J . ARLENE CULINER INTERVIEW
J . ARLENE CULINER INTERVIEW
MFRW : JAC :
MFRW : JAC :
MFRW : JAC :
MFRW :
How much of your personality and life experiences are in your writing ? All my characters are me . All their experiences come from my own adventures . I ’ m remarkably lucky , because I ’ ve led an incredibly varied , adventurous — even dangerous — life , so there ’ s a lot of material to draw on . Would you like to write a different genre or sub-genre than you do now ? I also write non-fiction / Eastern European history / essay . It demands years of research in archives across Europe and America . Writing romance ( often at the same time ) is a charming break from that . Tell us about your latest book . What motivated the story ? Where did the idea come from ? Once , I found myself in a clapboard , semi-ghost town in Nevada where an ever-buffeting wind rattled low-lying grasses and made loose doors tap . The ancient hotel I stayed in was wonderfully shabby , and its lumpy wallpaper made me think of long-gone travelers and forgotten secrets . I was equally fascinated by the odd characters and misfits who lived in that community , and I knew I had to reproduce them in stories . Thus , the Blake ’ s Folly Trilogy — A Room in Blake ’ s Folly , All About Charming Alice , and Desert Rose — was born . If money were not an object , where would you most like to live ?
JAC :
MFRW :
Frankly , money isn ’ t an object . Leading a rickety and adventurous life in out-of-the-way places , I ’ ve never had much cash . But one morning , as I lay in bed reading a fascinating book , I looked over towards the open window . It was six AM , the light was delicate , and facing me was a wild canopy of green leaves . Birds were singing ; the black cat was curled up against my hip ; the big black dog was snoring on the floor . And I knew that this was a perfect moment , that life is filled with such instants of perfection . All I had to do was recognize them . So why go anywhere else if I don ’ t have to ? Tell us about the scariest thing that ever happened to you .
JAC : Scary ? I have a talent for getting in ( and out of ) scrapes . To name only a few : escaping a ( potential ) rapist and killer in the mountains in France , escaping hijackers while crossing Spain on foot , hiding in a snake-filled swamp to avoid dangerous drunken louts in Hungary , hiding in deep snow to avoid a ( potential ) rapist in Turkey , being arrested for espionage in Turkey ( false charge ), being arrested for espionage in Algeria ( false charge ), finding myself in the middle of a mine field on a battleground in the West Sahara . Yet here I am today , still bright eyed and bushy tailed . Heaven knows what will happen next .
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