Sunday, July 27, 2008

Let's talk about reading, writing and blogging

As part of my blogoversary celebration last week, I invited people to send me questions. Claire at A Little Piece of Me picked up the challenge and sent me a list.

Hello, get a coffee and relax. It's interview time with Claire :)

OK, I don't have a coffee, but I do have my feet up on my desk, so I'm as relaxed as I can be. (Honestly, my feet are up. My husband has no idea how I can type this way, but I manage quite well.)
  
Having been a reader of Mills and Boon since I was about eleven, I would like to know what your first romance novel was and how old you were when you read it.

I could go with the short and easy answer, but I won't because I think the payoff is better when I tell it this way.

My third-grade teacher wanted to put me into a remedial reading class. She said I had reading issues (and that I reminded her of her ex-husband). In fourth grade, at my new school, I tested normal for reading. In fifth grade, I read my first novel-length book, Flowers in the Attic. By sixth grade, I'd been placed in an honors reading program. I discovered historical fiction that year and decided I especially liked stories of the American West, such as the Little House on the Prairie series and epic-length books such as Sacajawea.

In seventh grade, I was checking out the books on the supermarket book rack and I saw a book cover with an American Indian on the front. It looked like an interesting story, so I bought it. I didn't care that I was having trouble pronouncing the title: Defiant Ecstasy. (You try to sound out the word Ecstasy -- there are some vowels missing there.)

From that moment on, I was hooked on historical romance. I think my parents were a little bemused by some of my selections, but they didn't try to hold me back. At least I was reading.

What does the husband think of your blog and have you ever said to him 'oh I am going to blog that!'. 

He doesn't get the whole blogging thing, the compulsion to write, and especially the time I put into it. A few months ago, I subscribed him to my email feed so that he could at least know what I was up to. Every once in a while he'll yell from the other room something like "What the hell is a Wordless Wednesday?" He was thrilled this week when he discovered the Odiogo link and vowed that would be the only way he'd read my posts now. LOL

The most recent example of "I'm going to blog that" was recently when we were changing out the bathroom fixtures in our powder room. When I grabbed the camera, he said "I suppose you're going to blog about this."

My only possible response: "Of course I am."

Then I did clarify that since the toilet paper holder we were getting rid of was HATED by many of our friends (you'd have to read the full story), and the friends would appreciate the documentation. That seemed to pacify him. 

Can you see yourself blogging for another three years and beyond?

Yes. For the first few years I sometimes felt like I was blogging into a void. I did nothing to promote the blog and I only had a few readers. But, I blogged anyway. If I kept blogging through that, I don't see what would make me stop now.

How rude is this novel of yours going to be, if you had to put a movie rating on it.

The novel that I've completed, Prairie Fire, would probably earn an R rating. The novella I'm working on is erotica and by definition would earn an X rating.  (I'm staying with officially sanctioned movie ratings here.)

and finally, when do I get to read it?

If you promise not to analyze me afterward, you (Claire) can read it in the next few months. Everyone else would have to wait until it was published, and since I don't have a publisher for it yet, who knows when that will happen. :)

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous7/28/2008

    Claire did a great job with this interview! Go Claire! And now I want to read your novel. And novella. :)

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  2. Great answers Haley :)

    How old are you in Seventh grade?

    Your right about the word Ecstasy.

    Try explaining Olga to him (the hubster) and see what reaction you get then, lol!

    I don't analyse people anwyays, I listen. That means I can just totally enjoy your book.

    I think I was way to easy on you, with these questions :)

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  3. @Kelly -- I really hope to share them some day. I do!

    @Claire -- Let's see, seventh grade is 13 years old? As for Olga, the hubster likes to be unpredictable, so he'd probably get a kick out of her. Next time you can unpack the tough questions. Not sure when that next time will be, though. :)

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  4. I can't pretend to be a fan of Mills and Boon, but otherwise I was interested and entertained by the post.

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  5. I just thought I would add that I have slightly progressed from Mills and Boon now :)

    I will never get a handle on your grade thingies. 7th grade would be Year 8 over here or 2nd year in high school. You will have to try and get Olga then, I don't think she has been to Chicago yet! Are you saying your hubster would wear Olga? lol :)

    I have those questions on ice :)

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  6. @Dave -- Thanks. And I totally understand about the Mills and Boon thing. There's a wide world of fiction genres out there to fit the wide world of reading tastes.

    @Claire -- I don't know that the hubster would *wear* Olga, but he might have fun with the concept. I'll have to test the waters (hosting Olga, not wearing Olga!).

    As for American grades -- we have 12 of them. You go to kindergarten when you're 5 and you start first grade when you're 6. Many elementary schools go kindergarten and first through fifth grades. These are the young and cute years.

    Many junior high schools (also known as middle schools) go sixth through eighth grades. These are the awkward pre-teen and early teen years.

    Most high schools go ninth through twelfth grades (also known as freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years). You graduate when you're about 18 years old.

    Makes perfect sense, right? ;)

    And what are you reading lately, besides stuffy college texts?

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