ANSA #37

Welcome everyone to the thirty-seventh Authors Not-So-Anonymous weekly meeting!! This weekly series is about authors from Twitter and Facebook!  This week, I would like to introduce Larry and Karen  Buchanan into Authors Not-So-Anonymous!

Larry and Karen are the author of The Gift of El Tio, a nonfiction memoir.  The two began writing at different times, but worked on the same memoir.  Karen - " I began writing our memoir about fourteen years ago with the specific goal of documenting the changes in an indigenous village in Bolivia that was moved so that a mine could be developed.  Prior to that, I wrote professional reports."  Larry - " I published about a dozen technical articles in geological trade journals, but The Gift of El Tio is my first memoir."

Karen's writing inspiration comes from "...social/political events in my life that evoke my concern for others.  When I learned that my husband’s silver discovery meant a Quechua village would be destroyed, I felt it was our moral obligation to chronicle the impact of the changes in these villagers’ lives."  Larry is inspired by his oil painting - "I could make a scene come alive with just a few tubes of oil.  Then I discovered I could do the same with words."

Their favorite books include - Adam Johnson’s The Orphan Master’s Son, Kathryn Stokett’s The Help, Hemmingway, Steinbeck, authors who tell epic stories.

"I believe our book has social relevance in today’s world.  My husband and I were initially polarized in our views about development in third-world countries.  I, the liberal, maintained that countries would lose their cultural identity with the development of mining; he countered that mines brought jobs which eradicate poverty and that culture had little value if the people were hungry.  The Gift of El Tio documents the changes the villagers experienced, recounting both the advantages and disadvantages, but leaving the final decision up to the reader.  

The book is also very personal as we share the changes that occurred in us as we witnessed the changes in the villagers.  My husband and I came to understand each other’s viewpoints and to actually learn things about each other we didn’t know before writing!  The Gift of El Tio reads like a supernatural novel even though it’s non-fiction.  Not everyone gets to participate in a culture that believes in prophesies of silver discoveries, souls living in rocks, and screaming condemnados (those who have committed suicide) walking the earth.  We feel very fortunate."

Watch the video to learn more about The Gift of El Tio.

Purchase The Gift of El Tio from Amazon, Barnes&Noble and Fuze Publishing.

Catch Larry and Karen on their website, their blog, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter,and Fuze Publishing Have an author to nominate?  Send me a message via Twitter (#ANSA), Facebook, or leave a comment with the author(s) name and contact information.  I'd love to add new members!  Happy Reading!