EXTRA CREDIT INTERVIEW WITH SANDRA WAUGH:

Joining LitPick for an Extra Credit interview is Sandra Waugh! Sandra was born in the wrong century. To make do, she lives on the smell of old libraries, rainy mornings, cups of tea and great fantasy tales. She is the author of the YA high fantasy Guardians of Tarnec series from Random House/Random House Books for Children. Lark Rising, Book 1 in the series was hailed for its "beautifully rendered world" (Booklist) and "formidable heroine" (PW). Juliet Marillier calls it "a striking debut novel." Silver Eve, Book 2, "shares the dreamily poetic voice and original magic system of the first," says Kirkus, "with a literal cliffhanger to keep readers hooked."

Sandra lives in an old house in Litchfield County, Connecticut, filled with sagging bookshelves, her husband, two sons, and a snoring dog.

Do you have a solid outline before writing, or do you usually get ideas as you go along?

Outlines seem to me the difference between a “pantser” or “plotter.” (Someone once said they were being a “plot-ser” and I thought that was a great compromise!) Since I am a “seat of the pants” or “free” writer, I can’t say I’ve ever had an outline written down, more like notes on characters, points, or beats I want to hit. How I get from beginning to end is fairly fluid and, of course, the (fun) challenge.

Has someone you knew ever appeared as a character in a book (consciously or subconsciously?) 

I can’t deny certain traits find their way into a character here or there, but never a whole person.

What do you do when you get writer’s block?

Honestly, I mow the lawn. Or walk. Yoga is good too—anything that makes me sweat, which in turn frees my brain. Another way is holding to deadlines I create for myself (1,000 words a day or two chapters/week, etc.), so it’s like I’m simply doing “my job” without getting bogged down with emotions. I also keep books at hand that are similar to what I’m writing from authors I admire—I will open one randomly and read, just to “hear” their voices, which always reinspires.

If you could live in a book’s world, which would you choose?

Just one? Yikes. Can I be the character as well? If so: Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice)—I adore her. And Emma Woodhouse (“Emma”) has a pretty nice life at Hartfield. If not, then I’ll just go to the Yorkshire Moors and suffer desolate beauty in one of the Brontes’ books.

What is your favorite book-to-movie adaptation? 

Harry Potter (all of them), hands down.

If you could have lunch with one other author (dead or alive!) who would it be?

I’d like to meet Mary Shelley (preferably at the villa on Lake Geneva in the spring/summer of 1816!). I have to know what happened that stormy evening with Percy Bysse Shelley, Lord Byron, Claire, and Polidori, when conversation and wine and nightmare inspired her to write Frankenstein.

Wild Card Question:  As a young woman, acting was your first passion.  Do you do any acting now or help out in a community or school theater?  Do you ever regret that you did not become an actress?

After we left New York City I stopped acting—but then missing it became pretty unbearable, so I walked into an audition at a studio theater in a nearby town one evening and came away with the role of Laura in The Glass Menagerie… then Nina in The Seagull and Kate in Dancing at Lughnasa.  I stopped again but then ran into an actor/director I’d met from those experiences and found myself playing Queen Elizabeth in Mary Stuart. This time I really have stopped—those were some of the roles I’d always, always wanted to perform (and some that were a wonderful surprise), so I left on a ‘high’ and want to keep it that way.  And yes, I do regret not being an actress—first love is first love. But… writing allows me to create—and inhabit—more roles than I ever would be able to on the stage… and not be limited by age, sex or physical appearance, so that’s pretty cool.

Sandra, thank you for joining us for an Extra Credit interview! We enjoyed getting to know you better and learning about some of your acting roles.

SIX MINUTES WITH SANDRA WAUGH:

Author Sandra Waugh joins LitPick for Six Minutes with an Author! Sandra is the author of Lark Rising, Guardians of Tarnec, Book One. Silver Eve, Guardians of Tarnec, Book Two is due to be released September 22, 2015, so mark your calendar! Sandra grew up in a small town in an old house, the daughter of a mystery writer father and a mother who was more practically employed but still a dreamer. Sandra is both a writer and a dreamer.

How did you get started writing?

I’ve written my whole life: journals, poems, bits and pieces. But there was an unforgettable moment after my heart got shredded on fall break from college. I was sitting on a train heading back to school with feelings so huge and raw the only thing that eased the pain was reliving the experience in words—I spent the four hour train ride writing something that I later submitted, unrevised, for a by-invitation-only-creative writing course at said college. (I got in.) Which is to say that what I wrote from my heart I realized I wanted to share, and it helped to share. However, much time went by before I chose to write for real, as in: hope to be published! 

Who influenced you? 

I would rather say what influenced me, in which case, all of the books I’ve read! I also credit my family growing up. Writing was a given.  Diaries were Christmas gifts, books filled the house, library cards were issued to us kids soon as we could print our names. More succinctly, my father was a writer. But… I think, honestly, that was originally more deterrent than influence since, as my dad’s ‘job’, it sort of took away the mystery of that world—and I was looking for mystery and passion in a career.

Do you have a favorite book/subject/character/setting?

Well, my absolute favorite book is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. That said, I love fantasy most of all, and my favorite fantasy series is still Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising. But just put me in any world with magic and wonder, and I’m thrilled. (Actually, isn’t every book filled with magic and wonder? They’re books!)

What advice do you have for someone who wants to be an author?

WRITE. Write from your heart. WRITE OFTEN. Give yourself a deadline, a goal. Do not let any little demons (internal or external) sway you. READ. Read what makes you happy—read the books that send thrills down your spine, that you regret having to put down to have dinner. Find and use ruthlessly honest CRITIQUE PARTNERS or writing groups to help hone your craft (as in: never be afraid to share your work and never be afraid of criticism—it all makes you better).

Where is your favorite place to write? 

I’m a writing hobo. I take my laptop anywhere I’m going to be for more than fifteen minutes—waiting rooms, coffee shops, libraries, the car…. I thrive on tight schedules and am really good at using crowd energy to focus. (Earphones and playlists are necessities!)

My at-home workspace is a particular chair that is front and center in our house.  This makes absolutely no sense of course—there are other, more hidden places I can find. But I like it best, assuming everyone else is at work/school. 

What else would you like to tell us?

First, thank you for including me in ‘Six Minutes’!  So glad LARK RISING was enjoyed. Book Two in the Guardians of Tarnec series is coming out in September 2015. It is titled SILVER EVE. You can find me and links to both at http://www.sandrawaugh.com. Oh… and my dog really does snore very loudly.

Sandra, thank you for spending six minutes with LitPick! We’ve got September 22nd marked on our calendar!