Hello, TBR!
1) What inspired The Boatman?
An unseemly obsession with spooky books
for kids? That probably had something to do with it. But also…
The idea for The Boatman came
from two sources. First, I really wanted to write a spooky,
novel-length book for kids that was not about being afraid but rather
about kids growing strong (this is something of a common theme for
me, actually). Second, Neil Gaiman. Yeah, I just said that. Let me
explain.
I was listening to a reading by Mr.
Gaiman one evening, killing time while the kids were in the tub. I
can’t remember the name of the piece he was reading—I just looked
for the video again to no avail. (Drat!) Regardless, it was a fantasy
adventure story of some sort. If I recall correctly, the story was
written in second person, which is probably why I listened to it.
Second person is so weird. The story was interesting enough for the
most part, as of course most stories by Mr. Gaiman are, but then he
went and inspired my novel. Just like that. He said something like,
“You will see a boatman paddling on a lake. He will offer you his
oars. Don’t take them.” And that was it. I’m not above stealing
Neil Gaiman’s castoffs.
2) Did the experience of writing The
Boatman change the way you think about novels and authors? If so,
how?
No, but it made me think differently
about kids.
I have three small children, each with
their own very unique personality. When considering the thing
in the book—the one thing that causes all the other things to
happen—I looked to my children for answers. How would they respond
to a particular situation? That’s when realized that there is no
one way, and certainly no right or wrong way to deal with sadness or
fear, guilt or grief. It’s as individual as the kid is himself.
I discovered that the imagination of a
child is such that fear can almost become a person—a creature if of
the nastiest sort that may chase them up from the basement or hide in
their closet. That led me to consider the following possibility: if
fear can take on a physical form, than it can be dealt with in a
physical way. That’s the path I chose to explore with Izzy in The
Boatman.
3) Can you tell us a little about the
challenges that come with writing a novel?
I mentioned above that I have three
small kids, right? That’s probably the largest challenge. Life. The
second hardest part about writing a novel is getting past my inner
critic. You know, the mean girl inside that tells me that my book
sucks? Getting her off my back is always a challenge. (I’ve found
that offering her cheesecake works though.)
4) Is there anything we should look
out for when reading The Boatman?
Oh, I love to hide little things in my
work. You know, miniscule details that an astute reader might find
but a skimmer might miss. The cover is like that too. Dora Mitchell,
the wonderful artist whom I was blessed to work with on this project,
and I had quite a bit of fun putting hidden messages into the
illustrations. This book can be read in one of two ways. I think I
know how adults will read it, and I think I know how kids will read
it. I look forward to learning how successful I was with that.
5) What do you like most about writing?
Actually, I am a very, very shy person
in reality. What I like most about writing is the ability to imagine
and explore things without actually having to do anything too
freaky…such as talking to people. “I’m writing,” is a great
excuse for holing away in my little cave, definitely NOT looking at
Facebook or watching YouTube videos…
6) Are there any characters in the
Boatman that you can particularly relate to?
Well yes, of course. I think all of the
characters have bits of me in them. Or maybe some of them are
different versions of me—me in my past lives or perhaps me in
alternate universes. Or maybe they’re versions of me that I wish
existed. Some are stubborn, some are haughty, some are sweet, some
are sassy, some are wily. Izzy, the main character in this book, is
her own worst enemy. I think I can relate to that.
7) What is the best reading experience
you have ever had?
Oh, that’s easy. It’s the time
Johnny Depp came over and read me T. S. Eliot poems while cherubs
played harps and fed me grapes and fawns frolicked up and down the
lane. Oh, maybe that was a dream. Okay…I like to read outside. For
some reason, books go down differently out there.
8) What is the most difficult thing
about being a writer?
Convincing people that I’ve not lost
my mind. Talking aloud to the voices in your head is perfectly
natural for a writer. (It IS, people! I swear, every writer does it.)
9) What part of the novel was your
favourite to write?
I always love beginnings. That goes for
any writing, not just the writing of novels. You know, the earliest
part where there is so much to say, so much possibility, so many
places to explore? I don’t fear the blank page, as they say (I
don’t know who this mysterious “they” person is, but they were
dead wrong about that blank page thing). I love to get to know my
characters by throwing something at them and watching them respond. I
am a very character-driven writer incase you can’t tell. For me,
the ending is always the most difficult. I love beginnings. Endings,
not so much.
10) What do you hope your readers will
get from the Boatman?
I hope that there will be a kid out
there, maybe one who is dealing with something hard, that will read
my book and recognize that she is not too weak to handle stuff.
Physically, kids are smaller than adults are, that’s just a fact.
But in every other way, kids rule the kingdom.
Everything is a choice, including
feeling inferior. One can let a situation overtake them, control how
they feel, what they do, who they talk to, or one can recognize the
problem for what it is and face it. The control belongs to the
person, not the problem. Scary things lose their power over us when
we stop being afraid of them. That’s what this book is about.
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