Graciela
Limón, born in Los Angeles, California, is the daughter of Mexican
immigrants. She attended public and
Catholic schools in her hometown, and continued on to university after which
she became a professor of Latina/o Literature.
Parallel to her teaching, she has been an activist in Latina affairs,
gender studies and Trans Border issues.
Limón has published nine novels, including her latest work, The Intriguing Life of Ximena Godoy.
Amazon
Link to Book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Intriguing-Life-Ximena-Godoy/dp/1633930009
Questionnaire:
Thanks
for letting us interrogate you! Can you
give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?
It’s tough to describe the deep
desire that I’ve always had to write stories but that’s what it is. Writing takes me to a world inhabited by
people that maybe are a combination of friends and probably even enemies, or
they may be purely imagined. Writing
puts me in another world, one I don’t want to leave to return to my ordinary
one.
Tell
us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be? I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?
Yes, it’s all it’s cracked up
to be (for me, that is). For the reasons
I’ve just told, there’s great happiness in creating other worlds, although writing
isn’t free of pain. Writing is a lonely,
solitary pathway, but one that for me is seductive. However, its demands diminish in light of the
satisfaction writing brings me. The main
perk is to see what was not there come into existence, and I, as the writer, am
instrumental in that act of creation.
Which
route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the
nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?
I chose the traditional path
(searching until I found a publisher).
It was a bumpy road, one filled with the down-deep hurt of rejection
after rejection. Yet, I hung in there,
always hoping that there would be at least one publisher that would recognize
the worthiness of my work. And when I
was just about to give it all up in desperation, the miracle happened! The University of Houston Press (Arte Público
Press) read my first manuscript and agreed to publish it. The rest is history, as the old saying goes.
Tell
us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your
book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?
Everyone around me: family,
friends, the mail person, everyone, thinks I’m out of my mind when I embark on
a new writing project. In the beginning
it was a mystery to them, but no longer.
Now they just scratch their head knowing there’s nothing to do except
wait until the novel is completed, and we break out the champagne.
Do your pets actually get their food on time or do
they have to wait until you type just one more word?
I have a pet. Her name is Lolita (a cocker spaniel). She’s the only being on the planet that
understands my funny behavior while I write a novel. She never complains, but then, she knows that
even if only a little late, she will always be fed and loved. Without Lolita’s understanding this author
would die!
Are they actually still alive?
Although
I love green, living things, I don’t consider myself an authentic plant person
-- real gardener. Do you know what I
mean? All I do is make sure that the
sprinklers work so that my grass doesn’t die.
In
writing your book, how did you deal with the phone ringing, your family needing
dinner or your boss calling you saying you’re late?
I ignored everything: bells, whistles, complaining, whining –
everything. I lived only in the world of
my novel until I finished it. Only then
did I emerge as if out of a cave.
What
was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing
process?
Really,
I can’t remember of think of anything that would fit this question. Perhaps the fact that I’m a writer in the
first place is already too insane in itself to find a comparison.
How
about the social networks? Which ones do
you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?
Aside
from my website, I don’t participate in the social networks. I don’t have the time to waste on gossip or
useless prattle, and I certainly am not in the mood to let the masses in on my
private life. In our digital age this is
pretty dumb, isn’t it? But there it is. That’s me, Graciela Limón!
Book
sales. Don’t you just love them (or lack
of?)? How are you making the sales
happen for you?
Oh,
this blessing happens only with the help of a wonderful agent, a
forward-looking publisher, and an excellent publicity person. Of course, I hope my work merits the
attention and willingness of someone to spend money on my books. For that I need readers. They’re the ones that make it happen.
What
is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?
Happiness for me is the one
reader that takes the time to email me to let me know that s/he has read my
work and likes it. That makes me scream
with joy, and jump up and down, even on the rooftop.
Okay,
too much sugar for you today! Here’s a
nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch
the waves roll in. Now…can you tell us
what you love about being a published author and how all those things above don’t
matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t
have it any other way?
I wouldn’t have it any other
way because writing is in my DNA. Being
a published author, of course, is the icing on the cake, but the world of books
has always and will always take me to heaven.
And to think that I’ve been able to contribute just a little grain of
sand to that immense ocean makes me indescribably happy! So, let’s enjoy those beautiful waves, and
thanks so much for the nice cup of Chamomile tea.
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