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Although she has written several children’s Christmas programs and many clinical laboratory procedures, this is her first submitted piece of fiction. She is currently working on two novels, both are women’s fiction, and hopes to complete them now that she has found some extra time.
Molly would like to dedicate “The Burr Oak” to her aunt who passed away in February. It was the Burr Oak at her aunt’s cabin and the experience of moving this aunt into an assisted living complex that inspired the story.
interview by Marcia Peterson
WOW: Congratulations on placing in the top ten in our Winter 2011 writing competition! What inspired you to enter the contest, especially since this is your first piece of submitted fiction?
Molly: I had my story roughed out when I found your web site. I hadn't even heard of flash fiction, but I was so impressed by the stories that were posted from previous contests, that I thought I would like to give it a try. It was hard to click the send button, especially since I’m pretty inexperienced as a writer, but what impressed me about this contest was that you could purchase a critique on your submission. The feedback was excellent and I will use the advice to make this story and future ones even stronger.
WOW: How great that you went ahead and gave it a shot! Describe how you’re working on two novels at the same time. Anything you can share about the process?
Molly: The first novel is something that I've been working on forever. This is the "I have this story in my head" route that a lot of us fledgling writers take. I started by hashing out several chapters, clueless to what I was doing. Then, frustrated, I put the story aside for awhile, only to come back to it, rewrite and hash out some more. Finally I was brave enough to take a writer's workshop and since it was the only thing I'd ever really written, I submitted a chapter to the group. I received some positive comments and some great critique and decided to try to take this writing thing more seriously.
Last fall, a member of my writing group convinced me to try Nan-No-Wri-Mo. Naively, I decided to start a whole new story. My personal challenge was to try to write straight through without going back and perfecting every paragraph. I didn't succeed, but I spent the time developing my characters and working on my plot.
So now I have two works in progress. I find when I've reached a dead end on one, it's good to put it aside for awhile and work on the other one, and then I can come back to each with a fresh perspective.
WOW: We’d love to know more about your writing routines. Could you tell us when and where you usually write? Do you have favorite tools or habits that get you going ?
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