An interview with Philippa Stasiuk, author of The Wonderful Whippet of Winifred Weatherwax
Writer, rover, animal and plant lover, Philippa has lived in Zimbabwe, where she’s from, South Korea, Mexico, New York, and Copenhagen. She grew up with Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Bichon Frises, Dachshunds and mutts. She now lives in Lincoln, Nebraska with her husband, two daughters and three cats, who have banded together and forbidden the acquisition of dogs. The Wonderful Whippet of Winifred Weatherwax is her first novel.
Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external hard drive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?
Winifred Weatherwax is my first novel, but it has many abandoned drafts, mostly those experimenting with different perspectives. I started my story by telling it from the perspective of the dog –both first and close third-person. Eventually, I realized the dog perspective could (and does) work for novels, but not for a mystery – at least not mine.
Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?
When crafting a story, I refuse to be rushed. This book took me about seven years to write. Maybe with the next one, I can cut that time in half?
I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?
Right now, I seem to only be able to write on my bed, or at a coffee shop with noise-silencing headphones on. My desk, for some reason, isn’t working. I generally sketch ideas (and plenty of doodles) in a notebook first before braving the blank page of the laptop.
Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?
My story has to do with conformation dog shows. I found some extremely kind dog handlers through the American Whippet Club who gave me feedback on the rules and regulations of the shows. I still missed things though. I’ve already gotten one irate letter from an offended reader stating that even though they could, dachshunds never go first in the group hound judging. My husband has provided invaluable feedback too. He’s an architect now, but he was a lit major and did his thesis on Herman Melville.
I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?
I love bookshops, and was lucky enough to hold a book launch party at Francie & Finch, this magical little bookstore in Lincoln, Nebraska. I struggle with e-books as well. I want to fold down corners and underline and stuff old photos and lists between the pages of my books.
I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and have your tastes changed over time?
I’ve always loved gothic mysteries – good mysteries of any kind really. “Rebecca” by Daphne Du Maurier and “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman were revelations to me. And I love beautiful writing. “Persuasion” by Jane Austen is a favorite, “Day” by A.L. Kennedy and “Holes” by Louis Sachar. I just read “Lincoln in the Bardo” by George Saunders, which is like absolutely nothing I’ve ever read.
Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?
My day job is managing social media accounts so I feel pretty comfortable in that universe. I am, however, almost entirely focused on Facebook. I just don’t have time to do more. Twitter has never appealed to me as a medium so I’ve given up. I also created my own website for the book: https://www.winifredweatherwax.com/ because I like the idea of telling my own story.
Why did you choose Young Adult as your genre, and what makes it, as a genre, so special?
For young teens, discovering that they love being transported to another universe through words is so magical – at least it was for me. And I love the pride children take in telling you what their favorite books are. Because they’re realizing that their tastes are forming their own unique identity.
Over the years, what would you say has improved significantly in your writing?
Writing, in any form, will always lead to better writing. I’ve freelanced articles, written for newspapers, and been a copy editor and content writer. In every one of those spaces, there’s an opportunity to learn. Generally, dialogue comes much easier for me than exposition.
Blurb
Sometimes, bad things happen to good dogs. Winifred Weatherwax begins summer with a pedigreed puppy – a Whippet named Shumba with Best in Show written in his stars. But when Shumba starts winning, other hounds start disappearing. As more dogs vanish, Freddy and her new friend Eli team up to investigate a mystery that includes dishonest dog breeding, the colorful world of dog shows, a first crush, a nefarious villain, and chicanery more sinister than common dog theft. On her way, Winifred discovers the magical bond between humans and dogs.
Shipping info: The book ships in the US via Amazon, and anywhere in the world via the website.
An Interview with Josie Jaffrey, author of the Solis Invicti series, and promoting here her latest novel The Gilded King!
I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?
Katherine is a true heroine that gets what she wants both by being forthcoming and sneaky. I honestly thought she was going to get her head chopped off, but perhaps that was the French… Honestly, I thought she should have taken Henry VII as her husband and poisoned off Henry VIII. No-one would have noticed, in those days it was more common to die early than to live!!
I found this novel interesting but very outdated. The contents is almost 30 years old! I skipped over most of the scientific parts, discounting them as outdated, but some of the observations by Oliver Sacks
The dust jacket is written as if a 32-year-old woman living at home is abnormal, but truly it isn’t especially for those days. She isn’t married. I also think her sister was a complete idiot. Ok, your mother has trusted you to look after your sister, but at some point you must get your own life. From what I learnt about the sisters in this novel, Lizzie should have been institutionalized.
I’m not sure why this book was salable, I’m certainly not going to read it again. Maybe it was the fact that Mercedes Lackey’s name was on the front cover, despite Josepha Sherman being the editor? Although Lackey always says writing novels isn’t really profitable enough to live on (she’s married to Larry Dixon, another fantasy author). When almost every short story follows the same pattern (that was set out in the original ballad) it’s predictable and boring. And of course there isn’t enough time to become properly attached to the characters during the course of a short story. I don’t think there was a single character that I wanted to hear more about.
Hmm, this wasn’t a bad novel, but I’m not sure it was exceptional either. I was putting off reading it because the cover wasn’t doing it for me, but I happened to feel like an easy read with a female protagonist. Jade shows some nice character progression for standing up for herself and getting a better feel for the world around her.
I hated the objectification of women in this novel, and the completely inappropriate language all of the boys used. The lovely Muslim girl goes to a party and gets hit on and followed home by people she’s turned down. I’m perfectly fine with her smoking pot, but where are her friends to help her out when she gets in trouble? The amount of drink and drugs going around was crazy. I’d love to know where this town is, and I wonder whether its real occupants actually behave in this deplorable way. Actually, this novel reminds me of Dream-something or other that was about another isolated idiot. I grew up isolated and so did my fiancee – and neither of us had these problems (she’s a first in family to College too).
I couldn’t get behind this novel. I attempted to read it twice and at least got in about a quarter of the way before giving up this time. While the opening chapter puts you a bit on the edge of your seat, you know that he survives it because he writes the rest of the novel! It goes downhilll from there as Simon’s narration becomes increasingly erratic and we are introduced to more and more characters. I got sick of the frequent, gratuitous swearing that did nothing to endear me to Simon.
This was a HOT romance novel filled with unexpected touching moments of both kinds! I devoured it in one afternoon, eagerly voyeuring into Stella and Michael’s burgeoning relationship. Stella is developed as a fantastic non-typical character that is full of life and her own strong personality. Michael is not quite as well explored, but the author exposes enough of him (pun intended!) for the reader to properly appreciate him.