There comes a time (whether finished or not) when an author is asked, "So, what's your novel about?" It's an exciting question, but for most writers, a dreaded one.
Depending on the day, most authors might answer with a short synopsis the best they can, responding with a sanguine pitch, or if not, they grumble, "You'll just have to read it to find out!" I choose not to grumble; after all, it's a luxury to be asked, even if only out of social etiquette. However, in my case, with my latest story, it's not so easy.
Syrahawk first started life as an indie-style murder mystery, a completely different genre from what it ended up becoming. After a while it mutated into an immigrant story based on Central American immigrants emigrating to the United States. But this didn't sit well with me: The idea of writing The Great American Novel (a coming to America story) . To write about factual countries (such as Honduras and the U.S.) that have exacting details and define particular experiences (ones I have never experienced myself), it just didn't make sense to me. Instead, I decided the story was more about alienation, being ostracized, isolation, outcasts, personal suffering... And the costs and sacrifices involved in a loving relationship that has falling under intense scrutiny and pressure. Those things I could identify with. Those things I have experienced.
So the novel was not about Central America or North America. It became a story about fictional landscapes and fictional borders. Like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the main city was a fictional amalgam, but unlike his story, One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is set in South America, mine was not in any of the Americas. It was in a universal time, a universal place (like Fahrenheit 451 or A Brave New World). I was writing what I hoped to be The Great (not so) American Novel. And this is where the question, "So, what's your novel about?" becomes a little tougher to answer. The best response I have is: "Well, it's about a couple who emigrate to a new country without documentation and find themselves trapped in an unfriendly city... It's a love story of sorts, with satirical elements and a dystopian atmosphere. It's a not so American novel, and I'm glad I wrote it."
Depending on the day, most authors might answer with a short synopsis the best they can, responding with a sanguine pitch, or if not, they grumble, "You'll just have to read it to find out!" I choose not to grumble; after all, it's a luxury to be asked, even if only out of social etiquette. However, in my case, with my latest story, it's not so easy.
Syrahawk first started life as an indie-style murder mystery, a completely different genre from what it ended up becoming. After a while it mutated into an immigrant story based on Central American immigrants emigrating to the United States. But this didn't sit well with me: The idea of writing The Great American Novel (a coming to America story) . To write about factual countries (such as Honduras and the U.S.) that have exacting details and define particular experiences (ones I have never experienced myself), it just didn't make sense to me. Instead, I decided the story was more about alienation, being ostracized, isolation, outcasts, personal suffering... And the costs and sacrifices involved in a loving relationship that has falling under intense scrutiny and pressure. Those things I could identify with. Those things I have experienced.
So the novel was not about Central America or North America. It became a story about fictional landscapes and fictional borders. Like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the main city was a fictional amalgam, but unlike his story, One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is set in South America, mine was not in any of the Americas. It was in a universal time, a universal place (like Fahrenheit 451 or A Brave New World). I was writing what I hoped to be The Great (not so) American Novel. And this is where the question, "So, what's your novel about?" becomes a little tougher to answer. The best response I have is: "Well, it's about a couple who emigrate to a new country without documentation and find themselves trapped in an unfriendly city... It's a love story of sorts, with satirical elements and a dystopian atmosphere. It's a not so American novel, and I'm glad I wrote it."
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