Ask the Author: Francisco X. Stork
Answered Questions (18)
Francisco X. Stork
Thank you! I intended Disappeared to be a stand alone book but now I too want to follow Sara and Emiliano in their new lives. So their story will be my next book. I'm glad you feel that way too!
Francisco X. Stork
Thank you for your question Myana. The inspiration for The Memory of Light came from my own life-long struggle with depression. Throughout the years (I am 63 now) I learned much about how to live with the illness and I wanted to put these insights into the story of a young girl who tries to find ways to be friends with life. There are a lot of books about the darkness of depression but I wanted to write a book of recovery's journey toward light.
Francisco X. Stork
The title The Memory of Light came from a poem that Vicky wrote after she returned home. The poem came to her when she asleep and she wrote it when she woke up. Sometimes when we have no hope, when all is dark in our lives, what saves us, what allows us to keep going, is the memory of something good in our lives. Hope then is the memory of light. That's what the title means to me but read the poem and see what it might mean to you. What do you think is a memory of light in Vicky's life? In your life? Take care.
Francisco X. Stork
Dear Jazmyn - Thank you so much for reading The Memory of Light and I am so happy that it touched you. I wanted the book to end in a hopeful place so you should feel free to imagine good things for Vicky and Gabriel, Mona and E.M. Life may have some hard things in store for them but they have each other now and have learned to appreciate the little gifts of life. If you like the Memory of Light you will like books like Marcelo in the Real World, or the Last Summer of the Death Warriors or Irises. I can tell you are a special kind of person. Take care.
Francisco X. Stork
Yes, I think that if we write books that are interesting and relevant to us, we will always discover something new about ourselves and about the world. I learned a lot about my own struggles with depression in The Memory of Light (in my website I write about some of the things I learned http://www.franciscostork.com/journal... Because the book was in many ways about the recovery of hope, I learned a lot about the different kinds of feelings/thoughts we call hope and how some of those are hurtful and some are helpful. Some of what we call hope are just unrealistic wishes. The hope that gives life is a mixture of acceptance that life is hard and willingness to persevere and continue trying to be useful to others despite the hardship. Thanks for question Sam.
Francisco X. Stork
Thank you for reading The Memory of Light, Sam. And thank you for the good question. In writing this book, I drew upon my own experience with depression and I think it was helpful to have a little distance between me and the main character. Vicky allowed me to have that healthy distance. I think if I had written about a young man, I would have imagined myself too much as the character whose thoughts and words I was expressing. Creating a young woman allowed me to focus and creating a new person, separate from me, while still sharing a lot of my own experiences. I also think that we all have qualities that the world calls "feminine" and qualities that the world calls "masculine." I like tapping into the "feminine" qualities in myself. They are good.
Francisco X. Stork
Hello Saeed, I don't speak Persian. I wish I did! I have read many of Dr. Shariati's works that have been translated in English. And yes, I borrowed the line about when one is followed by zeroes from him. Good for you for catching the reference! Regards. Francisco
Francisco X. Stork
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Francisco X. Stork
It depends on the book. I've never been able to write a book in less than two years. One year of writing and another of revising. The Memory of Light, the book that will be published in January 2016 took four years. The book is about a young girl recovering from a suicide attempt and depression and it was very important to get the right tone - both realistic and hopeful. The first two drafts were not there yet. So I started again. It's really important to write a book that you hope will last forever. The time needed to do this is not important. I try to write a couple of hours every day, but I don't feel bad if it doesn't happen. I also give myself a lot of time to imagine and to think and during that time it often looks as if I'm just goofing off. Actually, that's when the best work takes place.
Francisco X. Stork
When I was in college, I lived during my senior year in a half-way home for the mentally handicapped. Autism was not a frequent diagnosis those days but, looking back, I'm sure some of the young people there were in the autism spectrum. I'm sure that many years later when I was writing Marcelo in the Real World, the memory of those experiences and all that I learned from those young people came to me. I wanted to capture in my book, the unique way that someone like Marcelo looks at and experiences the world because I believe that we can all benefit from their perspective.
Francisco X. Stork
Hi Kyra, thank you for your question and I'm sorry it too me so long to get back to you. I always forget to look in the place where the questions from readers appear. I always liked making up stories to myself and others and pretending I was this or that as a child. Writing is a good way to continue with this pleasure without being locked up in some insane asylum! Writing is just a way to follow the nagging urge to express coupled with the discipline necessary to turn that expression into communication, into something that is meaningful to others. What is inspiring about writing is all that I learn and discover about myself, about life, as I write. It is also, when done correctly and in the right spirit, a way of loving.
Francisco X. Stork
Thank you! I think you hit the mark when you talk about a connection between the author and the reader's soul. That's what makes a book so special, the bond and sense that someone felt the way you felt and saw what you saw and some how found the words for it. As to what makes this connection possible? I think it comes from the author being true to himself or herself and pursuing the questions in his/her heart and then embodying them in characters and story. The reader can sense that sincerity and honesty and the connection is made.
Francisco X. Stork
In some ways I think that writing chooses you and not you writing. It's a kind of urge that makes you feel bad when you don't do it. Like you are not doing what you are meant to be doing. The presence of that urge is also how I knew I wanted to be a writer. When you are young, you think about being a writer, but later, if you start writing you don't want to be a writer as much as you want to write. The difference is in the first place your mind is filled with images of you as a writer after your book is published, maybe someone admired by many, and on the other your mind is full of characters and stories that you want to put down on paper. There are moments in the writing process that are very inspiring. The sails of my mind fill up with wind and I sail over oceans. But there's lots of times when there is no inspiration, no wind. That's when I take out my oars and row. It's hard work. But what keeps me going is that writing is a form of giving. And I think we are happiest when we give.
Francisco X. Stork
Thank you Victor. I think that to continue the metaphor, if creative writing is a wide green pasture, legal writing and thinking is a narrow, well fenced path. In the green pasture you are free to wonder and imagine destinations never quite sure exactly where you are headed. In the narrow path one turn leads you to logically choose one way over another until you arrive at the place you foresaw all along. They are both challenging ways of thinking and depending on who you are, one is probably easier than the other. Ideally, to be whole, it be great to be good at both types of thinking. But imagining and making up characters and places has always giving me more joy. It is much more like play, which is the essence of creativity. By the way, I just retired last week from practicing law for thirty-three years. I'm hoping to play more now. ;-)
Francisco X. Stork
Yes, thank you for asking. I have a blog that can be found at www.franciscostork.com. I'm not as good at posting in my blog as I would like. I try to post things that might be helpful to young people, particularly if they are interested in writing. I usually feel funny talking a lot about myself so there's not too much of that.
Francisco X. Stork
I write realistic (as opposed to fantasy) books about young people in contemporary situations. The young people in my books are usually between sixteen and eighteen years old. The situations they are involved in are typically serious life situations. My publisher (Scholastic) markets these books as "Young Adult" but I think they can be read and hopefully enjoyed by people of all ages.
Francisco X. Stork
Long walks are really good. But the best way to get inspired is to start writing even if you don't quite feel like it. Don't worry about how it's coming out. You can revise later. After a while you're doing it and you don't even know it!
Francisco X. Stork
My last book, Irises, is about two sisters. Mary who is gentle and artistic and Kate who is strong and ambitious. I got the idea to write about two sisters who were so different from reading about Mary and Martha, the two sisters in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Mary the contemplative sits at Jesus' feet listening to him while Martha goes about doing things. Martha complains to Jesus and Jesus tells her not to fret so much that Mary is doing the right thing. So that was the seed of an idea and many years later the seed grew into a book.
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