Interview with NYT Best-Selling Author Edward Stanton

 

1.      What motivated you to write your book, to force you from taking an idea or experience and turning it into a book? Soon after the American ministers of hate began demonizing Mexico in 2016, I decided to write about my experience in that country, where I have lived, worked and traveled for years. When the coronavirus hit Spain hard and early in 2020, I embraced it in the book as a homage to its people, whom I have also known for a long time. In VIDAS: Deep in Mexico and Spain you will find real people, not scapegoats and scarecrows. 

2.      What is it about and who is it for? VIDAS: Deep in Mexico and Spain is a travel memoir, the first to deal with the world’s two largest Spanish-speaking countries in one volume. It explores subjects as diverse as the art of blasphemy, the cult of the Virgin Mary, superstition and witchcraft, the bordellos of Mexico, Spain’s paradise of drink and food, the bullfight and the running of bulls in Pamplona, the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Since the U.S. has a long and fraught history with both Mexico and Spain, and no less than 70 million Americans visit those two countries in normal years, the book should be relevant to them and to others who may wish to travel there in future, or even to those who want to read about two rich, deep cultures.   

3.      What do you hope the reader will be left with after reading it? A little light in their memory and a warm feeling in their heart.   

4.      What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers? Read, read, read and write, write, write, forever and anon.  

5.      What trends in the book world do you see—and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? Brian Feinblum of BookMarketingBuzzBlog knows much more about this than I do, and he has written cogently about it on this site. All I would add is that no matter how monolithic the publishing industry becomes, no matter how many independent bookstores fail or struggle to survive, there will always be many good readers and some good writers, hungry for each other.  

6.      What challenges did you overcome to write this book? Only the constraints of time. I’m a graphomaniac, so my problem is not writing but stopping.  

7.      If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? It shouldn’t. Reading Richard Powers’ magnificent environmental novel, Overstory, would be much more beneficial to our planet.

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Brian Feinblum, the founder of BookMarketingBuzzBlog, can be reached at  brianfeinblum@gmail.com.  You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.