Soul is pleased to
interview Naomi Kinsman, author of the series From Sadie's Sketchbook, about the writing process, bears, and
thoughts on spirituality. Take a read, and be sure to pick up these
books!
Where did you get the idea for Sadie
Douglas and the first book in your series, Shades of Truth? What were you most
interested in portraying?
The first time I saw Sadie Douglas in my mind, she was standing
in a bathroom between two mirrors holding a candle, watching the flame repeat
over and over again to infinity. I remember thinking about how Sadie would
feel: full of wonder, but a little sad, too. I saw two sides to her-a joyful,
exuberant spunky personality with an artist’s ability to feel deeply and see
with intuition.
I wanted to explore how this strong character would react when
she started encountering questions to which she had no answer. I wanted to play
with how learning to see like an artist changed the way Sadie saw the world
around her.
I've heard writers say they put a
little of themselves into each of their characters. How are you and Sadie
alike? How are you different?
Sadie thinks in a very similar way to the way I think. She asks
lots of questions, and she can empathize with people who have different
opinions than she does. She also has my temper. But Sadie is much more
extraverted than I am. Where I might have held back and been slow to make
friends in a new school, Sadie jumps in with both feet.
What do the bears represent in Shades of Truth?
Or are they just bears?
What an interesting question. I never thought of the bears as
anything more than bears. However, there is something about the delicate
balance of respect and care that the people in Owl Creek must strike with the
bears that echoes the way we treat our “wild creative” inner selves. One
doesn’t want to go so far as to tame this creative force, hand feeding it from
the porch. Neither do we want to fear this part of ourselves.
Can you describe your writing process
for the Sadie books? Where do you get your ideas?
I write in layers. I start with an idea, usually a mental image,
such as the candle in the mirror, or a girl, hands outstretched on a beach
cliff. Then, I create a scene to go with that moment. I will usually also have
a weak idea of what my story is about. For a while, I write with just those two
things, stringing a story along. Once I have a few chapters, I stop and read
what I have, paying attention to what I feel is missing. Perhaps Sadie needs a
friend, or she needs a creative outlet. So I add a character like Ruth, or an
art teacher. From there, I start to plot, creating a loose outline of where I
think the story will go. Around this point in the process, I solidify what the
main story conflict will be, too.
From there, I keep layering and shaping and asking friends to
read and tell me what they see in the text, what they wonder, where their
attention is drawn. Sometimes I end up needing to do an intensive rewrite.
Other times the story comes out simply and smoothly. I was intrigued by the
fact that book four, Brilliant Hues, (to come out in August) was the hardest of
the series to write.
In Shades of Truth,
Sadie struggles with questions of faith and in what she believes. How do
you think this applies to your young readers?
I grew up as the daughter of two pastors, so obviously faith was
a huge component of my life. My faith journey has been a story of deepening,
learning how to let go of the “because my parents told me so,” to the deeper
answers beneath. Why do I believe this? What do I believe? How do I live my
life, now that I have these beliefs?
Sadie has an opposite journey. She doesn’t grow up learning
about faith, and so when as a tween she starts wondering about what’s right and
wrong, about who she wants to be in the world, she also starts to think about
God. She wants to know whether God is real, and how she would relate to God.
Even though much literature for young people skirts this touchy
issue, I think it’s one that most young people deal with at one point or
another. We need to recognize that the question is essential: Is there a God
and does that make a difference in my life? Creating characters who
authentically deal with this question is important, because young readers can
slip inside another person’s skin and see where they eventually land on the
issue. Even if a young reader doesn’t come to the same conclusion as any given
character, their heart is more open to other ways of seeing the world.
What do you think of when you hear the
word "soul"?
I think of the Emily Dickinson quote: “Hope is the thing with
feathers that perches in the soul.” I believe hope and soul are intricately
tied together. Hope is delicate and yet strong, like a bird; hope is the way
our souls show up in our lives. I’ve built my writing life on hope. I can’t end
a book without finding a shimmer of hope, some moment that causes me to believe
that whatever challenge my character has faced, whatever outcome has come to
pass, my character will be stronger, more understanding, and more capable, than
when her story began.
I refuse to settle for empty hope though, because fake hope is
less hopeful than no hope at all. False hope means the writer has given up on
the possibility of its real counterpart. Maybe this is why writing a book is
such a spiritual process for me. I start with a question to which I don’t know
the answer, and I write searching for hope. Through the middle, the journey
becomes darker as the conflicts become more and more tangled. In the end,
though, light starts appearing in my mind, like a lantern at the end of a
midnight forest path. I stumble toward that light, and when I finally arrive, I
know I’ve found the book’s end. I’ve found my way back to hope, and I’m
stronger, more understanding, and more capable than I was before I started the
journey.
What are some fun things readers need
to know?
I’m out on blog tour right now, and at each stop, I’m giving
away one signed set of the first three Sadie books: Shades of Truth,Flickering
Hope, and Waves of Light. To enter the drawing, send an email
to Naomi@naomikinsman.com. A winner will be
drawn on June 15, 2012.
Also, if you have any young writers (ages 9-12) in your life,
please pass along this information about the writing contest my publisher is running
in connection with the books. http://naomikinsman.com/win-a-kindle-fire-a-writing-contest-for-young-writers/ The deadline
for entry is June 1, and the grand prize is a Kindle Fire.
