Ask the Author: Carla Buckley
Answered Questions (12)
Carla Buckley
Hi Krysten--thanks for asking! No date yet, but I hope to make the announcement soon :)
Carla Buckley
Ugh, I hate to get the authorities involved.
Carla Buckley
Yes! Goodreads plays Jeopardy :)
Carla Buckley
There's a comma program? How do I sign up? ;)
Carla Buckley
Hi Laura, I understand your confusion--the title is "Vice President, Awards" and yes, it would make sense to add a comma after "Awards" to distinguish it from "and is at work on her next novel."
Carla Buckley
Allison! Just saw this--did I answer your question? This is a lovely note; thank you so much, and please accept my apologies for not replying sooner. As for how long it takes me to write a novel, the answer is: it varies. For example, The Good Goodbye practically wrote itself within six months, but I've been working on my current novel (#5) for well over two years--far longer than it took me to write any of my previous novels. I'm hopeful that I'm in the final stretches and that it will be released this coming year. I can't WAIT to share it with you!
Carla Buckley
Because I sell a novel on a brief synopsis and a few sample pages, I do some planning beforehand but not a great deal. Often, the novel will change shape once I begin writing and get to know my characters, and when I look back on that synopsis later, I'm amazed to see how far I wandered away from the original storyline. But the themes always remain the same--they're what pull me through to the end.
Carla Buckley
I find creating complete and believable characters to be the greatest challenge of writing a novel. I always want actions to spring from the characters themselves and I have to fight not imposing my own expectations on them. Because I often write from multiple perspectives, I make notes to myself as I go along to remind myself what each character knows at each point in time. Is there an easier way to do this??? PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
Carla Buckley
I love to read novels set in unexpected settings featuring unexpected protagonists, where the author takes a risk and it really pays off. The novel I've most recently read and loved was The Descendents by Kaui Hart Hemmings. I usually read late in the evening, after I'm done writing. When I'm in the middle of writing my own book, I stick to nonfiction. I'm in the middle of The Sixth Extinction, and wow!
Carla Buckley
Hi Amy--thanks so much for writing! I'm glad you enjoy my work and that it resonates with you, as a mother. What a great question! Sometimes the characters come to me quickly and I see exactly who they are. This happened while I was writing The Good Goodbye, which releases in January. Each of my three narrators (a mother, her daughter, and her niece) were so completely unique in my mind, and their hopes and experiences so different, that whenever one of them spoke, the words came smoothly. Sometimes, however, I struggle, especially when one of my characters makes a controversial choice (as in both The Things That Keep Us Here and The Deepest Secret.) It's important to me that my characters are believable and relatable: in the same way that I love being transported when I read a great book, I want readers like you to be similarly transported. I'm always asking myself: what would I do, and not, what do I--as the author--want my character to do.
Carla Buckley
(Well, thank you--you've just made my holidays!) Have you entered the giveaway? https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
Carla Buckley
Aww... Thank you! (Santa, are you listening?)
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