Interview With Author María Alejandra Barrios Vélez

 

 

1.      What inspired you to write this book?

In 2020, my Abuela’s health declined, as she started to lose her battle with cancer. Due to the pandemic, I couldn’t visit Colombia and say goodbye. My worst fear had happened, and I was left with immense grief.

 

My Abuela, and her stories, were central to my life and shaped my vision of the world. For me, she represented home and although I had left Colombia, it remained in my heart. 

 

The idea for a novel started to take shape during that year as I reflected on how my relationship to my Abuela and her memory would live on.

 

After she died, I was left with the idea of her as a ghost. Not in the classic sense, but she remained someone with whom I constantly spoke. I would wonder what she would do or how she would react to a situation, and sometimes I could sense her by my side.

 

I wanted this book to embody that idea, that you always carry your ancestors with you, and even if you can’t see them, they’re still rooting for you.

 

I also knew in my bones I wanted this book to be inspired by the stories of the women in my family, and I wanted it to be centered around my interests and what I knew. Like Toni Morrison said, I wanted to write the book I wanted to read.

 

So, I started writing about a family of women, food, cooking, Barranquilla and New York. This is what I knew.

 

I also wanted to write about what scared me, and the feeling that my two lives were growing farther away from each other and the repercussions of this pull. There’s an immense amount of sacrifice with the decision of choosing one life instead of the other.

 

Violeta came to me because I wanted to create a sensitive character grappling with the realities of leading an artistic life. Additionally, it was vital to me that this character was a Latina, brown Colombian woman because that was something that I didn’t grow up seeing in books.

 

2.      What exactly is it about and who is it written for?

This book is about Vi Sanoguera, a 28-year-old woman who, after the death of her Abuela, travels to Colombia for the funeral and learns she has inherited the family restaurant, the place her Abuela told her to run from her whole life. The Waves Take You Home has elements of magical realism, and it’s written for people who wonder where to call home.

 

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book?

I hope readers will learn about Colombia and fall in love with Vi’s story as she finds her place in the world. I haven’t read many books set on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia, so I wanted to show the complexities and rhythms of life in this part of the world.

 

4.      How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design?

The amazing cover design was done by the talented Raxenne Maniquiz. She is an incredible designer from the Philippines. She is known for her colorful flowers, and she did such an outstanding job from bringing elements from the book like shells and flowers innate from the Caribbean to life.

 

The title was a collaboration with my editor, Melissa Valentine. I learned that it is common in publishing for a manuscript to have many titles before it lands on the definitive one. There were many iterations before arriving at The Waves Take You Home.

 

I love this title so much! It's evocative and full of longing, two elements that are a big part of the novel. I also love how it talks about the setting of this novel: the beach and the Caribbean, and it also refers to the journey of self-discovery that this character experiences, and the importance of home.

 

5.      What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!?

To know that it is not a straight line. There are so many ups and downs in this line of work! But just because you’re down one moment doesn’t mean that you’ll be down forever. For me, what matters is to keep close to your heart the reasons why you write and why you want to put books out in the world. If you know your reasons, you’ll be able to keep going because you’ll know your why.

 

6.      What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?

I do see an effort toward publishing more diverse books. I am grateful to everyone in the industry (editors, agents, publicists, organizations, bookstagramers, marketers, etc) that are working very hard to make this happen and that are behind these efforts. I am hopeful that we can continue uplifting diverse and marginalized voices even more in years to come.

 

7.      Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book?

This book is a love letter to my upbringing. I grew up in the Caribbean, very close to my Abuela, and the way of life where women are the ones that decide everything and drive family life. I wanted to highlight that, and present the complex intergenerational bonds that develop in these types of matriarch families.

 

8.      How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to?

I love magical realism and Latin American writers who write in this tradition. If you enjoy Isabel Allende, Chanel Cleeton, Laura Esquivel, this book will be for you!

 

9.      What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book?

 I think due to the personal nature of this book, there were a lot of challenges. The Waves Take You Home was written in 2020, when my Abuela was battling cancer, and because of the pandemic, I couldn't go to Colombia to say goodbye. It was a time of mourning and grief for me, and I needed to put it somewhere. I wrote this book inspired by her stories, the matriarchal family system, and the Caribbean. There was a lot of self-doubt when I was writing this book. I questioned whether I could do the story justice or even if I could write a story that was worthy of her. Impostor syndrome was my biggest enemy that year, but I could also say it was my most prominent teacher.

 

It was a lesson worth learning: You don't have to feel good to write. Sometimes, you must also write through the tears and heartbreak. I don’t know if I would have written The Waves Take You Home if it wasn’t for all the things that were happening in my life— it was very meaningful for me to create something in the middle of a personal storm.

 

10.  If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours?

This book is for everyone who after a family loss has been forced to reflect on their family history, the cycles in their family and how to make a life that is authentically theirs while also honoring their ancestors. If you ever wondered about these themes, you should read The Waves Take You Home!

About The Author: María Alejandra Barrios Vélez is a writer born in Barranquilla, Colombia. She has an MA in creative writing from the University of Manchester and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and scruffy dog, Gus. She was the 2020 SmokeLong Flash Fiction Fellow, and her stories have been published in Shenandoah Literary, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, El Malpensante, Fractured Lit, SmokeLong Quarterly, The Offing, and more. Her work has been supported by organizations such as Vermont Studio Center, Caldera Arts, and the New Orleans Writers’ Residency. Learn more about María Alejandra Barrios Vélez at https://mariaalejandrabarriosvelez.com/.

 

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Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.6 million pageviews. With 4,800+ posts over the past dozen years, it 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 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.