Author Interview – Elizabeth Moore

Welcome to my blog site, hope you enjoy your visit and enjoy getting to know author Elizabeth Moore, these interviews are a great way of getting to know about authors and their books.

Hi Elizabeth, thank you for dropping by for a chat, I am looking forward to reading your book Incurable  it is on my list and now you have a new  book, Every Big and Little Wish which will be released next week, my list just got longer!  It is obvious that writing is a real passion for you, as you have more on the way.

Tell me how did your book come to life?

While on a walk, I passed a rundown property in an otherwise neat and tidy neighbourhood. It was late spring, and yet a dried up Christmas wreath hung on the entry door. I couldn’t help but wonder who lived in that sad house. I already had a character gestating in my head, a misplaced young girl longing to fit in at a new school in a new city. I decided to give her a reason to knock on that door.

Did you plan to be an author? Can you explain your experience?

When I was seven, my parent’s separated and I missed my father after he moved clear across town. I made Dad a card, did the artwork and wrote a little poem. He cried when he read my words. I was instantly hooked. I knew I wanted to do that over and over, write words that made others feel something meaningful.

Did you have to think about the title of your book, and how did you come to choose the name?

My father’s Uncle Hec suffered severe emotional trauma at age nine, and, as a result, his IQ never fully developed. He lived with his mother well into adulthood. I remember visiting and him proudly showing off his collection of wishbones. He had hundreds of them. I always knew I was going to work wishbones into a novel. Thus the name: Every Big & Little Wish.

What location(s) did you decide to use for your story and what were your reasons?

Every Big & Little Wish is set in two cities. My protagonist, Jacy Wilbert and her family move from Redly, California, to Portland, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest. The juxtaposition of the two dissimilar cities figures prominently in the story. I chose Portland and Redley because I have lived in both cities, and love them equally.

Tell us what is your book about?

Every Big and Little Wish opens in late spring 1970. Sixteen-year-old Jacy Wilbert’s Mom got promoted, so her parents sold their Victorian home in California and moved to a townhouse in Oregon.

Torn away from the only home she’s ever known, forced to leave her beloved German shepherd behind, Jacy feels misplaced. Exacerbating an already terrible situation, her dad runs off with the bombshell real estate agent who sold them their townhouse. And, just when it seems things can’t get any worse, her mom loses the stupid job they left California for in the first place and begins to drown her sorrows with pink wine, night after night. Jacy’s caught in the middle, struggling to maintain a relationship with her AWOL dad while tolerating his annoying, much-younger girlfriend.

Missing old friends back in California, and feeling like an outsider, Jacy needs to build a new social life in a new school. Not the sort of girl to wait around for what she wants to come her way, she sets her sights on Neil Wilder, the best-looking boy around.

Everything changes when Jacy Wilbert knocks on the wrong door.

What is the main theme running through your book and what does this main theme mean to you? Is it a passion in your life?

The first stanza from an Emily Dickinson poem stuck with me at a very young age:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –

That perches in the soul –

And sings the tune without the words –

And never stops – at all –

 Our human tendency to hope is what fuels our impulse to wish for what we think we want or need, and that’s the theme at the heart of Every Big & Little Wish.

What do you think makes a great writer? Do you need to be taught to write?

I don’t know that I am a “great” writer, but I strive to be. I don’t think an author should ever cease perfecting their craft. Each project teaches us something new. Every book is a stepping stone to greatness if we are willing to push ourselves.

Do you have a message you want to convey with your book(s)?

In my first novel, Incurable, I set out to explore the influence mortality plays in our decisions and choices. Here’s a quote from the book: We enter this life and can never know what wonderful or terrible thing might strike next. What just happened is gone forever and all we have to hold onto is what happens next. Each moment presents an opportunity for renewed existence. Time and time again, we reinvent ourselves, for good or for bad. Mortal as we might be, we reject or repeat or revise or repair our lot. We are nothing more than what we leave behind in our wake.

Every Big & Little Wish is a coming-of-age novel due out next week, actually! Jacy Wilbert is only seventeen and yet suddenly forced to deal with displacement and disappointment. Obsession leads to danger. Our choices matter, what seems like a small decision can have huge consequences.

Do you have plans to write another book(s) with the same theme(s)?

I am interested in telling stories that not only entertain but contain insight that might shine a light on our collaborative struggle to understand, not only ourselves but the complex world around us. My next book is titled Letters from LaLa Land, and I am currently writing a companion book for Incurable.

How do you feel when you see the numbers of books on the market today and the number of self-published authors increasing and everyone trying to get attention? How do you keep motivated?

I am represented by Booktrope, a hybrid publisher. To read more about Booktrope, go to: http://booktrope.com/#section=our-story Although Booktrope follows the model of team publishing, we share the same struggles as both indie authors and traditionally published authors. How do we get our books seen by readers? How do we promote without being obnoxious? I survive the pressure and noise of social media and promotional burdens by staying focused on the work. My work is my salvation. Making connections with readers is a gratifying and humbling experience, and I seek more contact. I will never stop writing. I may as well toss the result out into the world and see what happens.

Is there is anything else you’d like to add?

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes the master. – Ernest Hemingway

EC Moore is the author of Incurable, published through Booktrope. Look for her second novel, Every Big & Little Wish October 2015.

When EC Moore’s not writing feverishly, you will find her out walking or sightseeing. She’s wild about coffee, books, cooking, good wine, cairn terriers, miniature ponies, historical houses, and witty people.

She resides in a fifties bungalow in Southern California, with her creative-director husband, a yappy blonde dog, and one feisty Chihuahua. 

Available:  http://www.amazon.com/Incurable-E-C-Moore-ebook/dp/B012EJJ4KG/ref

www.ecmooreauthor.com

Twitter: @ecmooreauthor