Ten Questions with… A. J. Walkley
This week’s special Monday guest is author of Choice and Queer Greer, A. J. Walkley! She was kind enough to visit us previously for a character interview with Rebecca Wilder from Queer Greer.
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Author Bio: A.J. Walkley is a novelist currently writing out of Tempe, AZ. She has written two novels that are available for purchase – Queer Greer and Choice – and is now hard at work on her third novel, Vuto, inspired by her experience as a U.S. Peace Corps health volunteer in Malawi, Africa.
Author Website: http://ajwalkley.com
Blog: alisonwalkley.com
Twitter: @AJWalkley
Facebook: facebook.com/ajwalkley
You can find Queer Greer here: http://bit.ly/zsnW8Y and Choice here: http://bit.ly/zhy9eq
About the Writer
1. What five words describe you?
Passionate, curious, empathetic, creative and independent.
2. What was the first story you ever wrote? I mean the really bad one we all have that you’re trying to hide in the back of the closet now that you’re published?
I remember writing a very bad mystery story in the Mary-Kate and Ashley-based newsletter my cousin and I wrote in elementary school. Remember how they had a detective agency with movies to go along with it? That was the inspiration for me as a 4th-grader. I’d like to think my writing has evolved significantly since then!
3. What inspires you?
I’m inspired by many different facets of life: activism, world news, family, friends, thunderstorms, beautiful and diverse landscapes, traveling, meeting new people and, above all, every single experience I’ve ever had.
4. What distracts you?
I’m a sucker for many television series, most of all when I’m trying to write. Right now the shows that are on a loop for me include: GIRLS, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Nurse Jackie, The Big C, Law and Order: SVU, Glee, Game of Thrones… I could continue…
5. What’s your favorite story? This can be specific, as in a particular book or even story-driven movie, or general, like “I’m a sucker for a hero looking for redemption story.”
I’d have to say I’m a sucker for plots that deal with difficult or controversial subject-matter – which is why I love basically every book that Jodi Picoult has ever written. From school shootings (Nineteen Minutes), to same-sex marriage and adoption (Sing You Home); communicating with “God” (Keeping Faith), to euthanasia (Mercy); or ghosts (Second Glance), to dying children (Handle with Care and My Sister’s Keeper) – Picoult loves provocative themes as much as I do!
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About the Writing
1. Tell us about your currently available titles.
Queer Greer tells the tale of Greer MacManus, who is uprooted from her childhood home in South Carolina, when her father is determined to fulfill his strange but pressing dream to become a border-crossing coyote. Her parents take her and her younger sister to Prescott, Arizona, to start a new life closer to the border.
Greer enters a new school with the hopes of reinventing herself from the wallflower with one friend to speak of, to a social butterfly. She soon finds herself among the company of athletes, a swimmer herself. While Greer tries to get comfortable in her clique under the admiring eye of Cameron Keeting, the most attractive jock in school, she becomes increasingly interested in someone else. Rebecca Wilder, the beautiful swim team captain and infamous lesbian in town, befriends Greer, taking her under her wing.
A love triangle soon overtakes Greer’s world, leading to drug experimentation and mental confusion as she comes to grips with her sexuality while her world starts to fall apart. Without anyone to turn to, Greer must find an inner strength and the courage to be herself in a society that doesn’t always understand.
Choice is about Haley Fry and her twin sister, Jamie, who have been compared to one another since birth. Haley is the quieter twin, a lover of music who prefers solitude to spending time with multiple friends. A prodigy on the saxophone, she dreams of a career as a musician. Jamie, on the other hand, is the athlete of the family who prides herself on her popularity and how many boys are after her at any given time.
The twins’ parents, Larry and Maggie, place more trust in Haley because of her calmer nature. They expect the unexpected from Jamie, but not Haley. When Larry and Maggie learn that sixteen-year-old Haley is pregnant, they are shocked. Surprising everyone, but mostly herself, Haley faces a life-changing decision: does she abort the baby or become a teenage mother?
Choice presents Haley’s dilemma in a unique way. The first half of this novel narrates what happens when Haley chooses an abortion, while the second half reveals Haley’s life when she chooses to keep the baby. Told through the eyes of the entire family, Choice illustrates the tough decisions involved in a teen pregnancy.
2. What’s your favorite part about writing these stories?
I loved writing Queer Greer just because it got me to think about the type of book I wish I had had to read when I was coming to terms with my own sexuality in high school and college. It put me in a younger mindset and let me reassess all of the issues I dealt with – it was almost therapeutic in a way.
When I wrote Choice, I laid it out so that each chapter is a different character’s point-of-view. I really enjoyed putting myself into the headspace of various family members who are all dealing with the same, fraught issue of teenage pregnancy. It was an exercise, almost, that gave me insight into how one scenario can affect a handful of people in very different ways.
3. What would your characters say about you? Be honest!
My characters love me – at least, I hope they do! I put them in difficult scenarios, sure, but only so they can be tested and come out stronger once all is said and done.
4. Who would play your favorite character if they made a movie of their story?
I don’t really have a “favorite” character – since I created them all, each of them has a special place in my heart. I’ll give you some possibilities for the protagonist from Queer Greer:
Queer Greer’s Greer MacManus: Chloë Moretz, Saoirse Ronan or Mia Wasikowska.
5. Do you have any projects currently in the works you want to talk about?
I am writing my third novel now. It is based in Malawi, Africa, where I was actually a health volunteer with the United States Peace Corps back in 2007. It’s called Vuto, about a woman of the same name, meaning “problem” or “trouble” in the native Malawian language of Chichewa.
Vuto is only 17 when her third child dies, mere days after birth. Malawian tradition prevents men from considering a child their own until it’s lived for two weeks. Frustrated at not being able to speak to her husband, Solomon, about all three of the children she’s had to bury alone, Vuto forces him to acknowledge the dead baby. Her rejection of tradition causes Solomon and the village elders to banish Vuto from the only home she’s ever known.
Vuto seeks refuge in the hut of U.S. Peace Corps volunteer Samantha Brennan, where Solomon discovers his wife has not left as she was told, leading him to attack both women. Disregarding her oath to remain uninvolved in village politics, Samantha interjects herself into the center of the conflict, defending Vuto and killing Solomon in the process.
The women go on the run from Vuto’s village and the Peace Corps, encountering physical, ethical and cultural struggles along the way.
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Thank you for being here with us today, and good luck with your books!
