1. What advice would you give to aspiring authors about learning the craft? And what books, mentors, or classes have helped you the most?
The best thing a writer can do for herself is get qualified feedback. By this I mean having a lit professor, an editor, or other professional read your work and critique it. The only way to improve your writing is to take a few hits and come back stronger. I majored in technical writing in college, and while I do believe any writing training is beneficial, training in the kind of writing you want to do will boost your raw talent.
Books I found helpful include Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress, How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James N. Frey and Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass.
2. What authors do you read?
Because I write children’s literature, children’s books have taken over my nightstand! Some of my favorites are A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban, Second Fiddle: Or How to Tell a Blackbird from a Sausage by Siobhan Parkinson, The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley, who planned to live an unusual life, by Martine Murray, and A Corner of the Universe, by Ann M. Martin. I still love my grownup writers: Anne Tyler, Sue Miller, Elizabeth Buchan, Elizabeth Berg, and a host of mystery writers.
3. What are you working on next?
I’ve got two middle-grade fiction books coming out with Walker Books: The Hotel of Blueberry Goodness (2010): a girl who lives in a hotel meets an eclectic group of friends, including a teenage runaway. Me and Jack is due 2011: a twelve-year-old newcomer adopts a dog, and together they take on a bully, an unfriendly community, and the dark mountain that looms above the town.
4. Please describe your introduction to the publishing world.
I’ve been writing since I was little, but my first introduction to the business world of publishing was a conference put on by the Space Coast Writers Guild in Cocoa Beach. I was working on my first manuscript, and I’d prowl the Internet at night trying to glean information about the path to publication. One search turned up a listing of conferences, and you could choose to go to single presentations rather than the whole conference. That sounded good to me! I’d never been to a conference before, and the thought of going all day surrounded by more savvy writers scared me. But I found one presentation that was compelling enough to make me put on makeup, use hairspray, and drive to Cocoa Beach: Writing the Query Letter.
When I arrived, the other writers seemed to know each other. I didn’t know at that time there was such a thing as critique groups; I found out later a lot of the conference attendees came together with their groups. The woman who presented the query letter session was great! In a short forty-five minutes, she hammered down the mechanics of a query and the main thing it should accomplish: describing the conflict of the novel. I talked with her after the session and she offered to let me email her my query. I was impressed by her comments and generosity. It was my first view that I actually was part of a community—the writing community.
5. Please describe your influences, inspiration, and typical day.
My influences are my childhood, my family, my mom and dad, God, pets I’ve owned, feelings I’ve had; sometimes I overhear a snatch of conversation—just a phrase or two—and it ignites a whole story. I’m inspired by all those things, and I’m inspired by anyone in any line of work who pushes their gift to the limit.
My typical day begins with strong cappuccino, two of them. Make breakfast, make lunches, get everyone ready, drop little people off to assorted schools, come back, do a quick clean, then sit down to my keyboard, where I stay for about three hours. Then it’s lunch, return emails, phone calls, blog posts, etc. before I make the return trip to pick everyone up. Cappuccino time again! Snacks and homework follow, playing outside or going to various activities, supper, dishes, get everyone ready, tell embarrassing stories about myself and my brothers and sister when we were little, kisses and hugs, and then I sit down to watch something funny on TV. It’s really late now, so I head to bed with my husband, where we both stay up way too late reading. One day, I will go to bed on time and wake up refreshed.
Thanks for having me, Jillian!
Thank YOU, Danette!
Danette’s Web site: http://www.danettehaworth.com/
Click to buy: Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning
Spunky, headstrong Violet Raines is happy with things just the way they are in her sleepy backwoods Florida town. She loves going to the fish fry with her best friend, Lottie, and collecting BrainFreeze cups with her good friend Eddie. She loves squeezing into the open trunk of the old cypress tree, looking for alligators in the river, and witnessing lighting storms on a warm summer day.
But Violet’s world is turned upside down when Melissa moves to town from big city Detroit. All of a sudden Violet’s supposed to want to wear makeup, and watch soap operas, and play Truth or Dare! It’ll take the help of Violet’s friends, her Momma, a few run-ins with lightning, and maybe even Melissa, for Violet to realize that growing up doesn’t have to mean changing who you are.
