Saturday, July 10, 2021

Q&A with Michelle Ruiz Keil

From my Q&A with Michelle Ruiz Keil, author of Summer in the City of Roses:
How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

My second novel was a hard book to name. I wanted a title that was nostalgic, a little dreamy, that somehow held the liminal and the ordinary at once. I like the contrast between "city' and "roses" and the way that combination tells you about a city that might be something like a garden. I also like the way "summer” lets the reader know the scope of the story--one significant season. There was another title originally planned for the book. The only word that remains from the original is "in"--and that's an important one for me. I'm aiming for immersion in my mythic nineteen-nineties Portland summer--and a sense that one summer can change everything.

What's in a name?

Names are a significant part of my worldbuilding. I....[read on]
Visit Michelle Ruiz Keil's website.

Q&A with Michelle Ruiz Keil.

--Marshal Zeringue