She’s the author of fourteen published historical novels. Her trilogy set in sixteenth-century
Turkey spent many months on the Turkish bestseller list. She
has also written a nonfiction
book entitled A HISTORY OF WOMEN'S SECLUSION IN THE MIDDLE EAST: THE VEIL IN
THE LOOKING GLASS.
She has lost track of how many plays she
has had produced across the country from Seattle to New York, but JIHAD,
produced in New York City in both 1996 and 2000, won The Off-Off Broadway Review's
best new play of the year.
A very warm welcome to you Ann on my space. J
Your real name
and pen name?
Ann Chamberlin
Please share
some of the best memories of your childhood
I had a great
childhood, I see now, although it seemed hard at the time. A bright
brother and four bright sisters to challenge me, to act in my plays, to be the
first audience for my stories. Academic geeky parents. Our
many jaunts abroad--these things were not conducive to local popularity,
nor were my thrift store clothes or clothes I made myself, but these
things taught me to be alone, to have great relationships with the people
in my imagination.
I remember my
brother and sister painting each other turquoise--the color of the root cellar
door.
I remember being
bitten by my pet garter snake in the living room--and then another snake dying
in striking position in the basement closet. These scenes appeared in my
novel Snakesleeper.
I remember when
the fire my mother was tending to clear the irrigation ditches in spring got
out of hand and she told me to run across the fields about a block to the fire
station to tell them to come and help. I got too afraid half way there
and had to come back so she could run.
I spent most of
Kindergarten in the principle's office because the sadistic teacher and I
didn't see eye to eye about my education. Besides giving me a lot of time
to make stories up instead of swallowing hers, it was gratifying that she ended
up in a sanatorium before she drove me there.
What career did
you plan during your education days
I always wanted to
write and didn't always have the discipline to think I might need a real job
besides. But I did know that I didn't like the way English departments
taught writing--with the single exception of one quarter I had with EL
Doctorow who validated my love of historical fiction. Instead of English,
I majored in the thing I wanted to write about--archaeology and anthropology.
I found the library as a part time job, and that became my career path.
They let me research and write.
What languages
you can speak and write?
English, French
and German well enough to translate professionally. Hebrew and Arabic
well enough to give me my job at the library. Akkadian and ancient
Egyptian I've studied on the side. Nobody much to speak those languages
with.
What is your
biggest source of inspiration in life
The women I've met
in many countries in the world, including in my own fami
What hurts you
most in this world.
Right now, the
fact that I didn't try harder to publish things I saw in Syria, to make people
see—
What is the
biggest challenge you have faced? How did you overcome it?
I'm still dealing
with my biggest challenge--a husband with multiple sclerosis. I don't
think I'll ever overcome that.
A high school
creative writing teacher who thought girls couldn't write and said so
frequently, a mother who believes fiction is immoral--these hardly seem like
challenges at this point in my life. Instead, I thank these
people for telling me this stuff and making me determined to prove them
wrong.
What is your
favorite genre and why?
Historical Fiction
When did you
start writing?
I have a book for
which I drew the pictures before I could write in one of my dad's
exam blue books. I made my mother write the story entitled The
Fairy Princess. Since Mom
had three, eventually five, kids younger than me, plus a score of foster
kids, she quickly got me a dictionary so I would stop bothering her asking
her to write or spell for me. She still helps me edit, however, no matter
how immoral.
What is
the purpose of your writing?
The
purpose of storytelling--as of all true art as well as all true religion--is to
support positions in exact opposition to the views prevailing in a culture's
powerhouses.
Which of your
work has been published so far? Would you like to share a synopsis of your
work?
When all the
contracts I have signed are fulfilled, I will have published twenty
books. Rather than all those synopses, I'll just give one for my most
recent novel, The Sword and the Well, the conclusion to my Sword
in the Well Trilogy.
In the
early years of Islam, three lives braid together.Khalid ibn al-Walid never lost a battle, either fighting against the Prophet Muhammad or for him. "Women no longer give birth to the likes of Khalid," the Prophet said. In old age, the general dictates his memoirs to a eunuch scribe, with a new perspective to all the blood he shed.
In the desert oasis of Tadmor, twelve-year-old Rayah comes of age, accepting her new religion and her own power.
And on the third floor of the house in Tadmor, a woman with blue eyes hides her past in the safety of a harem--which cannot remain secluded forever. For she and her mothers led the tribes of the desert on sacred camels--and with the help of beings of fire and smoke, the jinn.
What are your
forthcoming writings?
I'm editing a
trilogy based on the Nibelungenlied with Penumbra Press. Brynhild is my
main character, the trilogy is called Choosers of the Slain, with titles The
Choosers of the Slain, The Linden's Red Plague andInto the Bog or maybe that last one should
be called Twilight of the Gods.
I'm working with
my illustrator Julia Homenko on two more scratch-and-sniff stories to join with The
Fair Maid and the Pirates we
just recently finished. One of the new ones will be called The
Witch's Cottage, thenA Medieval Castle.
What are your
future plans?
Beyond getting
these books out, I have four or five titles without homes yet. At the
front of the queue are a memoir of my grandmother and her seven sisters and
then a collection of my plays. I hope to see them settled, and of course
I have a dozen manuscripts I'm working on. I hope to finish at least some
of those books.
I have a couple
screen plays and stage plays I'd like to see produced, too.
Your dream
destination on Earth?
Damascus. I
was fortunate to have visited twice before the terrible war going on now, so perhaps
I should revise this statement to say--Damascus of the past. There are
also scenes in Damascus of the seventh Christian century in my most recent
book.
Your origin of
birth and other countries you have visited/ stayed. What best things you liked
in these countries around the globe?
I was born in
Mormon Utah, learned to walk in France. My first memories are, in this
order: the ginger tom cat in Yorkshire, England, the round window on the Queen
Mary on the way back to the US and the black dog named Judy in
Albuquerque, NM. I attended high school in East High in Salt Lake (the
school in High School Musical--only
I attended before the fire and the rebuild), Lycee Kleber in Strasbourg,
France, Humboldt Gymnasium in Ulm, Germany and Venice High is S. California.
By the time I graduated, I had been to most countries in Europe, including
Communist Hungary, many for months at a time. It was time to expand my
world view. I began to focus on the Middle East. I have now been
all across North Africa, to Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Turkey.
All this history
ill prepared me for life in Mormon Utah where I was born. What I have
learned is that "progress" is highly overrated. The arrogance
and exceptional view of my native land doesn't suit me. O Brave New World
that has such people in it!
Your favorite
time of the day?
Morning. I
write best in the morning, before anyone is up. By the time dinner is
over I can get pretty depressed.
Your zodiac/
sunsign?
Aries. Get
the hell out of my way.
 | |
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Your favorite
color and why?
Brick red.
The red of my son's hair. I'm an Aries.
Your favorite
book and why?
The King Must Die by Mary Renault. Made a historical fiction author out of me
by the time I was out of high school.
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| A summer's day picnic atmosphere with delicious munches greeted Ann's friends and admirers. |
Your favorite
celebrity and why?
Celebrities?
Ick.
Your favorite
food?
Whatever's in the
garden. Right now, that's lots of eggs and spinach and greens and lettuce
and rhubarb.
Some quickies: (highlighted
ones are Ann’s choices)
Sun or Moon,
Laughter or Smile,
Morning or Evening,
Coffee or Tea,
Mountain or Sea,
Long Drive or
Short Drive,
Silence or
Conversation,
Water or Fire,
Air or Earth,
Mars or Jupiter,
Moon or Sun,
Tulip or Rose,
Red or Blue,
Left or Right,
Glance or Stare
Links:
author of The Sword and the Well and The
Fair Maid and the Pirates
annchamberlin.com
annchamberlin.com
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