"Dream of the Fox Women" by J.R. McRae
J.R.
Poulter (also known as J.R. McRae) is an award-winning author, celebrating her
new book release “Dream
of the Fox Women” – a beautifully illustrated children’s book published
by Windy Hollow Books.
Poulter's major awards include…Children's Choice, New Zealand; in Top Ten Children's
Books & YA Books, New Zealand; "Mending
Lucille" won Crichton, CBCA Award; and Premier's Recommended
Reading List, NSW, Australia.
Welcome J.R.!
GM:
Where in the world are you?
J.R.:
In Oz, the place of topsy turvy, Alice in Wonderland imagination!
GM:
How do you develop characters?
J.R.:
I try to see through the character’s eyes, have them say and do what seems to
come spontaneously for them to say and do. That is the best way I can explain
it as my writing is right brain not pre-plotted.
GM:
Does your environment influence your characters?
J.R.: I
hope not but, that said, no writer who feels intensely can keep their world and
their experience right out of a book. Something has to seep through and
sometimes you overhear snippets of conversations, observe particular characters
and those things stick in your memory and re-emerge as dialogue or as part of a
character’s description.
GM: Do
you have a muse that keeps you motivated?
J.R.:
Some writers and illustrators play favorite music or have images on their walls
of favorite scenes etc., but I don’t have anything like that although a scene
in nature or a snippet of music might inspire a mood or scene in a book. Inspiration can come from anywhere and it is the
inspiration that keeps you motivated. Then once started, it is wanting to know
the end of the story that keeps you going – what happens to these folk you have
just made, where are they going, what will they do next.
GM:
How do you maintain thoughts and ideas?
J.R.:
Mostly, the ideas carry themselves along. It is not often I am stuck as to where
to go next but I find if I leave things for a while and come back to it, the
ideas come again.
GM:
What does your writing desk look like?
J.R.:
A mess, an awful mess that I periodically get motivated to tidy but it is generally
a mess again very quickly as I like to see my papers, manuscripts and research
spread out around me.
GM:
Do you like to write inside or outside?
J.R.:
I want an ipad so I can also write outside. We have a glorious Poinciana outside
and I want to sit under it and write. Sometimes I do that with pen and paper
[the old way] but my writing is atrocious and re-reading and typing up is a
pain. Bad handwriting’s the only thing I was repeatedly kept in for at school [besides
my long fly away hair]. So it is computer driven writing…
GM:
What are you currently writing?
J.R.:
Two novels, a novella and some picture books, one of which is turning into what
looks like a series.
I’m
also getting a poetry collection together.
This is important to me as I started getting published as a poet while
still at school.
GM:
Please, share one of your poems…
Hinges
by J.R. McRae
Inside,
outside, door wide shuttered,
A
murmur in mirrors,
Hinting
what’s there –
Turn,
do you see them?
Look
sidelong, don’t stare!
The
whisper is hung
In the
hall with their coats.
It will
hang there about them
The way
rumours float.
Are
they laughing or crying?
The
mean little chink
Through
which they can say things
Conveys to the brink.
Conveys to the brink.
GM:
Who is your favorite author/writer? Why?
J.R.:
There are so many – it is hard to pick just one… here are a few of them…
Nabokov
and Tolkien and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn would be favorites as writers for the
older market, YA’d include Phillip Reeves [Mortal
Engines Quartet], Terry Prachett’s Discworld,
Gormenghast [Mervyn Peake] are favorites
too and for kids – Lewis Carroll, May Gibbs, Dr. Dolittle [Hugh Lofting], Rudyard Kipling, Magic Pudding [Norman Lindsay],
and picture books - Mitsumaso Anno
and Graeme Base, Shaun Tan and lots
of others!
Why
- because of the soaring flights of imaginative their stories feature or the
richness of their language and ability to write a gripping story.
GM:
Do you have advice for novice writers?
J.R.:
If you can get a constructive critique group around you and a friend/relative
who is prepared to help you proof read you are fortunate, it is a good start.
[I don’t have either 90% of the time.]
If you have links to great mentors who will encourage you and steer you and
correct where needed, that helps.
Joining
a writer’s centre or organization helps. You can learn the craft at university
or in a writing course. But nothing beats a great idea and the ability to turn
them into great stories!
Biography
J.R.
Poulter once worked in a circus. This definitely qualifies her to write for
children! She has been published in Australia, UK and USA, having over 30 children’s
and education books with mainstream publishers, has won major awards, including
Children’s Choice, New Zealand, as well as digital editions in UK, Europe and
USA. More books are due for release in 2016. J.R. loves teaching children the
fun to be had with words whether in poetry or prose and doing dramatized book
readings. She created a picture book in
collaboration with Craig Smith, for an enthusiastic, participatory audience for
the Lockyer Festival. She writes novels [including YA], award winning literary
poetry, short stories and creates photography and artwork under J.R. McRae. Her
greatest adventure, under both writing names, consists of global collaborations
with 50 illustrators, books designers and translators across 22 countries.
Connect with J.R….
Websites:
Publishing
websites - under construction:
J.R.’s
amazon
author page
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