The following is an excerpt from a recent interview.
1. Where were you born/raised?
I was born in Clinton, NY, a quiet college town that sits along the I-90 corridor. Though I worked summers at the private college on the hill, I couldn’t afford to attend (nor did I earn good enough grades), so I followed an older brother to SUNY Oswego. It was a blast. I double majored in Fine Art and English and made some wonderful life-long friends there along Lake Ontario.
Since before I was born, my family began camping in the Adirondack Park each summer. Fifty-plus years later, the tradition is going strong. The wilderness of the park, along with raising my own kids in its foothills, inspired my first novel “Camper Girl” (Fitzroy Books) and some of the poems in “Florida: Poetry and Prose.”
2. How did you become a published author?
My parents taught my siblings and I (there are eight of us!) the importance of a strong work ethic. With that trait instilled in me, I have been really, really persistent about getting my writing published. For years, I've submitted my stories and poems to hundreds of literary journals.
As a graduate student at SUNY Binghamton, I wrote my first novel. I couldn’t find a publisher for it (it was a good first effort, but it wasn’t ready for prime time), so I wrote another novel. More years, many drafts, and a lot of rejection letters later, “Camper Girl” found a home with a wonderfully supportive publisher.
Short answer? I kept learning, kept working, and kept trying.
3. Who are some of your favorite writers?
I’ve been a fan of Louise Erdrich ever since stumbling upon her novel “The Beet Queen” in high school. Her poem “Advice to Myself” has been a constant inspiration for me as I pursue the writing craft. There are too many to mention, but other favorite poets include William Carlos Williams, Natalie Diaz, Billy Collins, and Mary Oliver. I’m drawn to poems that examine love, nature, and the magic of everyday moments.
I also enjoy reading a lot of different genres, from biographies and histories to sci-fi and young-adult novels. I'm a big fan of Jason Reynolds, Toni Morrison, Kazuo Ishiguro, and George Eliot to name just a few.
4. How long does it take to write a book?
I drafted my novels “Camper Girl” and “Goon” (which comes out later this year) during National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. So, if we’re talking about how long it takes to write the first draft, the answer is about a month. Of course, there is a ton of revising and editing to do afterwards, but challenges like NaNoWriMo are helpful to get ideas down on the page quickly.
If we’re talking about the entire novel-writing process, from first draft to publication, the answer is multiple years. “Camper Girl” took nearly ten years all together, though there was a lot of time during that period where I shelved it to focus on other projects. “Florida: Poetry and Prose” took less time, but if I was to set the starting point when I first began thinking about putting together a collection, then it took about three years total.
5. What are some future writing projects you have in mind?
Currently, I’m shopping around the sequel to “Camper Girl.” Having enjoyed writing and publishing “Florida: Poetry and Prose” myself, I’m also excited to start work on a short story collection. I have tons of drafts, both polished and rough, and ‘story seeds’ that I hope to bring together someday. On top of that, I have ideas for more young-adult novels, one of which is a murder mystery set on a remote college campus. Overall, the more I write, the more I fall in love with writing.
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