Ask the Author: Maria Olia
Answered Questions (2)
Maria Olia
The summer began with me behind on my reading (always) to finish my book club’s May read, Richard Power’s Pulitzer-winning Overstory. The novel begins with several character sketches and their “tree story”. The book then chronicles how the characters are drawn together as activists to save the forests. It is a dense read and was a little science-y for me, but tremendously thought-provoking. Like last year’s "Educated", this is a book that deserves to be passed around-one of my sons is reading it now.
And if you are inspired to take a small (but concrete) action to prevent deforestation and save trees, consider stopping the flow of junk mail that floods your mail box by signing up at www.DMAchoice.org to opt out of the bulk mail that you receive.
I visited the House of Seven Gables in Salem with my daughter in May and realized that I have never read Hawthorne. Since there are four marked-up copies of "The Scarlet Letter" in my kids’ bedrooms so it was an easy choice- and I love reading Hawthorne’s descriptions of Puritan- era Boston. My 30 year-old son commented “You are reading the Scarlett Letter for fun?”. Clearly, it was not his favorite required high school book!
Rummaging around the Falmouth Library Book Sale this summer I came across "Frenchman’s Creek" by Daphne DuMaurier. "Frenchman’s Creek" is historical romantic fiction and features an English lady and a French pirate (oh my!) set on the coast of Cornwall in the mid-1600’s. DuMaurier’s "Rebecca" was one of my favorite books in high school and I am a Poldark fan-so this was a win for me.
Finally, my book club’s selection for the summer was "Beneath a Scarlet Sky" by Mark T. Sullivan. Since I am Italian, I was inclined to like this book from the start. Set during World War II, the book is the true story of the life of 18-year-old Pino Lella who led many Jews escape the Nazi’s over the mountains to Switzerland and then worked as a spy for the Italian resistance as a driver for the German High Command. It was an exciting story- but I found the writing uneven and screenplay-like (it has been already optioned as a movie). The book makes me want to read "A Farewell to Arms"- Hemingway was a great writer.
And if you are inspired to take a small (but concrete) action to prevent deforestation and save trees, consider stopping the flow of junk mail that floods your mail box by signing up at www.DMAchoice.org to opt out of the bulk mail that you receive.
I visited the House of Seven Gables in Salem with my daughter in May and realized that I have never read Hawthorne. Since there are four marked-up copies of "The Scarlet Letter" in my kids’ bedrooms so it was an easy choice- and I love reading Hawthorne’s descriptions of Puritan- era Boston. My 30 year-old son commented “You are reading the Scarlett Letter for fun?”. Clearly, it was not his favorite required high school book!
Rummaging around the Falmouth Library Book Sale this summer I came across "Frenchman’s Creek" by Daphne DuMaurier. "Frenchman’s Creek" is historical romantic fiction and features an English lady and a French pirate (oh my!) set on the coast of Cornwall in the mid-1600’s. DuMaurier’s "Rebecca" was one of my favorite books in high school and I am a Poldark fan-so this was a win for me.
Finally, my book club’s selection for the summer was "Beneath a Scarlet Sky" by Mark T. Sullivan. Since I am Italian, I was inclined to like this book from the start. Set during World War II, the book is the true story of the life of 18-year-old Pino Lella who led many Jews escape the Nazi’s over the mountains to Switzerland and then worked as a spy for the Italian resistance as a driver for the German High Command. It was an exciting story- but I found the writing uneven and screenplay-like (it has been already optioned as a movie). The book makes me want to read "A Farewell to Arms"- Hemingway was a great writer.
Maria Olia
There are so many ways ! Sometimes it's enough to just to force myself to start typing. Even retyping a paragraph can jump start my thoughts. I'm a big list writer in general, so breaking up my writing in small sections that I can check off as I complete them helps too. If I'm really on deadline I will put myself on a timer and see how many words I can write in an hour. On those days, I'm grateful to my high school English teacher Mrs. Harker who taught me how to write a timed essay !
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