10 Questions for Nikki Arana

10 Questions for Nikki Arana

1. Tricia: I’ve heard a rumor, girl, that you’ve sold everything you’ve ever submitted. Congrats! What’s up with that?

Nikki: It’s true. Though I do say, “I’ve sold or had accepted everything I’ve ever submitted because some small magazines don’t pay with money but with issues of the magazine. Still, the articles, poems, or stories are published. When I first became interested in writing I took an internet class called Writeriffic. My teacher, Eva Shaw, suggested I try submitting. She had written a book called Publishing Magazine Articles. So I bought it and read it. I wrote an article called The 5 W’s and an H of How to Get Published. I sent it to The Writer, Writer’s Digest, etc and Writer’s Digest bought it for their Writer’s Forum. My first sale. $25. After that I decided to try writing poetry. I bought the Poets Market Guide and saw that most magazines wanted free verse. I had never written free verse. So I took a class. I submitted two poems to different places and “sold” both. They were paid for with copies of the magazines. And so it went. Then someone said I was doing really well and I should write a book. So I did that, and that led to me getting an agent and a multiple book contract.

The take-away from my story is, even though it sounds easy, I chose where I sent my writing carefully. I researched and did everything I could to give my writing an advantage. I sent the magazines what they were looking for and they bought it.

2. Tricia: I’ve had the pleasure of meeting your dear Antonio. I know after all these years you’re still crazy about him. What warms your heart most about your husband?

Nikki: One can get the answer in detail by reading The Winds of Sonoma. But what has touched me most day in and day out, for thirty years, is his love for me. I often think of the scripture where husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loves the church. That is how Antonio loves me. One time we were in church and someone asked, “How many times should you forgive a person?” He answered in his broken English, “As many times as necessary.” He actually lives his life like that. He is humble and precious. After all these years, every time he looks at me he smiles. What more can I say?

3. Tricia: The emotions in your novel go deep. Do you feel this is because many of the experiences are your own?

Nikki: Many of my novels do spring from personal experiences. There are scenes in The Winds of Sonoma that actually happened! But more than personal experiences, I think it is because I feel passionately about my subject that the emotion translates to the page. In The Shade of the Jacaranda I was expressing my deeply held belief that God has a plan for every child that is born. And in The Fragrance of Roses I wanted to raise public awareness about the need for more minorities to donate blood to bone marrow registries.

My next book, As I Have Loved You, coming out next summer, is about the need for us as Christians to love. The Lord has gifted us all in different ways, but the greatest gift of all is to love, even when we are given a reason not to.

4. Tricia: My grandma, who is also Mexican, is your BIGGEST fan. How did you capture the culture and heart of the people so well?

Nikki: Living with Antonio and knowing his family for so many years really helps. I only write about the poor Mexicans who live in the fields. That is where my experiences with that culture have been. When Antonio and I go down and visit his family we stay with them. They live in a tiny town with dirt roads and many homes have no electricity or bathrooms. The people live simply and are so happy. I love going there, though it can be difficult because I am a spoiled American. But it is home to Antonio, and he could live there or here and it wouldn’t make any difference to him.

5. Tricia: I’ve also had a chance to correspond with your father. When did he first tell you about his experiences at Pearl Harbor?

Nikki: Actually, I didn’t find out about that from him. I was about eight years old when I found some old, yellowed newspaper clippings in a closet. There was a picture of a younger version of my father on the front page of the newspaper with a caption that read, “Private Gaynos receives his baptism under fire” or something like that. That was the first I knew that he had sent back the first eyewitness reports of the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor. I remember reading that he said he saw his best friend lying on the ground, so he went and picked him up. The young man’s arms fell off. At first I didn’t tell anyone I had found the papers, but eventually realized it was okay to talk to him about it. But he never says much about the really personal stuff. He speaks about factual things in the context of history.

6. Tricia: If you had to compare yourself to a bird, which one would you choose?

Nikki: This was a hard question because I’m not very birdlike. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t eat like a bird and I sure don’t sing like a bird. So I pick a cardinal because I like bright colors and lots of foo foo. You know, sparkly stuff. And that crest on the top of their head makes it kind of pointy and I’ve been called a pinhead from time to time. I’ve been called a donkey head too.

7. Tricia: If you had a day off with no responsibilities, what would you do?

Nikki: Antonio and I would take an early flight to Portland, rent a car, and drive to the ocean. I’d have my portable CD player and walk along the beach listening to Il Divo and holding Antonio’s hand. Eventually we would find a secluded spot and I’d put the CD player away and we’d sit together watching the waves. Being with Antonio in the presence of God’s sand and sea is Heaven on earth to me. I adore my husband.

8. Tricia: One of the most important rules of real estate is location, location, location. What do you feel is one of the most important rules for writing?

Nikki: First: Write your passion and write His truth.

Second: Thinking, thinking, thinking. For me it is ninety percent thinking, ten percent writing. I don’t put anything on paper before I begin writing other than the synopsis that is needed to sell the book. I carry the entire book in my head. I think it through from beginning to end, then I start writing. Immediately I will start seeing possibilities I hadn’t thought of and then I rethink the book through to the end because every plot twist changes the path. I wish I didn’t write this way because it makes me write slowly. But my novels always have several plot threads running through them and I never saw a plot twist I didn’t like. So I’m zigging and zagging through the story, having to rethink how to get to the end over and over.

9. Tricia: More shoes or more purses?

Nikki: Purses. I’ve never cared much about my feet. But I love those bright, sparkly purses. And I especially like knowing they’ll always fit.

10. Tricia: If you were to have your own show like Oprah, who would be your first three guests?

Nikki: An illegal immigrant farm worker, a moderate Muslim, and a street person. I would love to have a forum where these people could speak about who they are and what we have in common. We are all human beings. If we can find common ground with people and love our neighbors as ourselves, the world will be a better place. As Christians we are uniquely equipped to become a vessel through which God can love, touch, and change people . . . and the world.

Nikki Arana
Visit http://www.nikkiarana.com/