The Hot Author Report

Interview with US Expat Malana Ashlie – Author of ‘Gringos in Paradise: Our Honduras Odyssey’

Malana Ashlie holds degrees in naturopathy, herbal sciences, subtle energy as well as a PhD in Metaphysics. She has been privileged to study with traditional Elders of Mayan and Hawaiian cultures. Dr. Malana has been widely published on the subjects of holistic health and spiritual growth incorporating ancient wisdom into modern life. She currently has created an independent program for others who desire learn the tools she uses: Dynamics for Healing and Happiness. When not traveling to teach workshops she enjoys life at home along the sunny beaches of Honduras.

Visit Malana at:
www.gringos-in-paradise.com
www.wisdompathway.com

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Q: It’s rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a ‘real’ job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you’ve had in your life? Have they influenced/inspired your writing?

A: My husband’s Social Security check gives me the freedom to write but my credit card bill is my motivation.

Living in Central America allows us a more affordable lifestyle which offers the freedom to choose our priorities. I continue to do consultations over the phone and internet and travel to the States teaching workshops. Everything I have done in my life has been in preparation for whom I am becoming. In retroflex I can understand all the connectors.

Q: What compelled you to write your first book?

A: The book sprang from a need to communicate. My husband and I had moved into a Spanish speaking neighborhood in Honduras. Living with people of different cultures has never been a problem during our years in Florida or Hawaii so we didn’t expect a problem here as we learned to speak Spanish. However; there was no phone service, no internet connection, only five channels on the TV and they were ALL Spanish. I’m a Gemini, and Geminis like to communicate.

The quaint little beach community we moved to is like stepping back into the 1940s. It is exactly what we hoped for BUT, at the time there was only one neighbor who was bilingual and she was a busy mom, gone from home all-day. There was no one for me to talk to except my husband and with all the transitional stress it was often best that we did not.

Q: Have you always wanted to be a writer?

A: Oh, no! Just the opposite. I would grind my teeth over having to write a thank you note. I was told once in a physic reading that I would one day write…I gave up going to physics. However,  life has a way of changing things. Over the years I have learned that if I go with that flow I grow (how cute, it rhythms)

Q: Tell us briefly about your book.

A: Gringos in Paradise: Our Honduras Odyssey chronicles the adventures and misadventures as my husband, Ordin, and I seek an affordable, tropical retirement location. It shares our questions and concerns as we struggle to make the decision to move from the land of our birth and carries readers through the emotional roller coaster of immersion into a totally new culture.

Q: How did you feel the day you held the copy of your first book in your hands?

A: I felt an immense sense of wonder and pride. I believe there is always a great feeling of accomplishment with one has undertaken a new and challenging project and then beholds the finished product; similar to a nine-month pregnancy.

Q: How do you balance out the writer’s life and the rest of life? Do you get up early? Stay up late? Ignore friends and family for certain periods of time?

A: I’m up at 4:30 to roam the lawn and gardens in the predawn with my cat, Pueo. Since we acquired our rat terrier puppy, Magna, the mornings have taken on a different dynamic. Magna finds Pu and I to be boring and returns to the warmth of our bed to be with my husband. That leaves Pu and I do some yoga postures, stretching and quiet contemplation.

Everyone gathers on the veranda for coffee, conversation and breakfast once my husband is awake. There is a high school aged girl who comes by each morning to give me one hour of Spanish tutoring. Unless I’m working under a deadline, my writing time is kept to three and a half hours a day.

After lunch I teach English to locals here in our barrio which also helps me understand how to think in Spanish. The afternoon is also when people might bring their sick children or animals to the house for aid if they don’t have money for a doctor. On days when no one comes, I climb into the hammock and take a twenty minute siesta.

The mid-afternoon is when my husband and I work on our joint projects like websites, newsletters and other. Happy hour is at five. Magna  and my husband play ball while Pueo and I supervise. Evening is relationship time; it’s when family from the States call, friends may drop in or e-mail is checked. It’s not a forceful writing schedule but it is a balanced life.

Q: When growing up, did you have a favorite author, book series, or book?

A: Oh yes, Jack London.

Q: When they write your obituary, what do you hope they will say about your book/s and writing? What do you hope they will say about you?

A: What I hope they say about my books or writing is that they  helped others find what they were looking for. About me? I would hope they write; ‘she knew how to live.’

Q: What is your writing space like? Do you have a designated space? What does it look like? On the couch, laptop, desk? Music? Lighting? Typing? Handwriting?

A: I have a large bedroom which I painted a soft sage green. One corner has windows on adjacent walls. A potted fishtail palm sits between. One set of windows faces the Nombre de Dias mountains while the other  a neighbor’s small farm. I can see horses, cows, chickens and pigs as they pass under a canopy of fuchsia colored bougainvillea that shades the pathway in and out of his front gate.

My laptop sits on a writing table facing the corner. The table was meant to be used by children so it’s a perfect height for typing. One area of my room has a love seat where I sit with a notebook and pen when words don’t flow at the computer. My bed faces the interior of the room but the work areas face the outside world. A most excellent Feng Shui

Q: Is there anyone who has inspired, motivated, encouraged or supported your writing?

A: My husband, Ordin.

Q: Is there any particular book that, when you read it, you thought, “I wish I had written that!”?

A: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It turned my brain 90 degrees .

Q: Is there anything you’d go back and do differently now that you have been published, in regards to your writing career?

A: I would develop a platform around my subject before the book was ever submitted.

Q: Do you have any book signings, tours or special events planned to promote your book that readers might be interested in attending? If so, when and where?

A: This is the beginning of the rainy season here on the North Coast of Honduras. It’s a great time to incubate and write. I have radio interviews coming up and workshops planned for the Spring. We do our best to keep a calendar of events updated on my website. My main focus of attention at this time is to complete the creation of an independent study program for those who want to learn to do the healing work I do. I have had such wonderful success working clients with chronic problems such as depression, eating disorders, pain, and childhood traumas that this program has become a demand.

Q: It’s one thing to write a book and another to edit it. How do you feel about the editing process? What was it like to edit your book?

A: I don’t believe anyone can edit their own work. The author knows the effort too well and is emotionally attached to the information. Plus we become so comfortable in our own dialog that we don’t recognize when we are distorting our language. An example of this would be folks that speak ‘spanglish’ instead of English or Spanish or ‘pigeon’ instead of English or Hawaiian. Jargon is a language distortion outside of the circle that is familiar with it.  I write in a conversation style, sometimes the most difficult process in editing a book is to find an editor to recognize and honor your ‘voice.’

I thought writing a book would be hard, but found that all it takes is having something to say and the discipline to sit and write. Discipline empowers. The hard part comes in getting your book out into the world. The better prepared a writer is with a plan for promotion the happier the ending of the story will be.

Use this space to tell us more about who you. Anything you want your readers to know. Include information on where to find your books, any blogs you may have, or how a reader can learn more about you and writing.

I juggle two genres of writing. My career field is holistic health yet my first published book was about our move into Central America. The response to the book, “Gringos in Paradise: Our Honduras Odyssey, and request for more information keeps me writing in that venue.

It’s been difficult to find a way to balance ‘chasing two rabbits at one time’, but as I mentioned earlier, I am a Gemini so I’ve given each twin a style. I’m holding workshops to finite the information on a manuscript about healing at the soul level or ‘spiritual DNA’. Thoughts on the subject are often what I use for blog post on www.maknchanges.blogspot.com which I  update each fortnight. A lot of that information has been compiled into my newly created independent study program: Dynamics for Healing and Happiness.

I have a second blog that is for expat subjects. www.expat-n-honduras.blogspot.com My blogs are a bit like storage vaults for subjects that I expand on when writing articles. I find that it’s easier for me to share my thoughts, then expand them into short stories, connect the stories, create the book. Who I am is a reflection of how I see the world. That filters through to everything I write, teach or touch. That is who I am, the core of the Gemini twins.