I loved reading eleven-year-old reviewer GlowElm’s review of Azalea, Unschooled on LitPick. LitPick also asked me to participate in their Six Minutes with an Author feature. You can see it on their Facebook page, or read it below.
**How did you get started writing?
In first grade, I wrote a story in which the narrator meets a lot of barking dogs. In my mind, it was hilarious. I’ve been writing ever since.
**Who influenced you?
The people who wrote ‘The Muppet Show.’ When I was a kid, it seemed like the height of wit and sophistication. It still does, more or less, especially the episode where Gonzo takes over the show to hold a dance marathon. The episode is a great example of how to create humor and tension by weaving story lines, and of the comedic possibilities in what remains unsaid, especially when it involves asparagus.
**Do you have a favorite book?
One of my very favorites is ‘The Member of the Wedding’ by Carson McCullers. It’s about a twelve-year-old girl growing up in the American South in the 1940s. That description doesn’t do the book justice, though. The novel is complex and beautiful and unsettling. I probably read it once a year.
**What advice do you have for someone who wants to be an author?
Write! Don’t fall into the trap, as I so often do, of thinking that other things count as writing. Planning to write later is not writing. Telling people you’re a writer is not writing. Thinking up great new ice cream flavors is not writing. Only writing is writing. And I’m going to do it soon. Any time now. What do you think about coffee ice cream with pieces of coffee cake in it?
**Where is your favorite place to write?
I write on a laptop in my living room, either on the couch or sitting at a table. The couch is comfortable and relaxing. The table gives me a nice view of the local cats waging turf wars in our backyard.
**What else would you like to tell us?
I’m writing a second middle-grade novel. I never like to talk about what I’m working on while I’m working on it, but I think the book is going to be funny, and a little dark. Kind of like that barking dog story I mentioned.
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Thanks for joining us, Liza! We think that coffee ice cream with pieces of coffee cake in it sounds delicious! We’re looking forward to your next ice cream flavor, er, book.
Social media:
https://www.facebook.com/lizakleinman
Website:
http://www.lizakleinman.com
Liza Kleinman
A writer of fiction for adults and children, and a freelance writer specializing in language arts educational materials.
Liza's latest release is the children's book Azalea, Unschooled from Islandport Press.
