Ask the Author: Andrea Torrey Balsara
Answered Questions (6)
Andrea Torrey Balsara
I put on "soundtrack" music, as loud as my pets can stand it, and immerse myself in the scene I am trying to create. I imagine I am filming the scene, as the music plays, and all I'm doing when I'm writing, is writing down what I'm seeing. Without inspiration, my writing can feel as stale as old bread. With inspiration, it takes off. Having said that, you can't wait for the inspiration to hit. You've got to sit in the chair, and use different means to find inspiration while you write. If you wait for it to hit, you may wait forever.
Andrea Torrey Balsara
I get to create worlds, and make up endings that I like!
Andrea Torrey Balsara
To write because you love it. Don't write because you think you will be famous, or because you want to be rich. Those things will probably not come, and if you chase the dream for that reason, you are doomed to be disappointed. Write, because you can't bear the thought of not writing. And if you love it, don't give up, even when the rejection letters pile in (and they will, if you're anything like most writers). Take courses, go to writing retreats, find like-minded writers who will support you on your journey. And beware of writing superstars who tell you what "real writers do."
Andrea Torrey Balsara
I am finishing illustrations for a picture book that talks about unity in diversity. The idea behind that is that we are each beautiful, like flowers in a garden, with our diverse colours and backgrounds. The book, The Nightingale's Song, is about sharing with children the joy of diversity.
Andrea Torrey Balsara
I am a very creative person, which has its good points, but also its downside. There is a constant restlessness that comes with creativity, and in order to feel grounded I need to be creating something. I have to work hard to stay in balance, and writing and illustrating give me the outlet I need.
Andrea Torrey Balsara
I had always loved the epic feeling of the Lord of the Rings, and I'd also loved the book, Watership Down, about a colony of rabbits. I wanted to create an epic story that brought the reader down into a rat colony, so that by the end, the reader would feel that they understood life from this other creature's point of view. In writing the book, I was trying to answer two questions: the first, was how does evil happen; the second, if one is born within the orbit of an "evil" person, like a Stalin or a Hitler, is that person doomed? The Great & the Small was my answer to that.
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