BookSparks University presents Guest Professor #2, Lesley Kagen author of The Resurrection of Tess Blessing.
Happy Homecoming week, Sparks! We are so thrilled to include Lesley Kagen as one of our guest Professors for #FRC2014! Here, she answers 20 questions about her inspirations, writing experience, and a little about her self…
1. What was your biggest inspiration while writing your book?
Not a what, but who. My son.
2. What is usually on your nightstand?
A precarious stack of books ranging across all genres. Humor, literary, mystery, anything that I know has wonderful writing or an intriguing approach.
3. Which character in your book is most like you?
Tessie. Some of her struggles throughout the story are based on my own struggles.
4. Which authors have most influenced your writing?
Amy Bloom, Alice Sebold, and Harper Lee.
5. What is your favorite scene in the novel?
I’m pretty fond of the scene in which Tessie, Birdie, and Otto are in hot pursuit of Will. Their bungling made me laugh.
6. What do you think is your lead character’s best trait?
Her perseverance.
7. Are any characters in your book based on a real person?
Yes, quite a few, actually. But all the characters in all of my books are.
8. What is something your readers would be surprised to know about you?
I love reality TV, especially the Voice. I always wanted to be a singer, but I’m awful.
9. Where is your favorite place to write?
My desk. I can’t write anywhere else but here.
10. What did you want to be when you grew up?
An actress or a bullfighter.
11. What is your favorite book of all time?
To Kill a Mockingbird.
12. When is your birthday?
August. I am such a Leo.
13. What is your dream vacation?
Taking my grandkids to Disneyland. The first time they see Snow White’s Castle…their little beaming faces…wow.
14. Describe your writing style in three words.
Funny. Poignant. Authentic.
15. When naming your characters, do you give any thought to the actual meaning?
Character names are incredibly important to me. They help set the tone of a story. They’ve got to be just right.
16. What is your main character’s favorite song?
Louie, Louie by The Kingsmen.
17. Any recent works that you admire?
I adored both The Rosie Project and JoJo Moyes Me Before You. Both were great reads.
18. If you could co-write a book with any author, who would it be?
Oh, that would never happen in a million years. Writing for me is a one woman operation.
19. How have your personal experiences affected your writing?
All my books draw from my life. I’m not the kind of writer who can do justice to science fiction, or say, books set in the early 1800’s. That’s just not my thing. I need to have spent some time in the setting, known the people, smelled the smells, laid on the grass. The plot can be entirely fictional, but it’s usually sparked by something I’ve experienced.
20. What is your writing process?
I’m an early bird. By 5:30 A.M., I must be wearing my lucky writing jacket, drinking enormous amounts of Earl Grey tea, in front of my old school PC, where I remain, at the minimum, for four hours every day. (You leave a story for too long, you come back to find that characters have been goofing around without you. They can be an unruly bunch.)
STAY TUNED FOR TOMORROW’S GUEST PROFESSOR, EMILY LIEBERT!
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