Michelle: Thanks for this. I'm happy to get these questions from everyone!
Aiofe: What made you want to be an author?
Michelle:Reading! My mom is an avid reader, and I grew up seeing her with a book always in her hand. I read a lot as a child, and by the time I was 10 years old I had made up my mind to write books. I wanted to be a part of that special,magical world of words.
Siobhán:What inspired you to write your first book?
Michelle: I wrote my first novel in high school. I wrote it because I fell in love with a Lois Duncan book I had read, and I wanted more...but couldn't find anything else like it. So I decided to write the story I wanted to read.
Jaz: Have classic fairy tales been a significant part of your creative process since you began writing? Is there some aspect of them that you personally identify with?
Michelle: I grew up with a large volume of Grimm's fair tales, but although I have always loved them I have never desired to write anything along that vein until last year. I've never written fairy tales or fantasy before, so CINDERS came out of nowhere for me. If I were to say there is an aspect of fairy tales that I personally identify with, it would have to be with symbolism. Fairy tales are all about symbols, and I love to use symbols in my writing no matter what genre I'm working on.
Allyson: What was the biggest obstacle you faced in getting Cinders from an idea to being published?
Michelle: The biggest obstacle I faced was my own worrying that the book had to be something other than what it is. What I mean by this is that I wrote CINDERS for myself. I knew it would be a tragedy and that many readers might hate the ending, but I had to get the courage to put it out there anyway.
Sophie-Ann:What was your favorite part of the book?
Michelle: I'm not sure if you're asking about a favorite scene, character, or something else, but I think my favorite aspect of the book is the description. I had a lot of fun doing research about the 16th century and putting in just the right amount of detail to make the story come alive.
Sophie-Ann: What was the hardest part to write in the book?
Michelle: The end, most definitely. Right now I'm working on my next fairy tale novella, and the middle is the most difficult, but for CINDERS it seemed the end had to be just right to make it work. I had it finished at one point, and my editor really pushed me to make it a bit longer and tie up more ends. I'm glad she did.
Jayne O'Hagan: Where do you normally like to be when you're writing?
Michelle: Hehe, fun question. I like to be on the couch with a blanket and my netbook with some comfy music in the background.
Raven: Does your publisher publish gothic poems...I am in great need of changing my publisher?
Michelle: My publisher for MONARCH, my spy thriller, publishes a wide range right now. I am not sure if they are open to collections of poems, but you could email them and ask them. You can send an email from the rhemalda.com site.
Siobhán: What’s next for Michelle?
My spy thriller, MONARCH, will be released by Rhemalda Publishing September 15th of 2011.
How old were you when you published your first book?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: I was 31. :)
Excellent interview! I like the idea of writing a book because you can't find anything like what you want to read. If my memory serves me right..."The Lord of the Rings" evolved from a similar conundrum!
ReplyDeleteWalter: Thank you! I think LOTR was like that, yes. :)
ReplyDeleteAnon: Wow, I'm losing my mind. It was this past year that I published CINDERS. I'm 30, not 31. I'm ALMOST 31, and I guess once you past 30 you start forgetting your age, lol. :)