Writer of the Week #6: Rebecca Coleman

Check out Rebecca's beautiful debut novel, The Kingdom of Childhood

Name:  Rebecca Coleman

Age: 35

Website: http://www.rebeccacoleman.net

Location: Maryland

When did you realize you wanted to be a published author?
It was an evolution. I'd written one of those books you write because you feel driven to write it, and so I figured the next step was to try to get an agent. Once I'd gotten a taste of the rejection, that's when it became an ambition. I wanted to prove that I could do this.

Name 5 authors and 5 books.
Authors: Eleanor Brown, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, Ann Hite, Cormac McCarthy.
Books: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue, The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall, The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
From people I don't understand. I hear stories about them and think, "I can't imagine why they would do something like that"-- and then realize I want to understand it.

What do you think is the best quality a writer can have?
A sense of humility. It's very hard to accept criticism without it, and there's never a shortage of criticism.

Any last words?
"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all." --Oscar Wilde

Challenge: Write a one-sentence story!
"His mind reels off a quick sensory memory, like a hiccup-- the snug heat of her body, the unsullied bliss of watching her surrendered face-- but the memory is gone as quickly as it arrived, and once again he’s standing impatiently on her porch in the rain."




Thank you so much Rebecca for your insightful answers! If anyone else is interested in being a writer of the week, please read the instructions here.