October 2008

Israel Del Rio is the author of Honeycomb, a book I reviewed here some time ago. And now I have an interview with him. You can find more information about Israel at his website. Thanks again to Israel for his time and I hope you all enjoy it! Here goes: First, tell us a little about yourself: who you are, etc.I was born in Mexico City and have lived in the US working as a computer engineer and executive since 1983. Essentially empty nesters, my wife, Rita, and I reside in Atlanta. Our daughter, Tania lives in California with her husband, where they both work as graphic designers and comic book artists, our son Derek works as a software programmer, and our youngest son, Alex, has just started college. What got you interested in writing fiction in the first place? Who are some of your influences? Also, who are some of your favorite writers, past and present? Also, what are some of your favorite novels of all time? During my youth I went through a period of reading fiction, but I then took a hiatus when I began college and had to maintain a part time job as well as attend to other hobbies such as girls and playing gigs in a band. Once I allegedly matured, I resumed reading, but my focus then was mostly around physics and history. My interest in fiction was rekindled after I got married and was done with the honeymoon. I have always enjoyed the magical realism found in books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and I also like reading David Lodge, and more recently Jose Saramago. Among my favorite novels are “A Hundred Years of Solitude”; and Dostoyesky’s “Brothers Karamasov,” and “Crime & Punishment.” What are you currently reading, what have you just finished, and what do you plan to read next? I’ve just finished reading Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley. Actually this is the first novel written by this author that I have managed to finish. I didn’t particularly care for two of his previous novels, Boomsday and Florence of Arabia (although I did enjoy the movie based on his novel “Thank you for Smoking”). I am also attracted to the field of Artificial Intelligence, and so I do like to read books on linguistics. In this genre, I am particularly appreciative of the books by Steve Pinker. For my next book, I’m reading The Nine, and Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. Do you plot first, then write, or write and come up with the plot as you go? What are some of your writing habits/rituals? First I outline the general idea in my mind, and then I fill in the plot details and twists as I go along with the writing. I tend to be more of a binge writer, writing in frantic bursts and then taking it easy for a day or two until I feel the impulse to once again reach for my keyboard. This style fits my temperament mainly because writing is not my primary occupation (although, I wish it were!). I have also learned that the first draft of a novel usually represents only about 5% of the total effort. I now subscribe to the dictum that “writing is re-writing.” Honeycomb is a novel revolving around a very interesting form of reincarnation. Can you talk a little about this and where you came up with the honeycomb? Actually, the idea emerged as a result of two memories of mine. In one, I recalled being given the choice to select my next life, and in the other memory I was told some details from my previous life. I felt these memories could be presented in book form and used as the anchor for the telling of an interesting story. Since the honeycomb deals with a religious idea–or at least one that is represented heavily in religion. How much did current and past religions–stories and all–influence your presentation of the honeycomb? I realize that the concept of reincarnation is one held by many eastern religions; however my idea was to approach the possibility of life after death, reincarnation, and our global connectedness more from a scientific perspective. Rather than following religious traditional view that God created the Universe, I think recent discoveries in physics and cosmology leave room for the opposite possibility, that it is God who is being created by the evolution of the Universe; and not the other way around. Continuing with religion, I think the one thing you’ve managed to do rather well with honeycomb is bring a little understanding of religion as a whole. It seems like you aren’t trying to paint a picture of any particular religion. True, there are elements that might be seen as part of religions that exist today, but you ground your “world” in the reality of inter-connectivity. Can you talk a little more about religion, not in how it influences your work, but in how it is woven into Honeycomb and perhaps the world around us, and how you are presenting it to the reader? Even though I was born into a Catholic family, I’ve never really subscribed to any particular religion. Respectfully to those who believe otherwise, I am not a big fan of religion and in particular I am especially turned off by those who use religion to espouse extremist worldviews. There seems to be this belief that God has to be connected to some form of religion. I don’t see the two as intertwined. If one defines religion as the observance of certain rituals and the belief in certain religious canons; whether codified in the form of books or chants or other traditional means, then I believe it is possible to believe in the possibility of God without the necessity of following any particular religion. One of the things I found really interesting about Honeycomb is how the narrative moves in a circle. Your main character–who remains a nameless spirit of sorts–begins where he ends up. How