Interview with Elisabeth Amaral, author of 'Czar Nicholas, The Toad, and Duck Soup'
Today's guest is Elisabeth Amaral, author of the memoir, Czar Nicholas, The Toad, and Duck Soup: A Memoir of Marriage, Mime and Moving On.
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? Where did you come up with
the idea to write your book?
I was standing in line at a
Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City,
waiting to pitch a mystery novel I was working on. With only one person in
front of me I realized I couldn’t pitch that book. It was giving me too much
trouble. I briefly considered leaving until I realized I could pitch the story
of my life as a young wife and mother during the mid-60s and 70s. I had three
minutes to discuss my marriage to a gay man during the sex, drugs and rock and
roll era. The very first agent loved the idea, so I left the conference, almost
running the few miles home, and began the journey. It was thrilling. I
rediscovered friends from long ago, and their enthusiasm and memories added to
my own adrenalin.
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?
It was both easy and hard to
write Czar Nicholas, The Toad, and Duck
Soup. Easy because the memories, both my own and those of contacts from
decades ago, propelled me forward with enormous enthusiasm. The mid 60s and 70s
were exciting, and so was my life. The hard part was
doing justice to past
relationships while being honest. Specifically, it was difficult to describe my
growing realization and dismay that my first husband, who was my business
partner and the father of our son, was gay. That was when homosexuality was
barely understood or discussed. He was completely supportive of the memoir and
supplied most of the photographs in the book, including the cover shot of me
and our ten-month-old son. We have remained close. And it was emotionally
painful for me to relive old self-doubts which led me to make several bad life
choices, one of which resulted in a distressing second marriage.
I don’t know what tips I could
provide that would make a book like this easier for other writers. Every story
is individual. Mine was made easier by the warmth and encouragement from
renewed friendships.
Q: Who is your publisher and how
did you find them or did you self-publish?
I self-published with iUniverse.
Originally I sent it to an agent who called my memoir a little gem, but said it
wasn’t for her. Another agent told me what would have to be changed (recipes
and photographs), but that was contrary to my vision for the book. Most
important for me, however, was a sense of urgency that biased me in favor of
self-publishing. I had a heart attack a month or so before I completed the
book. I needed a schedule and terms more under my control.
Q: Is there anything that
surprised you about getting your first book published?
My first book was a short story
collection called When Any Kind of Love
Will Do and the process went smoothly from the beginning. They understood
exactly the image I wanted for the cover. The finished product exceeded my
expectations and was completed before the anticipated date. After the time and
effort that went into writing the book, the publishing process seemed like a
gift.
Q: What other books (if any) are
you working on and when will they be published?
I have resumed working on a
mystery novel set in New York City.
The more I work on it, the more I realize how much work is left to do. An
extremely optimistic date would be a year from now.
Q: What’s your favorite place to
hang out online?
Aside from reading news sites
such as The New York Times, Huffington Post, and BBC News, I enjoy Goodreads
and Barnes and Noble. I also have pages on Facebook, Goodreads and my own
website.
Q: Finally, what message (if any)
are you trying to get across with your book?
To grab experiences. We’ve got
one life. Don’t be reckless, don’t be stupid, but grab on and enjoy the ride.
If it gets bumpy, just hold on tight.
Q: Thank you again for this
interview! Do you have any final words?
If you have something to say, say
it. Write it. It’s the best feeling in the world to see those feelings and
thoughts come alive.
About Elisabeth Amaral:
A native New Yorker, I have lived in the city for much of my
life. My first jobs after graduating from NYU were jewelry design and case
worker for the Departments of Welfare of New York City and Cambridge,
Massachusetts. This was followed by
co-ownership of a children’s boutique (Czar Nicholas and the Toad) and a
restaurant (Duck Soup) in Cambridge
near Harvard Square. I then
worked as an industrial purchasing agent in New Jersey,
and for the last 25 years have been a real estate broker in Manhattan,
accumulating stories of the wonder and madness that is this city. I published a
book of short stories (When Any Kind of
Love Will Do), wrote two children’s books and a memoir (Czar
Nicholas, The Toad, and Duck Soup),
and am currently working on a novel.
For
More Information
- Visit Elisabeth Amaral’s website.
- Connect with Elisabeth on Facebook.
- Find out more about Elisabeth at Goodreads.
- Visit Elisabeth’s blog.
- Contact Elisabeth.
About the Book:
The mid-1960s through the mid-1970s
was a heady, turbulent time. There was a lot going on back then, and author
Elisabeth Amaral was in the middle of it all: the fights for women’s rights,
racial equality, a music revolution, be-ins, love-ins, riots in the streets,
the rage against the Vietnam War, and sex, drugs, and rock and roll. It was an
amazing time to be young.
In Czar Nicholas, The Toad, and Duck Soup, Amaral shares her
recollections of those times. She and her husband gave up their jobs in New
York City, relocated to Boston
with their infant son because of mime, unexpectedly started a children’s
boutique, and opened a popular restaurant in Harvard
Square. Most of all it is a coming-of-age story
about herself and her husband as they embarked on an improbable and moving
journey of self-discovery.
With sincerity and humor, Czar Nicholas, The Toad, and Duck Soup
offers a personal and revealing account that reaches out to those who find
themselves striving to make a relationship work that, by its very nature, may
be doomed. But this story is also one of friendship—and of finding the courage
to move on.
"A truly wonderful memoir
that reads like great fiction. The
characters come alive on the page."
– Elizabeth Brundage, author
of The Doctor's Wife and A Stranger Like You.
“The story of how Liz Amaral
and her husband became successful at the epicenter of counterculture businesses
near Harvard Square / Cambridge from 1967-1975 with their boutique and restaurant is told with humor and
insight. Swirling around them are all of the entrapments of the era, the drugs
and free love and betrayal, as well as the politics that defined the times.
With a fierce dedication to her son and husband, Liz Amaral triumphs in
this stunning memoir where she discovers that, while love isn’t always what we
think it is, it remains, in all its multi-faceted transformations, the driving
force of who we are and how we live our lives.”
– P.B. O’Sullivan, writer and mathematician
“In her intimate and humorous
memoir, Liz Amaral reveals the challenges of a young family establishing a home
in Cambridge amid the tumult of the late 1960s. You will discover the disconcerting
truth about her marriage and the painful path she takes to find herself again.
A true adventure of the heart.” – Kathrin Seitz, writer, producer,
and coach
For More Information
- Czar Nicholas, The Toad, and Duck Soup is available at Amazon.
- Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
- Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
Leave a Comment