Interview with Author Linda Weaver Clarke Day Two

We're back with author Linda Weaver Clarke.

What are some of the most inspiring stories you have helped others to tell?

I wish I knew that question but I don’t. After teaching my workshops, I move on to another library and teach. The only things I know are what people have told me after the workshop. One woman said to my daughter, “I felt as if I had handcuffs on my wrists and your mother has just unlocked them.”

How much of your day is devoted to writing your own stories?

I usually spend half a day and the other half is cleaning my home, etc.

Have you always wanted to be a novelist?

I have always enjoyed writing but being a novelist wasn’t in my future plans. I surprised myself as much as I surprised my family.

What surprised you the most about being published?

What surprised me the most was that an author has to do his or her own promotions.

What advice do you have for someone wanting to record family stories?

First, collect your thoughts; write down any experiences that you remember. Talk to family members and discuss memories. Use letters that they wrote to one another. You can make several short stories, making the history into segments. Or you can write the whole history as a continuous flow.

Research is very important. Learn everything you can about the area your story takes place, the time period, and any historical facts that you would like to add. Sometimes what the country went through has to do with the circumstances of your ancestors. If they lived during the depression or war times, it helps your children understand why their grandparents had such tough times, why they barely made ends meet, or why they had to flee a certain country.

Find out everything you can about the area to both educate your readers and to make the setting feel real. If possible, go to the area you want to write about, walk around, find specific places of importance, where your ancestors lived, went to school, and played. If you can’t go there, then do research and find pictures of that area. To read some samples of what you can do with your own family stories, visit my website and click on any of the short stories. These are stories of my own ancestors.

What are you working on now?

Elena, Woman of Courage is the last in this series and should be released soon. It’s set in 1925. It was a blast to research. I found out about words that I didn’t even know such as: Cat’s pajamas! Ah, horsefeathers! Attaboy! Baloney! You slay me! When referring to a woman, they used doll, tomato, and bearcat. When a person was in love, they were goofy. If a person was a fool, they were a sap. And when a woman wasn’t in the mood for kissing or romance, she would say, “The bank’s closed.” I was able to use all these words and much more in my book. The language was great! It’s about a “Happy-go-lucky Bachelor” that is completely fascinated with a woman doctor: Elena Yeates. Of course, women weren’t encouraged to go to college back then, let alone become a doctor, and this fascinates him to no end. With the 1920’s rise of women’s rights, this novel gives you an insight at the struggles women had to go through, while watching a young love blossom! To read an excerpt, visit here.

Thanks, Linda, for being our guest on PASTimes!