Grace, Welcome back
to Homeschooled Authors! Tell us what has been keeping you busy of late?
Thank you for having me
back! I have been mostly busy making small humans the past couple of years -- I
have a fifteen-month-old daughter and another baby on the way! So that keeps me
from being as productive in other ways as I used to be, but I am releasing
another book this month -- the next book in my Firmament series! Writing
while being a mom is its own adventure for sure!
You’re here today to
talk about your book October (which is appropriate because it is the month of
October). What inspired you to write this book?
I was ironing clothes
one day, when I suddenly got an image in my mind of a girl with beautiful red
hair spending time with her two younger friends, enjoying a beautiful summer
day, but with something darker underneath that they didn’t know about. I was
intrigued by it, and I knew where it had come from -- each of the major
characters in the book is based on either myself or close friends of mine, and
I wanted to explore some of my experiences with them -- of knowing someone but
not knowing all the pain that’s underneath. At least, not at first.
What was the biggest
challenge in writing this story?
The hardest part by far
was just how vulnerable it was writing about such personal things. As I said,
while the book is thoroughly fictional, almost everything in it is directly
inspired by something real, someone I know, something that I’ve experienced, or
something I’ve closely observed. That was difficult to share, but even just the
writing was more emotionally draining than I expected.
What was the easiest?
In a sense, the easiest
thing was the same as the hardest -- the fact that it’s all based on reality.
While that was emotionally difficult, it made it easy for me to visualize the
story, to understand the emotions and motivations, and to draw settings and
details from what I knew best.
What do you think
sets October apart from many books written for the same age group?
I hope it’s more honest
than many books for young adults. Many that I’ve read either ignore darker
realities of mental illness and the struggles of life, or they dramatize and
glamorize them. In this book, I try very hard to do neither -- to face the hard
things without trying to make them pretty or easy or simple.
What has your
favorite response been to your book?
So many people have
commented on its beauty, which means a lot to me. It is a dark book, and parts
of it are very sad, but my goal was in the midst of it all to show the beauty
of everyday life and the hope peering through the midst of the pain. People
seem to have recognized that, which has been amazing.
Where can people buy
the book?
On Amazon! Both the
ebook and paperback are available there.
What is next for you
as a writer?
As I mentioned earlier,
I am currently getting my next book out! It is the sixth book in the Firmament
series, my sci-fi series for young adults. It has been almost two years since October
came out, so I am very excited to finally have another release!
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