One Question

[JoyZ]

Congratulations Shandi on a wonderful story.  I am sticking with the reading schedule so have only finished Spring and Summer and have really enjoyed it so far.  I wondered from the beginning, with the family portrait, if a similar photo had been your inspiration?  I have many old family photos and, although I have wondered about their lives, I never fantasized a story about them.  You have done a beautiful job of creating these characters and I love to see them persevere through their struggles.  Thank you.

[Rosei]

Congratulations, Shandi! Your book is already a great sucess!

I would love to hear from you what has inspired your first portraits of that family?

I love them and mainly all their strength! Congratulations

[Zeal]

Shandi,

Thank you for giving your readers a tremendous piece of the past in a time when the "simple life" has been forgotten.  Family, hard work, values, and the beauty of nature have too often been replaced by technology, busy schedules, material goods, and a need for instant gratification.  I found your story to be a much needed, touching, and important reminder of what life really is all about.  Although your characters and countless "real" people faced incredible obstacles, many were better individuals because of them and loved more deeply.  Maria and Theodor both wonder and worry about where their new baby will sleep, but their love for the child is already complete.

My one question for you would be:  Do you have any physical documents, letters, etc. or perhaps an audio tape of your ancestors that inspired/helped you to write this story or did most of your information come from your research and stories retold from family members?

Thank you again for such a wonderful literature selection!

Aimee

[literature]

Thanks for your reply.  However, I did remember reading where Katya takes the signed note and adds it to the fire.  What I was referring to was when the Teodor was communicating with the Land Office.  Why didn't he go right for the signed note to present to them?  Now I'm trying to remember exactly when Teodor mentions the note again.

[dclement04]

Shandi again thank you for sharing with us this wonderful masterpiece. This book is a great one and I have read tons of novels and the ones that seem to pass through this First Look Book Club seem to be taking the reins in my library as far as quality so good job!

My question to you (and I don't know if it was asked already) is just general what made you decide to write about these topics...can you tell me about that first moment you realized that you wanted to write a story about this??

Are there any connections with your own family and the family in the story? Maybe with your ancestors?

ok so maybe i have more than one question haha

Thanks for your time!!

Danielle (NJ) 

[Sunltcloud]

Ms. Mitchell,

Design. Acts. Scenes. Spikes. Sentence structure. You've given us a film that mirrors the merciless fury of the "unbroken sky." Though I am reading within the confines of the assigned seasons and don't know the resolution yet, I am pondering questions of redemption and the eternal solace that same sky can provide. As I am reading I feel as if I were one of the children blinking a piece of broken glass into the brightness of the sun and receiving blinding signals of universal truths. Without embellishment. The organic connection between sky land and human.

 I used the word film rather than the word novel, because the story reads like a movie. Scenes like those of the fire are the most detailed and most awe-inspiring I've read; they trigger my imagination and project themselves like colorful images in front of me. And they make me wonder, did you as filmmaker, walk around with a vision of the full story before you started to write, or did single scenes pop up here and there, and you grabbed them, wrote them, hung them together, allowed them to form their own cohesive picture in the end?

Congratulations on an inspired book and thank you for allowing us to be the first to get a look at the lives of this immigrant family.

Gisela F.

[EbonyAngel]

Hi Ms. Mitchell.  What a great book, thanks for sharing with us.  I tried to stick with the reading schedule but it got so good, I couldn't stop

Right now I only have 1 question.  Would it be possible to have a short glossary?  Some of the words used and food items I was unfamiliar with.  (I did look them up for myself though.)  Stuff like pyrohy.

[gringorn]

Hello Shandi,

I have been in several FL sessions.  I must say truly, this is one of the best books I have ever read.  I am on my second voyage through this remarkable story.  It seems that in the past FL discussions of other books, eventually it comes up "if this was a movie".  I never participated in those discussions, but with your story and these amazing characters, I have to ask : Has there been any interest in your book to be a movie?  If so, I will be first in line to see it! 

Mary 

[KathyS]

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gringorn wrote:

Hello Shandi,

I have been in several FL sessions.  I must say truly, this is one of the best books I have ever read.  I am on my second voyage through this remarkable story.  It seems that in the past FL discussions of other books, eventually it comes up "if this was a movie".  I never participated in those discussions, but with your story and these amazing characters, I have to ask : Has there been any interest in your book to be a movie?  If so, I will be first in line to see it! 

Mary 

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Mary, I wouldn't trust anyone to interpret this novel, into a movie, or a play, except Shandi!

Kathy S.

[aprilh]

Hi Shandi! First off, I would like you to know that I am loving your book! It's an amazing story and you've done a wonderful job telling it. Thank you so much for sharing it with us all here. My questions for you are:

1. While answering questions for the first two sections, we discovered that Rachel and Paul's (the moderators here) arcs have different characters names in them than ours. We've found: Theo - Teodor, Miron - Myron, Xanka - Dania, Mysha - Lesya and Piotr - Petro. I was just wondering why these names are different. Did the characters all have different names to begin with? And, if so, why were they changed?

2. Who is your favorite character in this story? I couldn't choose just one, so my two favorites are Maria and Lesya because of how strong they are. They seem like the type of people to never give up no matter how hard life becomes.

Thanks for answering our questions and for joining us here! Hope you enjoy this experience as much as we do!

[DSaff]

Shandi, first let me thank you again for allowing us to read your book, and for joining us in this discussion. I think you will find that everyone here is glad this became a FL selection. While it may be unusual reading for some of us, it is good to get out and try new things. Don't you agree?    Now, my real question. You are obviously a very creative person. What inspires you? (I don't read posts in a section until I have posted mine, so if this has been asked, feel free to point me to that response.)

[Read-n-Rider]

Shandi, we often hear about how hard it is for authors--particularly first-time authors--to get published, and how they receive many rejection slips before the magical acceptance letter arrives.  So, I am wondering if anyone turned down Under This Unbroken Sky before Claire read and loved it; I can't imagine anyone's rejecting this wonderful novel!

Joan

[libralady]

Hi Shandi,

I don't have a question at this time that has not already been asked.  However, I did want to say that I am really enjoying your book thus far.  Your descriptions of the planting of the wheat, the preparations to fight the fire and then the fire itself are amazing.  I felt like I was right there with Teodor and his family.  I could almost smell the smoke and feel the heat of the flames!  The vivid description of the settings and the characters really make the story come alive.  Thank you for allowing us to be among the first to read your novel.

[kpatton]

Aprilh,  Thank you for asking about the name changes.  That was also a question I wanted to ask Ms. Mitchell.

I also want to add what everyone else is saying-that you Ms. Mitchell for sharing this wonderful story with us.  I too am staying with the reading schedule (I must say with great difficulty), so don't know how everyone survives.  I am loving this book.  Can't wait to finish it so that I can pass it on.

Kathy

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aprilh wrote:

Hi Shandi! First off, I would like you to know that I am loving your book! It's an amazing story and you've done a wonderful job telling it. Thank you so much for sharing it with us all here. My questions for you are:

1. While answering questions for the first two sections, we discovered that Rachel and Paul's (the moderators here) arcs have different characters names in them than ours. We've found: Theo - Teodor, Miron - Myron, Xanka - Dania, Mysha - Lesya and Piotr - Petro. I was just wondering why these names are different. Did the characters all have different names to begin with? And, if so, why were they changed?

2. Who is your favorite character in this story? I couldn't choose just one, so my two favorites are Maria and Lesya because of how strong they are. They seem like the type of people to never give up no matter how hard life becomes.

Thanks for answering our questions and for joining us here! Hope you enjoy this experience as much as we do!

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[Sheltiemama]

I want to know what her grandfather's secret was, and which character carries that secret.

I also want to know where she came up with the coyote motif. The more I read, the more effective it is.

[jbnie]

Hi Shandi, thank you f pr a wonderful book ! I am re reading parts pf it for more insight, and I  rarely re read a book ! What inspired you to break the book into seasons rather than chapters ? I love that you for it , I just wondered why. 

I also hope that there are more stories that you want to tell in novel form !

Jane

[Sheltiemama]

I have another one. What did you imagine the relationship between Theo and Anna was when they were growing up? I assume you had to create their entire lives in your mind.

[HeatherF]

I was wondering what it was like for you to go from film to novel? I understand that you also wrote screen plays but I am assuming that is very different as well. I felt that it read very visually. Not just the attention to detail about the scene or what was happening but that it had a flow to it, like a sweeping look about what was happening that a film would also give without words. Not being a writer or a film maker myself I was curious if it was as natural as it seem to us reading to go from film to novel or did you struggle?

Thank you for sharing yourself and your work with us. You are very brave to put yourself out there openly for discussion.

Heather

[Wisteria-L]

Shandi....I loved your book! I keep finding out more and more meaning as I read and re-read passages. Thank you for answering our questions and joining the conversation.

1)Would you give us some input about our title?  I have my own opinion and there may be many different ways of looking at this,but I'm sure you had something in mind. I know there was a passage in the book refering to it.  Would you offer your thoughts please?

2)I noticed from the very beginning that you broke down time, distance and space into segments that were very specific. Teodor counted his steps from wall to wall in his 8 X 8 cell. He counted his years in steps, not time, until he got out and he thinks about the 600 days and nights. 

I also noticed Maria planted a garden and all her materials were measured. The garden is 60 feet by 40 feet, she uses 20 wheelbarrows of manure and 6 bundles of hay.  The fence is 3 feet high. What is missing is  number of seeds/eventually plants and the distance between rows.

Yet everything else about her garden is very precise in your writing. 

You are always very precise in describing time and distance. "Ivan abruptly stops a hundred feet from the looming outhouse."

Anna refers to the rape event when she hears the coyote, "That was twenty nights ago."

Why are you so precise in your descriptions with quantities of items and measurement in steps, number of days, distance to and from. Everything is described with the such precision and order. Would you talk about this?

Thanks, Wisteria

Message Edited by Wisteria-L on 08-09-2009 12:45 AM

[Zeal]

Interesting questions!  Thank you for asking them.

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Wisteria-L wrote:

Shandi....I loved your book! I keep finding out more and more meaning as I read and re-read passages. Thank you for answering our questions and joining the conversation.

1)Would you give us some input about our title?  I have my own opinion and there may be many different ways of looking at this,but I'm sure you had something in mind. I know there was a passage in the book refering to it.  Would you offer your thoughts please?

2)I noticed from the very beginning that you broke down time, distance and space into segments that were very specific. Teodor counted his steps from wall to wall in his 8 X 8 cell. He counted his years in steps, not time, until he got out and he thinks about the 600 days and nights. 

I also noticed Maria planted a garden and all her materials were measured. The garden is 60 feet by 40 feet, she uses 20 wheelbarrows of manure and 6 bundles of hay.  The fence is 3 feet high. What is missing is  number of seeds/eventually plants and the distance between rows.

Yet everything else about her garden is very precise in your writing. 

You are always very precise in describing time and distance. "Ivan abruptly stops a hundred feet from the looming outhouse."

Anna refers to the rape event when she hears the coyote, "That was twenty nights ago."

Why are you so precise in your descriptions with quantities of items and measurement in steps, number of days, distance to and from. Everything is described with the such precision and order. Would you talk about this?

Thanks, Wisteria

Message Edited by Wisteria-L on 08-09-2009 12:45 AM

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