Tell us about
where you are from and how that place fuels you as a writer.
I was
born and raised in pristine southeast Oregon. I left after graduating from
University of Oregon but Oregon never left me. There is a deep-down reservoir
in my soul that holds the sound of lake wind whistling through tall Ponderosas,
sun glancing off of Cascade Range peaks, the semi-arid wind carrying sage and juniper
scent....more creative resources than any writer could ever need. Growing up in this setting probably
influenced my writing more than anything.
You wrote a book? Awesome!
What’s it about?
Here’s
brief synopsis:
Crazy is a YA novel written in
free verse about fifteen-year-old Laura Wahlberg, who can't imagine life
without sketching or painting. When her
artist mother has a nervous breakdown the same week Laura's teacher pressures
her to enter a prestigious contest, Laura must face her fear that art will send
her over the edge, too.
Driven
by shame and rage, Laura hides her disintegrating home life from everyone,
including her best friend. Neither her older sister nor her father recognizes
her fear of going insane. Desperately
alone, she considers suicide, faith healing, an unlikely relationship with a
super-jock, and a new artistic endeavor.
When Laura’s mother becomes violent, Laura vows to find the demon that
is driving her crazy. Learning that her
mother was raped at fourteen and discovering her own inner strength, Laura
opens her heart to the mother she never knew.
Tell us
a little about the process. How long did
it take you? Is this your first book
ever? What inspired you?
The process of writing Crazy has been long and slow, you know
like “we sell no wine before its time.”
I was busy teaching school, raising twin boys, and being an active
minister’s wife when my longtime love of poetry started oozing out of my pores. In my “spare time” I wrote a collection of
poems mostly as a cathartic way of dealing with my mother’s bipolar
disorder. When a few of them started
getting published in literary journals I considered moving toward a chapbook
collection. A friend suggested they
needed to be a novel, but it took many years and about five revisions before
that all came together.
How was
your journey to publication and what was it like when you arrived?
Well, I haven’t arrived
yet, so I’ll let you know how it feels when that happens, but I am scheduled for an October 2014 release
of Crazy. The journey up to this
point in time has been a fascinating ride.
I’ve been in love with writing all my life, so going through this
publishing process is quite a thrill. I was at a Lorin Oberweger Free
Expressions workshop in 2012 when my agent, Julia Kenny, emailed to say I had
just received a third offer to publish Crazy.
Needless to say I had a hard time concentrating on the rest of that
workshop. I can safely say that going
through the editing process with my wonderful editor, Kathleen Merz at Eerdmans
has been like taking a crash course in writing skills. Challenging for sure, but exciting to see the
end results, polished to a sheen I never could have achieved on my own.
Advice
for would-be writers just stepping out.
Go to as many conferences and workshops as you can afford,
and always try for scholarships when necessary.
I owe a debt of gratitude to SCBWI, the Highlights Foundation, and Lorin
Oberweger at Free Expressions Seminars and Literary Services for all that I
have learned from them over the years.
Find a critique group and go regularly, even if you don’t have anything
ready to take. You can learn a lot just
from critiquing the work of others.
Write from the heart and dig deep.
You’ll be surprised how many characters and story ideas live just below
the surface of everyday life.
You can find me:
website and blog: http://www.lindavigenphillips.com
twitter:@LVigenPhillips
So You Wanna Be a Children’s Poet article: http://www.writing-world.com/poetry/children.shtml
