OBS reviewer Lee sits down to chat with author Willow Rose about her first book in the “Daughters of the Jaguar” series, Savage.
Lee: Your main character Christian is from Denmark, as are you. What led you to move to Florida? Was it for similar reasons as Christian? Did you experience similar culture shock upon moving to the United States? Willow Rose: My husband and I moved to Florida three years ago with our two daughters. We chose to leave the cold and move to the sunshine state where every day is a potential beach-day and where winter-boots are something you wear with your shorts when they bring in artificial snow in December for the kids to play in. We wanted a change and it turned out to be the best decision we ever made. We didn’t have as big a culture shock as Christian has in the book, mainly because today Europeans know a lot more about what goes on in the States than they did in 1983. News travels much faster and especially Danes are not that different from Americans. What Christian experiences is based upon what my husband experienced when he travelled to Florida in 83 to live with a wealthy family for a year. The beginning of the book is inspired by his journey. But the rest is fiction.
Lee: What made you decide to set the novel in the early 1980s? W.R.: Because I wanted the three books to take place during three different decades. Plus I love history and the 80′ies were so fun.
Lee: How much of the culture and myth that Aiyana’s family comes from is true and how much did you invent? W.R.: Some of it is taken from the Maya-Indians who worshiped the Jaguar as a god and then some of the background is taken from the real Timucua Indians that inhabited Florida before the Spaniards came. The rest I invented.
Lee: Your main character Christian is from Denmark, as are you. What led you to move to Florida? Was it for similar reasons as Christian? Did you experience similar culture shock upon moving to the United States?
Willow Rose: My husband and I moved to Florida three years ago with our two daughters. We chose to leave the cold and move to the sunshine state where every day is a potential beach-day and where winter-boots are something you wear with your shorts when they bring in artificial snow in December for the kids to play in. We wanted a change and it turned out to be the best decision we ever made. We didn’t have as big a culture shock as Christian has in the book, mainly because today Europeans know a lot more about what goes on in the States than they did in 1983. News travels much faster and especially Danes are not that different from Americans. What Christian experiences is based upon what my husband experienced when he travelled to Florida in 83 to live with a wealthy family for a year. The beginning of the book is inspired by his journey. But the rest is fiction.
Lee: What made you decide to set the novel in the early 1980s?
W.R.: Because I wanted the three books to take place during three different decades. Plus I love history and the 80′ies were so fun.
Lee: How much of the culture and myth that Aiyana’s family comes from is true and how much did you invent?
W.R.: Some of it is taken from the Maya-Indians who worshiped the Jaguar as a god and then some of the background is taken from the real Timucua Indians that inhabited Florida before the Spaniards came. The rest I invented.
See the full interview here----> http://openbooksociety.com/article/wi...