Today it's my pleasure to welcome author Gabrielle Yetter to the blog to talk about her debut fiction novel Whisper of the Lotus.
As far back as I can remember I have always loved to write. At school, English was my favourite subject and when my career guidance teacher suggested I study journalism, I didn’t hesitate. Once I’d completed my studies, I started working as a reporter on The Star, South Africa’s largest daily newspaper, and soon had my own column as well as writing for the entertainment section where I wrote film and theatre reviews, restaurant critiques and personality profiles. I interviewed a number of celebrities, including Cliff Richard, the Osmonds, David Carradine, and Spike Milligan, and enjoyed being able to peek below the surface, learn what makes people tick, and hear their life stories.
After leaving South Africa, I went to the U.S. and was always writing something: freelance articles, children’s stories, press releases, marketing pieces and dozens of journals where I chronicled the events of my life.
If you had to give an elevator pitch for your debut novel, Whisper of the Lotus, what would it be?Whisper of the Lotus is about the journey of a young woman who meets a mysterious old man on her way to Cambodia who changes the direction of her life. She’d originally planned on visiting her best friend and enjoying a foreign holiday but instead finds herself exploring dusty back streets and mystical pagodas in search of a missing person and, ultimately, discovering the real reason for her journey. Part mystery, part self-discovery and part magic, it’s story wrapped up in the sights, sounds, and smells of this exotic Asian country.
Charlotte's mundane, dead-end life lacked excitement. She never imagined that sitting on a plane to Cambodia, struggling with her fear of flying, would lead to her being befriended by a Rashid, an old man whose tragic secret would take her on a mystery tour of discovery.
In a land of golden temples, orange-clad monks, and smiling people, Charlotte discovers nothing is as she'd expected. She also never imagined the journey would take her back to the night when her father walked out on the family.
And who was Rashid? Was he just a kindly old man, or was there something deeper sewn into the exquisite fabric of his life?
The story of the lotus is about a beautiful flower that begins life underwater covered in mud. As it grows, it pushes toward the surface, and the water washes the mud from its petals so that it emerges into the sunlight. This tale is a metaphor for my protagonist, Charlotte. When the book begins, she is a timid, naïve young woman trying to free herself from the shackles of a challenged background. But as the story progresses, she discovers truths about her past and emerges as a stronger, more confident and independent young woman.
Whisper of the Lotus is set in Cambodia, what inspired you to set the novel there?
My husband, Skip, and I moved to Cambodia in 2010 after spending our honeymoon in Thailand and falling in love with Southeast Asia. While living in Phnom Penh, inspiration struck hard as I was surrounded by stories that cried out to be told: a doctor operating a clinic in a rural province, an English dancer creating a ballet school, a Khmer Rouge survivor providing education for underprivileged children, and many more. In my work with a Cambodian NGO (non-governmental organization), I discovered places that tourists never saw and met people who captured my heart and taught me valuable lessons of humility, compassion, acceptance, and generosity. We left Phnom Penh in 2014 and that’s when I began writing my book. Perhaps it was so I could capture the perfume of the jasmine flowers, the stench of the durian fruit, the potholes in the streets, the tender touch of the masseuses and the enormous smiles of the people. Perhaps it was so I could bring readers into the country I love so much.
You have previously written non-fiction as well as picture children's books, how different did you find the writing process to be for writing a fiction novel?
Completely. In fiction, I let my imagination run wild and develop storylines and scenarios, creating characters in my head that become real on paper. Some of the characters are actual people (such as SomOn, our tuk-tuk driver), some are based on people I met in Phnom Penh (such as eccentric Roxy) and some are just fun to create (such as the horrible Christal). Much of the work was done in my head long before it got into the book and I found myself writing scenes in my mind as I went on hikes and cycle rides or travelled on planes and buses.
In non-fiction, most of the work is done through research. In Just Go, I interviewed dozens of people who, like us, had made enormous changes in their lives. And in The Sweet Tastes of Cambodia, I travelled through Cambodia in a minivan with four other people, researching traditional dessert recipes and talking to the people who made them.
If you could give some advice to your younger self about writing, what would it be?
Keep going. Writing is often the best therapy.
What would you say is the best thing about writing? And on the flip side, what is the hardest?
The best part is possessing skills to create pictures with words. There’s a special magic that happens when you weave 26 letters of the alphabet into emotions, conversations, scenarios and stories. For me, it offers a connection to my soul and I often lose myself for hours when I’m writing.
The hardest part is editing, having the discipline to read every word you’ve written (multiple times, until you begin to hate it) and find an way of cutting chunks out or rearranging chapters or redoing entire scenes. With Whisper of the Lotus, I worked with an editor who gave me guidance (and told me she enjoyed rewriting as she could create a new and better story) but it’s never easy to chop apart what you’ve written. To make it less painful, I put all the cut parts into a separate Word document so there were still there, just in a different place!
And finally, what can we expect from you next?
There's another children's book I’d like to complete. It was inspired by a dog in Ireland and is called Square Dog Gets Around. As with all my childrens' stories, it conveys a message of inspiration and hope for children who may have challenges fitting in.
Follow Gabrielle's writing journey via the links below:
Website: http://www.gabrielleyetter.com
Facebook: Gabrielle Yetter Author
Twitter: @gabster2
Gabrielle has very generously donated both a digital copy (open Internationally) and paperback copy (open to UK residents only) of Whispers of the Lotus for a giveaway. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.
*Terms and Conditions* – As with all giveaways on the blog the winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by email and/or Twitter. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties and will be deleted once receipt of the prize has been confirmed. NB. Please do not add details of this giveaway to other sites without my permission.
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