The Languages of White Swans

Today I'm delighted to welcome author Annamaria Bazzi back to my blog. Her new book, White Swans, A Regency World, has just come out, and we're sitting here drinking coffee and eating chocolate chip cookies (gluten free of course), so please feel free to join us.

Hi Annamaria, and welcome to my blog. Having learned that you speak English, Italian and Spanish, I'm wondering what other languages you speak, and whether you think being multilingual helps you write.

The only other language I speak is Sicilian, the dialect from the province of Agrigento. The language is completely different from Italian and I still have a bit of a hard time sounding out the words when I read. Does speaking other languages help my writing? Not really, the only advantage I’ve found is that when I need to use some Spanish in my novels I don’t need a dictionary of translator. I’ve used both Spanish and Italian in Incantation Paradox, although I’m not sure if readers appreciate it.

I guess when you do need a dictionary you probably use one on the computer. And I noticed you studied computers too, so... how do human languages and computer languages compare? (I have to ask this since I wrote (unpublished) books, then wrote computer programs, then wrote published books.)

Computer languages are much easier to learn for me. I always have problems with grammar no matter what language. Grammar has it out for me. With computer languages I never had any syntax problems, they always made so much sense to me, unlike the English language where a knight in shinning armor has a silent K in front of the word and so does a knife for that matter. Why? And what’s with the gh why not just nite? Now that word would make perfect sense to me.

I know what you mean. I always had problems with spelling too, but with computer programs it's all nice and logical. How does White Swans fit with the other books you've written? Do all your novels have some kind of theme or message in common and, if so, what is it?

With the books I’ve published so far I have no common message or theme, but with some of the unpublished novel that still need editing I tackle worldly problems that make no sense to me so I write about them to solve them in ways that make sense to me. Although the novels all take place in other worlds they deal with real problems. White Swans A Regency Era tackles the avarice of man, but I don’t think there’s an answer to this particular problem.

Is the world becoming friendlier or unfriendlier for writers?

Amazon has made publishing real easy. I think more important is the fact that so many don’t take the art of writing a book seriously. They just want to see their name in print. It is these individuals that make life very difficult for the Indie authors who output quality and are serious authors.

That makes sense. I remember reading somewhere "Everyone can write" and wondering what that meant for those of us who love writing. And on another tack, is the world becoming friendlier or unfriendlier for original thinkers?

Most original thinkers tend to be a bit off, maybe odd to the rest of the world and as in the past thinkers today still struggle to be accepted for who and what they are.

Is the world becoming friendlier or unfriendlier for people who are different from their neighbors?

In our modern day society we’ve come to accept a great many thing, starting with homosexuality and the modern family. Yet we still struggle with certain prejudices Martin Luther King dreamed of eliminating.

And it was Martin Luther King Day yesterday. Yes.

The stubbornness of mankind to refuse to see that we are all equal no matter what color, race or national background keeps setting us back.

So, is anything we've talked about relevant to how you write?

At times I tackle political problems but I disguise them and set them in alien world so I can find the solutions that make the most sense to me. In White Swan, I only tackle the avarice of men and the mind that believes to always be right.

Thank you Annamaria, and may your problems all be good ones. I'm really looking forward to reading White Swans.

And now, for my blog readers, here's some information about Annamaria:

Although born in the United States, Annamaria Bazzi spent a great deal of her childhood in Sicily, Italy, in a town called Sciacca. Italian was the language spoken at home. Therefore, she had no problems when she found herself growing up in a strange country.
Upon returning to the states, she promised herself she would speak without an accent.
She attended Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan, where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Computers with a minor in Spanish.
Annamaria spent twenty years programming systems for large corporations, creating innovative solution, and addressing customer problems. During those years, she raised four daughters and one husband. Annamaria lives in Richmond Virginia with her small family where she now dedicates a good part of her day writing.

You can visit Annamaria at:

Blog http://annamariabazzi.com

Website http://annamariasbooks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annamaria.bazzi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AMBazzi

And some more information about White Swans

Kendíka’s second chance at life begins as a nightmare. Will the eerie eyes always looking down from the sky reveal themselves? Kendíka challenges the aliens no one has ever seen to bring about a better life for the humans trapped in the surreal Regency world she wakes up in. While getting to know her alien owner, she discovers the aliens aren’t so perfect and have much to learn about humans. 

Will Kendíka survive or perish, attempting to make life better for the people living on Regency?