Her latest book is the romantic comedy, WHITE GIRL IN LA CASA. Visit www.christajeannebooks.com to learn more.
Welcome, Christa!
1.
How did you come up with the story of WHITE GIRL
IN LA CASA?
White Girl in La Casa is
based on some very funny and eye opening experiences I've gone through since I
met my husband. I am indeed a white girl and I'm married to a hispanic
hunk ;) The Hispanic, and specifically Mexican, culture is so family-oriented and when I met all of my husband's family, I have to admit, it took me
a while to get used to it and to remember everyone's name. I'm an only
child with a very small immediate family so being welcomed into a huge familia
was wonderful, but it did lend itself to some moments that were lost in
translation. I've always had the writing bug and admittedly, there were
some times when dating my husband that I thought to myself, this is better than
fiction, I have to write about this!
2.
What character features were you seeking for
Calliope? How did you come up with her name?
I love not so common
names. Maybe because my name is Christa and is also somewhat
uncommon. I'm not sure how I decided on Calliope, but I thought it was
different and would be very hard for my poor Margarita to pronounce, so again
adding to the humor is always my motto! She had to be vegan. I knew
that from the beginning because not only is it sometimes difficult to be the
odd man (or woman) out in some situations, but my Mexican mami Margarita who
will cook every part of the cow had to square off against someone completely
opposite, which would mean Calliope had to be a vegan. I'm all about
making situations awkward for my poor characters.
3.
There is a culture shock as soon as Calliope
meets Peter’s mother. Did you have any personal experience with culture shock?
Please describe.
Personal experience with
culture shock...hmmm...uh yes! Absolutely! I don't want to give
anything away but there's a certain scene with a bowl of posole soup that
actually happened to me. I played it off a little better than my
character, Calliope, but it practically gave me a heart attack none the less.
My mother-in-law is nothing like Margarita, thank goodness, but it took her and
I awhile to understand each other. I understand a lot of Spanish now but
I'm horrible at speaking it so we have this weird communication where she
speaks in Spanish and I speak in English but somehow it works.
4.
Can you please compare and contrast the
relationships Calliope has with Peter and Eddie?
Calliope has always been
friends with Peter and I think deep down, she knew they were always just
friends. It really changes when Peter comes home to his mother.
It's a very blind-siding situation when Peter becomes this instant mama's boy
and leaves Calliope on her own, especially since Margarita speaks a different
language. Peter is one of those guys that has his own demons and puts on
quite the facade to get everyone to love him, Calliope included. Eddie on
the other hand doesn't put up with any BS. At all. And he somewhat
kick starts Calliope finally having to admit to herself her true feelings about
Peter and about the kind of love she deserves. Eddie is Calliope's truth.
5.
What are your thoughts concerning those who
still possess “old school” values and prejudices like Margarita?
My thoughts on "old
school" values…hmmm…well, I think they have their own value in any culture
really. When you peel away all the layers of complication in any
relationship, I feel like the "old school" values will shine through.
And that's definitely the case with Margarita. She is the typical
old school, hard working Mexican mother that loves her sons and loves her
family and sometimes that's all you need. Take away all the stress and
artificial nonsense of our technology driven texting, messaging, facebooking,
tweeting lives and you end up having to look at each other and be honest with
each other. Plus, you have to love and respect an old school Mexican
mami's cooking, it is second to none.
6.
Do you think Calliope learned anything from
living in La Casa, and, if so, what?
I think Calliope learned
a little something about love and being honest with herself. Plus, she
learned how to make a mean tamale!
7.
What is your writing process like?
I write copious notes
before I begin any new project. I know the funny scenes that I want to
include and I build around those and outline the entire thing. I make
changes along the way here or there but I sometimes laugh at all my notes.
They tend to look like the scribblings of the serial killer from Seven or
something. I have a good time writing and since I work a full time day
job and then have two kids and a husband to come home to with happy but hungry
faces, I usually don't get to write until after my kids got to bed at night.
8.
What do you like about being a writer? What do
you dislike?
I started writing in
college for fun and have stuck to that motto. I just have a lot of fun with it
and don't take anything to seriously, obviously since I write comedies. I
wrote my first novel My Midlife & Married Romance Novel Life and it got the
writing bug in me. I couldn't stop because it's my avenue to be creative
and share my stories with all those that are willing to enjoy them. The
part I don't like is the marketing. I'll be honest, it's a tough sell to
get readers and I've heard so many of my friends tell me that they don't read
for fun, they don't have time…so sad really. I've always been a bookworm,
I thank my dad for that since he always was buying me really cool books to read
when I was a kid…oh wait, he still does that. And I love it.
9.
Do you feel your book is an inspiration to our
Latina readers? How so?
Well, I really don't
write to inspire anything but a smile and a laugh. I read a ton and
sometimes I'm in the mood for something deep and tragic and tear jerking and
then sometimes, I want something to make me laugh. I would love for Latina
women to read my book and just enjoy it, laugh at it, identify with it on some
level since I love comments that I've gotten from my Latina friends and family
like, "oh, that is so my mom." I love that, I love making
people laugh with a funny love story. Sometimes life is just too serious,
we need stuff to make us laugh, so I hope to inspire some smiles.
10.
What are you working on now?
Right now, I'm working
on the first book of a new series. For now, until I change my mind ten
thousand times, it's called The Dating Disasters Anonymous Club and the first
book is titled Hazel Mae and the 5 Losers Who Loved Her. I'm hoping to
have it ready to go late this year.
Up Next: A review of WHITE GIRL IN LA CASA
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