Interview with Pat Lowery Collins

www.patlowerycollins.com

Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

I come from a family of writers and storytellers. My sisters and I were even encouraged to dictate our stories before we actually knew how to write. So I always thought of myself as a writer.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

I was the only one in the family that painted, so I began exhibiting my fine art before trying to get published. At the time I was writing poetry and when my first children’s book, “My Friend Andrew”, was purchased pretty much right off the bat, I thought anything I wrote would be snapped up. Very soon, in fact, I did sell another picture book and I had some poems published in literary magazines, but this was followed by a long fallow period in my book world of about five years. For many years after that my sales of picture books were few and far between. It wasn’t until I began writing young adult novels that it appeared I had found my niche.

Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?

My latest novel is “Hidden Voices, The Orphan Musicians of Venice”. (Candlewick Press, 2009). This novel weaves the history of Antonio Vivaldi’s musical career into the lives of three amazing young women who find that the love they each seek is not where they expect to find it. and that the sheltered life of the orphanage has not prepared them for what lies outside its doors.

What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

I would have to say it’s strong young women, or ones who become strong within the context of the story. In the case of “The Fattening Hut” I was intrigued by the tribal practice of sequestering a marriageable girl in a hut for some weeks in order to fatten her up. With “Hidden Voices” what peaked my imagination was the thought of all those orphan girls being trained as classical musicians and the kind of life a girl in such a situation might lead.

Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

I live with my husband, Wally, in the house that was our beach cottage for twenty-five years. Our five children spent all their summers there, even though we moved from Massachusetts to New Jersey to New Hampshire during that time and lived in those places during the school year. At one point we remodeled the house and added a studio, and, now that the children are grown, we live there all year long. It’s on a river estuary and bay on the coast of New England, and the setting has inspired many of my books and paintings.

Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

Hmmm. Unfortunately there are quite a few of them. For starters – tortilla chips, chile rellenos, caramel flan, and carrot cake. And, oh yes, really good soup.

What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?

Stretch like a cat, bring in the paper, put water on for tea. Boring, huh?

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

In the attic there’s a very large stuffed, floppy witch that we put out on Halloween (If we remember she’s up there.) I hate to think of what her life is like the rest of the year.

Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?

Probably blue –cerulean blue – because it has such a serene quality. My kids used to say my color was boring beige, because that’s the color I often wore. But, as I told them repeatedly, that was never the inner me.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Holly in “Stone Soup.” She’s having such a difficult (and hysterical) time growing up.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Probably Ellie in “For Better or For Worse”. (Though I’d rather be Heart in “Heart of the City.”)

If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?

I wouldn’t want to go to a time and place I’ve written about for fear I might find out I’d gotten some of the facts wrong. And I’d like to have flush toilets available. So maybe it would be the Roaring Twenties, right before the Great Depression, and the place would be Hollywood, the town I grew up in. Some of the original movie stars like Charlie Chaplin and Jean Harlowe once lived in our neighborhood, and I’d love to meet them and see the old movie lots and other aspects of the early entertainment industry up close.

What’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

Oh, now I really am going to sound boring. But in the interest of truth, I don’t listen to music when I’m writing because it destroys my rhythm, but I do have it on when I’m painting and it helps to energize me. I love very early music and the baroque period. I also love some later music such as the Faure Requiem and Poulenc’s Gloria. And I often listen to “Eric in the Evening” which plays contemporary jazz.

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?

I like “the Big Bang Theory” a lot. But my absolutely favorite TV show is “So You Think You Can Dance”. I’ve been a fan since the show began. I’m always thrilled and amazed by the talent of those young dancers, and, since I’m a figurative painter, I’m fascinated by the human form in action. The last movie I saw at a theater was “The Proposal”. The last movie I saw that I liked was “Slumdog Millionaire”. I can watch anything with Spencer Tracy and/or Katherine Hepburn over and over again. (And I have to confess to watching re-runs of “Keeping Up Appearances.”)

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

Read widely across the spectrum of genres and with an open mind. If you’re an aspiring writer, remember that you will learn more from the authors of the books you read, than from any teacher you’re ever apt to meet.

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

My next historical novel is Feather and Shell. It’s set in Essex, MA, in 1849, and will be published by Candlewick Press in 2010. My next picture book is The Deer Watch, also with Candlewick. As I write this, the illustrator has not been chosen, and I don’t know the pub date. I’m also working on a ghost story and on a memoir, long in the works, of my growing up years as a child actress in Hollywood.

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!