The Beacon
October/November 2009
Excerpt from:
Meet Two of Lighthouse's Rising Stars
by Amanda Rea
AR: What initially drew you to writing?
CLL: When I was three, my grandmother used to hold me on her lap while I read Dr. Seuss books to her. So I've always equated reading with love. I was an only child with few friends, and stories made me feel less lonely. My father used to catch me sitting in a chair, staring into space. I was telling stories in my head. In third grade, I read Little Women and wanted to be Jo. Sounds like stereotypical girly schlock, but it's true. The problem was, Jo received the well-worn advice, "write what you know," and for years I didn't think I knew anything interesting. After working as a reporter in Alaska for nine years, I still didn't "know" enough. So I trekked around the world alone. After that, I knew even less. I finally figured, what the hell? If I wait until I "know" something, I might never write a book. So at 37, I started my memoir.
AR: What is your writing process like?
CLL: My writing process varies from obsessive to chaotic. As a freelancer, I often squeeze my personal projects between client projects. I write six days a week, about five hours a day. Unlike some writers, who rise and pound the keys first thing, I find it difficult to concentrate until a few things are out of the way—my husband, for instance. After he leaves at 9:30, I eat breakfast, read the paper and answer emails. Sometimes I garden, run, or bike before I start writing. I do most of my writing between noon and 6:30 PM, before spousal distraction returns. On the other hand, sometimes I have wee-hour epiphanies, and write from 3:00 AM to dawn. Your basic crazy writer.
AR: What are you working on now?
CLL: I've spent three years doing research for a historical novel. Tortillas from the Canton Café is based on my Mexican-Chinese grandmother, her half-brother and their despotic Chinese father. The story takes place in China, El Paso and East LA, from 1910 to 1965.
AR: Wow. That sounds terrific. Obviously, you have no trouble coming up with ideas. Have you had any significant hurdles as a writer?
CLL: The biggest hurdles I've encountered are time and money. The support of my husband, Dale Jolley, has been critical in helping me jump both. Dale and I have sacrificed a big chunk of income so I could switch from full-time TV writing/producing to freelance writing, which gives me more time to write books. Dale also cooks, to give me yet more time. We've learned to live with less: we rarely go out to movies, but go hiking or rent DVDs instead; we rarely buy new clothes, but shop at thrift stores instead. Although I live with less, I live with the man I love, and make a living doing what I love, so I'm happy—slowly smothering in a chunky-style soup of debt, but happy.
AR: Which authors have most influenced you?
CLL: I'm not sure any authors have influenced me as much as I'd like, but a few of my favorites are: Michael Ondaatje, whose prose reads like poetry, Dave Eggers, who tells the truth so straight it cuts like a knife, and makes me yearn to be shredded, and Luis Alberto Urrea, who writes with passionate abandon. Check out this line from Urrea's satiric novel, Into the Beautiful North; it's a quote by Aunt Irma, bowling legend of the Mexican village of Tres Camarones: "Worse that I was convicted of one crime: being a woman! My efforts for the homeland were disparaged by your men and by you. Admit it! I fought with my bowling ball for all the women—and all the useless men—of Camarones. And I did it alone!"
AR: How did you find an agent, and what has your experience of the publishing industry been like?
CLL: I don't have an agent, but I did. I spent a year Googling agents who represented my favorite authors and agents who simply worked in my genre. I queried 5 a month, and signed with the 50th, a guy I'd worked with previously on a commissioned book. He pitched my memoir to a few New York houses, but they passed. We amicably parted, so I could submit to smaller publishers on my own. At the 2009 Lighthouse Lit Fest, I landed a contract with editor Matthew Davis of Ghost Road Press. I'm pathologically independent, so I feel at home outside mainstream corporate culture. Since Ghost Road prints about 20 titles a year, I don't feel like just another face in the crowd. I'm excited to work with a small press that cares deeply about the work.
I'm a neophyte in the industry, but I can tell you this: the ability to do many things on my own has already come in handy. Matt said it was both my writing and my web presence that attracted him. Made me glad I began establishing a platform before I found a publisher. This wasn't easy, since I'm not an expert on relationships, house-flipping or grief counseling. However, my memoir involves adventure and travel, and I realized that, after 20 years of independent travel, I am an expert. So, in addition to a writing website, I started the Girls Trek Too blog and workshop. I also joined a few social networks, including Facebook and Goodreads. I much prefer writing to marketing, but my book won't fulfill its purpose until people read it. So if marketing helps, I'm all over it.
Amanda Rea writes fiction and nonfiction, and directs the Young Writers Program at Lighthouse.
