Tuesday, July 19, 2011

My Interview with Diane Tolley


 
   Here is my Interview with the wonderful Diane Tolley who took the time to let me interview her and answer all of my questions.. Here are 4 of her books you can purchase from Smashwords and I am thinking of doing a giveaway if I do good on the one for Heart On A Chain  .  By do good I mean get about 15 entries on it I will personally buy a copy of any of these you want.  Well here we go on the interview:

  1) When did you first take an interest in writing ?
I really got interested when I was in grade six. I had always liked making up stories (ask my Mom, she’ll tell you . . .) but I realized that other people liked my stories when my teacher, Mrs. H (shame on me, I can’t remember her full name!!) handed back a story I had written and told me that writing was something I should take very seriously because I had a lot of talent. Whether or not she was right, her encouragement got me going. I’ve never looked back.
2) In your book The Babysitter. You write in 3rd person. Is it a personal preference or is it how you write better?  
Truth to tell, I much prefer writing in the first person. Many of my books are written thusly (is that a word?). Recently (as in sometime in the past five years) I was told that most people prefer third person, so I was trying to please them. (Go ahead, say it – I should write to please myself, right?) So, personal preference? First person. It’s so much more . . . ummm . . . personal!
3) Also in your book The Babysitter you never specified the age of J' amie. Was that intentional ? 
I actually intended for her to be in her late 20’s.  Or even early 30’s. I have a hard time with writers who feel that their heroines need to be really young. Romance happens at any age. It’s funny, though. I didn’t realize until you pointed this out that I hadn’t actually said how old she was. (Oops!)
4)  When you write, where is your favorite spot? 
I love to write downstairs in my little cubbyhole. I have a little heater under the desk for my perpetually cold feet. My cubby, my heater, my computer and I have all gotten to be really good friends.
5) How long does it take you to write a book, like The Babysitter  and Melissa ? 
Usually, I can hammer out a book in a month. Making it readable for humans takes a little longer.
6) What advice would you give to the young writing people of the world?
Write, write and write some more! Start with what you know – your experiences, your wishes and dreams and go on from there. Make things up. Create worlds. There are no rules, you make those up as well. Let your imagination go. It can take you ANYWHERE!
7) You have a new book published by Cedar Fort called Carving Angels. Are you excited about it ? 
I am so much more than excited! This is my greatest dream and I am black and blue from pinching myself to make sure it is really happening. With every different part of the process, I get more excited. My publisher writes to me and I say, ”Yay, my publisher wants to talk to me! Fantastic!” She sends me proofs and I say, “Hey, proofs! Fantastic!” She tells me I need to do a rewrite and I say, “Hey, a re . . .!” . . . you get the picture. I am absolutely in love with the entire process. You should have seen me when I first saw the cover. (For an old lady, I can sure turn great handflips!) It is, really, my greatest dream come true. I am the princess! I am the hero! Sorry, but it’s your fault. You got me started!!! 


  Thank you so much for taking the time to read the interview and a big cyber hug to Diane  who took the time and let me interview her :) 


You can find some of her works smashwords  for sale and thank you so much everyone who stops by this blog and how they let me interview them on there stories. If you are an author and would let me interview you just drop a comment off in the comment box. I love doing them and every little bit of publicity helps for you and me... 


  Diane, we cant wait til your book comes through with Cedar Fort and defiantly buying it from a local store. I cant thank you enough for the interview you are a great writer and lets say your story The Babysitter got me into some trouble because I stayed up til 3 reading it and I had basketball pracctice at 6 but it was worth it . 

5 comments:

  1. What a great interview! Good luck getting all the comments you need :)
    jwitt33 at live dot com

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  2. Awesome interview!! You've don a great job with your blog!!!

    carmel.96@hotmail.com or
    diana.v.9610@hotmail.com

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  3. This is so fun, Courtney! Good job! Thanks for having such a great blog!!!

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  4. Aww thank you much Diane. For letting me interview you and everything else :)

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  5. So, Courtney, My Interviewer, (notice I capitalized 'my' and 'interviewer' - does that tell you how many interviews I have had?) would you consider reading and reviewing my new Christmas book, Carving Angels? I'd love to have your opinion. I have an electronic copy ready to send if you don't mind giving me your email address . . . mine is dtolley@shaw.ca
    Thanks, Courtney!

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