The FAQs about Donna
H
ere’s the part where I pretend someone is interviewing me, but it’s really me asking the questions.
- What’s your favorite color?
- Purple, just like my character Vanessa in As If Being 12¾ Isn’t Bad Enough, My Mother Is Running For President!
- What’s your favorite number?
- Two (because that’s how many children I have)
- Where were you born?
- In a hospital, Silly! Actually, in a hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- Where do you live now?
- In a house, Silly! Actually, in South Florida.
- What does your typical writing day look like?
- There’s nothing typical about my days, but sometimes they go like this:
After hubby heads to work and boys are off to school, I walk the pooch and think. Then I write, revise, answer e-mails, surf the web, write some more, wonder if Oprah is going to call, make my 14th trip to the refrigerator for a drink or snack and write some more before our boys return from school.
Then, I spend time with our kids, cook dinner and do laundry while they pretend to do homework.
We all eat dinner together. A real dinner. With actual vegetables. (We’re vegetarians, so there are usually a lot of vegetables.)
At night, Hubby and I will often play a game of Scrabble or read or watch a little TV with the boys.
Then we go to bed and start again the next day. - That sounds kind of boring. I thought you’d sit around being famous and all.
- That’s not a question! Ordinary, day-to-day life is kind of boring, but miraculous, too. It’s our passion for things that makes it exciting. Our curiosity about our world that makes it burst with awe and wonder. And it’s the love of our family and friends that makes it meaningful and joyful.
- Enough of that serious stuff! How long did it take you to write As If Being 12¾ Isn’t Bad Enough, My Mother Is Running For President!?
- Because of the research involved and lots and lots of revisions, it took me about a year to complete that novel.
- Were you ever in a spelling bee like your character?
- Yes, I was. Thank you for asking. I lost on the word “meant.” I thought it was spelled “ment.” Oh, well. Kudos to Cindy Brown. She won that third grade class spelling bee.
Our oldest son was in a spelling bee, too, in third grade. He was eliminated in the second round on the word “thoroughly,” just like Chester Fields in the first page of my novel. But unlike Chester Fields, our son is not an idiot. (Most of the time.) - Did you always know you wanted to write books for children?
- Since I was about ten years old, I knew I wanted to be a writer. As a kid, I wrote lots of stories and poems. I saved babysitting money when I was fourteen so I could purchase a typewriter and type out my stories and send them to places so I could get rejection slips. The “T” was broken on that typewriter, so my s ories looked some hing like his un il compu ers came along and made my wri ing look much nicer.
As an adult, I wrote many different types of things.
Years ago, I worked as an editor at a greeting card company. I spent my days creating funny cards, working with other writers and artists and traveling to New York City for trade shows. What a fun job! After that, I stayed home to raise our children and do free-lance writing.
I wrote greeting cards for many companies, including American Greetings, Andrews McMeel Publishing, Oatmeal Studios and Blue Mountain Arts. I also wrote stories, articles and poems for children’s magazines, like this one in Highlights for Children. For many years, I wrote funny essays for adults for magazines such as Family Circle, Pool & Spa Living and others. I even created puzzles for magazines like Games. My family helped when I wrote restaurant reviews or video reviews for South Florida Parenting Magazine.
Writing is a fun job! Maybe not as much fun as being a clown or a comedian or the person who does Brad Pitt’s makeup, but still pretty fun! - And now, for the most important question of all… What is your shoe size?
- I wear a size 9½ shoe, just like my character, Vanessa, in my novel. As big as my feet are, they are smaller than each of my sister’s feet. We thank our dad for giving us big feet (He wears a size twelve!), but also for giving us big hearts!
If you have any more questions, please check out my bio. Or e-mail me. If I’m too busy writing to answer, our dog Lady will reply. “Isn’t that right, Lady?” “Woof! Woof!” Loosely translated: Won’t somebody please feed me a doggy treat?
