Hi Readers!
I've got another amazing post for you guys today! Author Polly Shulman was nice enough to answer some questions. I recently read her book "The Grimm Legacy," and it was incredible. I strongly recommend anything she has written. Her books are everything you could want in a Young Adult novel, and I'm so happy she shared some of her wisdom with me:
1) What was your favorite book when you were in high school? Why?
I had a lot of favorite books in high school. Here are a few:
-Pride and Prejudice, the first Jane Austen novel I read. It kept me up all night, my heart pounding. Boy, was I tired in school the next day.
-Villette, by Charlotte Bronte, about a young woman in mid-19th century England who goes to Belgium to teach English at a girls' school and gets her heart broken, twice. I loved this book even more than Jane Eyre. The narrator has a great wry, steely, passionate voice. It's a bit grim, but great for when your heart is broken.
-The Earthsea books, by Ursula K. LeGuin, a fantasy series that draws inspiration from Eastern philosophy and the geography of the North American Pacific coast. Wise, deep, and gripping.
2) How do you write? Do you have any rituals or favorite places to write?
I lounge on the sofa with my laptop in my lap. I'm the queen of bad posture. I'm not that fussy about my surroundings when I write--all I need is someplace comfortable to sit, with no music or interesting conversation going on nearby in a language I understand. (You're welcome to have as fascinating a conversation as you like in Hausa or Finnish or Navajo.)
4) If someone asked you to give them a random piece of advice, what would you say?
Don't be intimidated by big, ambitious projects. Just break them down into a zillion little, modest projects.
Many thanks to Polly Shulman for these great answers! If you want to learn more about her and her books, visit http://www.pollyshulman.com/. You should all read her books; they are some of my favorites!
Happy Reading!
-Alice
