Not a Matter of Love Book

When I read Beth Alvarado, I have to admit the first thing I thought about was the heroin. I don 19t think a lot of writers inject the graphic details and emotions of heavy drug use as she does into her stories without first having tied off a few times. She writes with both understanding and conviction.
Did it help her in her writing? In her anthology 1CNot a Matter of Love and Other Stories 1D, she seems to write with a dreamy quality of warmth and color. I think she has a sense memory for her experiences with the needle, but her need for love and support clears up her writing.
I loved 1C Just Family 1D. Here a whole family waits with second thoughts for a heroin addict to be released from jail. The landscape is hot and barron; it 19s New Mexico after all. Ellen, the narrator, and her husband know the score. They know what happens when drug addicts go to prison. They meet others with similar problems and flaws, and things can only get worse. But Ellen and Richard also share a special knowledge 13 their love for each other began with the rush of heroin. They were both users, maybe before everyone else. Although they somehow managed to stay out of prison, they virtually had been enslaved to the drug from the first tingle and the dreamy light of their first high.
Here, Alvarado treats the injection of heroin not as a singular rush but as a lifetime of experience. She balances the underbelly of the culture with the solidarity of the family. Sooner or later, beyond the pain and glory, everyone finds out who what they are about. Yes, Alvarado gives us a frightening look at addiction, but at the same time she teaches about the real cure.
I believe her heroin addiction inspired her writing. Like the weird dream-like feelings she describes in her stories, she takes us around and around. But like every heroin addict that stops, there is the chill and confusion of being all on your own. Somehow, Alvarado has figured out how to convert this despair and loneliness into beautiful, insightful writing.