I'm a former newspaper reporter following my childhood dream of being an author. As a kid, I read books under the bedclothes by flashlight when I should have been sleeping. Now I dive under the covers, torch in hand, to scribble down story ideas in case I forget them in the morning. I’ve written stories since I was about eight years old. I wrote them on a toy typewriter and my dad did the illustrations. I loved playing tennis and practiced against the brick end of a block of garages beside my home - all the time spinning stories in my head.
As a newshound, I've interviewed thousands of people. For a change, I thought I'd put myself in the spotlight ...
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO READ FOR PLEASURE?
I love history - particularly the English Regency period and the American west - so anything in those genres grabs my interest. I also like a crime novel that keeps me guessing 'who dunnit' right until the end. But that doesn't happen very often. I have an irritating and uncanny knack of working out who did it early on and have a hard time not spilling the beans to anyone within hearing distance, which can be quite far if you've every heard me shout "FOUR" on the golf course.
WHAT DOES YOUR WORK DESK LOOK LIKE?
It's organised chaos, like my handbag in which can be found everything but the kitchen sink ... even the odd forgotten banana, squashed and leaky. Urrrghhh! My desk has lots of shelves, so there's everything I need at my fingertips including elastic bands, chocolate, erasers, sellotape, cupcakes, pens, pencils, fruit, post its, screen wipes, pork pies, stapler, shredder, sweets and notebooks. You might have noticed, I like to eat when I write. Also, there's the odd elephant. Did I say elephant? That's because I'm potty on elephants and there's always one or two within arm's reach either holding a stack of pencils or looking for a cuddle.
WHEN DID YOU FIRST STARTED WRITING?
About as long ago as I could read. I've always scribbled things down. I remember writing little poems and messages, putting them in a tin and burying them under the soil like a time capsule. The garden where I grew up is probably littered with old rusty tea or sweet tins holding scraps of papers with my ideas, thoughts, hopes and dreams. Then when I was about eight, I was bought a toy typewriter and that opened up a whole new world for me. I wrote little novels inspired by one of my favourite authors at the time - Enid Blyton.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE THE MOST ABOUT WRITING:
That's easy: sharing my work and having someone say they enjoyed a book I've written. I love to read and to read a book that I can't devour quick enough, but at the same time I don't want to end is awesome. I would love readers to feel the same about my work.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE NOT WRITING?
I go to the movies, I play cards and play golf (but not like Tiger). I also enjoy doing research. That sounds boring but I love learning cool new things.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR WRITING PROCESS?
I write at all different times of day and for different lengths of time. I write on scraps of paper and in notebooks whenever an idea for a story, word, phrase, piece of dialogue, new scene or plot twist pops into my head - even in the middle of the night. When I'm immersed in a story, my characters talk to each other ALL THE TIME in my head. I've been known to dive behind a mountain of tinned beans in the supermarket to scribble down what they say in case I forget. I've had some queer looks from fellow shoppers I can tell you, but I'm proud to say that I've never been thrown out of a single store ... yet.
I used to write by the seat of my pants, now I'm a plotter. When I come up with the initial idea for a story, I create a working file and type up extensive notes, including any scenes or dialogue that have popped into my head. This puts me in the zone and helps generate even more ideas for the story. Once I have a fairly good idea of the outline of the book, I storyboard it in a separate file. Traditional storyboarding involves creating little sketches and writing a few words beside them. I prefer to storyboard chapter by chapter and scene by scene with all words based on my outline. This can be fairly detailed.
The next step is to write the first draft. For this, I sit at my computer and slog away following my storyboard outline. I don't worry about spelling or grammar; I just type as quickly as the words mysteriously appear in my head. I don't even pause or stop the flow when I reach a section that needs researching. Instead, I put a series of question marks or a reminder to myself in that space and continue writing. Recently, I've been experimenting using an online timer and got my first draft written amazingly quickly. But I only use this for the first draft.
In the following drafts, I concentrate on one aspects of the story: the plot or dialogue, characters etc. At this point, I am not writing as fast as I did for the first draft and so if I see typos or spelling mistakes, I correct them as I go along.
WHAT IMPACT DID THE FIRST STORY YOU EVER READ HAVE ON YOU?
I can't remember the title but it was a large fat book of fairytales and Disney stories like Snow White and Cinderella with lots of pictures. It inspired me to make up similar stories where I was the heroine (of course), in which I got involved in all kinds of exciting adventures. I was shy with low self-esteem and my made-up characters accepted me without any questions and thought I was "cool". This was the first time, I discovered the wonderful places my imagination could take me.
ARE YOU WORKING ON ANYTHING AT THE MOMENT?
As a matter of fact I am. It's an idea for a series that popped into my head - out of the blue -one day. I have just plotted the first book and plan to start writing VERY soon, so keep checking back to find out more ...
HAS YOUR BACKGROUND AS A NEWSPAPER REPORTER HELPED YOU WITH YOUR FICTION WRITING?
My training helps me structure a story, proofread and edit. Often, a reporter has to do a lot of research for information to go with a story. Some people think research is boring and they just want to get on with the writing. I love research. I also love to hear people's stories. They are so inspirational. But long before I became a journalist, I had a vivid imagination and would weave stories all the time, probably when I should have been giving other things my 100% attention. My imagination, as a child, was fired by all the great stories I read. I loved to go to the local library and second hand bookstores with my mother. We would spend hours reading book covers and thumbing through pages.
ANTics HAS RECEIVED SOME GREAT REVIEWS. WILL THERE BE A SEQUEL?
There might be. But at the moment, I am really exited about the series I mentioned above.
If you'd like to know anything more about Dakota Douglas, drop her a line at:
author.dakotadouglas@gmail.com
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO READ FOR PLEASURE?
I love history - particularly the English Regency period and the American west - so anything in those genres grabs my interest. I also like a crime novel that keeps me guessing 'who dunnit' right until the end. But that doesn't happen very often. I have an irritating and uncanny knack of working out who did it early on and have a hard time not spilling the beans to anyone within hearing distance, which can be quite far if you've every heard me shout "FOUR" on the golf course.
WHAT DOES YOUR WORK DESK LOOK LIKE?
It's organised chaos, like my handbag in which can be found everything but the kitchen sink ... even the odd forgotten banana, squashed and leaky. Urrrghhh! My desk has lots of shelves, so there's everything I need at my fingertips including elastic bands, chocolate, erasers, sellotape, cupcakes, pens, pencils, fruit, post its, screen wipes, pork pies, stapler, shredder, sweets and notebooks. You might have noticed, I like to eat when I write. Also, there's the odd elephant. Did I say elephant? That's because I'm potty on elephants and there's always one or two within arm's reach either holding a stack of pencils or looking for a cuddle.
WHEN DID YOU FIRST STARTED WRITING?
About as long ago as I could read. I've always scribbled things down. I remember writing little poems and messages, putting them in a tin and burying them under the soil like a time capsule. The garden where I grew up is probably littered with old rusty tea or sweet tins holding scraps of papers with my ideas, thoughts, hopes and dreams. Then when I was about eight, I was bought a toy typewriter and that opened up a whole new world for me. I wrote little novels inspired by one of my favourite authors at the time - Enid Blyton.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE THE MOST ABOUT WRITING:
That's easy: sharing my work and having someone say they enjoyed a book I've written. I love to read and to read a book that I can't devour quick enough, but at the same time I don't want to end is awesome. I would love readers to feel the same about my work.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE NOT WRITING?
I go to the movies, I play cards and play golf (but not like Tiger). I also enjoy doing research. That sounds boring but I love learning cool new things.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR WRITING PROCESS?
I write at all different times of day and for different lengths of time. I write on scraps of paper and in notebooks whenever an idea for a story, word, phrase, piece of dialogue, new scene or plot twist pops into my head - even in the middle of the night. When I'm immersed in a story, my characters talk to each other ALL THE TIME in my head. I've been known to dive behind a mountain of tinned beans in the supermarket to scribble down what they say in case I forget. I've had some queer looks from fellow shoppers I can tell you, but I'm proud to say that I've never been thrown out of a single store ... yet.
I used to write by the seat of my pants, now I'm a plotter. When I come up with the initial idea for a story, I create a working file and type up extensive notes, including any scenes or dialogue that have popped into my head. This puts me in the zone and helps generate even more ideas for the story. Once I have a fairly good idea of the outline of the book, I storyboard it in a separate file. Traditional storyboarding involves creating little sketches and writing a few words beside them. I prefer to storyboard chapter by chapter and scene by scene with all words based on my outline. This can be fairly detailed.
The next step is to write the first draft. For this, I sit at my computer and slog away following my storyboard outline. I don't worry about spelling or grammar; I just type as quickly as the words mysteriously appear in my head. I don't even pause or stop the flow when I reach a section that needs researching. Instead, I put a series of question marks or a reminder to myself in that space and continue writing. Recently, I've been experimenting using an online timer and got my first draft written amazingly quickly. But I only use this for the first draft.
In the following drafts, I concentrate on one aspects of the story: the plot or dialogue, characters etc. At this point, I am not writing as fast as I did for the first draft and so if I see typos or spelling mistakes, I correct them as I go along.
WHAT IMPACT DID THE FIRST STORY YOU EVER READ HAVE ON YOU?
I can't remember the title but it was a large fat book of fairytales and Disney stories like Snow White and Cinderella with lots of pictures. It inspired me to make up similar stories where I was the heroine (of course), in which I got involved in all kinds of exciting adventures. I was shy with low self-esteem and my made-up characters accepted me without any questions and thought I was "cool". This was the first time, I discovered the wonderful places my imagination could take me.
ARE YOU WORKING ON ANYTHING AT THE MOMENT?
As a matter of fact I am. It's an idea for a series that popped into my head - out of the blue -one day. I have just plotted the first book and plan to start writing VERY soon, so keep checking back to find out more ...
HAS YOUR BACKGROUND AS A NEWSPAPER REPORTER HELPED YOU WITH YOUR FICTION WRITING?
My training helps me structure a story, proofread and edit. Often, a reporter has to do a lot of research for information to go with a story. Some people think research is boring and they just want to get on with the writing. I love research. I also love to hear people's stories. They are so inspirational. But long before I became a journalist, I had a vivid imagination and would weave stories all the time, probably when I should have been giving other things my 100% attention. My imagination, as a child, was fired by all the great stories I read. I loved to go to the local library and second hand bookstores with my mother. We would spend hours reading book covers and thumbing through pages.
ANTics HAS RECEIVED SOME GREAT REVIEWS. WILL THERE BE A SEQUEL?
There might be. But at the moment, I am really exited about the series I mentioned above.
If you'd like to know anything more about Dakota Douglas, drop her a line at:
author.dakotadouglas@gmail.com
