Please introduce yourself, who are you and what do you do?
My name is Elle Jacklee, and I'm a wife and a mom of two young boys, and I'm an author.
What inspired you to start writing?
Reading. Ever since I can remember I've been reading, and I wanted, at a very young age, to write stories that I hoped people would like as much as I liked other people's stories. Now just about anything can inspire me. I'm often looking at my surroundings and asking myself what could happen next or what happened before that resulted in this set of circumstances, or what if x or y or z were to happen right now? What would people do then? What might they say? And then what would happen?
Of course, my kids inspire me. Nothing can jump start your creativity like keeping little ones entertained! I think trying to see the world through their eyes as much as possible helps to keep my own sense of wonder alive and kicking.
And what was your first story?
I was seven years old. It was about a girl named Marie who loved to paint. One day, her favorite painting came to life and she was suddenly inside it. The world she had painted was very nice, and she enjoyed herself quite a bit for a while. But then she began to miss her parents and her dog, and even her mean big sister. She finally figured out that she had to paint her own real world from inside the imaginary one in order to escape. In the end, as I'm sure you can guess, she made it home safe and sound. But she still painted whenever she got bored...
What do you enjoy most about writing?
The part where the outline (yes, I'm an outliner) is done and I'm in the throes of turning the outline into a story. The act of creating something out of nothing is exciting.
And the least?
The outline! I'm completely certain that outlining saves me a lot of rewrite time. But for me it is the most strenuous part. Once it's done, though, the fun begins!
If you could work with any author, who would it be?
Writing is such a personal thing for me that I've never really entertained the idea of working with anyone else. But I suppose, if I had the opportunity, I could learn a lot from any number of authors. I once heard an interview with Danielle Steele in which she said she works on numerous books at once. Though she doesn't write in my genre (as far as I'm aware), I would be interested to work with her just to glean a little about her process and how she goes about juggling multiple stories. Knowing how challenging it can be to keep the details of one story straight, my hat's off to her for her amazing multitasking.
What advice would you give new and aspiring authors?
Keep writing! The more you do it, the better your work will become, and the more you'll enjoy it. The more you enjoy it, the more you'll do it, and the more you do it, the better your work will become, and the better your work becomes... well, you get the idea.
Also, read great books in the genre you write in.
What are you working on at the moment?
The second installment of the Wunderwood series. I'm really enjoying delving deeper into the characters from the first book in the series, and how Wunderwood's history and mystery continue to unfold.
Tell us about your latest work and how we can find out more.
The first book in my middle grade fantasy series is called “The Tree of Mindala: Wunderwood Book One.” It recounts the journey of soon-to-be twelve year old Miranda Moon and her younger brother to Wunderwood, a place where magic flows through trees, everybody knows their family name, and an evil warlock has just been released from a long banishment. As Miranda learns of her own connection to the realm, she realizes that it's up to her to carry out the task that will save Wunderwood or doom it forever.
It's currently available on Amazon at http://amzn.to/SNKB5p and Smashwords at http://bit.ly/TCFL89 and all major online retailers.
Thanks to Elle for sharing her time with us, on Monday we invite Tista Ray to the hot seat.
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