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A Conversation With Carole Eglash-Kosoff, Author of When Stars Align.
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitepublisher/articles/3894/1/A-Conversation-With-Carole-Eglash-Kosoff-Author-of-When-Stars-Align/Page1.html
Norm Goldman


Reviewer & Author Interviewer, Norm Goldman. Norm is the Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com.

He has been reviewing books for the past twenty years after retiring from the legal profession.

To read more about Norm Follow Here






 
By Norm Goldman
Published on August 23, 2011
 


Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com Interviews Carole Eglash-Kosoff Author of When Stars Align

                                                                    


Click Here To Purchase When Stars Align

Author: Carole Eglash-Kosoff

ISBN: 978-1-4567-3890-7

Publisher: Authorhouse


Today, Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest Carole Eglash-Kosoff, author of When Stars Align.

Good day Carole and thanks for participating in our interview.

Norm:

Please tell our readers a little bit about your personal and professional background.

Carole:

I have a varied professional background in Finance and Marketing but my passion was always history and writing.  I wrote a great deal before I met my husband and in the 20+ years we were together I did no writing.  When he died...and I lost my mother and brother at the same time, I volunteered to teach in the Black townships of South Africa...writing about my experiences rekindled my desire to write.

Norm:

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Carole:

My thirst for history and events that changed the world in unexpected ways.

Norm:

What served as the primary inspiration for When Stars Align?

Carole: 

In 1876 the closest election in American history was held and the compromise that resolved it changed our country for more than a century.  The tradeoff was to remove all Union troops from the south and the vast progress that the ex-slaves made following the end of the war under the protection of 200,000 Union soldiers ended.  My story tells of that period before and after the Civil War through the impossible love of a mixed race man and a white girl.

Norm:

Was the writing of the book improvisational or did you have a set plan?

Carole:

I knew where the story was going to go but my characters actually took me through their lives to arrive there.

Norm:

How did you go about creating the characters of Thaddeus and Amy? As a follow up, did you have a difficult time fleshing out the other characters in your novel?


Carole:

Thaddeus' combines the inner strength of his teen age slave mother and the arrogance of his white father.  His early years are influenced by living among white and blacks but apart from all of them.  Amy felt equally isolated from the norms of her society, being a tomboy.  Initially, however, I intended that Thaddeus would connect with Melanie.  His friend, Rufus, actually took over that section of the book and insisted that Melanie belong to him.  It was the first time I'd experienced such direction from my characters.

Norm:

You include some very detailed dialogue in the book. Where did this dialogue come from?

Carole: 

I'm not sure how to interpret 'detailed'.  If we're talking historic battles or changes in the economic or political situation, these were all researched in detail and are quite accurate.

Norm:

What was the most difficult part of writing your book?

Carole: 

The ending.  I tried very hard to find an alternative...a reasonable solution for the lovers to be together.  Even now I cry when I read it.

Norm:

In fiction as well as in non-fiction, writers very often take liberties with their material to tell a good story or make a point. But how much is too much? As a follow up, how much of When Stars Align is realistic and where did you get your information or ideas for the novel?

Carole: 

There are large cotton plantations along the Mississippi River such as Moss Grove, just north of Baton Rouge.  All the locals and history of the book is entirely accurate.  I used the technique of offsetting historic passages in italics to not burden the story.  Blacks did fight for the south and the north, sometimes changing sides right after the outcome.  I spent time in Louisiana and found numerous books from which I was able to select interesting segments.  Thaddeus' work in Washington and with Howard University are similarly accurate and characters such as General James Longstreet and Senator Blanche Bruce were important historic figures.

Norm:

Do you agree that to have good drama there must be an emotional charge that usually comes from the individual (s) squaring off against antagonists either out in the world or within himself or herself? If so, please elaborate and how does it fit into you novel?

Carole: 

Good drama definitely comes from conflict.  My story has the good fortune to have the battles and philosophies of the Civil War, white supremacy, and injustice for my characters to wade through.  In one instance, there is a Jewish family...in another the raid on Coushetta, or the Army's issue with Indians

Norm:

Can you tell us how you found representation for your book? Did you pitch it to an agent, or query publishers who would most likely publish this type of book? Any rejections? Did you self-publish?

Carole: 

I had one rejection and then, through a woman I hired in NY to edit the book, I found a literary agent.  He tried for more than a year but was unsuccessful in finding a publisher.  Eventually I self-published.

Norm:

Where can our readers find out more about you and When Stars Align?

Carole:

I hope they'll check out my WEB SITE:


Norm: 

As this interview draws to a close what one question would you have liked me to ask you? Please share your answer.

Carole: 

What's next?   I'm now finalizing publication of the follow-on novel, Winds of Change, which takes the offspring from When Stars Align forward through World War I.

Norm:

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors 

Click Here To Read Norm's Review of When Stars Align

Click Here To Purchase When Stars Align