We were lucky to catch up with Dale Mahfood recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dale, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

It was 2009, and I was sitting around the dinner table with my family and my mother. She was telling us stories of her youth, some of which had to do with her father, who owned a great house on an extensive property in Westmoreland, Jamaica. He was a wicked man in many respects, so my mother had many stories about him. After she told a few, which I had heard multiple times before, I announced to the family that I had just decided to write a novel using the seeds of my mother’s stories. Everyone, including my mother, encouraged me to write it. We then joked around about titles, some of them inappropriate, as they had to do with my grandfather’s lifestyle.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

It’s important to understand that I had no prior experience of writing a novel and had only written one short story. But I was an English teacher, who had taught the elements of various novels—plot structure, character, setting, theme, etc. I was too foolish or too self-confident or both, but soon after that, I jumped into the writing process. Long story short, it took me thirteen years to write and publish When Trees Fall, Book One of the Wood and Water Saga, between all the research, creating characters (some fictional some not), outlining, writing, editing, re-editing, book cover design, and all that goes into publishing a novel, including creating my publishing imprint, Rockstone Publishing House, LLC.

As a side note, I established Rockstone Publishing House to publish my writing, as I am shifting towards making writing a full-time profession. I had considered also publishing other people’s books, but my lawyer advised me not to mix my books with other people’s books for potential litigation reasons. I do, however, encourage other writers and point them in the directions they need.

Every novel or story I write has to do with one or more, and usually all three, of the following genres: historical fiction, cultural fiction, and family saga. Historical fiction roots my stories in a specific time and place, allowing readers to not only learn the facts of history but also experience what it must have been like to live during that period. Cultural fiction adds another layer of experience in which, through imagery and descriptive language, readers experience a culture they may never experience otherwise. Family saga, though, is the heart of my writing. To know and feel the joys and devastations of familial relationships, and to come out at the end of the story with a resolution and hopefully a revelation. These genres inspire my writing.

Something new I’m trying is serializing my novel, When Trees Fall, and some of my short stories on Substack. For those unfamiliar with Substack, it is the premiere newsletter subscription services used by top authors and journalists. Once a week, I post a chapter of the novel, sending it to my subscriber’s email inbox, but it can also be accessed through the Substack app. What I love about Substack is that readers can reply to my emails with comments or questions, and they can communicate with my other subscribers regarding the chapters, which creates a community around my writing. I’m considering writing the second novel in the Wood and Water Saga one chapter at a time on Substack and getting reader input and suggestions on where they want to see the novel go. That way, readers will feel a strong connection to the novel and want to see it succeed. I currently don’t charge for my subscription. To read the serialized version of my novel, When Trees Fall, visit my Substack Publication (https://dalemahfoodauthor.substack.com/p/when-trees-fall-important-cultural).

I also write poetry, which I probably won’t publish until later in my career. However, I have published my mother’s poetry book, A Simple Smile: A Poetic Memoir, in which you’ll find the history and culture of Jamaica with a focus on family. To get a free digital copy of my mother’s poetry book, sign up for my author newsletter, and a download link will be sent to you (https://www.subscribepage.com/a_simple_smile).

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

There are three driving forces for my creative journey, and they grew out of my initial decision to write When Trees Fall. Initially, I decided to enter the world of novel writing to provide a semi-fictional record of my mother’s side of the family that my family could enjoy and even share with their families. After I had written several chapters of the novel, I realized it would also serve as a sort of historical, cultural artifact for Jamaicans in general. This idea only grew as I began exploring characters from a multitude of Jamaican ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. To quote Marlon James, “Everybody lives in their own Jamaica.” I plan on delving into as many of those “Jamaicas” as I can in the Wood and Water Saga series. I also aim to record a Jamaica of the past and how it moved from colonial rule to independence and beyond. To quote another well-known Jamaican, “If you don’t know your past, you don’t know your future” (Ziggy Marley). Last, I came to the conclusion that these novels could also serve as windows for the world to see Jamaica as it was, thereby realizing Jamaica is more than reggae music and beaches. As wonderful as those things are, it’s important for me that the world sees Jamaica as a multilayered, complex nation of people, and be able to see themselves in some of these characters. We are a unique nation with our own set of blessings and besettings, but in the end we are people more similar than different to other nations.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are a couple of things I find particularly rewarding about my creative journey. I enjoy producing a quality product that people will not only be happy to read but will also enjoy owning. I have gotten positive feedback on both the quality of my writing and the presentation or packaging of the novel, particularly the hardback. It’s beautiful! My wife, who is my main editor and publishing partner, and I are meticulous about the quality of what we produce. We would rather take longer to publish a book and put out something people will value.

The other aspect of my journey that I’ve enjoyed is getting to know other authors, and, for me, particularly authors from my homeland, Jamaica. As I migrated from Jamaica back in the 1970s, it has been wonderful to reconnect with my people and my country over the last few years. Two Jamaican authors I now work closely with are Lynda R. Edwards (https://www.lyndaredwards.com) and Andrene Bonner (https://www.andrenebonner.com).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rockstonepublishinghouse.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dalemahfoodauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dalemahfoodauthor
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dale-mahfood-ba3aa811
• Other: TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@dalemahfoodauthor

Image Credits
The photo of Dale was taken by the photographer, Joseph Gallagher. The graphics of the two book covers, the book promo, and the Rockstone Publishing House logo were created by the graphic designer, by Dusan Arsenic. The photo of Dale reading was taken from his iPhone.