Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Not To Be Missed!

Recently, an interviewer and fellow author suggested that Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia might be a good comp title for Silk: Caroline’s Story. A comp title, by the way, is a familiar title that others might compare to a book of interest—for example, she might say to prospective readers, “If you liked Mexican Gothic, then you’ll love Silk.”

How wonderful to be compared to that amazing work!  After that comp-title suggestion, I of course picked Mexican Gothic as my fun vacation beach read while we went to Daytona on vacation last week.  I’d even already put it on my e-reader, which I actually did not take onto the beach this time, just read in our condo when I wasn’t on the beach or by the pool with a paperback.

So glad I read it, even if I don’t typically go for that genre.  I should have been clued into the type of story it was, given the term ‘gothic’ in the name, but I went into it expecting something a bit more… like Silk! Hah, comp titles work both ways!  I do recognize some of that same energy there, especially around Jessie (so if you were most fascinated by Jessie, you will likely be enthralled by Mexican Gothic). Of course, Mexican Gothic’s main character, Noemí, is different than any of Silk’s characters, at least for the first book of my trilogy; I’d say she’s most like Vivian, actually, in Homespun, the last installment of The Silk Trilogy—whom the interviewer has yet to meet.  Okay, I’m warming to the idea of it as a comp title, except I really don’t think they’re the same genre!  Silk has just a touch of Southern Gothic in a book that others compare to Jane Austen, whereas Mexican Gothic eventually swallows you whole with the horror. Oh wait, I did see her writing compared to Charlotte Brontë’s, actually... I think Moreno-Garcia uses the technical category of ‘speculative fiction’ instead of horror, perhaps. Maybe speculative fiction is a broader category? I almost never pick up horror reads on purpose.  Stephen King put me off that genre the first time I dipped my toes in those murky waters as a teenager, but more writing like this may make me quite the fan.

Mexican Gothic is about a young socialite in the 1950s who ventures away from Mexico City out to a rural village community in the mountains to check on her cousin Catalina. Newly-married Catalina has sent a worrisome letter, but when Noemí’s father tried to follow up with Catalina’s husband, Virgil brushed off his concerns. The gothic mansion that Noemí arrives at was founded perhaps a century before by Virgil’s English ancestors who reopened the old silver mine there; it had re-closed during the Mexican Revolution, and the family’s glory has since faded. The grand house is full of mold and operates with only a skeleton of the staff it once held. Noemí is determined not to abandon her cousin Catalina, but the longer she stays, the more the manor’s strange energy starts to affect her, too.

I loved this wonderfully-written, suspenseful story!  It’s now ranked as my #1 horror novel of all time, and I highly recommend it to anyone not too faint of heart.  The Mexican setting added a somewhat-exotic-to-me, fascinating air to the whole novel. So interesting to see the world from Noemí’s point of view, as Mexico really is the center of her world, truly a country full of variety—she’s from urban, modern, massive Mexico City; she leaves for the English manor near the rural village in the mountains, where she yearns for a carefree vacation to Acapulco—and to go off to their National University. Mexico is her world! 

I did have the feeling, however, that this novel was perhaps initially written as a vampire story.  The pale residents of the manor, the missing mirror no longer on the wall near the entrance, the stained-glass windows instead of more reflective ones, the old host only drinking strange-tasting wine at dinner and foregoing food…  Perhaps that was just to set the mood or to throw out a red herring.  I felt misled, especially since there was never much alternative explanation given for these overtly-vampirish tendencies.  Nevertheless, it somehow gave me a familiar, “Ooh! Vampires!” reaction that maybe made the actual scenario a little more familiar-feeling than it would otherwise have, as it was so peculiar in the end.  Well-done, but unique (to me, at least, as someone who rarely reads ‘speculative fiction’).  If Moreno-Garcia hadn’t gone that route, I wonder if I’d have had fewer hooks to really sink into the story with?  Such an artfully-crafted novel MUST have done this on purpose, simply to help draw us readers in. In the end, however, the antagonists were not so prosaic as vampires (who are not always prosaic, of course, but this was the classic setting!). No, this book was increasingly fascinating as I read along.  Speaking of which—I wasn’t hooked from page one.  I’d read many pages before I knew that I really wanted to continue with it, so if it doesn’t grab you straight off, stay with it!

Again, I don’t normally read horror, so what seems ‘extreme’ to me may seem relatively tame to aficionados of the genre. I wouldn’t know. And that ‘extreme’ graphic horror only lasted for a few pages, really, towards the end.  So don’t be scared off based solely on my review.  Perhaps Mexican Gothic is horror for people who don’t read horror.  I personally highly recommend it.  Five stars. Amazing, gripping novel set in Mexico. Not to be missed.

 

Necessary Sins, Book 1 of the Lazare Family Saga, by Elizabeth Bell

I was fortunate enough to 'meet' Elizabeth Bell at the virtual Historical Novel Society North American 2021 conference last month, and I was excited to read her novel set in antebellum Charleston.  Here's what I thought: 

The first installment of Elizabeth Bell’s Lazare Family Saga is a beautifully-written story for those who enjoy exploring the complexities of being human—the conflicting emotions and values, the anguish, and sometimes the sheer brutality. There is also joy and love and charm, and Ms. Bell does a wonderful job of capturing these emotions. I appreciated that this 19^th-century Charlestonian tale began in Saint Domingue (later Haiti), as Charleston’s roots do extend back to the sugar plantations of Barbados and the West Indies.  For all that I was born in Charleston and went to college there, that part of the area’s history has always seemed vague and elusive to me, but Ms. Bell brought it to stark, vivid life. 

The main protagonist of the overall story is Joseph, who is drawn to the priesthood, but he doesn’t even enter the story for some time.  This saga is very much about the Lazare Family’s several generations, even within this first novel.

Joseph is a devout young man who struggles to cope with overpowering feelings of lust.  Following this journey for hundreds of pages should make anyone sympathetic to Catholic priests who have to adhere to the absolute requirement of chastity, of not being able to marry those that they fall in love with—and being human, this will happen from time to time, at least for many of them.  The situation grows far worse and more ‘sinful’ in large part due to those very strictures—and the reader is so weary of his struggles by the end of the novel that it’s hard to really condemn him.  I think that was exactly the author’s mission—to make us sympathetic to this particular plight of devout young men who must pledge to remain chaste forever in order to join the priesthood.  I hope they don’t all struggle so much, but Ms. Bell quoted so much Catholic instruction on this very topic that one is left fairly convinced that Joseph is far from alone in his condition.

It’s my belief that one of the primary benefits to readers of reading fiction is to develop empathy, and Ms. Bell has created an entirely different situation for me to empathize with than I’ve ever encountered in any novel thus far—and she does it thoroughly, unstintingly.  For that and the impeccable research and the beautifully-perfected prose, I applaud the author.

Again, however, much of the story is sad. I was overwhelmed at times by the sheer number of deaths, and I’ve never agreed with that prevalent practice of depicting life as generally brutal-and-short for all historical times up until nearly the present.  For some people, sure.  For some times, of course. Ms. Bell zones in on those people and those times, though she also shows the joy in their lives.  Necessary Sins was eloquent and touching, but I felt trammelled by so many heartbreaking losses—and yet, I suppose perhaps that is part of how she wore us down to think, “Goodness, is it really THAT important for him to stay chaste?”  In the midst of so much sadness, is carnal love really such a terrible sin? Isn’t there a beauty and a comfort in it, oftentimes?  I didn’t leave the book with any firm answers as to their potential ‘sins’, but I do have more empathy now than I did for Catholic priests that way, if only because I’d never given it very much thought.  Perhaps chastity could still be held sacred without making it an absolute requirement for them?  Ms. Bell doesn’t really address this situation for monks and nuns, but one can’t help but extrapolate to them—maybe there could be a different order or cloister that they could transition to if they find the requirement too difficult, one for married monks and nuns?  As Ms. Bell says in the author’s note about another matter, she was trying to depict historically-accurate situations, not ideal ones. She leaves the conclusions up to us.   

Silk finally received its official copyright!

Whew!  I finally received my copyright in the mail yesterday for Silk! It took me THREE separate applications (yes, I had to pay anew each time) and much angst, like pulling teeth. I actually received my second rejection on my birthday, as you can see from this new application/registration date. But in the end, it is sort of fun how meaningful both dates on this application are: Silk was registered on my birthday (at last!), and the registration decision date was on Silk's release day.

Pro-tips:
1.) Use the Firefox browser to apply, or it'll just freeze up on you.
2.) Do NOT include preview chapters from the next book if you're applying via the 'one work by one author' application.

3.) Don't count on it going through quite this fast. Maybe they felt sorry for me, on my third try!

Silk's Release Day Comes with Most Welcome Jane Austen Flattery

Hello dear Readers!

Hurrah!  Silk: Caroline’s Story has at last been released to the world! (Purchase links at the bottom of this blog.)  If you’re reading this blog, there’s a good chance you’re already familiar with the gist of the story, so I won’t bore you with a long description--see vendors or sign up for my newsletter on the side bar for a reading sample--but here is the nutshell version:

“It’s 1899. Caroline must choose between the town doctor and a Lowcountry farmer, but Jessie isn’t about to let this happen.”

That settled, I am still over the moon about a most amazing blurb that I wanted to share with you. It came from one of my favorite authors just a few days ago.  She said:
 
“The social realism of Jane Austen meets the Southern gothic of Flannery O'Connor in this absorbing novel by Sophia Alexander. Silk: Caroline’s Story explores questions of longing and desire, of jealousy and heartbreak, and of the fateful choices that shape one’s destiny—or doom us completely. Alexander has a true gift for illuminating the most intimate desires of her historical characters in this richly drawn book that I couldn’t put down." -Sarah Domet, critically-acclaimed author of The Guineveres.

When someone you admire so much gives you that sort of praise, you’re smiling for days!  And to top it all off, just this morning an advanced-copy reader told me, “I love the book. One of my favorite books is Pride and Prejudice, and Silk takes me back.”  So yes, my head is about as swollen as it can get.  I never dreamt of being classified in any way with Jane Austen!  Really, my ego is going to be quite unmanageable now.

My husband tells me not to feel badly about it, that my writing isn’t THAT bad.  Ironically, we’ve squabbled for years over Jane Austen!  I adore her, obviously, but he sides with Mark Twain, who said:

"I haven't any right to criticise books, and I don't do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticise Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can't conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Everytime I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone."
- Letter to Joseph Twichell, 13 September 1898
 
"To me his prose is unreadable -- like Jane Austin's [sic]. No there is a difference. I could read his prose on salary, but not Jane's. Jane is entirely impossible. It seems a great pity that they allowed her to die a natural death."
- Letter to W. D. Howells, 18 January 1909

"Jane Austen's books, too, are absent from this library. Just that one omission alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn't a book in it."
- Following the Equator

The above quotes are taken from a website, but I’ve heard them here and there for many years.  Mark Twain’s very intensity about Jane Austen makes me suspect he really loved her writing on some level, but that could just be my fanciful thinking! Really, though, isn’t it telling?:  ‘Every time I read Pride & Prejudice’!  Hmm… Sounds like he was really just frustrated at being in love with her when she was already dead long before he was born!

Doesn't Mark Twain look frustrated here?

What irony, given my long-standing disagreement about Jane Austen with my hubby, who oddly enough has gone through phases in his life where people called him Mark almost more than his real name of Michael!  (See where my fancy comes in there?)

So, anyhow, my head is clearly swollen with that amazing praise (no matter what Mark/Michael says), but all is not perfect in my world.  I should be celebrating at my debut novel release, and I am sorta, but I did shed a few tears this morning!  Amazon's 'Look Inside' function has screwed up my formatting. I was wondering why I had sales on other sites and virtually NOTHING on Amazon!  It's still screwed up, but an Amazon tech support guy tells me he's fixed it, that it will just take a day or two to be corrected on the site.  You'd think their tech guys could make it happen pronto, but I guess those are safeguards in place?  I don't know...  Never fear, though. The real Kindle version looks just fine.  It’s only that ‘Look Inside’ preview that is botched a little bit, and that glitch should be fixed within the next day or so, maybe even by the time you read this.

Thank you for waiting patiently for the release of my novel.  If you read it and enjoy it, please do leave a review.  It means so much to us authors, especially for our debut books.

Silk is available as an ebook on virtually any device, as a regular paperback, or in its large-print edition. So exciting to see it out there on all those vendor websites!  You can request it from your local bookstore, or click on these links to purchase it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Kobo, Scribd, or the Apple e-bookstore.

Onalex Books, $4.99 e-book; 276 pp., $14.99 paperback, ISBN: 978-1-955444-00-2; 469 pp., $19.99 large-print paperback, ISBN: 978-1-955444-01-9; available wherever books are sold.

Meet Addi & Gunther!

Today is my birthday, and my 19-year-old daughter surprised me with this linotype of Addi with her wolf-dog, Gunther. Addi is the protagonist of my as-yet-to-be-published YA (young-adult) fantasy novel.  I was over the moon at seeing this!  No, my daughter hasn't had any sort of specific class in how to create linotypes, just got the notion to do it, so looked it up online. She says this is still unfinished; somehow she's carved the lines in a tile, then inked it and pressed it onto a paper.  This was a 'sample' of what she's working on, she says.  Anyhow, it seems very period, as they used to create images with woodblocks and ink them onto paper for mass distribution. I could bore you with bragging about how innately talented my daughter is--but she has had art classes ever since she was little, and she even just took an art class at UGA. Hopefully you'll be seeing more of Addi and Gunther one day sooner rather than later, but it may be a while, since Tapestry is next in line after Silk!

Silk a Finalist In Its Very First Contest!

What a thrill to find out that Silk received an award in the category of historical fiction in an international contest!

Inspired by a writing friend’s success at an entirely different writing competition, I submitted the revised version of Silk for the Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2021. How did I choose that one from the many?  Well, it was the next one (recommended by some book publicist) due from among the ones I looked at! So, in a big rush, I did something I don’t know if I’ve ever done before—I paid extra for fast shipping to send the three required copies to them! (In my case, they were advanced reader copies, of course.) It always helps me to have deadlines so that I’ll get a move on things.

Speaking of deadlines, the contest has had a profound effect on another very pertinent one—because the organization will be publicizing its winners, Silk’s release date has been bumped up to June 30^th!  The e-book is now up for pre-order on Amazon—so do go ahead and reserve your copy if you read a Kindle and would like to ensure it’s delivered as soon as it’s released. As it becomes available with other vendors, I will try to keep you posted. If you prefer to own a paperback copy, mark your calendar for June 30^th, when it will be available to order.

So, I suppose one might say that the Next Generation Indie Book Awards has lit a fire under my butt not once, but twice!  Very efficient of them.  But it’s quite alright. I’ll bear such difficulties gladly. In fact, the day I found out about the award, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much . 

Silk on the Beaches of Hawaii!

A college friend is reviewing an advanced copy from the beaches of Hawaii, and she sent me these pics!  May you all find such perfect locations to read my novel (or any novel!), be it the beach or a cozy spot on your couch, with a cup of tea!