Ayo:- Would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?
Silvia M-G:- I’ve been a writer for about 15 years. I started writing short stories in fanzines and semi-pro zines, then eventually published my first novel in 2015. I’ve written seven novels so far, including Mexican Gothic and Gods of Jade and Shadow.
Ayo:- Who or what made you want to be a writer?
Silvia M-G:- I said I would be a writer since I was a kid. I loved books and movies rather than people. I wasn’t social at all.
Ayo:- Who or what was the inspiration for Velvet Was The Night?
Silvia M-G:- A real incident. In 1971, the Mexican government sent a paramilitary group to attack and kill students who were marching down a large avenue. It was a peaceful protest but the government was intent on sowing fear.
Ayo:- Loneliness is a big thread that is running through this book what made you decide to do this as it could equally have worked solely as a historical political thriller.
Silvia M-G:- I wrote this as a noir and my go-to definition of noir comes from Nino Frank who says noirs are "essentially psychological narratives with the action—however violent or fast-paced—less significant than faces, gestures, words—than the truth of the characters.” You have to dig into the minds of the characters, it’s not about the action.
Ayo:- Why is music also so important in Velvet Was the Night?
Silvia M-G:- Political repression was taking place in Mexico in conjunction with musical repression.
Ayo:- Is there any true life element to your book.
Silvia M-G:- The whole political background of it. My mother remembers the opening incident of the novel. She remembers gunfire and having to hide for hours in a loading dock.
Ayo:- How much were Elvis and Maite based on real people?
Silvia M-G:- I don’t carbon copy people. Elvis is dyslexic and I’m dyslexic. I read comic books when I was a kid, like Maite does, albeit I read horror ones. But neither one of them is templated after a particular person.
Ayo:- Book titles are always very important how and why did you decide on Velvet Was The Night? Was this the only title you had for the book?
Silvia M-G:- It was called A Dangerous Eagerness originally, which was a phrase I got from some declassified government documents where functionaries discussed the incident. But my publisher didn’t really like that and pushed me to look for something else and I picked a line from “Blue Velvet.”
Ayo:- How important is politics to you in your writing?
Silvia M-G:- The Dirty War had a profound effect on Mexico and Mexicans and the aftermath is still being felt to this day.
Ayo:- Can you talk about the significance of The Dirty War?
Silvia M-G:- In general, the USA intervened throughout Latin America, sponsoring and backing coups and destabilizing countries in an effort to impede communist activities. The result is the region that was shredded to pieces. All the undocumented immigrants from Central America who try to make their way north are doing that because their countries were destroyed with the aid of American forces.
Ayo:- What was your research process like?
Silvia M-G:- Secondary sources are relatively easier to obtain in Canada, but primary sources are a pickle. I can’t just walk to an archive and get newspapers from 1971 with any ease. It’s a lot of making do and seeing what I can scrounge. For this, I actually do have a lot of photocopies of newspapers and magazines of the time period.
Ayo:- What is the more important for you characterisation or plot or do you try and have a happy medium between the two?
Silvia M-G:- I think characters are the backbone of noirs, but it depends on the genre.
Ayo:- Do you plot before hand or do you just let the writing flow?
Silvia M-G:- I had a calendar of the month of June that I used to determine what happened in each chapter.
Ayo:- Is there anything you found out whilst writing the book that surprised you?
Silvia M-G:- Some details about the music scene. I hadn’t realised the level of censorship there was.
Ayo:- Is there anything you wish you hadn't found out?
Silvia M-G:- No, although it’s never pleasant to look at photos of people who died in a conflict like this.
Ayo:- Mexican Gothic is about gothic horror. This is a total departure from what you usually write. What made you want to write a noir novel.
Silvia M-G:- I switch between genres. Last year saw the release of two books. The more famous one is Mexican Gothic, but I wrote a noir called Untamed Shore which is very different from this book. There we have a sleepy, coastal village.
Ayo:- You are also well known for writing short fiction. Which do you prefer?
Silvia M-G:- Novels these days. They pay more, for one.
Ayo:- Writing is very solitary. How do you maintain that creative process and what advice would you give someone thinking of becoming a writer?
Silvia M.G:- I like being alone. Writing is freelancing, so you need to know there are years of plenty and of famine, and plan accordingly. Most writers have multiple income streams. Don’t expect to live off only one book and one advance check. Learn about the industry, including contracts and taxes.
Ayo:- Do you have any favourite noir books or films and also historical books. If so which ones are they and why?
Silvia M-G:- I wrote a piece for the Criterion Channel about Le Samourai, which is a magnificent, restrained, French Western with one of the coolest assassins on film.
Ayo:- Your earlier books have tended more towards Science Fiction and Fantasy this is a dramatic departure. Will you continue to write similar books?
Silvia M-G:- I don’t want to be beholden to one genre.
Ayo:- What are you working on at the moment?
Silvia M-G:- I have a new novel out next year called The Daughter of Doctor Moreau.
Velvet is the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Quercus Publishing) Out Now
1970s Mexico City: while student protests and political unrest consume the city, Maite escapes from her humdrum life in the stories of passion and danger that fill the latest issue of Secret Romance. She is deeply envious of her neighbour, Leonora, a beautiful art student who lives the life of excitement and intrigue Maite craves - so when she disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite jumps at the chance to uncover Leonora's secrets. Maite is not the only one searching for the missing girl. Elvis, a goon-for-hire who is longing to escape his violent life, has been assigned to find the student. Like Maite, he loves old movies, comics and rock 'n' roll . . . and he's beginning to be interested in the mousy secretary who is fast becoming involved in a world of political intrigue. As Maite and Elvis follow Leonora's trail, they journey deeper into a world of student radicals, hitmen, government agents and Russian spies, who are all determined to unearth Leonora's secrets – at gunpoint.
More information about Silvia Moreno-Garcia and her work can be found on her website. You can also find her on Twitter @silviamg and on Facebook.
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