One of the fun things about writing as the guest on someone
else’s blog is answering random questions that never occur to me when I’m
writing on my own blog. Sometimes I think these questions seem very off-topic,
considering readers are tuning in to find out about a favorite author or book. But
the more I read similar guest blogs by other authors, the more I appreciate the
random acquaintance that is formed.
Discovering something about an author’s childhood, their
favorite TV shows or how/why they started writing gives me an insight into them
as people and a greater appreciation of what is written. So today I’m starting a continuing series called
‘Blog
Questions’ where I’ll answer a random question I found on another
author’s Guest Blog. I hope you’ll find
these fun and informative...but also, if you have a question put it in comments
and I’ll answer it the next time.
So...just for starters, here’s a short one to kick us off: Were
you a Tomboy or a Princess growing up??
Definitely a
Tomboy! Though my mom sewed me many
wonderful dresses when I was little, my preferred activities required tougher
clothes! We lived near the
‘Mighty’DuPage River and along its banks
grew huge willow trees. My friends and I created many imaginary scenarios in
those trees, including submarine hunt, airplanes, apartments and hospitals.
Each branch had its own purpose, from control tower at the top to operating
room in the middle to torpedo room below.
When we weren't manufacturing alternate realities we might pass
lazy summer days weaving jewelry out of willow strands, or hop down and wade
across the river (don’t tell Mom!) to the other side and, perhaps beyond to
visit friends over there.
In the winter that river froze nearly all the way across and
became a skating pond. The neighbor’s
hillside formed a fearsomely steep toboggan run, frozen thickly with buckets of
water toted from where the river ran free beside the far bank. We flew down it, past the willows and stopped,
teetering, where the flowing river broke open from the ice. I never ended up on
the wet end of that gamble...but it was close!
That river and those trees were only part of my childhood
adventures, but together they are serving to create a background for a future
book of mine entitled ‘The Lottery’. Inanimate though they are, the trees and the
river play as much a part of that story as any character. ’The Lottery’ is an
on-going project that I turn my attention to between other books, but it is a
work of love that, soon, I will will tackle full speed. I look forward to its
publication in the not too distant future.
Well, that’s my ‘Blog Question’ for today. I’d love to hear
from you-what was your childhood like? And remember, let me know what question
you’d like me to answer in the future!
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