Interview With Author Luanne Brown
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written 8 screenplays and two books; one non-fiction and one fiction. I am also a collage artist and included some of my collages in my book (and the cover!)
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Once in a Pink Moon” is the first book in the Frog Tale Trilogy. The book was inspired by a combination of factors. When I was 20, I worked for the Fisheries Research Board of Canada doing a creel census (basically counting fish that were caught) in the Okanagan Mountains in British Columbia. Each night I was serenaded to sleep by a chorus of very loud frogs. (Or maybe they were trying to keep me awake!) Fast forward too many decades and I woke up one morning with the idea for this series in my head. Add more years, and a growing sense of anxiety about climate change–and the future life on this planet for my kids and grandkids, nieces, nephews, and now their children as well. But who wants doom and gloom? We have to have hope–and act in “ways that will heal” as one of my characters says in the book. That’s why I came up with an adventurous story about a young woman who was willing to go to the max to make a difference.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I talk to myself and make lots of notes that I usually can’t read. I also invest in rolls of butcher paper that I can roll out six feet at a time to plot out all the scenes in the book and be able to study them in one view. I also believe in throwing the baby out with the bathwater and starting over again if the plot isn’t working.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am older–and rather old-school. I am still very influenced by the authors I read as a kid. Loved Nancy Drew. Loved Mary Stewart (a mystery writer). Loved Lucy Maud Montgomery, who wrote Anne of Green Gables. I was also very influenced by a book called, Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw and of course Louisa May Alcott and her Little Women series. I was so smitten by all these books that actually planned my life around them when I was 11 when I vowed to be a writer like Jo (in Little Women), have red hair like Anne, and live in Egypt like Mara. And I have accomplished all of these things! Of course, I love modern authors as well like Rick Riordan.
What are you working on now?
I am working on a book about a teenage boy who discovers that his younger brother is really a Sasquatch.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still at the stage of building individual relationships with environmental organizations. I hope your site will be my favorite! I also am digging deeply into Kindlepreneur. com.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Make your work the best it can be before sending it to anyone. Believe in yourself. Believe in your stories. Don’t let the naysayers get you down.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Why here? Why now? Your story must have a compelling reason to ‘exist’. The answers to those two questions will determine the success of your story.
What are you reading now?
A lot of my friends are mystery writers, so I have a stack of their recent publications in my ‘to be read’ pile. Top of the ‘books in progress’ pile is “The Summer I Turned Pretty” by Jenny Han.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep plugging away. I have a new regime where a dear writer friend and I text each other at 6 a.m. and then launch into 45 minutes of writing. Then text each other when we’re done at 6:45. So far, it’s been really productive for both of us.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The books I read as a kid, as mentioned above. Sometimes I worry that I haven’t grown past those favorites. But it’s not that they are the only books I’ve loved, it’s just that I still find them to be the best ‘comfort reads’. (Also, there’d have to be wi-fi on my desert island because I can’t live without my Instagram account. @luanne_c._brown.)
Author Websites and Profiles
Luanne Brown’s Social Media Links