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Terry Wolverton’s New Novel: Stealing Angel

17 Aug Posted by in Guest Writers | Comments Off on Terry Wolverton’s New Novel: Stealing Angel
Terry Wolverton’s New Novel: Stealing Angel

Terry Wolverton interviews herself for Epochalips about her new novel, Stealing Angel:

TW: Hey, Terry, congratulations on your new book!  Why don’t you tell us about it?

Terry: Have you ever done something bad, really bad, but for a good reason?  That’s where Maggie Seaver, my protagonist, finds herself.  She’s recently lost custody of the seven-year-old girl, Angel, whom she co-parented with her former lover, Yoli.  Turns out, Yoli’s new boyfriend doesn’t want Maggie in the picture.

Maggie’s trying to deal; she meditates and is trying to come to terms with it, but when Angel’s teacher calls to say the girl showed up with bruises all over her, Maggie acts out of blind instinct and takes Angel from school and drives her over the border into Mexico.  She heads to the Southern Baja, a town called Todos Santos, where the Light Beings, the spiritual group she meditates with, have their main ashram.  She hopes an audience with Guru Tam will help her to know how to proceed.

In the meantime, the FBI is after her as a kidnapper, and it turns out that many gringos in the Baja have satellite dishes and watch the local news from Los Angeles.  She’s trying to get to the ashram before she gets caught.

TW: Wow, so it’s kind of a “spiritual thriller”?

Terry: Yes, a lesbian spiritual thriller.  Where is that section at Barnes & Noble?

TW: What made you take on this kind of project?

Terry: I was introduced to Todos Santos in 2001, when two of my writing students—Jeanne Cordova and Lynn Harris Ballen—moved there.  They brought me down 3 years in a row to teach a weeklong writing workshop.  On my third time, I got the inspiration for this book and started to write it there.  I’ve also been a teacher of Kundalini Yoga for about 10 years, and have gotten more and more involved in meditation.  I’m interested in how a spiritual practice helps us through the messiness of our lives.

TW: Is it true that the book has a theme song?

Terry: My friend, singer/songwriter Lisa Nemzo, has written a terrific song, “Stealing Angel.”  People can listen here:

TW: And what about the book itself?  How can folks get a copy?

Terry: They can order direct from the publisher at spinstersink.com or ask your local bookstore to order it and put it on the shelf!

Terry Wolverton is author of nine books: Embers, a novel-in-poems; Insurgent Muse: life and art at the Woman’s Building, a memoir; Stealing Angel, The Labrys Reunion and Bailey’s Beads, novels; Breath, a self-published collection of short stories, and three collections of poetry: Black Slip, Mystery Bruise and Shadow and Praise. She has also edited fourteen literary anthologies, including the award winning six-volume series, His: Brilliant New Fiction by Gay Men and Hers: Brilliant New Fiction by Lesbians.  She spent 13 years at the Woman’s Building as an artist, student, teacher and administrator, eventually serving as Executive Director.  She is the founder of Writers At Work, a creative writing center in Los Angeles, where she teaches fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.  She is also an Associate Faculty Mentor in the MFA Writing Program at Antioch University Los Angeles.

 

 

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