7 Questions For: Author Jacqueline West

Jacqueline West is the author of the award-winning middle grade series The Books of Elsewhere. The Books of Elsewhere, Volume One: The Shadows (2010) garnered starred reviews, several state award nominations, and a spot on the New York Times Bestsellers List. The series is published by Dial Books for Young Readers (a division of Penguin Random House) in the USA and will also be published in Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Indonesia, Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, and Catalan. 

Jacqueline's short fiction for adults and children has appeared in a variety of publications, and her poetry has received many honors, including two Pushcart nominations, a Rhysling Award nomination, and a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg prize. Cherma, her series of poems about Wisconsin's Bohemian immigrants, was published in March 2010 by the University of Wisconsin's Parallel Press chapbook series.

Click here to read my review of The Books of Elsewhere, Volume One: The Shadows.

And now Jacqueline West faces the 7 Questions: 

Question Seven: What are your top three favorite books?

I’m just going to pretend I missed the words ‘top three,’ because I don’t think I could narrow my favorites down to that number without pulling out most of my hair.  
 

What are my favorite books, you ask?  Well, I love everything by Kurt Vonnegut (The Sirens of Titan is my personal favorite), Margaret Atwood (especially The Robber Bride), Ray Bradbury (Dandelion Wine!), J.D. Salinger (Franny and Zooey gets me every time), T.S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath, Roald Dahl, Annie Dillard, and the Bronte sisters.  I also love To Kill a Mockingbird and Calvin and Hobbes.  And I think Hamlet is probably the single best thing that has ever been written. 


Question Six: How much time do you spend each week writing? Reading?

I have a hard time calculating this, because I do both, sporadically, all day long.  When I’m drafting something new, I try to write at least a thousand words a day.  Sometimes this takes just an hour or two; sometimes it takes all day, with lots of time wasted between sentences.  (I’m embarrassingly good at Plants vs. Zombies.)  

As for reading: I always read multiple books at once, and I’ve got a different in-progress novel in almost every room in the house.  I seem to finish two or three per week.

Question Five: What was the path that led you to publication?

It was the shyest, simplest, most old-fashioned path.  I’m not the type of writer who could (or would) pitch a concept in an elevator at a busy book convention.  Just imagining it terrifies me.  

I spent years developing my writing, experimenting with styles and forms, getting poetry and short stories published here and there.  I finished the book that would eventually become The Shadows, which took several additional years.  I did my research.  I found out what agencies were looking at books like mine.  I wrote a query letter, revised it about thirty times, and sent it off to agents.  Then I sat back and waited, telling myself that it was never going to happen so I might as well not get my hopes up.

But I got lucky. Chris Richman, who was just starting his career as a junior agent at a now-disbanded agency, pulled my letter and my sample pages out of the slush pile.  Within just a few months, Chris had multiple publishers interested in my book, and we got to pick the one that felt like the perfect fit.   

Question Four: Do you believe writers are born, taught or both? Which was true for you?

I think it’s something in between, really.  I didn’t study writing in college or earn an MFA, and while I know those programs can provide valuable things, I don’t think someone can enter such a program NOT a writer and emerge as one.  

I’m primarily “self-taught,” I suppose.  But being a self-taught writer doesn’t mean that I haven’t studied intensely, and practiced, and researched, and learned.  Becoming a writer requires years of devoted reading, followed by years (and years) of writing.  The love of stories may be innate, but the skill it takes to build them comes with time, attention, and effort.

Question Three: What is your favorite thing about writing? What is your least favorite thing?

I love the times when the writing is going well, and it feels like I’m actually traveling into another world, getting to watch and listen as my characters move through their lives.  I love the moments when the right set of words comes together, and there’s a sudden spark of energy, like electricity running through a wire.  And I love picking up something I wrote a long time ago, reading it objectively, and realizing that I actually like it. 

My least favorite things are the opposite of these:  When I can’t get into the magic world, when the right words refuse to come together, and when I realize that something I wrote and thought was promising is actually an utter mess. 

Question Two: What one bit of wisdom would you impart to an aspiring writer? (feel free to include as many other bits of wisdom as you like)

Read like crazy.  Write like crazy.  Repeat. 

Question One: If you could have lunch with any writer, living or dead, who would it be? Why? 

Truman Capote.  His gossip is art.  

www.jacquelinewest.com

www.thebooksofelsewhere.com

7 Questions For: Literary Agent Chris Richman

Chris Richman is an agent with Upstart Crow Literary. He received his undergraduate degree in professional writing from Elizabethtown College, and an MA in Writing from Rowan University. A former playwright, contributor to The Onion, and sketch comedy writer, Chris broke into agenting in 2008 and has quickly made a name for himself by selling several noteworthy projects. Chris is actively building his list, enjoys working with debut writers, and is primarily interested in middle grade and young adult fiction, with a special interest in books for boys, books with unforgettable characters, and fantasy that doesn't take itself too seriously.

For more information, as always, you should check out Casey McCormick's amazing blog Literary Rambles. Here is a interesting piece Chris Richman wrote about himself:

My love of books started at an early age. In the second grade I fell in love with the gross and wonderful works of Roald Dahl. On career day in third grade I carried a book and called myself an author. In the fourth grade I was sent to the principal’s office when the teacher discovered me reading Stephen King’s Pet Sematary in the back of the room.

After that first Stephen King book, I spent years reading books for adults until, in college, someone handed me the first Harry Potter and promised me it wasn’t just for kids. Within a handful of pages I was hooked.

Suddenly a new world opened up for me, a world full of wonderful books for children that I’d ignored since my own childhood. Here were books that appealed to adults, too. Lemony Snicket could take a weird old count and some orphans and make me laugh. Louis Sachar could take me to the desert so I could sweat along with the digging boys. Jerry Spinelli could introduce me to a kid everyone called Maniac and make me long for butterscotch krimpets.

It took a few years before I landed in children’s books. The opportunity to find the next big thing, the next work that will transport me to a Narnia or a Hogwarts or even to places that we’ve all visited, made it completely worth the wait. I want to work on books that inspire children like I once was inspired.

There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

And now Chris Richman faces the 7 Questions:

Question Seven: What are your top three favorite books?

Boy oh boy. This is a nearly impossible question, as everyone has already noted. And, like everyone else, I’m going to cheat by narrowing the category. Instead of three favorite books, I’ll list my three most re-read books, since that, I feel, gives an indication of how big a place certain works have in my history as a reader. So, in no particular order, they are:

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I first read this gorgeously written novel while in middle school and loved the carefully crafted plot and how everything eventually ties together, the very true coming of age feel of the story, and the mix of comedy and tragedy. One of my favorites.

I’m cheating here, too, but I’ll list J.D. Salinger’s collected stories about the Glass family, including: Franny and Zooey; Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters; Seymour: An Introduction; and a few of the tales from Nine Stories as one work. I’ve always loved Salinger’s voice, his characters, and his gift for description, and felt the stories about the Glass family surpassed the far more popular Catcher in the Rye.

Finally, The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Like Owen Meany, I read this one as a kid, and loved that it, too, was a story for adults featuring a kid main character. I was immediately drawn into the fantasy elements—it was probably the first time I’d read a book that would now probably be categorized as urban fantasy—and I loved how it combined the real world with an alternate version. It also was just the classic version of the hero’s quest, as young Jack had to travel across the country to obtain the magic item to save his dying mother. Those stories still appeal to me, though I’ve gotten a lot pickier as I’ve gotten older.

Question Six: What are your top three favorite movies and television shows?

TV shows: The Simpsons will never be surpassed in my heart for the impact it had on me as I was growing up. For drama, I adored The Wire, and am currently completely in love with Breaking Bad and hoping it can somehow manage to remain amazing as it goes along.

Movies: I love movies. I once briefly considered a career as a film critic and have loads of favorites. However, in terms of the films I watch over and over again, my three favorites are: The Big Lebowski, Amelié, and Pulp Fiction. There are too many other fantastic films to name, but those three have all been worn out by constant viewing.

Question Five: What are the qualities of your ideal client?

Someone with a good sense of humor, a fantastic worth ethic, patience, and the burning desire to always be improving.

Question Four: What sort of project(s) would you most like to receive a query for?

I’m really in the market for classic stories that will withstand the test of time, as well as books that will genuinely make me laugh.

Question Three: What is your favorite thing about being an agent? What is your least favorite thing?

As cheesy as it sounds, my favorite thing is having a small part in making people’s dreams come true. My least favorite is having to pass on so many projects people have worked very hard to create while searching for my own specific idea of what I most desperately want to work on.

Question Two: What one bit of wisdom would you impart to an aspiring writer? (feel free to include as many other bits of wisdom as you like)

Never stop reading or writing. Continually challenge yourself. Finish something with the knowledge that you’ll come back to it when you’re ready to make it perfect. Every book is a piece of clay, not stone, and it can be reshaped into something terrific.

Question One: If you could have lunch with any writer, living or dead, who would it be? Why?

I could say Shakespeare, whom I love, or Salinger, but in terms of someone I’ve loved for my entire life, my answer would have to be Stephen King. I have very few fanboy moments, but I’d probably jump up and down like a teen at a Justin Bieber concert if I found out I had the chance to sit down with SK. I devoured his books when I was younger and I used to fantasize about writing him fan mail and somehow having the chance to talk with him. He’s sometimes dismissed in more literary circles—for example, everyone in my Master’s program pooh-poohed him for all they were worth—but I still think he’s a good writer and a fantastic storyteller.

www.upstartcrowliterary.com