Rose and Elmer have created an idyllic sanctuary for themselves and their five daughters in Mexico’s Baja California desert. Out there in the middle of nowhere, blissfully cut off from the burdens of modern society, they’re free to raise their beautiful family…and preserve its secret.
And they’re never giving it up.
Then a young hiker named Rick comes looking for a place to stay. It’s just for the night, he says—but long enough for Rose and Elmer to fear they’ve made a horrible mistake. As the stranger grows more intrusive and more suspicious, the couple know they must do what they can to protect themselves. What they don’t know is that Rick has a secret, too. Soon, home and family will prove to be as cold and dark as the desert nights. And even with so many places to run, there’s still no escape from the past that binds them.
As reported on Novelpro Junkie, Desert Flowers will be adapted into film (https://novelpro.weebly.com/latest-news/filmax-snags-psychological-thriller-the-house-among-the-cactuses). So take this time to get to know this author and dive into his novel that will surely thrill you to the core.
1. What is the genesis of Desert Flowers?
A road trip across the Baja California Península (Mexico) where the story takes place. I drove from Tijuana to San José del Cabo through miles and miles of desert landscapes full of big cactuses. From time to time, a lonely house would appear in the distance, lost among those cactuses, and I started to wonder what could be going on in a house like that, so far away from everything. I then imagined a picture perfect American family living in that house and searched for a reason why they would be there. It was when I found out that reason, that I knew I had a good idea for a novel.
2. What was your writing schedule when you wrote Desert Flowers?
It's a peculiar novel for me because I wrote it entirely away from home. After that road trip, I stayed nearly a year in Baja California Sur. I finished the manuscript there, writing while I had in front of me, all the time, a landscape very similar to the one in the novel. Since I was away from home, friends, family and other regular distractions, I wrote the book in six months, with many weeks in a row working on a five-days eight-hours schedule, a real luxury for any author.
3. What research did you do when writing Desert Flowers?
My favorite part of the research had to do with the description of the landscape. It was the perfect excuse for me to go driving or hiking around the area where I lived. I never got tired of walking around hundreds of enormous saguaro-like cactus (locally called "cardones") or of watching the long sunsets in the desert, full of vivid colors. Now I read lots of reviews where readers say they have felt like they were in the desert while reading the book, and that's the greatest compliment for me.
4. Are any of the characters in Desert Flowers based on anyone you know in real life?
Not really. I am not an author who normally does that, or at least not consciously. I feel my characters to be very real since the moment I start writing about them, so it's like they manifest themselves to me rather than the other way around.
5. Did you know how Desert Flowers would end or did it come to you while writing the story?
I never start a new novel until I know the beginning, the ending and a lot of what happens in between. I really don't want to find myself in a situation where I start a book with a great idea but I later find out, halfway through, that I don't know how to finish it. What has happened with some novels is that the first ending I thought of doesn't stay in the final manuscript because I think of a better one along the way or another one makes much sense once the novel is actually written, but I need to have at least an ending thought out before I start writing. With Desert Flowers, I kept the original ending for the most part, but the three-part epilogue was on the verge of not being included (and now I'm happy I did include it because it is the favorite part for many readers!).
6. What was the most surprising thing you learned when writing Desert Flowers?
That writing in the Third Person Limited Point of View is awesome! It was the first novel I wrote with this perspective and I really like it now.
7. Silly-Game question: From Desert Flowers novel (with your eyes close) could you please leaf through the pages and point at a random place. What is the full sentence? And what is the page number of this random sentence?
OK, let me get the book! Done:
"She moved nearer. Iris's face was so close to his that Rick was breathing the air she exhaled. It aroused a feeling in him that was like biting into a piece of fruit in summer". Page 93.
8. Did you have writer’s block on Desert Flowers? If so, how did you get over it?
I didn't. Up to this day, and after five novels written, Desert Flowers has been the quickest and easiest to write for me. Also, I consider myself lucky because I haven't experienced a concerning writer's block yet. Some bad writing days, yes. Moments where typing a word seems impossible or you doubt everything you've written up to that point, sure. But not a real feeling of being blocked.
9. Congratulations on Desert Flowers being made into a film ( The House Among the Cactuses) by Filmax. What are your thoughts about Carlota Gonzalez-Adrio directing the film?
Thank you! It's been such a great experience. It is the second movie adaptation of one of my books, so I'm ecstatic, really. I always thought this story should be directed by a woman, and Carlota has given truly interesting insights to the screenplay. I also love the fact that this is the first film she directs, because I truly admire young talent and their determination. She loved the story and the characters from the start, so I'm really confident she will do a great work.
10. Have you considered making a cameo in the film?
That would be really fun and I'd love to, but filming has wrapped up and it hasn't happened. I'll ask for it on the third film.
11. Have you ever considered writing a screenplay?
Sure! In fact I've written The House Among the Cactuses screenplay. That's what has made the whole project even more fascinating for me than the adaptation of my previous novel The Warning, in which I didn't participate. Returning to my novel to translate it into a screenplay has been a learning experience, both challenging and rewarding. I've also written part of the scripts of an upcoming Netflix Spanish series: Alma. So yes, I do also love writing screenplays for TV and film.
12. What scene from the novel are you looking forward to seeing on the screen?
There's a scene with Iris and Rick in the car that I have always loved in the book, so I'm eager to see how it was translated to film.
13. For your debut novel, The Warning, where did it get the story idea? Did you know how it was going to end or did it come to you while writing the story?
The original idea came from a strange thought I had while visiting my old university where I had studied. Stopped with my car at the entrance, I had to let another car get out before getting in, and I thought that, ten years before, I could be the one driving that car that was heading out. So I imagined a scenario where the same person, ten years apart, could meet themselves. I started working on that idea until I decided that the one from the past had to warn the one in the future about a terrible thing that was going to happen, but they weren't living in the same timeline. About the ending, as was the case with Desert Flowers, I didn't start to write the novel until I had the ending well thought out.
14. What was your favorite book when you were a kid? Do you have a favorite book now?
As a kid, The Witches by Roald Dahl was the one that had a bigger impact on me. In fact, I think I am a writer because of that book. Today, I have many favorite books. Middlesex by Jeffry Eugenides or In Cold Blood by Truman Capote immediately come to mind.
15. If you have your own talk show, who would your first three guests be?
Answering quickly: Stephen King, Dolly Parton and Taylor Swift.
16. What book did you read because everyone was reading it?
Think of a Number by John Verdon. But unfortunately I had recently read an article on probability and such, and figured out the trick behind the letters too early...
17. Last question, if someone made a movie of your life would it be a drama, a comedy, a romantic-comedy, action film, or science fiction?
I'd like it to be a coming-of-age summer movie. Something like Stand by Me. I'm obsessed with summer.
I greatly appreciate Paul Pen's time for doing this interview. I hope you guys keep an eye on this author's work.
You can find out more about them by going this website: http://paulpen.com/clasico/el-autor/ We all cannot wait to see the film adaptation of Desert Flowers.