FEATURED AUTHOR: MARIA NIETO

ABOUT THE BOOK

It is a novel about the Spanish Civil War and a little girl living through the horrors of the war and the tyrannical brain washing techniques that followed after the war when Francisco Franco, a fascist dictator, won the war against the Spanish Republic. The little girl falls under the brain washing of the new regime after the war, and commits an unforgivable act for which she must answer.



INTERVIEW WITH MARIA NIETO

Maria, how did you get started writing and when did you become an “author?”
I do not think I ever became an “author.” I just wrote a book. I may write another. Does that make me an author?

What's your favorite thing about the writing process?
The quiet peace of viewing my feeling on print, it is almost meditation.

How long is your to-be-read list?
I do not have “lists” anymore. I read books as they pop up and I want to read.

What books do you currently have published? Breaking the Silence.

Can you share some of your marketing strategies with us?
Well, the publisher has me in the web, there are some blogs, and an interview with the local newspaper, and have books in a local book store. I am also not a business woman. I was not aware of the marketing issues after publication. Writing the book was easy in comparison.

Do you have a day job?
I am retired, and I write in between rides with my horse, food sharing with friends, yoga classes, meditation, and occasionally watching a TV program.

How often do you tweet?
Never.

How do you feel about Facebook?
I am in Facebook, but I do not use it. I am not in favor of communicating with friends via public social media. I like to talk face to face.

What scares you the most?
Death. I am old and rapidly getting there . . .

What five things would you never want to live without?
My horse, my dog, my cat, yoga, and meditation.

Who would you want to narrate a film about your life?
No one. I am not a public figure. I like to stay in the background.

3D movies are . . .
I don’t know I have never watched them.

If you had a swear jar, would it be full?
No, not completely full, but getting there.

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
Depends where I am and with whom I am.

What's your relationship with your TV remote?
We tolerate each other.

Do you spend more on clothes or food?
Food. Clothes are not important after retirement for me. I had a celebration party the last day I used high heels. That was a long time ago.

What's the biggest lie you ever told?
The day I said there were no gods. The Universal Powers came down on me, and I had to take it back.

What is the stupidest thing you've ever done? 
Belong to political parties.

What is your most embarrassing moment?
Falling off my horse in the middle of a horse show.

What choices in life would you like to have a redo on?
None. Everything happened as it was determined to happen, and I accept it.

What would your main character say about you?
She would say I was honest and true to the liberation of people from selfish, dishonest governments that use wars to make money.

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to write?
Breaking the Silence. It was too close to my truth.


Where is your favorite library, and what do you love about it?
It’s in this town. The only library in 40 miles. They have my book in their shelves, and they get me whatever book I want if it is not in their collection.


Have you ever been to a fortune teller? What did she tell you?
No, but I had my hand red. I have a long life line.


What’s the worst thing someone has said about your writing? How did you deal with it?
The book is too new and the criticisms are as yet not in. I will deal with every suggestion as an educational gift and accept it.


Who would you invite to a dinner party if you could invite anyone in the world?
Buddha. He looks like he likes food and would not talk too much or chew with his mouth open.


What's your relationship with your cell phone?
Pretty slim. Comes with me when I ride my bike or my horse along the Rio Grande (not so “grande” anymore) in case I fall and  cannot get up (as said in a TV commercial about old people) and need to call for help. Otherwise, my cell phone is silent and resting.


How many hours of sleep do you get a night?
About six . . . sometimes less if I cannot let my mind stop being an ass with worthless thoughts.


Do you have a favorite book? 
La Voz Dormida by Dulce Chacón. It is in Spanish, I don´t know if there is an English translation.


How about a favorite book that was turned into a movie? Did the movie stink? It was For Whom the Bells Toll. The movie was all right.


Do you sweat the small stuff? 
The small stuff sweats over me!


How long is your to-do list?
Small and getting smaller every day.


What are you working on now?
I am working on preparing myself to leave this planet and be more ready and wise in my next assignment than I was for this one.

Lightning round:
Cake or frosting? Cake, it is more solid and less sticky.
Laptop or desktop? Desktop, I will soon have to move on to laptop, but I am not in a hurry.
Chevy Chase or Bill Murray? Neither!
Emailing or texting? Emailing. I don´t know how to text, or want to learn.
Indoors or outdoors? Outdoors
Tea: sweet or unsweet? Unsweet, sweeteners take the taste away.
Plane, train, or automobile? Mostly automobile, some train, planes when I can´t help it. I am still waiting from a bridge between America and Europe and give planes up altogether.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maria spent early childhood and teen years in Spain during the Spanish Civil War as well as early teens after the war when Spain went under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. She has graduate and post graduate degrees from Temple University in Philadelphia in  nursing, nursing education, and counseling psychology. During her working years (now retired) Maria taught Psychiatric Nursing in Philadelphia, then moved to New Mexico and worked in the Navajo, Acoma,  and Cañoncito Indian reservations in counseling, then in the University of New Mexico in Psychiatric Emergencies. Maria never went back East, and now lives and meditates in a town near Albuquerque with her horse, a dog, a cat, two geese, a dozen chickens with a cute rooster that does not let his harem stop having babies.