THE WRITE PATH with Laurie Gifford Adams

Laurie Gifford Adams

In this series, guest bloggers tell us about finding their way through the writing landscape. My guest today is Laurie Gifford Adams. Her latest book Over The Edge is out now.

So let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Laurie’s.

1. What made you want to be a writer?

I don’t think anything made me “want” to be a writer – I just always felt like I was one. I do know that any time I read a really great book when I was a kid, it would inspire me to write. Then, even into adulthood, that has happened. I guess reading the work and words of others encourages me to share my own. I LOVE telling stories.

2. What is the toughest part about writing?

Fleshing out the idea is the hardest part of the writing process for me. I tend to be a pantser. I plan what I think the book is going to be about and how I think the plot is going to flow, but every book I’ve written (except for the non-fiction Internet safety book) has taken a curve and gone in a whole different direction than I’d planned. I have to let the story go where it’s meant to go, though. It just feels more natural that way. Often the characters surprise me. They’ll say something so totally unexpected and I just have to sit back and laugh. I want to say, “Hey, I’m creating you. You can’t tell me what to do.” But they do anyway.

Do I have weaknesses? I think all writers do. My weakness is identifying too much with the characters. This definitely has an effect on the first draft. Fortunately, I have critique partners who spot those things that don’t quite ring true, and I have to go in and fix them. I’m sure I have many more weaknesses, but I hope my strengths outnumber the weaknesses.

I’m also not as good at promotion as I should be. I’ve always been a people pleaser personality, so if I think something might annoy people, I avoid it. I do love interacting and engaging with people, though, so social media is a great way to do that.

3. Have you experienced an aha moment, a piece of advice or a moment where something fell into place?

I have MANY “a-ha” moments when I’m in the midst of a project. Like most writers, I live the story in my head when I’m doing other things in my life, and as a result, I’m constantly mulling over the characters’ motivations for doing and saying what they do. Like most people, it’s often when I’m lying in bed trying to fall asleep or driving (so I can’t write) that the “a-ha” moments happen.

Also, I read and re-read my manuscript so many times throughout the process. I used to worry on the first draft that I wasn’t “bulking it up” enough, then, especially with Over the Edge, I realized the way my mind works. I always see more that needs to go in when I’m going through the manuscript in a condensed time frame at the end. At that point, those characters and their lives are so ingrained in my mind, that I can suddenly see that I had Dylan respond to his younger brother in a way that isn’t consistent with his character. So, now, I try to set aside several hours after I think I’m done just to read straight through again, looking for inconsistencies, weak areas, confusing dialogue, etc.

Other “a-ha” moments come as a result of reader expectations. When my critique partners or beta readers say, “Well, I thought this – or that – was going to happen,” I always stop and consider if that’s an important idea to explore. Many times I’ve changed or added scenes based on their expectations. This really makes it fun for me.

One more kind of “a-ha” moment was when I finally learned that if I get “blocked,” I needed to just come up and start writing anyway. Even if it takes me ten minutes to write one sentence, and even if that sentence is going to get deleted later, it’s progress. It helps me continue when I feel like I don’t know what to write next.

4. Whose style do you admire, or is there a line you wish you’d come up with?

I absolutely LOVE LaVyrle Spencer’s writing. Her heartwarming stories about regular people, in regular lives with regular struggles, are keepers, and I’ve read most of them multiple (and I mean multiple) times. There’s nothing pompous about her style. I went into mourning when she announced she was retiring. What a loss in my life!
I also really like Diane Chamberlain’s books. Her characters are also very realistic with problems, fortunately, most of us wouldn’t ever have to face. But she deals with these situations beautifully.
For really well-known authors, Sandra Brown is a favorite.
When it comes to YA or middle grade authors, I’m all over the place. I don’t care who wrote it as long as it’s a great story. I’m not a fantasy reader, though, so I never got on the JK Rowling or Suzanne Collins bandwagons. I read some of their books just to see what my students were reading, but I’m more interested in realistic fiction.

5. Describe your ideal reader.

My ideal reader is someone who loves a good story and wants to root for the character and his/her struggles. The reader realizes life isn’t all good, and that to appreciate the good we have to deal with the negative, too. I’ve been writing for the younger teen group because I hope to capture the reluctant readers.

My first book, Finding Atticus, was specifically written for my students because they were always complaining about what they didn’t like about the books we read in school. One of their biggest pet peeves was the characters or animals dying in the books. They like being on the edge of their seats with concern, but they also want everything to work out in the end. Who doesn’t want that? Why wouldn’t we want to feel GOOD when we put a book down? Even if there are tears (which my readers always tell me I’m good at pulling out of them), they’re good tears, not tears of sadness. (Well, okay, I do have to sprinkle in a little of that, too, so the characters’ lives don’t seem unrealistically perfect.)

I think I deliver real characters with real issues. I always hope readers will come away with their own “a-ha” moment when they get the point(s) I’m trying to make. I guess that will always be the teacher side of me. My books entertain, but they also teach a “lesson.”

A little about me. I was born and raised in the Finger Lakes of western New York. After graduating from Keuka College, I moved to Connecticut and married Jim, who is from there. I taught middle school English for 26 years and LOVED it. Those kids were definitely an inspiration for my writing. I got my Masters degree from the University of Connecticut at Storrs (Go, Huskies!) I also freelance write for the Reiman Publications magazines and for Finger Lakes Visitors Connection, a tourism promotion office for Ontario County, NY.

Jim and I have two kids, Carrie Beth and Nick and I LOVE my animals, too, so I always, always have a dog in my life, and right now that’s Mollie. I love to ride horses, so now I have Sasha, a palomino, and Lacey, an appaloosa. I also have a grandkitty named Scooter. Jim and I moved back to the Finger Lakes in 2011 and love living back in this area. Connecticut was good to me, but I love being “home” again.

When I wrote that about Sasha above, it reminded me of this. When I was a kid, I dreamed of having a palomino. Except for a couple of years, I always had horses or ponies, but never a palomino. They seemed out of reach, but that didn’t stop me from dreaming about owning one. I even made up stories as a kid when I’d tell my friends I was sure I was getting a palomino for my birthday or Christmas. The closest I got was a little chestnut pony. In my late forties, I finally made my dream come true when I bought Sasha. My point is, don’t ever give up on your dreams. Make them happen if there’s any way possible. After my horse died in 1997, I waited 13 years before I got Sasha, because I was determined I would own a palomino. I could have bought any number of horses in between, but I had a dream, and I stuck with it.

It’s the same way with my writing. I always dreamed of having people eager to have my books come out, and now that it’s here, it seems pretty surreal. There were lots of times in the past 30 years when I let my writing slide because I was busy with other things, but I never let it go completely because I had this goal I was pursuing, and now I’m enjoying every minute of it! It’s an awesome feeling.

My next goal: to make a best seller’s list. And I’m determined to get there.

I have three books out right now:

FINDING ATTICUS – an older middle grades novel that has also found a vast audience among adults, which I think is pretty cool…

www.RUinDanger.net – is an Internet and technology safety guide co-written with a former undercover cop (He approached me to co-write the book with him because he saw the need to educate kids and their parents)…

…and my newest is the YA novel, OVER THE EDGE. The issues I tackle in this novel are near and dear to my heart, so this story is very special to me. I feel like the story doesn’t only entertain, but it also has the potential to change someone’s life. (Long story with that.)

Where to find me or how to contact me:

My web page is www.lauriegiffordadams.com
Facebook is Laurie Gifford Adams – Author
Twitter: Laurie G Adams
I can be contacted through my website, and I LOVE to hear from people. I respond to everything – and I mean everything. I hope to hear from some (or ALL) of you!