I've pulled together 40ish questions - some bookish, some silly - and have asked authors to limit themselves to answering only 10 of them. That way, it keeps the interviews fresh and connectable for all of us!
Today we are joined by Natalia Loya. Natalia is lawyer/writer/amateur guitarist. When not wrangling legal briefs or weaving works of fiction, she’s usually out on a run or working on her Not Terrible Flamenco guitar skills. Her work blends her love of feminist history, emotional depth, and magical realism. She lives in Texas with her husband and three dogs.
What do you do when you’re not writing?
I am an amateur musician and consider myself a so-so
Flamenco guitarist. After my French historical died on submission, I took a
writing hiatus for a couple of years. I took that time to throw myself into
guitar and after a few years, I was able to play somewhat competently. I used
to play piano as a teenager, and I recently bought a lightly-used Roland I got
excited about. I have been busy getting ready for publication, but I am looking
forward to jumping in again.
Do you think you’d live long in a zombie apocalypse?
My answer to this has actually
changed in the last five years! I used to joke that given my awful eyesight and
poor hearing, I would never last—and I decided I would sacrifice myself early
on in some altruistic moment, so that others could be saved. But then I picked
up running and got laser eye correction—I can shoot a gun, and so
realistically, given that I can run, shoot, and see fairly well now, I think my
odds have drastically improved. The calculus for self-sacrifice has changed a
bit!
What’s the best money you’ve ever spent as a writer?
Hands down, it was hiring a
specific designer to create my book cover. There were probably a hundred or
more covers that would have suited the book, but I loved her style and artistic
vision. She crafted a gorgeous design that really served the book.
What are your bookish pet peeves?
I get annoyed when books are driven mostly by the unreliable
narrator trope. I feel like it’s a structural trick to get people to turn
pages, especially when the works lack interesting characters or an intriguing
plot. I end up feeling manipulated and unsatisfied.
Are you a book hoarder or a book unhauler?
Unhauler. Shoe collection aside, I have some minimalist tendencies. I tend to keep physical copies of books that have sentimental value to me, or that I use for research. Everything else gets sold back to used bookstores or purchased as an e-Book.
If you could spend the day with another author, who would you choose and why?
It would be St. Augustine of The
Confessions. Brilliant philosopher and theologian who had incredible things
to say not only of spirituality, but of the nature of time, and of the
transformative capacity of the human spirit. His own life journey was
remarkable and has served as inspiration for me during hard times. I have only
read translations, but his writing is some of the most passionate I’ve ever
encountered.
What’s the single best line you’ve ever read?
It’s a line from All the Light We Cannot See by
Anthony Doerr. “So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark
of light, build for us a world full of light?” Doerr’s prose itself is
gorgeous, but he interweaves science and philosophy within a beautiful story in
a way that demands stillness, introspection, and depth of thought. This line
paralyzed me when I read it and evoked a richness of emotions and
considerations. There are many lines in this book that are similar, but this
was my favorite.
What are some of your favorite books and/or authors?
Favorite books are A Tree
Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, East of Eden by Steinbeck, and All
the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I love many of Stephen King’s
books, and my favorites of his are Salem’s Lot and Revival.
Kristin Hannah and Isabel Cañas are contemporary authors of
historical fiction that I really admire.
What is your favorite way to waste time?
I am an avid Redditor.
Which is not always great when you have some compulsive reading behaviors! I am
somewhat active, though I don’t comment much these days.
Do you DNF books?
Yes, though not often, and I usually get at least a third of the way through
before I call it quits. Life is too short and there are too many books that do
vibe with me to spend time on ones that don’t.
What is your favorite book from childhood?
The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater, easy. It
features Mr. Plumbean, who lives in a neighborhood that prides itself on
maintaining identical, uniform houses. One day, his home gets splattered by a
seagull carrying a can of orange paint. He goes along with it and mayhem erupts
as the neighbors demand he fix this aberration. The book is ferociously
anti-conformist, though as an adult, I wonder if it was inspired by someone
battling their Home Owners’ Association.
In a city teeming with revolution, science and passion offer
their own strains of violence.
Petrograd, 1916 When her
aristocratic family is left destitute, Mariya grows desperate to survive — and
to support her widowed mother and sisters. She finds financial relief in a job
with Dr. Nikolas Rodin, a reclusive scientist. While the work makes ends meet,
Mariya is soon pulled into the eerie rhythm of the laboratory: a realm of
orange gaslights, unsettling experiments, and a man whose genius is as
seductive as it is unstable.
Tuberculosis and revolution
both ravage Russia. The chants of protest ring in the streets and when
consumption strikes her household, Mariya must choose between her family’s
security and a love that shatters all moral paradigms. Meanwhile, in the
surreal shadows of the laboratory, both reality and sanity begin to bend. And
when survival demands scientific progress at any cost, devotion itself becomes
deadly.
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