Yet another interview, because we are just that awesome.
Yeah, we are totally interviewing Cynthia Davis. We know you’re jealous. Author of The Chrysalis, and Drink the Rain, she wrote all of this HERSELF. Seeing a trend here?
As a YA author, you spend a lot of time writing about high school life. What were you like in high school?
I was a late bloomer, of sorts. A caution-to-the-wind kind of gal with a flair for the dramatic and a penchant for impulsive road trips during school hours. I wasted a lot of time on stuff that just didn’t matter that much. Everything revolved around boys. All of my upbeat journal entries gushed over being noticed by some guy. The more frequent, “downer” entries lamented over being rejected by the guy in the prior entry or perceived slights from friends. I was pretty insecure and seriously in need of perspective.
My nephew considers these stories to be of the same ilk as Paul Bunyan and his Big Blue Ox, but I stand by these statements as fact. Does it matter that the lions were cubs roaming playfully through the lodge of a South African game farm? I think not—they pounced, cloth flew, and I have the tattered remains of a sweatshirt to prove it. And would my gunfire story suffer a loss of veracity if you knew that they weapons were under the command of the Mexican military on routine target practice just outside their base? Of course not! Guns were brandished, and I fled. As I’m sure you’ll agree, I just stuck to the facts without embellishment or sensationalism.
The Chrysalis started as chapter-a-week postings on a website I hosted at the time. Teens I knew and teens I met online left comments on a message board that dictated the direction of the story. At first, it was just for fun, but I quickly realized I was onto something that could be a lot bigger than an online amusement with a few friends. Because of the fun and success I had with that project, I decided that my upcoming book, Snapshots, should unfold online as well. I just put the website up (http://www.runningwithletters.com), so it’s the perfect time to get in on the ground floor. Here’s how it works: I’ll be posting installments of the book-in-progress with hopes that readers will leave feedback on the discussion board: tell me when something works, and when it just misses the mark. Give me ideas for what you think should happen next. Suggest new characters, write in a role for yourself, or just cheer me on! The names of our entire “team” of contributors will be published when the book is done.
Camp Edson was the setting for my first book, The Chrysalis, and the things that happened to my character at camp led her to Africa in the second book, Drink the Rain. I think that format—a life changing summer at camp, and a sequel built on the results of those changes—kind of a series within a series—is something that can be replicated many times over. My vision is to send a lot of characters to Camp Edson over the years…characters with diverse interests, problems, and personalities. Over time, hopefully everyone will be able to relate a character in a Camp Edson book!
Remember Frog and Toad from the storybooks, and the time they made these cookies that were so wonderful they couldn’t stop eating them? That was one of my son’s favorite stories. One afternoon, I left my writing to spend time with my son—abandoning a character who was in the process of baking chocolate chip cookies. After reading the Frog and Toad cookie episode to my son, he wondered aloud what kind of cookies they must have been eating to cause such a fuss. Next thing I knew, we were in the kitchen concocting this wonderful recipe chock full of chocolate, peanut butter, oatmeal and a few other great things (the recipe is posted on my website if you really want to know) and when I returned to my writing my character wasn’t baking chocolate chip cookies anymore. Frog and Toad Cookies are a lot more interesting.
A recent conversation between me and my character, Christina, illustrates my favorite part of the writing process. I’ll let you eavesdrop:
Christina: That thing that happens in Drink the Rain, on page 235, that all the readers seem to be so upset about—why? That was one of the hardest things I ever did. It might turn out to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Why did it have to be this way?
Me: Christina, that was all you. I discovered long ago that I can’t make you do anything. I used to think I was in control every time my fingers hit the keyboard, but you have a way of taking over the story every time.
Christina: I guess that must make your job kind of hard.
Me: It’s kind of the opposite, actually. Writing is most fun when I’m surprised by my own work. When you start doing your own thing, that’s when I know I’m onto something—that I’ve brought a well-rounded person to life, not just some words on a flat page.
Christina: Glad I could help. Now what do about page 235?
Me: I have no idea, but I’ll be right here to record it when you figure it all out.
Christina (deflated): Thanks a lot.
Me: Glad I could help.
Making toys from trash. The children in Africa make these great cars out of coke cans, broken metal and scraps of junk—in short, rubbish. It’s not only a practical skill for a third world kid, it’s a wonderful metaphor for way I’d like to approach life.
One of the “rules” they always teach at writing seminars is to “write what you know.” I never would have been able to write about Africa had I not had the opportunity to go there and see things we have no concept of here in the USA. Before Africa, I never would have believed that there really are fast food restaurants with no garbage cans, that waste is left on the counter and immediately claimed as dinner by hungry people waiting patiently outside. Before Africa, I had no way of knowing that there are children who have never seen a box of crayons, and are frightened to tears by them. Like most people, I read about AIDS and unemployment, but didn’t understand how the cycle of poverty promotes the power of both. Although my understanding about these realities equates to nothing more than a snapshot, it’s still a picture I can share with my readers: see, here’s another view of the world, what can you do to change this image?
Jumping to hasty and ill-founded conclusions, her lack of coordination, and her love for theater are all traits she inherited from me. Her focus on her studies, mostly levelheaded perspective on the opposite sex, and her tendency to make (mostly) good choices are qualities inspired by many teens I’ve been blessed to know and talk with. In the words of one of the girls on my advisory panel, Christina is “a little bit of all of us.”
That the world is a big place, and we all have a role to fill. That decisions are important and today’s choices determine tomorrow’s opportunities. Most importantly, that each of us is here for a reason, and that life’s greatest adventure is discovering why.
Yeah. She’s pretty much made of AWESOME.
In the fog…
Kiri Vehemens
P.S. Because we know you’ll be wanting to look her up, check out runningwithletters.com
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