"Everything is copy," Nora Ephron’s family famously trumpeted, meaning that anything that happens to you is ripe for writing about. So true! I’ve developed my own adaptation: “Render it all”— not only my experiences but any media source I read, watch, and listen to inspires my work.
That happened again this week. I was writing a narrative for a job opportunity in California. It was clear in interviews that beautiful physical surroundings are the lifeblood of this community — and a huge part of its novelty. How to convey this vitality to prospective applicants?
I turned to something else entirely. I dug in to read Vampires of El Norte, Isabel Cañas’ sophomore novel that debuted this month. Cañas depicts life on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1840s in visceral detail — from wrestling with fauna to living in relationships to smelling and tasting the food to feeling and knowing faith. After all, developing a sense of place isn’t just about describing the physical landscape, but extends to portraying the people, culture, history, all the sensory elements, and the intangible mood. Cañas does a masterful job capturing all of these — in a gripping and authentic alchemy. In addition, her novel has earned praise for adeptly blurring genres: historical fiction, romance, horror, and adventure.
Cañas’ atmospherics inspired me to play with images as I was trying to capture an exquisite place far from the Rio Grande Valley — and with the subtlety expected in business writing. As part of my process, I also studied some photos of this place. I found ways to portray the community’s warmth and its one-of-a-kind physical landscape. At the heart of this place and this role, I discerned balance and joy.
I always value the ways reading and writing are reinforcing — and how by imbibing the creative spirit, you can cross all boundaries to form something original and right.