My children are all in their twenties. However, when my middle daughter was a teenager in high school, she wrote a short story about a teenage girl and her boyfriend. It inspired me to write Not Without Anna. I used the same girl, wrote the thrust of the story from her mother's viewpoint and added additional characters to help tell the story. It made my daughter very proud. I dedicated Not Without Anna to her.
I used my knowledge of my own children when they were teenagers, their friends, and what I've read about teenagers in my research to come up with my characters. I didn't write this book specifically for teenagers but I've had a few read it and say that they understood it. The book covers some heavy duty topics like teenage suicide and murder. For me, the bigger message is to the adults — the parents or grandparents of teenagers.
What lessons can be learned from your book?
Lessons from my books? Wow. Well, from Forever Until We Meet I guess the message is to learn to love the person within and be happy with yourself. In Not Without Anna there is a definite lesson to all parents of teenagers to not take anything for granted. Parents must realize that their children could be living a double life between school, friends, and home. In Trust In The Wind the lesson is to never give up and be open to change.
Do you wish you led the life of one of your characters?
They are a part of me, but do I want to live their "actual" life? No. Thank you, no. My characters suffer. They become better people for it, but they suffer. A lot.
What are your current projects?
I have a new book coming out in February 2006 called Trust In The Wind. TITW is about trusting in something that you can't grasp. You can't hold onto it but it's there. A young unmarried mother and an older Tampa police officer end up teaching each other about trusting and loving again. Something neither of them thought they'd ever find.
Find more about Vicki at her website, blog,
and Mundania Press.
Article comments
1 - DrPat
I don't know Lisa Gardner, but Stephen King, Piers Anthony and, above all, Robert A. Heinlein, have created strong female characters. This made the interview ring with honesty to me.
Thanks again, Parker!