While I am on this amazing writing kick (writing about writers I love), I am beyond pleased to tell you that one of my very favorite writers, Ann Hood (website: http://www.annhood.us/) honored me by saying ‘yes’ to my request for a brief interview. I admit I’m a little star struck.
I was first introduced to Ann’s writing close to 20 years ago when I was living in Salem, Oregon and didn’t have a lot of extra cash. I was in a used book store that was like a maze of hallways with little sideways rooms. It seemed like an enormous book store to me at the time - I hadn’t been to Powell’s in Portland yet! I would often get turned around, yet somehow I came across and back to an obviously well-loved, often-read, well-taken-care-of paperback book called THREE LEGGED HORSE. (This refers to a musical group, by the way, not an equine friend missing a limb!)
Thus began my love affair with Ann Hood’s books.
THREE LEGGED HORSE was one of my favorite fiction novels ever. As I made more money and was able to purchase new books (I still love and haunt used book stores!) I kept on buying more books that Ann Hood had written. When I purchased an electronic book prior to traveling on a two week trip, the first thing I did was search for new Ann Hood publications. There weren’t any and I was bummed. When I searched before a more recent trip, I found THE OBITUARY WRITER, which I loved so much I wrote a review of on Amazon, something I have done…maybe…four times total in my life.
And now I am reading KNITTING YARNS, about which PEOPLE Magazine says, with four stars: In this lovely anthology, Sue Grafton, Barbara Kingsolver and other authors go public with their passion for knitting, demonstrating how it connects them to mothers, grandmothers and neighbors, consoles them in grief and—despite the occasional misshapen mistake—clarifies their thoughts. One of the sweetest essays reveals how Clovis, a Chihuahua, came to acquire several “elaborately cabled” sweaters. Want to make one? The (size-adjustable) pattern is included. –Reviewed by Helen Rogan, 12/2/2013 issue.
When Ann agreed to answer a few questions, I wrote to her: Your writing seems very personal to me, which is why it strikes me straight in my heart and I keep buying your books and recommending and loaning them to others. Something deep inside me wants to share your work with others, as it has meant so much to me.
Me: What writers have affected you that way?
Ann: So many. Chekhov definitely. Contemporary writers like Elena Ferrante. Tom Perrotta. Andre Dubus lll. Denise Mina and Elizabeth Speller and dozens more.
Me: Please tell me how much of your work is true to your own life, and where you find your inspiration.
Ann: My fiction almost always begins with the seed of something real, something that keeps me up at night. But then the challenge of a fiction writer is to turn that into something universal rather than personal.
Me: What made you first pick up a pen, pencil, typewriter, computer? Do you remember when you first knew you needed to write?
Ann: I fell in love with reading at 4 and writing by the time I was 7.
Me: If you had just three sentences to share with a burgeoning writer, what would those three sentences be?
Ann: I have two: Read everything. Write every day.
And there you have it, readers, straight from one of my favorite writers. This is a good day. J
Authentically Yours,
Laura
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