Pura Belpré Honor-winning author Donna Barba Higuera presents us with a brilliant journey through the stars, to the very heart of what makes us human.
We chat with Donna about her latest book release, The Last Cuentista, along with writing, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Donna! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I grew up in a small desert town in central California amongst oil fields. As a child, I daydreamed about lush green places and read books to escape. I finally found that lush green place in the Pacific Northwest with my husband and children, and still spend my time daydreaming about other places, times, and realities.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
There were several times in my life where I discovered/rediscovered writing and would write in frenzied spurts, but the first time I can remember writing stories was after reading Reader’s Digest Mysteries of the Unexplained. My aunt had a copy, and when I’d stay at her home, I’d write my own versions of how the age-old unsolved phenomena or places came to be, or what was really going on.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
The first book I remember reading was Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever. It was the first book I remember being able to understand the words, so it was magical. I remember running my pointer finger over all the images and exploring each page bit by bit, wishing I could be in their colorful anthropomorphic world.
The book that made me first want to become an author was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I rediscovered the feeling of being immersed in an imaginary world, and wanted to create my own.
There are many books that take me to worlds I can’t stop thinking about. Most recently though, Darcie Little Badger’s, A Snake Falls to Earth is rooted in my mind. Beautiful storytelling told from the view of a Lipan Apache girl whose family’s struggles and hints of a parallel world collide with the alternate POV of a cottonmouth person who must return from Earth’s realm to that spirit world (as all cottonmouth people must leave their families) and how the worlds of the Earth-dweller and cottonmouth person intersect. I can’t stop wondering of all the “what ifs” this book presents. Much like Mysteries of the Unexplained!
Your latest novel, The Last Cuentista, is out October 12th 2021! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
All Earth’s legends, 1 girl’s mind.
(See what I did there? You said five “words”.)
What can readers expect?
The Last Cuentista is a story that asks us each what we value most. If Earth was ending, what would you fight to carry with you to another planet and a new future of humanity?
The main character, Petra, a storyteller, yearns to be a storyteller like her grandmother she’s leaving behind. Hopefully, the reader will reflect along with Petra on the importance of all Earth’s folklore and mythology. And the horror of what could happen if all our stories were threatened to be erased.
The reader can expect the excitement of exploring a new planet, and the hope for all humans could become if we were forced to completely start over, and the fear for that hope it was threatened.
Where did the inspiration for The Last Cuentista come from?
About five years ago, I was doing a writing exercise. It didn’t start as such a monumental idea, but a simple writing prompt. “Take a traditional fairytale and make sci-fi.” I decided there were lots of fairytales that get plenty of airplay, like Cinderella and Snow White. I chose the lesser known Princess and the Pea, without any idea of how in the heck I was going to make it sci-fi.
I began my “what-ifs”. What if the pea, was a P.E.A., or pellet of extended animation (I know, hokey) that would induce sleep for a journey across space? But what if this P.E.A. malfunctioned? What if like in the original tale, the girl was awake the whole time? But instead of one sleepless night, she was awake for hundreds of years? And what if after all this time, humans were completely different and valued different things?
It was just a short story, but the premise haunted me. So last year, I decided to revisit the concept, but make it richer pitting the things I value most (stories and storytelling) against my worst fears of where humanity could go if given the chance.
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
For this book specifically? For sure, the pandemic! I’m in healthcare, so I was still working throughout. My mind was both tired and filled with worry of all that was happening in the world around me, so it was hard to focus on writing. I’m not sure I overcame the challenges and worries that followed me. The concerns are still there. But the happenings in the world around me during this time found their way into the story. Only after reading the story in its final form could I see how it is in many ways a snapshot into the time it was written.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I loved exploring a young boy in the book who’d been raised by a humanity without stories. When he meets Petra, she introduces him to her version of humanity; one filled with Earth’s stories (or cuentos) from her culture. The allure of this to the boy is irresistible. Some of my favorite scenes were imagining the magic he must have felt hearing Petra’s stories for the first time. I imagine this boy feeling like we all felt the first time we picked up a book, or were told a story, and were lost in that story’s world completely.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
When I first started writing, I thought there was some magic formula which surely meant I needed the “right pen” or “proper notebook” and is why I have drawers and stacks of each.
I’ve since learned writers each have our own path, and each of us has to determine what that means for ourselves. So, I hesitate to answer this. One person’s horrible advice may be just what another writer needs.
But, for my own writing journey, I think the worst advice I’ve received is “write what you know”. Well I know nothing about what it feels like to travel to a new planet across space. Or to be placed in a stasis pod submerged in organ numbing gel. My imagination is everything. So while I know there are instances where this holds true, I say, “go write whatever and wherever your imagination takes you.”
The best advice that worked for me?
Join a critique group.
Ten years ago, I took this advice. I joined a motley group of writers, The Papercuts. We write in all different genres and meet once a week for three hours. It keeps me on track with both my writing goals, and also keeps me sharp on giving thoughtful critique. They’ve become my other family. And we have a commitment to one another. Whether or not we bring our own chapter to critique, we show up to critique others and share in our writing setbacks and victories. I don’t use everything they say, every single time. But I take the parts of the feedback that make sense to my work. It is priceless.
What’s next for you?
I don’t know exactly.
I’m currently working on another dystopian sci-fi, but I’m also always thinking of Petra and where her storytelling journey could go next. Wish me luck! Those “what ifs” follow me everywhere!
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Most recently, my favorites are Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri and Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger.
I’m currently reading and love so far, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan.
