Interview with Alison Littman, Author of Radio Underground @alimcshpiel #interview



Alison Littman lives in San Francisco where she’s a writer by day and standup comedian by night. A former journalist in New Mexico, she covered politics and education while also contributing articles on John F. Kennedy and The Beatles to various specialty magazines. Her feature stories focus on listening to rock 'n' roll behind the Iron Curtain and Cold War politics. Radio Underground is her first novel.


Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life!  Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process.  Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning?  When did you come up with the idea to write your book?
           
            Radio Underground came to me by chance many years ago when I was combing through archives at the Hoover Institution for my college thesis. I found a stack of letters written by people in Hungary who were secretly listening to rock ‘n’ roll during the Cold War. As I did more digging, I learned they were writing to a DJ who played The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and other popular bands on the illicit Radio Free Europe. For a long time, I couldn’t get their voices out of my head, like Titanilla, who wrote:

….There are thousands of us who live only in sleep—who act, speak, applaud because we have to. When we utter YES, our hearts drum NO. Can this partial assimilation end up in a complete one? This is our question. In our childhood we were looking for beauty and for the realization of human ideals, and what remains today? A hesitant search for existence and a life under the compulsion of permanent lying. We can go forward only in the middle of the road…
-Titanilla
10 December 1964
Radio Free Europe Archives, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

            I knew after reading these letters I wanted to find a way to share them with the world. Many of them were written by young people who used code names, which would be read aloud by the DJ as he played the songs they requested. I endeavored to capture both the pain these young people and their families felt and the optimism some were still able to maintain. They believed in something better. Except, it wasn’t necessarily the West or capitalism they believed in. It was that expression could set them free, and they would pursue that to no end, both through their words and in the music to which they listened.

 
Q: How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?
 
            Writing historical fiction is challenging in that you can’t exactly go live in the time period you’re writing on. For those wanting to base their work on a different time period or place (past, future or alternate reality), I think it’s important to remember not every detail of that world needs to be discussed. While some summary will be needed, I would recommend revealing your world through how your characters interact with it. For example, in Radio Underground, Eszter has to sneak out at night in order to deliver intelligence to her Radio Free Europe contacts. Through her passing buildings and slipping along side streets, I was able to touch upon the historical moment by showing: the secret police headquarters where they tortured people in prisons below; the Zis-110, the government’s vehicle of choice, sometimes used to snatch people in the middle of the night from their homes; and the fact that no one is out on the street because there is a curfew. All of these points indicate important details about the time period, but are presented in a way that shows us who Eszter is – a covert journalist risking her life to convey intelligence to her contacts.

Q: Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?
            My publisher is the indie press, Last Syllable Books. I met Selene, the publisher and founder of Last Syllable, at a writer’s conference five years ago and have since revised, developed and edited Radio Underground with her until it was ready for publication. For any writers out there, I would say publishing, like anything, is networking. Conferences, writing residencies and similar programs can connect you directly or via a personal recommendation to the agents and publishers who may be interested in your work.

Q: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?
            I was surprised at how many logistics were involved in getting a book to market. Since my publisher involved me in a lot of the process, I have learned about things like barcodes, ISBNs, offset printing, wholesale distribution and other details and processes that I just wouldn’t ever know existed.

Q: What other books are you working on and when will they be published?
            I’m currently working on a book that takes place in San Francisco a few months after a fog has lifted from the city. This isn’t just your normal fog, it is one that has had disastrous effects on certain populations and society will be forever changed. It’s in the very nascent stages so I don’t want to say too much more – but stay tuned!
           
Q: What’s one fact about your book that would surprise people?
            That the U.S. used rock ‘n’ roll to persuade people in Eastern Europe to ditch their communist ties and support capitalism.

Q: Finally, what message are you trying to get across with your book?
            I would like people to explore a couple of questions when they think about my book.
            I’m curious about the responsibility we have to report unbiased news. In Radio Underground the characters are caught up in creating news that will serve their political agendas or the “good of the people.” Are there situations where we are justified in shaping news if it is for the betterment of society? And how far can or should we go?
            Another question I have is about the lengths and limits of love. I would like to believe love can conquer all, however we are always encountering these major outside forces that seem to challenge our ability to stay connected to one another—and in Radio Underground’s case—the fate of an entire country was in flux as a family started to crumble. Are there times when we should put something else before our loved ones? Is there some sort of greater purpose in life than the very ties that bind us? Or not?
           
Q: Thank you again for this interview!  Do you have any final words?

            I’m so excited to hear what readers take away from Radio Underground. I hope it offers a glimpse into a time period that captures their imagination and isn’t frequently covered in the historical fiction of today.

About the Book:

Title: RADIO UNDERGROUND
Author: Alison Littman
Publisher: Last Syllable Books
Pages: 354
Genre: Historical Fiction

BOOK BLURB:
After years of suffering under the communist regime in Cold War Hungary, Eszter Turján—fanatical underground journalist—would sacrifice anything, and anyone, to see the government fall. When she manipulates news broadcasts on Radio Free Europe, she ignites a vicious revolution, commits a calamitous murder, and is dragged away screaming to a secret underground prison.

Her daughter Dora, then a teenager, cowers in her bedroom as the secret police arrest her mother. Haunted and hurt, Dora vows to work against everything Eszter believes in. But, it’s not that simple.

After nine years, Dora meets a strapping young fan of Radio Free Europe and is unwittingly drawn back into Eszter’s circle. She finds her mother, driven mad by years of torture, is headed for death.

On the brink of losing Eszter again, Dora must decide if she should risk her life to save the mother who discarded her—or leave it to fate.

“A propulsive read and a timely reminder that maintaining our humanity requires courage as much as love.”- Kim van Alkemade, New York Times best-selling author of Orphan #8 and Bachelor Girl

“Littman’s debut novel is a delectable blend of history and heartstrings, sure to please the palates of literature lovers everywhere.”- Selene Castrovilla, award-winning author of Melt and Luna Rising

5 out of 5 star review from Readers’ Favorite

Radio Underground reads like a movie…A revolutionary tale written with style.”- Readers’ Favorite



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