Mona Alvarado Frazier on The Grittier Side of Writing

By: Mona Alvarado Frazier

Growing up, I was an avid reader. But none of the books I read in my childhood reflected my environment and daily challenges. There were no stories about the people I encountered—the ones who dealt with poverty and discrimination or were involved in social justice issues and community projects.

My family and community's obstacles weren’t reflected in contemporary literature. It wasn’t until college that I discovered novels written by Latinos or Latinas that mirrored these experiences.

As a writer, I wanted to reveal these experiences and exemplify important issues often overlooked regarding young people and those of color.

Each year, around 12 percent of American high schoolers experience emotional, physical, or sexual violence at the hands of someone they date. Young women, transgender teens, and gender-nonconforming youth are disproportionately affected.

It's essential to recognize that IPV affects young people of color at a disproportionate rate. According to studies, Latinas and Black women experience IPV at a rate much higher than White women, and Native American women are twice as likely to experience IPV than any other group.

The statistics are alarming. Experiences of physical or sexual violence in childhood are reported by 60-70% of incarcerated women or girls. Many of the perpetrators are people familiar to the victim.

In my novel, The Garden of Second Chances, I sought to amplify the voices of young women in prison and the often ignored issue of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV).

My main character, Juana Maria, is a seventeen-year-old mother from Mexico who lives in the U.S. with the father of her child. She experiences the terror of IPV firsthand. Her boyfriend's abusive behavior escalates until she feels she has no choice but to run away with her baby during the abuse. Tragically, this results in his death, and she is convicted of manslaughter.

In prison, Juana Maria learns her situation is all too common among young women. Many have experienced IPV but are hesitant to talk about it, unsure whether their experiences constitute abuse.

Unique challenges can contribute to the lack of reporting the abuse: economic instability, fear of the police, fear of deportation, the lack of access to resources, cultural or religious views, and family or peer pressure.

IPV is a power-based behavior that uses control and manipulation to maintain relationships. It can take many forms, from physical violence to emotional abuse, and it doesn't always happen in person. Cyberstalking and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images are also forms of IPV. These behaviors can occur while dating a partner, but various forms of manipulation by the perpetrator may mask the red flags.

One of the biggest challenges with IPV is that people often suffer in silence. They may not realize the experience is abuse, or they may be afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation, or others won’t believe them. This can lead to long-term effects: PTSD, depression, and substance abuse.

In my novel, I explore these factors to highlight the obstacles to reporting IPV and clarify why many young women don’t report abuse.

As writers, we must tackle tough subjects head-on and raise awareness. We need to give voice to those who have been silenced or don’t know where to access resources.

If you write young adult fiction, consider exploring topics about the harsher side of life. Your story could make a difference in the lives of young people who desperately need to understand that they are not alone.

Mona Alvarado Frazier is fulfilling her passion for writing after decades of working with incarcerated youth and raising three kids as a single parent. When she’s not penning a story, she’s traveling, reading, watching K-dramas, or tending her succulent gardens and two grand kitties. She is a member of SCBWI, Macondo Writers, and a co-founder of LatinxPitch, a Twitter event. Mona’s second book, a historical fiction, is scheduled for December 2024. You can visit her website for more information. 

Kathryn Crawley on Nancy Drew Meets Zorba the Greek

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. 

Today’s guest for the WHAT is Kathryn Crawley, author of Walking on Fire, the story of a young woman who moves to Thessaloniki, Greece for work in 1974, just after the fall of a dictatorship, and how her experiences with love and politics challenge everything she thought she knew about the world.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

In 1974 I was dropped into a boiling cauldron of anti-Americanism in Greece following the collapse of the Greek dictatorship. I had been hired as a speech pathologist in a center for Greek cerebral palsied children. At the end of two years, I’d become fluent in the Greek language, been schooled in international politics, and had fallen in love with the country and with a charismatic Greek communist student. After my return to the US, stories of those days rumbled within, waiting to emerge. Zillions of words from writing classes and writing groups kept the memories alive and details fresh. A planned memoir metamorphosed into fiction, as I found my writing flowed more freely using the third person than first person form. Each day my writing became a quest into the deeper significance of those pivotal two years of my life in Greece. For me, fiction provided a pathway to a deeper truth and understanding. My novel, a coming-of-age, loss-of-innocence love story, Walking on Fire, came to  life. 

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

I used my own experiences as a starting point and then fictionalized them. There were actual events where I was met face to face by anti-American sentiment and feared for my safety, but I wanted to create suspense and adventure for my protagonist to further develop her character and for a more exciting read. Undercurrents of 1970’s feminism affected her evolution and self-actualization, as did my own inner Nancy Drew. A key turn of plot development came with the scene of a religious fire walking ceremony I’d witnessed. My protagonist is unexpectedly abandoned by her lover in this surreal setting, and the remainder of the story ran away from there to events I couldn’t have imagined at the outset.

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

More often than not. Freewriting has long been my passport from the subconscious to words on paper. That journey inward is one of my favorite aspects of writing, and unexpected ideas from that place can solve plot problems. How will my protagonist create her own agency in this particular predicament? What inner needs compel her to act against her own self-interest? How will she maintain her hard-earned sense of independence in the face of the magnetic force of her lover? Inner alleyways lead to new destinations.

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

I have more story ideas than, unfortunately, I will ever have time to use. My mother saved all the letters I’d ever written, from Girl Scout camp through college to my years in Greece. Thirteen notebooks and two carefully annotated photograph albums chronicling my father’s years in World War Two are stacked in my dining room. My great-grandfather was rumored to be the gunman of a vigilante group in the wilds of Texas outlaw days. Shelves are filled with notebooks of stories from on-demand prompts of my weekly writing group. I am blessed with material; I hope to be blessed with enough time to venture into more of these stories.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

By starting. I gather information, photographs, and sensory items (music, fragrances, objects), and see where I land. The story has a chance to move forward during freewriting, followed by more careful attention to what’s on the page. After several days I look to see if the story has come to life. If not, I put it away for another day, take a short break, then move on to something else, usually changing genres, from non-fiction to fiction, poetry, or a perhaps a personal essay.

I have 6 cats and a Dalmatian (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

Sadie the Wheaten Terrier has been a constant companion during my morning writing sessions, as she stretches out on the window seat beside my desk. Because she IS a terrier, Sadie carries the responsibility of guarding the street outside our window. Ryan the Mailman, Jordy the King Charles Spaniel, and a host of disrespecting squirrels are prime targets. Once spotted, they must be scolded. As she insists on access to the yard to fence-guard, I return to my keyboard, accompanied by the music of her tenacity. Not a distraction but rather an element of the rhythm of my writing practice.

Kathryn Crawley was born of pioneer stock and raised in the small West Texas cotton town of Lamesa. She received undergraduate and graduate degrees in speech pathology from Baylor University. Unforeseen events and an adventurous spirit led her to Wyoming, Colorado, and to Greece, where she worked with Greek cerebral palsied children. She later established roots in Boston where she continued her career as a speech pathologist. Today, she enjoys life with her partner Tom, daughter Emilia, and two dogs. Walking on Fire is her debut novel.

Meryl Ain on Writing A Seamless Sequel

We all like to hear about the journey to publication, and hopefully other people's success stories help bolster the confidence of those still slogging through the query trenches. But what happens after that first book deal? When the honeymoon is over, you end up back where you were - sitting in front of a blank Word document with shaky hands. Except this time, there are expectations hanging over you. With this in mind, I’ve created the SNOB (Second Novel Omnipresent Blues) interview.

Today’s guest for the SNOB is Meryl Ain, author of Shadows We Carry, which is the sequel to Meryl Ain’s award-winning post-Holocaust novel The Takeaway Men

Whether you’re under contract or trying to snag another deal, you’re a professional now, with the pressures of a published novelist compounded with the still-present nagging self-doubt of the noobie. How to deal?

On one hand, I learned so much from the publication of my first novel, The Takeaway Men. On the other hand, now I feel tremendous pressure trying to leave no stone unturned in spreading the word about Shadows We Carry. When my debut novel was published, I knew nothing about social media marketing, which turned out to be a godsend during the pandemic. Now, I must balance the demands of promoting, writing, and family. I did 80 virtual presentations during the pandemic, so as Covid is receding, I'm trying to figure out the balance between in-person and virtual programs. I'm so grateful that The Takeaway Men resonated with readers and I'm hoping that Shadows We Carry will reach an even larger audience.

Is it hard to leave behind the first novel and focus on the second?

Actually, no. It was seamless for me since Shadows We Carry is the sequel to The Takeaway Men. The first book ends when the twins are in high school, and many readers asked for a sequel. They wanted to know what happened to the sisters going forward. Since I knew the characters well, I enjoyed the process. Publishing Shadows We Carry gives me the opportunity to let people know about The Takeaway Men.  

At what point do you start diverting your energies from promoting your debut and writing / polishing / editing your second?

Once the ARC was out in the world and I reviewed it and submitted minor changes to my publisher, it was time to start focusing on my forthcoming release. 

Your first book landed an agent and an editor, and hopefully some fans. Who are you writing the second one for? Them, or yourself?

Both. I was tremendously gratified that many readers asked me for a sequel. But I also was not finished with the characters or the story. I had much more I wanted to write on the subject. I'm grateful that there was synergy between what my readers and I wanted. 

Is there a new balance of time management to address once you’re a professional author? 

Absolutely! As a professional author, I am interacting and supporting other authors all the time. I am asked to write blurbs and do programs. I'm constantly on social media, especially Facebook book groups. In fact, I started one myself. I also launched a podcast, called People of the Book, which is aired on Authors on the Air Global Radio Network. And, of course, I want to continue writing. Sometimes, I feel there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I want to do. 

What did you do differently the second time around, with the perspective of a published author?

I have learned that I must be assertive in getting the word out about my books. I'm not a promoter by nature, but I have learned that it's a necessary requirement of being an author in today's world. I did not have a robust network of authors and readers when my first book was launched. I now have a large group of followers and I am so grateful for their encouragement, enthusiastic support and assistance.

Meryl Ain is a writer, author, podcaster, and career educator.  Her award-winning post-Holocaust debut novel, The Takeaway Men, was published in 2020. Its sequel, Shadows We Carry, will be published in April. Her articles and essays have appeared in Huffington Post, The New York Jewish Week, The New York Times, Newsday and other publications. She is the host of the podcast, People of the Book, which is aired on Authors on the Air Global Radio Network.