Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Emeralds of the Alhambra

Today we have a guest poster: Dr. John D. Cressler. Dr. Cressler spent 8 years at IBM Research and 10 years at Auburn University before joining Georgia Tech in 2002.  Emeralds of the Alhambra is the TED talk presenter’s debut novel.  Connect with John on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and GoodReads.

Dr. Cressler will be giving away a paperback copy of his latest book. Later in this post, he'll tell you how to enter your name for the giveaway.


Dr. John D. Cressler, Author of Emeralds of the Alhambra


 As a non-fiction author, professor and scientist, I come to the noveling business from a unique vantage point. For my first ten years of writing, I published five non-fiction books. My great love remains, however, historical fiction, and in 2009 I decided it was finally time to write a novel. Emeralds of the Alhambra, my debut historical novel, an interfaith love story set in medieval Muslim Spain, was just released by Sunbury Press. That transition from non-fiction author to novelist was a fascinating one, and exceptionally rewarding. While I suspect I will never return to writing non-fiction, I do think my fiction benefits from my non-fiction career. Let me explain.

Writing non-fiction and fiction are very different, in many obvious ways: tone, narrative style, subject matter. I find that writing fiction requires much more contact with my material, a daily obsession of sorts. What I most enjoy about writing fiction are the nearly constant unanticipated discoveries in plot and character, the unexpected twists and turns.

 Emeralds, before pen ever met paper, I first mapped out the plot in several dozen pages, to bind the themes and characters to historical events, describing in bold strokes what I thought should happen. The magical part of the creative process with fiction is that inevitably the characters and plot threads begin to deviate from plan, assuming a life of their own. I love this! On an almost a daily basis, as I was driving to work, thinking about my characters still, retracing the plot threads, thoughts would spontaneously jump into my head: “Well, of course, she needs to do this!” or “Obviously this needs to happen.” These were things that I had never anticipated during my initial planning phase, but were birthed from the creative energy of noveling. While the broad strokes of the story remained at the end of the day, the nuances of plot and character evolved in fascinating ways. That creative aspect is unique to fiction, profoundly satisfying, and something I never experienced writing non-fiction.

All that said, I do believe my background in writing non-fiction has served me well as training for my fiction writing. Writing non-fiction forced me to be a detail person, comfortable with facts and figures and dates and people. Emeralds tells an epic story, so being able to balance multiple intricate plot threads with a large cast of characters was key, and my non-fiction writing made me quite comfortable doing that. I think my scientific background (physics and math), my vivid imagination, and my artistic sensibilities also helped me in my description of the magical art and architecture of the Alhambra Palace in Granada (the setting for Emeralds).

In addition, topical relevance was always a big deal with my non-fiction. I attempted to craft books that people needed to read, that were relevant to their lives. Especially in my non-fiction sculpted for general audiences (Silicon Earth and Reinventing Teenagers) this was always my key concern. With Emeralds, this aspect of relevance was also priority #1. I wanted to tell a great story, yes, but I wanted it to be relevant to a modern reader, not just a good yarn set in antiquity.

After quite a bit of research, I found a period of history that suited my goals perfectly: medieval Muslim Spain. As all would agree, our modern world is stained with the blood of religious conflict and fanaticism, and yet somehow we managed to forget that for hundreds of years in medieval Spain, Christians, Muslims and Jews found a way to live together in relative peace, sharing languages and customs, whispering words of love across religious boundaries, embracing a level of mutual acceptance and respect unimaginable today. Together, they launched one of the great intellectual and cultural flowerings of history. My fiction is intended to break open this fascinating time period in an engaging manner (a love story). Relevant to 2013? You bet it is!

Is my fiction better for having non-fiction roots? Definitely. While it is fiction full-steam-ahead for this author, my non-fiction background will always be treasured as a foundation for better, more relevant novels.

Thank you Dr. Cressler.

And now, here's how to win a copy of Dr. Cressler's book. 
1.You'll need to be located in the U. S. 
2. Answer the following question in your comment.

Question to qualify U.S. commenters to be eligible to win a signed paperback:
What was it about medieval Muslim Spain that makes it especially relevant for modern readers?



22 comments:

  1. Hi Helen - Dr Cressler's novel looks really interesting and is a period I'd love to know more about. It's fascinating how over time faiths and peoples have lived out their lives across nations. Learning is so important for us all especially in this day and age ...

    I don't live in the US .. sadly! Cheers Hilary

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  2. Thanks Hilary - yes, understanding what was accomplished in medieval Muslim Spain is key if we seek peace in today's world. AND, I break it open using a great love story!

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  3. Enjoyed the post very much, John, especially since I started in nonfiction, too. And I agree that we need to look at the past to understand and deal with the present. As we deal with religious differences and unrest today, we certainly can take the example of how different religions respected each other in medieval Muslim Spain.

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    1. So true Maryann.

      I also started in nonfiction and moved to fiction. I wonder how common that is.

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  4. Hi Maryann and Helen. How interesting! As I have said, I find writing fiction far more creatively engaging......now, if only publishing fiction was as easy as non-fiction! Thanks for your comments.

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  5. Mr. Cressler, your post is so well-written it makes me that much more eager to read your novel. Environments change but people & circumstances bringing diverse populations together repeat themselves as a nation evolves so learning from the past is crucial to our ability to live together in harmony today. People of different belief systems have always battled head-on then settled into workable solutions if defeat of one over the other wasn't possible. I believe that's what has happened in Spain's history.

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    1. Thanks Linda, that means a lot to me. Yes, part of my goal with Emeralds is to remind our world that there is in fact an existence proof for peaceful coexistence. I make that gentle reminder by telling a great love story!

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  6. The book sounds fascinating. People today could certainly learn something from how Christians, Muslims, and Jews lived together in relative harmony in medieval Muslim Spain!

    Marian Allen
    Fantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes

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    1. Thanks Marian - yes, history can be a great teacher!

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  7. I started out as a non-fiction writer then started writing fiction, so I understand the difference and how experience with both helps the writer. Love it when the characters start to take over and change the direction of the book.

    Sorry I don't know how to answer you question!

    Mary Montague Sikes

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  8. Hi Dr. Cressler,
    I thought you'd ask something easy, requiring an answer like "1492" or "Queen Isabella"!

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  9. Okay, for Bob and Mary only! Relevance for today because back then the 3 major religions figured out a way to live in peace. A fact our modern world surely needs to recall. But that is only a hint!

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  10. Hi John, my comment was incomplete, interrupted by a technical glitch where my keyboard stopped responding. Here's the rest, I hope.

    Spain marked the furthest extension of Islam into Europe. Despite the Muslims' defeat at the hands of Queen Isabella, Islam left a permanent cultural imprint on Spain. In turn, the final Crusade is a Middle Eastern conflict that many Muslims still resent.

    As for living in relative peace back then, it's sort of true. On a personal level, the three major religions did intermix peacefully, far more so than in the "modern" world. They set an example for how people with different religions can live together in harmony. But let's not kid ourselves, because those weren't the good old days. Jews and Muslims of all ages were tortured and burned in Spain at the behest of the Queen and the Pope. Muslims did not leave willingly or peacefully; they were defeated and slaughtered on their way out. Not that Muslims were innocent victims, either, as from the time of Mohammad, Islam was spread by the sword.

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  11. Thanks for your comments, Bob. The time I am referring to, convivencia (coexistence), predates your references to the ugly collapse. We are talking 10th century under the Umayyad Caliphate in Cordoba...not that it was all hugs and kisses between the religions, but during that period peace was in fact the norm, for almost two hundred years, and both churches and synagogues were plentiful in Cordoba and welcomed. Jews and Christians were socially mobile within Muslim society. A time of great cultural and intellectual achievement resulted. Jews today still refer to it as their "Golden Age."

    Al-Andalus, Muslim Spain, does collapse in the 15th century at the hands of Ferdinand and Isabella, and bad things happen.

    My Series opens in Emeralds in the 1360's in Granada, a time when Muslims are still allied with Christians (Pedro of Castile). This is after convivencia but before the great collapse. Book 2 will go back to the 10th century to the golden age.

    History is always nuanced, but medieval Muslim Spain has much to teach us all today.




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  12. Bob and John, I love the back and forth history information!

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  13. Your book sounds like a good one, John. Thanks for the great post, and thanks, Helen, for hosting John.

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  14. Thanks for having me Helen - VERY enjoyable!

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  15. Can only hazzard a guess - the tensions between Islam and the west?

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    1. Hi Judy (and Maryann) - yes, in medieval Muslim Spain, the 3 Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam found a way to live together in peace...for a couple of centuries! That is pretty significant if you consider the amount of religious conflict in 2013.

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  16. I ventured a guess at the answer, but obviously there is more to the question than my tired brain could figure out. I've been working too hard. LOL I, too,, have enjoyed the history in the comments. This is part of world history I am not very familiar with.

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    1. Nor am I, Maryann. I like posts that entertain and inform. I think this was one of those!

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  17. Because even though multiple cultures have lived there and fought over land/resources/religion, (much like the US or any other country, for that matter), for a time, those cultures did live peacefully together. Such a story set in such a place may offer hope, depending on the narrative.

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