We had a good turnout for a fun visit with Amanda Eyre Ward Monday. Amanda's books are unique and well-written. She hasn't yet been pigeon-holed to a specific genre. She says she'd like her books to be considered "literary fiction." Works for me!
Amanda told us about her reading and writing habits, how she got started writing, and her current goals. She says she structures her books by envisioning scenes and noting just the scene on an index card. Then she writes up the scenes and arranges them later. She says she knows that her books skip around, but that's just how she writes. She has created her style and it has stayed with her.
She did the work to become a writer. She has always been an avid reader and continues to read several hours most days. She took a prestigious and excellent writing class during her undergraduate years at Williams College. She has written a number of short stories and honed some of them for her newest book, Love Stories in This Town. She also wrote a long novel that didn't work; she says it just went on and on with nothing happening. Ward works hard to get her books "right," and she likes a good editor to make lots of suggestions for changes. She wants the reader to feel that everything converges at the end of her books. She currently is working on a book that already has an ending, but she says that hasn't made the book easier to finish. She says it takes her approximately 3 years to write a book. I think it's important for us to remember these lessons as we meet authors who make it look easy to write a good book and get it published.
Amanda Eyre Ward is a very bright and interesting young woman! She was delightfully open with us, answering all sorts of questions we asked. We wish her lots of luck finishing and publishing her newest book and also on that movie option that has Sandra Bullock starring in Sleep Toward Heaven!
