|
An Oasis in the Desert:
Interview with Gin Coleman
By Carin Chea
Award-winning fiction author Gin Coleman’s Desert Born trilogy is an oasis for her readers. The novels are a tantalizing mixture of historical drama, romance, thriller, and cultural exploration.
Though the author has garnered several awards for her writing, she did not land on this vocation until later in life. Coleman knows this is not the norm and anticipates my knee-jerk initial question of: “Have you always been a writer?”
Her response is already annotated on one of her blog posts, which begins: “No. I just wanted to read or draw. Every week, without fail, my mother took us kids to the library to check out our five-book limit, but I always wanted more.
I think the first thing I wrote was probably a note telling my mother I needed more books from the library.”
Obviously, crafting intoxicating worlds comes naturally to Coleman, whose Desert Born trilogy takes place in the Arabian desert.
A native of the Ozarks, Coleman infuses her own reverence for nature and wildlife into her work. And, like its creator, the Desert Born books boast a strong-willed, fiercely independent, and capable female protagonist.
Congrats! The Desert Born books were your first novels, and you’ve won multiple awards for them. How does that feel?
It feels wonderful! Every writer needs a pat on the back, especially when you’re just starting your writing journey.
I spent my life trying to make ends meet and it wasn’t until I retired five years ago that I thought about writing. And when I did, I had to decide: What am I doing this for? Money? Fame? To make a point? Or just for myself? A little bit of all, I think.
I prayed I’d at least be able to cover my pre-publish costs. Then I prayed I’d make a little more to cover my post-release marketing costs. And I wanted for readers to hear my messages.
But underneath it all, I wanted my readers to just enjoy the stories, like pure entertainment. Like a good song, or a good movie.
So, being judged by your peers and selected as outstanding is great, but when a reader leaves a review or sends me a message that they enjoyed the story or learned something about themselves is priceless.
That’s what makes me feel like a success, and I trust that I’m on a journey that I’m supposed to be on.
Why the desert though? Have you ever been there?
When I was young, deserts were a place of mystery and magic to me.
I loved old western movies, anything with horses; I watched a lot of desert documentaries about the desert, and some of my favorite romance books were set in the desert. And to me, the most romantic setting was the Arabia of my dreams. And strange things can happen in the desert—buried treasures, lost civilizations, UFOs. But I’ve not been to the desert.
I got close once. I drove my brother from Mississippi to the Central Valley in California and passed through a few.
According to my mother, there was a green light at the window and a crop circle in the backyard the night I was born. So I might have to go sometime, if I want to find my real family, that is.
What was the inspiration behind your Desert Born series?
Desert Born was inspired by two people in my life. It began as a way to escape during a miserable time in my life.
I had just finished college and taken my first corporate job. My father was behind me the whole way, pushing, as he had done my whole life. I did my job well, but I hated it.
One night, my roommate and I were sitting there in our apartment, in our pajamas, and she said, “Tell me a story, and make it a romance.” All I could think about was my dream of Arabia. But when I finally wrote it down, I only got through about four chapters, then I put it away and forgot about it.
Then came the real inspiration. About five years ago, my best friend, a retired librarian, was poking around in my office and asked, “Have you ever written anything?” Then she pulled out a binder she found, and it was those first four chapters.
After she read it, she slammed it down on my desk and said, “Where did this come from? You have to write this story. This is fun!”
So, I sat down and began writing. And every day I would read to her, and she would encourage me and challenge me. She became what I call my alpha reader. Every writer should have at least one person they trust that can comment objectively on their work.
But the strange thing is, in the end, my father did inspire it, because he died around the same time I began to write. The man who always said, “If you can’t make money doing it, then why waste your time?” When I buried my father, I thought, “Now I’m free to do what I want to do.” And I’m still doing it.
Tell us more about the first book in the trilogy, Desert Brave.
Desert Brave is the story of a young woman in the 1930s. Kira Fontaine, an only child, lives in southwest America. Her mother is a Zuni Indian; her father is from the East Coast and is a geologist who works for the Corps of Engineers locating water sources in dry climes.
He spends most of his time traveling, and when her mother dies, Kira is left to be raised by her Zuni grandmother. But she craves her father’s attention, and to get it, she decides to become a geologist too so she can join him on his expeditions.
After graduation, her father is sent to Saudi Arabia, and she accompanies him.
They land in Cairo, and before they leave for Arabia, her father purchases a mysterious artifact in the marketplace that is supposed to lead them to the lost river he is sent to find. But after leaving Cairo, their plane crashes in the desert, killing her father and his co-pilot.
Kira crawls from the wreckage along with her father’s girlfriend, Cassie (the woman we all love to hate). Together they have to find a way to civilization. This is where the adventure really begins.
What follows is mystery, intrigue, murder, and mayhem. And of course, love. Oh, and horses.
Desert Brave is the story of Kira’s survival and how she changes and adapts to what life throws at her. In the end, though, she has a choice: Does she stay in this world, or return to America?
When I first told the story to my roommate years ago, I envisioned a horse with golden metallic-looking hair. It was, in my mind, a special breed that I made up.
But while I was writing the story, my sister was researching the Middle East, helping me fact-check, and came across a real horse breed that’s golden with metallic-looking hair! They’re called the Akhal-Teke and are considered an endangered species.
Like many of the things I write about, it turned out to be true. Is it serendipity or is it kismet? Or is it something more?
What would you say the central message behind your books is?
I write stories about women who are on a journey that they might not be in control of. My protagonists are women who go through terrible things and must make choices to take control of their lives. It’s scary and hard, and often they have to trust others and ask for help to do it.
In this series, you will find destiny, fate, and kismet. You will also find Allah and God. I believe in respecting the traditions of others.
But you can read my books just for fun. Like the men who’ve read them and enjoyed the adventure and mystery.
For women, though, who’ve been through trauma in their lives, the main message, in all cases, is: Be your own hero. Don’t wait for someone to save you.
Is the protagonist, Kira, modeled after anyone you know in real life?
Yeah. Me. Parts of Kira are me, or the me I want to be.
Like Kira, I had a mother and father, but I still felt alone at times. If you’re vying to get your parents’ attention, you’ll do anything to get it. Then one day, you might wake up and realize you don’t have to do that anymore, or you don’t want to.
That’s what happened to Kira and me. I spent my whole life as an overachiever. I always had to do whatever I could to get my father’s love and attention. He wasn’t cruel, but I always felt I wasn’t quite good enough.
That trait can be found in all of my protagonists, and even in some of my secondary characters.
But though my protagonists will save themselves, they will also find their kryptonite. They will have to trust someone and ask for help. Like I did.
Who would play the main characters if Desert Brave were adapted into a film?
Between writing and revising and trying not to burn dinner (when I remember to make it), I don’t watch much TV, or stream, or go to the movies. So I am not familiar with the popular actors and actresses of the day.
Who could play Kira? She would have to be attractive, athletic, smart, focused, caring, logical, but also innocent.
Then there’s Cassie, the older red-haired seductress, who will do anything to get ahead and bends men to her will. And the evil Sheikh Qadir, who, like Cassie, will stop at nothing to get what he wants. And Sheikh Jalil, our hero, is the foil to Qadir in every way.
I think I would ask my readers to tell me who they think could bring my characters to life.
Are there any upcoming works you’d like us to know about?
Well, the conclusion of Kira’s story is found in Desert Bold, book two, which is available now.
The third book, Desert Beloved, releases on January 14, 2027, and can be pre-ordered from my publisher, Black Rose Writing, at a discount. It is the story of Adara al-Za’im and opens in Cairo during the end of World War II.
I also have a contemporary western romance series, Lost and Found in the Lone Star State, set in current-day Texas. The first book, High Water, will release in June of 2027.
All of my books are available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart, and through libraries. And, of course, there will be more!
To keep up to date on Gin Coleman’s prolific writing journey, please visit GinColeman.com
Home |
Actors/Models |
Art |
Books |
Dining
Film & Video |
Food & Wine |
Health & Fitness
MediaWatch |
Money and Business |
Music |
Profiles
Professional Services |
Sports |
Style & Fashion
Technology |
Theatre |
Travel & Leisure
Copyright 1995 - 2026 inmag.com
inmag.com (on line) and in Magazine (in print)
are published by in! communications, Inc.
www.inmag.com
|
Advertiser Info
Subscription Form
Contact Us
|
