November 11, 2023 • 28 mins
In this episode, USA Today bestselling author, Noelle Salazar, returns to the pod to discuss her second book, Angels of the Resistance. Longtime listeners might recall our previous chat with Ms. Salazar in episode 24 way back in 2020.
In today’s conversation, Ms. Salazar recounts the inspiration for her Angels of the Resistance as well as how her writing process has evolved and matured since her first book, Flight Girls. She also offers advice to aspiring writers before we jump into the purpose of fiction and its impact on us. How does writing and reading about perspectives other than our own change our view of the world around us?
For those interested in checking out Ms. Salazar’s book:
Angles of the Resistance depicts a fascinating but hard part of women’s roles in the resistance against the German occupation of Europe during WWII. It contains some sensitive scenes that might be triggering to some members of the audience. It is a read recommended for a more mature readership.
Topics:
- Inspiration for Angels of the Resistance
- Balance of fact and fiction in Angels of the Resistance
- Plot process: pantser (no outline) or plotter (extensive outlining)?
- Evolution of Ms. Salazar's writing process
- Balance of storytelling and research in realistic fiction
- The importance of fiction--How fiction inspires and encourages and stretches us
- Writing advice to aspiring authors
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Noelle Salazar was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, where she's been a Navy recruit, a medical assistant, an NFL cheerleader, and always a storyteller. As a novelist, she has done extensive research into the Women Airforce Service Pilots, interviewing vets and visiting the training facility—now a museum dedicated to the WASP—in Sweetwater, Texas. When she’s not writing, she can be found dodging raindrops and daydreaming of her next book. Noelle lives in Bothell, Washington with her family.
Her debut, The Flight Girls, was a USA Today and international bestseller. Angels of the Resistance is her second novel. Her third book, The Roaring Days of Zora Lily, is now on sale.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Today's episode has been a long time coming.
I've finally been able tosurface from beneath junior
years sea of schoolwork andstandardized tests and release
it.
In this episode, usa Todaybestselling author Noelle
Salazar returns to the podcastto discuss her second book,
angels of the Resistance.
Miss Salazar is the author ofFlight Girls, angels of the
Resistance and the Roaring Daysof Zori Lilly, which is now on
(00:24):
sale.
Long time listeners mightrecall our previous conversation
with Miss Salazar in episode 24, way back in 2020.
But before we get into today'sconversation, this is the Aiming
for the Moon podcast and I'myour host, taylor Bledsoe.
On this podcast, I interviewinteresting people from a
teenage perspective.
In today's chat, miss Salazarrecounts the inspiration for her
(00:45):
Angels of the Resistance, aswell as how her writing process
has evolved and matured sinceher first book, flight Girls.
She also offers advice toaspiring authors before we jump
into the purpose of fiction andits impact on us.
For those interested inchecking out Miss Salazar's book
, angels of the Resistancedepicts a fascinating but hard
part of women's roles in theresistance against the German
(01:06):
occupation of Europe duringWorld War II.
It contains some sensitivescenes that might be triggering
to some members of the audience,so it is a read for a more
mature readership.
If you like what you hear today,please rate the podcast and
subscribe.
You can follow us atataamingformoon on all the
socials to stay up to date onpodcast news and episodes.
Check out the episode notes forNoel Salazar's full bio and
(01:29):
links to our website,aimingforthemooncom, as well as
the podcast sub-stack Lessonsfrom Interesting People.
Alright, with that?
Sit back, relax and listen in.
Thanks again to Paxton Page forthis incredible music.
Well, thank you so much, missSalazar, for joining me again on
Aiming for the Moon.
(01:49):
It's been such a long timesince we've had you on and I
feel like a lot's changed forboth of us.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah, I mean three years.
Definitely it's been a while.
I'm so excited to be back.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yeah, well, thank you .
So you're on the podcast forone of the reasons.
You released a new book whichcomes out.
Does it come out tomorrow?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
It does yes.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Well, that's awesome.
It's Angels of the Resistance.
It's about World War II andthese two girls who fight in the
.
Is it the Dutch Resistance?
Is that the Mm-hmm Okay, Iwanted to double-check that and
the Dutch Resistance?
Can you kind of talk about whyyou wrote this?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
book.
Yeah, so the idea came from afriend.
I have very nice friends.
She sent me an email.
In the subject line it saidwrite this book.
And then I opened the email andthere's this article about the
overstiganed sisters who werethese real-life teenage sisters
that lived in Harlem in theNetherlands and they, at 14 and
16, joined the Dutch Resistance.
(02:48):
And to me that was justincredible.
I mean, I can't imagine at 14or 16, or I don't want to say
the age I'm or at 47, making achoice like that.
And so I wanted to explore that, because not only were they
just, they were doing thisreally brave, incredible.
You know several, many, manyjobs that they did were brave
(03:12):
and scary, but they were dealingwith trauma, which I don't
think a lot of people you knowyou're just like, oh, they're
brave and so courageous and allthat stuff, but that's trauma.
What they were going through.
I mean war is trauma period butthe very specific jobs that
they were doing and the way theywere basically using their
(03:34):
faces and their bodies to lureNazis, I mean that's just, and
putting themselves in thesesituations, that was incredible.
And I, at 15, had my own trauma.
So I mean I definitely don'tidentify in that I wasn't in a
war and I wasn't, you know,trying to survive, but I know
what trauma feels like in mybody, and so to me it was kind
(03:56):
of just this exploration ofthese young women and wanting to
just that explore that.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
So, whatever you say that you got sent a story or
whatever and there's nonfictioncharacters that you've based
your book on I always want toask how much of this is true and
how much of this is.
Obviously these are your owncharacters, but you've based
them in this real situation andthe 10 booms are mentioned
throughout the book from thehiding place, and I'm curious
(04:25):
how much of this is real and howmuch of this is your
imagination and stuff thatyou've created for fiction and
the sake of storytelling.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, I love that.
You know about the 10 booms.
That's amazing.
Most of it is fiction.
It's very much inspired by them.
But there's, you know, there'sa redheaded girl and the 10 or
not the 10 booms, theoversteigans.
They worked with a redheadedgirl and she was very much known
as the redheaded girl andthat's actually what got her
caught was her roots.
She had dyed her hair and thenher roots started to show.
(04:56):
So, yeah, I mean there are somethings that are real, like the
town is real, the kinds of jobsthey did are real.
But the research I did itdidn't give specifics about,
like how they carried out thesejobs necessarily.
So I had to like I mean, I reada lot of books about different
(05:17):
kinds of resistance work, likein France and all over the place
, just to kind of get more of asense and try and figure out
like what this would be like,what the details would be.
So it's kind of hard to say,like what exactly is real.
Like the situations were basedon real situations but I had to
(05:38):
create them myself.
I mean there was no like thisis what it's like to stand
behind a tree and wait for theperson that's gonna come out
that you're going to shoot.
Like I had to like put myselfmentally and emotionally in
those spots as best I could,which is not an easy thing to do
.
I've never been in thatsituation and it was really dark
actually.
I mean it was a really dark fewmonths when I had to go through
(06:01):
my edits and where my editorslike hey, what did they feel
here and what was this like inthis situation, and I was like,
well, it wasn't good.
And I mean I really dig and tryand figure out like what would
that be to stand there in thefreezing cold and I've got a gun
in my pocket and I have tocommit murder?
And even though it's for thesake of my people, it's still
(06:25):
murder.
And so I mean it's just reallyhard to say, like what the ratio
is, but it's very much inspiredby very real jobs that they did
and the like the hunger winterthat really happened and the way
these people had to try andsurvive is pretty well based in.
(06:47):
It's based, in fact, and I justdid the best I could with the
information I had and trying tomake it.
Also, you know, I'm trying toweave in my story and keep it
engaging and move it along.
So yeah, I don't know if thatreally answers the question, but
no, I mean, I think it does.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I think with a lot of nonfictionists not sorry, not
in with a lot of historicalfiction.
You base it in fact and youbase it in a situation and then
you kind of go from there Maybebase it with one or two
characters that might be real orbased on real people and then
kind of expand around that.
I'm curious.
We've talked to other fictionauthors before about how they
(07:28):
plan out their stories or ifthey do plan out their stories
and kind of the brainstormingthat goes into that.
Do you, are you one of thepeople who just kind of flies by
, they see their pants andfigures it out along the way, or
do you sit down andmethodically go through the
story before?
Speaker 2 (07:42):
So with this one is interesting because it was kind
of mapped out for me, right.
So this is inspired by realpeople and a real set of events.
So it was again like basicallymapped out for me.
But that didn't actually makeit easier, because when I
started writing it we had justgone into lockdown and for some
reason my brain stopped workingand I kept it's like it kept
(08:05):
trying to write their biographyand I had to remind myself like
you're writing fiction, stopwriting their story and create
these characters.
And so my first draft wasterrible.
In fact I was so embarrassed byit when I sent it to my editor.
I had this deadline and I'mlike, okay, well, here it is.
But this is not it.
For my first book, the FlightGirls, I was kind of a pancer at
(08:29):
that point.
I really didn't know what I wasdoing.
So basically I'd taken atimeline of World War II and
pulled out like some headlinesand just like major things that
had happened, and then I weaveda story around it.
But as I want to be a careerauthor who makes her living
doing this, I have decided thatit would probably benefit me to
be more of a plotter.
(08:49):
So definitely for my third bookI plotted quite rigorously and
I think I was always afraid thatit would take some sort of the
creativity out of it for me, butactually it just didn't.
I mean, people still showed upin the story that I didn't know
you were gonna be there, like,what are you doing there?
So I still, even though I hadthis map, I still got to be
(09:11):
surprised by my characters.
And so that was a happysurprise, because I really
thought like if I plotted it toomuch, I would take some of that
out of it.
And that scared me because Ivery much loved to just see what
happens, and though I will sayI'd never start anything without
knowing how it ends, I like toknow where I'm going.
It might like change a tiny bit, but it always ends the way I
(09:35):
imagined it would end.
So yeah, I mean in thebeginning didn't know what I was
doing at all and it really flewby the seat of my pants.
But now I'm a little bit moremethodical about it and it's
definitely helpful.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
So I guess that kind of burges naturally into the
next question, which is how haswriting?
This is being your second book,how has your process changed?
Has it gotten easier at allthis now publishing a?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
book.
That's a funny question.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
No.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
In fact, I was just having lunch a couple of weeks
ago a name drop with Kate Quinn,which I don't know if you read
Kate Quinn, but she's an amazinghistorical fiction writer and
we and I was so happy to hearthat.
You know, she her saying itnever gets easier.
Every single time you start anew book, you know you've mapped
it out now, you've done allthis research.
(10:27):
You have notebooks filled withnotes and then you open up the
document and you just stare atthis blank page and you're like,
okay, well, how do I start itthough?
Like what's?
And a lot of times it's likeyou just have to type a bunch of
garbage, almost to just likefeel your way through.
And I go in now knowing likethat first chapter might
completely change.
You know I just need to likeget something out of me to just
(10:50):
to start the process, becauseotherwise I could sit there in
labor over that first sentence,that first paragraph, forever.
It is, it's awful, it just itdoesn't ever get easier.
I see authors on Twitter allthe time like, okay, how do I do
this again?
I mean, because that's reallyhow it feels.
And you know you have it in you, you know you've got the story,
(11:10):
but just that, really thatbeginning part is the hardest.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
I'm curious.
So a question I always have forpeople who write about things
that are based in reality anddon't just invent their own
worlds completely and buildtheir own world building stuff
how do you know you've doneenough research before you jump
into something such ashistorical fiction?
Do you ever know that you'vedone enough research or do you
just kind of like how do youbalance research with the actual
(11:38):
story you want to tell?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I never feel like I'm done researching With the
flight girls.
I would find out stuffafterwards, after it was out.
Even I would meet people andthey had known like their mother
was a wasp or their grandmother, and they would tell me, like
these little stories, I'm like,oh my gosh, I wish I had known
that I would have put that inthere.
With this second story, withangels, I mean, it's the same
(12:03):
thing.
I feel like there's just so muchinformation and so many cool
details and you can't get themall that first go or second or
tenths go around.
I find it is usually throughmeeting people after the book is
published or after I have nochance of making any changes.
Someone will read an early copyand send me an email and
(12:27):
they'll mention something fromtheir own life or something they
heard from a friend once andI'm like, oh, I wish I had known
these things, yeah.
So I think it's just kind ofnever ending and you basically
just have to like, okay, tellyourself you're done and just be
done with it, because it willdrive you crazy.
You could edit a book forever,I think forever.
So, yeah, you just kind of haveto like shut it down.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
So you just kind of have to go to it after two
months of research of five orsix books or I don't know how
much book count or whatever youwant to do for research.
And then I'm just going tostart and get on the journey and
the hamster wheel, get it allout and then deal with it in the
next one.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Sometimes you'll find like you need to cut some of it
out, like it just doesn't go,or and you know, we definitely
take liberties like changinglittle little details, like in
this no, in the flight girls,there is a lake.
I really, really wanted my girlsto be able to like have a
weekend at the lake every oncein a while, and there was a lake
(13:25):
that existed not far away, butit didn't exist until like the
year after or something likethat, until after that part of
the story took place and I waslike I'm going to take a little
liberty and just the lake has itexists now, you know.
I mean, so, yeah, research isfunny because you, you do you
research that you will go down arabbit hole for the smallest
(13:47):
detail.
That will end up like notmattering at all, but you know
it in your body and your brainand so it kind of just like
helps you as an author to likeknow the backstory or know, know
what this little I don't knowthis little vase, like when it
was created, in what country andwhatever, and it literally just
sits on a shelf, you know, youjust happen to mention it, but
(14:08):
now you know, like all thisinformation that will never be
used.
So yeah, research is just.
It can make you kind of crazy,but it's so fun, and I think
that's why I love writinghistorical fiction.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
One of the interesting lines in your story
was you.
There's a line and I don'tremember which character says it
, I want to say it's the kind ofgrandmother figure of the story
, with Aunt Liv, and she saysbasically that one of the main
characters is reading the Hobbitat the beginning and she talks
about how the fiction that weread, it inspires us and makes
(14:43):
us brave and gives usencouragement and it's
interesting for shadowing.
But also I'm curious.
I wanted to talk to you aboutthat just a little bit.
How do you think the, what doyou think the importance of
fiction is and how does itchange us as individuals and
like, inspire us to go on?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, no, I that's a great question.
I have loved reading since Iwas little.
I just think it's opens yourmind and your heart to new
places and all kinds of peopleand different kinds of love, and
I mean it could be differentkinds of food, different
(15:22):
cultures.
I just think it's becausefiction is based in reality.
For them, you know, like peopledon't just like yeah, I mean
they add dragons that arebasically pulling that from
their brain and, like you know,a vampire in this story might do
something one way and then inthis story they do it a
different way.
So we definitely like, are, youknow, creating?
(15:43):
But a lot of it like what thecharacters feel that's based in
maybe what the author hasexperienced in their life or
somebody else's experienced intheir life that the author knew.
So I just think, you know itjust opens up our world, our
personal world, of what weaccept or don't accept, or know
(16:07):
is right and know is wrong.
So yeah, that's how I feelabout that.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
You know the interesting thing just writing
little short stories and writinga little bit on my own.
There's something about havingto write the experiences of
different people that puts youin their shoes and changes your
perspective, even though a lotof the stuff that you write it
comes from your own mind.
But there's something aboutchanging your perspective and
not looking through your owneyes literally.
In a sense that I don't knowit's very impactful in moving
(16:37):
something.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
It is interesting because even when, like, I'm
writing like the bad guy or thesnotty girl or whatever, like I
have to put, I'm like, I'm notlike this person, I'm gonna put
myself in their shoes and I'mgonna feel what it is to feel,
what they might feel in theirhow they feel like they have a
right to have these feelings andwhatever it is, and like and
then spew this stuff on the page.
(16:58):
It's not me, but you get intocharacter.
I imagine it's kind of likewhat actors do they have to get
in character, whether it's agood guy or a bad guy?
And so, yeah, it's reallyinteresting.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
And some of my favorite characters to write are
characters that are not like meat all in any way.
There's something about puttingon the character that I don't
know.
It's rewarding in itself, justkind of discovering who that
person is and what they would do, yeah no, I feel exactly the
same.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I love exploring, like just different
personalities and like how wouldthis person respond to this?
I know how I would respond tothis and I know how this
character would respond to it.
How would this person withthese character traits and their
history, like how would theyrespond to this?
So I think it's really a reallyinteresting study in people.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
I completely agree.
Now I wouldn't be able to endthis interview without asking
about writer advice, as I wouldlove to be a writer and a lot of
my friends would also like tobe writers.
So what advice do you have forpeople, young people who wanna
be writers or wanna publish abook or just wanna get into that
field?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Never give up.
I mean, it can take a long time, but it only takes one.
Yes, and know that not everystory is for every person, and
just remember that deeply,because, as I've read, I
shouldn't read reviews, but asI've read some bad reviews over
the years, you do have to keepthat in mind because even when
(18:17):
you're like looking for an agentor looking for an editor, that
is what you're told all the timeis not every story is for every
person, and we know that.
We know that because we'vepicked up books and we've read
them and been like why was thison Oprah's list?
You know like that's a horriblebook.
You know what I mean and so youdo.
That is the truth of it and youjust need to remember that.
(18:37):
But also, I would say myfavorite piece of advice is to
write everything down, becauseand I mean everything, because I
come up with titles, booktitles, all the time and I like
put them in the notes in myphone.
I have a document that just haslike sentences I come up with,
I'll watch, I'll see somebodywalking and they walk in a very
(18:59):
specific way and it makes itselflike, it describes itself in my
head and I'm like, oh, that'show they, you know, and I
capture it and I write it down,or I just, you know, I'm very
visual, so I'm like alwayswatching nature, listen.
I always listen to, like, whatthe tires sound on wet pavement
(19:23):
or, and I just try and capturethose things and I write them
down because you never know,when you know, five years later,
you're writing something andyou're like, oh my gosh, I, you
know, I've seen this in my mindor I've heard this or whatever,
and I wrote that down and youcan put it in there.
And so I say this mostlybecause in Angels of the
(19:44):
Resistance there is a scene thatI want to say, like eight years
ago now, I actually wrote thatscene.
So I was like I don't know whatI was doing, but daydreaming
basically I think it was justlike daydreaming, and for some
reason I had this really kind ofhorrendous daydream and I was
like, well, I don't know whatthat was, but it was kind of
(20:05):
creepy.
So I wrote it down though,because it was so interesting to
me.
I also like, I dream veryvividly and so I try and
remember, right, the ones thatare kind of impactful, I write
those down.
But so I'd written this down,this just kind of terrible scene
.
But I was writing Angels and Ihad no idea that it was gonna
(20:25):
come to this.
But I'm writing away and I waslike getting near the end I was
probably in the last third ofthe book and I knew the scene
was gonna happen.
I had kind of worked my way upto it.
I was like, oh, this is gonnabe, oh, this is gonna be bad.
And then I was like, oh my gosh, I've already written this
scene.
I wrote the scene like at thattime it was like five years ago
so I went digging for it andthere it was and I was like this
(20:46):
is amazing.
So I always just encourage youto write everything down, like
sentences, turns of phrase, likeI'll be in a conversation with
somebody and they'll saysomething a certain way.
I'm like, oh, that's such aninteresting way to say that.
And so I like log it in mybrain and as fast as I can like
go put it in my phone.
So write everything down andjust like never stop.
And you'll hear that from everyauthor, but that's because we
(21:08):
know like I mean, it took meeight years to get the Flake
Girls into the world, so I verymuch know that it can be a very
long haul, but it only takes one, yes, so you just have to kind
of keep going.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
You know what's interesting?
And I was reading a book Ibelieve it was daily, yeah,
daily Rituals by Mason Curry,and Victor Hugo did a very
similar thing.
Oh, really, his, yeah, his sonsaid that they would be sitting
at the dinner table and he'd say, hold that thought and turn
around and like scribblesomething in his book.
Yeah, I mean, and yeah, I findthat very interesting.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
I just, I think it's so because if you lose it you're
gonna be so mad Like one day.
You're like, oh, I had thatthing.
Like one time I had the perfectsentence that would describe
what is happening in this moment, or how that person is walking
or what that sound is.
And so I just always noticed,like I remember I was looking
out the kitchen window one dayand the sun was coming up over
(22:03):
the hill and through the trees,and I was like, and in my brain,
I'm like anybody else wouldlook at this and think what a
beautiful sunrise.
And my creative brain was like afire is coming and it's gonna
burn down those trees and it'sgonna come ripping through the
neighborhood.
And then what's gonna happen?
And I was like, okay, you'resick, like what is wrong with
you?
But it was like such a momentof like that really could have
(22:23):
been what was happening, likemaybe that was the light of a
fire coming through, or I'll seelike mist hanging between the
trees and I'm like what ifthat's like deadly gas?
And then I'm like ooh, andthere's a scene in my head and I
would go write it down.
I don't know if that'll everfind a story to be sitting in,
but I just I capture, like theirphotographs in my mind, and I
(22:43):
just try and capture them and,like I said, sounds or people's
turns of phrases, and so writeeverything down.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Well, we have to wrap up with our last two questions,
and the first one is what bookshave had an impact on you?
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Wow, well, um, I mean , I love different books for
different reasons.
I love the Night Circus becauseI feel like Erin Morgenstern
writes magic in such a magicalway.
That's lame, but truly the wayshe tells a story which is so
(23:24):
intricate, I just think there'sso many like there's stories
that you just kind of I don'twant to say not necessarily skin
, but you like race through them.
And then there's stories thatyou like sink into and I usually
read books really fast and thatwas one of the books that I
just made myself really just sitand like sink into this world.
So that had an impact on me inthat I think I thought I had to
(23:49):
tell stories a certain way andit taught me that you know I can
, if I want to, if I find thestory, sink into something and
let it, you know, kind of be Iwant to say a world of its own
and they're all a world of theirown.
But I don't know.
It just taught me somethingabout storytelling and the
intricacies of it and just howreally absolutely beautiful and
(24:16):
otherworldly and I don't know.
I mean because sometimes youget talk to you about like too
much detail and that book has somuch detail, but it's just to
me, it was just so worth everysingle moment.
So I don't know.
It just taught me somethingabout taking your time with
stories, whether you're writingthem or reading them.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Yeah, that's.
It's been interesting because Iused to not like stories that
would go into very dramaticdetail, like we were reading the
Hobbit and the Lord of theRings a few years ago and it was
just the.
The scenes about forests werelike oh my gosh, there are 500
pages about trees.
What is going on?
They're not even hobbitingthese trees.
I know, I just thought it waskind of ridiculous at first, but
(25:00):
now I can.
I think I could appreciate itif I reread that part.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Yeah.
No, there are some times whereI'm just like, okay, I'm going
to just skim this, but that bookjust taught me like really to
just like appreciate thatsomeone like took so much time
and it must be important, youknow, and so so, yeah, I think I
have a more like moreappreciation for that.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
The first book that kind of gave me that
appreciation was like F ScottFitzgerald's the Great Gadsby.
There was something about theway he describes things that I
found just so wonderful and veryintriguing is that sometimes
just the turns of verbs andphrases that they use to
describe the mundane turn out tolike, give it such a very
different meaning and importanceto characters and the audience.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, I mean, I love when you're like reading pages
and pages and you're like youknow that's great, whatever, and
then there's just thisbeautiful sentence, just like
thrown in there and you're justlike er, like you hit the brakes
and just have to read it overand over again.
I think that's just like, yeah,like just.
It makes me so happy.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
It's one of the best feelings, as, like a writer,
when you type a sentence yes,that was what I was going for.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
And then, as a reader , like, yes, look at this, I
know I'll write like I willwrite pages and then write one
little sentence that I'm just soproud of and I'm like, yeah,
the rest of it's probably crap,but that one's.
Whatever happens, that sentencehas to stay.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
I completely agree.
So our last question is whatadvice do you have for teenagers
?
And I'm curious if this, ifyour answer has changed, because
previously you said honoryourself and stick to who you
are and don't let the don'tchange to the world.
Basically, honor who you areand keep to that, and that's how
you have a happy life.
(26:38):
So I'm curious have youmodified your advice?
Have you?
Has it changed?
Do you have a completelydifferent limb?
You'd like to go on?
Speaker 2 (26:48):
That is exactly my same answer, and I'm not being
I'm not even being lazy, that ismy answer.
I have a young child who's weare getting towards teenage
years and, as they arequestioning gender, it has never
, never been more more.
My answer is to just, you know,honor yourself, because I'm
(27:10):
watching them.
Really, just be okay withthemselves and they they could
be questioning, they could beembarrassed, they could be all
kinds of things and they're justlike living their best life
right now.
And I'm, and I'm just in awe andI was, because I personally was
(27:33):
just that I was such a selfconscious teenager, I had really
low self-esteem and so, and Ididn't know what it was to like
just embrace who I was, whichwas just kind of like little
reading nerd girl who loved like80s movies and roller skating
(27:54):
and stuff like that.
But I thought I had to besomething else and I wish I
would have just honored who Iwas, because I know I would have
found my people.
It was like I couldn't find mypeople because I was constantly
looking outside at other peopletrying to be this or be that,
because I thought that's how Iwould be accepted and so so,
(28:15):
yeah, that is still my answer.
I do think it's reallyimportant to just like honor
exactly who you are.
You know, and don't worry aboutfinding your people.
You will find them or they willfind you.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Well, thank you so much, Miss Salazar, for coming
on the podcast.
I'm so glad that you were ourfirst return guest.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Oh, I am it was really fun.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Yeah, you're the first one that's exciting.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Well, thank you for having me again.
I'm so thrilled to be on.
I was so glad you asked.
Thank you,
Today's episode has been a long time coming.
I've finally been able tosurface from beneath junior
years sea of schoolwork andstandardized tests and release
it.
In this episode, usa Todaybestselling author Noelle
Salazar returns to the podcastto discuss her second book,
angels of the Resistance.
Miss Salazar is the author ofFlight Girls, angels of the
Resistance and the Roaring Daysof Zori Lilly, which is now on
(00:24):
sale.
Long time listeners mightrecall our previous conversation
with Miss Salazar in episode 24, way back in 2020.
But before we get into today'sconversation, this is the Aiming
for the Moon podcast and I'myour host, taylor Bledsoe.
On this podcast, I interviewinteresting people from a
teenage perspective.
In today's chat, miss Salazarrecounts the inspiration for her
(00:45):
Angels of the Resistance, aswell as how her writing process
has evolved and matured sinceher first book, flight Girls.
She also offers advice toaspiring authors before we jump
into the purpose of fiction andits impact on us.
For those interested inchecking out Miss Salazar's book
, angels of the Resistancedepicts a fascinating but hard
part of women's roles in theresistance against the German
(01:06):
occupation of Europe duringWorld War II.
It contains some sensitivescenes that might be triggering
to some members of the audience,so it is a read for a more
mature readership.
If you like what you hear today,please rate the podcast and
subscribe.
You can follow us atataamingformoon on all the
socials to stay up to date onpodcast news and episodes.
Check out the episode notes forNoel Salazar's full bio and
(01:29):
links to our website,aimingforthemooncom, as well as
the podcast sub-stack Lessonsfrom Interesting People.
Alright, with that?
Sit back, relax and listen in.
Thanks again to Paxton Page forthis incredible music.
Well, thank you so much, missSalazar, for joining me again on
Aiming for the Moon.
(01:49):
It's been such a long timesince we've had you on and I
feel like a lot's changed forboth of us.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah, I mean three years.
Definitely it's been a while.
I'm so excited to be back.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yeah, well, thank you .
So you're on the podcast forone of the reasons.
You released a new book whichcomes out.
Does it come out tomorrow?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
It does yes.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Well, that's awesome.
It's Angels of the Resistance.
It's about World War II andthese two girls who fight in the
.
Is it the Dutch Resistance?
Is that the Mm-hmm Okay, Iwanted to double-check that and
the Dutch Resistance?
Can you kind of talk about whyyou wrote this?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
book.
Yeah, so the idea came from afriend.
I have very nice friends.
She sent me an email.
In the subject line it saidwrite this book.
And then I opened the email andthere's this article about the
overstiganed sisters who werethese real-life teenage sisters
that lived in Harlem in theNetherlands and they, at 14 and
16, joined the Dutch Resistance.
(02:48):
And to me that was justincredible.
I mean, I can't imagine at 14or 16, or I don't want to say
the age I'm or at 47, making achoice like that.
And so I wanted to explore that, because not only were they
just, they were doing thisreally brave, incredible.
You know several, many, manyjobs that they did were brave
(03:12):
and scary, but they were dealingwith trauma, which I don't
think a lot of people you knowyou're just like, oh, they're
brave and so courageous and allthat stuff, but that's trauma.
What they were going through.
I mean war is trauma period butthe very specific jobs that
they were doing and the way theywere basically using their
(03:34):
faces and their bodies to lureNazis, I mean that's just, and
putting themselves in thesesituations, that was incredible.
And I, at 15, had my own trauma.
So I mean I definitely don'tidentify in that I wasn't in a
war and I wasn't, you know,trying to survive, but I know
what trauma feels like in mybody, and so to me it was kind
(03:56):
of just this exploration ofthese young women and wanting to
just that explore that.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
So, whatever you say that you got sent a story or
whatever and there's nonfictioncharacters that you've based
your book on I always want toask how much of this is true and
how much of this is.
Obviously these are your owncharacters, but you've based
them in this real situation andthe 10 booms are mentioned
throughout the book from thehiding place, and I'm curious
(04:25):
how much of this is real and howmuch of this is your
imagination and stuff thatyou've created for fiction and
the sake of storytelling.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, I love that.
You know about the 10 booms.
That's amazing.
Most of it is fiction.
It's very much inspired by them.
But there's, you know, there'sa redheaded girl and the 10 or
not the 10 booms, theoversteigans.
They worked with a redheadedgirl and she was very much known
as the redheaded girl andthat's actually what got her
caught was her roots.
She had dyed her hair and thenher roots started to show.
(04:56):
So, yeah, I mean there are somethings that are real, like the
town is real, the kinds of jobsthey did are real.
But the research I did itdidn't give specifics about,
like how they carried out thesejobs necessarily.
So I had to like I mean, I reada lot of books about different
(05:17):
kinds of resistance work, likein France and all over the place
, just to kind of get more of asense and try and figure out
like what this would be like,what the details would be.
So it's kind of hard to say,like what exactly is real.
Like the situations were basedon real situations but I had to
(05:38):
create them myself.
I mean there was no like thisis what it's like to stand
behind a tree and wait for theperson that's gonna come out
that you're going to shoot.
Like I had to like put myselfmentally and emotionally in
those spots as best I could,which is not an easy thing to do
.
I've never been in thatsituation and it was really dark
actually.
I mean it was a really dark fewmonths when I had to go through
(06:01):
my edits and where my editorslike hey, what did they feel
here and what was this like inthis situation, and I was like,
well, it wasn't good.
And I mean I really dig and tryand figure out like what would
that be to stand there in thefreezing cold and I've got a gun
in my pocket and I have tocommit murder?
And even though it's for thesake of my people, it's still
(06:25):
murder.
And so I mean it's just reallyhard to say, like what the ratio
is, but it's very much inspiredby very real jobs that they did
and the like the hunger winterthat really happened and the way
these people had to try andsurvive is pretty well based in.
(06:47):
It's based, in fact, and I justdid the best I could with the
information I had and trying tomake it.
Also, you know, I'm trying toweave in my story and keep it
engaging and move it along.
So yeah, I don't know if thatreally answers the question, but
no, I mean, I think it does.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I think with a lot of nonfictionists not sorry, not
in with a lot of historicalfiction.
You base it in fact and youbase it in a situation and then
you kind of go from there Maybebase it with one or two
characters that might be real orbased on real people and then
kind of expand around that.
I'm curious.
We've talked to other fictionauthors before about how they
(07:28):
plan out their stories or ifthey do plan out their stories
and kind of the brainstormingthat goes into that.
Do you, are you one of thepeople who just kind of flies by
, they see their pants andfigures it out along the way, or
do you sit down andmethodically go through the
story before?
Speaker 2 (07:42):
So with this one is interesting because it was kind
of mapped out for me, right.
So this is inspired by realpeople and a real set of events.
So it was again like basicallymapped out for me.
But that didn't actually makeit easier, because when I
started writing it we had justgone into lockdown and for some
reason my brain stopped workingand I kept it's like it kept
(08:05):
trying to write their biographyand I had to remind myself like
you're writing fiction, stopwriting their story and create
these characters.
And so my first draft wasterrible.
In fact I was so embarrassed byit when I sent it to my editor.
I had this deadline and I'mlike, okay, well, here it is.
But this is not it.
For my first book, the FlightGirls, I was kind of a pancer at
(08:29):
that point.
I really didn't know what I wasdoing.
So basically I'd taken atimeline of World War II and
pulled out like some headlinesand just like major things that
had happened, and then I weaveda story around it.
But as I want to be a careerauthor who makes her living
doing this, I have decided thatit would probably benefit me to
be more of a plotter.
(08:49):
So definitely for my third bookI plotted quite rigorously and
I think I was always afraid thatit would take some sort of the
creativity out of it for me, butactually it just didn't.
I mean, people still showed upin the story that I didn't know
you were gonna be there, like,what are you doing there?
So I still, even though I hadthis map, I still got to be
(09:11):
surprised by my characters.
And so that was a happysurprise, because I really
thought like if I plotted it toomuch, I would take some of that
out of it.
And that scared me because Ivery much loved to just see what
happens, and though I will sayI'd never start anything without
knowing how it ends, I like toknow where I'm going.
It might like change a tiny bit, but it always ends the way I
(09:35):
imagined it would end.
So yeah, I mean in thebeginning didn't know what I was
doing at all and it really flewby the seat of my pants.
But now I'm a little bit moremethodical about it and it's
definitely helpful.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
So I guess that kind of burges naturally into the
next question, which is how haswriting?
This is being your second book,how has your process changed?
Has it gotten easier at allthis now publishing a?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
book.
That's a funny question.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
No.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
In fact, I was just having lunch a couple of weeks
ago a name drop with Kate Quinn,which I don't know if you read
Kate Quinn, but she's an amazinghistorical fiction writer and
we and I was so happy to hearthat.
You know, she her saying itnever gets easier.
Every single time you start anew book, you know you've mapped
it out now, you've done allthis research.
(10:27):
You have notebooks filled withnotes and then you open up the
document and you just stare atthis blank page and you're like,
okay, well, how do I start itthough?
Like what's?
And a lot of times it's likeyou just have to type a bunch of
garbage, almost to just likefeel your way through.
And I go in now knowing likethat first chapter might
completely change.
You know I just need to likeget something out of me to just
(10:50):
to start the process, becauseotherwise I could sit there in
labor over that first sentence,that first paragraph, forever.
It is, it's awful, it just itdoesn't ever get easier.
I see authors on Twitter allthe time like, okay, how do I do
this again?
I mean, because that's reallyhow it feels.
And you know you have it in you, you know you've got the story,
(11:10):
but just that, really thatbeginning part is the hardest.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
I'm curious.
So a question I always have forpeople who write about things
that are based in reality anddon't just invent their own
worlds completely and buildtheir own world building stuff
how do you know you've doneenough research before you jump
into something such ashistorical fiction?
Do you ever know that you'vedone enough research or do you
just kind of like how do youbalance research with the actual
(11:38):
story you want to tell?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I never feel like I'm done researching With the
flight girls.
I would find out stuffafterwards, after it was out.
Even I would meet people andthey had known like their mother
was a wasp or their grandmother, and they would tell me, like
these little stories, I'm like,oh my gosh, I wish I had known
that I would have put that inthere.
With this second story, withangels, I mean, it's the same
(12:03):
thing.
I feel like there's just so muchinformation and so many cool
details and you can't get themall that first go or second or
tenths go around.
I find it is usually throughmeeting people after the book is
published or after I have nochance of making any changes.
Someone will read an early copyand send me an email and
(12:27):
they'll mention something fromtheir own life or something they
heard from a friend once andI'm like, oh, I wish I had known
these things, yeah.
So I think it's just kind ofnever ending and you basically
just have to like, okay, tellyourself you're done and just be
done with it, because it willdrive you crazy.
You could edit a book forever,I think forever.
So, yeah, you just kind of haveto like shut it down.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
So you just kind of have to go to it after two
months of research of five orsix books or I don't know how
much book count or whatever youwant to do for research.
And then I'm just going tostart and get on the journey and
the hamster wheel, get it allout and then deal with it in the
next one.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Sometimes you'll find like you need to cut some of it
out, like it just doesn't go,or and you know, we definitely
take liberties like changinglittle little details, like in
this no, in the flight girls,there is a lake.
I really, really wanted my girlsto be able to like have a
weekend at the lake every oncein a while, and there was a lake
(13:25):
that existed not far away, butit didn't exist until like the
year after or something likethat, until after that part of
the story took place and I waslike I'm going to take a little
liberty and just the lake has itexists now, you know.
I mean, so, yeah, research isfunny because you, you do you
research that you will go down arabbit hole for the smallest
(13:47):
detail.
That will end up like notmattering at all, but you know
it in your body and your brainand so it kind of just like
helps you as an author to likeknow the backstory or know, know
what this little I don't knowthis little vase, like when it
was created, in what country andwhatever, and it literally just
sits on a shelf, you know, youjust happen to mention it, but
(14:08):
now you know, like all thisinformation that will never be
used.
So yeah, research is just.
It can make you kind of crazy,but it's so fun, and I think
that's why I love writinghistorical fiction.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
One of the interesting lines in your story
was you.
There's a line and I don'tremember which character says it
, I want to say it's the kind ofgrandmother figure of the story
, with Aunt Liv, and she saysbasically that one of the main
characters is reading the Hobbitat the beginning and she talks
about how the fiction that weread, it inspires us and makes
(14:43):
us brave and gives usencouragement and it's
interesting for shadowing.
But also I'm curious.
I wanted to talk to you aboutthat just a little bit.
How do you think the, what doyou think the importance of
fiction is and how does itchange us as individuals and
like, inspire us to go on?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, no, I that's a great question.
I have loved reading since Iwas little.
I just think it's opens yourmind and your heart to new
places and all kinds of peopleand different kinds of love, and
I mean it could be differentkinds of food, different
(15:22):
cultures.
I just think it's becausefiction is based in reality.
For them, you know, like peopledon't just like yeah, I mean
they add dragons that arebasically pulling that from
their brain and, like you know,a vampire in this story might do
something one way and then inthis story they do it a
different way.
So we definitely like, are, youknow, creating?
(15:43):
But a lot of it like what thecharacters feel that's based in
maybe what the author hasexperienced in their life or
somebody else's experienced intheir life that the author knew.
So I just think, you know itjust opens up our world, our
personal world, of what weaccept or don't accept, or know
(16:07):
is right and know is wrong.
So yeah, that's how I feelabout that.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
You know the interesting thing just writing
little short stories and writinga little bit on my own.
There's something about havingto write the experiences of
different people that puts youin their shoes and changes your
perspective, even though a lotof the stuff that you write it
comes from your own mind.
But there's something aboutchanging your perspective and
not looking through your owneyes literally.
In a sense that I don't knowit's very impactful in moving
(16:37):
something.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
It is interesting because even when, like, I'm
writing like the bad guy or thesnotty girl or whatever, like I
have to put, I'm like, I'm notlike this person, I'm gonna put
myself in their shoes and I'mgonna feel what it is to feel,
what they might feel in theirhow they feel like they have a
right to have these feelings andwhatever it is, and like and
then spew this stuff on the page.
(16:58):
It's not me, but you get intocharacter.
I imagine it's kind of likewhat actors do they have to get
in character, whether it's agood guy or a bad guy?
And so, yeah, it's reallyinteresting.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
And some of my favorite characters to write are
characters that are not like meat all in any way.
There's something about puttingon the character that I don't
know.
It's rewarding in itself, justkind of discovering who that
person is and what they would do, yeah no, I feel exactly the
same.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I love exploring, like just different
personalities and like how wouldthis person respond to this?
I know how I would respond tothis and I know how this
character would respond to it.
How would this person withthese character traits and their
history, like how would theyrespond to this?
So I think it's really a reallyinteresting study in people.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
I completely agree.
Now I wouldn't be able to endthis interview without asking
about writer advice, as I wouldlove to be a writer and a lot of
my friends would also like tobe writers.
So what advice do you have forpeople, young people who wanna
be writers or wanna publish abook or just wanna get into that
field?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Never give up.
I mean, it can take a long time, but it only takes one.
Yes, and know that not everystory is for every person, and
just remember that deeply,because, as I've read, I
shouldn't read reviews, but asI've read some bad reviews over
the years, you do have to keepthat in mind because even when
(18:17):
you're like looking for an agentor looking for an editor, that
is what you're told all the timeis not every story is for every
person, and we know that.
We know that because we'vepicked up books and we've read
them and been like why was thison Oprah's list?
You know like that's a horriblebook.
You know what I mean and so youdo.
That is the truth of it and youjust need to remember that.
(18:37):
But also, I would say myfavorite piece of advice is to
write everything down, becauseand I mean everything, because I
come up with titles, booktitles, all the time and I like
put them in the notes in myphone.
I have a document that just haslike sentences I come up with,
I'll watch, I'll see somebodywalking and they walk in a very
(18:59):
specific way and it makes itselflike, it describes itself in my
head and I'm like, oh, that'show they, you know, and I
capture it and I write it down,or I just, you know, I'm very
visual, so I'm like alwayswatching nature, listen.
I always listen to, like, whatthe tires sound on wet pavement
(19:23):
or, and I just try and capturethose things and I write them
down because you never know,when you know, five years later,
you're writing something andyou're like, oh my gosh, I, you
know, I've seen this in my mindor I've heard this or whatever,
and I wrote that down and youcan put it in there.
And so I say this mostlybecause in Angels of the
(19:44):
Resistance there is a scene thatI want to say, like eight years
ago now, I actually wrote thatscene.
So I was like I don't know whatI was doing, but daydreaming
basically I think it was justlike daydreaming, and for some
reason I had this really kind ofhorrendous daydream and I was
like, well, I don't know whatthat was, but it was kind of
(20:05):
creepy.
So I wrote it down though,because it was so interesting to
me.
I also like, I dream veryvividly and so I try and
remember, right, the ones thatare kind of impactful, I write
those down.
But so I'd written this down,this just kind of terrible scene
.
But I was writing Angels and Ihad no idea that it was gonna
(20:25):
come to this.
But I'm writing away and I waslike getting near the end I was
probably in the last third ofthe book and I knew the scene
was gonna happen.
I had kind of worked my way upto it.
I was like, oh, this is gonnabe, oh, this is gonna be bad.
And then I was like, oh my gosh, I've already written this
scene.
I wrote the scene like at thattime it was like five years ago
so I went digging for it andthere it was and I was like this
(20:46):
is amazing.
So I always just encourage youto write everything down, like
sentences, turns of phrase, likeI'll be in a conversation with
somebody and they'll saysomething a certain way.
I'm like, oh, that's such aninteresting way to say that.
And so I like log it in mybrain and as fast as I can like
go put it in my phone.
So write everything down andjust like never stop.
And you'll hear that from everyauthor, but that's because we
(21:08):
know like I mean, it took meeight years to get the Flake
Girls into the world, so I verymuch know that it can be a very
long haul, but it only takes one, yes, so you just have to kind
of keep going.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
You know what's interesting?
And I was reading a book Ibelieve it was daily, yeah,
daily Rituals by Mason Curry,and Victor Hugo did a very
similar thing.
Oh, really, his, yeah, his sonsaid that they would be sitting
at the dinner table and he'd say, hold that thought and turn
around and like scribblesomething in his book.
Yeah, I mean, and yeah, I findthat very interesting.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
I just, I think it's so because if you lose it you're
gonna be so mad Like one day.
You're like, oh, I had thatthing.
Like one time I had the perfectsentence that would describe
what is happening in this moment, or how that person is walking
or what that sound is.
And so I just always noticed,like I remember I was looking
out the kitchen window one dayand the sun was coming up over
(22:03):
the hill and through the trees,and I was like, and in my brain,
I'm like anybody else wouldlook at this and think what a
beautiful sunrise.
And my creative brain was like afire is coming and it's gonna
burn down those trees and it'sgonna come ripping through the
neighborhood.
And then what's gonna happen?
And I was like, okay, you'resick, like what is wrong with
you?
But it was like such a momentof like that really could have
(22:23):
been what was happening, likemaybe that was the light of a
fire coming through, or I'll seelike mist hanging between the
trees and I'm like what ifthat's like deadly gas?
And then I'm like ooh, andthere's a scene in my head and I
would go write it down.
I don't know if that'll everfind a story to be sitting in,
but I just I capture, like theirphotographs in my mind, and I
(22:43):
just try and capture them and,like I said, sounds or people's
turns of phrases, and so writeeverything down.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Well, we have to wrap up with our last two questions,
and the first one is what bookshave had an impact on you?
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Wow, well, um, I mean , I love different books for
different reasons.
I love the Night Circus becauseI feel like Erin Morgenstern
writes magic in such a magicalway.
That's lame, but truly the wayshe tells a story which is so
(23:24):
intricate, I just think there'sso many like there's stories
that you just kind of I don'twant to say not necessarily skin
, but you like race through them.
And then there's stories thatyou like sink into and I usually
read books really fast and thatwas one of the books that I
just made myself really just sitand like sink into this world.
So that had an impact on me inthat I think I thought I had to
(23:49):
tell stories a certain way andit taught me that you know I can
, if I want to, if I find thestory, sink into something and
let it, you know, kind of be Iwant to say a world of its own
and they're all a world of theirown.
But I don't know.
It just taught me somethingabout storytelling and the
intricacies of it and just howreally absolutely beautiful and
(24:16):
otherworldly and I don't know.
I mean because sometimes youget talk to you about like too
much detail and that book has somuch detail, but it's just to
me, it was just so worth everysingle moment.
So I don't know.
It just taught me somethingabout taking your time with
stories, whether you're writingthem or reading them.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Yeah, that's.
It's been interesting because Iused to not like stories that
would go into very dramaticdetail, like we were reading the
Hobbit and the Lord of theRings a few years ago and it was
just the.
The scenes about forests werelike oh my gosh, there are 500
pages about trees.
What is going on?
They're not even hobbitingthese trees.
I know, I just thought it waskind of ridiculous at first, but
(25:00):
now I can.
I think I could appreciate itif I reread that part.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Yeah.
No, there are some times whereI'm just like, okay, I'm going
to just skim this, but that bookjust taught me like really to
just like appreciate thatsomeone like took so much time
and it must be important, youknow, and so so, yeah, I think I
have a more like moreappreciation for that.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
The first book that kind of gave me that
appreciation was like F ScottFitzgerald's the Great Gadsby.
There was something about theway he describes things that I
found just so wonderful and veryintriguing is that sometimes
just the turns of verbs andphrases that they use to
describe the mundane turn out tolike, give it such a very
different meaning and importanceto characters and the audience.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, I mean, I love when you're like reading pages
and pages and you're like youknow that's great, whatever, and
then there's just thisbeautiful sentence, just like
thrown in there and you're justlike er, like you hit the brakes
and just have to read it overand over again.
I think that's just like, yeah,like just.
It makes me so happy.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
It's one of the best feelings, as, like a writer,
when you type a sentence yes,that was what I was going for.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
And then, as a reader , like, yes, look at this, I
know I'll write like I willwrite pages and then write one
little sentence that I'm just soproud of and I'm like, yeah,
the rest of it's probably crap,but that one's.
Whatever happens, that sentencehas to stay.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
I completely agree.
So our last question is whatadvice do you have for teenagers
?
And I'm curious if this, ifyour answer has changed, because
previously you said honoryourself and stick to who you
are and don't let the don'tchange to the world.
Basically, honor who you areand keep to that, and that's how
you have a happy life.
(26:38):
So I'm curious have youmodified your advice?
Have you?
Has it changed?
Do you have a completelydifferent limb?
You'd like to go on?
Speaker 2 (26:48):
That is exactly my same answer, and I'm not being
I'm not even being lazy, that ismy answer.
I have a young child who's weare getting towards teenage
years and, as they arequestioning gender, it has never
, never been more more.
My answer is to just, you know,honor yourself, because I'm
(27:10):
watching them.
Really, just be okay withthemselves and they they could
be questioning, they could beembarrassed, they could be all
kinds of things and they're justlike living their best life
right now.
And I'm, and I'm just in awe andI was, because I personally was
(27:33):
just that I was such a selfconscious teenager, I had really
low self-esteem and so, and Ididn't know what it was to like
just embrace who I was, whichwas just kind of like little
reading nerd girl who loved like80s movies and roller skating
(27:54):
and stuff like that.
But I thought I had to besomething else and I wish I
would have just honored who Iwas, because I know I would have
found my people.
It was like I couldn't find mypeople because I was constantly
looking outside at other peopletrying to be this or be that,
because I thought that's how Iwould be accepted and so so,
(28:15):
yeah, that is still my answer.
I do think it's reallyimportant to just like honor
exactly who you are.
You know, and don't worry aboutfinding your people.
You will find them or they willfind you.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Well, thank you so much, Miss Salazar, for coming
on the podcast.
I'm so glad that you were ourfirst return guest.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Oh, I am it was really fun.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Yeah, you're the first one that's exciting.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Well, thank you for having me again.
I'm so thrilled to be on.
I was so glad you asked.
Thank you,
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