepted into a Sorority, having a group of friends, and ensuring the correct future. What I read was much sicker than what I presumed was going on in Sororities. It scares me how much power the people who are involved in Sororities have over society, business, and thousands of individual young women.

I am saddened that some of the complaints the girls in Robbins’ book had were the exact same complaints I heard Sorority girls making when I was in school. Not enough time to study, because they had to attend “chapter meetings”. Girls in the same sorority being cliquish, and mean to other girls, especially the newly admitted. Pressure to buy all the t-shirts for all of the Sorority events. Complaints about how they are “broke” because they had to spend so much money on a dress for a formal event, that they now could not wear ever again. Stress about dating the guy their sisters wanted them to date. If I was completely on the outside, and I was hearing those kinds of complaints, then I believe that Robbins’ book holds at least some truths about what it really is like to live in a Sorority.

If you are a young woman who has just started college, you need to read this book. As you walk around on campus, you are going to hear a lot of talk about how wonderful Sororities are, and how great your life will become if you Pledge to one of them. This information, of course, is biased. Perhaps Robbins book is biased as well. I urge you to get both sides of the story before making any decisions about if you should, or shouldn’t, join a Sorority. If you are the parent of a daughter who is college age, or in her last year of high school, you need to read this book, if for nothing else, to be well informed about what could happen if your little girl chooses this path.

Now, this is not to say that all Sororites are just plain evil. Robbins takes time to discuss the difference between regular Sororites, (that often claim to be service oriented, but aren’t), and the Service Sororites, (that actually do give back to communities). It becomes obvious very quickly where each groups true values are, especially as you read about what girls in each group actually do in the name of “community service”.

If you simply must belong to a large group while you are in college, I would advise looking into some of the Service Sororities on your campus. Most of these groups emphasize the importance of studying and getting good grades, giving back to the community, real friendships, and diversity among it’s members. I learned from Robbins’ book that most regular Sororities are one big party, with a price tag that is expensive in more ways than just financially. The choice is yours, of course, but, be informed, and choose wisely. Realize that joining a Sorority does not end the minute you graduate. For many women, it becomes a way of life, and decides who your friends will be, (and who they won’t be), and who your yet unborn daughter’s friends will be as well. The Sorority life continues on long after college is over, and you need to ask yourself, is this honestly the way I want to live for the rest of my life?

If you are reading this, then you must have somehow managed to survive the Plague Year. You learned how to scavenge what little food could be found (and made some creative choices about what you were now willing to identify as “food”). You managed to fashion a shelter, and learned how high to climb to avoid having the machine plague slowly eat you alive. Life has been anything except easy, and now, it is about to get a whole lot more difficult. The Plague War has arrived!

I never had nightmares about ants until after I read Plague War. For days, I found myself trying to wipe off the ants I believed were crawling on my arms, only to discover that the ants did not actually exist. Only Jeff Carlson could take something as innocent as a tiny little ant, and make it into something that haunts you days after you have finished reading his book!

Plague War picks up where Plague Year ended, with the few surviving characters struggling to do what they can to put an end to the machine plague. The nanotechnology described in this book is terrifyingly real. Maybe it doesn’t exist like in Carlson’s books, but, then again, it just might! As I was reading, I kept having to remind myself that this was a Sci-Fi book, and not reality. Plague War is a mind fuck you will love every second of.

Check out this fantastic video:

Wicked good!

Jeff Carlson was kind enough to do a second interview with me for Book Sandwich.

Jen Thorpe: Hello once again, Jeff! Welcome back!

Jeff Carlson:Hi, Jen, and thank you for bringing me back for another feast at Book Sandwich!

Jen Thorpe: In our previous interview, you mentioned that you were working on the third novel in the Plague Year trilogy. I love it when I find a book that excites me, and then discover that it is part of a series! What can you tell me and my readers about the third book? When will it appear in stores?

Jeff Carlson: One of the challenges I faced with the second book, and especially now as I’m developing the third, is the incredible potential of nanotechnology. The first novel, Plague Year, is based on the idea that we’ve made some breakthroughs in the field and developed a high-level nanobot capable of operating within the human body, although it needs fine-tuning. The microscopic machine is still a prototype when it get loose and, you know, chaos ensues.

Even before the first book is done, various factions around the planet are using the machine plague itself to develop weaponized nanotech, advancing the gains of its original designers. That trend continues in the second novel, Plague War. Before that book is over, much less by the time we reach the third novel, it would have been easy to unleash the dogs of our imaginations and say, well, what if we actually had smart nanobots?

As a writer, it’s important to keep ratcheting up the stakes, not only for the world at large but for the hearts and souls of my characters. With each book — heck, with each chapter — I wanted to lay more on the line. But I didn’t want to lose sight of what’s real and important to normal people like you and me.

If we imagine nanotech in its ultimate expression, the ability to control matter precisely at the molecular level, we could use it to create invulnerable super beings who never need to eat or sleep… or to love or fear or hate. What if your skin was impervious to fire or bullets? What if you could turn invisible to the naked eye? What if you could fly?

That wasn’t a book that I wanted to write.

I like to think Plague Year reads like a mainstream thriller just like says on the cover… “part Michael Crichton.” I enjoy far-out sci fi with ray guns and aliens, but I’m always more spooked by stories that seem like they could really happen, so I made a point to keep the technology moving in the small, plausible increments like you would expect in the real world, not miraculous gains that altered the very nature of the characters.

The third novel has the working title Mind Plague, or, alternately, Plague Messiah, and, well, what can I say without giving too much away? In this ruined world, there are many desperate people who have been developing their own nanotech based on the superior archetype of the machine plague… There’s a new bad guy, and some old heroes, and the fan favorites are at it again with everything that’s dear to them on the line.

Mind Plague will be out in 2009.

JT: What was it like to turn one book into a series? I imagine that would be difficult. Did you use an outline or just wing it? What inspired you to write a sequel and then make it into a series?

JC: Hee hee. I just “wing it” mostly, but there are really only so many directions for the story to go. For me, the puzzle builds itself, which is huge part of my fascination with writing.

I like to think that everyone in my stories is doing the best they can. They’re smart and genuine, no matter what side they’re on, black hat, white hat — we all think we’re the good guys from our own perspective. It’s only in the movies and poorly written books where people do stupid things just to further the plot.

Yes, people make mistakes that lead them into trouble. More often they’re working at a disadvantage compared to their rivals. Whether that’s a disparity in resources, knowledge, or inner strength is all of a matter of what makes the world so interesting, from the vast scale of geopolitics to the very intimate personal history that we all carry inside us.

I like smart bad guys. I hate stupid heroes. I work very hard to make sure that everyone in my books is darn well trying their hardest, especially when it’s the end of the world, to get what they’re after. So the characters really do take over.

From there, it was easy to expand the scope of the first book into a trilogy.

JT: I’ve watched the video on Youtube for your books several times, and I still find myself shocked by the way it ends. It’s that good! There are a bunch of “book trailers” on Youtube these days, but yours is the best I’ve ever seen. It’s way better than just pointing a camera at the author as he or she sits in a chair and blathers on! What was it like to shoot the video? Where was it filmed? And… who exactly is that guy at the end?

JC: Thank you. I’m very lucky that one of my friends, Adad Warda, is a professional cinematographer and a freakin’ genius! He has his own camera, sound, and editing equipment. Would you believe that 4 Minutes Above 10,000 Feet only cost me a tank of gas, several sandwiches, a twelve-pack of Pepsi, and some licensing fees for the soundtrack? Adad and I both live in the San Francisco Bay Area. We drove into the Sierras one day, shot the whole thing from sun up to sun down, and shazam — I must have run and hiked over a mile to get those two hundred and forty seconds right, but it was totally worth it.

Acting out scenes from the books was great fun, from playing Blair Witch in the freaky opening sequence to ducking the space shuttle as it came roaring out of the sky. Ha!

Editing the footage turned out to be the bigger challenge. Much like writing, assembling the shots required a lot of patience and hard choices. I thought it was intriguing as hell, because the process was all new to me, whereas Adad simply buckled down and ground through the work with remarkable diligence. I can’t give him enough praise.

The poor bastard at the end of the film is Chuck Keen, another friend who joined us for the day. He’s in the credits as “Special thanks to Charles Keen,” and no wonder!!!!

JT: What other projects do you have going on right now that your fans would want to know about?

JC: Top secret! I’d have to sell you all on eBay to keep you quiet!

All I can say is that I’m a very busy duck. Not only am I about halfway done with Mind Plague to wrap up the nanotech trilogy, I’m also nearly finished with a collaboration with New York Times bestselling author David Brin, an adventure novel called Colony High that taps all of David’s fearsome intellect and my own taste for mayhem. We’re hoping it’ll be out in 2010.

In the meantime, I’m also shin-deep in a new stand-alone thriller whose title is Eyes Only Burn After Reading . The most I can say is that it’s another high concept novel that I think will blow the doors off of the Plague trilogy.

The only safe places on Earth are above 10,000 feet elevation?

Well, you haven’t seen anything yet!

JT: Podcasts are quickly becoming a popular way to generate interest in a book, especially for Sci Fi novels. Have you been on any podcasts lately as a guest to talk about the Plague Year series? Can fans look forward to a podcast about the books? What can you tell us about your books in audio format?

JC: I’ve had several short stories picked up lately by podcasters such as Starship Sofa, Escape Pod, Pseudopod, Horror Addicts, and The Dunesteef. I heartily recommend Starship Sofa and Pseudopod, Pseudopod in particular, and I recorded where-do-your-ideas-come-from clips for Starship Sofa and Dunesteef, in which I talk a little about my books and my brain as well as the individual story itself.

As for the novels themselves, Plague Year is now available on CD from ,Recorded Books, narrated by stage actor Richard Ferrone, who also does John Sanford’s Prey series. I’m very excited about that, and I urge anyone with a thirst for audiobooks to check it out. He’s excellent!

Readers can find more about Jeff Carlson and his books on his website, which is just packed with cool stuff to check out!

http://www.recordedbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=rb.show_prod&book_id=78957&prod_id=DF002