Interview with Louise Galveston!
The Serious Interview Questions
Like a lot of authors, the more books I read to my kids, the more I wanted to connect with kids through writing. I had been writing short stories for awhile, and decided to go from “sprinting” to “marathoning.”
Tell us about your current work in progress.
I’m currently working on a chapter book series involving aliens, but that’s all I can reveal right now.
What do you do to cure writer’s block?
I’ve learned that I usually get blocked about chapter 3 when the MC enters his new world. I get bogged down trying to make the world-building perfect instead of going back later to edit. I’m a hopeless, edit-as-I-goer. The best method I’ve used so far for curing it is to do writing sprints with other writers. It forces me to keep moving and not go back to tweak.
Are you a plotter or a pantster?
Sigh. I’m a pantster who’s a wannabe plotter. I plot until the characters hijack the manuscript near the middle and do all kinds of things that aren’t in the outline. But I do try to keep them moving in the general direction of the outline.
Do you have any writing rituals?
Bengal Spice tea, peppermint chocolate covered almonds, and Spanish guitar music.
What is your favorite book? What about favorite book to movie adaptation? Least Favorite?
Favorite book: Pride and Prejudice. Movie adaptation: 1995 BBC miniseries. Least Favorite: 2005 version, although I saw it three times at the theaters to make sure I didn’t like it. 😉 LOVE the soundtrack, though.
What is the best piece of writing advice you NEVER followed?
Don’t let your characters take over the manuscript. It is their story, after all. I’m just a scribe.
Tell us about BY THE GRACE OF TODD!
Todd is the messiest kid you ever met. We’re talking Roomaggedon here. When his mom lowers the boom and makes him clean his room, he discovers a tiny civilization growing on his crusty sport sock. The Toddlians worship him as a god, which is problematic, since he can’t even keep a hermit crab alive. Throughout the book and its sequel, In Todd We Trust (just released!), Todd learns about being responsible, being himself, and that being “cool” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. He also finds the courage to stand up to the school bully, who’s out to get the Toddlians.
The Random Questions
Chocolate!
Dinos or dragons?
T rexes are cute!
Favorite Disney character?
Goofy
Dream vacation?
Tahiti with my hub of 25 years.
Morning Person or Night owl?
Morning person by nature, night owl by necessity.
Favorite Movie Ever:
What About Bob followed by Elf
Music Earworm of the Moment:
Still, My Soul Be Still-deadlines plus planning two of my daughters’ weddings=STRESS
About the Author
Louise grew up on horseback in the Midwest. The only thing that could pull her out of the saddle was a great book or a game of Star Wars. The lone girl in her neighborhood, she always got to play Princess Leia, thus her mad lightsaber skills. (Yes, she had the cinnamon roll side-bun hair.) Louise even cleaned her room on occasion, but never found anything but a rogue hamster under her bed.
Louise still lives in the Midwest. When she’s not writing, she directs children’s theater and dabbles in watercolor. She is proud to say that some of her eleven children have inherited her horsey genes and all of them love Sea-Monkeys. (Her first obsession with tiny creatures.) |
2 Replies to “Interview with Louise Galveston!”
Loved learning more about this amazing author.
always looking forward to read her work. Like to buy her work and pass it on to young readers to enjoy.
Her ability to create a book you don’t want to stop reading is fascinating to me. Louise, please don’t ever stop writing. ….you are fantastic and a breath of fresh air in today’s world. Congratulations on the second book in the Todd series. So, looking forward to reading my copy.
Fantastic, unheard-of adventures happen to everyday people who live on your street! And yet those everyday people are anything but ordinary. They are unique, insecure, intelligent, faulty and braver and stronger than they ever dream they could be. And in sharing their lives we learn that we, too, are special and capable of amazing things. Also, her books fulfill the secret knowledge that all of us possess: There are tiny worlds all around us and perhaps, if the time is ever just right, we will be privileged to catch a glimpse of one.
One thing, I disagree with her on, though. Who would ever choose a dinosaur over a dragon??!! 😉