by 
Interview Warren Laine-Naida
 |  |
Interview
– When did you start writing novels, what moved you to start writing?
I began writing when I was apprenticing as a chef and had just finished university. My first novel sat on my hard drive until this year, when I took the opportunity of the Corona crisis “stay at home” to edit and publish it. The sequel, Not Now, Katrin, I began writing in August, and completed it two months later. The idea for the story had been germinating as I wrote The University Club. I have been writing since elementary school. magazine articles, blog posts, poetry, newspaper articles, and my first book Art in Chocolate. I have always loved writing. I always only wanted to be a writer, but instead I became a Chef, and recently a Teacher.
– In what genres do you write? Do you plan writing in other genres?
Normally I write non-fiction essays and journalistic pieces. I published a collection of essays on digital marketing – “Digital Thinking” in August 2020. I would like to write a third novel in the series about Jessie, Alex, Katrin, and Judy.
– Tell us about your novels. Why should everyone buy them?
Well, this is my second novel but my fourth book. My first book was Art in Chocolate, which contains vignettes of the characters that appear in my novel. It also contained full page photos of my chocolate sculptures and recipes. In my novel The University Club: A Campus Affair I wanted to give readers a look into campus life and that of a chef owner which is very real. The main character, Jessie Watkins lives a life like many of us – funny at times, sad, scary, exciting, but also demanding. My novel does not take the reader out of themselves to a fantasy – it reminds them of how we are authors of our lives, and how even our banal every days are in fact novel. A sort of fictional non-fiction if you will. Not Now, Katrin answers the questions I had about her character in the first book. I laid many “easter eggs” in the book, and I hope readers have as many questions as I did – who really is Jessie? who really is Katrin?
– What is your all time favorite novel/book? What makes it special?
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh(Amazon Link) was my favourite for the longest time. Though, I have read and reread Money by Martin Amis much more often. In the first book I am taken in by the characters and the possibilities that this world exists. In the second book I fell in love with the language – the words and the way it was written. The first book is romantic whimsy, the second book is gritty cynicism. Both appeal to me.
– Tell us a bit about your writing process.
Well, without giving too much away, I begin with a moment. I am watching a moment happening to a character or a group, and as I watch, I write it down. I describe it. This becomes a central act which I then surround with the basic question of Why did this happen. Often there are two or three of these vignettes which I then connect. I write like I cook. I prepare a main dish, and everything else is there to support that main dish. But, the main dish is what I wanted to have people eat.
– What author would you love to have dinner with?
Living author? Probably Martin Amis(Amazon link). I would love to have met Anais Nin(Amazon link) though.
– Tell us about your hobbies and passions other than writing.
I like to sculpt in chocolate, and I like to cook. I like to read, and I am also passionate about teaching and designing websites. I teach coding and things part time at the community college to seniors and kids.
– 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?
Just do it. Storytelling is in all of us, and we all have access to stories and ways of telling them that are unique to ourselves. We all have a perspective and authorial style that is unique. No one else can see, and feel, and taste life like we do. So, it’s important to get it out. Share it. Write it for yourself. Don’t think about if it will sell or if people will like it. Just do it. Even if it strikes you as crazy. Write it down.
– How often do you write, daily, every other day or?
Some weeks I write every day, some weeks not at all. Some days I write all through the day, and other days not. I don’t schedule writing. When the feeling comes to write, then I do. I just need to write until everything is out. It’s like jogging. Or eating a bag of chips. Once you start, you just keep on going. I prefer to write very early in the morning, or very late at night.
– 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?
I was advised to keep a notebook when I was young, and for the longest time I would jot down ideas on napkins, pieces of paper, paper bags … then I took to carrying a small cassette recorder. Now of course I can talk into my phone or send myself messages, or simply write directly on my website. Ideas and dialogue, words, feelings – they can occur at any time, so it’s good to get them down before they are forgotten.
– How important is it to have your facts right and are there any instances when you bend history to fit your story?
Facts are especially important – especially when I’m writing about cooking. When I wrote The University Club I made sure everything I referenced was factual. When I read Fiction, and encounter something that may be true, I look it up to see if it is. I think that non-fictional elements within Fiction to be great – it allows the story to take on a much more concrete aspect.
– What are you reading at the moment?
Wonderland by Steven Johnson, and Keys to Being Social: Being Real in a Virtual World by Bridget Willard. I am rereading The Picturegoers – David Lodge’s first novel.
– How is it to be an author in your country? Do you have a good support from the local public?
In general there has always been good support here in Germany. People are much more open to food and writing from foreign authors now than when I arrived 25 years ago. Germany is much more “Americanized” now than it was then.
– Certainly you have had some interesting episodes as an author, fans related or others, share one of them with us.
I was in Vienna for an art show where I was presenting, and a guest broke off a piece of one of my chocolate sculptures. This is terrifying and at the same time funny. Mostly terrifying. Oddly enough it only happened that once.
OR
In Seattle I was talking at a woman’s bookstore, and after the talk a guest came up to me and punched me in the stomach and then ran out. I will never feel completely at ease in a woman’s bookstore again.
– A final message for our circleofbooks.com readers.
I loved writing The University Club: A Campus Affair – I hope you love reading it. If you haven’t read a traditional Campus Novel I would highly recommend that you seek one out. Keep reading and keep writing – these moments are the best of times.
Thank you Warren Laine-Naida. We at circleofbooks.com wish you much success!
Click here to visit the author page here on Circle of Books.
Tweet
