Interview with Heather Vogel Fredrick

Last spring, I got to interview Heather Vogel Fredrick, author of The Mother-Daughter Book Club books and one of my FAVORITE authors, for my e-magazine, Animal Girls. I thought maybe you guys might like to read it, soooo here it is!

ME:What inspired you to write the Mother-Daughter Book Club series?

HVF:The idea for the mother-daughter book club series actually came from my editor.  She called me up one day out of the blue and said, “Heather, there are mother-daughter book clubs all over the place these days — I think it would be fun if someone wrote a story about one.  How about you?”  Stunned silence on my end of the phone.  I have two BOYS!  I’ve never been in a mother-daughter book club, and I never will be!  But my editor recalled that I spent my middle school years in Concord, Massachusetts, where Louisa May Alcott lived when she wrote “Little Women.”  She suggested I have the book club read that and — well, I was instantly hooked.  Louisa was one of my childhood heroes!  So armed with a title and that idea, I was off and running search of characters and a plot.  And the rest is history.

ME-What character in your series do you think you can relate the most to?

HVF:When I was your age, I was a mix of Emma (obvious reasons) and Jess (because I love animals and because I used to be super shy).  Now, as a mom, I just hope I’m more like Mrs. Hawthorne than Mrs. Chadwick!!!

ME-Who’s your favorite character?

HVF-I don’t really have one — I love them all!  Seriously!  That being said, I can tell you that Cassidy and Gigi and Mrs. Chadwick are the most fun to write.

ME-What do you like about writing?

HVF-The very best part of writing for me is when the words are flowing so well that I completely lose track of time. I fall into the slipstream of the story and feel as if I’m actually there, living it as I write. It’s magical.

ME-Do you have any dislikes?

HVF-Writing is solitary work, and it can be lonely.  There are times I miss the camaraderie of being in an office, around other people.  As a writer, it’s just me and the four walls and my two dogs all day long!

ME-Anything else you’d like to say?

HVF-Thanks for interviewing me, and happy fall!

Blogger-to-Blogger {featuring the amazing MorningTime4!}

Morning: Hello, everyone to this lovely one-on-one chat with the lovely Chloe from Rainbow of Words, who has also published the book “Totally Spaced Out”. How are you today, Chloe?

Chloe: I’m pretty good, Morning, still a little shaken from the sudden change from summer’s blissful nothingness to fall’s sudden business. And yourself?

Morning: I am doing quiet well, thank you very much.

Chloe: So, Morning, how did you begin blogging? What inspired you to start your blog, The Ups and Downs of my Not-so-Average Life?

Morning: Blogging? Ah, this is a very good question. On NaNoWriMo, I saw that a lot of writers on the forums had blogs. But then, around January this year, I had a resolution to be myself and find out who I am as a person.

Chloe: Interesting.

Morning: So I started the blog, The Ups and Downs of My Not-So-Average Life. I wanted my voice to be heard. Another reason why I began blogging was because there’s this lovely blog author going by the name Perfectly Imperfect, and she was the first person who awed me by her words. Chloe, your blog, Rainbow of Words, has been growing with readers and followers. I know you have many blogs, but this one has been the one that has been rapidly growing. Tell us what you blog about, and why.

Chloe: Well, a lot of my blogs are random, I-ate-an-apple-so-I-should-post-about-an-apple-named-Phineas type blogs, nothing very serious, but Rainbow of Words is different. Despite the fact that my blog really doesn’t have any theme, most of my posts are longer, deeper. They show more of what I think about. Rainbow of Words began as a writing blog, for me to share my work, and ended up as a collection of what I think about. I post about my life, and life in general. About inspiration, and art. Really, my blog is nothing special, just this and that. But I like it that way. And, in a way, this blog has changed who I am. Speking of change, has blogging changed or affected your life in any way?

Morning: Blogging has changed my life in both a positive and negative way. Because of blogging I have became a more positive, confident and outgoing person. I’ve also gained a lot of online friends. The negative thing that blogging impacted is that some people that discovered by blog and are saying hateful things about it, but honestly, I’m not going to stop blogging because of some haters. I’m going to express myself with my words and blogging and that’s just how it is. Anyways, Chloe, who is someone who inspires you in life?

Chloe: One of my role models has always been the country pop artist Taylor Swift. Ever since I first got one of her albums in my stocking at age nine, I’ve been hooked to her songs. But in the last year or so, I’ve noticed how inspiring she is as a person. She’s always saying kind and amazing things, and she’s not afraid to be herself. I admire that in a person. Another person I admire is my close friend, Selah. I first met her when I was six, and since then, she’s inspired me to work hard and dream big. Just seeing the smile on her face is enough to help me keep on going when it is tough. She means everything to me. She’s such a treasure to have. Morning, I know the majority of your posts are about lessons you have learned. Which one of these lessons written about on your blog do you think influenced your life the most?

Morning:I think the post that influenced me the most was the post that was (accidentally, because I tried to send it to my Blogger address many times but forgot it) FWD: “‘Who am I?'” This question has always bothered me since the fourth grade, because I’ve heard many times stories of people that they were finding themselves and such. Many times people have told me that I would have to go on my own path to finding myself, and that post has had such an impact on me because honestly, finding yourself takes time, unlike in books, in only takes a matter of months or weeks. What I mean by a long time, I mean years, maybe ten or fifteen. And even then, we are still trying to find who we are as people. The post were my honest thoughts on that matter and I have to say I’m proud writing about it. Chloe, I know that you’re a creative person. Do you do and work on any personal projects that matter to you?

Chloe: I do have a few projects going on at the moment. The first one is the charity I created with the money I have earned from selling my published novel, Totally Spaced Out. Basically, I sell books, and put the money in a special jar. Once I get to my goal (five hundred dollars), I will use it to donate to an endangered species (such as… penguins). This is meaningful to me, because not only is it a way for me to share my work with the world, but I also get to help a cause I believe in. I currently have one book for sale as part of my charity, and am brainstorming on a second one. Speaking of books, Morning, I hear that you are an author, and we all know that writers need their inspiration.What are some ways you use to get inspired?

Morning: The ways that I use to get inspired is that I just open all five of my senses up to the world. I listen. I see. I smell. I touch. I taste. I always try to have a notepad with a pencil or a pen so that way, whenever something that I hear and see or any of the other senses that I say, “I have to have that as a story idea!”, I can write it down. Like yesterday, for example. Someone that I know while I was taking pictures for my yearbook class complimented me on my shoes and said something about them. I thought, “Bing bing bing, idea alert!” Now, I am planning to use it for my novel this November. Well, thank you so much, Chloe, for chatting with me!

{Note- this is a chat transcript with the amazing MorningTime4 of The Ups and Downs of My Not-so-Average Life. We agreed that we would post it on both of our blogs. It was super-fun to make together, especially once I discovered that I have reached my goal of 50 followers before October! YAY! Thanks so much, guys, I love you all. *blows kisses*. If you have a blog and would like to do a Blogger-to-Blogger chat with me through email, Goodreads message, NMG’s G2G talk/stickering or PM on NaNoWriMo YWP, please comment below and we can organize it. Thanks for reading this guys, and remember to shine on… Forever! }