Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi, I grew up in New Jersey in a small suburban town that bordered New York State. It was beautiful and I am still in touch with many of my friends from high school or college. I was born in Canada and went back there for grad school, finally residing in Ottawa for many years. Two years ago, not as a retirement move but rather to simply escape the brutality of the Canadian winter, I moved to a small town in Florida to be closer to my brother and his family.
I’ve written three full-length books, two nonfiction and one fiction, and three published short stories.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Finding Lisa. It’s the story of two best friends who are about to turn 40. As the book opens, they are downtown in Ottawa, Ontario, seeing a movie and going to the deli for a snack. Lisa confides in her best friend, Tara, that she is pregnant, but her boyfriend may not be the father. After that, Lisa goes missing. Tara launches a search party to find her in conjunction with the police, her colorful women’s collective, Lisa’s Catholic parents and congregation, and a 24-year-old man that Tara has a crush on.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I dictate everything with Dragon NaturallySpeaking so I get my words down very quickly. Dragon can make some pretty funny homonym mistakes that keep me laughing.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
One of my favorite authors when I was in my 20s and 30s was Joyce Carol Oates. I just loved the way that she could spin a story and make her characters so magical. Over time, Oates has gone rather dark so I prefer her earlier material. I also love the classics like John Steinbeck, John Irving, John Updike (all the Johns) and my favorite modern-day writer is Jodi Picoult. I love the way she builds her stories around pertinent social issues like reproductive rights, autism, school shooting, segregation, the plight of elephants in the wild, etc. Almost all my fiction has a strong social issue component. In Finding Lisa, I address midlife crisis, addiction, violence against women, and unrequited love.
What are you working on now?
Now I’m just working hard at my day job, which is copy-editing and evaluating manuscripts as the owner of an editing company called Book Magic.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like Chick Lit Café. They’ve done a great job of promoting Finding Lisa.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be so hard on yourself, don’t read all your Amazon reviews, and NEVER contact a reviewer on Amazon that you don’t know, directly through email or in the Amazon comment section. It makes you look like an amateur. Rise above the urge.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve ever heard about life or about writing? The best advice I’ve ever heard about life can be summed up as a combination of the Serenity Prayer and the Golden Rule—treat others the way you would like to be treated, and accept the things you can’t change, change the things you can, and be smart enough to know the difference.
The best advice I’ve ever heard about writing is that the entire process is basically rewriting. Get your first draft down and don’t worry about it being perfect. After that, go back and revise, revise, and revise (rinse, lather, and repeat). Then get a few beta readers that you trust to give you some honest yet constructive feedback before you do a final draft.
What are you reading now?
I’m a multitasker and I’m hooked on audio books, which I listen to all day and half the night while I am running around doing errands, at the gym, or cooking. I belong to Audible and I often choose the Reese Witherspoon pick. Right now I am reading The Other Woman by Sandie Jones on Audio, recommended by Reese, and I love it because it’s different. And I am reading Pretty Guilty Women in print by Gina Lamanna – that one is keeping me awake at night. It’s a page turner.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I may do a sequel to Finding Lisa because I left some key plot developments unfinished at the end of the book and I miss the characters. Tara was one of my favs.
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?
I’m a huge fan of Ayn Rand’s writing even though I don’t agree completely with her rather callous philosophy. But I have read all of her fiction from Atlas Shrugged to The Fountainhead and her nonfiction as well. Her books are extremely long, clocking in somewhere around 1000 to 1200 pages, so I believe that I would bring The Fountainhead since I’ve already read Atlas three times! I would also bring something by Charles Dickens, probably Great Expectations; East of Eden by John Steinbeck; and Them by Joyce Carol Oates.
Author Websites and Profiles
Sigrid Macdonald Website
Sigrid Macdonald Amazon Profile
Sigrid Macdonald’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account