Featured Interview With Karin Adams
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba and it’s where I’m living now. Winters are long and cold, which is great for getting some writing done! Truly, there’s lots to do here and beautiful places to explore, and you can’t beat the gorgeous summers and the endless prairie skies. I don’t have any pets but I love animals. I know all the dogs in my neighborhood and we always stop on our walks to say “hi” to each other.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I can’t remember a time without books. I remember my mom reading me picture books and taking me to the library when I was very small. When I was a bit older and she started reading “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” to me—a chapter a night—I was captivated. I’d say it was then that I knew I wanted to tell stories and write books one day, too.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I still love C.S. Lewis to this day and re-read The Chronicles of Narnia once a year. I enjoy a wide variety of genres, from historical fiction to classic mystery novels (particularly Agatha Christie) to great works of literature like Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The books that have had the most impact on my own fiction writing are probably those I loved as a child – anything by Judy Blume and Gordon Korman fall into that category. Both authors have such a wonderful way of bringing authentic young characters and young-person situations to life, which is what I aspire to do too when writing for a middle grade audience. But I also love discovering today’s authors. I think that my writing is energized by any and everything that I read!
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is “The One Week Writing Workshop”. It’s a non-fiction handbook for adults aspiring to write a novel, or those stuck somewhere in the process. The subtitle is “7 Days to Spark, Boost or Revive Your Novel” and that’s exactly the book’s intention! It offers a solid grounding in writing essentials, but is mostly activity-driven, inviting you to “write as you read”. By the end of the book, you’ll have experienced a proven seven-step method that you can use to write your novel and bust past creative blocks.
“The One Week Writing Workshop” took me about a year to complete, but it represents a much longer process than that. It’s based on my own novel-writing method and my many years of experience as a creative writing instructor. I’ve been leading writing workshops since 2010, so in a way the book has been in the making since then!
The activities you find in the “The One Week Writing Workshop” are all things that I do in my own process or have used to energize groups to write. I spent a lot of time figuring out the best order in which to present the writing tasks in book form, and the most inviting way to deliver my instructions. My goal was to energize and guide my readers, but also ensure that they could quickly dive into the writing activities themselves.
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