Author Spotlight: Carol Lynch Williams
Carol Lynch Williams is the popular author of more than thirty outstanding young adult novels. Her “ripped from the headlines” thriller THE CHOSEN ONE (St. Martin’s, 2009) was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, recommended by the New England Children’s Booksellers Association, and sold in many foreign languages. Her novel GLIMPSE (Simon & Schuster, 2010), called “a page turner” by Kirkus, won the prestigious PEN Award. Both novels are still in print.
Her other novels include MILES FROM ORDINARY (St. Martin’s, 2011); WAITING (Simon & Schuster, 2012), which garnered three starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal; THE HAVEN (St. Martin’s, 2014); SIGNED, SKYE HARPER (Simon & Schuster, 2015); NEVER SAID (Zondervan, 2015); THE MESSENGER (Simon & Schuster, 2016); and NEVER THAT FAR (Shadow Mountain, 2018).
Williams is also the winner of Nebraska’s Golden Sower Award and multiple winner of the Utah Original Writing Competition.
Carol has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. She runs the popular annual conference on Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers (WIFYR) in Utah, where she loves spending time with her five daughters.
Q: You have written more than 30 books for teenagers. What makes a successful book for teens?
A: As the writer, I must be connected to the character I’m writing. I have to care. I have to show that my character cares about the world she is in. And then, I think the reader will care.
You also need the right voice. A true voice. One that sounds like the age of the character you’re writing so a kid can connect. I can’t be a thousand years old and sound like I’m a thousand years old and be writing a 12-year-old girl. The character has to sound twelve years old.
Putting your heart on the page and being true to voice, for me, makes a book worth reading. Someone sent me this comment many years ago: “I just read THE CHOSEN ONE. I will never be the same again.” I hope that happens every time anyone reads any book of mine.
Q: You have written many memorable books, including THE CHOSEN ONE, still in print after 12 years. Does it ever get easier to write a novel?
A: For me, writing a book never
gets easier. I know I want to have an exciting beginning. I know I want the climax to pay off. I want people to read the book and not be the same again. But as soon as I get to the beginning of the middle, I realize the amount of work that has to happen. The truth is, anybody can write a book. But not anybody can write a good book.
So I complain. I whine. I’m not pleasant to be around. Then comes the moment when I say, “Carol, you just gotta do it.” And, finally, I sit down and write. I try to keep the goal of the climax in my head and that makes things a little bit easier. But writing a good book, writing a good story, writing a character who lives and breathes? That is hard.
Q: When you won the prestigious PEN award for your novel GLIMPSE (Simon & Schuster, 2010), both Cormac McCarthy and Sam Shepard also received awards. What was it like to be part of that amazing event?
A: Receiving the PEN was one of the highlights of my writing life. Lots of times you will hear that books are written in a vacuum. Mine are not. I have people who encourage me every day. I have an agent (Stephen Fraser) who believes In me. I have people I complain to during the icky middles. I have a daughter who writes and publishes whom I can read tricky parts to. In fact, I can read anything to my five daughters and they will always listen and offer suggestions. I wish all of the people who have supported me along the way could have been there that night, but there wouldn’t have been a lot of room for the other winners’ guests!
Q: You have run the popular Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers (WIFYR) conference in Utah for many years. What does the event mean to you as a writer?
A: I love this conference, which I created with a fellow writer, Dr. John Bennion. It’s a ton of work. But every year, we find amazing people to come and spend a week with us to learn to be better, stronger writers.
There are classes on craft, publishing, finding a good editor or agent, voice, style, writing a strong query letter – forty or fifty of these kinds of classes. WIFYR is like a mini-MFA course. There’s a pretty high success rate that comes from attending this conference, lots of award-winners and New York Times Bestsellers. If you have questions about this conference, feel free to email me at carolloveswifyr@gmail.com.
Q: Do you have any advice for beginning writers who want to establish a writing career with longevity?
A: My advice is to never give up. Listen to the advice of your agent, editor, or critique group. You have your own gut and heart: listen to what you have to say, as well. Write the best book you can, every single time. Make every word count. Care about what you put on the page.
Write every single day, even if it’s just ten words. During the hard times, remind yourself that you’re a writer by writing.
And, whatever you do, have an agent who listens. My agent has been with me during a divorce, two dry spells, when I wasn’t sure I would have a home to live in, when I had a bad editor, when I didn’t know which way to turn, when a book failed, when books succeeded. For me, my agent is a dear friend. I’m lucky. I’m blessed.
To find out more about Carol and her books, visit Carol Lynch Williams.
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