Colleen Houck Book Club discussion
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The Body Electric
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Oct 15, 2014 03:13PM
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When did you feel you were really a writer ?
How/when did you know you wanted to be a writer?
How long did it take for you to write The Body Electric?
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Why did you decide to revisit the world from the Across the Universe series?
First of all it is in honor to ask you questions and have a live chat with you. You really are a great author and I hope to meet you in person someday and get your autograph. Okay, to the questions....Do you ever get attached to your characters? How do you start writing and what made you become an author
P.S- I LOVE your books!!! They are actually really inspiring to me, both scientifically and as a writer. Oh and this is Ana.
Hi Beth!I want to start by saying that I really loved The Body Electric, especially how there were references to the events of The Across the Universe Trilogy.
When I was reading about all the inspiration you had for The Body Electric, especially with the characters of Jack and Rose (Doctor Who - woot!) and Ms. White (The White Witch) I was really interested and wondered if you had this process for Across the Universe books as well?
The Body Electric really explores a lot of Post Human concepts which are currently being developed and will probably become part of the everyday soon, such as bio-engineering, bio-printing, brain chips and robotics - which technology are you most looking forward to?
Can you tell us a little about your new writing project? I look forward to hearing about it!
Oh, and thank-you for the swag you sent back in my SASE letter - I really appreciate it!
Thank-you!
Marguerite
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Colleen wrote: "Welcome to the group! Beth will be answering questions on Thursday, August 27th in this thread only. In the meantime if you have a question for the author or just want to introduce yourself feel fr..."I'm so happy to be here--thank you for having me, Colleen and everyone in the book club!
Tonnie wrote: "What is your favorite thing about being an author? The worst?"Favorite thing...that's so hard to define. I love the very first idea of a book, when it's fresh and new and exciting. I love drafting the book, and seeing it become real. I even love editing, as it brings it closer to being the book I want to see in the world. And, of course, seeing and hearing from readers is pure bliss. It's amazing to me that people have read words I've written, and loved them as much as me.
Worst part: that initial feeling when I get negative feedback from a critique partner or editor. There's that hollow, drop-in-my-stomach feeling that I've failed in some way, and that I'm not good enough, and there's a fear that I can't make the work good enough, that it's hopeless. That feeling fades the more I work, but that moment is still the worst.
hi everybody, I'm Sharon, I enjoyed the book. Do you write just young adult or other types? Do you enjoy reading and if so what?
Colleen wrote: "Where did the idea for The Body Electric come from?"The idea for The Body Electric came from the last book of my Across the Universe series, Shades of Earth. As I was finishing it up, a part of me really wanted to know how Earth had changed while Amy and Elder were in space, and I really wanted to explore that on a deeper level. So that initial drive all came from that curiosity.
But there are definitely lots of elements from movies, television, and books that I've read. I put in little allusions to my favorite moments in sci fi. A lot of people don't get the little details (like when I have a character note that "That is mahogany!" just like Ellie Trinket did in The Hunger Games movie), but there are lots that people do get--such as Ella Shepherd's name being a reference to Philip K. Dick's book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
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Favorite thing...that's so hard to define. I love the very first idea of a book, when it's fresh and new and exciting...."
This is like...EXACTLY!
Colleen wrote: "Timeline wise, when is this book set in comparison to the Across the Universe series?"This book takes place during the time when Amy's still asleep on Godspeed. The government surrounding Ella is the same government that ultimately creates the world Amy and Elder discover on Centauri-Earth.
If your characters were on social media, what what they use and what would they do?
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Editing is like so...so painful to me. I hate having the work ripped apart. I will say it's much easier now than it was the first or even the second time. Not sure if my skin got tougher or if I just learned how to work with it. Still a heart dropping moment when the critique comes in though.
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You guys write such amazing books:) I'm sure editing feels like you're losing a vital part of you or someone you love:) your characters share your heart and your soul:)
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Yes! There are always so many little things that most readers don't notice. This is why I always like to pick the brains of the authors and get all the details. I didn't catch the Mahogany reference at all!
Colleen wrote: "I love the bee imagery! Can you tell us a little more about it?"The bees were a happy accident! In researching the book, I came across a nickname in Maltese for women, "zunzana," or "bumblebee." The meaning behind the name--a woman who is deeply loyal and who keeps the family together--fit perfectly with my idea of the rebel organization, so I named it the Zunzana, too.
But also, bees become a symbol of Ella's mind issues. Part of that comes from my own fears--I'm slightly allergic to bee stings, so they're not exactly friendly creatures to me. And whenever I have a fear, I want to exploit that in my writing. My best writing comes from my own emotions.
Ironically, I've been reading Laline Paull's The Bees (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...) lately, and it really shows how bees reflect a dystopian society as well. It's a brilliant book, and I'm going to claim that I was clever like her in using the bee imagery, even though I'm really not.
If your characters were authors, what stories would they write? :)
is there anything that you guys have to di to get your creative-author-magic going? i mean like any song you listen to while writing? snacks you have to eat?
Colleen wrote: "I love, love the setting! You've been there and added some things from the culture and landscape into your book. Did you actually ride in one of those boats?"I did ride in a luzzu! Malta is a magical place, and I'm so happy to have been there. I want to go again!
I think my favorite thing about The Body Electric was being able to add in details of these places. The catacombs were amazing, and that was probably the detail I most wanted to put in a book. Now I need to go to the catacombs in Paris so I can write a book about them, too...
do you plan to continue making books under the YA genre or do you plan to experiment with other genres?
Colleen wrote: "Can you talk a little about the special glass?"Solar glass is made of wishful thinking! I invented it for Shades of Earth--in it, I explain that solar glass can only be made on Centauri-Earth, but it provides a totally free, totally renewable natural resource. So, instead of needing gas or electricity, one needs only put their solar glass block out in the sunlight for a bit, and you have all the power you need.
Of course, something this awesome could create a utopia, like New Venice in The Body Electric. But it can also be used for terrible things, such as war.
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I really like the cover design with the bees. Who did your cover?
Is there a particular dream of yours that started the process of this book, and do you have a dream you would like to revisit?
Colleen wrote: "What authors inspired you as a teen?"CS Lewis is my go-to answer for this. When I read The Chronicles of Narnia, I discovered that books are more than ink and paper. There was a hidden story in that story, and it fascinated me. It made me realize that books have meaning.
I also dearly loved A Wrinkle in Time. I'd like to say it's because I saw something deeper in it, too, but I really just loved Meg and wanted to be like her.
do you ever get writers block? if so, how do you get past it? any special tricks?
When you're writing, do your characters always come out the way you imagined?
Jennifer wrote: "When did you feel you were really a writer ?"There was a moment when I was working on the edits for Across the Universe where it really hit me that this is a *job*. I wasn't just writing the story for fun, I was working on it. It became work. A work I LOVED, but still, work. That was the moment that it really hit me that this was real, and it was now my life, and I loved that moment.
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I always light a candle to remind me to incorporate the five senses. If the character doesn't see, smell, taste, touch, or hear something, you don't either. Otherwise, it comes down to parking your behind in the chair and forcing yourself to work. =)
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I always light a cand..."
Oh and you know how in Misery the author has a bottle of something and a candle as a ritual? Mine is Olive Garden. After I finish a book we celebrate by going to Olive Garden and ordering a full appetizer, entree, and dessert. ;)
Trudy wrote: "What inspired you to choose those characters traits? Do you have any similarities between any of the characters and yourself?"I think there's something of me or my experiences in every one of my characters! For Across the Universe, that desire to be good enough that Elder has stems directly from my desire to be a good enough writer to be publisher. Amy's fear of being alone was from my fear of going to college.
In The Body Electric, I think I'm most like Ella. She *wants* so desperately to do the right thing, but she doesn't know what that is, or how to do it. She's not so much concerned about a giant revolution (that's not what this book really is); she's concerned about being the kind of person she can live with.
what inspires most of your books?
are you big fans of anything? and i mean like crazy-hardcore-fangirls haha
Trudy wrote: "What books do you read the most of now?"I'm about 99% a YA kind of girl. If it's YA, I'm going to read it, especially if it's sci fi or fantasy. Some really great books I've read recently are Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff; Damage Done by Amanda Panitch; The Cage by Megan Shepherd; The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh; Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan. And I *just* got Colleen's new book, Reawakened, in the mail yesterday, so I can't wait to dive into that one!
What feelings do you get when you finish a book, attend book signings, and talk to fans?
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