I am an award winning freelance writer living in Rome, Italy. I am also the author of several books including the popular Italian for Tourists, A Guide to Weddings in Italy and the best selling children's picture book Out and About at the Zoo.
Wow you live in Italy, that's pretty cool. I always wanted to visit there.
Please tell me about your book. Who or what was your inspiration behind it?
My latest book is a rhyming children's picture story book about a fairy called May that dreams of one day becoming a tooth fairy. She struggles at school and always seems to get things wrong but with hard work and determination she prepares for her tooth fairy exam. The story carries two lessons for the reader; 1) to follow your dreams. Just because it isn't easy doesn't mean it can't be achieved. 2) The importance of dental hygiene. The text subtly introduces the reader to how to take care of their teeth correctly.
Who is your current book dedicated to and why?
This book is dedicated to my niece who, after seeing that my last book Out and About at the Zoo was dedicated to my two sons, asked if I'd write a book for her too. It needed to have fairies in it and so I brainstormed on ideas and came up with Fairy May. I wanted her to be a little girl fairy and to show that it's OK to not be perfect. I wanted young children to be able to relate to her and to encourage them to go after their dreams. The tooth fairy part came about because several of my 5 year old's friends have recently lost their first tooth and he has been full of questions on the subject. my 17 month old is also teething at the moment and so the topic of dental hygiene comes up a lot in our house at the moment.
What are some of your favorite genres to read and to write?
I'm always experimenting with my writing and so far I've publish
ed poetry, short stories, articles, non-fiction, a phrasebook and children's books. I'm also working on a chick-lit. I enjoy writing children's books most as I can involve my kids in my work with them and it makes the whole process so much more fun. That said i also really like writing non-fiction. When I "get into the zone" with a project I find the content often writes itself.
As for reading I have varied tastes there too. I read a lot of non-fiction, particularly about writing, publishing and marketing. For fiction I love a good crime/suspense/thriller or some easy read chick-lit. I read at least one children's book a day too as part of my 365 Days of Children's Books Challenge.
Compared to when you first started writing, have you notice any big changes in your writing style or how you write compared from then to now?
Definitely. I'm more organized now and start planning the post publication when I start work on a project. I've learnt a lot about the industry over the years and think a lot more about the "big picture" when I'm writing now. I've also become more adventurous and don't limit myself now. I've always liked to try new things but in the past I sometimes limited myself. I've over come the fear factor and now just go with my gut instinct.
What is your favorite junk food vice?
I've got a major sweet tooth and I'm definitely what you could call a chocoholic.
What do you listen to when you write? Do you find one type of music over another that inspires you to write? Why?
I tend to listen to catchy pop songs when I'm working on my children's books. I guess it helps create an atmosphere of fun that I hope projects onto my work. If I'm working on non-fiction I often work in silence so I can fully concentrate on the topic. For my chick-lit I have a playlist of songs that make up a list of theme songs for the book. One of my main characters for example is a big Tina Turner fan and so I have songs like "simply the best" playing when I work on her scenes to help me get into her character.
On a typical weekend, what can we find you doing? Who are you with?
With my family. Saturday I go out with my kids if the weather is good and maybe work a bit in the afternoon if they're happily playing or try to clear some of the clutter at home (it's amazing how fast it builds up!). Sundays is family day as it's the only day of the week my husband doesn't work and so we all go out together and have some quality family time.
What genre are you most looking forward to exploring during your writing career? Why?
That's a tough question as I want to try a variety of genres. I'm a big believe in "you don't know if you're good at it until you give it a go" and so I like to experiment. With children's picture books I get to explore both as an author and as an illustrator and so the room for personal growth is huge. I'm definitely going to be producing more books in this genre.
What are you currently reading?
I'm reading Performance Anomalies by Victor Robert Lee, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne, Dave King and Crush it with Kindle by John Tighe.
What 7 words would you use to describe yourself?
Mummy, control-freak, ambitious, adventurous, multi-tasker, fun, blessed
Is there anything else that you would like to share or say to those who will read this interview?
I'm an avid blogger and run several blogs including the award winning http://WritersAndAuthors.blogspot.com where I welcome guest posts and do interviews with authors every Tuesday. My other blogs include, http://JoLinsdell.blogspot.com,http://1stTimeMums.blogspot.com and http://AsTheRomansDo.blogspot.com
I also organize an annual online event for people in the writing industry called Promo Day that takes place on Saturday 25th May 2013 at www.PromoDay.info. It's completely free to attend and open to everyone. You can find out more about me at www.JoLinsdell.com
ISBN: 978-1481951425
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Softcover (32 pages)
Purchase the book here: Amazon | Createspace
Book blurb:
Fairy May dreams of one day becoming a tooth fairy but she struggles at school and always seems to get things wrong. With hard work and determination Fairy May prepares for her test. Will she realize her dream and become a tooth fairy?
Thanks for having me here today Pam and for helping spread the word about Fairy May.
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