Ask the Author: Barbara Kent Lawrence
Answered Questions (6)
Barbara Kent Lawrence
I wrote my dissertation about the influence of culture on the aspirations of students in Maine. I'd done a lot of research into the history and culture of Maine, and after I finished my dissertation, I realized I had a lot of material that hadn't fit into an academic book. I was a summer kid in Maine for a long time and later lived there as a "year-round summer person" for almost 20 years. I'd gotten to know people from both the year-round and summer communities and I wanted to tell a story about ways in which they mis-communicated. I've also taught in a high school and universities, and I wanted to write about first love, adolescence, and coming to terms with oneself. "Islands of Time" is a bit like the story of Romeo and Juliet set in Down East Maine.
Barbara Kent Lawrence
I'm not sure - just happens. I got interested in writing about my British family from looking at a photograph of my mother and uncle taken in December 1939 just after she stopped acting in films and on the London stage to join the Voluntary Air Detachment, and my uncle left for France with the British Expeditionary Forces. They looked so young, innocent, and frankly beautiful that thinking about what they would soon face effected me deeply.
Barbara Kent Lawrence
I'm writing the sequel to "Islands of Time," which is, for now, titled, "Ben's Story." I'm also continuing to write and research the story of my British family during World War II, which I've worked on for almost seven years, though only part-time. It's turning out to be even more dramatic than the stories my grandmother told as a child, which were lightly based in truth. The truths I've found have amazed me. I hope you will find "Both Sides of The Pond: My Family's War - 1936 - 1946" in bookstores within the next 2 years.
Barbara Kent Lawrence
Keep writing. Don't get obliterated by rejection. Remember that doing anything well requires a great deal of practice and that writing is a craft.
Barbara Kent Lawrence
Getting to know and understand some other people and cultures, as well as getting to know myself better.
Barbara Kent Lawrence
We all get writer's block some times. I'm usually working on at least two projects, so when I feel as if I can't write, I switch to doing something else such as research. When I'm writing, if I can't remember a name, term, or can only come up with a weak way to state something, I make a note in bold that I need to re-work the sentence or passage. In other words, try not to block myself. I also edit and re-edit many, many times. Sometimes I think I write like a Daisy Wheel printer going back over a line again and again before it's correct.
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