Brenda Sorrels is an author of historical fiction and an avid reader. Join her on GoodReads, follow her blog and pick up her intriguing book The Bachelor Farmers....
Where are
you in the world?
I live in
Dallas , Texas , USA , but spend the summer months up north in Wilton , Connecticut . I
grew up in Fargo , North
Dakota , however, and my stories thus far, are set in the Midwest . After I graduated from Manhattanville College
in Purchase, New York , I worked in New York City as an editor
for Mademoiselle Magazine. I
moved to Wilton , Connecticut with my first husband and have
lived there most of my life. My first husband died suddenly and
later, I married Barry Sorrels, my boyfriend in College (he went to Columbia University
in NY) and I moved to Texas . I
have two step-daughters who are grown and I like to return to Wilton
to write when it’s too hot in Dallas !
What type
of research did your book require?
I’d been
writing a lot of short stories and I had it in my mind that I wanted to make
one of them a love story that would be set in very beautiful place. A
sense of place to me is important and is a huge part of this book. I
have a large extended family and on my mother’s side (15 kids in her family) I
had two uncles that were ranch hands, farmers, who never married. The
concept stuck with me because it was so odd. When we think of farms
we always think of families. When we think of bachelor farmers we think of
old guys in overalls, but I wanted to make these bachelor farmers young and
hunky – which I did. Ironically, these boys love horses and horses
ended up playing a significant role in the story, especially at the end. Many
Norwegians settled in North Dakota (ND) and Minnesota (MN) and so I thought of Northern Minnesota , and I began to research that
area. I did a lot of research online, but I also found the Voices of America books on ND, MN,
Pioneer Women, Cass
County and several others
were great. A River Runs
Through It, by Norman Maclean was one of my favorites for the ambience and
feel of the forest, etc. The
Haymakers by Steven Hoffbeck, Spirit
of the North and The Lonely Land
by Sigurd Olson, Tales of Spirit Mountain
by Anne Crooks. I also read countless articles on how the land up
north was settled, who lived there and what happened. The Native
Americans at the time, the Ojibwa, were in and amongst the Swedes, Norwegians,
Finns, Danes, and French Traders - and the logging business was thriving. All
of this played into the story. Mahal, a beautiful half-Ojibwa woman
is hired as the brothers’ cook when her abusive husband is injured in a logging
accident.
Where do
you write?
In Dallas I write in a very
small space off my kitchen. There are no windows and nothing to
distract me. It’s just my desk, computer, printer and file drawers
behind me. It works great and if I want a cup of tea I can just get
up and wander over to the stove. In Connecticut I write near a large window that
looks out onto a wooded yard. It is very quiet and most of the time,
the biggest distractions are the squirrels and deer. Though the
spaces are quite different, they both work well.
How do
you maintain thoughts and ideas?
I write
things down all the time. I keep small notepads everywhere … and I
mean everywhere! I have them in my purse, my bedside table, in the
console of my car, on the coffee table near the TV – any spot that could serve
as landing zone for me, I keep a pencil and paper there. I also fill
notebooks with ideas and short writing exercises. The notebooks are
bulging with scraps of paper ... I’ve written down a scene, and idea, a word, a
thought, a character – anything I find interesting or that I might want to use
in a future story. I also have folders where I do outlines for
stories before I begin the formal writing. Right now I have several
story ideas and at least one major outline which will be my third book and a
sequel to The Bachelor Farmers.
When did
you know you wanted to become a writer?
I always
knew I wanted to write something. I’d say right after college is
when it began to become a more serious interest. I remember taking
writing classes and workshops even back then. There were many years
when I didn’t write, but I was always working around stories on some level …
books, movies, analyzing stories … I love all of this!
Do you
have a favorite author and why?
It would
be impossible for me to pick only one author because there are so many that I
truly love and admire. For the classics though, I might choose Edith
Wharton … I think I’ve read Ethan Frome
about six times and every time I read it, I enjoy it even more. That
book was inspirational in, The Bachelor
Farmers – the cold, the winter landscape, the secluded farm, the dim light
in the rooms, a man in love with something he couldn’t have – these were big
influences. As far as more modern day writers, I have a long list
and tend to like them for different things. I read John Irving for
his characterization, I admire Elizabeth Berg for the way she handles
dialogue. I loved, The Wife
by Meg Wolitzer, Brick Lane by Monica
Ali, Bel Canto by Ann Patchett – but
I enjoy a wide range of books including memoir, biography and history. One
thing for sure, if you’re going to be a writer, you must read!
What are
you currently writing?
I am in
the final stages of my second novel entitled The Way Back ‘Round and hope to have it out in the beginning of the
new year. It is the story of a young boy, Jake, who breaks a promise
to his parents that results in a family tragedy. Jake suffers the
consequences of this misfortune, but if he is going to live a full life he
must somehow come to terms with tremendous guilt and find his way to
reconciliation and peace. The story is about what happens to him and
how he does that.
Follow Brenda
4 comments:
Very nice interview, Gina! Thanks for sharing (Omer)
Sometimes you may have trying to do somethings but it the mean time the opposite things will get out in the result section. http://www.rewordmypaper.org/paraphrasing-any-text-with-a-rewording-service/ to get more ideas on the thesis, research and term papers writing.
Meme is really fun and now this things is going to everywhere even if the poetry side as you can make some meme with poetry though. http://www.paragraphtool.com/we-can-rewrite-a-paragraph-for-you/ to check out more helpful guide and tips for writing your papers.
While people are really interested about the brenda sorrels onto this https://www.cheapwritingservices.net/ and there had an article about her which tells more information in here.
Post a Comment