Ask the Author: Kathy Cunningham
Answered Questions (6)
Kathy Cunningham
"Finding Erin Campbell" is about a teenage girl who accidentally kills a little boy when she makes the mistake of texting while driving. It's topical, I guess, but it wasn't the texting-while-driving part that interested me. It was the ethical dilemma of taking responsibility or not, of finding a way out of it or not, of listening to your friends or your own conscience.
I wanted Erin to be a regular kid -- even if she's rich and privileged and supposedly lucky. She's the kind of girl people assume has all the breaks, and I wanted to show that appearances can be deceiving. I also wanted Erin to learn something -- not just about moral responsibility, but about herself. And about human nature. It's tricky, because I didn't want the book to be a "message novel." I hope I succeeded!
I wanted Erin to be a regular kid -- even if she's rich and privileged and supposedly lucky. She's the kind of girl people assume has all the breaks, and I wanted to show that appearances can be deceiving. I also wanted Erin to learn something -- not just about moral responsibility, but about herself. And about human nature. It's tricky, because I didn't want the book to be a "message novel." I hope I succeeded!
Kathy Cunningham
Everything I've ever written feels autobiographical in some sense, even though I never mean it to be that way. Someone once told me (a very long time ago) to "write what you know." And I guess that's what I do. My characters seem to grow and develop on their own, as I'm writing. And that's what happens with the stories, too -- I always have an idea of where I want things to end up, but the getting there is a process that seems somehow separate from me. I don't really understand it. But I know it's true, and I trust in it. That's my inspiration.
Kathy Cunningham
This is a tough one, because I'm currently trying to market "Finding Erin Campbell," which takes time away from writing. But I have three projects in the works, and all three are very different. I haven't yet decided which one will be my focus once I get back to daily writing. And I'll be publishing my other four novels over the next few months. It feels a bit like being on a rolle- coaster right now. We'll see how things unfold once I get my feet back on solid ground!
Kathy Cunningham
I guess it's the same advice Stephen King gives -- just keep writing. Even if you think you'll never find an audience, write for yourself. I wrote five complete novels before I ever got up the nerve to publish one. And I loved writing them. I loved every minute of it! I don't love the marketing end of self-publishing, because it isn't my area of expertise (not even close!). But I keep telling myself that the writing is the important part. It's the writing that keeps me going.
Kathy Cunningham
It's what I've wanted to do ever since I was very young (sixth grade, actually!). So the best thing about being a writer is that I'm doing what I've always wanted to do. I've always been a story-teller, even if the stories were only in my head. And it's only recently that I began calling myself a "writer" (rather than just a wannabe). And maybe the "best thing" is something I haven't discovered yet!
Kathy Cunningham
I've experienced "writer's block." That doesn't mean I don't have dry spells when nothing I write seems to work. But I write just about every day, even if I don't want to. And you'd be surprised how often the stuff I write that seems awful at the time seems better when I re-read it the next day. The fact is, a whole lot of what I write gets tossed anyway. That's just the way this process works. So I write even when I don't feel like writing. With luck, the good stuff outweighs the not-so-good.
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