Cindy Burkart Maynard is the author of three prize-winning historical fiction novels, co-author of two nonfiction books about the Southwest, and articles for Colorado Life, Utah Life, and Images magazines. She has volunteered for social service organizations and competed in triathlons and long-distance walking, including the Camino de Santiago (500 miles across northern Spain) and Hadrian’s Wall trail across northern England. She received her degree in sociology and history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She splits her time between Colorado and Arizona.
“Esperanza’s Way” was a finalist for the Colorado Authors League award for Historical Fiction.
SunLit: Tell us this book’s backstory. What inspired you to write it? Where did the story/theme originate?
Cindy Burkart Maynard: For thousands of years people depended on “wise women,” who practiced ages old folk medicine. My previous book, “Finding the Way,” was the story of Amika, one of these healers. Amika raised an orphan, Esperanza, who had an intuitive understanding of illness and healing. I became fascinated with the character, Esperanza, so I decided to write her story. That’s where “Esperanza’s Way” originated.
SunLit: Place this excerpt in context. How does it fit into the book as a whole? Why did you select it?
Maynard: The excerpt sets the scene. Three women, living in harmony, selling herbal remedies to pilgrims along the Camino de Santiago. All is well until one day Esperanza sells belladonna to a Countess. Belladonna is a remedy for sleeplessness when used in tiny amounts. The countess misuses the herb and dies. The Count accuses Esperanza of murder for selling the countess the drug. Esperanza needs to flee. This is the inciting incident that sets off all the action that follows. The story follows as Esperanza makes her way into an undreamed-of future. Only she could have suspected the brilliant woman she would become.
UNDERWRITTEN BY
Each week, The Colorado Sun and Colorado Humanities & Center For The Book feature an excerpt from a Colorado book and an interview with the author. Explore the SunLit archives at coloradosun.com/sunlit.
SunLit: Tell us about creating this book. What influences and/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write?
Maynard: Several years ago, I walked the Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile pilgrimage route across northern Spain. Along the way, I learned that 200,000 people walked the Camino the year that I made the trek. I also learned that 800 years ago, in the mid 1200’s, 200,000 people walked the Camino. I was thunderstruck. I couldn’t stop thinking about how their experience would have been different from my own. That curiosity sent me down the rabbit hole of reading and research about 13th century Spain and Italy. The more I learned the more fascinated I became.
SunLit: What did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and/or the subject matter?
Maynard: I learned so much about so many subjects — the history of medicine, and women in medicine, merchant sailors and ships, slavery in the 13th century, shipping and trade in the Mediterranean, and on and on. That’s the wonderful thing about writing historical fiction. It opens my mind to no end of fascinating history I would otherwise never have learned.
“Esperanza’s Way”
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SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing this book?
Maynard: Though the main character was fictitious, I wanted everything about her circumstances, setting, and probable life experience to be as historically accurate as possible. It was not easy to find dependable reference materials from the 13th century. The period covered in this book is between the fall of Rome and the beginning of the Renaissance and source material is scarce.
SunLit: What’s the most important thing – a theme, lesson, emotion or realization — that readers should take from this book?
Maynard: The theme of this book is overcoming barriers and impediments to achieve an overarching goal denied because of sex, class or both. I hope Esperanza’s tremendous force of will and dedication to her goal will inspire others to press on to achieve their goals.
SunLit: Tell us about your next project.
Maynard: I am currently working on a story about a true character who eventually became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe.
A few more quick questions
SunLit: Which do you enjoy more as you work on a book – writing or editing?
Maynard: I love writing and research. I am terrible at editing my own work and always have a developmental editor who knows the period of history I am writing about. This saves me embarrassing mistakes in the historicity, as well as the nuts and bolts of grammar, syntax etc.
SunLit: What’s the first piece of writing – at any age – that you remember being proud of?
Maynard: When I was a freshman in high school, we had to write an essay about our life story. I made it sound like I had a fabulously interesting life so far. In reality, my life was very ordinary, but I made it sound good.
SunLit: What three writers, from any era, would you invite over for a great discussion about literature and writing?
Maynard: Impossible to narrow it down to three, but I’ll try: Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
SunLit: Do you have a favorite quote about writing?
Maynard: I have two:
“Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.” — Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
“Leave the business of getting down exactly what happened to the historians. Your job is to raise the dead.” John Church
SunLit: What does the current collection of books on your home shelves tell visitors about you?
Maynard: “This girl can’t make up her mind! There are books here about everything from insects to Justinian’s Plague. From pirates to how to know God.”
SunLit: Soundtrack or silence? What’s the audio background that helps you write?
Maynard: Silence!
SunLit: What music do you listen to for sheer enjoyment?
Maynard: A little bit of everything. Good music is like a good book, it’s just good, regardless of the genre.
SunLit: What event, and at what age, convinced you that you wanted to be a writer?
Maynard: You often hear writers say that they’ve always wanted to write and started writing at a very early age. My trajectory was nothing like that. I started writing when I was employed full time in my “normal” career. I wrote magazine articles related to my interest in history and the natural world.
My husband is a professional photographer, and I wrote the content for his photography books. My first historical fiction, “Anastasia’s Book of Days,” was inspired by the life of my great-great grandmother. It was wonderful fun to write, and I loved becoming immersed in her place and time. After that I became addicted to writing historical fiction.
SunLit: Greatest writing fear?
Maynard: I will publish a really dumb book full of errors, and people will see what an impostor I am.
SunLit: Greatest writing satisfaction?
Maynard: I love it when people say they read one of my books and really liked it.