Q&A with Tess Uriza Holthe discussion

Hi Everyone, welcome. Tess on-line here. Thanks for joining me. Just curious as to what you were reading before When the Elephants Dance and what brought my book to your attention.

Hi Tess - I first heard about you when you were promoting your second book, The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes. But I thought I should start by reading your first book, because it was praised so much by several friends. I thought it would make a great book to discuss, so I picked it for the Mostly Literary Fiction Book Group, a group I lead at the Hayward Public Library.

I should say that we had a really great discussion of When the Elephants Dance at our meeting on Monday. It seemed to be unanimously felt that your book was a page turner, and people loved the many different layers of your book - the myth-like tales, the romance, the war. We all felt that we learned a lot about the Filippino experience during the war. The violence of the war was intense - many commented that they didn't read the book at night, for fear that it would give them nightmares. I'm wondering what it was like for you to hear about the war as a child - the violence, torture, starvation, and death, that I'm assuming your father and grandmother witnessed.

Hi Sally, thanks for picking the book and for being instrumental in getting me started on Goodreads. I literally couldn't have done it without you. Sally basically held my hand through the entire set up process. I just picked up my paperback right now to look through the discussion questions at the end of Elephants and i guess I don't have that version. I guess you'll just have to shoot some questions my way. Any thing about the book or the writing process I'm happy to answer.

Its a funny thing about my book it feels like it lives a life of its own now, like a child gone off to college and every now and then I hear about what he/she is doing. Like this book group.

I have another question about your father's stories about the war, and what happened to him and other Filipinos. If Alejandro is based in part on your father, then that means that he suffered torture, and witnessed scenes of intense violence, death, and starvation. It seems that many veterans of war, including veterans of WWII, have been reluctant to talk about the violence that they witnessed or were a part of. Do you think that the Filippino people are typically more open about talking about their war-time experiences – or is this something unique about your father?

I wonder if people are having some technical difficulties ... I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who is at a computer, ready to participate in this discussion. The key is to hit the web browser's "refresh" button frequently, to get updates to the discussion. I'll post another question, but curious to see others jump in!

Sally wrote: "I should say that we had a really great discussion of your book at our meeting on Monday. It seemed to be unanimous that your book was a page turner, and people loved the many different layers of y..."

I was just considering what you were saying about what it was like for me as a child. The interesting thing is I can't pinpoint a time I didn't know those stories, those first-hand accounts. They are part of the thread that makes me 'me'. So, I think I dealt with the violence and the starvation in a different way than someone hearing or reading it for the first time. By the time I was aware that an anecdote had to do with my 'father' my actual dad experiencing the torture----well, I had gotten past the fear and was more intrigued by the story, how it happened, how he was foraging for food and was then caught. I didn't imagine him in pain although I knew he must have been. I guess the mind does skip unpleasant things....until it has to write about it. Then these things were up for consideration as an adult and in a new light. I was amazed by my father's tenacity and well---optimism. That it didn't break him.

Tess wrote: "Sally wrote: "I should say that we had a really great discussion of your book at our meeting on Monday. It seemed to be unanimous that your book was a page turner, and people loved the many differe..."

Yes - it really is amazing that he, and many other children, as well as adults - weathered this experience. And clearly relied on their friends and neighbors, to get them through it -- even if they had longstanding conflicts with each other, as the characters of your book did. That was something I really liked about the book, that we learned and gained insight into all of the characters, just as they did, over the course of reading the book (and for them, over the course of the time they spent hiding out in the cellar, waiting for the war to end).

Sally wrote: "I have another question about your father's stories about the war, and what happened to him and other Filipinos. If Alejandro is based in part on your father, then that means that he suffered tortu..."

That's a great question actually because I thought everyone grew up in the same type of household as I did. It was only after I started my book tour that I discovered most people had relatives who would not talk about the war. My brother was in the infantry in Vietnam and he hardly ever discusses the war.

But in our little house in Bernal Heights-SF, my parents held daily mahjong games. From monday - Friday and beyond, we literally had 20-25 people in our home. Most of these people had lived through the war. We also had my mother's extended
St. Kevin's Filipino church group, my cousins the Oriolas' and the Salinas' and somehow my father had introduced the topic of the war. This opened up a well of storytelling and really, in retrospect, therapy. it was a safe place to share. I listened to these accounts for thirty years and it never occurred to me that I would someday write a book along these veins of storytelling.

Here's another question - and hopefully others will jump in soon!

I read in an interview with you that you had never visited the Philippines before writing When the Elephants Dance, yet you describe it so vividly. Have you made a trip yet? Did it compare to how you imagined it?

Here's another question! Domingo seemed god-like. I kept waiting for him to keel over and die, from loss of blood, pain, infection, or simply pure exhaustion. But he just kept going, and going. Walking long distances, despite his physical pain and suffering. Was he based on a real guerrilla? Or was part of your point that in the telling of the stories, Domingo takes on more-than-human qualities?

Sally wrote: "Here's another question - and hopefully others will jump in soon!

I read in an interview with you that you had never visited the Philippines before writing When the Elephants Dance, yet you descr..."

That's correct. I think the reason it is so vivid is that I was the only one in my very large extended family (until my nephews and nieces came along) that was born in the U.S. So everyone wanted to tell me about the Philippines. My two brothers and my sister were all born there, as were all of my cousins. And then of course I read up on the Philippines, I studied endless maps and photos from Life magazine among other things. And now I have a fascination with maps.

When I was in Cannes and Italy I collected maps when I committed or rather when I realized I was actually writing a book and not just doing my standard journal writing. I think that vividness came through again in THE FIVE-FORTY-FIVE TO CANNES because without communicating with the cover designer, the original hardcover had a map at the top. For the paperback the map is on the back cover. WHEN THE ELEPHANTS DANCE has a map on the inside of the book that places each story in the context of the island each person is reminiscing about.

No worries, everyone can join in over the next two weeks as well.

Tess wrote: "Sally wrote: "I have another question about your father's stories about the war, and what happened to him and other Filipinos. If Alejandro is based in part on your father, then that means that he ..."

We found the talk that you gave to Google online, where you describe your family experience. Sounds like a wonderful environment to grow up in. So bustling with energy, and I bet all sorts of personalities (and countless stories of all sorts!). Did you start writing stories as a child - or did you participate as a storyteller in the circles of family members and friends? Or did you come to writing only as an adult?

Something our book group members talked about was really loving the romantic scenes and relationships – Carlito’s obsession with and adoration of Esmeralda; Domingo’s and Nina’s tender love for each other; and Isabelle’s and Feliciano’s budding relationship, despite Feliciano’s work with and support of the Japanese soldiers. Was romance something that you made a point of including, and had mapped out in outlines as you wrote? Or did these relationships develop over the period of time you were writing the book? (Did your father and friends also talk about romantic relationships and obsessions in a similar vein?)

I sort of stumbled into writing. I'd always had a diary as a child on and off. Off sometimes because my brother Carlito once stole it and read it out loud. I was however a voracious reader. My mother was the school librarian and the library was literally five houses down and across the street from our house on Courtland Street. Its still there. After I received my Accounting degree I was still searching and I took a three month writing class at the Book Passage. The first exercise was to write a couple of pages of an action sequence and a couple of pages of a myth. I wrote what would become the opening scene of the novel and the first pages of the first myth they tell in the novel---A cure for Happiness. After that it was like a dam had burst, I literally could not stop writing.

I wrote every night for a year and a half and no one was more surprised than me to find I had written a novel. When it sold to Random House I hit the surreal stage.

I received a call from an American veteran who was stationed in the Philippines during the war. He read your book with great interest. He really wanted to participate in this discussion, but was unable to. Have you received feedback from other U.S. veterans who fought in the Philippines? Anything interesting about their comments or reactions to the book?

Tess wrote: "
I sort of stumbled into writing. I'd always had a diary as a child on and off. Off sometimes because my brother Carlito once stole it and read it out loud. I was however a voracious reader. My..."

That's such a great story. I'm sure it's an inspiration to others who might be thinking about putting some of their stories in writing. Several members of the Mostly Literary Fiction book group are writers - and some of them are really struggling to write their stories, to find their voice. (Other members of my group have amazing stories to tell, and I hope they make a stab at writing some of them down... you know who you are...) What do you find are the most important keys to your success as a writer?

My grandfather was in the US Navy during WWII. He fought in the Battle of Midway in the nearby Mariana Islands and his ship---the US Blackhawk was sunk by a Japanese aircraft. He survived by hanging on to pieces of the ship. I think he was in the water for six hours. Actually, part of the group that attended our nightly mahjong games were members of his US Navy Veterans group.

But in answer to your question, I've come across many veterans during the book tour and many would stand up and share their stories with the rest of the audience. It was an amazing experience, and in a very real way a continuum of what my father started in our little house in San Francisco so long ago. In this way my father and grandparents live on---its a very beautiful thing.

I did have a friend of Robert Lapham---whose book LAPHAM'S RAIDERS helped me in researching WWII---come up to me and said "I'm friends with Robert Lapham." That was pretty neat, because he had a saying in his book which is where I got the title from: WHEN THE ELEPHANTS DANCE the chickens must be careful. It meant when the two forces were fighting the civilians needed to get out of the way.

I also read THE BATTLE FOR MANILA and ended up meeting one of the young girls in the pictures whose father was part of the American military. Consuelo--Connie. She asked if I'd ever read that book and when I answered yes, she said that little girl was me in the picture. And the recognition for me was instantaneous. That was a pretty amazing moment for me.

Tess wrote: "I sort of stumbled into writing. I'd always had a diary as a child on and off. Off sometimes because my brother Carlito once stole it and read it out loud. I was however a voracious reader. My ..."

I read somewhere that your parents haven't read your books. Maybe this has changed, with the writing of your second book. I can only imagine that would be hard to accept, for your family, especially your parents, not to read your book(s), especially, in the case of When the Elephants Dance, it is so intimately connected to their experience. (Or maybe this is liberating for you, not having to worry about their judgment. I think one of my biggest barriers to the thought of writing something for public consumption is the fear that my parents would object to or judge my writing.) Have you considered reading your books, or at least excerpts, out loud to them?

Tess wrote: "My grandfather was in the US Navy during WWII. He fought in the Battle of Midway in the nearby Mariana Islands and his ship---the US Blackhawk was sunk by a Japanese aircraft. He survived by hang..."

Obviously you do a lot of research for your books. Sometimes, especially with historical novels, I find that the research and historical details get in the way of the story. Do you have a method for incorporating your research, without distracting from the narrative flow and imaginative core of your stories?

You asked about the writing process----You know what really works for me is remembering the bigger picture at the end, knowing and having a target even if it may change slightly. Its great to have beautiful prose and good conflict but if you're not directing it to that end picture it begins to dilute. You've always got to keep that thread, that tension taut.

I forget where I read it but another writer was saying something along the same lines but his words were---every sentence, every paragraph, every conversation has to point to that end result. I'm reading Allegra Goodman's INTUITION right now and its riveting because she does just that.

I think a lot of the times the frustration comes from having gone off on another tangent and building a story around that new thread until soon the writer is going in circles or is just completely tangled. Its like building a house. Sure it can be Victorian, or Modern, Alternative, Craftsman, Gothic, Baroque but ultimately like a good book, it has to have a strong blueprint, it has to know what its going to look like, what type of house it is.

That's my house analogy I bring it out all of the time.

Tess wrote: "You asked about the writing process----You know what really works for me is remembering the bigger picture at the end, knowing and having a target even if it may change slightly. Its great to have ..."

I've heard a lot of writers say they don't know exactly how their story is going to end, or what twists and turns it will take along the way. That the process is a process of discovery. That the characters "appear" to them, and guide them in unexpected ways. It sounds like you work with a more directed plan or outline. Or maybe there are discoveries you make along the way, too - except that you know where you are going, what your destination is.

I'm reading The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes now. It's a lot different from When the Elephants Dance. What was your inspiration for the characters? Did they come from people you knew or crossed paths with? Or are they more purely from your imagination? (I've read a little background on how you came to write The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes, but not enough to know the answer to this question. I usually don't like to know too much about a book before I read it.) But the characters are all so different from each other. I really love the gypsy/Romani characters, and am especially interested in how you dreamed them up. (Okay, so this is a series of a lot of questions... sorry.)

Sally wrote: "Tess wrote: "Sally wrote: "I should say that we had a really great discussion of your book at our meeting on Monday. It seemed to be unanimous that your book was a page turner, and people loved the..."

In our little mahjong community that met at our house i saw these mini-conflicts. These interesting groupings of people who wouldn't normally suffer each other's presence but over the years they became really good friends. It was like a petri dish of personalities---and in the end a blessing.

My husband says I have a certain intuition about people and their characters on first impression. I'll meet someone and give him my little take later if something strikes me and I'm usually on point.

But i think it has to do with having observed so many different personalities over a long period. I soaked the different mannerisms and sayings and attitudes like a sponge. I'm fascinated with sociology.

Sally wrote: "Tess wrote: "You asked about the writing process----You know what really works for me is remembering the bigger picture at the end, knowing and having a target even if it may change slightly. Its g..."

I find that when I have a structure, it actually opens up for more creativity. I've heard actors and artists I really admire who say the same thing. A lot of them started with classical training and that opened them up to more creativity: Marlon Brando for one, he studied with Stella Adler at the New School---you can see his classical training come out in Julius Ceasar-- and he was a mold breaker. He changed the way of acting forever.

Same with a lot of musicians I admire, start with a classical training/structure and it frees one up for more creativity. Same with artists. The definite design allows for more freedom if that makes sense.

Tess wrote: "Sally wrote: "Tess wrote: "Sally wrote: "I should say that we had a really great discussion of your book at our meeting on Monday. It seemed to be unanimous that your book was a page turner, and pe..."

Being a keen observer of people is an important part of being a writer, I imagine. I really love how you can write about characters from many different perspectives. You can show their weaknesses, but make them sympathetic. Your story about Anais - in "The Necklace" from The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes - was heartbreaking. You showed her as a someone who could be petty, meddling, and self-absorbed, but also someone who you could sympathize with. That at her core, she was a caring person. And very lonely. As a reader, you could make a lot of discoveries about her along the way (in just a few pages, really - a great accomplishment). Very human. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Similar to the characters in When the Elephants Dance - but in a very different context.

Tess wrote: "Sally wrote: "Tess wrote: "You asked about the writing process----You know what really works for me is remembering the bigger picture at the end, knowing and having a target even if it may change s..."

Yes, that makes sense.

Sally wrote: "Here's another question! Domingo seemed god-like. I kept waiting for him to keel over and die, from loss of blood, pain, infection, or simply pure exhaustion. But he just kept going, and going. Wal..."

Yes, I know, well I think that comes from the research. A lot of these soldiers survived so much. Their stories were so harrowing they seemed as if they had nine lives. I think there were a lot of heroes in World War II. But you know I think it also had to do with having a grandfather who survived a sinking ship and a father who carried his little sister on his shoulders while bombs were strafing the ground just inches from his feet. And then to have him survive after being tied by his thumbs. Another time he was running from a bombing and he was running with his sixteen year old cousin, one moment they were running, the next moment his cousin was dead from the next explosion.

My father lived that way in life too. He was just very heroic when it came to his family, working endless hours and coming home and cooking dinner and then having endless time for each one of us. On top of that, anyone who needed help, he would help. He once drove to Oregon in a full blizzard, with just a map, nonstop from San Francisco because my brother in-law's car broke down and there were no cell phones then and my brother in-law had no money just a pay phone he kept walking to.

I loved your rich use of Phillipine words and also your obvious respect for your characters.

Tess wrote: "Sally wrote: "Here's another question! Domingo seemed god-like. I kept waiting for him to keel over and die, from loss of blood, pain, infection, or simply pure exhaustion. But he just kept going, ..."

That gives me a new way of thinking about Domingo. Thanks. What an inspiration your father, and grandfather, among others I'm sure, must be to you. In our book group, we read a lot of books with characters who have incredible strength. Like Cane River by Lalita Tademy, which we read recently. It's been a source of discussion - some people just don't think they could ever be as heroic or as strong, as some of the characters we read about. They feel like they would give up if faced with such hardship. That's something I think we can all gain something from, as readers, especially if we don't have families who provide us with such heroic role models. The importance of family connections is something that also comes up a lot, as the source of inspiration. Like your father, clearly. That he would do anything to help out one of his children, or a brother or sister. That's really very beautiful.

But speaking of Domingo, I had some trouble relating to him over the course of the book. He was so dogmatic! We discussed this a bit in our group. Others found him more sympathetic. Finally, I ended up feeling that his rigid sense of "everything for his countrymen" was really him battling with his sense of responsibility to his family - SPOILER ALERT! - which in the end he realized he couldn't turn his back on - even if it was a strategic error.

Lorettasiegel wrote: "I loved your rich use of Phillipine words and also your obvious respect for your characters."

Yeah! Welcome, Loretta!!

Lorettasiegel wrote: "I loved your rich use of Phillipine words and also your obvious respect for your characters."

Sally wrote: "Lorettasiegel wrote: "I loved your rich use of Phillipine words and also your obvious respect for your characters."

Yeah! Welcome, Loretta!!

Yes, Hi Loretta! Thank you for joining us. One of my all time favorite books is ALL THE PRETTY HORSES by Cormac McCarthy. One of the things I loved about his book is his use of Spanish it felt so much more authentic and so it was an experiment of mine to add the Filipino words and then it became very natural to do. My family always spoke to me in Tagalog. Sometimes I'll be away from it for months at a time and then I'll come into San Francisco and its like taking a big gulp of water when I didn't realize I was thirsty for it. Its like music to me.


"

Strange but I think the board is acting funny i'm trying to reply to your comment about Anais from the FIVE-FORTY-FIVE TO CANNES and it keeps ending up somewhere else so I'll just answer your question about CANNES here wherever it may end up.

Anaiis was surprising for me too because I used to know someone like that and she was a very lonely woman. I think when you're so alone you just end up griping about things without realizing that that's all you do. But this person was at the core a very good generous person, she just had been so alone for so long that she'd become bitter on the surface. That kind of thing keeps people at bay and from seeing the softer person inside. Its very sad because then they become locked in a cycle of a self-imposed solitary confinement without realizing.

As for the other characters well, the whole book wasn't meant to be a book at all. The whole point of the vacation was to take a vacation from writing. I brought one journal to write down the sights and sounds for later---which i think is a good exercise for anyone because you become hypher alert to people and things going on around you. But the one gypsy boy-----GianCarlo was inspired by this charming young man on the train. I think he was about sixteen years old. My mother in-law and I were struggling with our suitcases and he stepped up from a few rows back and gesturing with his hands offered to help us. Then he left us alone and an hour later at our stop he did the same thing and offered to take them down.

Of course later we made sure we weren't pickpocketed but that's how his character came about. If you go to my website: www.tessurizaholthe.com I discuss (as you mentioned) the way the whole book came about. It was really a magical experience for me. The stories and characters immediately started introducing themselves to me on day One.

Well, it's almost 9:30, our designated ending time. Thanks so much, Tess, for participating in this discussion. I'm sure there will be additional comments and questions over the next few weeks. This was a learning experience for us all! (My first "live" Q&A with an author on GoodReads.)

I'll end with one more question, that came up in our discussion on Monday - which you can answer at your leisure. A lot of people wanted to know more about how you portrayed the Catholic Church. Clearly, the Catholic Church has played an important role in the Philippines - negatively, on many counts, but probably positively, as well, because many Filipino people are active in the Catholic Church. We were thinking about the priests - none of them, as we recalled, were portrayed positively. What was your thought process in how you portrayed the Catholic Church? Was it difficult for you to navigate this issue? (We really loved the story about the church that sank into the ground!)

i>Sally wrote: "Well, it's almost 9:30, our designated ending time. Thanks so much, Tess, for participating in this discussion. I'm sure there will be additional comments and questions over the next few weeks. Thi..."

Thank you for having me. In answer to your question about the Catholic church---I was raised Catholic and my belief in God has sustained me through many a storm tossed sea. I'm so glad to have had that to turn to from an early age. Our church really had a strong sense of community with festivals and group fund raising and I loved that.

The Catholic church during the Spanish colonization however was very brutal and the portions that came through in my book are from reading about Jose Rizal and the three catholic priests. I'm wary of any religion that assumes absolute power when what I believe is that anybody has a direct line to God. You just close your eyes and pray. So, I guess a mixture of that came through in the novel

Thank you again and I'll peek in each day to answer any further questions! You're a great interiewer Sally!!!!

i>Sally wrote: "Well, it's almost 9:30, our designated ending time. Thanks so much, Tess, for participating in this discussion. I'm sure there will be additional comments and questions over the next few weeks. Thi..."

Thank you for having me. In answer to your question about the Catholic church---I was raised Catholic and my belief in God has sustained me through many a storm tossed sea. I'm so glad to have had that to turn to from an early age. Our church really had a strong sense of community with festivals and group fund raising and I loved that.

The Catholic church during the Spanish colonization however was very brutal and the portions that came through in my book are from reading about Jose Rizal and the three catholic priests. I'm wary of any religion that assumes absolute power when what I believe is that anybody has a direct line to God. You just close your eyes and pray. So, I guess a mixture of that came through in the novel

Thank you again and I'll peek in each day to answer any further questions! You're a great interviewer Sally!!!!

Okay the board has completely taken over. I was answering your question about the romance in the novel and both your question and my answer seems to have disappeared.

The romances appeared organically in response to the intensity of the war stories. I have a great story about Isabelle and Feliciano and then I'll say goodnight. Isabelle---level headed future medical student was supposed to fall in love with Roman the sucessful journalist but each time i put them in the cellar together they just ignored each other. I tried over and over and nothing, not one spark. Then Feliciano, the Japanese sympathizer a boy who could potentially have her whole family wiped out (spoiler) and puts her in grave danger---appears and what happens? Instant sparks!!!! They decided to have a romance on their own---they started dictating so i just started recording like a court reporter. It was a fun thing to watch unfold because I didn't know what to expect next and this goes back to our having creative things appear in the writing process.
I had a definite structure and yet because of it so much creativity began to flow.

Okay Sally and Loretta thanks for joining in goodnight and I'll keep checking the board each day.

Tess wrote: "i>Sally wrote: "Well, it's almost 9:30, our designated ending time. Thanks so much, Tess, for participating in this discussion. I'm sure there will be additional comments and questions over the nex..."

Thanks so much for your thoughtful replies! We have about 15 copies of "When the Elephants Dance" on our "Staff Picks" shelf - copies that were checked out by my book group members - and they will continue to circulate and gain notice, I'm sure. And we have added two copies of The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes to our collection. We'll be watching for your next book! Good luck, and the best wishes to you.

I'll continue to monitor this discussion, and I'm pretty certain that technical difficulties prevented more from joining in tonight's discussion. They'll contribute later, I'm sure.

Thanks also for sharing your bookshelf on GoodReads, and contributing book reviews. Author participation on GoodReads really contributes to making GoodReads a valuable, interesting, and engaging resource!

Tess wrote: "Okay the board has completely taken over. I was answering your question about the romance in the novel and both your question and my answer seems to have disappeared.

The romances appeared organi..."

That's a great story, about Isabelle and Feliciano. (Sounds like a magical experience, watching your characters come to life and asserting their desires and direction in that way!)

Hello There Tess,

What a wonderfully rich conversation I am reading here. First of all, I would like to tell you how much I enjoyed your book, When The Elephants Dance. It was such a beautifully written and powerful book with such vivid characters. I wanted to ask why Mang Selso's wife was not given a name. A few times you refer to his wife but I did not catch a name. Is there a particular reason for this? I also wanted to comment on your beautiful descriptions of the physical beauty of the Phillipines. I loved your,"...like giant steps of velvet jade" and "...gaze all day at the chocolate hills." Your beautifully crafted sentences brought me to tears at times, especially the thoughts Isabelle has about her mother and her mothers' hands that nurtured and protected her. I would also like to add, that your book was made richer by your generous peppering of names and descriptions of delicious Filipino food. Of course a good discussion of your book had to be accompanied by lumpia. : )

Robin wrote: "Hello There Tess,

What a wonderfully rich conversation I am reading here. First of all, I would like to tell you how much I enjoyed your book, When The Elephants Dance. It was such a beautiful..."

We are all lucky to have Robin in our book group - she's not only a perceptive and careful reader, but she often brings food that relates to the book we're discussing. For our discussion of When the Elephants Dance, she brought dozens of freshly made lumpia, which we feasted on while discussing the book!

You can find a photo of Robin with some home-baked treats she brought for our discussion of Crescent, by Diana Abu-Jaber - it's posted on the Mostly Literary Fiction Book Group page on GoodReads - here's the link:

http://www.goodreads.com/photo/group/...

Robin wrote: "Hello There Tess,

What a wonderfully rich conversation I am reading here. First of all, I would like to tell you how much I enjoyed your book, When The Elephants Dance. It was such a beautiful..."

Hi Robin,

Thank you! My niece makes terrific lumpia both the standard size and then the little Shanghai style with the sweet & sour sauce. My father was an amazing-amazing cook. I can't recall those days with the mahjong parties without remembering the scent of his delicious cooking wafting through the air. He made the best beef tapa, thin slivers of beef with carmelized onions. I recently came across something very close at this place called Sol Food (its Puerto Rican) in San Rafael, CA (a delicious place to go by the way---i'm a huge foodie) and I was so happy to find it on their menu. They call it Bisteca, which is close to what my dad called it Bis-Steak. He also made this savory chicken and rice soup called Lugao with slivers of ginger and green onions, ah amazing. I wish I had taken the recipe down for that. But I have the one for his BBQ marinade that melts in your mouth and his chicken adobo. He would make both the saucy kind and the dried redux adobo. Now I'm hungry.

A year or so after WHEN THE ELEPHANTS DANCE was published I came across MFK Fisher's THE GASTRONOMICAL ME at Lafayette Books---and was happy to see another writer whose stories were infused with food. TOAST is another book I'd like to read soon for the same reasons.

As for Mang Selso's wife not having a name. The reason I did that is because she didn't really play actively into the story, meaning she didn't have a story to tell and I'm a stickler for a character having to earn their keep.

I smile as you recite my prose---I haven't seen those words in awhile. That section with the steps of jade was part of my standard book readings.

Thank you Tess for your response. And thank you for the great food tips. Now I'm hungry too. I will certainly be taking a drive over to Sol Food in San Rafael to try the Bisteca. Your father's cooking sounded heavenly. I will have to check out your book recommendations as well, thanks for that. First a long, long walk at Lafayette Reservoir, the book store and then some delicious Bisteca. I'm so looking forward to your next book release. And by the way, you have a great web site. What amazing, lovely graphics! Thanks for "conversing" with us!

Tess, why did you choose to use three narrators for your novel?

Hi Tess,

I'd just like to say that I loves your book When The Elephants Dance. I bought a copy for my grandmother and she said that the story was spot-on with some similar events that she experianced as a little girl in the Philippines.
But I was wondering what inspired you to start writing?

Hi Tess and sorry to have missed the original time. Just wanted to share that I taught Elephants in a piloted course over five years ago in a Multicultural English course for seniors in high school. We had several students who were desperate to hear stories about themselves and not just the typical white, male cannon. What were some of your favorites in high school?

Robin wrote: "Tess, why did you choose to use three narrators for your novel?"

The three narrators happened organically. I initially started out with my father's point of view as a young boy. My two nephews were about the same age as my father had been in the war and they served as physical images of Alejandro and his brother Roderick. So in reality Alejandro is an amalgam of my nephew and my father.

The other two characters, Isabelle and Domingo came from the research. Even when I had the information I needed to recreate that world, I kept myself immersed in World War II accounts. What kept coming up were the precariousness of the women and the resistance fighters.

The most magical thing that can happen when you're working on a piece so intimately, is that eventually if you keep to the premise, if you keep asking yourself what would happen in the given premise and the given situation, the sub story lines and characters will begin to formulate. Probably not all at once but in pieces. And if you're patient and kind to yourself, more will come.

The piece will gain flight and that's what happened. Somewhere along the lines of writing Alejandro's portion, I became aware that he should have a sister, and if he did, given the premise I had decided upon, she would always be in danger.

At the same time Domingo appeared in the opening scene with Alejandro, I didn't realize at the time how big a part he would play but as with Isabella I continued to read about the guerrilla fighters, how they were both a cause for celebration and despised because they brought danger to any household hiding one. So again, given the premise (What if a group of civilians hiding in a cellar told mythical tales to survive)I saw many opportunities where he could be expanded upon, and he became a necessity.

In retrospect, my mind had filled a need to cover the most vulnerable and extreme view points and the three characters evolved.

Kristen wrote: "Hi Tess,

I'd just like to say that I loves your book When The Elephants Dance. I bought a copy for my grandmother and she said that the story was spot-on with some similar events that she exper..."

Hi Kristen,

What inspired me to start writing was reading. What kept me from discovering that interest was that my parents had pressed upon me the need to have a 'steady job' translation: doctor, lawyer, accountant. Its not that they had anything against the arts, but Novelist just wasn't in our history. I wish they would encourage something artistic with these majors, these days, I don't know, maybe they do, but it would certainly give a person a way of discovering a prediliction.

For me, it wasn't until I'd suffered through an accounting degree (I say suffer because I didn't have a natural tendency towards accounting as my sister or cousin had.) that i allowed myself to take a class at creative writing.

But long before that i had taken a class at UC Berkeley and written a six page short-story that the teacher really was enthusiastic about. And long before that, I used to get whole paragraphs in my head and I would daydream a lot. Extended daydreams that I began to feel were absurd. But I guess my mind was trying to get around my telling it that writing wasn't an option. It just started to offer up scenarios and prose. I laugh as I write this because sometimes prose would come to me, in my car, literally as I was making the last turn towards my house, and I'd wonder "who wrote that?" and then realize with a start that I did, just now.

And it's like anything, it takes what Malcolm Gladwell calls "deliberate study" over time. BLINK is a fascinating book because of this 10,000 hours of deliberate study he talks about. Gladwell is a compelling speaker and if you can get a hold of his interview with Charlie Rose about this subject you should, it's just fascinating.

But regarding this 10,000 hours, he explains how some people get a jump on there passion early in life: Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan----and in a way that makes sense because I'd been reading and journalling since I can remember. Also, I was doing it with a certain amount of deliberation. I'd go over movie scenarios over and over, same with books I'd read my favorites again and again to catch that high, that moment when the story is just clicking.

Tam wrote: "Hi Tess and sorry to have missed the original time. Just wanted to share that I taught Elephants in a piloted course over five years ago in a Multicultural English course for seniors in high school..."

Hi Tam,

Thank you so much. That means a lot. There's a wonderful teacher in Hercules who has done the same thing. Her classes are amazing they've been writing me letters and sharing their own background and thanking me for the books. It's no excuse but I've been so busy I haven't yet had the time to write back. If any of you are out there THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

As a child I longed for books with Filipino characters. Thankfully I had my father who could supply stories to me. When Amy Tan's JOY LUCK CLUB was published I recognized those people. The Mahjong parties (of course) but also the mothers and the daughters and the texture of being Asian. And I read her novel with such wonder and hope.

Some of my favorite books growing up were: THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, THE GHOST IN THE SWING, A SEPARATE PEACE, THE OUTSIDERS and later of course THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. The last two, I say "later" because I actually appreciated them more as an adult. I think Holden Caulfield is probably one of my favorite all time characters next to John Grady Cole and Robert Jordan. And I musn't forget Arundhati Roy's twins: Estha and Rahel. What a journey they took me on.

I also read a lot of Stephen King----my sister had a lot of his books lying around but my favorites and the ones that scared the bejeezus out of me were THE SHINING and SALEM'S LOT.

There was also the Uncanny X-men Comic books, but not the ones now, the ones with the Dark Phoenix and with Psylocke when she gets turned into a samurai/ninja type fighter. The stories then----were written more like THE LORD OF THE RINGS type saga, not little sound bites. They were fleshed out like NEIL GAIMAN'S graphic novels. I want to say they were written by Alan Davis but I think he did EXCALIBUR---was it Chris Claremont? I think those were the ones. Those were amazing.

Of course there was Judy Blume, and this series that reminds me of Harry Potter----only the kid was a scientist called ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN. There was also the GHOST IN THE SWING. The JUNGLE BOOK. I wasn't a big LITTLE WOMEN fan. I was more of a WUTHERING HEIGHTS, PRIDE & PREJUDICE, JANE EYRE reader.

I like passionate stuff.

Wow!What a treat to read all of your amazing answers to our questions. Here comes another question Tess....I loved how you incorporated Tagalog into your wonderful novel and I was uncertain about just one meaning:"anting anting".

And just a comment...I LOVE the picture of your parents. What a beautiful couple!!

Robin wrote: "Wow!What a treat to read all of your amazing answers to our questions. Here comes another question Tess....I loved how you incorporated Tagalog into your wonderful novel and I was uncertain about ..."

Hi Robin!

I don't know that there's a direct translation for the word. It's a sort of amulet and talisman. Mythologically its said to come in all shapes and sizes, for instance Mang Minno's fish bone was a anting-anting that he used to call the fish. It has great power and can be either white or dark magic. Supposedly the more you used it the more it sucked energy from someone's soul or physical well-being.

The RING----Smeagel's 'precious' for instance, from Lord of the Rings.

Yes, I have the original of that wedding picture. When we were first selecting the book cover for the hard back they asked for a bunch of evocative pictures. The one I'd hoped they'd use for the front cover they didn't---it was three couples, black and white, a studio shot taken during an evening festival and dance. My parents were one of the three couples and their outfits were amazing with the authentic Filipino dress. But perhaps, the title with the word 'dance' was too literal and matchy with the picture. However, the cover they came up with was beautiful too----so long story, less long, their wedding photo wasn't a cover choice but the publishers asked if it would be okay to put it in the book and I'm so glad they did. It was a nice gesture and now that my father's gone----I feel like he follows me in every bookstore that carries my book. I need only open the cover.

Still, when Penguin did the paperback I was happy they used an actual photograph of a Filipina and in the traditional maria clara dress i describe in the book.