Am I the only one who wants to know everything about the author of a book that I fall in love with? I scour through the Acknowledgements page of every book I read. I follow my favorite authors on Twitter, Facebook and read their quotes in People magazine. I devour their memoirs. (I’m still waiting on the edge of my seat for Kristin Hannah to write one!) And I speculate how my favorite of their characters resemble them. Because I want to know who they are, why they write, how they think.
Please tell me I’m not alone!
Considering my weird fascination, I took the challenge presented to me by fellow author and friend-of-a-friend, Katherine L. Evans to answer some questions that take you a bit further than the About Me page!
Here we go!
1. Where can you always find inspiration as a writer?
I am most inspired when I am enjoying other’s creative works, be it music, poetry, or a beautifully put together film. There is something about being immersed in creativity that breaths life into my own.
2. You’re only allowed to read one book again for the rest of your life; which is it and why?
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. It is an instant classic with some of the most beautifully flawed, genuine characters who are swept through a heart-wrenching story that when I hit the last page made me instantly turned back to page one and begin to reread. Yep. I could read that one over and over.
3. If you could live anywhere in the world for a year, where would it be and why?
My favorite city. New York City. This is actually one of those fantasy lives that passes across my mind often. I would live in a small place by a hotel I once stayed at around the corner from Broadway by Times Square. I wouldn’t own a car. I would walk everywhere I could and would carry a big bag with my high-heels so I could put them on at my destination. I would shop at the corner market that is actually underground. I would sip coffee at the little cafe down the way where I would people-watch. And I would chat with locals. And I would come out of it all with a handful of grand stories. Maybe even one I could write a book about someday.
4. Who is your favorite entertainer (singer, actor, etc.) and why?
Kate Winslet. Because she is a mother first, because she has aged gracefully and beautifully. Because she is an Oscar winner who was willing to go on Bear Grylls show Running Wild, be seen with no makeup, doing crazy stunts and eating horrendous foods without caring what anyone thought. Because she is a real woman who just so happens to be an immensely talented celebrity.
5. Best childhood memory?
Lying in the grass with my mom finding pictures in clouds.
6. Who do you most admire and why?
I admire those who have been handed a terrible lot in life but chose a perspective of joy regardless. Those who have lost someone or something, those born with deformities or in a societal class that could have put them at a disadvantage, but because of their outlook (or perhaps the outlook taught to them by someone in their life) they grew to do greater things than anyone could have imagined.
7. What is something that is popular now and annoys you?
Girls wearing too much makeup. Its just one way that as females, we mask ourselves and only show people a version of ourselves we think they would like. Instead, let us own our bodies, our faces, our hearts, our smiles, even our wrinkles as badges of who we were created to be.
8. What would be the perfect weekend for you and why?
Well this is tricky! I could easily say something about reading on a quiet beach. But that would be a picture drawn without my four kids, and there is nothing ideal in missing my four kids. So I’ll say something like moments of quiet reading and reflection dabbled with moments of raucous laughter until my daughter has laugh-tears which just makes us all laugh even more. Ideally on a beach…where no one gets sunburned…and someone else has provided all of the food. (Oh I’m sorry, does ideal not actually mean fictitious? My mistake!)
9. If you had intro music what would it be?
Something romantically haunting with high octave piano notes played by my husband who is my favorite piano player!
10. What do you feel is the most controversial opinion you have?
Probably how I choose to raise my children. Mostly because I think all parents believe they are raising their children correctly (or else they wouldn’t be doing it that way, right?), and it is often very different from my own parental choices. I don’t feel like I’m a controversial person though, because I generally like to keep my opinion to myself.
12. Tell us about your current writing project(s).
I am currently in my second draft/editing phase of a novel entitled, Shrapnel, about two women who have never met but help each other through the most trying months of their lives. Another project that has been put on hold momentarily is a novel I’m co-authoring with my dear friend and writing partner, Sally Hall. And I am working on a minibook called Teach Your Child to Love Reading…Even When You Don’t. To find out more about these books and have exclusive info on when they are released, sign up for my VIP News email list here.
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