1. What inspired you to write this story?
-My mother inspired me to write this story because she is not only my mother she is also my best friend. And if my mother ever where to die I would still do whatever I can to just talk to her because I know she would always be listening. My step mother also inspired me to write this story because she has been battling breast cancer for over a year now and has been so strong through it all.
2. What kind of background info did you draw upon for this story?
-For this story I used both books and movies to draw upon my story. I read the book Ellen Foster it was about a girl dealing with the death of her mother and an abusive father. The book was written in diary form, so that’s where I got the idea to write my story in letter form. I also watched the movie Forest Gump to try and relate my main character to Forest. They both are lost and trying to find themselves. Forest embarks on many different adventures, while my character Brooke thrives to do the same.
3. How did you decide upon names for your characters?
- Three years ago my step mother Amy became pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl. She wanted to name them Brooke and Adian because Brooke meant water and Adian meant fire. Unfortunately she lost the boy, but Brooke was still able to come into our lives. Brooke is sort of like a miracle baby and she is one of the smartest little girls I know. So, I had my main character be named Brooke and her best friend, and soon to be one true love is named Adian. In my story my main character Brooke has two twin brothers named Willy and Billy. I just thought it was cute having twins have similar sounding names. For the babysitter I gave her the name of Vicky because it is ver. For the babysitter I gave her the name of Vicky because it is very similar to the word icky and that is exactly how I wanted to portray that character.
4. What kind of environment do you write your best in?
-Like many other writers I prefer to write in a very quiet and peaceful setting. My room is where I do most of my writing.
5. What influences your writing?
-I like to watch a lot of movies and read books so I like to bounce my ideas off of them. My family also influences me because I have such a large family and each of them has gone through a lot and I look up to them because of all of the struggles they have overcome.
6. What makes your book unique?
-Personally I think by writing this book in letter form makes my book unique. I’ve read many books written in diary or journal entry form, but I haven’t seen a lot of stories written in letter form. I also think it is unique because my main character writes to her mother only once a year on the same day as her mother’s death.
7. What is the main theme of your book?
-The main theme of my book is never give up. My main character battles an endless fight and through it all she never gives up. I want the reader to understand that any obstacle can be overcome if you just put your mind and heart into it.
8. How did you come up with this?
-I came up with this theme from two people my step mother Amy and my Nana. Both my Nana and Amy have been battling harmful illnesses; Amy, with breast cancer, and my Nana with Leukemia. Throughout it all they never gave up and they always had a smile on their face.
9. Do you read outside school?
-On occasions yes I do, but mostly I read fiction novels. I like creative books, or fantasy books, but I don’t think I could ever write a book like that.
10. How long is you book going to be?
- I don’t want to give the ending of the book away, but I will tell you that the book will stop when Brooke is in her early 20’s and will continue on by a new character.
11. What makes your main character different from the rest?
-My main character Brooke is different from the rest because she has something to fight for, her twin brothers. Brooke is forced to go through brutal beatings from her father and she takes them no matter what, because she knows if he isn’t hurting her he will go and hurt her brothers.
12. Is your story going to have protagonist vs. antagonist set up?
-Yes, Brooke will be the protagonist while her dad will be the antagonist. In the beginning I had the babysitter Vicky be the antagonist, but as the story goes on her father becomes the antagonist.
13. Do you anticipate how the fifth graders will react to your book?
-To be honest I don’t think that my story is for a fifth grade reading level. It’s very graphic and I’m just not sure they would understand what is going on. I think my book is for more of a high school reading level.
14. How did you plan your writing process?
-To plan my writing process what I did was write down each age of my main character then under each age I listed what happens to her during that age.
15. Is your book a chapter book, or more of a story/ tale?
-My story is written in letter form and I made it so that each letter is one chapter.
16. What is your favorite children’s story?
-When I was a kid my favorite story was the Giving Tree. I would read that book every day. It was such a great story about friendship and I will definitely read it to my children if I have kids someday.
17. Who is your favorite author?
-My favorite author is the writer of the Twilight books Stephanie Mayer because she writes in a way where you feel like you are in the story. She knows how to keep you in the book and always wanting to read more.
18. What other books that you have read relate to your story?
-I think the book A Child Called It is very relatable to my story because that boy in the story also goes through abuse from his parents and throughout it all he never gave up just like my main character Brooke.
19. Why are the twins Willy and Billy so important to Brooke?
-The twins were born only a few days before her mother’s death, so the twins are the only thing she has left of her mother. They both look like her mother and she knows that if her mother were still alive she would want Brooke to do whatever it takes to protect them.
20. How do you feel after you read your own story?
-After I read my story I feel proud of myself for all of the hard work that I put into it. Also, I feel a bit emotional because I really connect with my main character. I really want the readers of my story to also connect with my main character so they understand that you should never give up.
