Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with Liam Gibbs
Book Title: Distorted Vision
Released: 08/31/21
Genre: Literary Fiction
Interview by Heather L. Barksdale
What inspired you to write “Distorted Vision”?
Lewallen: Prevention of blindness in Africa was my passion and my career. I lived for over twenty years in several countries in eastern and southern Africa and saw so much – the good, the bad, and the good-intentions-gone bad in health care development. So, of course I wanted to write about it. I did that in many academic papers and research studies over the decades, but I wanted to try to reach a different audience; since I’ve always loved novels, I decided to use fiction as a vehicle. Many of the events in Distorted Vision really happened, albeit in slightly different context (it really is fiction!) I also wanted to explore the motivations of people who work in development. It’s more complicated than most people imagine.
How did you come up with the names of your main characters?
Lewallen: I struggled and changed them a couple of times. Usually I like names that have an easy nickname. Ana didn’t have one, but she called her brother “Jare” sometimes.
When you encounter writer’s block, what do you do to break yourself out of it?
Lewallen: I had some trouble with this when I wrote my first book, Crossing Paths, and I think it was because I was “pantsing” -- writing by the seat of my pants. I plotted Distorted Vision more carefully, in an outline, down to the minute/hour level as it neared the climax. This meant that I always had some scene I could work on, even if I felt temporarily out of new ideas. And I found that, even though I might start out feeling bereft of creativity, once I got working, ideas usually came to me.
Are there any tips that you would like to share with other aspiring authors?
Lewallen: There’s a wealth of free training out there for fiction writers: great books on the subject and a number of blogs and podcasts. Use them!
What is your favorite genre, book, and/or author?
Lewallen: I lean towards realistic literary fiction, although genre lines are often crossed now, so that may not mean much. I want both good characterizations and good plots. Recently I’ve discovered Mary Lawson and I love her books. They’re about ordinary people doing ordinary things but she lets us right into their hearts.
What are you working on next?
Lewallen: Trying to decide if I want to go back to Tanzania. If I do, it’ll be the 90s!
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