Terez Mertes Rose is the author of the Ballet Theatre Chronicles and A Dancerās Guide to Africa. A former Peace Corps volunteer and ballet dancer, her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the Crab Orchard Review, Women Who Eat (Seal Press), A Womanās Europe (Travelersā Tales), Literary Mama and the Philadelphia Inquirer. She reviews dance performances for Bachtrack.com and blogs about ballet and classical music at The Classical Girl. She makes her home in the Santa Cruz Mountains with her husband and son.
1. Which books/authors inspired your work?
Long answer: I own a few hundred books adorning multiple bookshelves in my house, some in my possession since my teens, some published in the past month. Each one has informed and enhanced my writing, either the authorās voice or their storytelling skills, or both. It would be really hard to choose which one had the most influence.
Short answer: Adrienne Sharpās gorgeous ballet fiction. Stephen Manesā When Snowflakes Dance and Swear. Anything by Curtis Sittenfeld.
2. Whatās one thing that you learned while writing your book?
I learned a lot about the early days of Silicon Valley. Itās crazy fascinating.
3. After this book, are you writing anything new? Where are you in the process?
I am working on a Book 4 of the Ballet Theatre Chronicles (Ballet Orphans is a series prequel and Book 3). Iāve gotten the basic story down and have written for months without judgment, so now itās a big bloated mess with a lot of sloppy writing. This is where the real work begins for me. I couldnāt be happier. I prefer crafting and rewriting over the tricky creation of something out of nothing.
4. Describe your writing routine. Do you outline? Edit as you go?
I get up at 4:30am and start writing as soon as possible. Mornings are my best time. I try not to focus too much on outline in the beginning of the process because that kills the muse. But as soon as things gel, I do develop a chapter-by-chapter outline, just a sentence or two for each chapter. This gives me both structure and freedom. I edit some as I go, but I try not to āput on the editorās capā like I do in the final draft. It kills the muse, for me, to get too nitty-gritty editorial too early.
5. What do you do when youāre not writing?
Read, read, read. Attend to my householdās and familyās needs. And Iām an exercise junkie, and I love walking out in nature, so thatās a chunk of my day too. It pairs nicely with the isolationist stress and sedentary nature of writing. It also gives me time to daydream. (A fiction writerās best friend!)
6. How do you combat/cure writerās block?
I give myself permission to write really bad stuff. Weāre talking really bad. But keeping the fingers moving is crucial to me. Occasionally my writing block (which has a lot to do with my mood, my spirits) is so debilitating, even that feels like a challenge. On those occasional days, maybe once a month, I give myself a break, find a book I love escaping into, and make it a āreturn to the bed and just readā day. Or I journal. Iām a nonfiction writer and blogger as well as a novelist, so, in general, there are plenty of different directions I can steer myself.
7. What advice would you give an aspiring writer who doesnāt know where to start?
Just write. Stop talking about doing it, and just do it. Journaling. Plucking a subject out of the air and goofing around. Telling a story. A poem. Do it daily. Keep your goals small. Start with 20 minutes a day, every day. Use a timer. The fun thing about becoming a writer is that, provided you write daily, youāre a writer. Every time you write, youāre a writer. If it bores you to write daily, well, reconsider whether you want to be a writer. Writing sounds glamorous from a distance. Itās actually more like shoveling dirt. The pay for your effort, financially, is peanuts. A writer writes because they canāt not write. Itās equal parts a blessing and a curse.
8. What was the most challenging thing about writing your book?
Making it not sound like the other two books in the series, and yet, not too different. They are all three set in the professional ballet world, which is quite specific. Itās hard to come up with new ways of saying much of the same thing.
9. Are you part of any writerās groups or guilds? Which one(s)?
Iāve kept my presence in groups small after the early learning years, because it can become a convenient distraction, to talk/write about writing instead of going into a cave and doing the work. At this time, Iām part of an online writersā group called Backspace. A group of us have remained connected, via discussion forums, for something like 20 years. Itās been an invaluable support.
10. Do you have a social media presence? Where can people find you online?
My blog, The Classical Girl (www.theclassicalgirl.com), is my biggest social media contribution, where Iāve written over 230 essays that have garnered over a million page views. Iām as committed to that as I am my fiction. Thatās where readers can find me, and find a variety of articles, essays, and dance reviews. They can also reach me via Facebook (as The Classical Girl) and Twitter (@classicalgrrl).
11. Talk about your main character. What are they like and what inspired their personality?
April is a great character; I like her a lot. Sheās got a good head on her shoulders and isnāt as flamboyant as some of my other narrators. She actually showed up in the first two books of the series, years back, so I couldnāt make up something out-of-character when it came her turn to narrate. She loses both parents by the time she turns 26, and left home at age 15 to train for a dance career, so she keenly feels the loss of family, which, in turn, makes her reflective, compassionate, in search of personal closeness. And a damned good dancer.
12. How does your main character change throughout the story?
She becomes less self-centered about her determination to make it to the top as a ballet professional. Still grieving the death of her parents and feeling alone in the world, she opens herself to new possibilities, new friendships, which play an enormous part in how she changes through the story. She grows wiser, tougher in some ways, and softer in others.
13. If you werenāt an author, where do you think youād be? What would you be doing?
I am so enamored with the ballet world, through my writing, and itās a love that hasnāt died. So, if I were much younger, Iād go nose around and see if I could involve myself in dance administration, or itās equivalent in the world of classical music. I love being in those worlds, in any capacity. Then again, I was a Peace Corps Volunteer back in the late 1980s and the need to serve in a socially relevant fashion is still there, too. My career could have gone the way of the social services. The nice thing about being a writer is that pondering the path not taken is great fodder for writing fiction.
14. What is the most satisfying thing about being an author?
I love that I can believe wholeheartedly in the product Iām creating. I like working alone, and I like working on deep, involved projects. When Iām in the middle of creating a novel, Iām so content, and the rest of the world just falls away. Iāve never felt that kind of contentment in any other job. At the same time, it challenges me, a lot, in ways Iāve never found in other jobs.
15. How do you think your book can help people? What do you hope people will take away/learn from your book?
They get to learn about the ābehind the curtainsā world of ballet. It eternally fascinates me, and Iām always on the lookout for books that do this. There are so few. Readers frequently comment how much they enjoyed this glimpse of something they knew nothing about. The novel I wrote prior, A Dancerās Guide to Africa, is one I wish everyone would read. Itās set in provincial Africa, the ārealā Africa and not the one in the movies, loosely mirroring my two-year experiences as a teacher there, and it educates readers, in a fun, engrossing way, on what itās like to live in a dramatically different culture.
16. What made you choose the time/place in which your book was set?
I knew which year it had to beā1989 and 1990ābecause the chronology of the series was already set, from the other books. Likewise, the story is set in San Francisco, the same as the others, out of necessity.
17. What are reviewers/family/friends/other authors saying about your book?
I was happy that Kirkus Reviews called Ballet Orphans, āA stimulating and entertaining tale in which passion and art intermingle.ā And I liked the endorsement from author Kelly Mustian (The Girls in the Stilt House), who said that I usher readers ābehind the scenes of the gritty and glamorous world of ballet and captivates us with a story that is ultimately about universal themes of loss, hope, belonging, and what makes a family.ā While Iām grateful that friends and family love the book and the series, itās endorsements from ballet professionals and administrators that mean the world to me, like Lauren Jonas, artistic director of Diablo Ballet, who said, āI could identify with struggles and achievements and I rooted for her along the way. A recommended read for all, dancer and non-dancer alike.ā
18. What type of person do you think would most enjoy your book?
Iād say females, age 18-60, but Iāve been surprised to find plenty of male readers engaging in the series. Then again, plenty of males are interested in the dance world. So, Iād say, any reader who is curious about the performing arts world and what really goes on behind the scenes. Readers who love ballet will love this book. Book club readers who want a smart, fun, intelligent, warmly romantic read without the cutesy nature of chick lit. Romance readers. Womenās fiction readers.
19. How do you organize your book collection, if at all?
I donāt. The books on my various bookshelves tend to be a disorganized mess. I donāt care. They are all lovely books. I try to limit their presence to bookshelves, but they start to stack up and spill out into their own piles, and to make space on the bookshelf once again, I have to weed out the ones I wonāt read again. I hate doing that. Itās like trying to weed out old friends. Youāll miss them if you let them go.
You can buy Ballet Orphans from Amazon here ā https://amzn.to/2RknEMd