We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lorraine Hawley. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lorraine below.

Lorraine, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

Support school literacy events with funding. Social media and video games have kids’ full attention, while the alarming statistics on middle-grade books show a steep decline. Combating the decline has been difficult. Many libraries are experiencing heavy budget cuts, and teachers are provided with limited resources to assist reluctant readers.

Yet, exposure is essential for youth to see what is possible regarding lifestyle, family, and career. Many choose the path of their parents or someone close to them because it is familiar but may not be fulfilling. Books provide a window to peek into experiences outside our own and introduce career paths. Many students discover their interest in stories.

Books create community by introducing different cultures and family dynamics, producing more well-rounded adults who are empathetic and able leaders.

Stories also act as mirrors that reflect our lives and allow readers to not feel alone in their experiences. Discovering others like themselves enables youth to move forward and grow.

Literacy events engage entire schools in the excitement of reading. These events celebrate books and, when adequately endowed, include authors, illustrators, graphic designers, and publishers who introduce careers in the arts. Books have long-term value. As an author invited to speak at schools during Read Across America Week, I have seen what supported libraries and teachers can do with a chosen book and some supplies. They create magic and lifelong readers who go out into the world with goals.

Lorraine, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a children’s book author who writes stories for 8-12-year-olds.

First and foremost, I write stories meant to be fun reads with fantastical characters sprinkled in.

At their core, my books tend toward themes of self-acceptance, which is essential for growth. No child feels utterly comfortable with themselves. Our perceived flaws are too easy to find, even for us adults.

In my stories, each character must have their own baggage.

Kids often believe everyone besides them has perfect friends, is happy, has a model family, or is popular. I challenge that concept by sharing touches of my secondary characters’ backstories. Those often include family health issues, grief, financial strain, and loneliness. That is reality. Breaking the false concept of a perfect life helps build self-acceptance.

In my middle-grade book, Curious World of Dandy-Lion, the main character, Meredith, lives with sensitivities and struggles to make friends. When her neighbor, who is like a grandfather to her, loses his wife, Meredith is unable to understand the grief she sees in him. Instead, she concludes someone must have jinxed him. To save him, Meredith risks an adventure outside her comfort zone to make a friend to help her break the jinx. Enter Jax, a curious new boy at school. With the help of a slew of fantastical creatures, they find friendship. Meredith does not learn to be someone else; she learns to accept herself.

Much like I hope we all do.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Non-writers would be surprised at how much time an author spends not writing the story. Brainstorming often occurs well before writing a single word. Backstory and character development follow.

While an author may tinker with writing a few sentences, groundwork is essential to creating a cohesive story with heart. Some authors use charts. I have a large whiteboard in my office with colored pens to chart my story and character arcs. It is essential to know how the characters think and act daily, not just how they act in conflict.

Fantasy authors must also build entire worlds where the story will take place—the setting, food source, education, belief, and political system are all important to a well-rounded world-build. In some cases, these first steps can take months to develop.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had known about the many golden resources I use now. I floundered in the beginning. As someone who started a writing career in my third chapter, I was distant from my schooling and needed to learn more contemporary story structure.

My experience in writing was marketing-related, and blogs were popular. I had always dabbled in writing but wrote for myself. I kept my words hidden, perhaps because I was uncomfortable sharing my creative self, so I had no feedback.

I started sharing by making a blog, which allowed me to distance myself from my work. It was on this blog that I “practiced” publicly writing. I grew more confident and discovered websites like Bryn Donovan’s. She is fantastic at emotion. I highly recommend her site. From there, I gobbled up as many craft books as possible. Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, written by Jessica Brody, is my go-to for plot development. I could go on about writing resources, but one stands true: Get involved in the writing community.

Fellow authors are the most important resource and, at times, your biggest support system. Few authors can write in a bubble. We need feedback. We need fellow creatives who get how we think. There are many communities where you can find your critique group. Check out the library and online Meet-Ups. My current powerhouse critique group initially met weekly at a bar called Armadillos. I also have two dear friends, Jill and Dani, with whom I swap work, and without their support, I would lose myself in my bubble. There are entire online communities dedicated to writing and critiquing. Find yours.

Enter contests—lots of them. I stumbled upon https://write-mentor.com/?amp, an online group of international writers, and made lifetime friends. I entered their contest, and my book, Curious World of Dandy-Lion, was chosen to be mentored. From there, it went on to be published.

Contact Info:

• Website: LorraineHawley.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorraineahawley/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/dreaminofanovel
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS8KB3cYfx4bnVlbJqqbmbQ

Image Credits
Andrea Neff, Jocie Salveson