I am thrilled to introduce everyone to Claire Cook’s work. I am her new biggest fan after hearing her speak at The Missouri Writer’s Guild Conference. She seems like a perfect choice to kick us all off and you are about to find out why. Please help me welcome Claire to the giveaway! I look forward to reading your comments.
About Claire Cook
Claire Cook wrote her first novel in her minivan outside her daughter’s swim practice at 45. At 50, she walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of the adaptation of her second novel, Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack. She is now the bestselling author of eight novels, with a 9th, Wallflower in Bloom, coming from Touchstone on June 5. Publishers Weekly calls it “fun and inspiring” and says “Cook’s humor and narrative execution are impeccable.” Read an excerpt (and find Writing and Reinvention pages) at ClaireCook.com, and follow Claire on Facebook and on Twitter.
About Wallflower In Bloom
Deirdre Griffin has a great life; it’s just not her own. She’s the round-the-clock personal assistant to her charismatic, high-maintenance, New Age guru brother, Tag. As the family wallflower, her only worth seems to be as gatekeeper to Tag at his New England seaside compound. Then Deirdre’s sometime-boyfriend informs her that he is marrying another woman, who just happens to be having the baby he told Deirdre he never wanted. While drowning her sorrows in Tag’s expensive vodka, Deirdre decides to use his massive online following to get herself voted on as a last-minute Dancing with the Stars replacement. It’ll get her back in shape, mentally and physically. It might even get her a life of her own. Deirdre’s fifteen minutes of fame have begun.
This year’s author interview theme? The story of Claire’s writing career in miniature! Here’s what I asked Claire:
When did you know for sure that you were a writer and that writing would be a major energy focus in your life?
I’ve known I was a writer since I was three. My mother entered me in a contest to name the Fizzies whale, and I won in my age group. It’s quite possible that mine was the only entry in my age group, since “Cutie Fizz” was enough to win my family a six-month supply of Fizzies tablets (root beer was the best flavor) and a half dozen turquoise plastic mugs with removable handles. Still, it took me until I was 45 to circle back to my writing. The good news is that, as George Eliot once said, “It’s never to late to be what you might have been.”
Who has always been behind your writing career and who helped pull you up the ladder of success?
I have the most amazing readers in the world. They’ve been behind me, book by book, spreading the word and cheering me on in this midlife career of mine. It makes me feel like I’m writing for all of us, and in many ways, I think I am.
What is the most frequent comment you hear about your book (or books) from readers? Tell us a little story about the response to your work.
I hear two comments over and over again: “I can’t remember when I laughed out loud like that” and “OMG, you’re writing my life.” They both make my heart sing!
• • •
Now it’s your turn. You remember how this works right?
I ask you a question. You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.
Please just respond once, even if you make a typo. 😉
Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books). Please read the complete rules at least once!
Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway! I hope to see you here every day this month. Bring your friends!
Q: If you could become rich and famous for writing one thing and one thing only. What would you want that one thing to be? Don’t over-think it. Just answer from the gut!
Ready, set, comment!
Comments on this entry are closed.
If I could become rich and famous for writing only one thing, it would definitely have to be a memoir. It’s my favorite form to read as well as to write, and I would love to write something that people could really connect with. I’m picturing something along the lines of a series of essays from different times in my life, revolving around the title/idea: How I Know Who I Am. We all have those moments in our lives, right?
Something that tells a great story about the history, scientific, and cultural significance of tornadoes, something that inspires generations of young people (especially women) to enjoy the skies, and something that shows how beautiful, magnificent, misunderstood, and deadly tornadoes can be. Sort of MacLean’s _Young Men and Fire_ meets Erik Larsen’s _Issac’s Storm_ meets Dava Sobel’s _Galileo’s Daughter_.
If I could become rich and famous for writing one thing, it would have to be a captivating novel that enriches the life of the reader in someway. I would want it to capture their imagination in such a way that they forget where they are while they’re reading it and to continue thinking about it once the last page is turned. Those are the novels I love most so I’d be thrilled if I wrote one like that!
If I became rich and famous for writing one thing, it would have a socially relevant novel. I am currently working on two ideas (not that I’m expecting to get rich and famous off of them) that I hope will speak to a lot of people and enrich their lives in some way. Making a difference in someone’s life through my writing is enough to make me feel rich.
My one and only strike at the good life, living large from my hard work, would be to write about the people who settled, and struggled, to make my beloved state of North Dakota the interesting place that it is. To research and thread all that information through the story needle would be bliss, (actually it is, my current work). Having finished and succeeded, well fame and fortune would certainly be a nice thank you.
I would be most gratified to publish a fiction piece that made a difference in someone’s life – that piece that brought healing and assurance. The best thing would be to give readers the sense that they are not alone in this journey called life.
Okay, the answer to this one took me by surprise. I love the fiction that I write, but I’m very committed to writing popular history that introduces American audiences to non-western cultures. If I could be famous for only one book it would be a history of how Islam shaped Western culture, written in a light but respectful voice.
Excuse me while I re-orient my work priorities.
It would have to be writing the story of raising my special-needs kid. Once he is an adult, I will definitely write the book (it’s in the works already). I think it’s an important story that other parents of special needs kids would want (should?) read. You’re not alone. You are strong. You can do this. Keep fighting. That would be the messages. That, I believe, would be a “one thing” worth being rich and famous over, since my medical bills are ridiculous. 😀
If I could be rich and famous for writing one thing it would
be a memoir of the challenges Ihave faced in my mothering journey. I would
want it to have humour and grace and inspire other parents that they are not
alone, although it may feel like it, in their seemingly continual struggles. I
see it as a sort of Erma Bombeck faces
cancer, autism and diabetes and wins.
If I could be rich and famous for writing one thing, it would be parenting twins. Yeah, it’s double yadaya…, but it’s the humor that slays me. I love to laugh and the kids provide so much fodder that it’s easy to find something every day. For example; the twins will be going into middle school next year. They both want to play trumpet in band. They’ve known this for a while, yet the other day they had a realization: “Mama! We need two trumpets!” This truly shocked them.
Apparently, they’re used to sharing and assumed they’d just share a trumpet.
My favorite to date was the whole “Guy, you saw my brain” incident. Which I don’t think I can cover in under 200 words.
A play that shakes up the audience and makes them rethink their core beliefs – or at least confront how they came to believe what they do about themselves and their worlds.
Congratulations on the start of your Every Day in May Book Giveaway! If I could become rich and famous for writing one thing and one thing only, I think it would be for an autobiographical novel of sorts, that covered the period from the late 1950’s up through the first decade of the 21st century, examining the social upheavals that have occurred and how they changed the family/participants involved, particularly as people dealt with various forms of bigotry and hate, and how that formed the biological and intentional families that resulted, perhaps starting with Eisenhower’s farewell address that introduced the concept of the military-industrial complex and how the efforts of the rich and powerful impacted the people struggling across the country, including how people voted against their own interests without even realizing it and how those who spoke truth to power were consistently thwarted or prevented from implementing sufficient change.
If I could become rich and
famous for writing one thing and one thing only, it would be for a
laugh-out-loud funny, yet poignant, story about teaching that would inspire a
new generation of teachers. Sadly, I don’t know that I have that book in me, at
least not yet. Some of the sad moments of my teaching career are still shadowing
the funny and wonderful moments. Now that I’m back in teaching and enjoying
myself once again, perhaps that book is not just a dream in my heart.
If I could become rich and famous for writing one thing and
one thing only, it would be a family life book. My book would help parents
connect meaningfully with their child through every age and stage, help them
understand more about how kids tick emotionally and physically. The idea would
be to also help couples see ways in which to nurture each other in order to preserve
and grow ‘you and me’ right along with raising a family.
My first reaction is to write a book that tells my grandmother’s story. After she died it dawned on me that she was so much more than my smiling gray-haired grandmother. I have some clues that tell me she was multi-dimensional, but she spent her entire adult life raising six kids in a 400 square foot shack in southern Missouri. That’s the story I want to tell.
The rich and famous part, now that would be the gravy.
The book that I would most like to write (and am most likely
to write) would be a chapbook of haiku or haibun. Would that make me rich and
famous? I hardly think so! That being said, if I ever did come up with a clever
idea for a fun novel that featured a baby boomer as a protagonist, I would go
for it wholeheartedly! But I’d still rather be known for my haiku and haibun.
😉
Oh I love this question because I already have one idea in mind that would be wonderful to write and become rich and famous for writing. The story idea would be fun to write because it is fiction and about a women nearing midlife with issues to be resolved. With fiction she can go and do and become and encounter whatever wild and crazy things I can come up with. I could live vicariously through her adventures.
My one thing would be something that makes someone laugh. Laughter is the greatest gift we can give one another. So, if I my writing can bring a hearty belly laugh, I’ve done my job.
Tricia S.
Okay, so I didn’t make 50 words.
My
one thing would be something that makes someone laugh. It would be good-natured humor, not humor at the expensive of another person or group of people. I love to laugh when I read. ( Claire Cook will definitely make you laugh.) Laughter is the
greatest gift we can give one another. So, if I my writing can bring a
hearty belly laugh, I’ve done my job.
Tricia S.
If I could become rich and famous for writing one thing I would want it to be a lesbian parenting memoir. There is something really satisfying about reading someone’s story and I think it would be even more satisfying to have my own story out there in the world. Someday…. For now I’m working on the smaller stories in the hopes that they will weave their way into something larger.
I was a Claire Cook fan before but am even more enthusiastic after learning a bit more. Thanks for sharing her with us!
I’m your new biggest fan, too, Christina, and thanks for including me in your wonderful giveaway! And thank you so much for your fabulous comments, everybody – I really enjoyed reading them!
I would be rich and famous for …. perhaps…writing a great young adult or middle school-age novel that is funny and wise that deals with things that all people struggle with and fear, but in a way that is accessible to even young readers. Maybe it’d be something like Gary Schmidt’s Wednesday Wars or Okay for Now. I also love how these books appeal to one’s aesthetics–like Shakespear and Audubon–and I think my book would have that element too.
Oh my word. I think it would be on
something that would convince people that by being “open,” they are capable of
parenting a child with special needs, and that they will grow from the experience,
beyond anything they had ever imagined. That there is such beauty in
imperfection, and profound grace and peace from learning to embrace it.
My “one thing and one thing only” would be having WCHS, MPHS and Park College…Diary Writing 1960-1965, the blog I started in January 2010, published as a book. It would be, of course, nonfiction. I am transcribing the nightly diary entries I wrote starting with the second semester of my junior year of high school, followed by my senior year, and now, what I wrote as a college student 50 years ago.
If you could become rich and famous for writing one thing and one thing only. What would you want that one thing to be?
I want to try to ease the pain of “children” young and old who are still searching for their birth parents, siblings and family members. I need to open the hearts and minds of those who hold the secrets, to encourage them to share their knowledge before it is too late. We don’t have to like where we came from but most of us have a need to know. I’ve written my personal memoir for my sons. My search has taken me over 50 years and I’m still not done. There are precious few still living who can help me and they have refused out of some misplaced duty to the dead. If I could turn my journey into something useful for others, if being famous could crack open a door for even one other person to discover their past, then famous would be great. Rich isn’t necessary. Cover the cost would be nice
two moms sounds great!
I would like to have my novel published. I have worked on it for almost a year (off and on, more off than on). I really love my characters and would like everyone to know them and love all their quirks and eccentricities. I am not getting younger and my writing seems to have taken on a race with time. I like Keats have “fears that I may cease to be.”
A collection of memoir-type essays paralleling my childhood and family, with my family now.
Without a doubt, given the choice, I would become rich and famous for writing a Pulitzer-quality creative nonfiction piece that addresses the human spirit. I am currently working on my fiction projects and find myself longing to work on a more substantive creative non-fiction/journalism project. Probably this is a pipe dream, as this type of work is certainly rare and not in any way a money-maker these days — but a girl can dream.
I would be most gratified to publish a novel that brings healing to readers’ lives. One of my favorite authors is Denise Hildreth who writes inspirational fiction. Her books have taught me a lot about life when I didn’t even realize I was benefiting from them in a practical way. My first novel is a mystery. The protagonist is a young woman who is getting her life back on track. I am crafting this character so that she is genuine and recognizable to the reader. I hope that what she learns in the story is imparted to everyone that reads it and that they can take it and use it to inspire healing in their lives.
Not sure rich and famous sounds good – okay, maybe enough to quit my day job. I’d love to write a novel that lives up to Barbara Kingsolver’s promise…she said something about how she hoped a reader would laugh out loud, cry at least once, and burn what was left on the stove.
If I could become rich and famous for writing one thing and one thing only, it would have to be a funny funny memoir. To me there is nothing better than someone saying my writing made them laugh when they needed it. I often pick up copies of my favorite humor/memoir/essay books for friends knowing they will love them. Imagining someone handing my book to a friend and telling them how funny it is – that’s motivation.
If I were to be known for only one written work, and
(thankfully) make lots of money off of it, I would like it to be for a novel that
moves the reader to create change for the better in his/her own life, and I
would count myself especially blessed if it found a home in the hearts of young
girls.
I would write a poem that draws people to read it, memorize it,
share it and return to it again and again.
I would write a poem that yields new and different meanings with each rereading.
I would write a poem that inspires and comforts and that describes some thing or some feeling that everyone recognizes and resonates with.
I would write a poem that sings to the heart of all readers, a poem that is deceptively simple, unfailingly honest, and above all true.
If I became rich and famous for writing one thing it would for something that I put all of my heart into. It would be a mystery that would leave people talking about the twist. There is nothing better than finishing a book and saying “wow that was good” and then sharing it with friends because it was that good. A book that keeps you up into the early hours because you have to finish it. That’s what I want to write.
If I could become rich and famous for writing one thing only, it would be a memoir about the how 50 orphan girls from South Sudan whose future was to be one of early marriage, childbirth, and poverty were educated at the ASAH Boarding School for Orphan Girls and set out to change their nation.
Something that would touch peoples hearts in a way that they would want to read my book again and again. The writing would give their life meaning, make them laugh, reaffirm their place in the world! It would inspire them to live their own lives to the fullest, smile a little brighter, follow their dreams. And would be done through a work of fiction.
If I were to become rich and famous for my writing, I would write about the journey and heartache that I have experienced since traveling on the road for the past 14 years. The stories would include the people that enriched my life, both bad and good. Store keepers, patients, families even those met in passing. True life events weaved with the sounds and smells of the cities, oceans and small towns that have been a part of my life. Even the unusal foods or common meals that have a twist. My readers will enjoy the realism mixed with the chase the character seeks in finding love that seems to slip away from her no matter how hard she tries. Comedy and a few tears but overall, a series that provides a great read.
I entered my first Writer Mama contest in 2008. Not only do I save my answers every year, but also the book reviews, cover images and author interviews. I now have 120 book recommendations and a four-year chronicle of my journey as a professional writer. Plus I’ve made contact with several of the authors. I can answer the rich-and-famous question without a second thought by taking a page out of Claire’s life. I want to score fame and fortune by writing a book, or maybe a series of books, so incredible that they are turned into movies. I want the books to be as popular with readers of all ages as are The Hunger Games, but I want the writing to be as creative as The Book Thief – one of my all-time favorites. I truly believe that dream is achievable with a lot of hard work and a little luck. Every year this contest inspires me to nurture the Writer Mama in me and to dream big. Thank you, Christina! It’s great to be back!
My life has been such a whirlwind of oxymorons and incongruencies that I find hillarious when I reflect on the years. I would love to spin the web of unlikely scenarios with all the natural humor and heartbreak to take the readers for an enjoyable ride through a life of choice and circumstance that alerts the young to follow their instincts and intuition for an adventurous life.
I’m planning to write–no, wait, I AM writing– a novel that is about forgiveness and repentance and decisions that change your life. If a novel about forgivenss could make me rich and famous, that would be totally great. But if it only touches one life, that will be fince with me, too. The characters in this novel have a lot to say. I’d better let them out soon!
If I could become rich and famous for writing one thing only it would be a children’s book that made children and their parents, grandparents and anyone who read the book with them laugh. It would be a story that gave readers some happy moments to remember and treasure no matter what their real lives were like. I would want the characters to be memorable like E.B. White’s Wilbur and Charlotte.
If I could become rich and famous for writing
one thing and one thing only it would be for a book of historical fiction based
on my family’s journey in America. It would be written at the middle school level and
would inspire young people, especially girls, to use their strengths to achieve
more than they had ever imagined and to contribute to the future of our
country.
If I could write only one thing it would be about the importance of education. As a teacher, I see so many students turn their backs on books. Knowledge, street knowledge, is what is king. The pursuit of learning just to learn has no meaning to them. My writing focus on bringing education back in the homes, schools, and political arenas. Education needs to change as time changes but it’s fundamentals should always remain the same – knowledge is power.
I can just picture Claire in that minivan putting words on the page to get that first novel done! Such an inspiring image–I think we mama authors take every moment we can to move forward with our work. Just like Christina mentioned in the book giveaway announcement email: “[we author mamas] . . . build a writing career one brave word at a time.” Thank you, Christina, for such an awesome lineup of author mom giveaway books! You continue to inspire me as well! 🙂
If I were to choose one piece of writing to be known for it would be a whole series of bilingual nature books for children 0-3 years old.
If I could become famous for writing one thing it would be for research on hearing loss – in particular how children with hearing loss function in a mainstream setting. I am working on an ebook on the topic right now – but I am also looking for ways to find funding so that my research can be published.
Don’t overthink it? That’s hard! Though I’m finishing up a book about online schooling now, I can’t say I would want to be rich and famous from it. I think it would be a book about parenting that would be for moms in abusive marriages or relationships. I grew up in a family like that, and would like moms to know how important it is to get out. Whatever they have to do, just get out. Get help, get your kids help, and make a new life for yourself.
If I could write to become rich and famous I think the one thing that stands out above the rest is life. There is so much hidden violence in the world that most will turn a blind eye too. In my opinion, this should stand out above the rest. I have seen and heard of so many doors that are shut to women when they are abused and enough is enough. Woman need to stand strong through the rough times, to be able to find that hidden strength that lives within us all to be able to pull out and find the light. I always here God never gives us more than we can handle and we have to learn that if they keep putting one foot in front of the other even in their darkest of moments, they will find their way through to the other side and if they play the cards right will find the true path their life was meant to be on.
I would want to be known for writing a novel that really speaks to women, especially mothers. A complex story with a central issue that might be divisive but would ultimately say a lot about who we are as women. It would have a diverse array of unique compelling characters from which almost everyone could find someone they would identify with. In short, something I would want to read!
I would like to stay as myself, wear jeans, ride horses, write, hike, love, laugh and enjoy life. I would have a horse ranch and take in horses that need homes. Then I would bring children there that need love and put horse and the children together; equine therapy, the best therapy there is. Then let the magic begin. Because that’s what it is….magic. Abused horses and abused horses understand each other and heal each other. Absolut, perfect love. That’s what I want to be.