Today I’m joining the blog tour for Summer Paths: An Anthology. I’m sharing my Q&A with three of the authors whose work is included in the collection – Sandra Bunting, Angella Cormier and Angela Wren. My post is shared with thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me on the tour and to the authors for answering my questions!

Sandra  Have you always wanted to write?

It was more of an insistence, an integral part of me, rather than a want.  That need was with me as I was growing up, printing out little stories in primary school and selling them for 10 cents around the neighbourhood.  It was with me in secondary school when I wrote wistful poetry and in university when my verses became soul searching.  Then I started working in journalism, writing short fiction and trying to finish a novel.  It never leaves me alone.  Sometimes I would prefer to be doing something else.  But it always calls me.

Angella C What was your inspiration for the story The Last Resort?

As a young college student, I had experienced an adventure when I left my province to move across the country for summer employment in a very large and prestigious resort in the Canadian Rockies.  This story was inspired by that experience, in part, as well as the behind-the-scenes things that the staff were privy to, which the guests weren’t.  Of course my story is only inspired by these real-life experiences, and the twists and turns in which the story leads is fiction, however many of the location descriptions and the tunnels and such are real.  I always wondered exactly where some of those tunnels would lead if I was left to wander them alone.

Angela W  How do you construct your characters?

My characters mostly begin as a sort of amorphous blob.  So I interrogate them to find out who they are.  I ask about their greatest fears, regrets and acheivements along with more mundane questions about their favourite food, colour, shoes etc.  I want to know all I can about them including the experiences they lived through.  Our lived experiences change us and make us who we are at that particular point in time.  I want to know the same for my characters when they first walk onto the page.  Sometimes characters pop into my head almost fully formed, which is a bonus.  But I still interrogate them to find out their backstory.

Sandra  What does your writing process look like?  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I am a mixture of both.  I don’t overly plan.  I just make an outline, a sort of list of scenes.  They often emerge as a result of different ideas, experiences and overheard conversations.  A large part of my story is written somewhat in my head, and with my list and what I imagine for my setting and characters, the story is ready to develop and to be written down on the page.  I try to jot things down without too much editing at first as I don’t want to lose the momentum.  It is hard enough to sit by yourself at a desk to write a short story, even more for a novel.  It’s so easy to give up.  The answer is to keep writing.

Angella C  Who are your favourite writers?  Are you influenced by them?

Earlier on, my faves were Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables), Agatha Christie followed when I was a tween, and then of course Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Anne Rice filled the rest of the list.  I have a slew of poets too, which I consider to be in a separate category, these include Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson and Maya Angelou.

Angela W  If you could invite three people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be and why?

Three isn’t very many, there are so many I would invite if I could.  William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe – who will both need to be resurrected – and the living Alan Bennett.  As playwrights and actors themselves, I would want to pit them one against the other, debate the role of the actor, question the structure and content of their various works and lastly, just sit in awe and listen to the words of three of the greatest writers Britain has ever produced.

Sandra  Who would you least like to be stuck in a lift with and why?

I would least like to be stuck in an elevator with a man who places tariffs on penguins, and any other person who does not show respect for others, and places no value on civility and decency.  It may create interesting fiction but in real life, being in such close contact with such an entity, would be incredibly uncomfortable for me.

Angella C What do you like to do in your spare time?

What spare time would that be? *chuckles*  I have a crazy hectic life these days, with my business, committees, family obligations and the sort.  However, I have been carving out time whenever I can on purpose, as self-care is so very important! When I do, I enjoy reading, watching true crime documentaries and live criminal trials, as well as crafting Artist Trader Cards and lastly dancing (line dancing and ballroom).

Angela W  What is next for you?

The launch of the first full-length novel in the Beauregard Mysteries, A Partner in Death, which feaures Alice and her dad, Peter along with other characters from the short stories in the four Seasonal Paths anthologies.

Favourites:

Sandra  Book?

So many – James Joyce, Ulysses (easier when read aloud), Ann Marie MacDonald, As the Crow Flies, Patrick Radden Keefe, Say Nothing, Michelle Butler Hallet, Constant Nobody, Mario Vargos Llosa, Dream of the Celt, Billy Collins, his many poetry books, the short stories or novellas of Claire Keegan, Elaine McCluskey, Ellen Gilchrist.  

Angella C  Band/Singer?

This one is difficult to answer, there are so many in each genre!  If I had to only name one, I must say Madonna.  I began listening to her music when I was only five years old in the 80’s and still do now.  Her persistence through everything and her ability to build her empire as a woman is nothing short of phenomenal to me. 

Angela W  TV show?

Anything that is a crime series: Vera, Midsomer Murders, Endeavour, Agatha Christie.  Absolutely love them all.

Sandra  Colour?

Light turquoise / teal and fuchsia / raspberry

Angella C Season?

Fall is my favourite season, if only for the colours it brings, the smell of the leaves is most potent smell to me when a season changes.  Also the sound of the crunching of leaves underfoot and the usual winds and coolness in the early mornings and late evenings leave me feeling refreshed.  It is a reminder that not everything is permanent, not everything is here forever – like the leaves, we too will wither, but the beauty we transform into while here is what is to be remembered. 

Angela W  Biscuit?

Any kind of biscuit that has chocolate in it, on it or with it!

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Summer Paths: An Anthology is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: