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Ellyn Oaksmith's Blog - Posts Tagged "adventures-with-max-and-louise"
Interview on Lily Pond Reads, part of my Tasty Reads Blog Tour
Today I want to welcome Ellyn Oaksmith to the blog! Thank you Ellyn for taking the time to answer a few questions for us :)
Ellyn - I love how your husband calls romance books "porn for women." What did he think about Shades of Grey? :)
Lily - I believe that Shades of Grey was the book that had he started on the whole 'porn for women' thing when one of my friends significant others decided to open to a random place and read it. The challenge was that no matter what page they open it to, there will be a smutty scene.. But let me tell you Ellyn, he has very few chosen words for Shades of Grey and none of them are great lol.
Here we go:
1. Tell us a little about your recent release?
Adventures with Max and Louise is about a 25 year old girl who gets stuck in the role of caretaker. Like a lot of women Molly assumes the mothering role when her own mother dies and instead of dating and being engaged with life, she stagnates. Even her career is anonymous -- she assumes the identity of Diner X to review restaurants for a Seattle Newspaper and blog but no one knows who she is, least of all, herself. In an effort to move on, she is prompted, by her well-meaning sister, to get plastic surgery to remove some scars from the past. But there is a mix-up in surgery and Molly accidentally gets breast implants. And they change her life.
2. How did you first come up with the inspiration to write The Adventures with Max and Louise?
My inspiration for Max and Louise came while I was driving my old SUV to pick up my preschooler with my baby strapped her car seat in the back. I was tanned and relaxed after a cruise in Mexico (which I hated but it was more relaxing than every day life) and I thought of how good it felt to slip on a dress during the cruise with my fuller figure. I was nursing, so for the second time (my 1st pregnancy was the 1st) I had curves. I thought, "Could I ever have breast implants?" My decision was no, after years of having an athletic, streamlined figure it would be foreign, like having another personality. Of course in real life this doesn't happen to women with implants although some have increased confidence. The characters of Max and Louise popped into my head at that moment. The book didn't write itself but the plot sure
did.
3. Which character did you find easiest to write and why? Do you ever base characters on people you know?
The dad was the easiest because I based him on my dad. My dad is not a Seattle Police officer but he is the calm in the storm, the person you call when you have a flat on the interstate (which my husband did within weeks of meeting me), the kind of dad when you are blathering on about the great science fiction idea you have will stop you and say "That doesn't sound like something you'd write." So yes, I totally do. I have a great family so in some ways, they are all in there. But I don't attach their names or tell them. Maybe I should tell my dad. Anything beautiful and romantic is something my husband would do, if he had time.
4. How did it feel to publish your first book?
Like someone let me into Baskins and Robbins and said, "Go for it. Here's your mixing bowl, Load it up." That really happened to me in high school (no mixing bowl) and my friend probably should have been fired because she was closing the store. And don't tell my kids because that was stealing.
5. What inspired you to become an author?
I really had no choice. It's like breathing. A therapist once told me that when I went through a hard time that I'd received a gift. I "acted in" instead of acting "out" like some other people who ended up in jail. I went inward and turned things around until they made sense to me. I do that every day. That, my family and my faith in God saves me every minute of every day.
6. Do your characters ever try to take over your writing?
Do they ever. I know it sounds really weird to people who haven't experienced this but it's the same feeling that a little kid has when the the devil on their shoulder says, "Steal that candy bar. It'll taste good and no one will ever see." This person speaks to you and opens a door and if that voice is interesting, you open the door. If that person has a lot to say and is part of this family for a reason, you go a little further. Sometimes it leads to a dead end and you feel like you've wasted time. But this lady named Faye showed up in my mind and changed the plot and theme and direction of my new book, Divine Moves. She is a God-fearing, no-nonsense, says what's on her mind kind of gal. I want to be more like her.
7. What is the current book you are reading or the last book you have read?
I am reading (I had to go look it up but I love it) State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. Anything that woman writes is magic. And Maya Angelou is my hero too. Both of them are old souls who have so much to share, so much wisdom. I feel like their wise-cracking younger sister but that is incredibly presumptuous of me. I wish.
8. How would you describe your writing style?
What I try for is humor laced with sadness. I've tried writing books that didn't have any humor. They were awful. I come from a family that tells jokes and laughs in the most hideously inappropriate places. My aunt told me hilarious story at her own husband's funeral. It was about the corpse and how they accidentally gave it a tan and put on sunglasses because there was a miscommunication with the funeral director. Yesterday I was given a stranger's medication at the pharmacy and went ahead and swallowed it before I looked at the bottle. This is my life. Some parts are really sad but if you don't laugh, you're lost.
9. Why did you choose the genre you write and what do you like about it?
Okay, I keep jumping ahead to the next question accidentally. I feel like this genre chose me. I am that girl that gets into the wrong rental car while on honeymoon and the driver, who is 20 years older than I am is really pretty happy that this young blond is sitting next to him. And my husband is in the identical white car behind us wondering if he should laugh or come get me. Stuff like this happens to me almost every day. I move a little too fast in life sometimes. My husband told me on our 17th Anniversary that being married to me is great but "weird." I worked on a fishing boat, went to Smith college. Worked as a screenwriter and met gobs of famous people. My life is a mash up of extreme highs and lows. I could really use some normality. Still waiting for it.
10. What do you ultimately hope people get out of your books?
Honestly, this might sound lightweight because I do cover some heavy themes, particularly in my new book but I really just want to entertain people. I want to help them relax and unwind and forget about the bills, in-laws, exams, whatever it is that drives them into the arms of a book. I want my book to be their excellent vacation. That's really it. They can change their own lives and control their own destiny. I just want to be the groovy soundtrack that they listen to along the way. That would be ideal.
Thank you so much for your time and interest. Happy Reading!
Ellyn Oaksmith
Ellyn - I love how your husband calls romance books "porn for women." What did he think about Shades of Grey? :)
Lily - I believe that Shades of Grey was the book that had he started on the whole 'porn for women' thing when one of my friends significant others decided to open to a random place and read it. The challenge was that no matter what page they open it to, there will be a smutty scene.. But let me tell you Ellyn, he has very few chosen words for Shades of Grey and none of them are great lol.
Here we go:
1. Tell us a little about your recent release?
Adventures with Max and Louise is about a 25 year old girl who gets stuck in the role of caretaker. Like a lot of women Molly assumes the mothering role when her own mother dies and instead of dating and being engaged with life, she stagnates. Even her career is anonymous -- she assumes the identity of Diner X to review restaurants for a Seattle Newspaper and blog but no one knows who she is, least of all, herself. In an effort to move on, she is prompted, by her well-meaning sister, to get plastic surgery to remove some scars from the past. But there is a mix-up in surgery and Molly accidentally gets breast implants. And they change her life.
2. How did you first come up with the inspiration to write The Adventures with Max and Louise?
My inspiration for Max and Louise came while I was driving my old SUV to pick up my preschooler with my baby strapped her car seat in the back. I was tanned and relaxed after a cruise in Mexico (which I hated but it was more relaxing than every day life) and I thought of how good it felt to slip on a dress during the cruise with my fuller figure. I was nursing, so for the second time (my 1st pregnancy was the 1st) I had curves. I thought, "Could I ever have breast implants?" My decision was no, after years of having an athletic, streamlined figure it would be foreign, like having another personality. Of course in real life this doesn't happen to women with implants although some have increased confidence. The characters of Max and Louise popped into my head at that moment. The book didn't write itself but the plot sure
did.
3. Which character did you find easiest to write and why? Do you ever base characters on people you know?
The dad was the easiest because I based him on my dad. My dad is not a Seattle Police officer but he is the calm in the storm, the person you call when you have a flat on the interstate (which my husband did within weeks of meeting me), the kind of dad when you are blathering on about the great science fiction idea you have will stop you and say "That doesn't sound like something you'd write." So yes, I totally do. I have a great family so in some ways, they are all in there. But I don't attach their names or tell them. Maybe I should tell my dad. Anything beautiful and romantic is something my husband would do, if he had time.
4. How did it feel to publish your first book?
Like someone let me into Baskins and Robbins and said, "Go for it. Here's your mixing bowl, Load it up." That really happened to me in high school (no mixing bowl) and my friend probably should have been fired because she was closing the store. And don't tell my kids because that was stealing.
5. What inspired you to become an author?
I really had no choice. It's like breathing. A therapist once told me that when I went through a hard time that I'd received a gift. I "acted in" instead of acting "out" like some other people who ended up in jail. I went inward and turned things around until they made sense to me. I do that every day. That, my family and my faith in God saves me every minute of every day.
6. Do your characters ever try to take over your writing?
Do they ever. I know it sounds really weird to people who haven't experienced this but it's the same feeling that a little kid has when the the devil on their shoulder says, "Steal that candy bar. It'll taste good and no one will ever see." This person speaks to you and opens a door and if that voice is interesting, you open the door. If that person has a lot to say and is part of this family for a reason, you go a little further. Sometimes it leads to a dead end and you feel like you've wasted time. But this lady named Faye showed up in my mind and changed the plot and theme and direction of my new book, Divine Moves. She is a God-fearing, no-nonsense, says what's on her mind kind of gal. I want to be more like her.
7. What is the current book you are reading or the last book you have read?
I am reading (I had to go look it up but I love it) State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. Anything that woman writes is magic. And Maya Angelou is my hero too. Both of them are old souls who have so much to share, so much wisdom. I feel like their wise-cracking younger sister but that is incredibly presumptuous of me. I wish.
8. How would you describe your writing style?
What I try for is humor laced with sadness. I've tried writing books that didn't have any humor. They were awful. I come from a family that tells jokes and laughs in the most hideously inappropriate places. My aunt told me hilarious story at her own husband's funeral. It was about the corpse and how they accidentally gave it a tan and put on sunglasses because there was a miscommunication with the funeral director. Yesterday I was given a stranger's medication at the pharmacy and went ahead and swallowed it before I looked at the bottle. This is my life. Some parts are really sad but if you don't laugh, you're lost.
9. Why did you choose the genre you write and what do you like about it?
Okay, I keep jumping ahead to the next question accidentally. I feel like this genre chose me. I am that girl that gets into the wrong rental car while on honeymoon and the driver, who is 20 years older than I am is really pretty happy that this young blond is sitting next to him. And my husband is in the identical white car behind us wondering if he should laugh or come get me. Stuff like this happens to me almost every day. I move a little too fast in life sometimes. My husband told me on our 17th Anniversary that being married to me is great but "weird." I worked on a fishing boat, went to Smith college. Worked as a screenwriter and met gobs of famous people. My life is a mash up of extreme highs and lows. I could really use some normality. Still waiting for it.
10. What do you ultimately hope people get out of your books?
Honestly, this might sound lightweight because I do cover some heavy themes, particularly in my new book but I really just want to entertain people. I want to help them relax and unwind and forget about the bills, in-laws, exams, whatever it is that drives them into the arms of a book. I want my book to be their excellent vacation. That's really it. They can change their own lives and control their own destiny. I just want to be the groovy soundtrack that they listen to along the way. That would be ideal.
Thank you so much for your time and interest. Happy Reading!
Ellyn Oaksmith
The Mind of a Writer is a Very Scary Place
Of course there is an outline for the book. The outline is the plan for the camping trip. We'll head up into the mountains, have an adventure, roast some marshmallows and everyone will learn something. Oh yeah, the heroine will fall in love. With a hot guy who smells good.
Then the bear shows up.
It's not every day that I write a bear shows up. Sometimes it's a bear free day and everyone gets to keep chugging along. I refer to the piece of paper on my left. Things happen as planned.
On a day like today the evil twin on my shoulder whispers, "have the old lady run away." So, while the heroine complained to her mother about the bitter, nasty, angry old woman, the old woman over heard. Since a lot of the book is the younger woman finding out that she has a lot more in common with this old woman than she'd like to find out, it's poetic that the old woman takes off. The younger woman panics. (And the hot guy, who is a Sheriff, is called. Ryan Gosling will play him in the movie.)
Now how on earth can a septuagenarian woman in the middle of a rural Southern town make it very far at dusk? It's up to me to figure out how this woman skedaddles and how far she makes it. Who does she stay with and how long does she stay lost? (Answer: long enough for a good, long panic.)
I do stuff like this all the time and it makes every day interesting. I have plopped people who didn't know how to ski at the top of a 3 diamond ski run with "instruments of death" strapped to their feet after they'd bragged about knowing how to ski. I've had a dog fall from a helicopter -- into a bank of powder snow. He lived. (And it's based on a true story.) I've had a woman get drunk trying to drown the spice from her boyfriend's cooking attempt, who also dangled from a mountain side. I've had a kid set his dad's Mercedes on fire, I've had that Dad ride his bike into a moving car, I've had that kid kidnapped. I've had a middle aged book group strip down to their unmentionables at a charity auction when the audience was expecting modern dance.
All of this was on the spur of the moment. Hopefully it doesn't read that way. Hopefully it seems like the well executed plot that couldn't work any other way.
My old lady will live to see another day. All my characters will. I think. For now.
Happy Halloween.
Then the bear shows up.
It's not every day that I write a bear shows up. Sometimes it's a bear free day and everyone gets to keep chugging along. I refer to the piece of paper on my left. Things happen as planned.
On a day like today the evil twin on my shoulder whispers, "have the old lady run away." So, while the heroine complained to her mother about the bitter, nasty, angry old woman, the old woman over heard. Since a lot of the book is the younger woman finding out that she has a lot more in common with this old woman than she'd like to find out, it's poetic that the old woman takes off. The younger woman panics. (And the hot guy, who is a Sheriff, is called. Ryan Gosling will play him in the movie.)
Now how on earth can a septuagenarian woman in the middle of a rural Southern town make it very far at dusk? It's up to me to figure out how this woman skedaddles and how far she makes it. Who does she stay with and how long does she stay lost? (Answer: long enough for a good, long panic.)
I do stuff like this all the time and it makes every day interesting. I have plopped people who didn't know how to ski at the top of a 3 diamond ski run with "instruments of death" strapped to their feet after they'd bragged about knowing how to ski. I've had a dog fall from a helicopter -- into a bank of powder snow. He lived. (And it's based on a true story.) I've had a woman get drunk trying to drown the spice from her boyfriend's cooking attempt, who also dangled from a mountain side. I've had a kid set his dad's Mercedes on fire, I've had that Dad ride his bike into a moving car, I've had that kid kidnapped. I've had a middle aged book group strip down to their unmentionables at a charity auction when the audience was expecting modern dance.
All of this was on the spur of the moment. Hopefully it doesn't read that way. Hopefully it seems like the well executed plot that couldn't work any other way.
My old lady will live to see another day. All my characters will. I think. For now.
Happy Halloween.
The Best Hawaiian Christmas Gift
The plan was, minimal gifts, minimal food, maximum sun and all our dough spent in plane tickets. I was a teenager. My family was going with our best friends, collectively, The Brysons. Between the two of us, we had six kids. Our mothers had gone to University together and their husbands had to get along or spend many weekends unhappily. As luck had it, they became fast friends.
There was no problem settling in. We stayed at a condo near the beach. It was familiar and we shucked our gear, changed into bathing suits and hit the beach. I am sure there were some arguments about my sister and I looking out for our younger brother. I am sure my mother won.
We spent the days at the beach, eating Siamin noodles from McDonald’s and roasting in those pre-sunscreen days until we resembled toast. My nose probably peeled the entire time. My mother likely tried chasing me around with one of my dad’s long sleeve shirts, telling me I was going to turn into a wrinkly prune. I knew that wrinkles would NEVER bother me. Besides, my dad’s shirt was like, totally ugly.
Christmas dinner, which was supposed to be a light affair, turned into something else at the hands of my father who feels that holidays are all about butter, cream and a chunk of meat. He roasted some huge beefy thing in the oven until we were all sweltering and disgusted by the smell. What smelled delicious in foggy Seattle, made our stomachs turn in the tropics.
He presented us with his feast, along with my mom’s best friend’s offerings, which were traditional and heavy. Did I mention that she’s a saint? Part of her saintliness was realizing that no one was going to go along with my father’s delusion that we would eat much. So she bought into his whole Christmas feast ethos and feigned jolliness when we all sat down in various stages of undress and made faces.
"Well isn’t this nice?" she said as we all sat down at the table which took up enough room in the condo living room so that we sat against the walls. Some of us were out on the balcony. Six sullen children stared at the food without comment. Nice? We wanted to be at beach. Or the pool. Or chasing peacocks. That was my brother.
We managed a few bites and tried to run off. My mother caught us by the straps, forced us into the kitchen. We washed dishes from a meal we neither wanted nor enjoyed before dashing off. If we heard one more rotation of the Don Ho Christmas tape one of us was going to jump. We were on the 22nd floor.
New Years was much more fun. The whole city of Honolulu comes alive with fireworks. The fathers bought a bunch of M80’s. Being men in the 70’s they were not looking for sparkly but something that can take an eye out. They took their weapons, along with their children, to light off a few across the street from the condo. Across the street is a school. The police that arrived, lights blazing, told us that it was against the law to light off fireworks, especially illegal ones, on a school ground. Who knew?
Later, after a few, possibly a few too many cocktails, the dads decided that the leftover fireworks were going to waste. We weren’t allowed to come but we did watch on from the 22nd floor balcony as our fathers blew up tremendously loud M80’s. They reverberated across the parking lot and up the building with a pleasing force.
Soon after we had the memory of a lifetime provided as the same police arrived and our fathers ran off the property, away from the police, scaling a fence. We then had the epic joy of seeing said fathers getting a scolding from their wives about setting a bad example and the you-could-have-gotten-killed lectures we’d heard countless times. The dads didn’t seem to mind. They had a great time. Time for another drink.
Yes, there was sun and surf and palm trees but the best part of that trip was watching our fathers get chased by the police.
Merry Christmas!
There was no problem settling in. We stayed at a condo near the beach. It was familiar and we shucked our gear, changed into bathing suits and hit the beach. I am sure there were some arguments about my sister and I looking out for our younger brother. I am sure my mother won.
We spent the days at the beach, eating Siamin noodles from McDonald’s and roasting in those pre-sunscreen days until we resembled toast. My nose probably peeled the entire time. My mother likely tried chasing me around with one of my dad’s long sleeve shirts, telling me I was going to turn into a wrinkly prune. I knew that wrinkles would NEVER bother me. Besides, my dad’s shirt was like, totally ugly.
Christmas dinner, which was supposed to be a light affair, turned into something else at the hands of my father who feels that holidays are all about butter, cream and a chunk of meat. He roasted some huge beefy thing in the oven until we were all sweltering and disgusted by the smell. What smelled delicious in foggy Seattle, made our stomachs turn in the tropics.
He presented us with his feast, along with my mom’s best friend’s offerings, which were traditional and heavy. Did I mention that she’s a saint? Part of her saintliness was realizing that no one was going to go along with my father’s delusion that we would eat much. So she bought into his whole Christmas feast ethos and feigned jolliness when we all sat down in various stages of undress and made faces.
"Well isn’t this nice?" she said as we all sat down at the table which took up enough room in the condo living room so that we sat against the walls. Some of us were out on the balcony. Six sullen children stared at the food without comment. Nice? We wanted to be at beach. Or the pool. Or chasing peacocks. That was my brother.
We managed a few bites and tried to run off. My mother caught us by the straps, forced us into the kitchen. We washed dishes from a meal we neither wanted nor enjoyed before dashing off. If we heard one more rotation of the Don Ho Christmas tape one of us was going to jump. We were on the 22nd floor.
New Years was much more fun. The whole city of Honolulu comes alive with fireworks. The fathers bought a bunch of M80’s. Being men in the 70’s they were not looking for sparkly but something that can take an eye out. They took their weapons, along with their children, to light off a few across the street from the condo. Across the street is a school. The police that arrived, lights blazing, told us that it was against the law to light off fireworks, especially illegal ones, on a school ground. Who knew?
Later, after a few, possibly a few too many cocktails, the dads decided that the leftover fireworks were going to waste. We weren’t allowed to come but we did watch on from the 22nd floor balcony as our fathers blew up tremendously loud M80’s. They reverberated across the parking lot and up the building with a pleasing force.
Soon after we had the memory of a lifetime provided as the same police arrived and our fathers ran off the property, away from the police, scaling a fence. We then had the epic joy of seeing said fathers getting a scolding from their wives about setting a bad example and the you-could-have-gotten-killed lectures we’d heard countless times. The dads didn’t seem to mind. They had a great time. Time for another drink.
Yes, there was sun and surf and palm trees but the best part of that trip was watching our fathers get chased by the police.
Merry Christmas!
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One day only, free e-book. A funny look at modern families.
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Free Books This Weekend
Slight detail -- giveaway starts tomorrow and will now last all weekend. So get your holidays off to a great start: THIS WEEKEND!!!
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