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Interview with 2015 Genre-Based Winner Vanessa Leigh Hoffman.
Author of "Treasure"
Vanessa Leigh Hoffman’s Treasure was the winner of the genre-based
category at the 2015 Hollywood Book Festival.
The awards were held in July at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in
Hollywood, CA.
HOLLYWOOD BOOK FESTIVAL: Tell us a little about your writing
background. When/where did you get started? What motivated you to write
the book?
HOFFMAN: I started writing short stories when I was nine years
old in Memphis, Tennessee. I moved to Scottsdale. Az. for one year
when I was fourteen and had my first sport-star interview with New
York Yankees second string short stop, Fred Stanley.
It was published in a small local newspaper in Memphis. I also studied
journalism in high school, while I lived in Scottsdale. The next year I
began my musical career, when I moved back to Memphis, with some great
musicians who were all in high school, too.
I was so fortunate, learned so much, and had a great time playing music
with those talented guys who later became somewhat well-known in Europe
and in the states, as they were offered record and concert contracts.
This was really where my writing started, writing songs. I must have
written over 100 songs, most were recorded in a demo studio. I loved
writing the story lines for the songs. I wrote the music as well, but
loved the story of the song more. I was involved in the travel industry
later on, where I wrote travel articles of some of my favorite
destinations in the Caribbean, and I wrote many papers in Spanish and
German for my BA degree and many an educational paper for my graduate
school classes at the University of Memphis. I even wrote a mid-term
paper for my broadcasting class on CNN.
I interviewed John Holliman, who covered the first Gulf War, on the
telephone. I was beside myself that I got the interview with such a then
current celebrity. It was soon after picked up by a local newspaper
where I wrote a tribute to my recently deceased father. I taught for
fifteen years after college graduation, pre K-university level language
classes.
I even taught writing on a job corp. campus during this time. It was not
until I met a gentleman at the pier in St. Petersburg who told me lie
after lie, as I found out later, and had such a vivid imagination with
the stories he concocted, that I decided to write a story using some of
his characters that he had made up. I expounded on them, created an
enhanced story, then another, then another. Before he died, I told him
that I was writing a book which was influenced by his character, and
that I would get it published.
Usually very negative and unhopeful, he said, "I know you will." I was
shocked. Later on, I found out that he had been a master chef for the
Kennedy family. He never told me about that...the truth.
HBF: Why did you announce it as a trilogy?
HOFFMAN: I was with a small publishing company who put out the
first of the trilogy, "Rear View Mirror". I was having a book signing in
Pensacola, Florida when I decided to add some more to the book. I had
other plots in my mind to go along with the first book plot.
I stayed five nights at a hotel there, with my dog and plenty of food
for us, and I wrote the second story in the trilogy. I seem to think
that I had this plot in my subconscious, as it just kind of flowed, then
rolled out.
The third story in the trilogy I wrote facing a wall in my small house
on the waterway in St. Pete Beach, where I had always dreamed of writing
outside, looking out at the water. I did not need to, or even want to do
this, because the characters in this book were so vivid and intriguing.
I decided to place the whole trilogy in one novel, not three separate
short books. Where one story ends, the other begins. This way, the
reader would not have to wait, thus forgetting the ending of the
previous saga.
HBF: The plot is unusual in that it combines the Irish mafia with
jihadists. Tell us a little more about its genesis and your development
of the story.
HOFFMAN: I always think of acquisition of power as being one of
the most enticing things for many individuals, so I just wrote as I
perceived it. World-wide egos abound and always have. It is not
far-fetched to believe that one or more of these egocentric-powered men
could be in cahoots with other illegal and illicit organizations, while
being deceitful and revengeful at the same time. In fiction, a writer
can assume anything as real.
HBF: How did your interest in foreign languages play a role in
the storyline?
HOFFMAN: I love travel and learning about different cultures, as
well as communicating with foreigners in their own language. The latter
is so challenging and fun to me. I always try to include at least one
foreign language phrase in each of my books. I love linguistics and
especially love learning about how roots of foreign words can give away
their meanings.
Foreign languages have always been enchanting and magical to me, and
their countries and cultures so interesting and fascinating. I like to
include some of this enchanting intrigue to make an engrossing read.
HBF: Tell us about Ty. Any role models for his character?
HOFFMAN: I have come in contact with so many "Ty's" in my
lifetime that I just had to put his character into a book. Growing up in
the heart of "Dixie" with Cotton Carnivals, fancy engagement, wedding
and baby shower parties, sororities and fraternities, and political
bosses as mayors, I was always exposed to power-hungry men, who were
bathed in charm and etiquette, in addition to complete deception, lust
and greed, such as Ty's character.
Moreover, the ethnic background of many people in the Mid-South back
then was Irish, such as Ty's character.
HBF: You're also working on some non-fiction? Tell us about that.
HOFFMAN: I have a non-fiction book, scheduled to be out next
year, entitled "Stefie and Mommy". This is a narrative of my life and
all of the decisions that proceeded the actual adoption.
Then, it takes an intimate look into life as an adopted child and
adoptive parent and all of the trials and tribulations that are
encountered on a day to day basis while on the road to true love, as we
both become incorporated into actual society.
It is a very enlightening, revealing, and heartwarming read.
HBF: What's next for your promotion of "Treasure?"
HOFFMAN: I have twenty interviews scheduled for live-air on the
morning of October 16, from 7 to 12. These interviews will be on major
radio stations around the country in large population grids. I have
book-signings in Florida through February 2016.
HBF: You have an adopted daughter and adoption plays a key role
in the story. Did you ask yourself many of the same questions when
creating the characters as you did when you went through the process
yourself?
HOFFMAN: Actually, my first book was already published and
marketed before I began my adoption. The book was out in 2008, and my
adoption was finalized in 2012. My child was four when I began the
process and five when she became my daughter and came to the states to
become a citizen.
In "Rear View Mirror", I created twin brothers that took the place of
split personalities that my elderly friend possessed. I then began to
concoct a plot, using these distinctive elements in each of the two
personas. These elements became strategic for what was to come
throughout my trilogy.
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