Emeralds is historical fiction set in medieval Muslim Spain and deals with issues of tolerance, religious dialogue and interfaith love. The novel illustrates a time in history when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived together in harmony. Its themes of religious tolerance are of great significance in today’s society and will resonate with a diverse audience.
Dr. Cressler will present Emeralds of the Alhambra followed by a Q & A session and book signing at the Georgia Tech Barnes & Noble on Tuesday, June 25 at 6:30 p.m.
Read the following interview with Dr. Cressler for additional insight on his writing process, motivations and future plans:
One does not normally put the words ‘engineering professor’ and ‘novelist’ in the same sentence. How did Emeralds of the Alhambra come about?
No argument there! I have always enjoyed writing, and while it has actually been a lifelong dream of mine to write a novel, somehow I never quite felt ready. Novel writing is an intimidating business! I have always been an avid reader, and after a high school/college infatuation with science fiction and fantasy, I moved into more mainstream literary fiction and to this day that is pretty much all I read. With each new novel, I would find myself wondering what it would be like to try my hand at fiction. Interestingly, however, the opportunities for writing non-fiction books seemed to materialize naturally as a part of my career as a professor. And it is MUCH easier to get non-fiction published! When I finished my first book, a graduate-level textbook in my research field, I found the process deeply satisfying, and wanted more. My fourth non-fiction book, Silicon Earth, was a little different in genre, in that it was for a general, non-specialist audience, and I got permission to use a nontraditional, breezy and fun narrative style. That worked so well that when I finished it, I decided it was finally time to explore whether I had a novel in me. The whole prospect was a little scary because the canvas is so large. What type of fiction should it be? I have a deep love of history and really enjoy well-executed historical fiction, so I took the plunge and started there. It was love at first sight!
How does writing non-fiction compare with writing fiction?
Good question. They are very different in many obvious ways: tone, narrative style, subject matter. I find that writing fiction requires much more contact with your material, an obsession of sorts. I think what I most enjoy about writing fiction are the nearly constant unanticipated discoveries in plot and character. The creative energy this produces is profound! Let me give you a feel for this. In writing Emeralds, I first mapped out the synopsis in a few pages, to bind the themes and characters and historical events that I wanted to address. Then I expanded that synopsis into a chapter-by-chapter draft, each of which was maybe a quarter page of what factually happens in that chapter. This allows me to make sure all the plot twists and timing angles gel properly with the overall story trajectory. I did this for the whole book before beginning my writing. Then, when it was time to compose, I took the first chapter summary and expanded it into the various chapter scenes, fleshing the chapter out to about a page, no more, so that I had a good sense of the story that would transpire. Then I set this aside and began composing. The magical part of the process is that inevitably the characters and plot threads begin to deviate from the plan, assuming a life of their own. I love this! Almost on a daily basis, as I was driving to work, thinking about my characters, it would jump into my head, “Well, of course, she needs to do this!” or “Obviously this needs to happen!” Things I had never anticipated before actually doing the writing. That creative element is unique to fiction and I find it deeply satisfying.
