Ask the Author: Patricia Yager Delagrange
Answered Questions (7)
Patricia Yager Delagrange
Riding Maximus in the middle of the woods is a very peaceful experience. Most of the time I don't meet up with anyone on the trail, though at times there are joggers with their dogs and bicyclists as well. But mostly it's quiet and there are a lot of birds tweeting and bunnies crossing the paths. When I'm thinking about the next book I'm going to write or if I'm in the middle of writing a book and am not sure where it's going, sitting on top of my horse's back in a comfy saddle, riding through the trees, is a great way for my mind to focus on my writing. There are no distractions. I don't take my cell phone. I am all alone. And he doesn't interrupt my thinking process. I consider myself very lucky to be able to have a horse who is a sound companion on the trail and one I can ride alone, without a partner, which would defeat the purpose of peacefulness.
Patricia Yager Delagrange
Maddy's Phoenix is set in the real town of Monte Rio (population about 1,152) which is located in the Russian River area of northern California. I have a particular affinity for the place because my family takes our annual August vacation there. It has a meandering river that's perfect for kayaking and swimming and, for me, watching our 2 labs fetching sticks in the water. It's a quiet little place to visit with a few tourist-y stores - all nestled in the redwoods! Gorgeous.
Patricia Yager Delagrange
I am always happiest when writing a novel. It is something that takes me out of my current mindset and puts me into another world that's fascinating and fun. I have to be alone, with no one else around to bother me. Then I sit with my Mac on my lap and I start writing - dialogue usually. I love to write dialogue. When I began writing I wrote a lot of inner thoughts of the main character. That didn't make for a good book. It was too much telling and not enough showing. So I changed my style and began incorporating more talking and action between the characters. That's when my books began to have more substance to them and would thus make them more interesting to the readers I'm trying to reach, i.e. something "I" would want to read myself.
Patricia Yager Delagrange
I just took a class taught by Laurie Schnebly and I now have the bare "plan" for my sixth novel. I don't know where I get my ideas. Usually they're about a subject I've always found intriguing and one that I'd like to wrap my emotional mind around and get it down on the computer. For example, Taken Away, my book that will be published on June 1, 2015, is about how a parent feels and what he does and how he acts after he comes home to find his wife and child missing. This theme was prompted by the Amber Alerts I'd seen on television and heard about on the news. Having two children, I wanted to "imagine" what life would be like if that happened to me. So, I wrote a book about it - from the father's point of view.
Patricia Yager Delagrange
The best and most helpful advice I have for aspiring writers is to hire an editor after you have done the most you can do with your book. The first book I ever wrote looks nothing NOW like it did after I wrote "The End" after I finished it. Once I hired an editor it metamorphosed into a real book that was able to be published with my name on it. My first editor literally taught me how to write well. I am forever in her debt. I also took and still take online writing classes. They are and will always be helpful.
Patricia Yager Delagrange
The best thing about being a writer is the sheer fun of creating characters that we can make say and do anything we want. No one can tell us what to write. No one. We may have an editor who advises us about what will and will not sell based on what we've written. However, we never have to take any advice. I'm not advocating that, mind you. I've had wonderful editors who have not only taught me how to write a good story but helped me make the story better than it ever would have been if I'd done it all alone, without them. But the ultimate choice is ours. And if we cannot find an agent or a publisher for our books, we can do it ourselves. An author can always publish their work, if that's what the author's goal is. No one can stop us.
Patricia Yager Delagrange
I have written five books and it seems that writer's block gets worse with each new book I want to write. I know what goes through my head. I don't think I can write another book. Even though I've proved myself wrong with each new book I finish. But there's something inside most writers, some niggling doubt, telling them that it's over, that we have no more ideas that would be worth writing, that our writing days are over. However, there's also a kernel of distinct almost-hidden truth that we know we can do it again. We just have to stop procrastinating, put our butts in the chair and do it. One of my editors once told me to write a sketchy outline if that's all I had to go on. That was better than sitting in front of the computer, hands hovering above the keyboard, with a blank screen staring back at me. Just start writing. And it's always worked.
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