And of course, it didn't hurt that I spent a lot of time in the International District as a kid, and my dad grew up there. It's an area of Seattle that I'm deeply fond of.
The story is incredibly dense, the characters fully drawn. How did you go about plumping up the cast, including the minor figures, so that each of them is so rich and multidimensional?
A writer-friend gave me a book with the inscription, "May all your characters have immortal souls." I loved the sound of that. So I guess I try to give each character a unique heartbeat. And I'm much more apt to create characters around a set of circumstances, than a set of descriptions. By that I mean, I envision characters being wedded to their problems, which hopefully makes them people we can all relate to, on an emotional level. I tend to shun overly tight character descriptions -- which feel too much like dressing up a mannequin.
Young Henry develops a special relationship with Sheldon, a black street musician. They share a love of jazz and being outsiders. Were you always a big jazz fan or did you need to bone up on it for your book? And did you always intend for Sheldon and music to be so integral to Henry's story?
I get asked that a lot and truthfully, I'm more of a blues guy. (I love Buddy Guy and more recently, Eric Bibb.)
The jazz component came about from my
childhood--of going to these old restaurants in Chinatown with my grandfather
who would always say things like, "Cab Calloway used to play here,"
or "Ella Fitzgerald used to play there." And I never knew what to
believe.
But when I was researching the time period, I discovered that he'd been telling the truth, that at one point there were 38 jazz clubs on South Jackson. That the Black Elks Club was a very real place and that Ray Charles had his first paid gig there. To depict the neighborhood without that aspect of history would have been false--so the character of Sheldon was born--someone that embodies the spirit of what once was, and sadly, has been lost.
Your book has gotten a lot of attention and praise, especially for a first novel. It's a national best-seller and on a lot of short lists. Were you taken by surprise by the buzz?
The buzz built slowly over a year, so it wasn't one big thing per se, really more of a continual bubbling--but I was definitely surprised. My bar for success was painfully low, as in, just get the book published. Everything beyond that has been like a long lucid dream, especially the foreign sales. I think we just went into our 7th printing in Norway, of all places. That a story of a Chinese boy and a Japanese girl would resonate in places like Norway, Turkey, Italy, etc., is incredibly satisfying. But hey, to quote a Depeche Mode song from the 80s, "People are people..."
Fiddler on the Roof has enjoyed incredible international popularity over the years, especially in Japan. So, maybe we're not as different from one another as we think. Is it too early to ask you about your next project, Jamie, or do you plan to just lean back and rest on your laurels a bit, savoring your success?
I really should take a moment and just breathe. Okay, moment over, where was I? I actually started researching a new book right after I turned in the final manuscript for HOTEL, so I've kept busy. The new book is under contract to Ballantine, same editor, same publisher. I'm plowing through rewrites as we speak. It's another historical, multi-cultural love story. Tentatively titled, Whispers of a Thunder God.
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