#Interview with Emily Gallo, #Author of DREAMer - #LiteraryFiction #Contemporary @TheEmilyGallo

 

I View My Life In 3 Acts

Emily Kaufman was the girl growing up in Manhattan in the fifties and sixties. In the sixties and seventies, I attended Clark University and lived in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Seattle doing the hippie/peace/love/protest thing.

In the eighties and nineties, Emily Saur lived in Northampton, MA and Davis, CA and was the more conventional wife, mother of two, and elementary school teacher.

In 2006, I retired from teaching and became Emily Gallo when I married David, a professor of economics, and moved to Chico, CA to continue our journey. I started writing screenplays and television and moved into novels. David, Gracie (our Schillerhound), Savali (our cat) and I now divide our time between two and a half acres of gardens, orchards in Chico and a 750 square foot condo on the beach in Carpinteria, CA.

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Interview with Emily Gallo

When did you first realize that you wanted to be a writer/ a storyteller?

In high school – I enjoyed it and had an inspiring English teacher who praised my work.

What inspires you to write?

Talking to people and hearing their stories.

How did you come up with the idea for your current story?

Before becoming a full-time novelist, I taught elementary school in a low-income, diverse neighborhood in Sacramento. I had many students who were “illegal immigrants” and one named Marisol whose story always stuck in my mind. One of my friends went to Tijuana to teach at a school for children separated from their parents at the border. Talking to her brought back my memories of Marisol and although her actual story is different from the one I wrote, I based my protagonist on her.

Are there some stories tucked away in some drawer that was written before and never saw the light of the day?

Yes but parts of those stories are in the books I do publish.

Tell us about your writing process.

I write in the Tin Roof Café near my house. I have multiple places to write at my house - my office, my studio – but I have always been a café denizen and I find it inspiring to be surrounded by people. I am not your stereotype loner, introvert writer.

What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?

When Marisol is reunited with her sister, Graciela. I like happy endings, especially during the frightening political scene of the years and the distress that Covid brought to our country and world. It gives people hope and optimism.

Did any of your characters inherit some of your own quirks?

Kate is a retired teacher about my age so she is the closest character in any of my books to my own persona.

What is your most interesting writing quirk?

Always writing in cafes and writing without a definite structure in mind.

Do you read? Who are your favourite authors and how have they influenced your writing style?

My favorite authors are Frank McCourt and Carson McCullers but I like John Grisham, Michael Connelly and Robert Crais for easy-to-read crime and mystery. I don’t think my writing style has been influenced by any of them, though – at least not to my knowledge. Someone else reading is might thing differently.

What is the best piece of advice you have received, as a writer, till date?

There is no right way to write and write from the heart.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?

Just begin and the rest will fall into place.

What would be the Dream Cast for you book if it was to be turned into a movie?

Meg Ryan as Kate and Idris Elba as Lawrence. I don’t know any twelve year old Hispanic actresses.

How do you spend your free time? Do you have a favorite place to go and unwind?

Our condo a block from the beach in Carpinteria

Can you share with us something off your bucket list?

Visiting Greece and Italy.

What do you have in store next for your readers?

Luther, the protagonist of “The Last Resort,” my book before “DREAMer,” was in prison for twenty years for a murder he did not commit. He was exonerated by The Innocence Project and when he was released from prison, he made it to a pot farm in Garberville with a bunch of other misfits and quirky characters. In the book I am writing now, “Making the Case for Liminality,” Luther becomes a suspect when a body is found near the farm. He runs to New York to stay with Finn, a hard-drinking cantankerous, Irish author, who was the protagonist of my first book, “Venice Beach.” Finn helps Luther find his way and get back on track with his life.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers?

I like to write using quirky characters from previous books.

Kate and Lawrence drive through the desert on their way home from vacation and find a young girl sitting by the side of the road. Who is she? Where is she from and where is she going? Why is she there? When and how did she get there? What can they do to help? The girl won't speak, but that doesn't deter them from embarking on a journey through central and southern California to find the answers.





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