Peeking Between the Pages

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Guest Post with Pamela Schoenewaldt, author of Swimming in the Moon & Giveaway (US only)

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Please join me today in welcoming Pamela Schoenewaldt, author of Swimming in the Moon to the blog! I reviewed her newest novel Swimming in the Moon which released on September 3 yesterday (my review) and I have to say that this novel is another favorite of mine just as her first one When We Were Strangers was. She is a very talented author who writes beautiful books and I feel privileged to have read them. Today she joins us with a guest post entitled The Medieval Birth of a 20th Century Novel…

 

My second historical novel, SWIMMING IN THE MOON, is set in Naples and Cleveland from 1904 to 1913. Actually the project began a bit further back, in the Middle Ages. After I finished WHEN WE WERE STRANGERS, which tells the journey of a needleworker from a mountain village in Abruzzo to America in the 1880s, I plunged into a project about a woman in the household of the wife of the Holy Roman Emperor in the late 11th C. I have to say, it was a bit of a slog, but I slogged through many iterations, found my way, and presented the first four chapters to my agent, who then passed it to the editor.

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Who loved the chapters, she said. But . . . the immigration theme had such resonance with readers and interest in historical novel is moving into the early 20th C. Did I have anything more, hum, current? Could some of the themes in my novel be pushed a little from 1195 to, say, 1905? Mind you, this was a conference call between me, my agent and my editor. No pressure. Just put together a novel idea on the fly.

The amazing thing is, it happened. Adrenalin is magic. And in fact I had, in my medieval slog, been thinking of other themes and story ideas. A woman of great musical talent which her daughter doesn’t share. A mother whose fragile mind breaks: the theme called up for me so many friends today torn between living their own lives and the need to parent their own parents. In that high-tension conference call I pictured a mother and daughter in service forced to leave a Neapolitan villa which has sheltered them. I went to college near Cleveland and that city’s blend of scruffy history, cultural verve and immigrant neighborhoods has always intrigued me. Add vaudeville (why not?). In Knoxville where I live, I’m involved with several worker justice issues and a local union. I reeled off these themes to polite silence. Could I make all this into a treatment? Soon, I imagined, like tomorrow. I did. The story bloomed. Names and faces came to me; the plot formed itself. My slog was over and I was on my way to SWIMMING IN THE MOON.

Pam

As an addendum, it’s tempting to see stories like this as wasted time, blind alleys, but I think otherwise. Every story has its own way of coming, its own gestation. My early 20th C story had a long road, but the journey has its value and I’m grateful. I hope you enjoy reading SWIMMING IN THE MOON as much I enjoyed living with it.

 

ABOUT SWIMMING IN THE MOON (From Harper Collins)

Italy, 1905. Fourteen-year-old Lucia and her young mother, Teresa, are servants in a magnificent villa on the Bay of Naples, where Teresa soothes their unhappy mistress with song. But volatile tempers force them to flee, exchanging their warm, gilded cage for the cold winds off Lake Erie and Cleveland’s restless immigrant quarters.

With a voice as soaring and varied as her moods, Teresa transforms herself into the Naples Nightingale on the vaudeville circuit. Clever and hardworking, Lucia blossoms in school until her mother’s demons return, fracturing Lucia’s dreams.

Yet Lucia is not alone in her struggle for a better life. All around her, friends and neighbors, new Americans, are demanding decent wages and working conditions. Lucia joins their battle, confronting risks and opportunities that will transform her and her world in ways she never imagined.

Reading Guide
Buy at: Amazon, Amazon Canada, and B&N

 

ABOUT PAMELA SCHOENEWALDT (From Pamela’s website)

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Photo credit: Kelly Norrell

Pamela Schoenewaldt lived for ten years in a small town outside Naples, Italy. Her short stories have appeared in literary magazines in England, France, Italy and the United States. Her play, “Espresso con mia madre” (Espresso with my mother) was performed at Teatro Cilea in Naples. She taught writing for the University of Maryland, European Division and the University of Tennessee and now lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with her husband, Maurizio Conti, a physicist, and their dog Jesse, a philosopher.

Pamela’s website

 

 

 

GIVEAWAY DETAILS (US only)

I have one copy of Swimming in the Moon by Pamela Schoenewaldt to share with my readers.  To enter…

  • For 1 entry leave a comment entering the giveaway.
  • Tweet, share on Facebook, or blog for 2 extra entries.

This giveaway is open to US residents only (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on September 21/13.  Good luck!

 

Source:  Giveaway copy courtesy of the publisher.  No compensation was received.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I think this book would be very interesting. I would like a chance to win it. Please give me an entry. I have also shared this for a second entry. Thanks.
    MAXIE mac262(at)me(dot)com

  3. This book sounds so interesting. Nothing like a good book! Thank you for the chance to win.

    Melanie
    mauback55 at gmail dot com

  5. I read When we were strangers and was quite amazed at how real it seems, so I’m eager to read Swimming in the moon.

    hope you have a sweet day.

  8. Interesting interview and review. Yes, 19th and 20th century immigration is “hot” right now. I’m looking forward to reading Swimming In the Moon.

  9. Ohh…this sounds really good! I love historical fiction, especially those that deal with some downstairs/upstairs angst and change. Thanks for a chance to win a copy of the book!

  17. This sounds so interesting. Would love to read
    I have shared on Facebook and tweeted it.
    Thank you

  18. Thanks for the wonderful giveaway. I would love to read this one. Very interesting interview with the author as to how her story evolved!

  24. This was a great post. I wanted to read this book after I read your review, but now I want to read it even more after reading the author’s journey in writing it! Too bad the giveaway is only open to US! I love books with an Italian theme.

  27. I will share this giveaway in my blog’s sidebar. Thanks for hosting another great giveaway, Darlene! 🙂

    suko95(at)gmail(dot)com

  30. I’ve been looking forward to Swimming in the Moon and would love to win. This is my entry.

    (Also, I’m pretty sure you, the author of this blog can see my email without my posting it).

    Thanks!

  31. Good evening!!

    I first came across your blog a few weeks ago, and am enjoying my return visits! You always review a nice array of the latest releases and I am thankful that for a few of them you are offering bookaways!

    I wanted to read her first book in the worst way, but somehow I have always been distracted from digging into it! Her style and voice in her stories are the kind that I am readily attracted too and look forward to engaging in!

    I loved reading her progression of how the story first evolved into being and how she found herself carried off into its setting and heart before too long! Great spotlight!

    Thanks again!
    Count this as my entry!