“As a publisher what you are trying to build is a long life for a book, to help it find its readers in many different ways, whether or not it made this list or got that review, etc. I'm sure some of that thinking has been useful to me as a writer as well.” ThinkingWayTryingWellsLongHas BeensMadeBookDifferentHelpingReaderListsDifferent WaysEtcReviewsPublishersLong Life Author:Danielle Dutton
“Margaret Cavendish was one of the people who came up in the course. That was when I started thinking about her as a character for a book, but my idea was for a totally different book. It had all these characters in it; Samuel Pepys was one of the main characters. He famously wrote these extensive diaries through the period that are really funny and sort of saucy, actually.” PeopleThinkingBookIdeasDifferentCharacterCoursesPeriodsDiariesMain CharactersDifferent BooksThinking About Her Author:Danielle Dutton
“So it was this multi-perspective, multi-character book, and it went through all of these different manifestations. I'm not sure there was a single moment where I thought to myself, Oh, I need to write about Margaret Cavendish. She just kept taking over the book I thought I was writing.” NeedsWritingBookDifferentMomentsCharacterPerspectiveManifestationNot SureSingle Mom Author:Danielle Dutton
“But when I realized it was actually going to be this portrait of the artist, birth to death, I had to then discover who Margaret as a young woman would be. I had to find the different voices for her throughout her life. I had a lot of fun discovering that. I had a lot of fun writing the childhood sections. By imagining her childhood, I was able to come up with this voice that matures as she gets older.” WritingDifferentWould BeAbleYoungArtistFunVoiceChildhoodBirthCome UpI RealizedDiscoveringYoung WomenPortraitsSectionsDifferent Voices Author:Danielle Dutton
“It's all just so fraught when you're writing and then going through the editorial process. It feels like this shape-shifting thing. When it's done, and you can't change a single word, it's a totally different thing. I was surprised by what that thing was.” FeelsWritingDifferentDoneProcessShapesDifferent ThingsShiftingCan't ChangeEditorialsSingle Word Author:Danielle Dutton