Ask the Author: Elizabeth Towles
Answered Questions (7)
Elizabeth Towles
Since the first of the year I have been dealing with compromised eyesight and this has greatly limited my reading just for pleasure. I have tried to keep my time geared to promoting my two books now listed on Amazon and other sites. HOWEVER, my mind still has the will to go where it strays...by that I mean it travels to what may lie ahead. I've had two surgeries and am still in the healing stage of full sight recovery. Yet...I have guests coming to reside from time to time in my mind wanderings... Elizabeth Towles
Elizabeth Towles
My book, The House On Sunflower Road, evolved from an episode that happened to me when a very young child. I wrote a short story titled Odella that won an Honorable Mention in Writer's Digest 80th Annual Writing Competition. I was in a Life Stories Class in 2011 and wrote the story which gained a lot of response from the other class members. At the end of the class our stories, with the author acting out their story, became the pinnacle of the whole class experience. My character, Odella, urged my mind to find her story. With a lot of research and listening to the voice of this young woman inside my mind and heart, I was slowly given the story of The house On Sunflower Road. As I've written before, when I did the final edit of the book, I heard her whisper in my ear, "You listened good." Thanks for this question, it gives me great delight to share it. Elizabeth Towles
Elizabeth Towles
I have read, and heard, one should write about what you know...instead I choose to write about something that eats at my mind, that tells me there is a story waiting if only I will probe further. I enjoy chasing the unknowns. I know when I'm onto something because tidbits of the story will come to me no matter what I'm doing. I have to hurry then and write the mind-image down.
I encourage aspiring writers to engage their whole self and never lose that itch to know more, to close out the negatives, and most of all, give yourself a gift of finding your voice in your written words...and lastly, always LOVE your characters enough to be true to their voice. Thank you. Elizabeth Towles
I encourage aspiring writers to engage their whole self and never lose that itch to know more, to close out the negatives, and most of all, give yourself a gift of finding your voice in your written words...and lastly, always LOVE your characters enough to be true to their voice. Thank you. Elizabeth Towles
Elizabeth Towles
I love English shows on TV. When I read this question the couple who jumped in my mind is on the show, As Time Goes By. The story is about a couple (now in the autumn of their lives) meeting again after being in love thirty-eight years earlier. They were parted by his going off to war and writing a letter that never reaches her.
They both have been married before and both are single again. Her name in the show is Jean and the man's name is Lionel.
This couple intrigues me because their past has become their possible future. I love the dialogue between them, at times testy, but not for long. They can have a 'to-do' for a short while, but their deep affection soon draws them back together and their joy of each other usually wins out. Thank you. Elizabeth Towles
They both have been married before and both are single again. Her name in the show is Jean and the man's name is Lionel.
This couple intrigues me because their past has become their possible future. I love the dialogue between them, at times testy, but not for long. They can have a 'to-do' for a short while, but their deep affection soon draws them back together and their joy of each other usually wins out. Thank you. Elizabeth Towles
Elizabeth Towles
I have been fortunate to be able to travel to many countries. I am intrigued by the different cultures, and the introduction to local foods and customs so unlike my own. I am always on the lookout for the oddity that can trigger a story--and sometimes it can also turn the one I'm working on upside down. I was deep into a first draft of The Long Night Moon and on the first day of a cruise my husband and I shared a table at lunch with a man who was in a wheelchair. For some reason I got into a conversation with this man about my current work and the more I talked, the more I realized that I needed to rethink how I was handling the story. My main character was in a wheelchair already when my story opened. The first couple of chapters had continued to pull at my mind and over the next several days I finally understood why--I was portraying her in a manner unacceptable to her. When I returned home I rewrote the beginning and from then on the story sat well in my mind. Thank you. Elizabeth Towles
Elizabeth Towles
The best thing about being a writer is that I am given a chance to tell the stories that inhabit my mind. When I am working on a new work, I delight in getting to know my characters intimately...to the point that when I sometimes speak in an author's voice, my characters will fill my head with their real words and I have no choice but to rewrite the passage to their satisfaction. Case in point, when I finished my last book, Odella whispered in my ear..."You listened real good." Thank you, Elizabeth Towles
Elizabeth Towles
I suspect, like most authors, there is a thread from one's past that often triggers the onset of a story. This is so with my writings. In 2011, I joined a Life Stories class at a Community Center in my area. My story was taken from a childhood experience. At the end of ten weeks, we did a play and each class member acted out the story they had written. My story was titled Odella. She became the center of questions from fellow members. After the class was over, my mind still held onto this story...only Odella told me there was more I needed to discover. I am very fortunate that my characters give me their stories. They will not let me rest until I give them the breath of life. Thank you. Elizabeth Towles
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