Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Magical Realism Meets Disenchanted Science


I'm excited. My writer friend Edith Parzefall just released her second novel, Crumple Zone, a story of psychological suspense published by MuseItUp that has cultural clash--quite literally--at its center. And you know how culture clashes make me all warm and fuzzy inside... 

Oh, and the story was inspired by a real accident--one with Edith in it. I thought you might want to hear it from Edith herself.

~ - ~

Magical Realism Meets Disenchanted Science

My psychological suspense Crumple Zone was inspired by an accident while my partner and I were traveling through Chile. The rented Nissan X-Trail offered just enough crumple zone for us to step out of the wreck uninjured, only bruised and battered.

Of course, I needed to write about the experience and the actual accident offered inspiring symbolic elements: X-Trail, an intersection, two vehicles heading in the same direction, stopped at a crossroads by a liquid gas truck pulling in from the left. A shove in the right direction, one might think, but at first the two drivers were only stalled.

Since the story is set on the continent where magical realism is a literary genre more wide-spread than anywhere else in the world, I wanted to play with two extremes, magical realism represented by my Chilean trucker Enrique and scientific disenchantment embodied by my American workaholic Lara.

While Enrique imagines his wife by his side as he drives his rig along Ruta 5 through the Atacama Desert, Lara just lost her job and flies to Chile to avoid dealing with her personal problems. She studied biology, but like so many ended up working in IT. Nevertheless, what she learned writing her thesis on brain chemistry still determines her outlook on life and love. She thinks of human emotions in terms of neurotransmitters running amok. Still, the flowering desert might be promise of hope for her.


As the story unfolds, Enrique resembles more and more Don Quixote while Lara experiences her temporary exile as a challenge of her convictions. When these two collide, they must risk a glimpse at reality, blinking, peering through half-closed eyes, before they can face life with eyes wide open. The cultural contrasts blur as they lean on each other to emerge from the desert.

~ - ~


When Chilean trucker Enrique bumps into jobless workaholic Lara, he thwarts her flight from life and his escape from reality.



To read the opening, check out Amazon's Look Inside feature or go to the publisher's book page for a different excerpt.




Edith studied literature and linguistics in Germany and the U.S.. She worked as a technical writer and editor before moving on to people management at an IT company--the attraction lay in added career challenges and--of course--more traveling opportunities. Today she writes and edits full-time, but somehow manages to keep a respectable amount of traveling in the mix.

For more information about Edith and her novels, check out:
Her blog
Her Facebook page
For more photos of her Chile trip, go to: 

14 comments :

  1. Thanks so much for inviting me to talk about the culture crash in Crumple Zone here. A great place to be. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Edith, thank *you* for sharing your experiences. CRUMPLE ZONE sounds great, and I'll be looking forward to reading it. I'm also going through your Chile pictures--they're awesome! Got to get down there one of these days...

      Delete
    2. You'd love Chile, Guilie. The country is beautiful, the landscape so diverse, and the people just wonderful. Just be careful on the highways. ;-) Hope you'll enjoy the read. Thanks again!

      Delete
  2. This is a wonderful article, written by a professional. It reads like a story itself. Well done. I'm looking forward to reading the published novel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So glad you liked it, Francene--Edith is indeed as professional as they come. Thanks for visiting!

      Delete
    2. Is a professional allowed to blush? I hope so. :-) Thanks, you two!

      Delete
  3. I've tweeted and shared the article on facebook.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Edith, sounds like a great premise for an off-beat type of story. My type.
    Great post and your characters sound so interesting. I can't wait to read this one.

    Thanks for sharing with us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the visit, Lorrie, and glad we could introduce you to something up your reading alley :) We should compare notes when we're done with it--maybe a two-voice review or something?

      Delete
    2. Now I'm scared. No, this is a lovely idea.:-) Thanks so much, Lorrie and Guilie!

      Delete
  5. Great post, fantastic photos and a captivating story. Edith does it again! Congratulations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Rosalie! Fortunately, I didn't need to get bruised and battered to find inspiration for my other novels. :-)

      Delete
  6. What a fabulous setting for a trucker and jobless workaholic to collide. I'm intrigued by Enrique's late wife, having heard a little about her before, and keen to know how you'll include the accident which I've heard a lot about. I just bought the book from MuseItUp.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...