We chat with co-authors Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher about Solis, which is a haunting near-future companion tale about undocumented immigrants subjected to deadly experiments in a government labor camp and the four courageous rebels who set into place a daring plan to liberate them.
Hi, Paola and Abby! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Paola: I am an immigrant from Colombia. I am a mom. I live in Brooklyn. I use storytelling to inspire people to organize, to act, to get involved in making the world a better place.
Abby: Sure! I’m a writer, performer, mother and daughter. I feel like writing is the most healing way to connect with other people.
Your latest novel, Solis, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Paola: Inspiring, scarily real, propulsive, queer!
Abby: Fierce, urgent, vivid, hopeful, powerful
What can readers expect?
Paola: A story that is a warning about our future. A story that is equal parts frightening and inspiring. A story that will inspire people to stand up to injustice.
Abby: SOLIS is the story of fierce love and resistance. It takes place in a near-future America where undocumented immigrants are being hunted down and forced to work in brutal labor camps. The conditions are horrible, but our four narrators show that anything is possible when we lead with our hearts.
Where did the inspiration for Solis come from?
Paola: The characters and the story of Solis come from the thousands of people I have spoken to over my 15 years documenting the stories of immigrants. I have heard both inspiring and heartbreaking stories about people’s journeys to the United states. They have shared their dreams with me, and their heartbreak. My job as a storyteller is to listen to people. It’s from this place of listening that I write from. SOLIS comes from my imagination, but it is inspired by real people, who have experienced real pain.
Abby: After SANCTUARY, we knew that this story wasn’t done. The threat of xenophobia and violence is very real and continues to grow. We wanted to show what it takes to not only survive, but build a new reality where human rights are fought for and won.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Paola: Writing SOLIS was very hard because we had to really dark places. It was emotionally difficult to imagine the violence, the hate and the pain our characters were living through. But it was equally beautiful to imagine how humanity lives and thrives in the darkest of places.
Abby: I really enjoyed exploring what it could feel like to find new love even in the harshest of conditions. Our lives are never just great or horrible at any given moment. So, it felt exciting to write about feeling hopeful and despairing, attracted and alone all at once.
What do you hope readers take away from Solis?
Paola: At its core, SOLIS is about not accepting the world as it is. It is about young people refusing to live in an unjust world. It is about finding new pathways to freedom. SOLIS is asking its readers to be brave. It’s asking them to find the courage within themselves to risk their comfort, their privilege and even the safety of their silence to help those in need. It is asking us all to find the courage to save our country, our home and our planet.
I know this is a lot to ask of my readers, especially of young people. I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t think it’s right, but it is where we find ourselves and I believe it is what we must do.
Abby: We are all connected. We all deserve to feel love and hope and safety.
Can you tell us a bit about how the collaboration process works for you two?
Paola: SOLIS was pretty straight forward. I had the vision for the story which I shared with Abby. We then collaborated on the details for each character. Then I wrote two characters and Abby wrote the other two characters. We then each edited one another’s work, rewrote sections, until eventually each story was both of our vision.
Abby: We are big fans of google docs! It’s great to be able to write pieces and then share them for feedback. We also will text in the middle of the day with random thoughts for plot or character and honestly, just moral support so we can find hope for our characters on their journey.
What’s next for you both?
Paola: We are adapting Sanctuary into a film! We hope to have that into the world sometime in the future!
I have a few book ideas I am working on, one of which would be the last book of our trilogy!
Abby: We are very excited to be shopping this story around to movie studios and hope the next stop is on the big screen!
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
Paola: I recently read Women by Chloe Caldwell. I can’t wait to read Libertad by Bessie Flores Zaldivar
Abby: This year I got lost in “Three Women” and “The Girls from Corona Del Mar”.
