In de VARA-gids

Twee jaar geleden, ter gelegenheid van de voorstelling Leaving Trumpland, werden Greg en ik geïnterviewd door de VARA-gids. De journalist vroeg ons naar onze favoriete televisieprogramma’s en we vertelden uiteraard ook over ons werk.

Ik zat nog volop in het schrijfproces en dacht dat mijn debuutroman in 2021 zou uitkomen. Het heeft iets langer geduurd… maar Droomhuis is vanaf nu verkrijgbaar in de boekwinkel en online.

Two years ago, on the occasion of the performance Leaving Trumpland, Greg and I were interviewed by the VARA television guide. The journalist asked us about our favorite tv programs and of course we also talked about our work.

I was still in the process of writing and thought my debut novel would come out in 2021. It took a little longer… but Dream House is now available in bookstores and online.

One step forward, two steps back

My husband Greg Shapiro is a regular contributor to the XPAT Journal, a bi-annual magazine that focusses on the expat community in the Netherlands. Greg moved from the United States to the Netherlands in 1994 and has been living here half his life. He has observed the Dutch from a professional perspective and has earned a decent income making fun of them.

Dutch education has been a recurrent theme in this magazine and Greg has written several columns on the topic. This time he asked for my input.

For two years now, we have been struggling with the Dutch education system. When you have a healthy child that enjoys going to school and has no difficulties with learning, the systems works great. But when a child gets sick, you bump into all kinds of obstacles. As the mother of such a child, I have become quite an ‘expert’ on matters related to education and healthcare in these difficult circumstances.

So Greg and I ended up writing the column together. Which was a lot of fun. We work well together (not only have we been married for 20 years in June, I have also been his manager for most of those years).

But then corona happened…

And then we heard the magazine is ending its existence…

Anyone else out there interested in a duo column perhaps?

A new beginning

Last week I signed a contract. Last week a dream came true. For almost three decades I have been working towards this moment. Early 2021 my first novel will be published by Orlando Publishers.

When I reached adulthood, it dawned on me my childhood had been a somewhat unusual. As a matter of fact, it had been quite a roller coaster. Too much had happened for one lifetime. I had no idea though it would take me this long to work out the details and to find a form to tell my story.

A few months ago I finally found the courage to send my manuscript to Jacqueline Smit at Orlando Publishers. Jacqueline and I met many years ago on holiday with our families in France. Sharing a love of books and good foods, we became friends. I trusted her to give me a fair assessment of the quality of my story.

Why now, one could ask. Why wait so long? Once upon a time, being frustrated with my past, I promised myself that one day I would write a book about it and with the money I would buy a house in France. It so happened that last Spring I found that house online and by Fall that house was bought. The message was clear: that book needs to be written now!

I have been trying to write down the story since early adulthood, but each phase in my life has added an extra layer. Not to mention writing skills. With my love for storytelling it would have been obvious to pursue an education in writing, but I didn’t want to ruin the love with dull exercises. So I polished my skills with time and countless attempts at writing a full-length novel.

In 2012 I wrote the current manuscript in 30 days during National Novel Writing Month. I set deadlines to rewrite the script, I tried to find a coach, I told everybody that I wanted to finish it, but procrastination kicked in. Finally in 2019 I took a sabbatical from work, went on a little writing retreat and promised myself I would finish it before I turned 50 years old.

Well, I turned 50 yesterday and it’s still not finished. There’s a lot of rewriting ahead, but with a contract in my pocket and a leaking roof on my French house, I am pretty confident I will be holding my own book in my hands come 2021.