Cinasee Pollett's debut novel WildWood Revisited was one of my favorite reads of 2023, and I recently read it again. You can find my review of the book here. Read more about her book, her thoughts on writing and self-publishing, and what she's working on next!
Your debut novel WildWood Revisited took you a long time to write and edit. Can you tell us a little bit about the process?
The idea for “Tome Travellers” came about when I was 16. My interests at the time revolved around Sherlock Holmes, The Hobbit, and an old British spy series called Sandbaggers. More than anything, I wished I could live in the Shire or sit with Holmes in his flat at 221b.
What if
I could? became the
foundational question for my novel.
Over the years, I worked on a dozen different drafts, each with the same cast but set in different time periods, with different books, and varying levels of espionage. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Jane Eyre, and Pride & Prejudice were all different volumes the cast Travelled into at one point or another. However, none of them ever felt quite right.
I think I needed to reach a certain stage of life and experience certain things before the final draft could be realized. When I decided to take on the challenge of crafting a book-within-a-book (WildWood) instead of using existing British Literature… I knew I had stumbled onto the final draft.
WildWood Revisited is set in London right after World War I. What made you choose that particular setting?
My father befriended a veteran from WWI at a nursing home, and I remember meeting him when I was 3 or 4. His name was Alvin, and he shared his grapes with me. In that regard, WWI – and more specifically, the men who were in it – have always been a part of my life.
The last American WWI veteran, Frank Buckles, passed away in 2011, and the thought that an entire era had just passed from memory into history felt momentous. It was a heavy and somber realization for a high school kid.
As WildWood Revisited became a journey of healing for the characters, rather than a mission-based adventure, I knew the tragedy of WWI would be an ideal source for such sorrow. It is the “forgotten war,” and it stirred my heart to think I could highlight its historical legacy in some small way.
What are your best tips when it comes to researching for historical fiction?
Immerse yourself in the era! Whether its nonfiction or historical fiction, read and watch anything you can about your chosen era. (And if you read/watch something fictional, be sure to Google “what [book/show] got wrong” – you’ll find plenty of angry historians to set the record straight, and then you can avoid those mistakes!) Utilize libraries, both physical and digital. Scholarly journal articles can get dense, but they’re great for finding nitty-gritty details!
Know that 95% of the cool information you learn won’t go into your novel. It will inform what your characters do and say…but there’s not a great way to incorporate everything without turning your plot into an academic paper.
Now, you didn’t hear this from me, but if you need to fudge a few details for the sake of the plot – like having a gas attack in the trenches on a day with no historically recorded gas attacks – it’s okay. Don’t let your historical fiction story come crashing down over a single, minor detail. That’s why it’s historical fiction. It’s not the end of the world if your character enjoys a sandwich a month before sliced bread is invented.
How did you come up with the names of your characters?
Angela Graham’s name is a play on “anagram.” A detail that never made it to publication, but has always been in my mind, is that her father was a great lover of puzzles.
Aspen DeBryn came partly from my college roommate’s fake Facebook account (“Aspen” – not even close to her real name – but one I instantly loved) and fictional character Max DeBryn from Inspector Morse.
Sir Clement Hightower was partially inspired by Sir Clements Markham, a member of the Royal Geographic Society in the mid-1800s. His surname, “Hightower,” was my father’s instant invention when asked to come up with a name fit for a grouchy, old knight. (Today, my dad has no memory of inventing it!)
Why did you choose to self-publish your novel?
I enjoyed being able to publish WildWood Revisited on my own terms while incorporating outstanding professionals for formatting, cover design, and copy editing to ensure I released a quality book. WWR is a huge piece of my soul, so it only felt right to personally oversee the steps leading up to its debut. By self-publishing, it felt like WWR was truly mine, even as I shared it with the world.
What has been the most difficult aspect of self-publishing? What has been the most rewarding?
Marketing. Absolutely, unequivocally, marketing.
I am a
writer, not a saleswoman. And it shows.
I struggle
to advertise. How do I sell my book without being obnoxiously pushy?
How do I
stay consistent on Instagram?
Is it okay
to email my local Barnes & Noble again if they haven’t replied in 5
months?
Beats me.
But the struggle is worth it, because getting to hold my book for the first time was incredible. A decade’s worth of passion had become something tangible.
Having
people tell me my book made them cry also feels great…in a sadistic sort of
way. In all seriousness, it amazes me that my words managed to communicate with
another person, heart to heart. It blows my mind how WWR has managed to
connect me with others, and I love the friendships that have blossomed because
of it!
One reader
is currently sending me snippets of their WWR fanfiction. That might just
be the highest honor of all.
Do you have any writing rituals?
I need a cat in my lap and coffee close at hand. (Exactly as I am right now!)
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Keep writing and keep reading.
Like an instrument or a sport, you have to practice – and stay in practice – to be at your best. It took me a decade to find my writing voice, and to this day, I’m still working to improve it. Reading is an enormous part of that, especially reading quality books in the genre you’re writing. It’s like the adage about bank tellers training to detect counterfeit bills; rather than studying a variety of counterfeits, they handle the real ones so much, any kind of fake becomes noticeable. When you immerse yourself in the wonderful writing of other authors, you learn what the “real thing” feels like and can learn to replicate it, then eventually produce it with your own voice.
What is your favorite genre, book, and/or author?
I love fantasy! Being whisked away to another world is the best feeling.
It’s so hard to choose a favorite book. Can I choose two? It’s hard to bypass My Father’s Dragon, a book that shaped my childhood. But for my current stage of life, The Travelling Cat Chronicles owns every piece of my heart.
Now that I think about it, both stories revolve around a boy rescuing an animal and their resulting friendship… I guess I haven’t changed that much!
What are you working on next?
I’m currently working on a fantasy fiction project!
Project “Cat & Spirit” focuses on the friendship between a cat and a spirit who is fading out of existence. The present draft is pretty short, and while I foresee some expansion, I won’t force it into novel length if the plot doesn’t call for it.
The
characters’ dynamic has been so fun; the cat is particularly sassy, and the
spirit is wonderfully longsuffering. I’d love to introduce them to the public
at some point, but for now, I’m in the “just for fun” stage, exploring and
experimenting with any scene that strikes my fancy!
And finally, where can the readers find your book and more information about you?
WildWood Revisited can be found where books are sold online (Amazon, Barnes & Noble).
You can
catch me occasionally blogging on my website, https://cinaseepollett.wordpress.com/
Or follow
my bookish adventures (and my cats) on Instagram, @the.tome.traveller
Thank you so much for letting invade your blog, Susanna – it’s been a pleasure and an honor! (And thank you again for formatting WWR – I’ll never cease to adore my chapter headings!!)
No comments:
Post a Comment