Interviews with the Author

SOUTH AMERICAN LIVING INTERVIEW – Molly McHugh

1.       I loved the book, so much life, energy and fun times, mixed with a fair amount of regular life bullshit plus a bit of tragedy (your bouts with cancer).   It is as much of a sharing as it is story telling, IMHO, and I'm sure you've gotten many compliments and great reviews.

I have, thank you. I did a radio interview last week and the host explained in my introduction that to him I was so much more than a “survivor,” that I was “triumphant,” which I really loved.

I did receive a couple of one-star reviews on Amazon though, which I actually enjoyed. One was that it was unbelievable that so many bad things happened to one person—the truth was that I left many sad and tragic events out of the book. And another reviewer said, “Why does the author think that anyone would be interested in her sex life?” which not only made me chuckle, but probably helped to sell more books.

2.  Tango you came to later in life, but mentioned you had danced professionally when younger.  What is your dance background?  You talk about one of your two sons being a ballet dancer as well.

Dance has always been a part of my life from my first ballet lessons at the age of three. From then on, I knew I wanted to be a professional dancer. So I studied ballet all during childhood, and up to my second year at UCLA, where I majored in dance. I also danced other forms like hula (which I studied at the University of Hawaii), modern, ballroom, jazz, tap. Then later on I studied bellydancing and performed all over California and Las Vegas with my own cabaret troupe, The Perfumes of Araby. My youngest son, Jason, toured the world as a principal dancer with the Hartford Ballet, and the Spoleto Festival in Italy.

As I write in my book, The Church of Tango, nightly country and western dancing saved me from despair after the death of my husband. And then the tango found me and changed my life forever.

3.  I'm a Tango virgin, have seen the dance once in the streets of Buenos Aires during a short visit, and on film, but that's it.  It seems very technically difficult to master, yet you talk about beginning dancers who come to Argentina and dance in a milonga.  How hard is it to learn?
The tango you’ve seen on stage, TV, in the streets, and in the movies is “stage tango,” and nothing at all like the social tango that is danced nightly in the Buenos Aires milongas. Social tango is all about the music, the connection, the embrace, improvisation, elegance and sensuality. It can be mastered by “ordinary people” not just ballet dancers and young performers. Stage tango is about choreography, acrobatic tricks, and showing off. Social tango is felt, not seen.

Tango isn’t easy, yet as my partner Ruben says, not impossible either. The basic step is the walk, and all moves are based on the simple change of weight. That said, a tango dancer must have good technique (stepping on a straight leg with all weight on the supporting foot) and elegant posture (chest out, weight forward), as well as being relaxed and musical.

The man leads, the woman follows as in no other dance because good tango doesn’t consist of patterns repeated endlessly, but innovation depending on the music and the movement of other couples counter-clockwise on the floor. It’s a challenge, but so well worth it. It’s been established that dancing tango benefits Parkingson’s patients and prolongs the onset of Alzheimer’s. Psychological benefits and endorphins come out of dancing tango as well. Moving to music in a good tango embrace can make you feel reborn.

4.   The video I have embedded below is from your and Ruben's 
href="http://www.youtube.com/user/macfroggy?feature=watch">YouTube
channel: "Ruben y Cherie dancing tango milonguero to Enrique Rodriquez
at a Buenos Aires milonga."

I love it, and is this the typical feel of a night at a milonga?  Seems very low-key to me, reminds me of a family Polish wedding 40 or so years
ago (my family)!

Thank you for enjoying the video of our dancing in a milonga. Here’s another one, a demonstration that we danced on my birthday in 2013: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyZ3bPBDBo0&list=UU62bbywcMaeRJ3_rmrHRB2Q

I wouldn’t say exactly that the milonga ambiance is low-key, because there are strict behavior codes in a traditional milonga, unlike I suppose at a Polish wedding. But the atmosphere is elegant, refined, and polite. There are no people running around grabbing partners, the length of time spent with one partner is set, everyone knows how to behave and normally everyone behaves well.

5.  I rooted and cheered for you throughout the book, and cursed a few nasty folks as well, such as the 'friends' of yours and your first husband
whom you shared ownership of an apartment in France with, then they stole the deceased property rights (lowered rent) granted to you since your husband passed away, forcing you to sell; despicable.

The location of the property was near the cemetery where he was buried, do you still visit the area and spend time there?

Jack is buried in the little village of Lugrin on the shore of Lake Geneva near Evian-les-Bains, the same village where we owned a gorgeous apartment with another couple. In France graves are leased for thirty years, and his plot will come due in another seven years. I may not still be around by then, and because I wasn’t able to hang on to the apartment, I realize I made a mistake to bury him so far from home and the children who loved him. I would love to visit France again, but unfortunately I can’t afford to travel any more. I do have friends in Lugrin who care for the grave, thank goodness.

Another despicable act was the sneaky move by the realtor I had engaged to sell our family home when I could no longer afford the upkeep. He never brought around suitable, qualified buyers while he knew I was anxious to sell, and I kept lowering the price until the realtor himself bought if. He still lives there 22 years later. 

6.  You live the life of an artist (at least as an older woman, maybe less so when married with children) - free, exploratory, open to love and relationship with others, taking part in arts activities of all kinds in addition to dance - yet are a religious person of sorts as you described attending church regularly, regardless of where you lived.

I love that you didn't let religion (which I'm not fond of as an adult) dictate how you lived your life.  Can you explain that a bit.

I am a religious person who enjoys attending religious services. If there is a choice, I go to Lutheran or Anglican services, but love the Catholic church too. I believe there is one God, the same one in all monotheistic religions. I don’t get stuck in details—such as what people are supposed to eat, wear, practice in bed, etc. I believe God is Good, and good people need to help one another and be happy. There are good people all over the world and in all religions. If religion does dictate how to live, I think it tells us to love our neighbor, be sympathetic, empathetic, and kind.

Tango is meditation practice and can be very spiritual, thus the title of my book.

7.  Argentina has obviously been good to you, and you met your current life partner Ruben in Buenos Aires, where you both share your love of the dance of Tango with others, taking tourists to a milonga and dancing with them - do you feel fulfilled now?
I’m grateful that I’ve been able to live in other countries (France, Mexico, Argentina) and learn other languages and cultures, and have a new career (teaching tango) at this stage in my life. But being so far away from my “home,” friends and family is becoming more difficult the older I get and the more chaotic Argentina becomes.

But I consider it a gift that I’ve been able to impart traditional tango culture, ideals, history, music of the Golden Age, to our students. Too often today teachers and students are only interested in flashy moves and impressing others, and not with communicating profound emotions arising from the music and the connection with one’s partner—the essence of tango to me.

Many cultures have music to liberate and alleviate feelings of sadness and longing. In the United States it’s the blues, flamenco in Spain, fado in Portugal, tango in Argentina. It’s an healthy release to express in music these very human emotions.


8.  For any other woman, who has lost a life partner through divorce or death, and is facing the difficulties of midlife in the U.S. where it is
more and more difficult to live a quality life on a moderate to low-income, what would you say?

What would you recommend in moving forward, risk-taking, and trying to find that inner joy that we all want to find, that you seem to have found in the dance of Tango.

Life is to be lived boldly and bravely. Financial concerns are a reality to be reckoned with, especially as we grow older. But we should have faith that things will work out, that “where there is a will, there is a way,” although it may not work out in a way that we imagine or desire.

“Following your bliss” is desirable at any age.

However I do not recommend taking off for parts unknown as an older person without financial security or health insurance. Neither to assume that finding a job in a foreign country is possible. 


9.  Lastly, describe a typical night out with a tourist visiting a milonga with you and Ruben, what someone could expect, and also how much it costs, how to contact you.

Lots of visitors to Buenos Aires go to tango shows and think that they have seen the “real” tango. They go home not realizing that the real people of Buenos Aires of all ages, sizes, the porteños/as dance tango every night in social dances with historical “codigos” of behavior and recorded music that have survived the test decades of time. This is the place to go to understand Buenos Aires culture.

Sometimes people inquire about our “hassle free Tango Tours” which consist of a private lesson followed by a visit to a milonga, where Ruben and I explain what is going on, how people get partners to dance, the history of some of the customs, and actually dance with the students if they desire. If people don’t take the lesson, while they do enjoy themselves, they really can’t comprehend what is going on in the milonga. They don’t know what they are seeing. They don’t understand that the dance is indeed lead by the man and followed by the woman, totally improvised. That the basic step of the tango is the walk. And while every couple on the floor is dancing in their own “personal” style, they can all be dancing well. There is a saying in tango that “you dance who you are.”

I was thrilled to introduce people to this magical world where the only thing that matters is the dance.

Interview with Cherie Magnus

1. What has changed in your life since we last spoke?

Because I live in Argentina, the biggest change is economic—insane inflation and the crazy dollar. I just keep my head down and hope for the best. My goal this year is to finish my next book, the prequel to The Church of Tango: a Memoir.

2. Have you learnt any new wisdom?

Well you know, I keep learning every day, the problem is that at my age I also keep forgetting. But wisdom isn’t facts and figures, it’s perspective, and I’ve got plenty of that. Because in the new book I’m writing about my life in 1960, I understand myself and those events better now looking back. Otherwise since then I never thought about those years, who I was, what was happening in the world. So I’ve actually learned a great deal by revisiting that time and place these past few months.


3. Have you become a better writer? If so, how?

Of course practice makes better, and a writer learns little things as she goes along, do’s and don’ts, let’s say, and what works and what doesn’t. But in my case, I’ve become a better thinker and that makes a huge difference in my writing.

With my new memoir, accuracy of details and vocabulary of the early 1960s are very important. As a former research librarian, I am very comfortable with fact checking, and I’m constantly surprised how many of the common words we use today were not in the dictionaries of that time. It’s rather astounding how the language—as well as ordinary life—has changed.


4. What are you working on at the moment?

I’m extremely focused on finishing the new memoir, to the extent of letting other writing languish. I’ve written a blog since 2006, with over 700 posts about expat life, Buenos Aires, and the tango (tangocherie.blogspot.com), but I feel I’ve just about said all that I need to say on those topics, so I’m letting it rest. 

I also teach tango with my Argentine partner here in Buenos Aires, so that tends to keep me out of trouble when I’m not writing.

5. Tell us about your latest release and how we can find out more.

The new memoir—working title: Crazy Dancing—will be released by Mirasol Press, probably in 2014.  It’s my story about my university years, but it’s also a portrait of a specific time and place. 

ExpatWomen’s Interview with Cherie Magnus

ExpatWomen:  Cherie, your biography illustrates snippets from your amazing life.  You’ve survived breast cancer, twice, you’ve survived the death of your spouse, and you’ve lived in France, Mexico and Argentina (in addition to the US).  Can you please share with us your best memories to date, from each of the countries that you’ve lived in?

Cherie:  Some of my best memories of France and Mexico have to do with food! Unfortunately I can’t say the same for Argentina, where I probably couldn’t survive without my ever-present bottle of Lemon Pepper. 

I was also enchanted by the history and architecture of France and Mexico. Mexico in addition has a spiritual quotient underlying everything, and which helped me to feel fulfilled.

One Sunday soon after I moved to Buenos Aires from Mexico, I was feeling lonely and was missing the ever-present processions under my balcony in San Miguel de Allende, when I looked out of my window and Lo! If there wasn’t a procession passing by. Small and a bit raggedy—just an image of the virgin, a priest, and parishioners singing as they walked—but it made my day. Platitudes apply here: God is where you find him, happiness is right there, under your balcony, waiting to be discovered, etc.

I have many wonderful memories of Mexico, but one was attending an intensive language school, La Academia, for 2 ½ months. It was five days a week from 8 to 6, and covered not only speaking, writing and grammar, but folklore, literature, history, sociology, and even cooking! I just loved it, and met many wonderful people. Eleven of us even made a fieldtrip to Mexico City one weekend and had a blast. But because I lived there and wasn’t on “vacation” as most of the other students were, it was too hard to keep up the full program of five months. I would collapse every night when I got home, too tired to even eat. But this experience was certainly a highlight of my time in Mexico, and there were many highlights.

And France…well, you know what Ben Franklin said, “Everyone has two countries; the one in which he was born, and France.”

ExpatWomen:  What have been some of your biggest challenges in living in France, Mexico and now Argentina?

Cherie:  The biggest challenges, always, are the language and culture. If you don’t feel secure in communicating, you might opt to stay home or socialize only with English speakers, thereby missing out on a lot. Expats, even if they know the language well, always risk making faux pas because of not understanding the culture. But if you stay home alone, you risk loneliness and feeling isolated. It’s a conundrum.

This is true for me here in Argentina, where they speak their own special Spanish, Castellano, and my Mexican Spanish hasn’t helped me a whole lot.

In addition, transportation around Buenos Aires is my biggest challenge, even after more than three years of living here. The city is huge, all the streets are one-way, and even though they have an excellent system of public transportation, it’s not easy to figure out how to use it.

I have to say that I didn’t feel that challenged living in France. I felt at home there, except sometimes socially with the language, and I easily got around. Paris can be crossed on foot—not possible in Buenos Aires. At the time I lived there, I remember, the only things I missed, except for my friends and family, were the L.A. Times and Seinfeld!

Since my cancer therapies, I’ve forgotten about being ill. The doctors had done all they could with surgery, heavy dose chemo, and radiation, so they just cut me loose with a pat on the head. The second cancer 6 years later was unrelated to the first, and just bad luck. Nevertheless it remains a fear of mine to be sick and alone in a foreign country. Recently I purchased Argentine health insurance so I’m feeling more secure about that now.

I know many people totally change their eating habits and daily lives after cancer, but what happened to me was that I wanted to enjoy life more and so refused to worry about it. I had always taken care of my body and it hadn’t prevented the cancers, so I decided to squeeze the juice out of what I had left. And that’s one reason why I traveled. It is such a privilege to live in another country and enjoy and learn other languages and cultures, a true growth experience.

ExpatWomen:  Do you think the challenges of an expat woman are the same, from country to country?  (Please explain your response.)

Cherie:  I don’t think as a woman I faced different expat challenges just because of being female, or that the challenges of expat men are any easier or different. What make it different are the conditions under which a person is living in another country. It can be a lot easier if the person is there for work reasons, or is an expat as the spouse of someone who is working there, or if the person has a spouse or companion and is not alone, as I was. It also would be another kind of experience if you knew there was a deadline; like going in, you knew that no matter what, you would be leaving after, say, two years.

In some countries, of course, foreign women are perceived as easy sexual “targets,” perhaps because of films and TV. But some women appreciate the attention that they never got in their homelands. In any event, I personally have never had any problem whatsoever in this area. 

As in everything else in life, sufficient money not to have to worry makes everything easier. It’s not realistic to become an expat with the idea of finding employment fin the new country to support yourself, even more so if you are middle-aged. My advice is expatriate yourself only if you are financially independent. In my case I had early retirement because of my illness.

In many respects, because of dancing and writing, I’ve had an easier time living far from “home.” When I moved to Mexico, I had the goal of finishing the memoir I began when living in France. Last year I accidentally started writing a blog, which helps me feel connected to like-minded people all over the world. And because of the internet, many of my articles written far from home have been published. Next year a piece I wrote will be published in an anthology on San Miguel de Allende.

Basically since my husband died in 1991, I’ve been searching for “home,” like Dorothy in Oz, I suppose. But a few years ago I realized that Home Is Where My Cat Is. Phoebe, I couldn’t have done it without you!

ExpatWomen:  In your experience as an Expat Woman, does anyone stand out in your memory, as someone who really helped support you a lot, at a time when you really needed it?

Cherie: I have to say that the people who have been the kindest to me in other countries, were the local people, not my fellow expats who perhaps had enough on their own plates at the time.

When I was recovering from chemo in France, my neighbor told me I must come over for lunch and dinner every day. I said, oh no I couldn’t possibly impose like that. But then pretty soon I just started going over there every day to eat. The whole family was so wonderful to me I can’t express it. They told me that I will always have a home in France, with them, and I know they meant it.

 In Mexico after my second breast cancer treatment, I suddenly had a weird side effect and since there was no oncologist in San Miguel de Allende, I went to a dermatologist to have her look at my incision. She recommended an oncologist in another town, and I took what I called the “burro bus” to get there. The bumpy bus stopped at every dusty burro trail and took three hours to travel fifty miles. I had to return several times, and when my Mexican friend Nelly heard about it, she insisted on taking off work and driving me over herself. This made her my friend for life.

Last year in Buenos Aires, I had to move from my rental apartment where I lived for two years as the owner’s daughter needed it. After four months of constant searching, I finally found another one at the right price and which I liked. My friend from Toastmasters brought her husband, a retired accountant, to the contract signing to make sure it was fair and legal, as foreigners are sometimes taken advantage of. Another lifelong friend.

The day after Christmas 2006, I fell at the gym and broke two ribs. One of my classmates went with me to the ER, and brought me home. She called my boyfriend who then came to take care of me for several weeks as I was totally helpless. 

I hope I have been as good a friend in my past as these people have been to me.

ExpatWomen:  From your experience, Cherie, how do expat newcomers find and develop support networks, so that they have someone to call in the morning at 2am?  Do you have any pieces of advice to assist in this process?

Cherie:  Every country has its expat network, whether it’s an online mailing list or a club where people actually get together. When you first arrive, I recommend joining everything and meeting as many people—expat and local—as possible. Soon you will figure out what activities, and which people, are your style.

Making friends anywhere isn’t easy, especially as we get older. That’s why it’s important to look for common interest groups. I joined Toastmasters International in Buenos Aires because it has always been a life-long dream of mine to speak well in public, and in so doing I’ve met some wonderful, varied, and interesting people. Looking for groups that you belonged to in your home country, like the Lions, for example, or a tennis club, is a great place to start.

After my first cancer treatment and I was recuperating alone in the French countryside, I joined the “gym” class in the town hall of the village. I met people, but more importantly, my body felt better and stronger. Plus I had the fun of participating in the Mardi Gras parade as a Dalmatian!

I’m lucky in that the world of tango is small, and anywhere I go in the world to dance, I find people I know, or at least recognize.

In San Miguel de Allende, I joined a Cancer Support Group, hosted a writers’ group in my home, was active in my church. I made friends with waitresses, shop owners, volunteered at the orphanage and taught English. It’s true that it was easier in a small town than a huge city, and that’s perhaps why so many gringos retire there.

Wherever I go I have a lot of parties in my home. I love bringing people together.

I think the key to success as a guest in another country is to participate, participate, participate.

ExpatWomen:  Can you tell us a little about Buenos Aires – the city, the culture, the people, and why you have chosen to live there?  

Cherie: Basically two words: Tango and Cheap, although with prices rising every day here, who knows how much longer it will be cheaper than Mexico or my home town of Hollywood, California.

But tango was born in Buenos Aires, and it will always be the Mecca for dancers from around the world.

I’ve always been a dancer, and now have danced Argentine tango for ten years. I’ve been lucky enough to work as a teacher and Tango Tour guide with my partner, Ruben Aybar, an Argentine. I’ve been able to slowly build a good life here in Buenos Aires, but it hasn’t been easy.

The people of Buenos Aires, or portenos, are generally ethnically European and feel strong ties to Spain, or Italy, or Germany, or England, or wherever. They’re self-conscious imitators at times such as in their architecture of a hundred years ago and wide boulevards, sidewalk cafes, and outdoor newsstands. And I think they have very strong subconscious feelings about being so far geographically from that world, especially nowadays when few can afford to tour Europe on vacation. Argentinians feel a bit forgotten by the rest of the world, and so their culture is somewhat nostalgic and sad. That’s where the tango comes from. I identify with these emotions as I’ve lost so much in my own life.

I thought when I moved here over three years ago, that I needed a big city, full of theater and concerts and galleries, but I find now that my life is full with friends, my reading and writing, and my tango work. 

ExpatWomen:  What would be your top 5 tips for women moving to Buenos Aires?  

Cherie’s Top Tips:

1. 1. Bring your pet and as many of your treasured books, linens, paintings and photos as possible;

1. 2. Don’t expect it will be easy to make close friends in another language, and don’t expect your friends back home will remember you forever;

1. 3. Have high-speed internet hook-up in your foreign home;

1. 4. Bring your favorite salsas, packaged foods, spices, condiments, peanut butter;

1. 5. Expect to spend a whole lot more money than you plan on; and

1. 6. Volunteering is a great way to meet people, learn the culture, and to feel good about yourself.

ExpatWomen:  And lastly Cherie, do you have any words of wisdom for our Expat Women?

Cherie: 

As a dancer, I can’t say enough about the importance of exercise. Wherever you live, you will be healthier and happier if you exercise. I personally love to dance, but there are many other ways to keep moving. Just do it!

1.  How long have you been writing?

I’ve written all of my life. I wrote a book, Coffee Shop Dreams, about raising children in the arts, but it was never published. My travel essays, book reviews and dance critiques heve been published regularly in magazines, newspapers and professional journals. I’ve written a blog, tangocherie, since 2006.

2.  What first got you interested in writing?

I don’t know. I was an only child and always writing poetry and stories, sometimes a “book,” I suppose to entertain myself. I read voraciously and love words, so it was only natural I would want to write. In school I was always singled out as a fine writer of compositions, and I was selected for advanced workshops at University.

3.  Which writing group do you attend?  And when did you start going?

I go to the English Writing Group of Buenos Aires, and joined at the beginning several years ago. Before moving to Buenos Aires, I lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and hosted my own writing group of memoirists.

4.  Why do you attend a writing group?

Because writing is such a lonely and isolated job, it feels good to join like-minded people who struggle with the same issues. It’s also very helpful to have feedback when I’m in doubt over one thing or another. And if I can also help someone else, so much the better.

5.  What genre(s) do you write?  What drew you to this/these genre(s)?

I write essays, usually critical, of dance, culture, music, travel, as well as memoir. I’m very opinionated and emotional and I enjoy imbuing an experience with my ideas and thoughts for the reader.

6.  Are there any genres that you don’t enjoy writing?  Why?

I don’t read or write horror, science fiction, romance, because genre fiction is formulaic.  Nor do I like series.

7.  What types of things do you write (poetry, short stories, articles, travel writing, song lyrics etc.)?

As I said, articles and essays, reviews. Everything I write is from my point of view.

8.  Have you ever had anything published?  If yes, what and where?  If no, would you like to be published?

Hundreds of book reviews and travel articles of mine have been published over the years. And this year I published my own book, The Church of Tango: a Memoir.

9.  Have you sent your writing to agents/publishers?  Have you received any rejections?

Yes, I sent out many queries for Coffee Shop Dreams, and often submitted the requested first three chapters, but no one wanted to publish it.

I’ve sold several travel articles on spec after queries to various print magazines.

10.                Would you consider self-publishing/e-publishing?  Why/why not?  Are you interested in eBooks, or do you prefer the old fashioned paper-made books?

I did publish my memoir myself with CreateSpace, and it’s available on Amazon in paper and also for Kindle. I prefer paper, but many readers are switching to ebooks.

11.                Apart from writing, what are your other hobbies/interests?

Reading of course, and I used to love travelling but can no longer afford to do so. I’ve been in the tango world since 1997, and enjoy very much teaching tango in Buenos Aires with my partner. We also were Finalists in the 2006 BsAs Tango Championships.

12.                What is the most valuable thing you have taken away from your writing group?

Encouragement.

13.                Do you have a website/blog/twitter/facebook dedicated to your writing?  (Please include links and information)

Tangocherie    http://tangocherie.blogspot.com

Mirasol Press  http://mirasolpress.blogspot.com

The Church of Tango       https://www.facebook.com/thechurchoftango

14.                Who/what influences your writing?  Where do you get your inspiration from?

Music, culture, spirituality, color, dance, emotion

15.                How do you come up with your characters’ names and personalities?

My characters are all real people; sometimes I tweak their names a bit for their privacy and sometimes I use their real ones. Often I combine several characters into one with one name.

16.                If you could have written anything, what do you wish that could have been?

A great dance film.

17.                Have you ever attended an open mic night for spoken word performers, and either an observer or a performer?  If yes, did you enjoy it?  If no, is it something you’d consider in the future?

         I’ve attended and enjoyed such shows, but it would be the last thing I’d ever do. However that being said, I have enjoyed doing readings and discussion of my own book.

         As part of my job as a librarian, I used to have to give book talks and I never felt I did the books justice. The books were so much better than my presentations.

18.                What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?

“It’s the process, Cherie!” – John Nichols

19.                What advice could you give to a new writer?

Join a writing group, but be sure it’s not group therapy or simply positive reinforcement.

20.                What is your writing routine?  Do you write daily or just when you feel like it?  Is there a certain time of day where you are at your most creative?

21.                Do you start out with a complete idea for your stories, or do you just start writing and hope for the best?

Depends. Since I don’t write fiction, this really doesn’t apply to me. But when I begin a column, essay or blog post, usually I end up with something I hadn’t thought of before. Through the writing process new conclusions come to me.

22.                Do you have an editing process?  Do you have someone else read over your work?  Do you read your work aloud to yourself in front of the mirror?

I self edit a lot, and listen to suggestions from my writing group. Before I published my memoir I hired a professional editor, who helped me enormously.

23.                Have you ever entered any writing competitions?  Have you ever won?

I’ve entered a few. Recently I won one about my own personal “tango,” and I submitted an excerpt, “The Key,” from my memoir. The prize was to have it set to original tango music and sold on iTunes.

24.                What do you enjoy the most/least about writing?

I’m a word person, and especially now that I don’t live in a culture where my native language is spoken, nor can I communicate in English to my partner, writing fulfils the need to express myself in English.

25.                How important is it for you to share your writing?

The writing process isn’t complete until somebody reads it, until communication takes place.

26.                What types of things do you read?  Do you think your writing reflects your book tastes?

I read historical fiction, history, biography, literary fiction.

27.                Do you have any favourite lines from novels/plays/poetry/songs, or any favourite literary quotes?

Many! “If you want a happy ending, that depends of course, on where you stop your story.” – Orson Welles.

28.                What are you working on at the moment?

A prequel to The Church of Tango, which takes place from 1960-1963.

29.                Is there anything else you’d like to add?

The world doesn’t need another book, but maybe we need to write one.

Expat Author Interview

Introduce yourself (name or nickname, where you are from & where you live now):

My name is Cherie Magnus, but most folks on the internet know me as tangocherie for my blog. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, I left there in 2001 to live in Mexico, and then in 2003 I moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with Phoebe the expat cat. In January 2012, I published my first book, The Church of Tango: a Memoir—Death, Dance, Destiny.

1.    Why did you move abroad?

I had a series of losses in my life beginning with the death of my beloved husband from cancer. More loss followed including the family home, my mother to Alzheimer’s, and my own two cancers. I had to take early retirement from my job as a dance reference librarian in the Los Angeles Public Library. Then money was an issue and so I moved to Mexico where I thought life would be cheaper. I also took it as an opportunity to live in a foreign culture and learn a new language. But I was a tango dancer and so I was drawn to Buenos Aires, the Mecca of tango that I had occasionally visited since I began dancing tango in 1997. In 2001 Argentina suffered an economic crisis and it was very inexpensive. Since then things changed and inflation has skyrocketed—something that most expats don’t think about when they make the decision to leave home for greener foreign fields.

2.    How do you make a living? Are you a fulltime writer?

Luckily I receive a small pension, and I am able to make ends meet (most months) by teaching tango with my Argentine partner, Ruben Aybar, who is my life partner as well. After we were high-ranking finalists in the Buenos Aires Tango Championships of 2006, we were asked to teach, and now we have students from all over the world. We have nothing but fantastic reviews on Trip Advisor, which help new students to find us.
I do receive royalties from my book, The Church of Tango: a Memoir, but because it’s in English and I live so far from the English speaking and reading world, it’s very difficult to market it. Last April, however, I did do a reading/signing as a guest of the U.S. Embassy at the International Book Fair of Buenos Aires. And when I visited Los Angeles in May, I did some local readings and signings at libraries, tango dances, and book stores.

3.    How did you start the process of writing a book and get it published? Did you go to a publisher? Self-publish?

I’ve always been a writer, mostly of critical essays and reviews as well as travel articles. I was the dance critic for a local newspaper in Los Angeles, and of course I wrote book reviews as part of my job as a librarian. I wrote an unpublished book, Coffee Shop Dreams in the 80s.
When I began my journey of survival in 1992, I started to write about it as an outlet. When more dramatic events kept happening in my life, I realized I was writing a book. I queried several agents with no result. Because of my age and the fact of having had bad health, I thought realistically that if I ever wanted to see this thing in print, I had better do something about it myself because life is short.
Because I have friends who self-published and recommended the process, I investigated some companies in 2011 and went with CreateSpace because it was the least expensive with no up-front money and because it’s affiliated with Amazon. I paid a graphic designer to design the cover and the book, and a professional editor. I did the proofreading myself (not recommended; I nearly went blind!) The quality of the resulting paperback is just perfect.

4.    How long did it to take from conception to publication?

From 1992 to 2012—ten years. When I finished writing it, it was more than twice as long; I cut out more than I left in.

5.    What was the hardest part of taking your writing to a book format? Did you blog before writing your book?

Controlling the release of information as the story unfolds and getting the pace just right. I had a hard time figuring out when to proceed chronologically and when to use flashbacks to sustain drama.
I’ve been writing the tangocherie blog since 2006, but it has very little to do with my book.

6.    What is your perception of the expat book market? Has it changed throughout the process?

When I began writing my story and knew I wanted to publish a book, the “expat” books I read were all commercial and professionally published, most of them being travel narratives. I read Tony Cohan’s On Mexican Time, In Tuscany by Frances Mayes, A Thousand Days in Tuscany by Marlena de Blasi, and Peter Mayles’s wonderfully droll books on living in Provence. Naturally I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love but it just made me angry that the writer seemed so spoiled and self-centered.
Then I read the many expat Buenos Aires tango memoirs that continually are being self-published and I determined that my book wasn’t going to be like them. That being left by a man and fleeing to Buenos Aires to find oneself in tango for a year and then going back home to write about it wasn’t going to be the theme of my book.
I wanted to show that one doesn’t have to give up when a tragedy, or in my case several tragedies, knock you down. I had read too many stories of “my life is over because my husband died,” or “my life is over because I have cancer.” I was lucky because dancing helped me, but we all have to find something that will help us to survive. And I hoped I could encourage other people to strive on.

7.    What is your favorite part of the book?

I enjoyed writing the beginning--my discovery of Paris and love, writing about the milongas of Buenos Aires, and the chapter, The Key, in which I view my old house at night where new owners live, and imagine that my happy old life still exists there inside the glowing windows.

8.    What was the most difficult part to write?

I had more or less completed the writing, but felt more information regarding my mother’s illness and decline had to be included. I am an only child and was very close to my mother. But writing about her dementia and caring for her made me relive the suffering and pain all over again. I cried the whole time I wrote about it.

9.    What advice would you give to other expats that want to write a book?

Do it! Just don’t expect that the world is waiting for your book. The satisfaction is in the process.

10. What are you working on now? Do you have plans to publish another book?

Now I’m working on the prequel to The Church of Tango: a Memoir—working title, Barefoot Ballerina. It takes place from 1960-1963 when I was a Dance Major at UCLA and before the world changed irrevocably.
I’ve had many requests to write a sequel about my life in Buenos Aires since the end of the memoir, but at this time I don’t plan to. The journey is always more interesting. But you never know!