Ask the Author: Aimée M. Bissonette
Answered Questions (2)
Aimée M. Bissonette
I get a lot of my nonfiction ideas from reading. I got the idea for “Miss Colfax’s Light” from a small excerpt I read in another book about women of the Great Lakes. I wrote “Aim for the Skies” after reading Jerrie Mock’s obituary in an Ohio newspaper. If you are an author (or a student) looking for a new nonfiction idea, read regional newspapers with stories that have not broken nationally or specialized publications for people with specific interests (e.g. dog magazines, travel magazines). Read about current and historical events, other countries, music, books, food, culture, and traditions.
Aimée M. Bissonette
Like so many authors, I knew I wanted to write books from a very early age. I still have notebooks full of poems and short stories I wrote in elementary school. I had an amazing fifth grade teacher who I believe must have been a writer, too. Each afternoon, we’d stop whatever we were doing for a few minutes of writing, often in response to a writing prompt she had devised. Every so often she’d collect our writing notebooks. She’d return them with comments: “You are a wonderful poet,” or “I love your stories.” I have read those notebooks as an adult and I am not sure my writing was worthy of her praise. But her words propelled me forward. She made me think of myself as a writer. What a gift!
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more