Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Rebecca Carvalho (Salt and Sugar)!
Meet the Author: Rebecca Carvalho
Rebecca Carvalho is a Recifense writer based in Berkeley, California. She loves crafting stories filled with close-knit neighborhoods, Brazilian food, and telenovela-esque settings. When she is not writing, you can find her with her camera, gaming with her husband, or watching Star Trek for the hundredth time. Rebecca has a bachelor’s degree in English from Lawrence University. Salt and Sugar is her debut novel, and it was inspired by her life in northeastern Brazil.
About the Book: Salt and Sugar
Trust neither thin-bottomed frying pans nor Molinas.
Lari Ramires has always known this to be true. In Olinda, Brazil, her family’s bakery, Salt, has been at war with the Molinas’ bakery across the street, Sugar, for generations. But Lari’s world turns upside down when her beloved grandmother passes away. On top of that, a big supermarket chain has moved to town, forcing many of the small businesses to close.
Determined to protect her home, Lari does the unthinkable—she works together with Pedro Molina to save both of their bakeries. Lari realizes she might not know Pedro as well as she thought—and she maybe even likes what she learns—but the question remains: Can a Ramires and a Molina truly trust one another?
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
My mom passed away in 2015 and I was going through a hard time. I stopped writing,
because I couldn’t connect with my old stories. It was a very introspective period and the
more I missed her, the more homesick I felt. It was the type of homesickness when you miss
a specific time in your life, and for me that was my childhood.
So when I felt finally ready to return to writing, I just knew my next story had to be about
home.
It had to explore all those key elements that populated my childhood memories in Brazil. The
way my old neighborhood felt alive. The dishes I ate. The festivals I celebrated. Still, I wasn’t
totally sure how to approach this story. I didn’t have a plot. I didn’t have the characters. Just
themes.
The story finally took shape when I got the mental image of two bakeries facing each other on
a cobblestone street and a ‘what if’ question popped up in my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking
about it. “What if there were two Brazilian bakeries that sat across the street from each other,
and they were in a feud, and their kids fell in love?” The story felt alive before I even wrote it
down.
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
I love them all equally, but if I had to name one character who’s particularly special to me, it
would be Lari Ramires. She’s my main character and she totally changed my life. I’ll always
be thankful to her. Because of her, my childhood dream of getting published is coming true,
after all.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
I usually think about dialogue first. Sometimes I “hear” a piece of conversation between
characters in my mind and that intrigues me to write their story. I wonder who these
characters are, like eavesdropping on a conversation when you’re walking past a group of
people.
But in Salt and Sugar’s case, I’d say the title actually came first.
I could see the bakeries so clearly in my mind. I could see their signs “Salt” and “Sugar” and I
knew right away the title would also be Salt and Sugar. After that I finally started wondering
about who ran these bakeries, and what the bakers were like, and what sorts of problems
they faced.
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
I can’t say a lot, because I don’t want to spoil it, but I’m definitely proud of the ‘first kiss’ scene
between Lari and Pedro.
I love writing rom-coms, but I get nervous when it comes to writing kissing scenes. Other
people will read them and I get embarrassed, like letting people read my journal, you know?
I was also nervous about this specific scene, because I knew Lari and Pedro’s first kiss would
represent a lot to these characters and I wanted it to feel like a decisive, honest moment
between them after such a long journey not only for them, but also their families.
There are all these fears and doubts, complicated feelings, but I also wanted them to look at
each other in that moment and only see each other. Not their family names. Just Lari and
Pedro.
YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve
learned as a writer from then to now?
The beginning in my case is 2011. That’s the year I graduated from college, when I decided
I’d really try my best to pursue a career as a writer. So this has been a long journey and there
were so many rejections along the way.
This is easier said than done—I’m still working on this, actually—but I think the most
important thing I’ve learned is to try to create some space between myself and my work.
Early in the querying process, I remember feeling so discouraged and hurt every time I got a
rejection from an agent. I’ve had moments when I wondered if I should really pursue this
dream that felt impossible. I’ve given up a few times. But reminding myself that this is my job,
a business like any other, and the product I’m offering in this case is a book, helps a little in
finding more breathing room and continuing to write other stories.
It’s okay for me to hug my stories close as I’m writing them, but I try to tell myself that once I
share them with other people, they’re no longer mine. These stories will evolve and change
and become something different to every reader, and some people will like them, and some
people won’t, but, regardless… that’s the magic of reading.
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
I love how it looks exactly like Rua do Amparo, a street in Olinda, Brazil. This is a
coincidence, but when I was imagining the bakeries, I didn’t realize I actually was thinking
about this street in particular. Andressa Meissner (cover art) and Gigi Lau (art direction) did
an amazing job capturing how beautiful the neighborhood looks on St. John’s Day, and, if you
live nearby, you can actually visit it in person!
YABC: Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?
All the scenes when Lari thinks about her grandmother hit hard. I was processing a lot of grief
through those scenes, and they brought back memories from the time when my mom was
sick. Every time I edited those scenes, it’s like I revisited some of the old pain, until it became
a lot more resolved with every round of revisions.
Not all stories need to be so personal, but I’m actually glad my debut novel was.
YABC: What is the main message or lesson you would like your reader to remember
from this book?
I think Salt and Sugar is a book about dreams, and dreamers, and a whole neighborhood
coming together to fight for a dream they have in common. I actually dedicated it to anyone
wondering if it’s okay to pursue their dreams, so I hope that when they read it they’ll feel
inspired to continue fighting for the things they love and they’ll find a community who supports
them and dreams with them.
Title: Salt and Sugar
Author: Rebecca Carvalho
Release Date: 11/01/2022
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Genre: Romantic-Comedy
Age Range: YA, 13+
