Conversation with Samantha Sotto, Author of Before Ever After

The more I talk to Samantha Sotto about her book, Before Ever After, the more I appreciate her story behind the story. But more importantly, I understand the book more and more. It is a profound yet entertaining read, an unconventional love story.  This was our conversation at the "world premiere" book launch in National Book Store Glorietta 5, one rainy evening...We should have been sipping jasmine tea while having this conversation though...or rooster soup inspired by coq au vin.  

What inspired you to write a novel?

The need to do something while my son was in school is what spurred it.  It was traffic, I didn’t want to pay for e-pass. I didn’t wanna pay for gas. I had 3 hours to spare at Starbucks, and I didn’t want to pay for wi-fi either.  Kuripot reasons.  (Reasons of thriftiness).

Luckily, Max, the lead character, just kinda popped into my head. He introduced himself to me while I was driving on Edsa. I didn’t even have to imagine who it was.

I decided to set the story where it could logically be set to tell Max’s story well and that was Europe.  Thanks to my Dad who was based there as an expatriate when I was in college. That was my first taste of Europe. Then I had a backpacking trip when I sold my car…to my dad… to go on vacation.  I got a secondhand book on Europe on $50 a day.  We were “homeless” or “starving” many days travelling in Europe. We would cut a baguette 6 ways for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then if we got hungry in between, we had Max’s candy and Hershey’s miniatures (rationed at 4 a day).  That adventure inspired a lot of the stories in the book.

The Slight Detour was inspired by Bob’s Bavarian mountain tour.  The tour guide took us to interesting places and was charming as well.  Wherever he is now, “Thank you, Bob!”

How did you come up with the itinerary of the Slight Detour?

Everyone already knows about the famous landmarks and important events in Europe.  I thought it would be interesting to go through the backroads and look at the gaps in history and fill that in with stories that sound probable. Plus, I have a superpower for getting lost, even if I have a GPS.  Getting lost a lot, inspired me to unearth stories that were also lost, and to bring them to life in Before Ever After.

Google and Virtual Tourist are my friends. The tour had to start in London because Max was British and I knew it had to end in Italy.  So I looked at the map and I plotted the countries. And that became the outline of the book. 

I wrote it the way readers experienced it because I didn’t want to spoil the surprise for myself.  I wanted to feel  like I was a tourist myself.

For each country, I googled “strange chicken facts”, then I wrote. It was research, write, research, write.

What is the significance of the egg and chicken references?

No Max is not inspired by Max Fried Chicken. Gallus means  chicken, but also foreigner or stranger.  It is also Scottish for “a cocky fellow” and Max is rather cheeky.

Max came prepackaged. It was a quirk of Max that came with his character, fondness for the BeeGees, a fascination with chickens, a belief that everything would be ok if there was a chicken.

How did you structure the book? 

Each chapter is a deconstruction of Max’s character. In every story,  you will get to know an aspect of Max’s character and understand why Max is the way he is.

My favorite Max is the present day Max. He was the most fun to write. He was inspired by Dr. Who—a very fun and campy British guy. Next to my husband, Max is my ideal guy.

If I can finish this chapter, then I can finish this book.  And so I did, then I did. 

Let’s talk about the strange chicken tales

The basilisk is more of a rooster crossed with a dragon instead of a serpent creature. The river man is one of my favorite characters, but he has my sympathy. I had a hard time doing what I did to him in my book. 

What is the symbolism of the egg timer?  “Yesterday flows into tomorrow, and tomorrow tips over into yesterday.”

I talk a lot of the concept of time. The book is not about time travelling. 

(SPOILER ALERT!) Max is an immortal. It is not the mystery of the book. I tried to imagine that time for a person this way would be very different from the way we would perceive time. It would increase our appreciation for time if we saw time through his eyes.   He longs for things that we take for granted. There is no period in his life.  What more is there to life. If there is nothing more than this, how do I get meaning into today.  Thank you to Ateneo philosophy classes.

What kind of research did you have to do to talk about immortality?

I wanted to do away with myths on immortality where it is imposed on you or you have to have a magical object or get bitten.     The mystery is how he became the way he is. 

Can you see it as a movie?

If I’m going to dream out loud, I see it as a mini series.  I can’t imagine it as a movie. It is so episodal.  I don’t want to say who I think Max should be. I don’t want to do the imagining for you.   Whoever you think Max should be to you, that’s who he should be. Suffice it to say, that he’s hot. Gerald Butler, Daniel Craig, Mark Zuckerberg, Hugh Jackman…have been suggested.

The entire book takes place on a flight to Boracay.  Can you tell us about the Shell in Boracay?

It is real. In Station 1. The waiter in Two Seasons said there was a hut in the cove just around the corner.  After I wrote the book, we went back to Boracay.  We passed it while riding the boat.  It really is for backpackers

What about the egg and cheese dish?

My husband, Tembong, does make the dish. I just had the dish two days ago with steak. 

Would it be cool to have a Slight Detour tour like the Da Vinci Code tour?

I would like to go on that tour.  Although the accommodations would not be as luxurious as Max’s houses as he has amassed quite a fortune. 

What’s next for this book?

The book will be released on August 2 in the U.S. We fly to New York for a press briefing. It will be covered by TFC. 

Can we look forward to Book #2

I’m 80% done on a second book. It’s a love triangle between two people. But when I’m done with this book, I’m going to write about Batanes. Before this book, my editor and agent have never heard about Boracay. When I sent them the picture of Boracay, they agreed it was like paradise. 

I had to stop here to give way to more than a hundred of her family, friends and fans, fellow book lovers who wanted to ask questions and get their books signed.  

 The international paperback edition of Before Ever After is exclusively available from National Book Store for P499.  To our friends in Bangkok or Singapore, you can order through the National Book Store website.  

Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours by Sarabeth Levine

Whenever New Yorkers recommend brunch places, they always suggest Sarabeth, located in the Whitney Museum on the Upper East Side, Central Park South and Chelsea Market, so I thought that she would be a good resource for a baking book, so I picked up Sarabeth's Bakery:From My Hands to Yours.  When Sarabeth rediscovered a  French great aunt's orange-apricot marmalade recipe,she made a big batch as holiday gifts for friends. Then she served it in a restaurant her boyfriend was working on and she tried to keep up with orders from an apartment kitchen.  When she found a location in Manhattan's Upper West Side, she knew she had to offer more than marmalades so she opened the first bakery which she stocked with baked goods using family recipes, especially those from her mother in law.

I was delighted to find out that in this book, Sarabeth didn't skimp on helpful and necessary advice to the clueless baker, like me.  Tips that my be taken for granted by other cookbooks are emphasized here.  She says, "The home baker will find, just as we have at Sarabeth's that there can be no compromises when it comes to quality. It is often said that great food starts with fine ingredients, and obvious statement if there ever was one. However, it is equally important to have excellent equipment and utensils." I often do not want to bother to run to the mall to buy unsalted butter for a recipe, but she points out that, " Salt will bring out the flavor in baked goods, but too much is a disaster. But the main reason is that unsalted butter is fresher than salted because salt preserves the butter and prolongs its shelf life." On eggs" "Room temperature eggs blend well in batters and beat with the most volume, so remove the eggs from the refrigerator 1 hour before using."

She writes for the home baker but often mentions practices done by the professional baker. She tells you a professional baker needs to use a weighing measure for accuracy since they bake large quantities.  She tells you to use the paddle attachment instead of the hook attachment on the electric mixer and why.  I am most tempted to try my hand at a croissant or a pains de matin since she makes it sound so easy but I should just buy my bread at L'artizan.

Instead, I tried her recipe for Chocolate Cloud. Her version is crumbly and crunchy, perhaps the recipe I have been looking for all the past 2 years since I received the perfect chocolate chip cookies for Christmas.

I didn't use unbleached all purpose flour, but my cookies turned out pretty good and the 36 cookies disappeared in less than a week.  The recipe is easy to make and only requires one stick of butter. My daughter patiently sifted the sugars and the flour.  The cookies, when placed three inches apart did not run into each other and did not flatten as much as those with 2 sticks of butter that I've tried.  I was supposed to whack the cookie sheet three minutes before it was done baking to produce the crumbly effect but I wasn't able to do so. I learned some lessons from her tips: let a cookie sheet cool down before reusing and don't remove a cookie while warm.

Maybe I will try more recipes when I am off my diet.  For sure, my next recipe will be Chocolate Souffle Cake (p 127). Anyone want to help me eat it?

Available in National Book Store for P1855.