Ask the Author: Amber Hunt
Answered Questions (4)
Amber Hunt
I admit I wasn't a Kennedy fanatic before tackling "The Kennedy Wives." My agent, Jane Dystel, reached out to me with an idea she called "The Tragic Lives of the Kennedy Wives." I thought it was intriguing. It would stretch me as a writer as I'd only written true crimes thus far, and it would allow me to reach a new audience. I loved that I'd be able to write a book that explored tragedy without having to dwell on it. My true crimes didn't have much room for that, especially because each was published within a couple of years of the heartbreaking crime. Enough time hadn't elapsed to examine the long-term aftershocks of the deaths. With the Kennedy wives, I could write about the tragedies they endured while also characterizing how they overcame them. As someone who's endured plenty of loss in my own life, I found that a refreshing angle to be able to take.
I ultimately was surprised by how much I respected each woman after David and I were finished writing. I was born after the Camelot days, and while I'd read biographies on the Kennedy men already, I really only saw their wives as well-dressed accessories who tolerated flagrant infidelities. After researching, I felt a kinship with the women that I wasn't expecting. We're all survivors in our own ways.
I ultimately was surprised by how much I respected each woman after David and I were finished writing. I was born after the Camelot days, and while I'd read biographies on the Kennedy men already, I really only saw their wives as well-dressed accessories who tolerated flagrant infidelities. After researching, I felt a kinship with the women that I wasn't expecting. We're all survivors in our own ways.
Amber Hunt
Every time I finish a book, I think it'll be my last. Books are labors of love, and unless you're Stephen King, they don't pay handsomely. I continue working as a journalist to keep food on the table. And yet, within a couple of months after finishing a book, I begin tackling the next one. It drives my friends and family crazy. "Didn't you just say you were taking a break?" Well, I guess I'm not cut out for breaks, in reality.
I do like challenging myself, though, so what I'm tackling right now is fiction. Granted, it's very personal fiction -- the main character is a female crime reporter, which I was for nearly a decade -- but it's fiction nonetheless. I wanted to be able to write for once without worrying about getting someone else's quotes precisely right, and I wanted to explore some themes and circumstances without being shackled by how things turned out in the real world. So far, I'm finding that I both love and hate the freedom. Anything is possible (yay!) but anything is possible (gulp).
I do like challenging myself, though, so what I'm tackling right now is fiction. Granted, it's very personal fiction -- the main character is a female crime reporter, which I was for nearly a decade -- but it's fiction nonetheless. I wanted to be able to write for once without worrying about getting someone else's quotes precisely right, and I wanted to explore some themes and circumstances without being shackled by how things turned out in the real world. So far, I'm finding that I both love and hate the freedom. Anything is possible (yay!) but anything is possible (gulp).
Amber Hunt
My advice is to figure out what works for you and then do it. I'm a weird one: Instead of writing a few hundred words a day, my process so far has been to research like mad and then hole myself up for lengthy stints and hammer out 2,000-6,000 words a day. I barely break to eat in those days. I just write. I'm trying to train myself to tackle smaller chunks, but the truth is that I wouldn't have finished my first book if I hadn't embraced my spill-it-out process at that stage of my life. I needed to feel like my efforts were making a dent in the word count, so there was something reassuring to me when I'd wrap up a long weekend of writing and know that I'd hammered out 10 percent of the book's total. It made everything feel more doable. Now that I've successfully finished four books, I think I can retrain myself to be able to write less -- but more often -- without feeling like I'll never finish.
To aspiring writers, I also say: Remember that most published writers aren't geniuses. Most are just good writers who ended up getting published simply because they tackled a project and, more importantly, they finished. I remember a few years ago, a reporter I worked with belittled one of our colleague's celebrated books by saying, "I don't see what's so great about it. I could've written that." I replied, "OK, but you didn't." My works aren't perfect, but they exist because I finished them. If you want to write, write. If you finish, you're already ahead of most people.
To aspiring writers, I also say: Remember that most published writers aren't geniuses. Most are just good writers who ended up getting published simply because they tackled a project and, more importantly, they finished. I remember a few years ago, a reporter I worked with belittled one of our colleague's celebrated books by saying, "I don't see what's so great about it. I could've written that." I replied, "OK, but you didn't." My works aren't perfect, but they exist because I finished them. If you want to write, write. If you finish, you're already ahead of most people.
Amber Hunt
Because of my background as a daily journalist, writer's block is a luxury I haven't often been afforded. I've always faced fast deadlines and have had to walk away from stories that I would have loved to have spent more time perfecting. I had to learn early on that done is better than perfect. The same mostly has been true with my books to date, as they've all been on tight deadlines and were nonfiction, so the facts of the case or circumstances of the lives I was profiling dictated what would be on the page. As long as I knew what I was tackling that day writing-wise, I wouldn't get blocked.
Of course, I'm pushing myself into fiction next, and I already sense a difference. The possibilities for the page are endless, and that can be daunting. I actually just decided this week to set a personal deadline for myself so that I won't spend too much time agonizing over each paragraph.
Of course, I'm pushing myself into fiction next, and I already sense a difference. The possibilities for the page are endless, and that can be daunting. I actually just decided this week to set a personal deadline for myself so that I won't spend too much time agonizing over each paragraph.
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