ReadWonder: An Inside Look #128 (Author INTERVIEW)

An Inside Look with Leslie Connor

(Author of A Home for Goddesses and Dogs)

*The first season of interviews ran from June of 2016 to March of 2017.

*Season #two ran during the summer of 2017.

*Season #three ran during the school year of 2017-2018.

*The fourth season ran during the summer/fall of 2018.

*Season #five ran during the 2018/2019 school year.

*During summer 2019, the sixth season ran.

*The seventh season of interviews ran during the fall of 2019.

*I'm excited to be back for season #EIGHT with brand new interviews/authors.

*It has been such an honor to connect with authors and "chat" about their novel, characters, and thoughts about the story.

*This is the EIGHTH interview in which I'm calling Season #EIGHT.

*Thank you to Leslie Connor for being the One-Hundred Twenty-Eighth author that I've had the pleasure of interviewing. I truly appreciate it.

*Here is my review of the Novel...

My Review of A Home for Goddesses and Dogs

A Home for Goddesses and Dogs

by Leslie Connor

(February 25, 2020)

How did you come to know Lydia?
Ah! Interestingly, she came along because of the big yellow dog. I knew the dog first and was waiting to meet the character he could play foil to.

What do you think is Lydia’s most admirable quality?
Adaptability.

What do you think she can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?
I never think about these things while I am writing. I suppose it is something along the lines of being patient with one’s emotional self, even if it means hesitating, at first, to receive the positive things that are being offered. It occurs to me that readiness has a process, and it should be respected.

How did you research Lydia and the circumstances she found herself in?
I researched heart disease, hospice care, and the science of dying, and how people prepare or don’t prepare. Yet the story is not about death. It’s about one girl’s process through loss and grief, and her search for a sense of belonging in a new place with new people. One really fun piece of research involved a big pizza delivery, and a lunchtime chat with all twelve members of the eighth grade class in a very small town here in Connecticut. This is not their story, mind you; I am a fiction writer. But they added to my ball of clay, and I won’t ever forget their generosity.

Do you and Lydia share any similarities?
We are similar in our use for, and our love of, making art. Also, neither of us is a particularly effective dog trainer.

What was the hardest scene to write about Lydia?
Sometimes it is the small things: my heart really ached writing about the first time she got sick and didn’t have her mom to comfort her.

Who do you think was her biggest supporter and why?
Aunt Brat. She didn’t have all the answers but she had verve and resolve, and genuine love for Lydia.

What do you think Lydia is doing as the present time?
She and Aunt Brat, Eileen and Elloroy are hosting an art party, of course! Everyone is making goddesses.

Book Pages

Monday, February 24, 2020

An Inside Look #128 (Author INTERVIEW)

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