Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a children’s speech therapist and mom and dog owner living outside Seattle, Washington. I love chocolate, travel, knitting and watching good tv. This is the first book I’ve ever written.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
This book is called Summer Melody. I began to think about how people communicate, and how hard it is to find a way to communicate when the person you want or need to communicate with can’t in a traditional manner. Then I thought it would be really interesting to make that the challenge for each of the three protagonists in my book, although the people they can’t communicate with each have different reasons (autism, Alzheimer’s, PTSD).
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
While I was writing this book, I’d think about it all week but didn’t have a lot of writing time. So on Sundays, I’d leave my kids with their dad and go to a coffee shop with a portable keyboard and not leave until I’d gotten 2000+ words written.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love authors like Julia Glass and Anne Tyler, who write about normal everyday people and the mundane things that happen to them, but in ways that lift the mundane to something lyrical.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a romantic comedy/parody of suburbia/living in a development (which is where I live at the moment, so this is really biting the hand that feeds me…:)).
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Still trying to figure that out!! Probably the most fulfilling method is just getting out there and meeting people at different types of author days.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be gentle with yourself – even once you’ve written and published a book, you may not feel like a “writer.” This whole process is a marathon, not a sprint. So give yourself the space to experiment in marketing, make mistakes, take risks, and enjoy the process,
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
This is so trite but so true. “Show, not tell.”
What are you reading now?
A wonderful YA novel by Gary Schmidt called Okay for Now. Boy, is it wonderful. I don’t want it to end.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Try to finish this current novel and survive my children’s teen years.
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?
How to Survive on a Desert Island
How to Make Things Taste like Chocolate
How to MacGyver Anything to Make a Raft
Author Websites and Profiles
Toddie Downs Website
Toddie Downs Amazon Profile
Toddie Downs’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
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