Christine Smith is hosting a three-part Know the Novel tag. I missed Part I, but I found out about it in time to do Part II last month. You can check out the other participants here.
Though I used my NaNo project, Part 65ish of my magnum opus Cinnimin, for Part II, I’ll be using my current main project for Part III. I finally went back to A Dream Deferred: Lyuba and Ivan at University, which has been on hiatus for so long and is now at long last in the homestretch.
1. How did writing this novel go all around?
I’ve had so many problems with this book, as regular readers probably remember from all the blog posts I’ve written about it over the years! There was one very long stretch when I was on fire, full of uninterrupted inspiration, but I also made many mistakes, and put it on hiatus five times. But overall, apart from the storylines I decided to abandon or move to the fifth book, I’m very proud of my work.
2. Did it turn out as you expected or completely different? How do you feel about the outcome?
The brief, chapter-by-chapter notes I made during the summer of 2015 were quite vague about many things, most notably the actual title storyline of Lyuba and Ivan attending university. Scant attention was also given to their three youngest daughters. I put the most detail into the love stories of their sons Igor and Ilya. All the unplanned storylines that naturally arose (mostly love stories) came together so perfectly, yet I failed to properly plot any of the Minnesota storylines.
3. What aspect of the story did you love writing about the most? (Characters, plot, setting, prose, etc.)
I loved having the chance to finally write something set in Japan! Katrin spends eight months in Japan researching the true, hushed-up aftermath of the atomic bombs, along with postwar Japanese culture and politics. I also loved all the love stories, with so many new couples and families created.
4. What was your least favorite part?
Trying to desperately write my way out of the monster I created with the “Let’s move the entire cast back to NYC!” mistake of a storyline by stuffing in so many stupid subplots. I was in total panic mode, and the more hysterical I became, the more I forgot about my original vision.
5. What do you feel needs the most work?
Removing that stupid storyline and all the other abandoned storylines, as well as re-ordering the chapters and scenes set around the start of a semester. I totally blame myself for engaging in arrogant presentism and assuming the school year always started when it does now. Come to find out the autumn semester often began in late September–early October back in the day, and the spring semester could begin in early February.
6. How do you feel about your characters now? Who’s your favorite? Least favorite? Anyone surprise you? Give us all the details!
I’ve been with many of these characters since 1993, so I know them backwards and forwards. Of the original cast, besides title characters Lyuba and Ivan, I most love firebrand Katrin, shallow and predictable Anastasiya, and villainous Boris. Of the ones created during this book, I love Léa, who’s very much like a younger Katrin, and Nestor.
Nestor is a former Marine who lost his leg at Iwo Jima and was disowned in disgust by his parents. Both of those things made him feel worthless and unworthy of romantic love. It takes a really long time for him to realize Yustina truly loves him and wants to be with him just as he is.
Léa is an artist who loves designing her own unique clothing and dyeing her hair fun colors (which was trendy among fashion-forward women in her native Paris). In July 1942, at age nine, she ran through the streets of Paris for over two hours with her younger siblings (including a baby in a pram) to escape the infamous Vel’ d’Hiv’ Roundup. They finally found a relative safe haven in Père Lachaise, where they hid among the graves for hours until family friends found them and took them to safety.
7. What’s your next plan of action with this novel?
First I need to re-order the wrongly-dated material, as abovementioned. I found the correct dates by searching The New York Times and University of Minnesota archives, and noted what needs to move and where. Then I need to junk the “Let’s move back to New York!” material and move other storylines to separate files for C&Ping into the future fifth book. Finally, I need to write new chapters and sections I planned while going through the manuscript last year, like Irina’s first visit to her new friend Rhonwen’s house, and Sonyechka and Tamara meeting their new friends in St. Paul.
8. If you could have your greatest dream realized for this novel, what would it be?
Doesn’t every writer want their work to be adapted to the silver screen, or at least made into a TV movie?
9. Share some of your favorite snippets!
“As far as our city has fallen, it’s not in the totally decimated state it was five years ago,” Hidemi says. “In five more years, it may be almost completely rebuilt. Those red canna flowers were the first to bloom after the cataclysm. They gave all Hiroshimans hope, and represented regeneration of new life even in rubble and ashes. No plants had been expected to grow for seventy-five years, yet these beautiful flowers began blooming only ten days later, and burst into more and more life. The red canna flowers meant so much to us as we began the painful work of rebuilding our city. They reach full bloom around the anniversary, always reminding us of the power of regeneration against all odds. So much of life is like that, even if it’s usually not that extreme. We go through a series of highs and lows, always hoping the lows won’t be too bad or last too long, and that the highs will fill us with joy and remind us of why life is worth living and soldiering through, no matter what.”
Fifteen minutes later, an anesthesiologist arrives with the blessèd medicine. Novomira sits up straight and holds her mother’s hands tightly as she’s injected. Almost immediately, a smile washes over her face.
“I believe I cursed in front of you and the nurse earlier, and would like to apologize. I’m normally not that ill-bred.”
“Whatever’s in that needle is magical,” Fedya says. “I’ll make sure to demand it for any future deliveries. If I’d known about this precious drug earlier, we might have a much larger family today.”
10. Did you glean any new writing and/or life lessons from writing this novel?
As soon as you realize you’ve made a mistake, you need to take a hard step back and spend some time seriously thinking about your next moves. The moving back to NYC fantasy failed because I couldn’t keep my mind made up about where exactly to take it, and I kept falling down research rabbit holes for each possibility. Ultimately, it just didn’t come together well. (You can read more details about my lessons learnt here.)