Conversations

FLAT Q&A with Neal Rabin

The book is set in 16th Century Spain— what about this period and place inspired you?

1519 in the south of Spain was a time of upheaval and transition. The tail end of the brutal Spanish Inquisition, the expansion of trade, which translated into a burst of exploration to prior unknown parts of the world. Lots and lots of questions and conflicts emanating from all strata’s of society, in all countries across western Europe, North Africa, and Asia. In short – comedy gold.

 Why did you choose the specific time period when people were courting the idea that the world might in fact be round?

How we deal with the unknown, reveals so much about the human condition. It is a great opportunity to explore deeper questions about the nature of our humanity, social structures, traditions, rituals, all of the things that can either propel us to greatness or keep us imprisoned to our own fears. How curious are we? When we get close to our own ‘edges’ do we take a step back or take the next one forward? Besides all that – Pirates!

What was the research process like to make the story feel accurate? How did you look into topics like everyday life in 16th century Spain, contemporary sailing vessels, and the history of hummus?

I spent a lot of time asking questions from a very generous history professor based at the University of Madrid. I asked him mostly mundane curious questions – ‘what did folks do on a Friday night? Was there even a ‘Friday night’ thing at that time? What did people wear, why? What might the job market options be for a common citizen? He suggested tons of reading material to supplement his extensive knowledge of the time. It felt important to create the most realistic setting for the story I wanted to tell. With that as a goal I set about giving myself an intensive months long dive into 16th century everything! Art, literature, horseback riding, common foods, events, plus the key figures from history during that era. Hummus, I pretty much conjured up on my own.

FLAT blends fiction with fact by including prominent historical figures— like Ferdinand Magellan— that readers will easily recognize. Why were certain figures chosen to be included?

Those were the people who influenced events. Magellan set off to prove the world was anything but flat! He had personal gain as a motivation too. Expanding the trade horizons for Spain would, by association, vastly enhance his own personal wealth as well. Historical figures are not mythical beings, possessed of unique magical qualities that lead them down the paths to immortality. Like all of us, they are human and subject to the fragility of the human condition. They do persevere despite often great odds and barriers placed in their way, not unlike current day figures – Jeff Bezos, Obama, Philip Glass, Frank Gehry to name a few from an assortment of arenas. They face their fears and keep taking that next step. For me, that was worth exploring and understanding.

Satire and comedy are notoriously difficult genres. What made you choose this genre and what was your process when writing it?

I did not wake up one epiphanous morning and decide that historical fiction was the genre for me. It emerged organically through the story I wanted to tell. As a fiction writer, I get the chance to go virtually anywhere my brain wants to travel. I am a fan of science fiction too. I do like to have some boundaries or, call them guidelines, to help me with structuring my tales. It keeps me on at least some semblance of a disciplined path. You can deviate from history, but not too much otherwise the believability diminishes. Often Sci-Fi stories are re-coated historical fiction spiced up with gelatinous life forms, AI, and insanely crazed weaponry. I enjoy a nice sword battle as well as a laser gunfight. The key for me, for better or often worse, our human nature has not perceptibly changed over these many millennia. Events of today predictably overlay seamlessly onto our actions during any time period in human history. Good satire ought to reflect that back on today’s audience. That’s the goal.

 Satire often has a message and a purpose. Does FLAT act as a commentary on today’s world? What are you hoping readers take from this book?

What do we do when we are confronted with fear? How do we handle chaos in our politics, religion, social structures, and interpersonal lives? It would be fantastic if the context of the book creates some perspective on today’s issues. However veiled, they are definitely in there.

 How does you feel about the current ‘Flat Earthers’?

I think today, as in our past history, people can feel detached and victimized by the social constructs they might feel are unfairly imposed on them. Feeling no access to opportunity generates a negative cycle of reactions. Frustration and impotence in the face of authority break down into components of helplessness, dependance, incapacity, and eventually anger. Anger is the deadliest. It is our nature to want to feel part of a tribe. The feeling of being part of a community provides strength, support, nurturing, and love. Flat Earthers, I believe, have that isolation created by a sense that the culture has somehow betrayed them, left them behind, and has driven itself down a very wrong road. Unless they know something the rest of us don’t, which, I suppose in some universe is maybe, sort of, possible…

 Writers have a varied schedule on how and when they write. What is Neals?

Excellent question, and one I’ve gotten in some writing forums. My goal is based not on word count, but on desk time. Facing the blank page is always the toughest part of the process. I commit to sitting at my desk for at least two hours a day when starting something new. I often far surpass that, but it’s important to feel successful each day. Relying on some arbitrary word count, creates far too much pressure, and only ends up generating piles of terrible, incoherent, word salad. The previous novel 23 Degrees South, I wrote exclusively in the morning. FLAT turned out to demand an afternoon-early evening process. I don’t know, I just rolled with what the book wanted.

A conversation with Neal Rabin, Author of 23 Degrees South

23 Degrees South: A Tropical Tale of Changing Whether is the story of Hart and Simon, two childhood best friends who go on a wild adventure together, to the chagrin of Hart, who never expected to find himself in the remote jungles of Brazil. What motivated you to write this story? How did you come up with the title?

After completing my first book, Barefoot in the Boardroom, chronicling the life cycle of my tech company Miramar Systems, my former literary agent, Loretta Barrett, essentially commanded me to write her a novel.

Casting about for inspiration and a decent storyline, I thought about one of my favorite books Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha. Hesse structured the evolution to Buddha tale as an archetypal Hero’s journey, but it is also a classic story about deep, lifetime friendships that we hopefully all have. Siddhartha and Govinda were childhood pals after all. Their paths may diverge but their lives remained intertwined. I also love old “buddy” films – cheesy and classical – from Laurel & Hardy, to Hope & Crosby to Martin & Lewis, even to Farrell & Wahlberg. As a former comedy writer, I know that humor is one of the most powerful pathways into the human heart. The combination of both thematic elements became a rich opportunity to create an entertaining mix of inadvertent hero’s journey sprinkled with enough humor to make the inevitable misadventures both entertaining and relevant.

When I work with younger entrepreneurs, or really any business people that seek my advice from time to time a common questions is: ‘am I on the right road, or what’s the right decision at this juncture?’ That dovetails into a life question around the same issue. Have I chosen the ‘right’ path? Siddhartha asks that same question constantly and it’s a rich theme for my own life as well. That’s a long-winded route to answer the title question. The working title for the novel was In Search of Siddhartha, which quite literally helped me maintain my compass in terms of storyline, structure, and intention. After a time, it seemed a touch too esoteric; definitely not playful enough for me by the end. The city of Sao Paulo in Brazil is located smack dab on the 23 degree south latitude line, so…

Before you became a writer, you were the founder and CEO of Miramar Systems, a software company. What made you decide to switch careers? Did you ever write stories instead of working when you were in the office?

To me, it was never a career switch. Starting a company is essentially another incarnation of a ‘blank page.’ Yes, it is more collaborative than hunkering down alone at my desk prying a novel out of myself, but no less creatively fulfilling. Together with a growing bank of contributors I wrote the story of Miramar and got to act it out as well to a perfectly orchestrated dream denouement!

Hart is a very interesting first name; how did you come up with his name and character?

I didn’t have to think too hard about character names, especially the two protagonists Hart and Simon. Hart is a homonym. His name embodies his challenge and his search.

Hart and Simon are not the only ones with issues; Lazarus, a religious figure with a following, and Carlos, a gangster, are brothers with extremely different views but are ultimately working towards the same goal. Why did you decide to investigate these brotherly relationships?

I enjoy books that grab hold of me on multiple levels – characters I can either relate to or who are original and engaging, a story line that moves forward at pace, and a level of emotional subtext that emerges over the course of the book which touches and connects with me on that deeper level. As a writer, I think successful subtext is the happiest accident of the craft of writing. For me the act of writing is an adventure in discovery. I’m often as curious to see what happens as the reader. Not every plot point needs to be mapped out. I leave plenty of mystery space when writing to be surprised. A true journey is no fun if you know where it’s headed every single second.

To answer the question more succinctly about brothers, I view the brother relationships as secondary to a more overriding theme relating to fathers. There are two sets of brothers in the book as I see it – literal in Lazarus and Carlos, but Hart and Simon are also in a brotherly relationship. The larger focus explores the role a father – present or absent – plays in our lives. Fathers influence and impact our direction. They either point the way, support a choice already made, or more disastrously, play a negative and darker judgment role on our path through life. Now this isn’t going to be the place where I lay bare my tortured childhood because I didn’t have one. The exploration of fatherhood that runs through the novel emerged as an unconscious by-product of the writing. Once I spotted it however, I realized what a rich subtle texture it created and did my best to enhance it.

At the end of the novel, the relationship between Hart and Simon is left open-ended but optimistic. What do you believe happens to them? Do they return to the states, or do they stay long enough for Rio’s 2016 Olympics?

That could turn in any direction. Maybe they get great seats for the riveting Ribbon Dancing competition, even though they were angling for the Archery competition. Maybe they spent the entire fortnight of the Olympics washing Nike clothing on behalf of Maytag.

You’ve been to Brazil several times before. Where would you recommend travelers and vacationers visit?

Brazil is a vast country with so many different aspects. Besides Rio, which is a well worn road to travel I suggest visiting the musical soul of Brazil in Salvador/Bahia. Also the very old town in northern Brazil of Belem is a great window into the history of Brazils rubber boom and bust. In the heart of Brazil lies Manaus, located in the center of the Amazon jungle at the nexus of the two main rivers, which make up the famous Amazon. There’s a fantastic sight where the distinctive waters of both the Rio Amazonas and the Rio Negro come together tossing and heaving themselves about before intermixing into one giant Amazon river. There are tons of great surf spots all along the east coast, but we don’t talk about those!

Do you have another novel in the works? Will we see Hart, Simon, Carlos, and Carmen in the future?

I’m not so sure about the current cast of characters. I am currently at work on another novel taking place in the 1520’s called FLAT. It is about that brief moment in time when some people believed we’d either fall off the edge of the known world into the cosmic abyss or find our way around the unknown. At least I think that’s what it’s about for now.