365 Interviews

Interview 97: Dalarna

1. Can you tell me about yourself?

I was raised in a military family and moved around a lot in my childhood, living in almost every province of Canada, as well as California and Germany. I have two parents, two brothers and two sisters. I went to university, where I studied psychology, then worked as an editorial assistant, then a managing editor, and then a copywriter/producer at an advertising agency. I now own my own ad agency in Victoria BC. I am married, and I have a grown son and two step-sons.

2. What inspired you to write?

I was a bookworm as a child, and have always written: journals, poems, songs, ad campaigns, business plans. Writing a novel was just the next logical step.

3. If you could have one of your characters come to life who would it be and why? What would you do with them?

There's a lot of Everly and her family in me and mine, so my characters have already come to life really. I guess it might be fun to meet Willow in real life -- he seems like he'd be a good steady friend -- a spiritual guy, a new age thinker, but not too flakey.

4. Where do the your ideas come from?

Most of my ideas come from my life experiences, or things that I've observed around me. Sometimes I'll read about something in the newspaper or online that will trigger an idea.

5. Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?

 I do work to a rough outline, and I have a good idea of how the story will end, but I don't know everything that happens along the way before I start writing. That evolves as the characters start to interact.

6. How do you think you've evolved creatively?

Writing for a living has made me more disciplined. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by a story and think you'll never get it finished, but when you write for clients, you don't have the option of saying 'I don't feel like it today' -- you just have to write and it turns out well.  So when I started writing a novel, I just forced myself to write, even when I didn't feel like it.

7.What is the hardest thing about writing?

For me, the hardest thing about writing is showing my work to others!  Writing is so personal that it feels like I'm revealing everything there is to know about myself.

8. Would you call yourself a wattpad celebrity? Why so or why not?

I am definitely not a Wattpad celebrity, though I joke to my husband about having a 'fan club'. I'm tickled to see lots of hits, and really grateful for people's comments, but I'm a long way from celebrity.

9. Are you working on any new story you can tell me about?

I am working on a new story -- but at this point it's just folders full of notes and ideas, no actual sentences yet. It will be quite different from Scaredy Cat -- more of a life and death kind of thing, but with a bit of dark humour here and there.

10. What is your favorite quote?

I've got lots of favourite quotes. Here's one from Victor Hugo: "Be like the bird who, halting in her flight on a limb too slight, feels it give way beneath her, yet sings, knowing she hath wings." 

11. What is your favorite film and why?

Hmmm. I think my favourite films are those that find beauty and humour in the worst situations.  Like 'Slumdog millionaire' or 'Life is Beautiful'.

12. Where can you see yourself in 5 years time?

In five years I hope to be working on a screenplay for the movie they're making of my second novel.

13. Imagine your main character dies on page one.  Everything else remains the same.  Describe the new plot to your book.

If Everly died in the first scene, nothing else could remain the same. I guess instead of a quest for courage it would be a quest for the afterlife.  : )

14. What advice would you give to your younger self?

Message to a younger me:  Eat more vegetables. Get more sleep. Otherwise you're doing great!

15. Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?

The famous people I'd like to meet would be (living) Steve Martin, because he's a funny, intelligent, creative guy, and (dead) Jesus, for all the obvious reasons.

16. If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?

If I could have been the original author of any book it would be 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens. We've all seen the movie, but if you read the book it's just delicious writing. Listen to this description of Scrooge: "Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge!  a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster."  Wow!  The story is full of love and compassion and is a great tale of redemption. And of course, it's timeless -- written in 1843 and still loved today.

17. What was the easiest part of writing?

For me, the easiest part of writing is coming up with the ideas; then comes the challenge of weaving those ideas together into an interesting and cohesive story that engages the reader's curiosity and keeps them reading.

18.Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

I learned quite a bit from writing my story -- you write the most ordinary sentence and then realize, oh, I'd better look up the average temperature in May in Ottawa, or visit a Chinese grocery store to look at canned goods, or play a game of laser tag.  I wrote Scaredy Cat years ago, so some of the details may no longer be current; if I do a big rewrite I'll have to learn some more!

19.Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

To my readers, and especially those who leave comments -- I am beyond grateful for your interest and support! When people become attached to my characters, or laugh about some funny incident, or just feel happy that they've read the book -- that is the biggest rush ever! Thank you!

20. Do you have any advice for other writers?

The best advice I could give other writers is this:  Read 'Bird by Bird' (Anne Lamott) and 'On Writing' (Stephen King). Enormously helpful.  Then stop waiting for the right time, or the perfect idea. Just get words on paper.