Ask the Author: Allan Stratton
Answered Questions (14)
Allan Stratton
Hi Turtle,
I consider books like kids: they're my brain babies. So, like any parent, I can't really say my favourite. Chanda's Secrets, The Dogs and The Way Back Home are closest to things I've wrestled with emotionally if not literally. But The Grave Robber's Apprentice and Curse of the Dream Witch, Middle Grade novels, were most fun to write; I still get letters through my website from people who were helped by Leslie's Journal and Borderline; and my adult novels, The Resurrection of Mary Mabel McTavish and The Phoenix Lottery, are the ones I'm proudest of in terms of comedy and narrative structure.
Cheers,
Allan
I consider books like kids: they're my brain babies. So, like any parent, I can't really say my favourite. Chanda's Secrets, The Dogs and The Way Back Home are closest to things I've wrestled with emotionally if not literally. But The Grave Robber's Apprentice and Curse of the Dream Witch, Middle Grade novels, were most fun to write; I still get letters through my website from people who were helped by Leslie's Journal and Borderline; and my adult novels, The Resurrection of Mary Mabel McTavish and The Phoenix Lottery, are the ones I'm proudest of in terms of comedy and narrative structure.
Cheers,
Allan
Allan Stratton
I've used a lot of what you might call semi-mysteries. What ifs: THE DOGS is based on my mother running away from my father when I was a baby because of his violence. BORDERLINE: is based on my fear as a child and teen that when I'd grow up I'd be accused of a crime I didn't commit, found guilty and hanged. CHANDA'S SECRETS is based on the fear of whether I'd die of HIV-AIDS: I had a lot of friends who died in the pandemic. Thanks for a very interesting question.
Allan Stratton
Catherine and Heathcliff. I love the sweep and the spell of it.
Allan Stratton
The Dogs is fiction, but like all my novels there are elements drawn from my life. In this case, my father was an abuser and my mom fled with me to my grandparents' farm in a area very much like the country around Wolf Hollow.
Allan Stratton
Hi Jennifer, This is just my Author's page; it's not a group. :)
If you're writing about my new book, The Dogs, I can tell you that it's just won the Red Maple Award, the largest Middle Grade student choice award in Canada, was the runner-up for De Gouden Lijst, the biggest Dutch award for best children's novel in translation, was a nominee for the UK's Carnegie Medal, and was picked for the American Library Association's Quick Pick for Reluctant readers list. It's out, or coming out, in fourteen countries, recommended for ages 12 and up.
Cheers,
Allan
If you're writing about my new book, The Dogs, I can tell you that it's just won the Red Maple Award, the largest Middle Grade student choice award in Canada, was the runner-up for De Gouden Lijst, the biggest Dutch award for best children's novel in translation, was a nominee for the UK's Carnegie Medal, and was picked for the American Library Association's Quick Pick for Reluctant readers list. It's out, or coming out, in fourteen countries, recommended for ages 12 and up.
Cheers,
Allan
Allan Stratton
Thanks! I really appreciate hearing that. :)
Allan Stratton
Toronto, Canada. Years ago, I lived in New York.
Allan Stratton
Gosh… My favourite YA is Tenderness by Robert Cormier. My favourite classic novel is either Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (if I want to laugh) or Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky (if I want to think deeply about the power of secrets and guilt, themes to which I'm drawn.
Yours,
Allan
Yours,
Allan
Allan Stratton
Tiana, hi --
The book comes out in Germany in the fall of 2016 and I'd certainly like to be there if invited. I've been on four German tours in the past so I'm crossing my fingers. what a beautiful country you have.
Yours,
Allan
The book comes out in Germany in the fall of 2016 and I'd certainly like to be there if invited. I've been on four German tours in the past so I'm crossing my fingers. what a beautiful country you have.
Yours,
Allan
Allan Stratton
I've learned to breathe. It's hard, but I know that if I don't have an idea, or am stuck on a chapter, it's because the idea isn't ready or I haven't fully thought through what the characters in a scene want. I scribble a note or two and let my mind work on it, knowing it will come when it's ready..
Allan Stratton
Doing what I like to do more than anything in the world.
Allan Stratton
1) Read, read, read. Write, write, write.
2) Read your work aloud for rhythms and clarity.
3) Edit ruthlessly, especially if a scene that felt great at the time reads badly the next day. I find that overwriting is what usually kills a scene: When in doubt
2) Read your work aloud for rhythms and clarity.
3) Edit ruthlessly, especially if a scene that felt great at the time reads badly the next day. I find that overwriting is what usually kills a scene: When in doubt
Allan Stratton
It's something I need to do, like breathing. If I'm not working on a writing project I feel like I'm suffocating.
Allan Stratton
My mom fled with me from an abusive father when I was a kid. We ended up on my grandparents' farm like the farm near Wolf Hollow. Like Cameron, I talk to myself. Out loud. :) And my imagination took it from there…
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