Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a fourth generation South African, raised in Zambia before emigrating to America. My memoir Loveyoubye: Holding Fast, Letting Go, and Then There’s The Dog, published April 2014 is my third book. The other two are Young Adult novels: Monkey’s Wedding and Mine Dances,which take place in Zimbabwe and Zambia. I’ve received many writing awards and my short stories have been published in Writer’s Digest and Interstice, among others. I live in Laguna Beach, California where I hike the hills and canyons with my Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Fergie and Jake.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Loveyoubye: Holding Fast, Letting Go, And Then There’s The Dog.
I started writing Loveyoubye when my husband of twenty-five years started disappearing for weeks at a time without explanation or apology. I needed to make sense of it all. Meanwhile, back home in South Africa, my mentally impaired brother needed my help. Swamped by a lifetime of guilt over leaving my family to pursue my dreams, I return home to answer his call. I have an epiphany, but then I still have to face the beast back in my adopted country. I return and learn that our beloved dog has received a fatal diagnosis. Standing on the edge of the past and future I find the courage to face the future and forge a new life alone.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Whenever I get stuck, I hike the steep hill behind my house.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Enid Blyton, Barbara Kingsolver, Annie Dillard, Raymond Carver, Brian Morton, Ian McEwan, Tolstoy, Checkov
What are you working on now?
An audiobook for Loveyoubye and Monkey’s Wedding.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook, twitter, Anneallenblogspot.com, We Love Memoirs Facebook page, The Book Designer
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read voraciously.
Copy a reader you admire, literally, word for word, a chapter, the whole book. Get a “feel” for the way the author uses words. After a while you’ll find yourself rewording a word, a passage, here and there. Somehow it just didn’t “feel” right the way they have it. Great practice.
Write crap, over the top crap, be bold in how much crap you can write. Just keep writing.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep a daily journal. Make yourself write something every single day. It’s a great way to order your thoughts. Oh, and give yourself permission to cross out words–that was crazy hard for me to do, I’d always balled up the paper and started again.
What are you reading now?
Two books, Four Funerals And A Wedding by Jill Smolowe, and Mortals by Norman Rush.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a story I started for NaNoWriMo–that maniacal writeathon to complete a book in a month–that I’d like to explore. All I managed was 6,000 words after an incredibly stressful two weeks. I kept changing my mind about which direction I wanted to go. One of my goals in life is to outline instead of “feeling” my way through the story.
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?
William Meader’s Emergent Light, something by Plato, 2666 by Roberto Bolano, and something funny, maybe Screenburn, by Charlie Broker.
Author Websites and Profiles
Rossandra White Website
Rossandra White Amazon Profile
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