Hi Guys! *waves* Thank you for coming by. I am lucky enough to have an in-depth interview with one of my favourite authors. I hope you enjoy...
*(ME) (LANI)*
Name: Lani Wendt
Young
Age: 39
Occupation: Writer
/ Domestic Goddess *LOL*
Place of Birth: Apia,
Samoa
Place of Residence: Auckland, NZ
Marital Status: Married
( 19 yrs and counting…) *blimey, that's a long time*
Children: Five.
Favourite Author: Too many. C.S Lewis, JK Rowling, Suzanne Collins, Maya Angelou, Stephenie
Meyer, Toni Morrison, Sophie Kinsella,
Sia Figiel, Marian Keyes, Raymond E
Feist and Jenny Wurts
Favourite Book: Who
can possibly choose one?! *not me, that's for sure*
Favourite Singer/Band: U2, Eminem, Lauryn
Hill, Bob Marley, Sade, Eric Clapton,
Coldplay, John Mayer,
Favourite Food & Drink: Diet Coke, Doritos, donuts, faiai fe’e ( octopus baked in
coconut cream)
Best Holiday Destination: Home. Samoa.
Favourite TV Programme: Greys Anatomy, True
Blood, Game of Thrones, Good Wife, Desperate Housewives. *you had me up until Desperate Housewives*
Favourite Past Time/Hobby: reading, dancing, pretending to run.
I'd like to ask a few questions about you
personally before asking about the book, if that's okay...?
Firstly, I'd like to know what it is that
you enjoy doing most apart from writing?
Reading. I
only discovered e-books last year and my Kindle is my bestest friend now. I
used to buy books everywhere I go and lug them around with me and electronic
books have changed my life. I also enjoy
baking. I am a dessert freak. Im not very good at cooking savory dishes so it’s
not uncommon for my family to eat canned tuna fish with rice for dinner…and
then have three different kinds of pie. And choc chip cookies. And sticky date
pudding. Yummy.
Did you always know you wanted to be an
author?
Before I wanted to be an author I wanted to be
the Prime Minister of Samoa. And a super model.
And a vet. And a lawyer. And a
superhero. But writing was always my strength, my passion. I just never thought
one could make a proper living from it.
If you couldn't be an author, what would
you like to be?
I’m
a qualified high school English teacher and worked in schools in Samoa for
about eight years before I had my 3rd child and decided to stay home
and be a full-time mum. I enjoy being in the classroom and interacting with
teenagers.
Who would you say are your writing
influences?
The
Bible. Shakespeare. C.S Lewis. Enid Blyton.
I grew up in Samoa which did not have a lot of books readily available
so I was in a constant state of HUNGER for stuff to read. I spent a lot of time
at the public library, re-reading the classics and lots of very ragged, very
old books. We also read a lot of British/English stuff – like Enid Blyton and
the Swiss Chalet Girls series. As a teenager, I was obsessed with stories that
had strong female leads - Trixie Belden,
Nancy Drew and the X-Men comics. As an adult I discovered Alice Walker, Toni
Morrison, Amy Tan and Sia Figiel – and I continue to be inspired by the way
they integrate culture and feminism into their writing.
Do you have your own muse?
I have five of them. My children. They range in age from 17
to four years old and being their mother is like living in a non-stop creative
furnace. My eldest daughter brainstorms a lot of the Telesa stories with me, my
son tempers our wild ideas with scientific reminders “that’s impossible, you
can’t write that, it doesn’t make sense!”
Children are constantly discovering wonders and mystery in the everyday
world around us – and when I’m not too tired or irritated with them – I get to
see the world the same way they do. It’s a great blessing to be a mother and I’m
grateful for the many ways they inspire and add to my writing.
What was the first book you read?
My mum would read to us. I remember reading The Wild Thing by
Maurice Sendak. Loving it. The Narnia
series has always been and always will be a huge influence on me. I read all
Enid Blyton’s books – and was very captivated by the Faraway Tree in
particular. The thought of these imaginary amazing worlds accessible at the top
of a tree…or in a wardrobe…were fascinating concepts for me.
What was the first thing you wrote?
Short stories. When I
was 10 I wrote a story about a mango tree that had feelings and thoughts. My
teacher read it out loud to the class and told everyone I had a great
imagination and would be a writer one day. A spark of a dream was lit that day.
When I was 15 I wrote a story about a girl who falls in love with a sea prince
– who changes into a silver dolphin. My English teacher accused me of
plagiarism and called my parents. She said there was no way a kid my age could
write a story like that. I was hugely offended… I made sure that I got the
highest marks for the national English examinations that year.
*butts in* Oh my goodness! That’s like,
wow! I guess looking back on it though, it may be seen as a compliment.
Is the first thing you wrote also the first
thing you published?
No. When I grew up I got very busy
with university and raising a family. It wasn’t until a year before my 30th
birthday that I realized I couldn’t keep saying “I’m going to be a writer ONE
DAY WHEN I GROW UP” because heck, I was all grown up. I set a target to submit
my stories to a publisher before I turned 30. On my birthday, I posted my
collection of short stories to 4 different publishers. All of them said no.
They told me to submit stories to journals and collections and competitions to
get started. I took their advice and that’s how I began getting my work
published.
What was it that made you decide to be an
Indie author as opposed to pursuing a publishing contract?
My first book was written
on commission. I was hired for a year to research and write a book about the
tsunami that hit Samoa. The project was then funded by the Australian govt who
paid for it to be printed. I worked with the editor, printer and distributor on
every step of the book process. The experience showed me that writing, printing
and publishing a book are NOT deeply mysterious and complicated things. When TELESA started getting rejection letters
from agents and publishers I didn’t sit around and wait. I continued to refine
my book, get a cover design, plan a promotional campaign… and by the fifteenth
rejection, I was ready to go indie. It’s hard work but I’m loving the writing
journey and for a control freak – there’s so much to love about
self-publishing.
I know you were born in Apia, Samoa - so i
know that must be the inspiration behind TELESA being set in Samoa - but having
said that, I would like to know what the inspiration was behind the actual
premise of the story... specifically the following...
(i)
Why did you decide to write a
Paranormal book?
Toni Morrison said, ‘if the book you want to read
has not yet been written, then you must write it.’ That captures why I wrote
this series. Fantasy/magic/paranormal elements – have always been my favourite
kinds of fiction. I love the escape that they provide from reality. I love the
possibilities that are inherent in them. I’ve always wanted to read a
paranormal/fantasy story set in Samoa and there aren’t any. In fact, there’s
not a lot of novels written by Samoans, set in contemporary Samoa and TELESA is
the first Samoan Young Adult novel of its kind.
(ii)
Why did you want to write about
Telesa - were they something people believed in when you were younger or are
they something you made up?
There are many legends and stories whispered in
Samoa about ‘teine Sa’, spirit/demon women who have supernatural powers. They
are guardians of various areas in the islands – like rivers, forests, a
particular village etc. They curse, bewitch, poison, and kill those who defy
their rules and disrespect their lands etc. There is a lot of fear and respect given to
these legends and many people believe in their existence. As a child growing up
in Samoa, I often questioned my father and other elders about the ‘teine Sa’,
because I wanted to know more about them. Who were they exactly and where did they
originate? People did not like my questions and I got very few answers. Mainly
because ‘teine Sa’ are such a taboo topic and also because, few people really
know much about them at all. I took that unfulfilled curiosity and used it to
dream up the Telesa women in my books. They are nothing much like the original
legends as they are my creative interpretation of them.
(iii)
Was the love story between
Leila and Daniel pivotal to the story?
Yes, Telesa is first and foremost, a love story.
But there are many different kinds of love and I have explored several of them
in the books. Readers have connected strongly with Daniel and Leila’s love
story and that’s been very exciting to see. In our Samoan culture, ‘young love’
is frowned upon in many ways, with sex being a very taboo topic. In the second book, I take on more taboo
topics in our traditional culture – child sexual abuse and domestic violence. TELESA
is crossing generations as its being read by many parents AND their teenagers –
for example, at a recent book signing event I met a grandmother who came with
her daughter and grand-daughter who have all read the book and loved it. It is
my hope that TELESA can be the springboard for family discussions about a
myriad of topics, including those which have been considered ‘taboo’. But for me, the key love story in TELESA is
the relationship between mother and daughter, between Leila and Nafanua. I am
very interested in the often complex and complicated relationships women have
with their mothers.
During the writing process, some authors
say that characters voices pop unbidden into their head and demand to be
written - is that the case for you and your characters?
For me, it’s not so much
characters voices that ‘speak to me’ but scenes, pivotal moments in the story
that grip me and demand to be written. I’m a very visual person and my works in
progress play out like a film in my head.
I wrote the ending of TELESA first. Before I even knew what was going to
happen in the book. We get strong
tropical storms in Samoa and I was looking out the window at one such violent
storm when lightning lit up the sky. It
was fiercely beautiful and terrifying at the same time. And right then, I could
see the final show-down between
Leila, Nafanua and the Covenant Sisterhood.
As Sarona struck at Leila with shards of lightning, again and again
while she writhed in agony on the ground. And then that pivotal moment when
Nafanua decides to break her Covenant vow with her sisters, to turn away from
generations of tradition – and instead, choose her daughter above all else. That scene almost wrote itself. So did the
scene where Leila’s elemental powers are finally unleashed. Talk about a kiss
that sets a person on fire… LOL
Would you say you relate well to Leila? Is
there a part of you that relates to any of the sisters?
Leila’s quick readiness
to condemn people and go on defensive-offensive attack mode, is a lot like me
when I was a young adult. Thankfully, I had no elemental powers or else I would
have been sizzling people left and right during my early years…lol. All the
rest of Leila is bits and pieces I’ve taken from various women in my life. Same
with the Sisterhood. I have three
sisters and tons of cousins and so I have an endless array of inspiring sources
for my characters.
How long did it take you to come up with
the idea for your trilogy?
I’m not very good at
planning stories in advance. I don’t map a book out before I write it – which
makes them rather messy… So I started writing TELESA with an idea about a young
girl with ‘teine Sa’ powers who falls in love with a rather delicious boy – and
then as I wrote, other ideas flowed and got in the way, making the story their
own. It took me about six months all up
to write TELESA but that was after a lifetime of storing away little nugget
ideas and ‘filmclips’ of scenes in my brain.
What I suppose I mean by that is, do you
have a plan for where the trilogy should end before you write the rest of the
story or do you think the ending will come to you as you begin to wind the
story up?
I start each book with a
few powerful scenes in mind and then work backwards to fill in the gaps BUT
even those scenes are not set in stone. In the first book, Jason was supposed
to die but then as I wrote the book, his character ended up taking over more
‘air-time’ and I liked him way more than I thought I would. So I couldn’t stand
to have him get killed off at the end and rewrote that scene. Sarona didn’t
even exist when I wrote my final show-down scene. It was all about Leila and
Nafanua. But while writing the novel, Sarona ‘s role kept growing until she was
a mega-villainess in her own right.
Going back to TELESA, how many drafts would
you say there were before you were satisfied enough for it to go to print?
Countless drafts. Every time
I submitted it to another agent/publisher, I edited it some more. Even after I
released it as an electronic book, I still wasn’t happy with it and went back
to redraft and re-upload it. Thank goodness the print book can’t be changed
because I’m sure I would be wanting to draft it again!
Does writing come easily to you? I know some
authors say that writing is a steep learning curve, would you agree?
Writing is a breeze. I love doing it. It’s crazy exhilarating
to create people and chart their stories. BUT revising and rewriting and
improving my writing – that’s what is hard work. That’s what I dread but I have
to do it because otherwise everything I write would be rubbish. I have so much
to learn. I do a lot of research, I study a lot of other writer’s techniques. I
read voraciously. When I find a book I like – I ask myself why and identify
what can I learn from that author’s technique? I watch a lot of movies. I think that writers
have a lot to learn from movies and television. Both good and bad. Especially
when it comes to writing action and event sequences. Knowing how to make
reading flow, what kind of dialogue is realistic and what to do to leave readers
hungry for more. After I watch a great
movie – I come home on FIRE, just burning to get at my laptop and start
writing. An example, the recent Avengers movie.
That blew me away. The dialogue in particular was witty, profound and
captivating. The portrayal of some of the characters was epic. When I think of a TELESA movie one day?
That’s the kind of movie I hope it will be.
There are many different kinds of writer and people need to
be certain of what kind of writer they are trying to be. I’m not writing to
impress and astound with my grasp of imagery and language – no, I’m writing to
tell a story. I’m a storyteller. And I’m always hoping and trying to improve.
Was it any quicker or slower to write WHEN
WATER BURNS?
The second book in the
series was quicker to write than the first, but required more courage. It’s
tough to write a second book knowing that readers all have their expectations
for what it will be, based on their experience of the first one. I put a lot more of myself into the second book
– my humor, sarcasm, anger and more - because maybe I’m getting braver? Or it
could be I’m getting dumber…I’m not sure, LOL.
When do you hope to release the third
installment? Does it have a name yet or just a working title?
The third book is titled,
The Bone Bearer. I’ve already started it and if I was a chiselled, disciplined
writing professional, the book would be written in six months and out by Dec
2012. Sadly, I am not a chiselled masterpiece of writing perfection. And
there’s all sorts of things that are on my schedule for the next six months –
like the day-to-day life with my children. And like book events in Australia, Hawaii and
possibly the USA. Im speaking at schools, libraries and writing festivals in
the coming months. And while those are all excellent opportunities to connect
with readers in person, they all force me to get out of the writing cave and
interact with the real world. (very painful process)
Once the trilogy is complete, do you intend
to take a break from writing or do you already have plans for the next book?
I have two other books on
hold, very different from TELESA. One is a ‘chick-lit’ contemporary romance set
in Samoa. The other is a MOM-Memoir inspired by a lot of my blog Sleepless in
Samoa. I would like to finish them and
get them published. I have to confess though that the TELESA world has more
stories in it for me. I’ve already begun a novella written from Daniel’s
perspective – that retells key sections of book one and I would like that to be
released very soon. Before the third book is published. ( I hear whispers of November…November…) There are a few characters that I would like
to take further with books of their own. Tavake from book two. Keahi. And
Teuila. And without spoiling too much…Nafanua deserves her own book. (thank
goodness that in the world of fiction, people are never TRULY dead…)
I know I've asked you so many questions
already and I am so grateful to you for answering them all, but I'd like to ask
one last one... Is there anything, non-spoilery of course, that you can share
today with your fans about what we can expect for the end of the trilogy? (I
personally am an old fashioned romantic and would love Leila and Daniel to have
a Happily Ever After, but I know you can't tell us that)
All I’ll say Keren is
that I too am an old fashioned romantic at heart…
Thank you Lani for taking the time to
answer my questions. I will be so sorry to see the trilogy end, I hope it ends
well for L & D. I know that even though there'll come a time when I will
read the last word on the last page, I will keep a piece of Samoa buried in my
heart. It really came alive for me whilst reading TELESA.
I want you to know I truly love your
writing and I look forward to many more books from you. You have a fan-girl for
life!
Thank you so much Keren.
For the interview opportunity and for the book support. Writing can be such a
solitary activity that it’s a real joy to connect with readers, especially
those who can add so much more insight and inspiration for the writing process.
It’s so humbling to know that there is a Telesa fan all the way over there in
the UK. Thank you.
*Thank you Lani! This has been a truly interesting interview. I am delighted that you took the time to answer so many of my questions. I know that usually people only ask about 5 or 6 questions but I didn't think that gathered enough information ~ so I wanted to ask things that really got to the heart of you.
Telesa was an extraordinary book, I will always have a piece of Samoa in my heart ~ I can't wait to read and review When Water Burns so thank you for sending me a gorgeous paperback ~ I really love looking at the cover, both front and back!*
Thank you to everyone who came by to read this interview. I hope I asked all the questions that you would have thought to ask.
I really appreciate the fact that Lani answered quite so many questions. But then I always have been quite nosy!
Hope to see you all again soon!
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