In this sharp, witty debut, Elizabeth Gonzalez James introduces us to Mona Mireles — observant to a fault, unflinching in her opinions, and uncompromisingly confident in her professional abilities. Mona is a Millennial perfectionist who fails upwards in the midst of the 2008 economic crisis.
We chat with debut author Elizabeth Gonzalez James about Mona At Sea, first book memories, writing, and so much more!
Hi, Elizabeth! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I came to writing via that well-worn path that so many others have forged: I got an MBA and graduated into the Great Recession, failed to get a job in corporate finance like I’d planned, moved to California, got pregnant, and started writing as a way to preserve my sanity. You know, your average Künstlerroman.
How has the first half of 2021 been for you?
It’s been busy and a little bewildering. When I started planning my book tour in February, almost no one was willing to even consider an in-person event. Now, as of the last couple weeks, bookstores are reaching out and asking if I can stop by. I’m really grateful that my book is coming out exactly as the world is starting to open back up.
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 myself was probably some old Dick and Jane reader my mom had left over from her own childhood. I’m not sure if there was a book that convinced me to become an author, although Jo March and Anne Shirley probably had something to do with it. And a book I can’t stop thinking about is Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia. Oh my gosh, did I love that book!
When did you first discover your love for writing?
I don’t know that there was a moment when I discovered I loved writing, but I remember a distinct moment when I realized I was good at it. In 3rd grade we were given a picture of an elephant pulling the keys out of a zookeeper’s pocket, and told to write a story about what happened next. When we were finished with the story we had to share what we’d written with the class. I sat there and listened to my classmates, one after the other, read the exact same story about how the elephant stole the keys and then went to the carnival (it was February and the carnival had just arrived in our town). Then I got up and read my own story about how the elephant had stolen the keys, gotten on a plane to Iraq, and joined the Desert Storm forces at that point battling Saddam Hussain (I was apparently a very informed 3rd grader!). I remember realizing at that point that I saw things in a different way from my classmates, and that I was good at making up stories.
Your debut novel, Mona At Sea, is out June 30th 2021! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Funny, poignant, timely, Millennial, sharp
What can readers expect?
Mona at Sea is the story of Mona Mireles, a Millennial perfectionist who graduates college amid the financial turmoil of the Great Recession. She loses the plum Wall Street job she thought was waiting for her after graduation, unwitting stars in a viral video, and finds herself jobless and hopeless, and back at home living with her parents many months after graduation. Readers can expect to meet a young woman who might not always be justified in her feelings or actions, but who is relatable, familiar, and funny.
What was the inspiration behind Mona At Sea?
The inspiration was my own experience of long-term unemployment after grad school. I can speak with some authority about what it feels like to be unemployed for months and months, how hopeless and limitless it feels. It’s something I haven’t seen addressed much in fiction, and it was important to me to see someone take up that subject.
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
Writing about long-term unemployment is tricky because, when you’re unemployed, nothing much happens, and in fiction, stuff has to happen. It was hard to put the experience into narrative form and shape it into a story that readers would find interesting. Actual unemployment is just you sitting there sending out résumés for hours and then watching TV, and repeating that process for months until either you get a job, or give up and move to a shed in Wyoming. But that’s not a very interesting story. I overcame this problem by giving Mona multiple problems beyond her unemployment—her parents are divorcing, she is terrible to her best friend, she desperately wants a boyfriend, and she is a cutter. Giving her multiple crises helped pull the narrative forward.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I love Mona’s brother, Danny. I suspect he’s going to be a reader favorite. He’s the president of his fraternity, and an unironic Reaganite, but he’s also a wonderful brother to his complicated and frustrating sister, and shows throughout the novel that he really has a huge heart.
Is there anything you hope you readers take away from Mona At Sea?
I hope that Mona communicates some of their own frustrations about living through late-stage capitalism, about being a tiny pawn in a big corporate machine. A lot of people did everything right and still have nothing to show for it, and I hope they see themselves in the story ad are maybe able to articulate or understand their own situation a little better.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
The best writing advice I ever received was paraphrased from Henry James: “Be a person upon whom nothing is lost.” And the worst advice I ever received was to work on my platform before working on my writing. The writing is first and last and everything in between. The platform will come when it comes.
What’s next for you?
I am working on my second novel, a magical realism western based on my great-grandfather who was a bandido.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Tons! The Rock Eaters by Brenda Peynado, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez, The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata, and it doesn’t come out until the fall, but Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian – it’s going to be big!
