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The author of Sea Changes chats it up at Book Addict today.

Who is Gail Graham?

Her friends say she’s a voracious reader and a fabulous cook. Her personal trainer says she’s much too fond of chocolate and red wine. Her students say she knows an awful lot about Chinese art and history and tells really funny stories. Her publicist says she’s the author of Sea Changes. Her dog Bao says she is perfect in every way. 

How did your writing career begin?

I’ve wanted to be a writer ever since I can remember. I sold my first short story when I was 16, and actually supported myself as a freelance writer for many years. My first book was a children’s book, published by Dial Press in 1965, Since then I’ve published six other books with Pantheon Press, and (in Australia where I lived for 32 years) Angus & Robertson and Pan Macmillan Australia.

Tell us about Sea Changes.

Sea Changes is the story of what can happen if you believe anything is possible. So many times, we shut ourselves to possibility. We say things like, “It is what it is.” Our modern age is pragmatic, rather than magical. If we can’t see it, hear it, smell it or count it, we say it doesn’t exist. But so much does exist beyond the realm of our five, limited senses. There are whole, alternate worlds out there, whole universes of possibility. Right now, we’re in an alternate world – the world of cyberspace. Where are we, really? We can’t exactly describe it, but we know we’re here. Quantum physics explores these ideas scientifically. Sea Changes explores them creatively.

What compelled you to write it?

I was fascinated by a BBC documentary about people who believed they had been abducted by aliens. These people were utterly convinced that something impossible had happened to them, yet in all other respects, they were perfectly ordinary people. I wondered how that would feel. To have something impossible happen to you and simultaneously know it was impossible and know it had happened.

Since Sarah travels to an underwater world, should readers expect some magical elements in this book?

When I first encountered magical realism, I was totally blown away. It was a whole new way of telling a story. It opened everything up, and made all sorts of things possible. So of course I used this wonderful technique in Sea Changes. It was like a new toy. I simply had to play with it.

When Sarah is implicated in the kidnapping of a young heiress, her friends suddenly back away and don’t trust her.  How does Sarah handle this considering her husband recently died?

Sarah is living in two worlds, and that’s what many widows must do – the world they knew is gone, but it’s still alive within them. They still feel as if they’re the same person they always were. But that’s not how the world sees them. Once a woman is widowed, the world doesn’t see the person anymore. She ceases to exist. All the world sees is a widow. So there’s this duality about widowhood, and it’s reflected in the duality Sarah faces. Which is the real world? Sarah truly doesn’t know. So she copes by trying to act “normal” – with devastating results.

Sea Changes sounds like a book filled with emotion.  How do you draw the reader in so that they experience these emotions alongside your characters?

Sea Changes is written in the present tense, so that the reader experiences everything that Sarah experiences, and knows only what Sarah knows, and no more. I’m hoping that as she reads the book, the reader actually becomes Sarah and starts asking the same questions that Sarah is asking. And in fact, the ending of the book depends as much upon the reader as it does upon Sarah.   

What’s next for you?

I’m working on a novel set in 7th century Tang China. It’s about a woman who goes through life disguised as her dead, twin brother.

Where can we find you on the Web?

The website for Sea Changes is at http://www.gailgraham.net .  The book trailer is on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgiT3Q3klGY  And everyone is invited to join Bao and me at http://www.drivingchairmanbao.blogspot.com .  Thanks so much for having me here today!