Amy Brecount White is the author of Forget-Her-Nots, which was published in March of this year. Welcome on the blog, Amy!What inspired you to write Forget-her-nots?
I went to hear the Nobel laureate Toni Morrison speak and her advice was to "Write the novel only you can write." That rang true for me, and I started to think about my loves
and what I truly cared about. I'd been pitching an article on the language of flowers to magazines about then and also decided to make a tussie-mussie (symbolic Victorian
bouquet) for a friend who was dying of ovarian cancer. She loved it and I so wished that my flowers messages could come true for her. Pretty soon I realized that I had a
topic for a novel only I could write.
What influences and experiences did you bring into the book?
Wow. Everything I've read or experienced in my own life, I guess. Friends say they can see so much of me in this book. I've always loved flowers and have become a more serious gardener since I've been working on the book. I've been a teen, a teacher of teens, and a mom of teens, so all of that influences how I think and write.
When did you know you wanted to write professionally? I remember sitting in a cafe in Geneva with my now husband and telling him I wanted to be a novelist. It sounded like such a wild dream then! It did take me awhile to get up the courage to actually write one. My first was for adults and is now in a box somewhere at the bottom of a closet. (Note to self: I haven't looked at it in years .... wonder if
there's anything good in it?) When I started working on Forget-Her-Nots, I knew the YA market would be a perfect fit for me.
How much of your writing is based on your own experience as a teenager?
A great deal, I think. I can still remember vividly walking down the hall and wondering what all the people thought of you as they looked up, if they looked up. I think it's one of the most vivid times of life, for better or worse, because you're doing so many things for the first time.
If you could have dinner with a book character, who would it be and why?
Anne of Green Gables, one of my favorite characters of all time. She's a kindred spirit and would keep the conversation lively.
How much of you is in the main character of Forget-Her-Nots, Laurel?
Quite a lot. Although my mom is still alive, I lost my father at too young an age. I think every character an author creates is an extension of her personality. You just push
yourself hard in a direction until you're almost unrecognizable.
What were the challenges (literary, research, psychological, and logistical) in bringing the book to life?
I had some advice to make the novel less complicated. Others told me to make it more "flowers save the whole world!!!" A writer has to ignore some of the advice that
doesn't ring true and stay true to her vision for the book. Psychologically, it was tough not to succeed right away. I had always been able to work hard and do very well.
Publishing rewards hard work, but hard work doesn't guarantee publishing success. i had to learn patience and how to keep the faith in myself and my writing.
Could you tell us about your path to publication? Any sprints or stumbles along the way?
I like to say it was a long and winding road with lots of potholes. Having written for newspapers and magazines, I thought it would take me about two years to write a novel.
It was much harder than it looked. :-) I wanted to write a richly-woven book, so that also took time. I also had a few false starts and disappointments with agents until I found
my current one. All in all, it took about eight years from when I started thinking about the novel to the book sitting on a shelf.
What did you read as a teen?which authors inspired you the most? And which are your favorite books and authors now?
As a teen, I read a lot of classics, because I had a strong English program at my high school. I remember Betsy Byars, Madeleine L'Engle, and Agatha Christie too. I also
went through a Harlequin romance phase -- LOL! Now I'm reading lots of Tenner books (a debut author group) because we have an ARC exchange. I'm inspired by
anything good, including Jane Austen, Melissa Marr, Virginia Woolf, Kristin Cashore. I read a lot.
Do you have a dream for the future of your writing, something you love to accomplish?
At this point, I just want my books to keep selling. I just finished one called, String Theories, which has no magic or flowers in it. It's about a girl who gets in over her head, a
stream, dogs, and the physics of relationships. I would also love, love, love to write another flower book with a more international flare. :-)
Many thanks, Amy!
I went to hear the Nobel laureate Toni Morrison speak and her advice was to "Write the novel only you can write." That rang true for me, and I started to think about my loves
and what I truly cared about. I'd been pitching an article on the language of flowers to magazines about then and also decided to make a tussie-mussie (symbolic Victorian
bouquet) for a friend who was dying of ovarian cancer. She loved it and I so wished that my flowers messages could come true for her. Pretty soon I realized that I had a
topic for a novel only I could write.
What influences and experiences did you bring into the book?
Wow. Everything I've read or experienced in my own life, I guess. Friends say they can see so much of me in this book. I've always loved flowers and have become a more serious gardener since I've been working on the book. I've been a teen, a teacher of teens, and a mom of teens, so all of that influences how I think and write.
When did you know you wanted to write professionally? I remember sitting in a cafe in Geneva with my now husband and telling him I wanted to be a novelist. It sounded like such a wild dream then! It did take me awhile to get up the courage to actually write one. My first was for adults and is now in a box somewhere at the bottom of a closet. (Note to self: I haven't looked at it in years .... wonder if
there's anything good in it?) When I started working on Forget-Her-Nots, I knew the YA market would be a perfect fit for me.
How much of your writing is based on your own experience as a teenager?
A great deal, I think. I can still remember vividly walking down the hall and wondering what all the people thought of you as they looked up, if they looked up. I think it's one of the most vivid times of life, for better or worse, because you're doing so many things for the first time.
If you could have dinner with a book character, who would it be and why?
Anne of Green Gables, one of my favorite characters of all time. She's a kindred spirit and would keep the conversation lively.
How much of you is in the main character of Forget-Her-Nots, Laurel?
Quite a lot. Although my mom is still alive, I lost my father at too young an age. I think every character an author creates is an extension of her personality. You just push
yourself hard in a direction until you're almost unrecognizable.
What were the challenges (literary, research, psychological, and logistical) in bringing the book to life?
I had some advice to make the novel less complicated. Others told me to make it more "flowers save the whole world!!!" A writer has to ignore some of the advice that
doesn't ring true and stay true to her vision for the book. Psychologically, it was tough not to succeed right away. I had always been able to work hard and do very well.
Publishing rewards hard work, but hard work doesn't guarantee publishing success. i had to learn patience and how to keep the faith in myself and my writing.
Could you tell us about your path to publication? Any sprints or stumbles along the way?
I like to say it was a long and winding road with lots of potholes. Having written for newspapers and magazines, I thought it would take me about two years to write a novel.
It was much harder than it looked. :-) I wanted to write a richly-woven book, so that also took time. I also had a few false starts and disappointments with agents until I found
my current one. All in all, it took about eight years from when I started thinking about the novel to the book sitting on a shelf.
What did you read as a teen?which authors inspired you the most? And which are your favorite books and authors now?
As a teen, I read a lot of classics, because I had a strong English program at my high school. I remember Betsy Byars, Madeleine L'Engle, and Agatha Christie too. I also
went through a Harlequin romance phase -- LOL! Now I'm reading lots of Tenner books (a debut author group) because we have an ARC exchange. I'm inspired by
anything good, including Jane Austen, Melissa Marr, Virginia Woolf, Kristin Cashore. I read a lot.
Do you have a dream for the future of your writing, something you love to accomplish?
At this point, I just want my books to keep selling. I just finished one called, String Theories, which has no magic or flowers in it. It's about a girl who gets in over her head, a
stream, dogs, and the physics of relationships. I would also love, love, love to write another flower book with a more international flare. :-)
Many thanks, Amy!
For more about Amy, visit her site at http://www.amybrecountwhite.com/
