In 2010, I attended a lecture at the San Diego Museum of Art given by a senior curator who had reattributed an unnoticed painting in Yale’s art storage. I found the description of the process riveting, like a forensic detective searching four hundred years for clues and the power struggles that swirl around these attributions were a revelation to me.
Linda Moore – 11 October 2022
The Back Flap
Art historian Cate Adamson, desperate to succeed to console her grieving parents, leaves the Midwest to complete her doctorate in New York—only to find herself assigned to an impossible advisor. She struggles to impress him until she discovers a hidden painting, possibly a Baroque masterpiece. Risking her career, financial disaster, and further alienation from her family, she flees to Spain with the painting to consult art experts.
Antonio, an impoverished duke, meets Cate on the train to Seville, and joins her search while attempting to rescue the decaying legacy of his family. They find clues and uncover evidence that will shock the titans of art history, may destroy her prospects as an art historian, and shatter her future with Antonio.
Written with vivid prose, rich references to seventeenth century Spanish art, compelling characters and a historical puzzle, Attribution is the story of one contemporary woman’s journey to understand the past and unlock her future.
About the book
What is the book about?
Cate Adamson leaves her grieving family in the Midwest to finish her art history doctorate in New York City and struggles to succeed against her impossible dissertation advisor. She finds a hidden painting and driven by a passion for art and a yearning for respect in her field, she risks her career, her family and a love interest to prove the painting’s attribution. In the process, she discovers what she values in a world of power, politics, and intrigue.
When did you start writing the book?
In 2015, I wrote the first chapters, but the spark of the idea came to me in 2010 while I was writing my first novel and improving my writing skills in the Stanford Writers Program.
How long did it take you to write it?
I finished the polished draft in January of 2021 and submitted it to the publisher. It’s hard to believe that it took seven years from writing the first pages and twelve years from the idea to arrive at the publication date.
Where did you get the idea from?
In 2010, I attended a lecture at the San Diego Museum of Art given by a senior curator who had reattributed an unnoticed painting in Yale’s art storage. I found the description of the process riveting, like a forensic detective searching four hundred years for clues and the power struggles that swirl around these attributions were a revelation to me. I began to research and discover other similar ‘finds’ and learned of the political world surrounding attributions, especially valuable masterpieces. These stories provided the seeds for the novel.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
Cate was singularly focused on her professional mission, and she needed more layers to be an interesting character. I dug deeper to develop her upbringing, her family, their troubles and what values motivated her. A fuller more nuanced character emerged, and these elements became a rewarding part of the story. A criticism of many artist biographies, with a few exceptions, is that they document an artist making artworks and not the complex person behind the works. I wanted Attribution to be populated with characters, including the artists from hundreds of years ago, that were fully human, flaws and all.
What came easily?
The art and artist research for the Spanish Golden Age was a joy. I had been to Spain many times but when I returned to Seville and Madrid in 2019 to delve into details and visit museums, libraries, and private collections, my passion for the topic was reawakened. I spent many late nights living in the 1600s and found tidbits that surprised and delighted me. My challenge was to limit the information to that which served the story and not overwhelm the reader with my enthusiasm for the topic.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
Some say every novel is autobiographical and yes, I borrowed from people I knew. But all the characters are composites of several individuals. For example, I knew three professors at three different universities, whose personality traits appear in the character of Jones. I also knew professors who were generous and inspiring mentors.
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?
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee must top the list. First, the story has all the elements to captivate a reader: a narrative arc, complex characters, nuanced subplots, and unresolved questions and conflicts. And I might add this Pulitzer Prize winner was written by a woman who questioned her talents, like so many of us.
Lee’s ability to use innocent voices to challenge the establishment without becoming advocacy literature appealed to me. Complex issues do not land in neatly wrapped solutions; the story continues beyond the last page. While it would be presumptuous to compare my writing to Lee’s, I admire these qualities and aspire to offer the reader relatable characters and a narrative journey revealing a troubled world through a sympathetic protagonist.
Do you have a target reader?
The obvious answer would be art lovers, and I believe they will enjoy the story and learn more about art. But early reviews by people who state they know little about the art world, have rewarded me with comments about how Attribution created an interest in art that was not there before.
Women of course will relate to Cate’s sense of being dismissed and overlooked and her struggle to earn respect, especially now.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so, can you please describe it?
I need total focus and no interruptions. I am in a trance, living in another world and even a person walking through the open room where I write, will set me back hours to reenter the fictive dream, if I can use that phrase. I prefer to write in the morning before all the flotsam of my life distracts me. I used to travel about six months a year and the only place I could write was on red-eye airplane flights when everyone else was sleeping.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
I need to think before I write and don’t do well at all in those workshops that hand out writing prompts. Once I have an idea, writing flows easily. Long periods of thinking about the story and where it’s headed, give me the ‘back of the envelope’ plot beats. How those develop into chapters and events roll out as I write.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
Joshua Mohr, my writing teacher at Stanford, has a great phrase: liberated from quality. For the first draft, he teaches write forward to the end. Write twice as much as your story might need and delete what you learn at the end is not needed. That could mean whole characters (l dumped, literally, Cate’s New York boyfriend who contributed nothing to her story) or entire chapters. So why when you are writing a draft would you spend time editing for artful sentences and eliminating typos when you may get rid of that whole section? While I might begin my day reading what I wrote the day before to get my head into the voice and the motivation of the characters, I don’t waste time rewriting and polishing. That happens in draft two or three.
Did you hire a professional editor?
I am with a small independent press, but I invested in a professional editor, who did not find a lot but gave me peace of mind the manuscript was competent. I also have a group of capable and talented writer friends who read as beta readers and helped me find the places where the story was slow and/or confusing.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
I did listen to classic Spanish guitar music by the master Segovia and others. The scene where Cate hears a street musician on the Paseo del Prado playing the Concierto de Aranjuez might have emerged from my listening to these iconic Spanish compositions.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
No. I presented a precis of an unfinished Attribution to an agent at the Kauai Writers Conference. She liked the story, but it was clear to me from her comments and from courses about publishing that the chance to get a novel picked up was like being struck by lightning. One agent who presented to a zoom class reported that he used to take six weeks and responded to everyone. After Covid, his slush pile was six months behind and possibly he would not be able to respond. I came to writing fiction as a third career and I could not imagine wasting months maybe years as writer friends have, waiting for a response from a broken system.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
Time. The one word answer is time. I could see a timeline that was clear and within my control. I liked the idea of a professional and transparent hybrid publisher-She Writes Press-that combined my goals with their expertise in a collaboration to produce the best book possible.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
The publisher has arrangements with talented, award-winning designers and a solid process to collaborate with the author to get a great cover result. I love my cover!
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
Such a great question. I had a background in business even before I owned a gallery and have managed many complex projects. After a month of listening to book marketing videos and reaching out to writer networks, it became clear that a process was needed to manage the chaos. I created a master task timeline that now has 150 detailed items on it in six categories: publishing, publicity, marketing, social media, book events, book store and book club outreach. I review it every Monday morning to develop a work plan for the coming week.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Define and write out your goals. Post them near where you write and remind yourself what your aspirations are for the experience. It is easy to be swept up into something that is not a fit for you.
Make a budget template that includes everything you will need to fund. The list is longer than you think, and even with a publisher handling the cost of editing and printing, and in the case of traditional publishing some marketing, the author is left with an extraordinary list of expenses. Before you leap, understand all of them, decide what you can afford and make choices, supporting your goals with your budget.
About You
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Wisconsin. When I was in sixth grade my father accepted an engineering consulting job that required us to move often. I attended eleven schools before I graduated high school. While this nomad lifestyle was difficult, I learned being a good student earned me a spot with many quality friends, I learned to be at ease talking with strangers, and I developed a yearning for travel.
Where do you live now?
San Diego, California
What would you like readers to know about you?
I love people. Being generous and supportive to my family, friends and the world community is my top priority. I’ve traveled to over one-hundred countries and conversations with diverse people around the world have enriched my life, informed me about their lives in ways no news report could, and prompted me to continue reading, learning and traveling.
What are you working on now?
My first novel, never published, entitled Five Days in Bogotá is being rewritten now in final draft stages and is in the queue to be published. The premise: In 1991, a recently widowed art gallery owner with two small children, desperate for money, travels to an art fair in Bogotá to find wealthy collectors but is coerced into selling art to launder drug money. Stay tuned!
End of Interview:
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