Welcome, Patricia. Tell
us how much of yourself you write into your characters.
In the debut, I wrote a lot of myself into Ana. We both made
a lot of mistakes and experienced great heartbreak because we lived life
without God for too many years. We heard the Gospel for the first time well
into our adulthood and came to saving faith practically together. But she’s
better than me when it comes to surrendering. I look up to her now in matters
of dying to self. In fiction you can make everything bigger and better, right? She’s
a professional ballerina. I danced pre-professionally in three continents, but
never earned a penny dancing ballet. Not one. I got a free costume once. Oh,
and I never had a Baryshnikov lookalike and/or a Blake Shelton lookalike
fighting over me. I did manage to land a handsome paratrooper who’s been
putting up with my writing madness and other insanities for more than twelve
years now.
What is the quirkiest
thing you have ever done?
I wanted to write an accurate scene about a frustrated woman
destroying a pregnancy test. So I purchased a First Response pregnancy test,
used it, waited as the character would have, then threw it against the bathroom
floor to see if it would break, and if so, how and in how many pieces.
When did you first
discover that you were a writer?
The desire to write a novel came thirty years ago, when as a
teenage girl back home in Brazil United States , learned English, and graduated
magna cum laude from the University
of Cincinnati
Tell us the range of
the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
I read friends’ books more and more these days because I
love them and know how hard it is to birth a book baby. So whatever they write
is what I read. I find myself reading more historical novels and speculative
novels than I ever thought I would. But I also read a lot of contemporary fiction
and devotionals.
How do you keep your
sanity in our run, run, run world?
I don’t. I’m either crazy and running or sane and still.
When I figure out how to run sanely, I will let you know how I got there.
How do you choose
your characters’ names?
I usually have faces in my head first. Then I begin toying
around with names—names that match the faces. Ana’s name is spelled this way
because her mom grew up in Brazil
What is the
accomplishment that you are most proud of?
Taking the leap and becoming a homeschooler. I thought for
sure 2017 would go down in history as the year I got published. But no.
Becoming a homeschooler is far more historical. See, I received an Asperger’s
diagnosis in 2014. This thing is now considered an autism spectrum disorder—I’m
not certain I understand or agree with that, but I’m not a doctor. Anyway,
having Asperger’s makes me clinically selfish and giving my children my most
productive hours when their peers are in school and mine are at Panera is a big
deal to me. But the Lord is blessing our home school, and I’m proud of each of
us for the work we produce and the love we share around our family table daily.
There’s joy in obedience, right?
If you were an
animal, which one would you be, and why?
A backyard bird. Mine bring me great joy—to me and to my
children. We have woodpeckers, chickadees, cardinals, tufted titmice, and many
others who visit daily and fight the squirrels for the food we put out. If I
were an animal, I would want to bring that kind of joy to those who hold down
the fort day in and day out. Flying would be cool too.
What is your favorite
food?
Churrasco! Have you ever heard of it? It’s a way of grilling
different meats in the south of Brazil U.S.
There was a
Brazilian-style restaurant near us for several years. They are rather expensive
here. (I live in Texas
Being lost. I didn’t write with an awakened heart. How I
overcame it? Jesus passed by. I became a Christian during the writing of the
novel. When I finally understood the Gospel and surrendered to Christ, I
realized I had to rewrite the whole story. My novel wasn’t just the story of a
woman looking for love and professional success. It was about a woman trying to
fill the God-shaped hole in her heart with terribly misguided romantic and
professional pursuits. She had to come to faith first. Then she could find
sufficiency, love, and professional joy. Boom! God had me writing my own
salvation story all along. Here’s how it happened: http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-season-to-dance-book-that-wrote-me.html
Awesome. Tell us
about the featured book.
A Season to Dance is the heart-wrenching love story of a small
town professional ballerina who dreams of dancing at the Met in New York
Blurb:
Ana Brassfield has her path to the stage of the Metropolitan
Opera House all figured out until her first love, renowned German dancer Claus
Gert, returns to Georgia to win her back. Despite a promising start toward her
ballet career and pending marriage to landscape architect, Peter Engberg, Ana
wonders if her dreams of dancing at the Met are as impossible as her previous
romantic relationship with Claus.
Then, an on-stage kiss between Ana and Claus changes
everything.
Convinced the kiss is more than a one-time mistake, Peter
breaks off their engagement. With an old dog crippled by arthritis and dreams
deferred but not left behind, Ana moves to Germany
Please give us the
first page of the book.
November 12, 2011
This is for them. This
is for the magic. This is for every little dreamer in the room. Dozens of
little awestruck faces crowded the large studio as I took position to practice
my Sugar Plum Fairy solo. Everyone in the company and the school had come
together for the first full-length rehearsal of The Nutcracker season.
I’d been in every one of those shoes: mouse, soldier, angel,
every flower, every food, and every country. Now I was the Sugar Plum Fairy at
long last, the one role that eluded me all those years. Had it been worth the
wait?
Images of the first Sugar Plum Fairy rehearsal I’d ever seen
flashed before my eyes—a beloved mental movie my heart flocked to every year
around this time.
Could a young dancer ever forget the magic of watching the
Sugar Plum rehearse her solo for the very first time? I hadn’t. I peered toward
the girls from beneath the bright studio lights. And they wouldn’t.
This moment was going to last forever in their little minds.
And I knew that, within the next three minutes, most of them would be thinking,
That will be me one day.
My breathing quickened with the first notes of the music,
and I moved to Tchaikovsky’s composition in steps that were delicate, like the
heavenly sounds of the celesta, and precise, like the pizzicato—or
pinched—sounds of the string instruments. The descending bass clarinet
punctuated the variation.
Tchaikovsky used the celesta, a keyboard instrument new in
his time, to make the music of the Sugar Plum Fairy sound like “drops of water
shooting from a fountain,” the imagery Petipa, the choreographer of the ballet,
had requested. I imagined the fountain: sparkly, flowy, and elegant.
Glittering bell-like sounds inspired the gliding steps that
followed, and regal arm movements came naturally in a variation that suited my
strengths.
Sure, twenty-nine was ridiculously late for a professional
ballerina to dance the role of Sugar Plum Fairy for the first time, but I
didn’t let that bother me.
I’m eager to read the
rest of the story. How can readers find you on the Internet?
Home: www.patriciabeal.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bealpat
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/bealpat
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/patriciasbeal
Facebook: www.facebook.com/patricia.beal.author
Instagram: www.instagram.com/patriciasimoesbeal
Thank you, Patricia,
for sharing this book with me and my blog readers. I know we’ll all enjoy
reading it.
Readers, here are links to the book.
A Season to Dance
- PaperbackA Season to Dance - Kindle
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