Swimming Sideways, Cantos Chronicles Book 1 was BEST BOOK COVER WINNER/Fiction of the 2020 IndieReader Discovery Awards, where undiscovered talent meets people with the power to make a difference.
Following find an interview with author CL Walters.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Swimming Sideways, Cantos Chronicles Book 1, was re-released March 31, 2020 along books 2 and 3 in the series under the Mixed Plate Press imprint.
What’s the book’s first line?
“Good Abby has the job of keeping Bad Abby in place on her first day at a new school.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Abby has had to leave her homeland of Hawaiʻi behind to navigate the social complexities of a new high school in Oregon. If trying to ignore her culture to fit in is difficult, unwittingly finding herself (and her heart) caught in the middle of a feud between two boys whose friendship imploded at the same time her family falls apart, then nothing will prepare her for when the secret she’s been hiding finds its way to social media. Abby must decide who she is amidst the chaos and where she stands, but sometimes what seems black and white is a million variations of gray.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I read a very famous YA series and I was so disheartened by how the characters were treated, I thought: I need to write my own. So I did.
What’s the most distinctive thing about this character? Who real or fictional would you say this character reminds you of?
Abby is multiracial, and her Hawaiian ethnicity is integral to the story’s narrative, but I don’t want to exotify her or her experience. She is a teenager grappling with difficult things like bullying and a family struggling to stay together all while trying to come to terms with who she is as a young woman coming-of-age. I think these things are relatable no matter who you are, no matter one’s ethnic identity, and are important big ideas we all wrestle into place for ourselves.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Abby is a fighter despite all of the changes and challenges she’s facing as a protagonist; she doesn’t give up. I think she’s a reflection of resilience in the face of adversity and she speaks to the hero inside all of us – the hero we aspire to be. In difficult times – like the one we are facing as a broader community now – we need heroes to inspire us to keep going even when it’s difficult, that we can all just dig a little bit deeper (and reach out to help one another).
Did you design the cover yourself? If not, who did and how did you find them (they did another cover you admired, they were recommended, etc)?
Sara Oliver of Sara Oliver Designs designed the cover for Swimming Sideways as well as the other titles in the series (The Ugly Truth and The Bones of Who We Are). I have been following her on Instagram for a while and have always though her design aesthetic is brilliant. I reached out to her and the rest is history.
What, if any, elements of the book did you want to convey in the cover design?
As we moved through the design process, Sara captured the spirit of the stories so well; the singular perspective of each, the stark and moody tone of the design, but with layered depth in relationship to the contrast of color. When she sent me the Swimming Sideways drafts (as well as the other titles in the series), I was blown away by how beautifully she captured the story in a singular image.
If they made your book into a movie, who would you like to see play the main character(s)?
I definitely have Pinterested this to distraction but I would love for a casting agency to do a talent search and find new faces. That would embody the spirit of Independent Books, I think.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I consciously chose to pursue independent authorship in 2018, though I’ve been writing since childhood and developing my craft and resilience in all the decades in between.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
I’ve written several books prior to this one, but this is the first book I think deserved to be shared. In the time since, I have finished the other two titles in this Cantos Chronicles series, The Ugly Truth, Cantos Chronicles Book 2, and The Bones of Who We Are, Cantos Chronicles Book 3. I’m busy working on the pre-publication details of my fifth book, The Stories Stars Tell, a YA Romance scheduled to release this October.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I am a high school English teacher and have been for over two decades. So, when I’m not reading or writing, I’m teaching reading and writing.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
I see writing as my other job, so at least 25 – 35 hours a week.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
The best part is complete control. I get to make all the choices and live with them like this gorgeous cover! The hardest part is the same thing. There are so many factors to presenting the world with a book: story editing, copy editing, interior design, cover art, publicity and marketing. Somedays it feels like I need to be an expert in all of them and I’m not. A support system is critical.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Take your time. It’s natural to be excited about getting that book out into the world. I know – I did it. The problem with that is there is a lot that needs to be done to sell it. Time is really an author’s friend because it allows for so much of the work that needs to go into a finished product: the proofread, the copy edit, the cover design, the publicity. We want to get our art out there, but if no one knows about it or we put out a subpar product, no one will buy it. So, slow down and use time to begin the process BEFORE the book publishes rather than after it does.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
It would depend on the circumstances. I love being in control as an indie author, but I can also see the benefit of having a larger presence behind the work to navigate different markets like foreign book markets or film rights. There are many indie authors who’ve become the “hybrid” author (i.e., Colleen Hoover or Hugh Howey are great examples of this) walking in both worlds and doing it very well. I can see the appeal and would certainly weigh that opportunity as a possibility should it come my way.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
Storytelling motivates me – the writing. I love strong characters who are dealing with real stuff because in the many years I have talked real stories with my students, I can hear their need for those kinds of stories to help them find purpose and meaning. That motivates me – to be the change I’d like to see. I’m not a doctor or a scientist or a politician. I’m an educator and a storyteller. I want to tell the best story I can and get it into the hands of as many people who are looking for that story too.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
This is a trick question because there are so many. Too many. I could talk books and writers for a lifetime. So to qualify my answer, these are two YA authors I would love to have dinner with so we could “talk story” about writing because I find their work so inspiring: Markus Zusak and Laurie Halse Anderson. Their stories, Bridge of Clay, The Book Thief, I am Messenger, Speak, Twisted, The Impossible Knife of Memory, and Shout are all books that have shaped me as a writer. I would love to listen to them talk about writing and story.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. It’s transcendent. When I speak with people about books, this one comes up so often as a “favorite” to people because of how it connects on that heart level. It’s raw, honest, and poignant; a story that carries a piece of each of us inside of it. That’s how I want to write and share stories. That is magical.