The Author Interviews, Round 3: #3: Cornelia E. Miedler
Please join me in welcomingCornelia E. Miedlerto the Author Interviews.
What made you want to become a writer?Ever since I learned how to spell, I have been writing. I grew up on a farm in the Alps and was quite secluded from the ‘real world’. We did have a TV but only two channels up until I was 14 years old. I started off with writing poetry to deal with my teenage angst and to process my feelings. In school, I loved writing essays. It didn’t even matter to me what the topic was. When I was about 18 years old my school entered a writing contest. My essay was chosen to be part of a publication with the best entries. That was the first validation I got that my writing is interesting for others. It was intoxicating and made me want to keep writing.Pen or type writer or computer?I write all my books long hand in paper notebooks. Sitting in front of a laptop is not inspiring to me. I never leave the house without a notebook and often use different ones at the same time. The notebook allows me to sit in a park or at a café without being dependent on electricity. There is something magical about the ink appearing on paper and forming words, characters and actions. After several handwritten pages, I transfer what I wrote onto my laptop. While I do that, I keep adding new ideas. So I am basically already giving it a first edit that way.What is/are your book(s) about?I self-published my first book ‘LAlien-From the Austrian Alps to the Hollywood Hills’ in 2016. ‘LAlien’ is about my experience as a European immigrant from a small farm in the Alps in the big, cosmopolitan city of Los Angeles. I share my stories about the immigration process, getting married, attending university, adopting a dog, dealing with health problems, going through a divorce, Hollywood, work life, celebrity encounters – and most important of all: finding myself and learning to love myself. In March 2017, I published a short eBook with ’50 Writing Prompts’ on Amazon KDP, as I kept seeing on various author Facebook groups that established writers are seeking advice on how to overcome writers block and aspiring writers are looking for help on how to get started. I am currently writing my first book in German. My first two books were in English. My German book doesn’t have a title yet and is a novel about a young girl from the countryside who is having difficulties dealing with the conservative upbringing and the pressures put upon women to be a certain way in a small town.
Does your book have a lesson? Moral?Get outside your comfort zone and you may discover something new and wonderful. Don’t follow everyone else’s lead. Create your own path.Who is your favourite author and why?Bill Bryson. I read several of his books and they made me laugh. There are so many stories about tragedy but how often does a book make you laugh? Reading Bryson’s stories made me want to become a writer. I grew up reading all the literary ‘heavyweights’ in school: Kafka, Shakespeare, Goethe, etc. Bryson’s books made me realize it’s ok to write like a ‘normal’ person. Writers don’t have to use fancy words and write sentences that are half a page long. Writing and reading can just be fun! His ‘A Walk in the Woods’ had me laugh out loud in public numerous timesTell us a little about your plans for the future. Where do you see yourself as a writer in five years?As of last year, I work part time in order to pursue my dream of writing. This is meant to be temporary for a few more months until I finish my next book. However, I would love to be a successful enough of a writer to be able to go part time for the rest of my life. Writing makes me happy and adds so much joy to my life.Favourite fiction book?The Perfume by Patrick Süßkind; Brave New World by Aldous HuxleyWho is the most famous person you have ever met?In my memoir ‘LAlien-From the Austrian Alps to the Hollywood Hills’ I dedicate an entire chapter to meeting celebrities. As an Austrian, it was especially weird to have Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature on my university diploma from the University of California-Los Angeles as he was the governor of California at the time. My most nerve-wracking celebrity encounter was that with Robbie Williams (Americans will most likely not recognize that name). I was totally star struck and somewhat stalked him. I also met Kiefer Sutherland and have a photo with him. Just to name a few of those I met over my decade in LA LA Land.Do you have a favourite genre to read?When I was young, it was all about fiction and romance. As I get older, I enjoy true-life stories much more, especially when a person overcomes hardships against all odds. I also like reading stories that make me laugh and give me that warm fuzzy feeling.Do you use a bookmark or fold the pages?Bookmark! Folding a page of a book is sacrilegious!Many thanks to Cornelia for stopping by to answer some questions. If you would like to support the author, please check out her book below.
What made you want to become a writer?Ever since I learned how to spell, I have been writing. I grew up on a farm in the Alps and was quite secluded from the ‘real world’. We did have a TV but only two channels up until I was 14 years old. I started off with writing poetry to deal with my teenage angst and to process my feelings. In school, I loved writing essays. It didn’t even matter to me what the topic was. When I was about 18 years old my school entered a writing contest. My essay was chosen to be part of a publication with the best entries. That was the first validation I got that my writing is interesting for others. It was intoxicating and made me want to keep writing.Pen or type writer or computer?I write all my books long hand in paper notebooks. Sitting in front of a laptop is not inspiring to me. I never leave the house without a notebook and often use different ones at the same time. The notebook allows me to sit in a park or at a café without being dependent on electricity. There is something magical about the ink appearing on paper and forming words, characters and actions. After several handwritten pages, I transfer what I wrote onto my laptop. While I do that, I keep adding new ideas. So I am basically already giving it a first edit that way.What is/are your book(s) about?I self-published my first book ‘LAlien-From the Austrian Alps to the Hollywood Hills’ in 2016. ‘LAlien’ is about my experience as a European immigrant from a small farm in the Alps in the big, cosmopolitan city of Los Angeles. I share my stories about the immigration process, getting married, attending university, adopting a dog, dealing with health problems, going through a divorce, Hollywood, work life, celebrity encounters – and most important of all: finding myself and learning to love myself. In March 2017, I published a short eBook with ’50 Writing Prompts’ on Amazon KDP, as I kept seeing on various author Facebook groups that established writers are seeking advice on how to overcome writers block and aspiring writers are looking for help on how to get started. I am currently writing my first book in German. My first two books were in English. My German book doesn’t have a title yet and is a novel about a young girl from the countryside who is having difficulties dealing with the conservative upbringing and the pressures put upon women to be a certain way in a small town.Does your book have a lesson? Moral?Get outside your comfort zone and you may discover something new and wonderful. Don’t follow everyone else’s lead. Create your own path.Who is your favourite author and why?Bill Bryson. I read several of his books and they made me laugh. There are so many stories about tragedy but how often does a book make you laugh? Reading Bryson’s stories made me want to become a writer. I grew up reading all the literary ‘heavyweights’ in school: Kafka, Shakespeare, Goethe, etc. Bryson’s books made me realize it’s ok to write like a ‘normal’ person. Writers don’t have to use fancy words and write sentences that are half a page long. Writing and reading can just be fun! His ‘A Walk in the Woods’ had me laugh out loud in public numerous timesTell us a little about your plans for the future. Where do you see yourself as a writer in five years?As of last year, I work part time in order to pursue my dream of writing. This is meant to be temporary for a few more months until I finish my next book. However, I would love to be a successful enough of a writer to be able to go part time for the rest of my life. Writing makes me happy and adds so much joy to my life.Favourite fiction book?The Perfume by Patrick Süßkind; Brave New World by Aldous HuxleyWho is the most famous person you have ever met?In my memoir ‘LAlien-From the Austrian Alps to the Hollywood Hills’ I dedicate an entire chapter to meeting celebrities. As an Austrian, it was especially weird to have Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature on my university diploma from the University of California-Los Angeles as he was the governor of California at the time. My most nerve-wracking celebrity encounter was that with Robbie Williams (Americans will most likely not recognize that name). I was totally star struck and somewhat stalked him. I also met Kiefer Sutherland and have a photo with him. Just to name a few of those I met over my decade in LA LA Land.Do you have a favourite genre to read?When I was young, it was all about fiction and romance. As I get older, I enjoy true-life stories much more, especially when a person overcomes hardships against all odds. I also like reading stories that make me laugh and give me that warm fuzzy feeling.Do you use a bookmark or fold the pages?Bookmark! Folding a page of a book is sacrilegious!Many thanks to Cornelia for stopping by to answer some questions. If you would like to support the author, please check out her book below.
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