During a conversation at the Ozarks
Creative Writing Conference with an editor from Amphorae Publishing Group,
"a small press with big books," the editor commented that she
enjoys my reading blog and asked if I would be willing to interview a
couple of their authors.
Before agreeing, I asked for some
information about the authors and their books to make sure they would be a good fit for my
blog visitors. And I believe they are.
I am not being compensated for interviewing the authors, although I was given a copy of their books to help me formulate my questions.
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| Cynthia A. Graham |
My first interview is with multi-genre
author Cynthia A.Graham. The photo on the left is courtesy of Amphorae Publishing Group.
According to the Amphorae website, Cynthia was born
in St. Louis, Missouri, but spent a lot of time in the cotton belt of Missouri,
"where she grew to love the mystery and beauty of the stark, Delta Plain."
Cynthia's short stories have won several awards, and her work has been
published in various anthologies.
I am giving away my copy of Cynthia A. Graham's Behind Every Door, published by Blank Slate Press (an imprint of Amphorae Publishing Group), to one of my blog visitors who leaves a comment on this post.
Here are my interview questions (in black) and Cynthia's answers (in red).
The primary setting for Behind
Every Door is Cherokee Crossing, Arkansas. Is Cherokee Crossing an actual
location or a fictional town?
Cherokee Crossing is a fictional
town located in the northeast corner of Arkansas. It would most likely be in
the real county of Lawrence. I wanted to create a town so that I could do with
it whatever I wanted, geographically, racially, and politically.
Behind Every Door
is your second novel, following Beneath
Still Waters. What was the inspiration for Behind Every Door, and how does it connect with Beneath Still Waters?
Behind Every Door takes place
two years after Beneath Still Waters and continues the life of Andrew “Hick”
Blackburn as he becomes a husband and father. At the time I was (and still am)
frustrated with how quickly we jump to conclusions – how easily we judge based
on preconceived ideas and how these prejudices can make justice, for some, very
hard to find.
Your novel takes place in the Deep South shortly after World
War II, a time of great change and upheaval in the United States, not just
because of the war, but also because of social norms and racial tensions. Why
did you pick this time period for your mystery?
Hick Blackburn was largely born
from various family stories of uncles who had gone to fight the war. These
young men were not well-traveled; they perhaps had never been further from home
than the mid-south fair in Memphis and were thrust into battle in a strange,
faraway place. The inevitable disorientation this caused helped define Hick, it
made him the perfect vehicle for questioning injustice as he had witnessed atrocity.
He is no longer capable of blind acceptance or complacency because his world
has been irrevocably changed.
Sheriff Andrew Jackson “Hick” Blackburn, the main character,
is a well drawn and realistic character. He is a man of integrity and purpose,
yet he has flaws and a wartime-past he would like to forget. How did you come
up with him as a character?
I really wanted Hick to be a
perfect storm of vulnerability – someone who would really think and process his
experiences. I created for him a past of relative ease, but I gave him the sort
of character that really questions things – from the abuse of a cat as a child
to the horrific experience he had in the war. I did not want him to be just
another John Wayne “hero” type character, but rather I wanted him to be a
vehicle for questioning our own motives and actions, our assignations of who is
worthy of life and who is not.
How difficult was it to write from the point of view of a
man, especially one who has come home from a terrible wartime experience?
The greatest compliment I ever
received was from a mentor who told me I “think like a man.” I honestly think
there are fewer differences between the sexes than we perceive. Virginia Woolf
and Samuel Coleridge both refer to the importance of an androgynous mind. The
challenge was not so much in Hick’s masculinity as in his impotence to express
himself – in his “mind forged manacles.” The wartime experience (which I have
not had) exasperated this problem and was a challenge, but anyone can
understand the frustration in wanting to express yourself on some deep level
and being unable to.
I love the cover of your book and am curious about the
title, both of which tie in to my question about your writing and publishing
process. What can you tell us about how long it took and other aspects of the
writing, editing, and publishing process for Behind Every Door?
I thought the title Behind Every
Door tied in nicely with Beneath Still Waters and my publisher designed both
covers and I think they perfectly complement one another. I was inspired when I
wrote it and since Beneath Still Waters had been favorably received, I wanted to
get it completed quickly. The whole process took about a year and a half which
is amazingly rapid.
Other than being an entertaining mystery, what do you hope
your readers will take away after reading Behind
Every Door?
I hope that it will caution them
to not jump to conclusions. Not only about crime, but about the people you meet
on a daily basis. We have no way of knowing what kind of personal agony is
dealt with behind every door. Perhaps I just hope it will inspire people to be
careful with one another – to treat each other with kindness and respect.
In your bio, you mention that you
belong to several writing groups, among them is the Historical Novel Society. What can you tell us about that group?
The Historical Novel Society is
a group that has a quarterly issue of book reviews. They also sponsor a large
conference every year. Last year it was in Oxford, England, and this year it
will be in Portland, Oregon.
What are you working on now?
I have completed the third draft
of Between the Lies, another Hick Blackburn mystery. As time marches on, Hick
will find himself embroiled in more social issues, such as desegregation.
What is the best way for readers to contact you?
They can reach me by e-mail at
graham@cynthiaagraham.com
Visitors (from USA only) who leave a comment will be entered in a drawing to win my copy of Behind Every Door. The name of the winner will be announced on Monday, November 21.
