Colleen Houck Book Club discussion
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Colleen
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May 31, 2016 02:52PM
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when is your favorite time to write?? I like nighttime because that's when my creativity level is high :D
What is your absolute, all-time-favourite book to re-read? How many times do you think you've read it? And why is it your favourite?
I have a few questions: 1) Where is your favorite place to eat?
2) Who is the author you admire most?
3) Do you ever write by hand? Or do you prefer typing?
Thanks!
Where did you get inspiration for The False Prince? I read it years ago and never forgot about it.
Hi!!! When I saw this month's book I got incredibly excited...one of my favorite authors of all time is reading a book from another of my favorite authors of all time for her book club!1) What do you do if you hit a writing block?
2) Where do you go for inspiration?
3) Can you listen to music while writing?
4) Do you get easily distracted when reading or writing? If so, how do you fight it off?
5) Do you prefer to write things by hand, on an electronic typewriter or on a computer?
When did you know you wanted to be an author? Who inspired you?
Trudy wrote: "What was the turning point in your life where you knew you wanted to be an author?"Hi Trudy. There were several small nudges while I was in school - teachers who encouraged me, authors I wanted to emulate, or that desire within me to create story. The problem was that I never viewed becoming an author as a thing a regular person could choose as a career.
That changed when I quit work as a young mom to stay home with my oldest. To fill the time, I started reading everything I could get my hands on, and when that wasn't enough I started writing my own stories. Then one day it occurred to me (like my "duh" moment) that there probably wasn't much difference between what I was already doing and what an author did. I just had to learn to write well enough to get published. So I started that journey.
Colleen wrote: "What's your favorite fantasy film?"Hands down, Lord of the Rings - the whole trilogy. That, in fact, was the film that made me really want to write in the fantasy genre.
Colleen wrote: "Are you naturally a history buff? Did you have to research a ton for the Mark of the Thief series? I've always been fascinated with ancient Rome."I'm a huge fan of history, and I believe when we tell the stories (not just names and dates), they are the best stories ever told. So I love to draw from history whenever I can as a way of enriching my stories.
For Mark of the Thief, yes, that required a ton of research! There are post-doctorate scholars who focus their lifelong careers on nothing but the study of Ancient Rome. So the wealth of information we have about that period is vast. I wanted to be sure that everything I represented in the story about Rome was accurate (well, except for the magic - I added that!)
However, as big as that was for research, it was nothing compared to my current project, called "Resistance," based on the true story of Jewish teenagers in Poland who fought back against the Nazis. Stay tuned for more about that fascinating part of history.
Colleen wrote: "Which of your characters are you most like?"I'm a little bit on all of my characters. Sage and Nic's humor is my humor - I'm just smart enough not to say what Sage actually does. Like Sage, I'm a lefty.
I identify a lot with Imogen's form of passive defiance, and Gerta's stubbornness. There's a lot of me in Ani, from "The Scourge."
But there's no character who's all me - and that's probably a good thing.
Shara wrote: "Where do you like to write the most?"Hi Shara - I'm not super picky on the writing location. Honestly, my life is so crazy right now, I just can't afford to be. If it's quiet (or I have a good set of headphones), I can write just about anywhere. Most commonly, I have a really comfortable love seat near a warm window where I get a lot of writing done.
Natalie wrote: "when is your favorite time to write?? I like nighttime because that's when my creativity level is high :D"The coolest thing, Natalie, is that you know when your ideal time is - many writers are still figuring that out, or else they know it but can't always make time then. I used to be more of a night writer, but lately, I've been waking up at absurdly early hours with my brain ready to get going. The house is still quiet and dark, and I often get some great writing done then.
Okay, I also get some really craptacular writing done then, but hey, that's what editing is for, right? ;-)
Jodie wrote: "What is your absolute, all-time-favourite book to re-read? How many times do you think you've read it? And why is it your favourite?"The book I've probably re-read the most is "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" by Joan Aiken. It was one of the earliest books I fell in love with and even now if I open the pages, it will suck me in. I'm sure over my lifetime, I've read that book fifty times or more.
I think part of what drew me to it was the protagonist, Bonnie. She is so strong, so loyal, and more impetuous than she ought to be. If you've read my books, you'll no doubt see similar characters come through in my own writing. And I loved finding a book where the heroines were in real and terrible danger for so much of the story, and had to solve their own problems. As a child, I wanted to be just like Bonnie. I still do.
Shara wrote: "Do you have a favorite snack/drink by your side when you write?"I've written thousands of pages to the tune of a fizzy Diet Mountain Dew. I try to avoid the habit of munching while I write because writing is rather sedentary and so constant snacking hardly does me any favors. But I sometimes grab a handful of almonds and dried cranberries. In a perfect world, every page I finish typing would get rewarded with a square of dark chocolate. Darn this imperfect world anyway! ;-)
Kylie wrote: "I have a few questions: 1) Where is your favorite place to eat?
2) Who is the author you admire most?
3) Do you ever write by hand? Or do you prefer typing?
Thanks!"
Hi Kylie! Okay, here goes:
1) Right now, I love anywhere with a great salad. But if that's not available, I love "Five Guys" (the cajun fries are a must!), "Stacked" (California only - darn it!), and I'm a sucker for food carts and trucks (I'm on a don't ask - don't tell policy with their sanitary conditions).
2) I have huge respect for JK Rowling, and not only for the world she built, but I've often though of how much pressure she must have felt with each book she released. The expectations, analysis, and focus upon every word she wrote or spoke in public. The scrutiny of her personal and public life, just to get a single hint for the upcoming book. For most writers, their work would have suffered under so much pressure. But JK Rowling only got better, and for that, she will always have my admiration.
3) Writing by hand and typing are two different processes. Hand is slower and thus, works better when I'm trying to work through the details of a difficult scene, or when I'm editing and need to focus on individual words. Typing is best when the story is clear in my mind and I'm just trying to get it onto paper. So I most often type, but I always have a notebook handy for when that is needed.
Colleen wrote: "I love Sage in The False Prince, Where did his name come from?"The word "sage" also means "wise," and I think the choice of that name really would appear to this character. It's a reminder that despite all his flaws and missteps, at heart, he has a great deal of wisdom.
It's also a very earthy name, a bit raw and unrefined. Just like our character. Once I came up with that name, I never considered anything else for him.
Alaina wrote: "Where did you get inspiration for The False Prince? I read it years ago and never forgot about it."Thank you very much. I'd had the general story idea for a long time, but every attempt at writing it collapsed the main character, because it was so big and weighty. I found Sage in a song by Eddie Vedder called "Guaranteed." A line from that song said, "I knew all the rules, but the rules did not know me, guaranteed." I began wondering about the kind of person who would say something like that, and what the line really means. The more I pondered it, the more I had this idea of Sage, who knows exactly what game he's playing, but the other characters don't realize the game rules are quietly being rewritten.
If you look up the whole song, you will see it is Sage, through and through.
Ashley wrote: "When did you know you wanted to be an author? Who inspired you?"Hi Ashley. As a child, I'd never met a real author, never seen an author, and so to me, authors weren't real people. They all seemed to be dead guys, or people who lived these special, faraway lives. I was just this ordinary 11 year old who would have to grow up and get a "real people" job.
At that time, I discovered "The Outsiders" by SE Hinton. I loved the book and read it repeatedly. It was the first time I became curious about the author, so I looked her up. I was shocked to discover she had written the book as a teenager. Well, teenagers seemed to me like real people, ordinary people. I thought, if SE Hinton could write a book, why couldn't I?
It was the first time I began to think maybe that was a possibility for me. Actually getting there was a long time coming, but I am an author today because of that early inspiration from SE Hinton.
Celine wrote: "Hi!!! When I saw this month's book I got incredibly excited...one of my favorite authors of all time is reading a book from another of my favorite authors of all time for her book club!1) What do..."
Hi Celine! Thanks very much for your kind words. Let me answer your questions:
1) Because writing is an art, there is no "right" and "wrong," only "strong" and "weak" choices. Strong choices push your characters forward and expand the story. Weak choices limit your characters' potential and contract the story. If you experience writers' block (and all writers do at times), then somewhere earlier in the story, you likely made a choice that is limiting you now. It might be 100 words ago, or several chapters ago. The trick is being sensitive enough to the energy of the story to go back and find that limiting choice, then having the discipline to change it, no matter how much time it costs. But for the writers who are willing to replace weak with strong choices, it always pays off in the end.
2) My problem isn't finding inspiration, it's managing how much is out there. We are surrounded by possibilities ever single day and for me, I sometimes feel overwhelmed with all the stories I know I'll never have time to write. Most commonly for me, inspiration comes in songs, in history, and in current events, but that's still maybe only half of the ways I get ideas. The key to turning on that switch is to become curious about everything, and then learn to ask questions about everyday things. You see someone in a hurry and ask, why? The answer is a potential story. You see someone staring at a photo for a long time and ask, why? Another story. And so on and so on. Get in the habit of doing that, and you will start to see the hundreds of ideas around you every day.
3) I have a playlist just for writing - no lyrics. On a first draft, I prefer total silence, but I often edit with the playlist running. But most books I've written have their own playlists with lyrics that I often listened to for ongoing inspiration. So for "The False Prince," songs like "Guaranteed," (Eddie Vedder), "It's My Life" (Bon Jovi) and "What I've Done" (Linkin Park) were important. For "Mark of the Thief," songs like "Bet My Life" (Imagine Dragons) and "Wavin' Flag (K'naan) were big. "The Scourge" actually has a direct reference to "I'm Gonna Be" by The Proclaimers. My next trilogy, "The Traitor's Game" is largely inspired by "Run" (Snow Patrol) and "I Lived" (One Republic.
4) If I'm distracted, sometimes I just take care of the distraction rather than fight it. And that's okay, right? Just because I've carved out this time to write doesn't mean my head is in the game. But if I'm determined to write, I break it down by smaller goals. Like, finish this chapter or page and the reward is getting to indulge in the distraction for a bit. Then go do another chapter and earn the reward. It's a dumb trick, but for me, it works.
5) Writing by hand and typing are two different processes. Typing is faster, meant for when the ideas are flowing fast and you're trying to get it down on the paper. Hand writing is slow, so for me, it's a better way to work through complicated scenes or to add in detail. For that reason, most of my editing is done by hand. But every story I create is the product of both methods.
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Hi Ashley. As a child, I'd never met a real author, never seen an author, and so to me, authors weren't real people...."
I'm exactly the same! I always thought all authors were dead. My school library was full of dead writers. I mean their books, not the writers. ;)
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Colleen wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Ashley wrote: "When did you know you wanted to be an author? Who inspired you?"Hi Ashley. As a child, I'd never met a real author, never seen an author, and so to me, authors wer..."
Exactly! Which is why it's so important to get authors into schools and in the community.
Colleen wrote: "I'm a huge Bon Jovi fan. Still think Jon looks hot. Any band crushes from your teens?"I still love Bon Jovi - in fact, their song, "It's My Life" is very much part of the False Prince playlist.
I was an '80's teen, so I was all in for U2, A-ha, and Duran Duran, although honestly, for me, the music was always most important. Even then, I sought out songs that had story, such as "Sunday, Bloody Sunday," "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and "Jessie's Girl."
Hmm, I think I need to turn that 80's playlist back on for a couple hours... ;-)
Thank you for responding to my previous questions! I loved your answers! I have one more question for you that I totally forgot to ask last time: what are some of the greatest struggles being an author? Besides the obvious ones like writer's block. I've always wondered about this! Thanks in advanced for an answer!
Kylie wrote: "Thank you for responding to my previous questions! I loved your answers! I have one more question for you that I totally forgot to ask last time: what are some of the greatest struggles being an au..."Hi Kylie,
Struggles of being an author? I'm sure this is different for everyone, but for me, the self-doubt is always an issue. Because writing is an art, it's subjective and by definition, imperfect. So I'm always aware of my flaws, and always trying to get better. There is a fine balance between not having too much ego (ego kills talent) and being confident enough to trust your voice. I'm always seeking for that balance.
Hello Ms. Jennifer!My name is Maddie Ann and I used to write a lot of short stories when I was younger, but I never got the courage to show anyone. Mostly because I am too shy of criticism and I take what people say affect me. How do you deal with criticism?
Thank you!
Also, what is your favorite genre of books to read?
Maddie wrote: "Hello Ms. Jennifer!My name is Maddie Ann and I used to write a lot of short stories when I was younger, but I never got the courage to show anyone. Mostly because I am too shy of criticism and I t..."
Hi Maddie Ann - first, it's awesome that you're writing! And I totally understand how scary it can be to show your writing to others, but it is a necessary part of the process.
Remember that when someone critiques your writing, it is only ONE person's thoughts about this ONE piece of writing at this ONE moment in their lives. It is never an evaluation of you as a person, or even you as a writer overall. If you keep that in mind, it gets easier to hand over your work.
And it's important that you do share your work. The people who read your work are there to help you get better. If they suggest a change in your writing, it's only to make you better.
Finally, understand that EVERY writer needs an editor. No one is so good that they can read their own work accurately. So even if it's hard, it is just part of the process. Without my early critique partners and my editor now, I wouldn't be half the writer that I am today.
Maddie wrote: "Hello Ms. Jennifer!My name is Maddie Ann and I used to write a lot of short stories when I was younger, but I never got the courage to show anyone. Mostly because I am too shy of criticism and I t..."
Oh - and my favorite genre to read? I read `em all. My most recent read is non-fiction and then an adult literary book. My next is a middle grade historical and then a YA fantasy. I believe it's important for writers to read all genres and for all ages, because everything I read is an influence and a teacher for how I can improve.
Jennifer! :) If The Mark of the Thief trilogy was a food, what would it be?
((Haha, same [food] question goes for The Ascendance Trilogy, if you wouldn't mind ;) .))
Diana wrote: "Jennifer! :) If The Mark of the Thief trilogy was a food, what would it be?"Ha! I genuinely have no idea how to answer this question. I suppose Mark of the Thief would be a sampler platter of fresh fruits and cheeses.
The Ascendance Trilogy is a box of chocolates, wrapped. Like Forrest once said, "You never know what you're going to get." Oh, and also, some of the wrapped chocolates aren't even chocolates. That's the real trick! ;-)
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Colleen Houck Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The False Prince (other topics)Mark of the Thief (other topics)
The False Prince (other topics)
Mark of the Thief (other topics)
