This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
In a novel of magical realism, you'll find elements of the fantastic which creep into an otherwise realistic world. Admittedly, it’s a rare find in the women’s fiction genre, but when done well, books with a touch of magic about them make for fantastic and unusual reading. Joining the likes of Sarah Addison Allen, Cecelia Ahern and Marian Keyes (who published The Brightest Star in the Sky in 2011) in this sub-genre is Andrea Lochen, whose new novel, Imaginary Things, was published in April. Welcome, Andrea!
Tell us about Imaginary Things.
It is the story of Anna Jennings, a young single mother who moves to her grandparents’ rural home for the summer with her four-year-old, David, in tow for financial reasons. Returning to Salsburg reminds Anna of simpler times – fireflies, picnics, Neapolitan ice cream – long before she met her unstable ex and everything changed. But the sudden appearance of shadowy dinosaurs awakens Anna from this small-town spell, and forces her to believe she has either lost her mind or can somehow see her son’s active imagination. Frightened, Anna struggles to learn the rules of this bizarre phenomenon, but what she uncovers along the way is completely unexpected: revelations about what her son’s imaginary friends truly represent and hidden secrets about her own childhood.
Where do you find inspiration for your books?
I’m a bit of a daydreamer who likes to ask myself “what if?” questions. In the case of my first novel, The Repeat Year, I asked myself, “What if someone had the opportunity to relive a year of her life? Would she choose to do things differently? What would the ramifications be?” In the case of my new book, Imaginary Things, I asked myself, “What if a parent could see her child’s imagination and it was rather frightening? How would she protect him?”
Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?
First, let me tell you about my ideal writing day! On my ideal writing day, I wake up bright and early and immediately start writing. I take a short break to eat breakfast and shower and then come back dutifully to my laptop to keep composing. Another break for lunch, and then the afternoon flies by in a flurry of typing beautifully crafted sentences!
But alas, this writing day only happens about 10% of the time. The other 90% of the time tends to find me sleeping in, checking Facebook and my e-mail anytime I get stuck or bored, and slaving away on one paragraph all day only to find myself deleting it at the end of the day! But ah, such is writing! I live for those days when everything clicks into place.When you are writing, do you use any famous people or people you know as inspiration?
I am definitely inspired by people I know, though I doubt they would ever recognize themselves on the page because I’m like a magpie stealing and rearranging their traits. Every character I write has bits and pieces of people I know in them, as well as little slivers of me, and then totally invented characteristics.
What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?
Probably Marisa de los Santos’ Love Walked In because it was the first book in the genre of women’s fiction that I had ever read and it totally re-defined the genre for me. It has humor, warmth, and depth; gorgeous prose; well-drawn characters; and it looks at relationships and challenges in a woman’s life in a fascinating way. If you haven’t already read it, you definitely should! There’s also a kind of sequel to it – Belong To Me – and I recently heard one of the characters is getting her own novel soon, too, which I’m really looking forward to!
What female writer has inspired you?
There are oh so many, but I’ll stick with three! My author crush is J.K. Rowling because she’s absolutely brilliant and she singlehandedly turned on an entire generation of readers because of her Harry Potter series – what’s sexier than that? I also adore Jane Austen for her sparkling wit and for being light years ahead of her time and Kathryn Stockett for throwing her voice in such amazing and empathetic points of view and for writing the most perfect novel (The Help) I’ve read in a long time.
Can you give us three book recommendations?
Three great books I’ve read recently and loved are Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer (so moving!), The Good Girl by Mary Kubica (so suspenseful!) and I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella (so hilarious!).
What is your writing process? Do you plan first or dive in? How many drafts do you do?
I do a little bit of both. Despite my best laid plans of outlining, I always tend to improvise along the way, which in my opinion, is one of the most fun things about writing: being surprised by your characters and changing course along the way. It takes me several drafts (on average, probably about ten) and a great deal of feedback from my cadre of trusted readers to get it right. This used to bother me a lot – that my manuscripts required so much revision – but now I understand this is a natural part of the process for me and I’m learning to enjoy it and see it as an opportunity for discovery.
What was your journey to being a published author?
After college, I attended graduate school at the University of Michigan for my Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing. While there, I wrote a draft of my first novel, The Repeat Year. Equally as important: I also made some wonderful writer friends who have been incredibly helpful and supportive on my writing and publishing journey. After graduation in 2008, I started sending The Repeat Year out to literary agents, but it took me quite a few rejections and a lot more revision, until I finally found “The One” who fell in love with my book and secured a book deal for me. It was published in 2013.
What do you think is the biggest myth about being a novelist?
Definitely the glamour! Every time novelists are portrayed on TV or in movies, it’s always at well-attended book signings or fancy parties, where the author is really well-dressed and people go around flattering them and telling them how brilliant their book is! In reality, most novelists are kind of shy, awkward people who like to stay at home in their pajamas to write their books and stalk their reviews on GoodReads and Amazon! Not very glamorous at all.
What advice can you give to our readers who want to write a novel of their own?
I think aspiring writers should start off by asking themselves: what book would I love to read? What story is demanding it be told? That is the book you should set about writing – not the one you think will make Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 list or become a New York Times bestseller or impress your writing group or professor. As cheesy as it may sound, you should write the book that’s in your heart because you’ll be the best one to tell it.
What are you working on at the moment?
A project I’m very excited about! I don’t want to say too much about it because I’m not very far into it and I’m fairly superstitious, but it’s about two sisters and a lake house that’s been in their family for over a century. Like my first two novels, it also has a magical premise that’s been a lot of fun to imagine.
Thanks, Andrea!