IndieView with Linda Dahl, author of An Upside-Down Sky

I have met a lot of people on trips who I would never have socialized with otherwise. I’m very grateful for that.

Linda Dahl – 19 April 2022

The Back Flap

When Lidia, a blocked Latinx artist in her sixties, goes on a group tour of Namyan, a fictional Southeast Asian country reopened to the world after a long dictatorship, she gets much more than the vacation she thinks she’s signed on for. Against a backdrop of pagodas and enigmatic customs, she and the disparate crew of eighteen Americans on the tour encounter one adventure after another—experiences that challenge their assumptions about their host country’s placid surface of beautiful pagodas and wandering Buddhist monks. Along the way, Lidia finds companionship and sexual pleasure with Haynes, a Black man seeking adventure—even danger—in Namyan. On a nighttime excursion among mysterious ancient buildings, they watch the nighttime sky. Lidia remarks that the stars look upside down – a metaphor for Namyan as a foreign place and for her. She enjoys being with Haynes but is conflicted. The final chapter reveals a secret, the source of her conflict, and her steps towards a new freedom.

An Upside-Down Sky’s cast of characters, including their Namyanese guide, mirrors America: straight, gay, gender-fluid, black, brown, white, progressive, conservative, artistic, repressed, old, young. Some of them accept Nanyam’s charming façade at face value, while others seek to understand the country’s brutal repression by the military and ongoing ethnic conflicts. And most, resistant as they might be to change, are transformed by their time there.

About the book

What is the book about?

An Upside-Down Sky takes place in n Namyan, a fictional Southeast Asian country recently reopened to tourism after decades of brutal dictatorship. Against a backdrop of pagodas and enigmatic customs and taboos, the stories of a group of Americans on a group tour and their Namyanese guide weave in and out as they travel this exotic, placid-seeming land with its countless gorgeous pagodas, wandering Buddhist monks and poor, friendly people. At the center of the narrative, Lidia, a Latina artist who seems to have lost her way, finds unexpected challenges and insights.

When did you start writing the book?

In 2017, after my last book, The Bad Dream Notebook, was published.

How long did it take you to write it?

About two years. I do a lot of rewrites.

Where did you get the idea from?

After I had gone on a tour of Burma, a.k.a. Myanmar, in 2015, when it re-opened to the world after decades of being closed off due to heavy military repression, I kept thinking about this beautiful, mysterious, little-known country. I began my career working as a travel journalist and I’d collected, as writers do, many characters from these trips. Now I found I wanted to combine my impressions of this exotic, cultured, highly complex land with those of a group of American tourists. I wanted to write about the complexities of the country and the foreigners who visited it, the married, single, straight, gay, white, Black, Asian, progressive and conservative people I’d met on tours. Fictionalized, of course!

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

Starting a book is always tough for me. Until I get into the momentum of the story, it can be a slog. And keeping track of 19 characters in this book wasn’t always easy – I prefaced the book with thumbnail sketches of them for the reader and the writer. Also, not being a Southeast Asian scholar, I decided to write about a fictional Burma called Namyan,, to allow me to finesse the finer points.

What came easily?

Once the story came alive, which was fairly soon into the process, thankfully, dialogue flowed rapidly and the scenes unfolded. I had fun with the characters, their flaws and their unexpected strengths.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

I have met a lot of people on trips who I would never have socialized with otherwise. I’m very grateful for that. Several characters in the book are closed modeled on actual people, but most of the characters either shared a trait or two from real people or they were completely fictional.  

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

There are too many to count, but I tend to remember writers who leaven the story with humor. For this book, I was inspired especially by George Orwell’s Burmese Days, a brilliant indictment of British colonialism and the mostly racist tinpots who ruled there, well into the 20^th century.

Do you have a target reader?

Someone who is interested in this whole amazing world of ours, other people, and a good story. If they have a sense of humor, all to the good.  

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

My process is based on advice given to me long ago by a writer friend, when I was struggling with my first book. It was simple advice that hadn’t occurred me, to sit down (or as he put it,  “sit your a—down”) every day at my desk. He advised me to start off with a short time limit, say 20 minutes, and slowly work up to a chunk of time. He assured me I’d soon find that I had a paragraph, then a page, then a scene, and so forth. So that’s what I do. When I had young children and a job, I got up an hour early (groan), but that was my time. I write for two or three hours and then I may come to it at the end of the day and do some mild editing. If I get stuck, and let’s face it, it happens, I go do something physical. Take a walk, go for a swim, cook. It’s like running a marathon. You learn to pace yourself.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

I write a rough outline after I finish the first draft of a book. It’s only then that I have a sense of what’s going on.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I usually edit after I’ve finished a draft. That’s my map and then I rewrite. Though come to think of it, if I sense that something isn’t working, I may stop to edit it. But I like to keep the momentum going.

Did you hire a professional editor?

With fiction, I write three, four, maybe five drafts before anybody else lays eyes on it. At that point I’m very territorial about the book, which is the opposite of the way my daughter, who is also a writer, works. When I finally feel that a book is cooked, I show it to a few friends for their reactions. Finally, after it’s submitted (and I’ve had my share of rejections too), the book gets tweaked and then copyedited, which can be an extensive process too.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

I love music, especially jazz but I never listen to it when I’m writing. I need to focus only on the writing.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

I had an agent who became a mentor and dear friend for many years.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher?

My agent, who shepherded four of my books, passed away and at that time independent publishing was taking off and so that has worked out well for me.

Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

I knew a few writers who were publishing with independents. I have also published non-fiction with a small press. As the publishing industry continues to change, a writer needs to   be more involved in the whole process. A good independent publisher offers the support services and so, in the second half of my career as a writer, I’ve gotten much more hands-on with marketing and publicity.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

The cover was designed by professionals. I had some ideas and I think they did a great job with it.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

This is my tenth published book. When I started out, publishers managed the whole marketing plan (and royalties were much lower than with independent publishers). It is a time-consuming, detail-oriented job to get a book noticed, so I invest in good publicity.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Writing is empowering, but we all want our baby to be noticed. It’s crucial to educate yourself about the publishing industry. Compare what is being offered and look at an independent publisher’s track record and how they support authors. It’s a crucial investment in your business as a writer.

About You

Where did you grow up?

In the Midwest. I got an excellent education at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Where do you live now?

I live in New York City. I’ve been in and around New York since my mid-20’s.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I love to relax and goof around!  Writing is so intense and draining. My barometer of mental health is my sense of humor. When I take myself too seriously, I know I’m in trouble. Time to play again.

What are you working on now?

I am working on a screenplay called Piano Girl. It’s a three-episode biopic based on a biography I wrote of a great Black musician, Mary Lou Williams. She went out on the road at the tender age of 15, in 1925, playing piano for funky vaudeville troupes and went on to become a major composer, arranger and pianist in jazz until her death in 1981. Just imagine what she faced, a young Black woman in the all-male world of jazz. Her life is dramatic, sometimes tragic, and ultimately, triumphant.

End of Interview:

For more from Linda Dahl visit her website.

Get your copy of An Upside-Down Sky from Amazon US or Amazon UK.