This is going to be quick.
I wrote this book because it was in me. I am Brazilian, and I wanted to tell a story about things I love: that country, which I left so many years ago, its people, who smile easy and often live a tough life. In Brazil, everybody sings, everyone dances, music is the very essence of life. And visual art has a special role in representing all this beauty even when things get hard (and especially when they do).
I also wanted to write about the academic world—something I also feel I understand inside out, as I have been an academic all of my adult existence (and thinking back, way before then too). Life on campus is magical, but spending all of one's time in one's head is not always easy. I wanted to show that process of analyzing, second guessing and asking questions, which is what my protagonist often does.
So my book is split-time, the tension between past and present, Brazil and the US always there, much like the influence and pull of these two countries is often vivid in my life.
Writing this book has been one of the greatest challenges I have had the good fortune of engaging with. I am a veteran writer of six non-fiction books and numerous chapters and articles. But this is harder—so much harder. In fiction, my analytical skills cannot replace connection to the reader and expression of emotion, so I had and still have a lot to learn.
I hope my love for this story is evident in it.
If you are curious about the other things I write, you can go here (Amazon link): http://amzn.to/2vacMmv
Thanks for reading, Patty
Things I love about mentors:
1. When they are honest but kind
2. When they understand mentorship can change a person's life
3. When they become dear, life-long friends
4. When they inspire me to pay forward
Random things about me:
1. I danced ballet for 20 years
2. I speak four languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish and French
3. I hold a black belt in Tae Kwon Do
4. I love Sherlock Holmes
5. I believe no one is a better writer than Jane Austen
