Featured Interview With H.B. Cavalier
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and draw a lot of writing inspiration from the land around me. I have traveled, though, and that slips in as well. My pen name, Véva Perala, exists mainly to lend an air of magic to my novel, ‘Farewell, Everything’ (Véva is, in a sense, a character in the story herself) – but originally it served to protect my privacy. Now days, however, I wonder just what I’ve been trying to hide. There really isn’t much to say about me! The life of Véva Perala is FAR more intriguing.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Oh, immediately. I was given a little chalk board at 18 months, and legend has it I began writing, at length, right then and there. I grew up in the 80’s, across the street from an academic writer – she’d give all of her red-inked rough drafts to me, so that I could write my epic novels on the blank side of the paper. Living under the sea, being kidnapped by ghosts, and ridiculing the rich were common themes of my early work, but I also dabbled in nonfiction: bee colonies and cat anatomy were my specialties.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite fiction genre, hands down, is magical realism. I get frustrated when writing is too concrete and literal – it leaves stories barren, void of metaphor and deeper meaning. Part of the pleasure of reading, for me, is finding hidden gems in a narrative, discovering new depth upon returning to an old book after years away. You can mature side-by-side with a good story. Plus, my life experiences have rarely been logical by modern standards, and like anyone, I enjoy books that reflect me back to myself, so.
On that note, I love Dorian Gray – joking. Sort of.
Oscar Wilde is one of the greats, though, of course. Garcia Marquez, Murakami, Arundhati Roy, Sunil Yapa, George Saunders and Salvador Plascencia are all authors on my bookshelf. But I mostly gravitate toward nonfiction – books about psychology and spirituality, history and sociology, philosophy and the human brain. The occasional memoir, such as James Rhodes’ ‘Instrumental,’ and David B.’s graphic novel ‘Epileptic.’ But, at the end of the day, I feel I’ve drawn just as much writing inspiration from music and film as from books.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
‘Farewell, Everything’ is a slipstream/magical realism novel following a sickly runaway through tandem struggles with disease and politics – neither of which he’s prepared to handle. It’s something of a hero’s journey, in that the protagonist spirals into the depths to find strength and wisdom he never knew he had – but more than that, it’s simply dark comedy. The main character is bumbling, naive, and desperately self-unaware. Romantically self-sabotaging with both men and women, he willfully ignores his own limitations, allowing them to undermine every aspect of his life in the process. Enchanted by the world around him – a world that speaks to the past, the future, and even the realm of the dead – our hero enjoys plenty of escapist fodder in his quest to avoid of reality. ‘Farewell, Everything’ is a mystical story at heart, surreal and whimsical at times – but never loses sight of its end goal: to get this poor, confused kid out of the mess he’s made for himself.
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