Sharon Maas Interview

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Average Jo CHAPTER 5 by mafunyane

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Writewords talks to author Sharon Maasabout her novels, what inspires her and how important My Friend Flicka really is

Tell us something about your background.

I’ve been writing all my life, since I was a child; as I was extremely shy, writing was my way both of expression and communication. I used to write adventure novels when I was eight. Later, I became a journalist in my home country, Guyana. I always longed to write fiction, but didn’t have the confidence to actually write anything till my late forties! I now have three novels in print, published by HarperCollins. I’ve just finished a fourth novel and am in the middle of revising it.
I also write occasional freelance articles for Yoga magazine and Spotlight (a German English language mag)

How did you start writing?

I knew I wanted write novels but it seemed impossible. I couldn’t even begin to think how to go about it, and all the books I read said you had to plan everything very carefully first. Since I am the world’s worst planner, it seemed the door was closed. And then I came across Dorothea Brande’s marvellous book, Becoming a Writer. She speaks about the source of creativity within us; she says that it is the unconscious mind that actually writes our stories, and what we have to do is access that inner source and the stories would start to flow. That hit a nerve. I had already been to India, and had been practicing meditation for years; it was an easy thing for me to tune into that part of me, and once I knew the way all I had to do was sit down and my fingers did all the work. It was as if I was taking dictation –I never had to plan anything in advance… that’s how my first novel came; even though it’s a complicated story with three entirely different, but interwoven, threads.
Of course, that’s only the first draft. The next phase is revision, which needs a totally different approach… - there, I am ruthless and sometimes make very radical changes, cutting out entire chapters that no longer fit!

Who are your favourite writers and why?

I don’t have favourite writers as much as favourite books – often I’ve loved a book by one author, then read another book by the same author and hated it. For instance, one of my favourite books of all time is Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. I was completely overwhelmed when I read it; it was my first book by him. I then read The Sun Also Rises – and could hardly finish it, it was so bad. I loved Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy, but found An Equal Music rather so-so.One author who never disappoints is Rohinton Mistry - I'd name him as my favourite contemporary author.
Growing up, I loved Mary O’Hara’s Flicka books and read them over and over. The same with Jane Eyre.. and many more than I could mention here.

How did you get your first agent/ commission/publication?

I read about an agent who’d just set up a new practice in Writers’ News, and wrote her. She thought my first novel was terrific, however, she never sold it, in spite of my re-writing the whole thing again and again for five years. Finally I gave that one up and started another. This time, I was more concerned with getting the novel right than getting it published. That first agent seemed to have given up on me; she never read it, so I sent it to a literary assessment service to get some feedback. After I’d rewritten it according to their suggestions they sent it straight to an agent.

What’s the worst thing about writing?

Promotion! I’ve always been very shy; public speaking was always what I feared the most in school. I found all speaking difficult, but I loved writing. That hasn’t changed much. I still hate speaking, and even worse is the idea of going out telling people to read my books, soliciting for attention. It goes against my very nature; I prefer to be in the background, unnoticed, observing rather than being in the limelight. I never understood the concept of celebrity authors. But once you’re published you have to promote your books (if you want the sales to enable you to give up the day job), and that was the worst hurdle for me. Now, I quite enjoy small gatherings where I can talk to my readers; if it’s all very relaxed and personal I don’t mind.

And the best?

When the story is flowing and I am so caught up in it I forget everything around me; I’m living it, I have lost myself in it completely.

Tell us what kind of response you get from audiences and if/how this affects/influences your writing

At first I was terrified of feedback; but when it came it was mostly good and that increased my confidence no end. The greatest joy is knowing that others have entered the spirit of my story. It’s a very intense kind of communication. When you’re writing it, you’re all alone and you can never know if what you’re writing is going to convince anyone. So when it does, it’s as if a sort of magic has taken place; the story has become real for someone else, it has worked! I believe that writing is foremost about feeling; if I can feel the story and my characters, if I can laugh and cry with them, so will my readers. If I am bored while writing, if it’s all a horrible chore, if my characters are bland and don’t move me, that’s the way they will come across to the reader. So I am very aware of how involved I feel while writing. More than once I’ve scrapped hundreds of pages that just didn’t work for me. I knew they wouldn’t work for readers either.

What was your breakthrough moment?

I went on holiday to Trinidad and Tobago, and was staying with my cousin there. I was still sleeping off my jet lag when my cousin woke me: a telephone call from my agent. Three publishers wanted my fist novel, and I had to make my choice!

A longer version of this interview is available to WriteWords Full and Community Members.
Click here to learn more about becoming a member.

Comments by other Members

Al T at 12:41 on 05 July 2005 Report this post