Sunday, September 11, 2011

My Interview with Author Karey White

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I'm a wife to one, a mom to four a sister to ten, and a daughter to two. I love creativity and have to reign in my desire to try every crafty thing I see. Writing has helped me with that. I try to channel most of my creative energy into my writing. I love to read and write. I love to cook and I've set a scary goal to run a half marathon next year.

At what point did you decide you wanted to become a writer, and why:
I decided in High School. I loved my creative writing classes in High School and college and was encouraged by teachers to continue writing. I love words and literature. Then I got married and had my children and the idea got pushed aside. But it didn't go away. It sat there stewing for years. The year before my youngest child started school, my family gave me an online writing course to give me a little jumpstart. Then when Joe started school, I started writing.

When you are writing, where are you, and what do you have with you?
I write on the computer, either at the desk or on the couch. I'm usually alone, except for Pepper, our Great Dane, who lounges somewhere nearby. I like it pretty quiet when I write, so I don't listen to music. If I'm really in the groove, I have to remind myself to stop and eat. If I'm in a rut, I have to remind myself to stop eating.

How do you write: outline or seat of your pants, and why?
I just start writing. I've written down a few ideas in the past, but most of the time I just write. Rewrites and revisions are a big job after this kind of writing, but I find that for me, it flows better this way and I feel free to take it where it seems to want to go.

Do you see writing as a career?
I see being a homemaker as my career. I see writing as a bonus that I'm lucky to be able to do. That's not to say that I wouldn't love to make it a career if the stars aligned right.

What are your hobbies outside of writing?
I enjoy cooking and baking. I love to read and never have enough time to read all I'd like to. I love traveling and spending time with my family. If there was a way to make a career out of traveling the world with my family, that would be fabulous.

Tell us about your inspiration for Gifted:
Our neighbors were an older couple who took in their wayward grand-daughter. She got pregnant and just a few weeks before she was to have the baby, she was killed in a drunk driving accident. They managed to save the baby, so my neighbors had to find a home for this little baby. I was worried about them and thinking about their situation when I went to bed one night. During the night I had a dream about the baby. In the dream, she was an unusual baby with unusual gifts. When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't stop thinking about this dream and what it would be like to have a baby like the one I'd dreamed about. That's where the story came from.

What was the hardest part about writing Gifted?
The emotions. It was a really emotional experience writing about Anna and Susan and Kelsey. They felt like real people to me.

Gifted does not have the happy ending that many might expect from a novel. Were you tempted to change that, and give it the fairytale ending, or did you always know how it was going to end:
It went where it was supposed to go and that was the hard thing. I wished I could give it a fairytale ending, but I knew I couldn't. However, even though there is heartbreak, there's also hope and joy and something beautiful and good comes from that sadness.

What are you working on next?
I'm just finishing up For What It's Worth. It's a romance about a girl who owns a wedding cake shop. I've also started The Husbandmaker, but it's still an infant.

You can visit Karey and learn more about her projects and her life at  http://kareywhite.blogspot.com and follow her on Twitter.  Get her book, Gifted, by clicking on the book cover below:

6 comments:

  1. Aimee - Glad you enjoyed it. If you haven't read her book, it's amazing.

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  2. Another book to add on my to-read-list. At this rate, I'll have no time for writing.

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  3. Oh, forgot to ask one thing: what happened to the neighbors grand-granddaughter? Did they give the baby for adoption?

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  4. Good question, Cami. I'll check with Karey and let you know.

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  5. They gave the baby up for adoption. She'd be almost four years old now. I've often wondered what she's like.

    Thanks for the fun interview, Cindy.

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