It’s 1968 and Melanie is turning thirteen. It seems like
everyone is growing up faster than she is, but that doesn’t stop her from being
an incurable romantic. When a gorgeous new boy shows up in her boring, small
town, she’ll do anything to be noticed by him.
When an unexpected sequence of events lands her the job of
trusted babysitter for his unusual little sister, Melanie is thrilled to be
admitted to his inner circle. But then she has to figure out what really
matters—a chance to be around him or staying true to her family and her best
friend.
Read this dramatic coming-of-age story and be immersed in a
time of turmoil and change in the heart of one memorable young girl.
I’m so incredibly thrilled to welcome debut author Linda
Shew Wolf to The Diamond Mine! Not only is this her first interview about her
debut novel, but she is my awesome, precious older sister who is so dear to me.
So this interview is very special indeed! It’s hard to know where to start, but
here we go!
What’s the first thing you remember writing, and how did you
feel about it?
When I was about six
or seven, I remember writing a simple poem for Mom and marveling that I could
make words connect with each other as if they were people singing together. Just in case anyone reading this doesn’t know
already, this interviewer is none other than my beloved sister Nancy. It gives
me such pleasure to have my first author interview with you, Nance!
The feeling is definitely mutual! When did you know you
wanted to write a novel?
I think I always
viewed myself as writing novels, ever since I fell in love with Laura Ingalls
Wilder’s books and (blast from the past), the Honey Bunch series. Now I’m
really dating myself, but in defense of my true age (62), these books were
published in 1928, so I’m sure they were originally Mom’s. Anyway, I loved all
this little girl’s adventures, and I wanted to be just like her.
You know me, I’m a huge fan of the Little House books, too!
Since you’re a musician, how is writing different from music
in terms of expressing yourself?
It’s funny. One of the
things I value most about music is its immediacy. You play some notes, express
yourself, it hits the air and it’s gone. Like the wind. And that’s what makes
it so compelling. Even when I’m recording, I am inside this sacred sense of the
moment, and I usually object to any excessive editing, autotuning, or
processing of anything I’ve played because I want to honor that. Writing,
however, is loaded with layers of effort. Being an editor by trade, it is often
difficult for me to achieve that same sense of the moment when writing, so when
a story really takes off and gives my editor-head a swift kick in the tush, I
couldn’t be happier.
I have to admit that I
just love the fine-tuning part of writing, especially going back to lay down
more support for the actions and feelings of the characters. Some of my
favorite scenes were added later to round out the picture I see in my head
while I’m writing. It’s a lot like song development. The core of the song is
there, raw and beautiful, complete in its own way, and then I get to add
textures, harmonies, and rhythms to enhance it.
Wow! What a wonderful, thought-provoking answer! I love it!
How did you get the idea for this novel?
I dedicated it to our
daughter, Julie, because I started writing it when she was about 12 and
starting to have her first big crushes on boys. I was a romantic young lady
myself back in the day, and I wanted to write something for her about how
powerful these attractions can be—so powerful that you can lose yourself in
them, as well as lose track of people, ideas, and beliefs that are important to
you. This power needs to be respected and understood, as it can be a real
game-changer.
The weird thing is, this novel started out as a simple
exercise in a small writing group I belonged to: “Write a paragraph or two
about a person who reminds you of an animal.” My original paragraph is still
the opening paragraph of the book:
“The lion boy stood waist-deep in the pool. There was no
other way to describe him.
“Melanie’s magazine dropped to her lap and the watery racket
of children’s voices around her faded to a soft hum. The boy held his back and neck
with regal straightness, surveying his surroundings with fierce disdain. His
eyes flickered at various points around the pool. He was an exotic, caged
animal looking for a way out.”
That’s a powerful opening, and really grabs the reader’s
curiosity. Are you a seat-of-your-pants writer, or do you work from an outline?
Definitely
seat-of-the-pants! If anything, it feels as if the story and its characters are
piloting a plane and I’m trailing behind gripping a bit of flimsy rope, trying
to hang on.
I know exactly what you mean! Pretty wild ride sometimes! Give
us a thumbnail description of your main characters.
Melanie, the central
character, is a 13-year-old “late bloomer” with the romantic imagination of a
much older teen. In 1968 in a small town in upstate New York, she is the only
white girl at her school who is best friends with a black girl. That’s not the
only thing that sets her apart. Though she wants desperately to fit in with the
more mature-looking and mature-acting girls in her grade, she holds true to her
integrity and uniqueness and helps hold her family together, too. Until
Jonathan comes along.
Jonathan, even at 13,
is a natural-born rock star, gorgeous and charismatic. He’s suddenly a very big
fish in a very small pond when he is plucked away from his life in New York
City by his mother’s remarriage and deposited in Melanie’s little town.
Jonathan has many plans for his big escape from Nowhere, USA, and to his
delight, he finds a willing accomplice in lovestruck Melanie.
Josephine (Jo) is
Melanie’s best friend. Smart, no-nonsense, and with big plans of her own to
become a history professor, she takes a dim view of Melanie’s deepening crush
on Jonathan. Her vibrant family life and church community have always been a
source of strength and comfort to Melanie, and Jo finds it hard to believe that
Melanie would risk losing all that and their close friendship over a boy.
Melanie’s Grandma,
Grandma G, is her favorite person in the whole world. She’s great at keeping
secrets, only giving advice when asked, and never judging—plus she makes
cookies and hot chocolate for their late-night Scrabble marathons whenever
Melanie sleeps over. Melanie respects her Grandma’s devotion to her church and
to lots of prayer, but when Melanie begins to doubt, she isn’t sure if Grandma
G will accept her or approve.
Tracy is Jonathan’s
6-year-old sister and is autistic. In the 60s, not much was done for children
with autism besides placing them in a separate room at school with other
disabled children, and Tracy was used to being misunderstood. Baffling her
mother, her teachers, and other babysitters, Tracy finds a kind, compassionate
ally in Melanie. Despite Melanie’s original intention of worming her way into
Jonathan’s life by becoming Tracy’s babysitter, Melanie finds herself drawn to
this unusual, endearing child.
You’ve got some mighty interesting characters and conflicts
there. Sounds marvelous! Is there an underlying message you hope readers will
take from your book?
Well, I hope readers
will see that our feelings, at any age, are valuable and need to be understood,
and that God is there even though he seems far away when situations are
complicated. I tried to portray a complex character going through a tumultuous
time in her young life, making choices and having reactions we can relate
to.
How much of yourself is in your characters?
There’s a lot of me in
Melanie, certainly, though I wish I had her feistiness. I know I painted some
of myself into Melanie’s mother as well.
I’m glad they contain some of your sweet, warm character! This
is your debut novel. What are your feelings on becoming a published author?
Giddy, totally giddy.
I don’t think it’s quite set in my head yet that this lifelong wish is becoming
a reality. It’s pretty cool, and of course, I have you to thank for all your
encouragement, as well as Jacqui and Joan at Prism for theirs!
What are you working on now?
I’m busy on a novel
dedicated to our son, Chris, about an 18-year-old boy who spends most of his
time and nearly all his energy dreaming. This one has more of a psychological,
almost scifi, twist to it and poses the questions: What if God uses the best
part of us while we’re sleeping to help others across the world who are awake
(and vice versa)? What if we are much more connected to each other in our
dreams than we could ever imagine?
What a unique premise! I can’t wait to read it! Thank you,
dear Linda for this interview. I’m so thrilled for you!
Linda’s book release date is August 7th. If you
leave a comment for her, you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a copy of “A
Firefly Life.”
Here’s an excerpt from her book:
Well,
at least today, she wouldn’t have to worry about propping her eyelids open in
class. Just before the bell rang, the new boy sauntered in and headed for the
last empty seat at the back of the room. He acted like he didn’t notice the way
the buzzing in the room swelled to a crescendo, or the way all the heads turned
toward him like starving flowers groping for the sun.
The
air became electric. Melanie felt as if her hair was standing on end. She
clamped her fingers around her composition book and willed all the blood in her
body to flow away from her face and down her arms. Thank God, he was sitting
behind her and couldn’t see her face!
This
is all in Your hands now, God. You’ve got to get me through this!
Melanie
had a hot-cold relationship with God. Most of the time, she barely thought
about Him. She had even nodded in agreement once when Barry Muldoon explained
why he was an atheist. Some of his arguments did make sense. But at times like
this, when her heart was threatening to slam a hole through her chest any
second, she remembered how many times God had certainly rescued her in the
past.
Now here’s a short bio and Linda’s social links:
Linda Shew Wolf grew up in Ithaca,
New York. She graduated from Cornell University and went on to play saxophone
in an R&B band in Chicago, where she met her husband, Bobby, a fellow
musician. After raising two children, they both returned to performing, and she
also rekindled her lifelong passion for writing fiction. She now works as a
curriculum consultant for elementary and middle school students in Chicago,
sharing her love of writing and music with young people of all ages.
twitter: @LindaShewWolf
2 comments:
What a great interview--and the book sounds great, Linda!
Wonderful interview. This book sounds like one that I would love to share with my teenage granddaughter.
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