A River Could Be a Tree
1. What really inspired you to write your
book, to force you from taking an idea or experience and conveying it into a book?
I had been
writing and publishing essays based in part on growing up in a restrictive,
fundamentalist Christian sect in rural Indiana. Then, I felt that the bigger
story was something that couldn’t be reduced to 800 words with a few laughs.
There were darker things in the church that I alluded to but didn’t fully
explore and I wanted to put the whole story out there, with the underlying
message that change and transformation is possible.
2. What is it about and whom do you
believe is your targeted reader?
A River Could Be a Tree is on one hand about my individual quest
for truth, for God, for salvation, but it is also about the quintessential
human urge to discover: Who am I and what do I believe? It’s also a very
American story of reinvention and of possibility but with the added bonus of managing
to hold on to my family and my past while forging ahead in my chosen future.
The targeted reader is Jewish, Christian, American and anyone who questions what
he or she has been taught, and dreams of another way of life.
3. What do you hope will be the
everlasting thoughts for readers who finish your book? What should remain with them
long after putting it down?
I hope readers’
takeaway will be that the bonds of family and of the past are strong, but they
don’t necessarily have to inhibit you. Rather, they can nurture you as you move
toward your own destiny.
4. What advice or words of wisdom do you
have for fellow writers?
Write, read,
repeat. And don’t take anything – rejection, criticism, advice from friends to
consider becoming a salesperson - personally. Not that there’s anything wrong
with becoming a salesperson.
5. What trends in the book world do you
see and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?
People are
clearly reading more electronically, and given the many other distractions,
reading less than before. However, I believe reading is unlike any other
entertainment. It is a personal relationship and experience between the individual
and the author’s work.
6. What great challenges did you have in
writing your book?
I struggled
with the most rudimentary thing: the beginning. Where to start the story? Indiana?
New York City? Israel? Given that I didn’t come from a conventional Christian
background, readers needed to know upfront what my own peculiar sect believed
and practiced before they could understand the many choices I made later. And
the only way to do that was to start from way, way back in history when
Catholics and Protestants were having at it. While this history was fascinating
to me, I worried it would not be so much to others. I was right. So I reduced
all of my research on the Reformation, immigration to the United States, the
rise of radio evangelists, to a few paragraphs. Which brings me to another
thing challenging about writing this book: parting with my deeply loved
research. I am still sad about that.
7. If people can only buy one book this
month, why should it be yours?
As a child
choosing books from the bookmobile, I preferred stories that would transport
me, geographically or emotionally or both, to another world, and make me care,
make me think, make me laugh, teach me something I didn’t know. But not
manipulate me. I hope, and believe, that A
River Could Be a Tree will likewise take you beyond yourself and introduce
you intimately to people who, while different, are also relatable. And when you
finish the book, you will feel it was time well spent.
Angela Himsel is a freelance writer in New York
City. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Jewish
Week, the Forward and Lilith, and she received an American
Jewish Press Association Award for her column “Angetevka” on Zeek.net.
Angela holds a BA from Indiana University, which included two years at The
Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and an MFA from The City College of New York. For
more info, please see: https://figtreebooks.net/books/a-river-could-be-a-tree/.
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