I started reading Grace Grows earlier this week, and I am really enjoying it so far! Although it is an adult chick-lit book, I know that it will certainly be a hit with a lot of you young adult fans, too! I truly think that this will be a hit with a lot of you and so I jumped at the chance of hosting a blog tour stop!
Here, author Shelle Sumners shares a piece about her writing process.
Storytelling and Writing
My novel Grace Grows was born in an early morning dream. The dream was brief, a vignette, but so compelling that it startled me awake. These are the basic images and feelings it gave me:
A man and a woman are together, at a waterfall, watching the water flow.
He’s a musician.
She wants to help him.
They love each other, but cannot acknowledge it.
I sat up in bed, still half asleep, and grabbed a pen. Further understandings and knowledge of these people and their situation poured through me until I had 18 legal-pad pages of notes. Much of the story outline was already in place.
Before I started writing, I pondered what kind of book this would be. I’d just completed the first draft of my first novel when this idea came to me so unexpectedly. So, as a self-taught, evolving, experimenting novelist, I wanted to try a couple of new things: I decided to tell this story in first person, from my female characters’ point of view; and, having just written a drama, I wanted to see if I could “write funny.”
As you will see when you read Grace Grows, there is another major experimental element: this novel, about a musician, has songs in it. They are real songs, written by my collaborator--real-life singer-songwriter Lee Morgan. Lee is so gifted that the very thought of featuring his creations within my story forced me to try to do my absolute best writing.
No pressure or anything.
Speaking of writing and pressures from within and without to be brilliant, here’s how I generally avoid becoming paralyzed by fear: I think of myself as simply a storyteller first, while getting that first draft on paper. The story is all that matters. In subsequent drafts, when I start analyzing and trying to improve on what I’ve done, start tinkering with the words and the structures, that is when I put on my writer hat.
Thank you for allowing me to visit, and I hope you enjoy Grace Grows!
Shelle Sumners has held many jobs, among them waitress, actress, administrative assistant, copy editor, educational writer, bookseller, and wedding chapel receptionist. Her debut novel Grace Grows has a companion soundtrack of phenomenal original songs that appear in the story, written and performed by her husband, singer-songwriter and Broadway actor Lee Morgan. Shelle lives and writes in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Huge thanks to both Shelle and Allen and Unwin for making this blog tour possible! I hope that this has encouraged you to give this book a go. Keep checking back, as my personal review of Grace Grows will be posted very soon! For more info on Grace Grows and Shelle Sumners, check out the links below!
Twitter: @ShelleSumners
Thanks for the post! It was sweet.
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds like something I would enjoy" Can't wait for your review :D
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