WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A WRITER?
I first wrote poetry as a child, usually high up in a tree. The beauty of nature, and the mysteries of being human on this extraordinary planet inspire me to write, paint and play music.
WAS THERE A TEACHER OR OTHER MENTOR WHO INFLUENCED YOUR WRITING?
The romantic poets such as Wordsworth, Keats, and Shelley, as well as the transcendentalists, Emerson and Thoreau showed me that I wasn’t alone in my feelings of connection with nature. Also, while studying for my Ph.D. in English, James Dickey, the well-known poet, was one of my professors who encouraged me to explore different ways of writing. He, other skilled teachers, and the works of literature helped me to expand my way of expressing myself on paper.
HOW DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR YOUR AWARD WINNING BOOK?
I first got the idea from Wordsworth’s poems about Lucy Gray, who is part-child, part spirit. When we read about her we are not sure if she is an actual child, or a spiritual presence in the grass, trees or stones. This idea also came from my own childhood. Sometimes I felt imprisoned indoors, either at school or at home, because where I grew up in Kent, England, was always so beautiful outside, regardless of the season. My house was surrounded by lush fields and magnificent oak-trees, and the garden was almost always filled with flowers. Luckily, my mother encouraged us to play outside most of the time, and we were free to wander for hours over the fields and farms. Farmers, cows, sheep, dogs, even the birds, rabbits, and foxes. seemed to recognize us as part of the landscape. I often walked alone in those woods and fields and imagined myself as part-child, part-flower, or tree. I was in everything and everything was in me. This gave me the idea of my main character, Lucy, in Lucy in her Secret Wood, an eight and a half-year-old child who was locked away indoors, for years, by her mean stepfather, and never knew the joys of being outside. When, one evening, her stepdad takes her out into the remote woods and abandons her there, Lucy wakes up to herself. By that, I mean that she recognized herself as part of the creation surrounding her. Having been deprived of life and beauty in her dirty little room, her awareness of beauty is much greater than for most humans. The animals, trees, flowers, and brook are all miracles for her, and because she feels the same magic within her, all her creativity and imagination is unleashed. Later, this manifests in the enchanting music she plays on a recorder.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LINE FROM YOUR AWARD WINNING BOOK AND WHY?
“But then [Lucy] remembered Alone [the deer], her body the colour of sunrise, her eyes full of the wood’s shadows that were saying, ‘Yes, shadows and darkness will come; night creatures will come, but light will always follow.”
Lucy is trying to settle down for her first night in the woods, inside the hollow trunk of Grandpa tree. She begins to feel afraid of the descending darkness, but then the doe, who she calls Alone comes through the trees and stares at her for a long time, as if trying to tell her that she has a friend and is not alone.
I like this passage because it shows how Lucy finds the courage to overcome her fears by connecting with her new family of woodland creatures who are beautiful, but also wise in the ways of survival.
WHICH OF YOUR CHARACTERS FROM YOUR AWARD WINNING TITLE DO YOU BELIEVE ARE MOST LIKE YOU AND WHY?
Lucy is the most like me because finally, after almost nine years, she is able to experience the childhood I had in nature. As in my case, nature becomes her palette for wonder, her main comfort, inspiration, and teacher. Like Lucy, I became interested in music because of nature’s sounds, and also because my family played classical music. At the age of 11, I begged my parents to let me learn the piano, but in those days parents did not cart children to and fro. I had to walk across four fields to get to my piano teacher's cottage, often in rain, and usually through a great deal of mud. My piano playing became a primary way for me to express myself, just as Lucy’s playing on the recorder is her most important way of communicating her feelings when she is alone.
WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU HOPE READERS WILL GLEAN FROM YOUR AWARD WINNING BOOK?
I hope they will be even more encouraged to see that we are surrounded by miracles and creativity, and happiness comes from experiencing life directly rather than through electronic gadgets and screens. Even city children can know a relief from playing outdoors, feeling the breeze, and seeing the sky, that can make them feel more alive than being enclosed inside a room. More and more cities are closing off streets so children can play outdoors, and schools are recognizing the importance of exposing children to nature in one way or another. The Children and Nature Network headed by Richard Louv, who coined the term “nature deficit disorder’ for children deprived of outside experiences, is doing all they can to increase children's connection with nature.
TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A WRITER:
As a child, I would climb trees with a piece of paper and a pencil so I could scribble out a ‘poem.’ I wanted to escape the scorn of my three older sisters who never took me seriously, but I also wanted a longer view over the tops of trees, into the fields beyond. I thought that view would make my poem more interesting. Often, I screwed up the poem in disgust, because I knew it was no good (and I certainly didn’t want my sisters to find it). At other times, I tore it as I scrambled down and lost interest in putting it back together. I don’t remember what I wrote in my tree-nooks. But I do remember feeling that pushing up higher through scratchy branches would make my writing more dramatic somehow.
I will continue to keep easing my way through leaves, hunting for a rise of ground that will give me a clearer view for my writing!
IF YOU COULD BE COMPARED TO A WELL-KNOWN AUTHOR WHO WOULD YOU MOST WANT THIS TO BE AND WHY?
I cannot think of a well-known writer I would like to be compared with! I love the classics but I realize their writing can seem old-fashioned and verbose for modern readers! I’ll just say I want to write clearly, spontaneously, and with just a touch of poetry that will inspire!
HOW DID YOU FIND AN AGENT / GET PUBLISHED?
I heard about Waldorf Publishing, a relatively new publishing house, through a friend. I contacted them directly, not through an agent.
IF A CLOSE FRIEND OR LOVED ONE WANTED TO WRITE A BOOK, WHAT GREATEST PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THEM?
Tap into your inner voice. Write spontaneously without thinking about the effect of your words on an audience. Don’t try to be reasonable or logical. Just write a stream of consciousness about the idea/event/story you have in mind. Put it aside. When you come back, perhaps after a day, you will find the gems. There will be some nonsense, but stay with the gems and build outwards from those, making sure you stick with that authentic voice, which is YOUR voice, not the one you are supposed to have, or that your audience might demand. Don’t be afraid to throw out what you know is unnecessary. Don’t get attached to what you write. Be merciless and objective when you are editing.
CAN YOU OFFER ANY ADVICE FOR WRITERS ON HOW BEST TO PROMOTE THEIR BOOK?
No. I am not a good marketer! This is the most difficult part for me. I would say that if you can afford it, find someone to market your book for you. Of course, there is always the social media – Facebook, Linked-in, Instagram, etc. These help a little. You should also make an Amazon Author page, and create your own website.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST LITERARY ACCOMPLISHMENT?
Winning the Eloquent Quill Award from Children’s Literary Classics for Lucy in her Secret Wood is a thrill! They have also given me a Gold Award. Several months ago, Readers Favorite gave me their Silver Award. All of these are a wonderful pat on the back. My first publication award was from The International Society of Poetry back in 2004 for my first poetry collection. That gave me the taste and the drive to keep writing.
WHAT ARE YOUR GREATEST LITERARY ASPIRATIONS?
I would like my children’s writing to creep into the minds and hearts of children, and encourage them to look at their surroundings with wonder and excitement. I would very much like the Lucy Series – Lucy in her Secret Wood (Book 1), and The Woodland Adventures of Lucy and Will (Book 2) to become best-sellers and to be made into movies. (Book 2 will be published in 2018).
TELL US SOMETHING PEOPLE MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU THAT THEY MIGHT FIND INTERESTING:
I was a terrible student in England from ages 11 to 16 (when I left school). I was always in the clouds, in my dream world, and I never studied until the last minute before an exam. Then I stayed up all night. The result was I was so tired when the exam came, that I had forgotten everything. I could not wait to leave school, and I began working in London when I was sixteen. Given how much I detested school and teachers, it is incredible to me, that I ended up getting a Ph.D in Literature and becoming a professor myself!
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH OUR READERS?
For young readers: Remember that watching television, or a movie, or playing a video game, doesn’t require much imagination. The “pictures” are already given to you, so you don’t have to create them yourselves as you do when you read about characters and situations in books. Reading will keep your minds and imaginations lively and interesting, and books are the best friends you will ever have.
WHAT OTHER BOOKS HAVE YOU PUBLISHED?
Poetry:
Published in 2006 by Watermark Press
Published in 2013 by Summerland Publishing
Children’s Books:
Published in 2007 by Summerland Publishing
DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW BOOKS IN THE WORKS?
Lucy Series Book 2 - The Woodland Adventures of Lucy and Will is already written and illustrated. It will be published by Waldorf Publishing in 2018.
Lucy Series Book 2 – The Woodland Adventures of Lucy and Will starts off a few seconds after Book 1 ends. Will, Lucy’s best friend, and kindred spirit, will join in her adventures, and I hope this will encourage more boy-readers to pick up the book. One nail-biting situation follows another, which makes this second book a page-turner. Now they are slightly older, Lucy and Will’s incredible friendship begins to become a little more like a childhood romance.
LITERARY CLASSICS Book Awards & Reviews International Book Awards • Top Honors Youth Book Awards • Seal of Approval http://www.clcawards.org
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