Persistence helps artist produce a novel

Portlander Jan Baross’ latest creative pursuit has been well-received

By Eric Bartels

The Portland Tribune, Oct 17, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

An excerpt of Jan Baross' book won a Kay Snow Award in 1999.

Submitted PHOTO

As much art as Jan Baross has created, she never imagined dedicating herself to the rigors of writing a novel.

“I never wanted to be a novelist,” says the longtime Southwest Portland resident. “I didn’t even know it was in me. It seemed out of my realm.”

But rain in Spain changed all that. While vacationing in Seville in 1996, her plans were stymied one day by a storm, leading the artist, photographer, filmmaker, playwright and screenwriter toward a new creative pursuit.

“I thought, ‘I’ll pretend to write a novel,’ ” she says. “ ‘Maybe I’ll get a chapter.’ ”

Before long, Baross wasn’t pretending, and now, 10 years later, she’s riding a frothy wave following the recent publication of “José Builds a Woman,” a colorful adventure written in a magical realist style that befits its Mexican setting.

An excerpt of the book won a Kay Snow Award back in 1999, but Baross says the real payoff is in the feedback she’s getting from readers, including those familiar with her other talents.

“It’s unbelievable,” she says. “I still haven’t taken it all in. For some reason, the book seems to have elicited much more response from people, I think because people understand that it’s very difficult to get published.”

Baross will read from the new novel, which was published by Portland State University’s Ooligan Press, at two events this week.

“José Builds a Woman” is narrated by Tortugina, the mother of the title character who, as a rebellious girl, aspires to become a cliff diver, to the dismay of both her family and her first love.

“It’s all about family and the emotional politics of the family,” Baross says. “Once I decided to talk in the voice of his mother, the words just started flowing.

“She’s very sensual. She’s very focused on her desires. Every decision she makes gets her into more trouble, all at the expense of the people around her.”

While Baross says she knew where the book would end, she could not predict Tortugina’s every move.

“When I was writing this, I never knew what she was going to do next. I was just following her to see where she would go.

Baross says she honored a pledge to herself by never giving up on the book, even as the years stretched on.

“I knew I would finish this,” she says. “I always promised myself I wouldn’t stop halfway through a project. I started that in college.”

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