Born and raised in Southern California. I was the youngest child in a very large family. Grew up in a broken home and always felt like an outsider looking in. I spent hours observing others.
When did you first start writing and did you always want to be an author?
I guess I started writing in High School – wrote short stories. Then I kept journals all the way through college. I didn’t really know I wanted to be a writer until it actually happened and then it became the most natural thing, as if it was supposed to be that way all along.
What is the most challenging aspect of writing? Most rewarding?
The most challenging aspect of writing is being able to get a story across without it being ‘predictable’ and by being true to the characters.
The most rewarding aspect of writing is to have a reader tell me that they were moved by a character, or that they could see a similarity in their own life to one of the characters in my novel.
Where did you get the idea for Sorrowed Souls?
Sorrowed Souls was originally supposed to be an expose on homelessness in our country, but then when everything came tumbling down around us in 2008 and the newspapers were filled with different stories of homelessness it didn’t seem to be a prevalent way to write a novel. Ironically today the headlines were that homelessness was up - go figure!
How much research did you do for your book and how much ended up in the finished product?
I actually immersed myself within the homeless community – something I am still very much a part of today – and I would have to say that the finished product reflects my own personal feelings about the homeless community. I truly believe that they are the invisible layer of society – one that the government – any government – likes to hide whenever a dignitary comes to visit. There are simply not enough resources to deal with this ongoing problem. As long as there is poverty, drug abuse, domestic abuse and alcoholism within a society, there will continue to be a layer that will be homeless.
How long, on average, does it take to write a book?
3 months in my head, 6 months on paper, 3 months to edit.
Which character do you feel the closest connection with?
That question has to be the most difficult question you have asked. This book was actually supposed to be about Bryan’s quest to find the true meaning of self, but it actually turned out to be about Gus. The truth about which character I fell in love with is Amy. True everything she went through she still came out at the end as a loving mother and wife, even though she had absolutely no role model to rely on. She did it all based upon what she would have liked to have had. If that isn’t the closest thing to a modern day fairy tale, I don’t know what is.
What makes your characters so vulnerable yet strong? Can you describe what inspired the different characters?
Hmmm, that is a difficult one, as well. Amy/Amber is probably inspired by my own definition of a wife/mother. Not to say that I was anything like her – I was divorced after six years of marriage and then raised my kids alone, but she is certainly what I would have like to have given my kids. Gus – well, Gus is just one of those guys that was born into a family with absolutely everything – but he actually has nothing. And how many of us look at the wealthy people around us and think that they have the world at their disposal? The bottom line here is that even the wealthy have to put their pants on one leg at a time and go to the bathroom the same way we do. They still put their heads down on a pillow at night and have to justify their existence every day. And as I said before, this book was originally supposed to be about Bryan, the misunderstood boss who was the tyrant, but it just didn’t turn out that way as the characters developed around him. I’m not really sure that his character is based upon anyone other than as a reaction to the other characters.
What do you do when characters stop talking to you when writing?
I sit back and wait.
Sorrowed Souls had a unique perspective of life on the streets and the people who live there. Does the environment help or hinder your writing/creativity?
In this particular case it actually hindered the writing process. I really felt like I didn’t want to do an injustice to the people I had met along my journey. They had allowed me into their lives without knowledge of my intentions. However, that being said, my research ended very early into my life on the streets. I am still humbled every time I see my friends.
When a new book comes out, are you nervous about how readers will react to it?
Definitely!
What do you feel is the most important thing that a first-time author should know?
You aren’t going to make any money! There are literally thousands of books published every year and only one gets to the top of the New York Times Bestseller list. If you aren’t writing a book for yourself, you are writing for the wrong reason.
What do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?
My goal as an author is to publish a new novel every year. So far I have been able to do that. I write “Fiction with a Purpose.” Every book I write has a message that hopefully will take hold somewhere, because I honestly do believe that one person can make a difference. I already have the next three novels rolling around in my head.
Who are your favorite authors?
Number one is definitely John Sandford, with Catherine Coulter as a close second.
You can influence any one thing in the entire history, the present or the future of the world (what has occurred, how something works, etc.). What would you choose to change and why?
First, I wish I had more than one, but . . . I would make it so that senseless, hateful crimes did not go unpunished when children were involved. They do not ask to be born, and they do not choose their parents.
If you could spend the day with one person (someone in history, a favorite author, a public figure, a character in a book, etc.), who would you choose and why?
I have never been asked this question, and I have to admit it took me a while to come up with an answer….Mary Todd Lincoln. First, I have a degree in history and that period of time is my favorite. Second because she had to endure an awful lot to have lost a child and to have been first lady and lost her husband. I just think that I could learn a lot from that woman.
Thanks for joining us today, Brenda. I look forward to reading your next book.
To learn more about Brenda and her work, check out her website.
