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Frequently Asked Questions"Where do you get your ideas?" I get ideas everywhere - from hearing a story in the news to something just popping into my head. I'll give you two examples. One morning I woke up and said, "I have a great idea for a book. I'm going to tell the story of the Holocaust from the Nazi point of view." And that book became the best selling Behind the Bedroom Wall, which is now being workshopped as a musical as well. I don't know where the idea came from, but it felt like it literally just popped into my head the minute I woke up. On the other hand, my book Up a Creek came from a conversation I had with a stranger in line for a movie. He said, "Did you hear about that woman out west who climbed the tree and wouldn't come down?" That got me thinking about how embarrassing it would be for a teenager if her mother climbed a tree and refused to come down! "What do you do with all your ideas?" Oddly enough, I get SO MANY ideas, that I can't possibly work on them all at once. I keep an idea file. In this plastic file holder, I have story ideas written on scraps of paper, napkins, receipts... whatever I can find to write on when the idea comes to me. And every so often, I go back through my idea file to see if anything sparks a new idea or if I want to try to work on it. For example, I was looking through my file once and found the line: medieval girl whose father is the town executioner. That book became The Executioner's Daughter. Another time I was browsing through my files and found two variations of a story I had struggled with a couple years ago. With a fresh eye I was able to meld the two stories into one and it became the picture book The Best Winds. "What is your favorite book you've written?" Hmmmm, this is always a hard question. Often, my favorite book is the one I'm either working on, just finished, or am about to write. Right now I'm very excited about several projects. First, I'm really thrilled about workshopping the musical version of Behind the Bedroom Wall. Maybe someday it will be on Broadway! (Hey, it's okay to dream big! :-)) I'm also excited about the middle grade novel that will be out in the fall of 2008 called Slant. It is actually somewhat based on my life because I was adopted from Korea and the main character is also adopted from Korea. Also, as a middle schooler, I was teased because of the way I looked, much like Lauren in the book is. It's no coincidence that my character's initials are L.W! And finally, I'm excited about a book I'm in the process of writing... But you'll have to wait till I sell that before I tell you about it... hopefully soon! "What is your favorite book you've read?" This is another toughy. I read CONSTANTLY! I love books and I rarely watch television or even listen to the radio. There are so many books I've loved over the years of my reading. Maybe you've read one or more of these: the Betsy, Tacy and Tib series; Chronicles of Narnia; Charlotte's Web; The Outsiders; Hard Love; Knight in Shining Armor; Blood and Chocolate; Harry Potter series; Dragon Singer series; Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret; ... I'll update this list when I get a chance to look over my huge collection of children's books... "Do you make a lot of money from writing?" Ummmm, well, I'm still teaching at the same time as writing. But since I love my students, it's all good. However, it would be nice to be able to just write all day everyday. Someday... :-)
Do you have a question for me? Write to me at laura@lauraewilliams.com. Maybe your question will be posted along with my answer!
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HOME ABOUT ME WHAT'S NEW MY BOOKS WRITING TIPS ILLUSTRATIONS SCHOOL VISITS FAQs THE MUSICAL LESSON PLANS CONTACT ME ORDER BOOKS LINKS copyright Laura E. Williams 2001-2008 |