Interviewing Rosemary Van Deuren, the young writer of BASAJAUN.

Rosemary Van Deuren is a young writer who has self-published her first novel: BASAJAUN (to read the Spanish review about the book, click here). With it, Van Deuren begins to make her first steps on the long and difficult road of the literary world. We have the honor of speaking to her and make some questions about her literary path and her first published novel:

Bienve's Welt: I'm really excited about your novel BASAJAUN which I loved so much! It is a magnificent work! Why did you write the story about Cora and the pastor "the rabbit killer"? What elements inspired you to set the story? How long did it take to finish the book and why did you decide to self-publish it?

Rosemary Van Deuren: You're too kind Bienve-- thank you! The idea for Basajaun came first and foremost my pet rabbit, who got me thinking about what was going on inside his little head. Second, from a dream I had (really!) about a Pastor who was blaming the blight of a small farm town on the local rabbits, when in fact other forces were at work. And third, from an experience feeding and briefly befriending a wild rabbit when I was about six years old. I only saw the rabbit twice before he disappeared, but I checked for him every day for a long time after that.

With these ideas in mind I began research and discovered that there was also a real 'rabbit plague' (as in an overpopulation of rabbits) in Australia that began around the turn of the twentieth century and lasted for over 50 years. So that gave me the rabbit overpopulation concept for Basajaun.

Before Basajaun I wrote a full-length (75,000-word) novel in a regular fiction vein. It was really disjointed and full of rookie mistakes, and I eventually shelved it. So when I began Basajaun, I already had 'practice' writing a book and the process came much easier. I wrote the first draft of Basajaun in nine months, and proofread it and did rewrites off and on for about another eight months while I worked on other projects.

I came from an art background so I had no writing credits or schooling, which was a hurdle when trying to get someone to look at the manuscript. Eventually I began to feel that time was slipping away while Basajaun sat on my desk, and what I really wanted was to get the story out there-- to tell the story I wanted to tell. I could do that with self-publishing. Through that process I also learned that I could lay out a book and design a book cover-- something that was great fun and that I honestly wouldn't have known I could do.

Bienve's Welt: Through the web page dedicated to the novel BASAJAUN and your blogspot we can see that you are charmed with rabbits. Do you have one as a pet? Why do you adore these little sweet animals so much?

Rosemary Van Deuren: Yes I do have a pet rabbit who barely leaves my side all day ;) Rabbits' place in our culture is kind of fascinating, because they are one of the few animals that are kept as pets, but also still regularly bred for food or fur. That parallel of simultaneous affection and dismissiveness is interesting to me. Additionally, they're a domesticated animal that are equally common to see in the wild, which raises some fun themes to consider. Rabbits are 100% a prey animal and they are hard-wired to think everything is a threat to their life. So applying sentient awareness to a creature who is always on the lookout for the next danger lets you explore characters who feel afraid and powerless, something that I think many people-- particularly children and young adults-- can relate to.

Just like some people bond closely with dogs, cats, horses or any other animal, I feel a strong kinship with rabbits. I'm currently running a website in conjunction with Basajaun called Basajaun's Warren, where companion rabbit owners can submit photos of their rabbits for a contest and gallery. It benefits the Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary, a rabbit rescue in my home state of Michigan here in the US.

Bienve's Welt: Tell us why BASAJAUN is something special.

Rosemary Van Deuren: My hope with Basajaun was to write the type of book I liked to read when I was young. There is a real joy I still feel when I read a book that creates a world I can imagine and also relate to. I would love to someday provide that feeling for someone else.

Bienve's Welt: As a "lover" of literature and reading so many books, you must have some favorite writers. Would you share with us their names? Which is your favorite book and why? Which writer has most influenced your writing projects?

Rosemary Van Deuren: I get asked about Watership Down and admittedly I am huge Richard Adams fan, but there are actually some other writers who were central inspirations when I was writing Basajaun. Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy (The Golden Compass books) raised the bar for fantasy in my opinion, I think those books are absolutely brilliant. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle is another book that's close to my heart (and I know close to yours too, Bienve!). Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White was also an influence, as well as Robert C. O'Brien's Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. And Oscar Wilde's fairy tales, which I love. There are also less obvious influences like the book / film Night of the Hunter, which features everyone's favorite evil 'preacher' who has a complete disregard for children. Probably my least obvious influence is I, Claudius by Robert Graves, who in Claudius and Britannicus wrote one of the best ruler and heir father / son relationships in literature.

Just last year I began reading T. A. Barron's The Lost Years Of Merlin series and already those have become some of my favorite books of all time-- Barron's Merlin universe has so much depth and soul, you're just transported. I also love Maria V. Snyder's 'The Study Series' (the Poison Study books), which I literally couldn't put down. And I'm a longtime fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery, who wrote the Anne Of Green Gables books, and of John Irving.

Bienve's Welt: How do you face the "blank paper"? What is your source of inspiration?

Rosemary Van Deuren: I do most of my writing at the computer, so for me it is a blank monitor ;) I am still fairly new to writing novels and sometimes when you're fresh to a creative process, you feel like you have a backlog or buildup that can sustain you for a while once you release the spring. I had a lot of 'flood' writing with Basajaun, where the words came out faster than I could type them; typical, I think, for an early novel but something I don’t expect to last long-term.

Everyone has moments when the words don’t come. And the only way I know to combat that is to force myself. I write anything I can think of about the project at hand: questions, issues or bits of idea I do have, even if it's just writing down the opposing plot options I'm wavering between. Even though I feel ridiculous writing down fragments of thoughts that seem too obvious or simple to warrant it, seeing the text in front of me in black and white-- and just getting the writing process started, even if it's clumsy-- is so much more helpful than I ever could've imagined. Writing down all those beginning thoughts can prompt you to in between thoughts which in turn can help you muddle through to a resolution.

Bienve's Welt: I suppose, to get concentrated on your work and activate the inspiration, you need a lot of concentration. Do you like to "isolate" while you are writing? Do you listen to music or do you prefer the silence when you are working?

Rosemary Van Deuren: I never play music when I write, I do need quiet. I can't write with other people around, or when there's any TV or other distractions, but that's probably pretty common. I can makes notes under those circumstances but when I write, I need to be alone; except for my rabbit of course, who is my writing mascot! Even when I'm not at the keyboard though I do a lot of thinking about whatever I'm working on, trying to lace together ideas, dialogue or scenes. I do a lot of plotting in the shower actually, which can be a nuisance when I'm trying to get somewhere because I lose so much time, ha ha.

Bienve's Welt: In your interview for the Peter S. Beagle Fan Blog you said that you were attending the ConFusion Sci Fi 2010: conferences for writers of fantasy and science fiction. Are there many of these events (for writers) in the USA? Which is your most positive experience attending these kind of events? Do you meet many interesting people?

Rosemary Van Deuren: Oh yes, there are literary events in every part of the US. They vary from big to small and everything in between. I have done a handful of book fairs and conventions for Basajaun and they're very fun. I'm used to being alone with my writing so I had to get accustomed to answering questions about the book. I'm actually pretty shy about talking about my work in person, so that was a challenge for me. But people-- readers and authors-- are very nice. I met T. A. Barron at a book fair which was amazing because he really is one of the kindest people in the world. So gracious, encouraging and so inspiring. At another book fair I met Maria V. Snyder, which was very exciting; she's great. And of course Peter S. Beagle!

Bienve's Welt: You work a lot in internet and you write frequently on your blog and the Basajaun page. Do you participate/collaborate in other blogs and spaces, writing something for them?

Rosemary Van Deuren: I would love to do more! Writing the piece for your Peter S. Beagle fan blog was my first time as a writing 'guest', and it was a wonderful experience.

Bienve's Welt: Now you have self-published for the first time your own book, would you do it again? Could you tell us a little bit about the experience and the process of putting the book together? Can we expect a second book you will write and publish soon?

Rosemary Van Deuren: Yes, I would self-publish again. It took a while for momentum to build on the book, but the first print run is almost sold out now, so I am delighted. Traditional publishing and self-publishing are not interchangeable-- you are certainly dealing with a different beast, and you definitely don't have the resources a traditional publisher has. But there are other resources out there if you look for them. Amazon.com is extremely accommodating to small presses and self-publishers, and I have loved working with them. And that's a huge marketplace for books, online or otherwise. And many of the readers I meet one-on-one don't care if a book is self-published or not (some don't know what the difference is), they just want to read a story they're going to enjoy.

I did all photography and graphic design for the Basajaun book jacket, and laid out the interior. When you self-publish a book, you are building it from the ground up. You have to create-- or hire someone to create-- everything about the appearance of the book: from fonts to text spacing to the cover. And that's not just a cover image, that includes: front, back and spine. If you want regular bookstores and Amazon.com to be able to sell your book, you need to register an ISBN (international standard book number), which you can purchase through myidentifiers on http://www.bowker.com/ You also need to either purchase or create a bar code. And of course, you have to hire someone to print it! There is more to it than that, but those are the basics ;)

I have begun a sequel to Basajaun, but that's currently on hold due to another writing project-- something I'm very excited about, but can't talk about yet! But you will definitely be hearing more from me. Writing novels is not only something I love, it’s something I feel very, very fortunate to be doing.

To read this interview in Spanish, click here.

Para leer la entrevista en castellano, clicar aquí.

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Related information about BASAJAUN and Rosemary Van Deuren:

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- Muy cerca de Peter S. Beagle : Rosemary Van Deuren nos relata su experiencia
- La primera novela de Rosemary Van Deuren : Basajaun

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