Joni’s first book, The Farwalker’s Quest, was so much fun I could hardly stand it. I passed it around to many friends and I highly recommend it. What’s the best part though? It’s a series! And now it’s time for The Timekeeper’s Moon! I begged my ARC connection to get that one for me early, and she did, so now you all get to read it, but I’m itching for the third one. I know…I’m greedy. But these books are too good to be missed.
Welcome, Joni!
- What were your favorite books when you were a teen? I don’t remember really having favorites, once I was out of elementary school. As a teen, I’d read anything, including Harlequin romance, the old Tarzan series, and Louis L’Amour, though I mostly read adult sci-fi and fantasy, including Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury, LeGuin, Tolkien.
- What’s on your iPod or CD player? Do I sound old and moldy if I say I don’t have an iPod? My CD players get a workout on an eclectic mix from polyphonic and Gregorian chant on one end to a favored bagpipe, drum, and digeridoo band, the Wicked Tinkers, on the other. Counting Crows, Sting, Jack Johnson, and other old rockers or early alternative bands nestle between.
- What’s the riskiest thing you ever did and how did it work out for you? Real risk or perceived risk? I’ve traveled through Niger and the northern Sahara, which can be iffy but was fine; jumped out of a plane (once) and scuba dived (many times), which people fear but are really pretty safe; and walked along a freeway with no shoulder at night. I didn’t realize how dangerous that one would be, both for me and for the passing traffic, and I am quite sure I used up at least one of my nine lives that night. I’ve been making gratitude payments to MADD ever since. But in truth, the riskiest thing I probably do is routinely drive over 30,000 miles a year. (I live far from civilization.)
- Do you use an outline when writing, or just let it flow and write as fast as you can? I’m totally a messy, organic first draft writer, because I write to find out what happens. If I know how the story turns out, I lose interest in writing it. I’d rather just pull the loose string and let it unravel before me. So for me, the first draft is a great high, sometimes almost like taking dictation, and I usually complete it in three or four weeks. Revisions are much, much harder and less fun for me, and those generally take a year or more.
- Do you know how to cook? What’s your specialty? I don’t really cook— I’m single and perfectly happy eating a bowl of microwaved lima beans or beets for dinner — but I do bake pretty well, if I do say so myself. My sweetheart calls me the Pie Queen, and my family often enjoys birthday pies, not birthday cake. I love to bake bread and cookies, too.
- When’s the last time you rode a bike? Just this summer. Biking is one of the things I do for exercise and time outdoors when it’s warm enough and there’s not three feet of snow. There’s a paved forest service road not far from my house that has been gated and closed for a few years after part of it washed out in high water. It makes a terrific, traffic-free ride through the woods. Just gotta watch out for the part that falls into the river!
- Do you make plans in advance when you travel, or just hope for the best? I love to travel, particularly on foot and to exotic places, and I wish I could be more spontaneous, but I just can’t enjoy myself until I know I’ll have a dry, safe place to sleep. Besides, planning and anticipating the trip can be a good part of the fun. I’ve also missed great sights or opportunities when I haven’t done enough homework in advance – I hate to get back home and realize that I could have seen something cool that I hadn’t realized I was near. So I make arrangements in advance.
- What’s the coolest writing-thing that’s happened to you since you sold your first book? Getting an e-mail out of the blue from Karen Cushman, who had read my second novel, THE HUMMING OF NUMBERS, and e-mailed to let me know she liked it. It was an OMG moment with my inbox when I realized that yes, it was from THAT Karen Cushman, and I’ve been exceedingly lucky to get to know her (and earn a few more of her kind words for my Farwalker books) since then.
- Go on, give us some writing advice. You know you want to! I’m actually starting to think that the longer I do this, the less I know what I’m talking about. So the only advice I have at this point is to write what your heart wants to put into words and try to enjoy the journey without stressing about the destination and all that goes with it.
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