We Do Write

Today we're joining the NORA AND KETTLE blog tour by chatting with author Lauren Nicolle Taylor.

Lauren in the lush Adelaide Hills. The daughter of a Malaysian nuclear physicist and an Australian scientist, she was expected to follow a science career path, attending Adelaide University and completing a Health Science degree with Honours in obstetrics and gynaecology.

She then worked in health research for a short time before having her first child. Due to their extensive health issues, Lauren spent her twenties as a full-time mother/carer to her three children. When her family life settled down, she turned to writing.

She is a 2014 Kindle Book Awards Semi-finalist and a USA Best Book Awards Finalist.

Hi, Lauren! Welcome to We Do Write. Tell our readers a bit about NORA AND KETTLE. What's the story about?

Nora and Kettle is essentially a story of survival. The two main characters are both suffering from very different adverse situations yet the way they view the world, the way they deal with their struggles is pretty similar. Nora lives a very privileged life yet is a victim of domestic violence. Kettle is homeless and although free from his previously violent and lonely upbringing in an orphanage and then as a prisoner in a Japanese American Internment camp, he must deal with trying to live honestly whilst living on the streets. 

Their lives intersect several times, each having an influence on the other without realizing. Until finally they meet and suddenly just ‘surviving’ doesn’t seem like an option anymore. Through love and friendship, they give each other the courage to seek a better life.

How did the idea of the story come to you?

I always start with characters. I get a sense of who they will be and then build a story around that.

It’s funny. Initially Nora and Kettle was going to be a science fiction story. Still based around similar characters but a wholly different setting. Kettle was not initially going to be Japanese American but as I was writing, the characters came to me, and then the idea of setting it in the fifties just fit.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I am most definitely a pantser for at least the first half of a book, and then I do start plotting out the story lines. Particularly with this story, the little details were so important. As their stories started to intertwine more and more toward the end, I felt like I could easily lose track of where I was going if I didn’t write some things down.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Stopping! Writing is a compulsion for me.

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

My notebook and COFFEE!

I hear you on the coffee! If you could have any super power, what would it be?

Healing. If I could heal the sick I think that would be the awesomest super power ever.

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

Okay, I don’t recommend you do this but I was recently researching my next book and I wanted to find the name for these large rat-like animal that live in Arizona and other prairie lands. I found the name and then typed it into Google to find an image, just to make sure it was what I had seen when I travelled through the USA last year. Anyway, if you search California Prairie Dog you may get shock. Actually don’t. Don’t do it. I certainly regretted it.

Finish this sentence: If I'm not writing, 

…I'm probably rearranging my living room.

Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

I want to thank you Clean Teen for always supporting and believing in my writing, my husband Michael for putting up with my crazy and my three kids who keep my feet firmly on the ground.

Thanks for stopping by the blog!

Connect with the author:

Author links:

http://www.laurennicolletaylor.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7201181.Lauren_Nicolle_Taylor

https://www.facebook.com/TheWoodlandSeries

https://twitter.com/LaurenNicolleT

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