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Sandra Dallas on WWII books, writing, and her current projects
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If you missed the first half of the interview with Sandra Dallas, author of Tallgrass, please check it out.
What first inspired you to write about WWII and the Japanese-American internment camps and why did you decide not to have the story told by one of the camp's residents?
I read Robert Harvey's book Amache: The Story of Japanese Internment in Colorado During World War II about the time I started hearing stories about the atrocities at Guantanamo and wondered if there was a parallel between these two situations. While they are quite different, I discovered that fear and prejudice in both cases contributed to taking away human rights. I couldn't tell the story from the standpoint of an internee because I'm not Japanese. That would have been presumptuous.
If you've read books set during WWII, which are some of the most powerful ones? If not, what are you reading now?
I read a number of books about World War II when I was researching Tallgrass, but that was several years ago, and frankly, I don't remember which impressed me most. I read a lot of mysteries and am about to start William Kent Krueger's Heaven's Keep and Margaret Coet's The Silient Sprit. I recently read James Schroeder's Confessions of a Political Spouse, about his life with U.S. Rep. Patricia Schroeder.
Most writers will read inspirational/how-to manuals, take workshops, or belong to writing groups. Did you subscribe to any of these aids and if so which did you find most helpful? Please feel free to name any "writing" books you enjoyed most (i.e. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott).
I don't do any of that, but I do agree that Bird by Bird is the best book on writing I've ever read. Another good one is David Morrell's Lessons Learned From a Lifetime of Writing.
What current projects are you working on and would you like to share some details with the readers?
I have a book coming out in April entitled Whiter Than Snow. It's the story of an avalanche that hits a Colorado mining town in 1920, sweeping up nine school children. Four of them live.
For a review of Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas, check out Savvy Verse & Wit or a review of Prayers for Sale, go to Maw Books.
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