We chat to LB Gschwandtner about A Place Called Zamora, a new enthralling SF dystopian romance series and weaves a provocative tale about the consequences of corruption on a society and the possibility of rebirth. Inspired by the Tower of David in Caracas as well as her views on the endemic dishonesty of the US political system following Trump’s election, read on to learn more about this upcoming release!
Hi, LB! Tell us a bit about yourself!
LB Gschwandtner is an author who has attended numerous fiction-writing workshops―the Iowa Writers Workshop and others―studied with Fred Leebron, Bob Bausch, Richard Bausch, Lary Bloom, Joyce Maynard, Sue Levine, and Wally Lamb, and published five adult novels, one middle-grade novel, and one collection of quirky short stories. She began her professional career as an artist, became a magazine editor in 1980, and began writing fiction in 1986. She’s won awards in literary contests and independent publishing contests, and been published in literary digests and magazines. A Place Called Zamora is her eighth book.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
In seventh grade when my English teacher read one of my essays aloud to our class, and the other students were attentive (while I tried to evaporate under my desk), it did spark some tiny ember that took many years to fully ignite.
A Place Called Zamora is out September 8th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
I hope it’s only fiction!
What inspired you to write A Place Called Zamora?
You could say the current corruption of our political system was the inspiration for my just-published dystopian novel, but the idea for this book came to me long before this presidential administration took over. It began because of an article I read about a fancy high rise in Caracas, Venezuela. Its builder died before it was finished and the enormous, ambitious half-finished structure was abandoned. Meanwhile Caracas itself fell into a financial and political swamp, becoming known as a failed state. Squatters having nowhere else to live moved into the building, and it soon became known as the world’s tallest slum. This was the backdrop of my story.
It was a challenge to spend two years writing a novel whose main tenet was how corruption affects average people and turns two young lovers into combatants. Even though I was writing about a dystopian future in a city of my own creation, there were days when I was downhearted about the human condition and our own country’s failings. These feelings have not diminished. I hope we can pull ourselves away from our own urge to self destruct.
Did you face any challenges while writing?
Haha. What a question for a writer. Writing itself is the challenge. I don’t know any writer who sits down at a keyboard and thinks “Oh goody I get to write.” It’s gruelling work that always leaves you feeling you could have done it better. It’s not like math. There is no right answer. You just have to plow through the fields of darkness until some light emerges. But there are moments of great clarity, if you can withstand the uncertainty of the process.
What piece of advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Read a lot, write a lot, go to great workshops with great writing teachers. Improve with everything you write, even if it’s only a sentence or paragraph. Find what your particular strength is as a writer and build on that.
With the current state of the world, what are you doing to cope with the changes we’ve had to make with our day-to-day?
Well wearing a mask is a new thing. Hand washing has become a semi-religious ritual. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to eat in a restaurant. I no longer trust a mail system I never questioned. I count the months by how many times I’ve trimmed my own hair (badly). My book has so many parallels to our political and social situation now that it gives me chills (see question/answer # 2 above). I keep telling myself nothing lasts forever, and I keep hoping the worst is behind us. Whenever there is a beautiful cloud formation outside, I make sure to look at it and marvel at its beauty.
What’s next for you?
Book 2 in this series – The Gardens of Zamora, wherein Niko and El discover how beautiful the world can be and yet get drawn back to the rebellion in the city they escaped (where corruption rules and Niko’s secret birthright awaits discovery).
Lastly, what are you currently reading and do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
I don’t know how or when this happened, but I’m reading three books at the same time. Is that crazy? Two are nonfiction and one is an older work of Marquez, One hundred Years of Solitude. The nonfictions are by writers I know. Lary Bloom’s Sol LeWitt, A Life Of Ideas and Tom Zoellner’s Island On Fire: The Revolt That Ended Slavery in the British Empire. I have no idea if these would be of interest to anyone else but they’re all fine works by extraordinary writers.
Publishing has become so rich with books by so many different types of writers that readers have a real banquet spread out for them. I will say one book that’s stuck with me for quite some time is The Life of Pi. And my all time favorite book, which I must have read four or five times and completely marked up and post-it noted to death is Dr. Zhivago. It’s the only book that made me cry. But I love Russian literature so take that into account. Those Russian names don’t put me off at all.
