This Week’s Feature Author Interview with
Eva Pasco
Hi Eva Pasco, welcome to the Indie Publishing Group website. Introduce yourself to us. Tell everyone who you are, where you’re from, what do you enjoy doing, hobbies and interests.
Hi, I’m Eva Pasco, an Indie author whose novels fit the genre of Contemporary Women’s Fiction. A native Rhode Islander, my state’s geography influences my enjoyment for walking along the shore. I have an avid interest in exercising. I’m also a fragrance aficionado.
When did you start writing and why?
Living in a rural area as an only child until my sister came along when I was 6 yrs. old, I relished having my mother read to me. I also relied on my imagination while dialoguing with my dolls during high tea. Already a proficient typist at the age of nine, I started writing by the age of twelve. A malfunction in the electrical wiring which caused our doorbell to ring automatically prompted me to compose, “The Mystery of the Midnight Doorbell,” replete with secret codes and a smuggling ring.
Which is your favorite book you have written and what gave you the idea for it?
At this point in time, it’s my second novel, released in September 2016—AN ENLIGHTENING QUICHE. My inspiration for this novel is rooted in the beloved village of Manville, Rhode Island where I began my teaching career at Northern Lincoln Elementary. Rich in history for housing the Manville Mill powered by the Blackstone River, it was the largest textile mill in the country with over 5,000 employees in the 1950s. Massive flooding caused by Hurricane Diane in 1955, and a devastating fire two weeks later, contributed to the mill’s demise.
I reference this in my novel as well as fabricate my own history for Brulé Bookbinding Co., the fictitious bookbinding mill in my story.
I’m also inspired by Manville’s warmth which I attribute to the predominantly French-Canadians who immigrated to the area at the turn of the 20th century, seeking gainful employment in the mill. I had the privilege of teaching their descendants who reflected time-honored values instilled in them by their forebears who were no strangers to hard work. Though the village embraced other ethnicities throughout the ensuing years leading up to my retirement 29 years later, I chose to preserve Manville’s original aura in my book through the fictitious locale of Beauchemins.
How did you come up with the title for your book?
During the early stage of writing the novel, I had baked a quiche from modifying one of my recipes filed in a thick binder. Besides, it seemed a very French thing to do, taking into consideration the novel takes place in northern Rhode Island’s fictitious French-Canadian mill town of Beauchemins.
Who helped you with the cover? Or did your design it yourself? What was your inspiration for your cover design?
The cover design is entirely my own doing, incorporating: a stock image; letter font, style, and color. A “hybrid published author,” I am self-published by outsourcing through a small independent publishing company, who did the formatting. The inspiration emanated from what transpires in the story. I purposely avoided a “gendered” look, which, in my opinion, can denigrate the genre of Contemporary Women’s Fiction.
What are some of the themes of your story?
Deception. Dysfunction. Remorse. Redemption. Self-Sacrifice. Nobility.
What’s your process when you sit down and decide to start writing a book? What is your process and do you have a system?
My writing process falls under the “pantster” nomenclature. No outline. No rigid plot. My literary journey from its point of origin follows a sketchy route to wherever my characters lead me. Starting with the very first blank page of a novel, I take such joy in typing “Chapter 1” and let the words land on the page haphazardly without confining them to sentences or adhering to conventions of grammar. At this stage, it is important to heed my inner voice.
Once my preliminary words have blazed a trail over the course of a paragraph or page, I start marking my territory by reining it in. Then, it’s onto blazing new trails and marking more territorial space, while going back to the previous fermenting text to make any necessary changes by eliminating and/or enriching. I work like and advancing and retreating glacier!
Who are some of your favorite characters and why?
I’m shining the spotlight on Scarlett O’Hara. Publicly, she portrays the stereotypical dainty, demure and helpless southern belle. Beneath all the ruffles, she is independent, headstrong, and conniving to the point of figuratively cutting off her nose to spite her face. I admire her determination to save Tara and to pursue Rhett at a later time, by refusing to take no for an answer.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
I’ll fly solo with Stephen King. For years, I thrived on a steady reading diet of his books. More than mastering the genre of horror, I admire his genius for character development, realistic dialog, and a pervasive sense of humor. I credit King for unleashing my penchant for perversity where deemed needed.
*Here’s an exemplary snippet from Augusta Bergeron, my alpha female protagonist, courtesy of Chapter 5:
Death by hibachi! Vernon Blais went out in a blaze of glory, smoked to death barbecuing charcoal briquettes while locked inside the bathroom with the window shut.
Have you got anything you’re working on now?
Still, in the throes of working the room to market and promote my second novel, my imagination is conjuring a third novel in the genre of Contemporary Women’s Fiction. It will also take place in Rhode Island and tread matters of consequence. I’m envisioning the characters and conceptualizing the plot twists and turns. Working title—‘Aida’s Fishing Season.’
If you could have any super powers what would they be?
Definitely the power of influence for others to do my bidding!
If you could travel to any location in the world where would you go?
Because I’m enamored with the classic film, ‘Casablanca,’ which weaves its way through AN ENLIGHTENING QUICHE, I would like to travel to Morocco.
Where do you hope to be in 5 years’ time?
“Hope” as in fortuitous wish—seeing my second and any subsequent novels on the New York Times Best Sellers list.
Thanks so much for taking the time to do an author interview. Take a minute and check out Eva Pasco on the links below. Eva Pasco’s book, An Enlightening Quiche, is available now on Amazon!
Eva Pasco Authors Den Signed Bookstore
