Ask the Author: Joyce Yarrow
Answered Questions (15)
Joyce Yarrow
Definitely Nick and Nora Charles in Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man. Their easy camaraderie, laced with witty exchanges and underpinned by a shared love for adventure - and each other - make them irresistible. And let's not forget their dog Asta, an integral part of the team.
Nora Charles: Take care of yourself
Nick Charles: Why, sure I will.
Nora Charles: Don't say it like that! Say it as if you meant it!
Nick Charles: Well, I do believe the little woman cares.
Nora Charles: I don't care! It's just that I'm used to you, that's all
Nora Charles: Take care of yourself
Nick Charles: Why, sure I will.
Nora Charles: Don't say it like that! Say it as if you meant it!
Nick Charles: Well, I do believe the little woman cares.
Nora Charles: I don't care! It's just that I'm used to you, that's all
Joyce Yarrow
Thanks for your question, Ed.
As a reader, the characters I love most are the ones the author has made multi-dimensional, drawing their flaws with the same painstaking precision as their virtues. Harry Bosch is a good example, especially in Michael Connolly’s early books.
As a author, I often fall in love with the character who at first I would dislike the most. Sometimes I have to be careful not to let this influence the way I portray the character, especially if we are dealing with a villain.
As a reader, the characters I love most are the ones the author has made multi-dimensional, drawing their flaws with the same painstaking precision as their virtues. Harry Bosch is a good example, especially in Michael Connolly’s early books.
As a author, I often fall in love with the character who at first I would dislike the most. Sometimes I have to be careful not to let this influence the way I portray the character, especially if we are dealing with a villain.
Joyce Yarrow
Thanks for your question, Chloe.
For me the hardest part is the stage between finishing a book and seeing it published and making its way in the world. I'm working with a new publisher and It's exciting to develop this relationship, see the cover take shape, and read the blurbs that come in -- however, it's also exhausting, since authors are expected to participate fully in pre- and post-publication marketing. This can be a big distraction from the all important work of writing the next book. Where are the elves when I need them?
Thanks for your question, Chloe.
For me the hardest part is the stage between finishing a book and seeing it published and making its way in the world. I'm working with a new publisher and It's exciting to develop this relationship, see the cover take shape, and read the blurbs that come in -- however, it's also exhausting, since authors are expected to participate fully in pre- and post-publication marketing. This can be a big distraction from the all important work of writing the next book. Where are the elves when I need them?
Joyce Yarrow
Thanks for the question, Fadia.
The first book that comes to mind from my childhood is Walter Farley's 'The Black Stallion.' I read every book in Farley's series, which took me from my home in the urban jungle of New York to a desert island, where I learned that the true meaning of the world 'wild' was natural and free, rather than crazy and violent.
The first book that comes to mind from my childhood is Walter Farley's 'The Black Stallion.' I read every book in Farley's series, which took me from my home in the urban jungle of New York to a desert island, where I learned that the true meaning of the world 'wild' was natural and free, rather than crazy and violent.
Joyce Yarrow
Thanks for the question, Christine.
In my favorite childhood memory I am six years old, despondently playing a game of jacks across the street from my house. I feel lonely because my best friend has gone away and it is too early for any of the other kids to come out and shoot marbles or play hopscotch on the sidewalk.
I imagine some friends of my parents, who live in Queens, have come to visit. Their presence always cheers me up and prompts my parents to make more of an effort to get along. I close my eyes, wishing Max and Ruth would appear, walking arm-in-arm around the corner on their way from the subway.
Suddenly I hear my mother calling. Looking up, I see her leaning out of our sixth-story kitchen window. “Joyce! Come up! Max and Ruth are here! I’m happy and amazed. Also convinced that my wish had conjured up this miracle. Years later, I begin to write stories – longer and more complex wishes materialize on the page. Many characters appear.
In my favorite childhood memory I am six years old, despondently playing a game of jacks across the street from my house. I feel lonely because my best friend has gone away and it is too early for any of the other kids to come out and shoot marbles or play hopscotch on the sidewalk.
I imagine some friends of my parents, who live in Queens, have come to visit. Their presence always cheers me up and prompts my parents to make more of an effort to get along. I close my eyes, wishing Max and Ruth would appear, walking arm-in-arm around the corner on their way from the subway.
Suddenly I hear my mother calling. Looking up, I see her leaning out of our sixth-story kitchen window. “Joyce! Come up! Max and Ruth are here! I’m happy and amazed. Also convinced that my wish had conjured up this miracle. Years later, I begin to write stories – longer and more complex wishes materialize on the page. Many characters appear.
Joyce Yarrow
Tracey - for me best ideas spring from character. I study all the facets of my characters until I can see through their eyes and relate to their hopes and fears as deeply as they do. From this merging of author and 'other,' the story emerges.
Joyce Yarrow
Lovely question, Gregory, and immediately brings to mind A Tree Grow in Brooklyn - the way Francie was charmed by the old library in her neighborhood, discovering “the world was hers for the reading.”
Ray Bradbury wrote Fareinheit 451 in the UCLA library and describes this experience in a marvelous letter, in which he says:
“I needed an office and had no money for one. Then one day I was wandering around U.C.L.A. and I heard typing down below in the basement of the library. I discovered there was a typing room where you could rent a typewriter for ten cents a half hour. I moved into the typing room along with a bunch of students and my bag of dimes, which totaled $9.80, which I spent and created the 25,000 word version of "The Fireman" in nine days. How could I have written so many words so quickly? It was because of the library. All of my friends, all of my loved ones, were on the shelves above and shouted, yelled and shrieked at me to be creative. So I ran up and down the stairs, finding books and quotes to put in my "Fireman" novella. You can imagine how exciting it was to do a book about book burning in the very presence of the hundreds of my beloveds on the shelves. It was the perfect way to be creative; that's what the library does.”
Ray Bradbury wrote Fareinheit 451 in the UCLA library and describes this experience in a marvelous letter, in which he says:
“I needed an office and had no money for one. Then one day I was wandering around U.C.L.A. and I heard typing down below in the basement of the library. I discovered there was a typing room where you could rent a typewriter for ten cents a half hour. I moved into the typing room along with a bunch of students and my bag of dimes, which totaled $9.80, which I spent and created the 25,000 word version of "The Fireman" in nine days. How could I have written so many words so quickly? It was because of the library. All of my friends, all of my loved ones, were on the shelves above and shouted, yelled and shrieked at me to be creative. So I ran up and down the stairs, finding books and quotes to put in my "Fireman" novella. You can imagine how exciting it was to do a book about book burning in the very presence of the hundreds of my beloveds on the shelves. It was the perfect way to be creative; that's what the library does.”
Joyce Yarrow
My dream as a writer is to reach out and touch my readers with stories that engross and entertain them, while providing a glimpse of new vistas that I, too, enjoy exploring.
Joyce Yarrow
I think we feel that 'truth is stranger than fiction' because true stories about unusual human behavior often call for more exploration before they can be understood. And that's where the writer comes in.
Joyce Yarrow
Arindam Roy and I came up with a title that expanded into a book. Set in India and North America, It is a cross-cultural saga of love, crime, and intertwined destinies. Please stay tuned for more information when our publisher gives the green light.
Joyce Yarrow
Where I grew up, the library was the only safe place to hang out. It was a short step from there to deciding to be a writer.
Joyce Yarrow
I just finished co-authoring a novel with a writer from India. The book will be published in the fall. I'm writing about the collaborative experience and my travels in India to ground myself in the settings and begin to grasp the Indian 'mindscape.'
Joyce Yarrow
Don't 'aspire' - do. Remember the laws of cause and effect as you create a world for your characters. Vary your cadences. Swing through the trees like Tarzan and hold on tight.
Joyce Yarrow
Your daydreams never end.
Joyce Yarrow
My secret for cheating writer's block? At the end of each writing session, I leave an incomplete sentence or paragraph to complete the next day. So whatever my state of mind might be in the morning, it's hard to resist finishing off this fragment. And from there one word leads to another.
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