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Interview – Carol Anne Douglas
– When did you start writing novels, what moved you to start writing?
I have wanted to write books ever since reading my first books when I was a child. I worked on my first book-long manuscript when I was in my teens. I can’t imagine not wanting to write books. I’ve always loved to tell stories. Often, the stories are about characters from legends that I’ve loved.
– In what genres do you write? Do you plan writing in other genres?
I have been writing fantasy/historical fantasy. Two of them are books primarily for adults (Lancelot: Her Story and Lancelot and Guinevere) and one is for young adults (Merlin’s Shakespeare). The sequel to that one will come out in 2019. I enjoy writing tales. I’m now working on a contemporary novel, which is not playful in the same way, but there is a story that I want to tell.
– Tell us about your books. Why should everyone buy them?
My new novel, Merlin’s Shakespeare, is the first of two books in which the immortal wizard Merlin sends Beth Owens, a high school girl who loves to act, to Shakespeare’s London and the worlds of Shakespeare’s characters to find a missing play about King Arthur. She meets many of Shakespeare’s characters, including Mercutio, Romeo, Juliet, and Lady Macbeth. Richard III tries to coerce Beth to find the play for his own evil purposes.
I think readers who are interested in acting, Shakespeare, or the Arthurian legends would enjoy Merlin’s Shakespeare.
Lancelot: Her Story and Lancelot and Guinevere, the sequel, retell the Arthurian legend from the perspective of a Lancelot who is a woman in disguise. She is the main viewpoint character, but a strong, intellectual Guinevere is also a viewpoint character. Gawaine, a warrior who is King Arthur’s cousin, is a viewpoint character who is witty and likes to tell stories.
Anyone who is intrigued by the idea of a female Lancelot might want to read these books. My Lancelot has a very active conscience. She cares about people. When she has to fight in a war, she is horrified by the carnage. My books are anti-war and critical of patriarchy. Some characters are Christian and some are Pagan, but religion is not the main focus.
– What is your all-time favorite historical fiction novel? What makes it special?
That’s impossible to say. There are so many wonderful novels. My favorites include George Eliot’s Middlemarch, Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. My favorite contemporary novelists include Mary Gordon, Barbara Kingsolver, Edward P. Jones, Alice Walker, and Kamila Shamsie. I love books with strong, well-developed characters, at least one of whom I can sympathize with. I like good plots and clear writing. I want to be stirred to think about a book after I’ve read it.
– What author would you love to have dinner with?
Barbara Kingsolver. She isn’t intimidating, as some other authors would be. She cares about social issues and could discuss them as well as books.
– Tell us about your hobbies and passions other than writing.
Nature. I love to hike and watch birds and other wildlife. Most of my vacations are spent in national parks in the United States or Canada. I have been fortunate enough to go to Alaska to watch coastal brown bears fishing, which was a highlight of my life. Yellowstone is the park I most often visit. I live in Washington, D.C., so there aren’t too many mammals I can watch regularly, but I do go birdwatching about once a week. I also love wildflowers. And I do see at least one black bear a year in Shenandoah National Park.
– We have many followers who would like to start writing a book or are already writing their first novel, any advice for these brave people?
For those who would like to write a book, the best advice I can give is just to get started writing and stick to it. Don’t give up. And read a great deal.
– How often do you write, daily, every other day or?
When I can. Sometimes every day, sometimes not. I am able to write anytime I sit down to do it. I often write stories in my head before I write them down.
– Do you keep a notebook with ideas for your novels? If so do you carry the notebook with you so you won’t forget any ideas?
No. I make notes sometimes. I have a great memory.
– How important is it to have your facts right and are there any instances when you bend history to fit your story?
It is important to try to get facts right, but in fantasy of course there are, by definition, things that aren’t literally true. I try to write about Shakespeare and London in his era as factually as I can, but I don’t think Merlin visited Shakespeare and inspired him except in my stories.
– What are you reading at the moment?
Right now, I’m reading Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a beautiful but painful autobiography of her childhood, including experiences of physical assault and racism. Her experiences of childhood in a white-supremacist South teach me about a world I need to understand.
– How is it to be an author in your country? Do you have a good support from the local public?
I’m from the United States, and am sad about declining support for the arts. I think authors in some other countries get more support from the government, and I think that’s a good thing.
– Have you had any interesting episodes as an author, fans related or others, share one of them with us.
Someone once fell in love with me because of a book I wrote. I was put on a pedestal, and the relationship didn’t work out.
– A final message for our circleofbooks.com readers.
I love reading and writing. To me they are connected. One flows into the other.
Thank you Carol Anne Douglas. We at circleofbooks.com wish you much success!
Click here to visit the author’s page here on circleofbooks.com
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