Meet An Author Tuesday

Today's author is Cordelia Dinsmore, who writes YA and upper MG novels when she isn’t digging in the dirt, riding her old mare, or attempting to train her dog and kids. She lives in a 100+ year old farmhouse that is haunted, according to her brother. The ghosts don’t bother her, but she wishes they would help with the cleaning occasionally (who wouldn't want that!).

Where you can find Cordelia:

Musa Buy Link

Amazon Buy Link

Barnes and Noble Link

Blog

Facebook

Twitter


Q) What inspired you to write this story?
My dad’s parents lived in a spooky old house and had an even spookier dog who would lurk around and watch us. My siblings and I would be playing in the yard or in the house, doing things we definitely should NOT be doing, and we’d turn around and find Blackie watching us. It creeped the others out, but I knew she just wanted to join in on the fun. After all, she lived with two elderly people and most assuredly had a very boring life. I know she just wanted to join us as we bounced down the stairs on Granny’s sofa cushions or slid across the rooms on her throw rugs. She had very slippery floors and lots of open space. And then, of course, there were the ghosts that occupied the back bedroom, where I NEVER slept.

Q) How long did it take you to write?
The actual writing took six to nine months, but then there was a lot of fiddling around with it and constant editing. I can’t seem to leave things alone. It was murderous for me after I had it accepted for publication, because I couldn’t do any more tweaking. Drove me crazy.

Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
Getting to know my characters. Some of them are just figments of my imagination, but others come to me and demand I tell their stories. It was rather freaky the first few times that happened. But I’ve found that these characters are so strong and real that I can’t ignore them. Sometimes I will even go back over something I have previously written and thought, “Who’s been messing with my manuscript? I didn’t write that.”

Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
I think the least favorite part about writing is when I begin to doubt myself. It makes me want to avoid the computer, and I’ll start playing those mindless games instead. Sometimes I think it’s all just dribble and no one would care either way. But then I tell myself, and it’s true, that I’m not writing for other people so much as I am for my characters. They all have a story to tell, and have chosen me to do the telling. It’s my ‘job’, such as it is, and most of the time I enjoy it. I guess I’m my own worst enemy.

Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
I would love to be Reba McIntire for one day. For one thing, she’s a redhead, and I love red hair. And I would love to be able to open my mouth to sing and sound like that. Besides, she just seems to be a really fun person, and I love to have fun.

Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
There are a couple of bottles of beer in my refrigerator that have been there for at least eleven years. Why? I could not begin to tell you. My husband says they are commemorative bottles or something. If I drank beer, they would definitely not be there. Everything else in there is relatively safe because our fridge went out a few months ago and we had to buy a new one. We had to chuck almost everything in there.

Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
I have a couple of upper MG novels in the works. One is a story of a girl in foster care and her adjustments to a totally different, but good, kind of life. The other is a 1960’s story of a girl who discovers a whole town full of relatives that she never knew existed. Some of my stuff is a little on the dark side, but the 60’s story is a lot of fun, even though some of the issues are a little heavy. And I also have plans for a tale of a couple of run-away slaves from pre-Civil War. That one’s going to take awhile, because it involves a lot of research and history is the bane of my existence.

Thanks so much for allowing me this time. I’ve had loads of fun. (Thank you for sharing with us!)
Pembroke Sinclair's books on Goodreads
Life After the Undead Life After the Undead
reviews: 55
ratings: 100 (avg rating 3.64)

The Appeal of Evil The Appeal of Evil (The Road to Salvation, #1)
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ratings: 63 (avg rating 3.54)

Wucaii Wucaii
reviews: 32
ratings: 35 (avg rating 4.11)

Death to the Undead Death to the Undead (Sequel to Life After the Undead)
reviews: 20
ratings: 39 (avg rating 4.23)

Dealing with Devils Dealing with Devils (The Road to Salvation, #2)
reviews: 22
ratings: 32 (avg rating 4.00)