TELL
US ABOUT YOUR BOOK
Stars Maintain Their Glow is partially a historical
novel, i.e. parts 1 and 2, are set during WWII in neutral Portugal and in
Germany. It is also a contemporary novel because the story in the past is
narrated by a character in our present times. The three central characters are
female and all strong, determined, independent women.
HOW
DID YOU COME UP WITH THE TITLE FOR THIS BOOK?
The title comes
from a poem I wrote when a dear friend of mine died. The poem is included in
the novel as a logical step within the narrative.
WHAT
INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS BOOK?
The first
inspiration came from a German friend of mine who was a child in Germany during
the period of Nazism and the Second World War. She told me fragmented episodes
she remembered of the war and life in Germany from the perspective of the child
she was then. However, without her input (she died in 2016) it wasn’t enough
for a book. I’ve always been interested in the same period (WWII) in Portugal
as the country managed to remain neutral against all odds. Lisbon (its capital)
was a melting pot of spies and refugees during the war years when the country
was ruled with an iron hand by fascist dictator Salazar. So, I thought I could
combine the two. I then needed to connect both stories and so a character in
the present was born. It was also a tribute to my father and two other dear
friends (besides the German mentioned above) all in memoriam, as they
all have died in recent years.
HOW
WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CHARACTERS IN YOUR STORY?
The characters are
complex. The main three women are strong and determined, courageous and brave.
The key male character that connects two of the women is a complicated personality.
He can be both charming and despicable. The narrator is a modern-day woman who
has had her fair share of loss and sadness but again she is strong, driven, and
tenacious. I think the characters are mostly intriguing and perhaps quite
fascinating.
WHAT
DRIVES THE CHARACTERS IN YOUR STORY?
That depends on the
character. Eduarda (the woman in Portugal during WWII) is driven by her desire
to be independent and build a career. Hertha (the woman in Germany who is a
child at the time of the war) is driven at first by the need to survive, later
by love for her husband and her children. The modern-day woman, Valeria, who
becomes friends with Hertha (in our times an old lady) is driven by her need to
build a second career out of the ruins of the first and by her promise to
Hertha. The men are different. Gerald, who connects Eduarda and Hertha, is
driven by his wish to succeed in his work but also his inability to deny
himself anything or anyone he wishes to possess. Xaver (Hertha’s grandson and
eventually Valeria’s boyfriend) is a classic ballet dancer and is driven by his
passion for this art form.
WHAT
WOULD YOU SAY IS A PIVOTAL SCENE IN YOUR BOOK AND WHY?
Gerald’s encounter
with Eduarda is pivotal. It will change her life. Hertha’s hunger and escape
from East Prussia as a child during WWII are pivotal, again they are key to her
future life. The meeting of Valeria and Xaver is also pivotal because they fall
in love and support each other in fulfilling the promise made to his grandmother,
Hertha.
WHAT
WOULD YOU SAY IS THE MAIN DRAW FOR YOUR STORY AND WHY WOULD READERS WANT TO BUY
IT?
The main draw to my
story is, I believe, the courage and determination of the women in a period of
history where not only things were difficult because of the war but also
because men had all the rights and women next to none. There is too art,
history, music, dance, passion and science at the core and heart of the novel.
It’s an intriguing, engrossing, suspenseful story. I think people will enjoy
it.
WHAT
WAS YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN WRITING THIS STORY AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO
OVERCOME IT?
The biggest
challenge was the amount of research involved for the historical periods both
for Portugal and Germany. Actually, more difficult for Portugal, as there is
less written about it than for Germany. I overcame it by simply getting hold of
books and articles of the period online, in libraries and bookshops in various
languages. As I speak German and Portuguese fluently, I had access to a lot of
material in those languages, which was very helpful.
WHAT CRITERIA DID YOU USE WHEN SELECTING THE COVER FOR
YOUR BOOK?
I wanted a photograph that showed the beauty of the night sky and the
glow of the stars on a clear, dark night. I got that from my husband, an outstanding
photographer. So, the photo is of the Milky Way on a particularly clear, dark
night. Then I wanted beautifully designed letters for the title in colours and
shapes that fit with the book’s name.
WAS THERE A MESSAGE IN YOUR BOOK THAT YOU WERE TRYING TO
CONVEY?
If there is a message
in my novel, it will be to do the best you can with what life gives you and
never give up your dreams and ideas. Life does not stop when we have a setback
or lose a loved one. It is up to us to carry on and make the most of it. Not to
victimize ourselves or to forget. Never that. Instead, we should learn to live
with the pain or the issues, turn them around and enjoy every minute of our
lives.
DO
YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR NEW WRITERS?
I don’t have
anything in particular. It is up to each writer to do what they need/want with
their talent for creating stories. Some people will try to write books that
please others or that will sell well. Personally, I don’t. It’s my choice. I
write what I know, feel and like. All those stories dancing around in my head
need to be put on paper (in a manner of speaking). If anyone wants to buy them
and has fun reading them, it is a real bonus and one that I treasure.
DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR WEBSITE READERS CAN VISIT FOR
UPDATES, EVENTS AND SPECIAL OFFERS?
I have a website called Flowing Prose. This is the link:
Offers are often advertised on my Facebook page. Here’s the direct link:
https://www.facebook.com/m.g.da.mota
EXCERPT:
Valeria’s Journal, 2022 – The Beginning
… … … …
I have
always had trouble understanding how my grandfather could have been loyal and
kind to his family and simultaneously behave in such a rotten way to his eldest
daughter Maria Eduarda – the one nobody talks about. My mother knows almost
nothing about her half-sister and has never met her. Two men had an idea of
what might have happened to Maria Eduarda, as they were the instigators in a
manner of speaking. One of them was her own father, Ludovico, the Duke of Beja,
my granddad; the other the man who changed her life.
What I
am about to write is the tale of Maria Eduarda, as told to me, and the memoirs
of my friend Hertha Lohmeyer – Hertie, as family and friends affectionately
called her. By one of those life’s serendipitous moments these two stories
crossed, touched and eventually turned into one.
I could have started working on the book
much earlier but Hertie didn’t want anything revealed while she lived.
This
year, 2022, sees the fourth anniversary of her death. The Covid-19 pandemic
started in late December 2019 in China and spread all over Europe and the World
in the early part of 2020. No-one thought it would last this long. We now have
vaccines that didn’t exist in the beginning but for how much longer it’s going
to rage is anyone’s guess. I thought about Hertie today, as the task she gave
me is nearing its end. Remembering what a kind-hearted, warm, dear person she
was I knew it was time to start shaping the stories into the book she wanted
when the pandemic began. The long months of lockdown in 2020 and then in 2021
were ideal. I lost no more time.
And so
the story begins…
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