The old cliche goes something like, “money doesn’t buy happiness.” You can spend an eternity debating and philosophizing about the truth of this statement, yet scarcely come to an absolute conclusion. That’s because success is measured and defined differently by each individual who in part measures success against their cultural or societal backdrop. There are many films and books written about how money affects us; some characters are born penniless only to work hard and become financially secure in that Horatio Algers trope. We tend to love these storylines. Then there is the flip side of that coin: What happens when you start off with considerable wealth, safe in your affluent bubble, only to wake up one day to find you are fit to be a street urchin in a Charles Dickens novel.
Camille Nagasaki, a B.C. actress, entrepreneur and author, explores the latter theme wisely in her debut novel,
Riches & Rags,
which is set in Vancouver. We are introduced to Lane Carson, a selfish, spoiled, lady-who-lunches type so out of touch with the real world she might as well be living on the moon. Lane’s world comes crashing down when she loses her fortune and is abandoned by her husband, Micky, and left with two small children, toddler Margo and baby Rory. With few people left on her side, one of which includes her cousin and BFF Billy, Lane must pull herself up by her Jimmy Choos and have a go at the real world. I interviewed
Riches & Rags
author Camille Nagasaki about her novel.
Riches & Rags
was released Oct. 10.
1.)
This is your debut novel. How did you come about writing Riches & Rags? What was the writing process like for you?
I’ve always had a fascination with the written word and have written creatively and for business for many years. Since becoming a mom, reading to and storytelling with my children rekindled my love of books and evolved into writing some children’s stories. I then decided to try my hand at writing a novel and a captivating synopsis came to me not long after. I thought, what would happen if a somewhat naive trophy wife received the devastating news that her husband had lost the family fortune and was leaving on a quest to find himself. If he was managing the day-to-day finances and bank accounts, how would she even know if he was telling the truth, or not?
I grew up in the beauty industry surrounded by a lot of wealth, and even as a young child I was fascinated by how money affected people, so the idea of taking away everything a character materialistically values so dearly and watching the story unfold was too intriguing not to pursue.
I spent the next year researching and studying everything I could on writing. I didn’t want to make any rookie mistakes with my first novel and I enjoyed learning how different authors approach the writing process. Eventually, though, I needed to actually write and not read about writing. That initial first step was the hardest. I had a loose outline for some of the scenes and brief character sketches, but for the rest of the story I trusted in Stephen King’s preferred method of allowing the story to write itself—and that’s exactly what happened. Plot lines intercepted that I had never planned for and characters emerged on their own. That whole process was very cool and reinforced the power of surrendering the need to control and allowing creativity to work its magic. I wrote about 800 words a night for seven months during the first draft and then I let it sit for a few months. I re-wrote twice, passed it on to four beta-readers, did another re-write, was introduced to an amazing copy editor, Mary Ellen Reid, and completed two more re-writes with Mary’s guidance.
2.) Are any of the characters based on real life people – in your life, family, friends?
I had some people from my own life in mind when I created some of the characters. Lane’s kids Margo and Rory were initially based on my own children, though they were originally going to be a boy and a girl. Old George is loosely based on my dad’s elderly friend, Ken, who is gruff on the exterior, having spent a lifetime at sea, but is really a dear man. Riley is based on this obnoxious elephant finger puppet character I created to entertain my eldest child when potty-training. And Billy is based on my best friend, Blade. To give you an idea of Blade’s hilarity, he called me recently all excited to review my book. He said, “I’m going to say the story is
amazing
and Billy should have his own show.” I was pleased as I had sent him an advanced copy and I asked him what he thought of Lane’s journey. Do you know what Blade said? “Who’s Lane?”
I snapped, “Oh,
never mind
. You’re banned from writing a review. It’s called read the book!” And we both dissolved into peals of giggles. What a guy! Really, though, the characters became their own and I started seeing them more as their individual selves and less as mirror images to people from my own life.
3.) Lane Carson – the story’s main character – is not always likeable. But she learns fast and proves resourceful. Was it fun writing Lane? Any challenges to writing her as the main character?
Oh, Lane was so much fun. As an actress, I love playing villainous characters but Lane is irresistibly villain, vixen and virtuous. In the beginning, she’s deliciously bad. My sister was texting me saying she hated Lane in those first few chapters. I wasn’t too worried though because at least my sister was reacting emotionally to Lane. Readers need to identify with the main character in order to want to read the story so striking this balance was the challenge as having a protagonist that isn’t easily likeable at first is somewhat risky. I added snippets of reflection here and there early on so readers could glimpse a softer Lane and hopefully become intrigued. Of course, as the story developed, so did Lane and she evolved into an endearing character. Another challenge was ensuring Lane’s transition throughout the novel was profound yet believable.
4.) Without giving away too much, I found the story took a different turn than I originally expected. There are some interesting twists as the story progresses that kept me riveted. We start off one way and end another. Adding to this, there are very complex relationship dynamics between the characters, often with Lane at the centre. What, then, would you say is the true heart of the story?
There are numerous themes at play. Finding your inner strength in the face of adversity is one, as Lane emerges infinitely stronger than she ever gave herself credit for. Western Culture’s obsession with wealth is another theme. The story is set in our own world-class city of Vancouver where excessive wealth and the dire lack thereof are a paradox everyone in this city is familiar with. One of the oldest questions we can pose is whether money can truly buy happiness and this is something
Riches & Rags
explores. Finally, the tagline for my novel is, “Things are seldom as they seem.” This theme is the undercurrent of the story; you think Lane is one way and she blossoms into something else, or you think a character is an antagonist but they surprise you, or Lane is disillusioned when after she loses everything, she thinks,
I don’t have anything of interest anymore,
when really she needs to give the situation time before she judges it. Things are seldom as they seem both in fiction and in life. The true heart of the story is I hope readers are inspired to believe in fairy-tale endings in their own lives; that no matter what, everything works out in the end.
5.) Any future plans to write another novel? Would you consider a follow-up to Riches & Rags?
Absolutely! My next project will be to record and narrate the audio book for
Riches & Rags
, which I can’t wait to do. I have all the voices down pat but still need to work on my Irish and St. Lucian accents. Afterward, I plan on writing a non-fiction book for teens and then the sequel to
Riches & Rags
.
Riches & Rags
is available on
.
More about
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Mark Abbott is a writer, editor and blogger focusing on arts and culture. He lives in Vancouver.
Follow Mark on Twitter: @markabbott604