Interview with Brynna Williamson, Author of Over the River and Through the Woods
I'd like you to welcome to my blog Brynna Williamson, my friend and name-twin, who just published a historical fiction novel, Over the River and Through the Woods. Today I'm interviewing her about her book.
Welcome to Beautiful Words, Brynna! Please introduce yourself and your book.
Hi!! I'm Brynna Williamson. I'm from right around this area; my family and I live on a farm not unlike the home of my main character, Caroline Darley. I'm 17 years old-- a senior in high school-- and this is my first book ever! I'm really excited to release it. It's called "Over the River and Through the Woods," and it's a historical fiction about a teenager in the pioneer's west. She finds that, inexperienced though she is -- she's just your normal, everyday kid-- she has to lead herself and her siblings across the country safely in time to save their grandmother. It was a blast to write!!
It was also a blast to read!! :) Now, I know you did extensive edits to your book before publishing it. What were some of the biggest things that changed about the story?
Oh my goodness, YES. Extensive almost even isn't the word for it. I actually wrote this when I was 14, so it was just fine as a story, but some of the phrases or ideas needed some updating to a more mature perspective. One of the biggest things that changed about the story was-- well, I won't tell you. That'll give it away. But I will give you a hint, and say that in my first draft, one of my favorite characters died, but (thankfully) I changed that in my editing. Another thing that changed was the hint of the next book. Going into this, I never had any intent of writing another one, but as I edited some of the story, I found myself curious to find out what happened next in the interactions between characters. So who knows? Maybe I'll be able to spy into the lives of the Darleys yet again in another book sometime.
I certainly hope so, because I think I love the Darleys almost as much as you do. :) Speaking of your characters, who was your favorite character to write, and why?
My favorite character to write... hmm... ironically, it was not my main character. I would say that my favorite to write might have to be split between a couple characters. I really liked writing the Sheriff, because it was fun to write a devious, unlikable character. It was interesting to see how many ways I could get the reader to dislike him without straight up coming out and saying "Don't like him, OK?" I also really liked to write Henry, because... well... he seems like someone I would like to get to know personally (later in the story, definitely not in the beginning). He seems like a nice guy. Lastly, I would say my favorite character to write, and maybe even my favorite character overall, would be her brother Eli. I guess if I'm honest I like his optimism and how very, very human he is. He's strong when he needs to be, but sometimes Caroline just has to step back and realize that he is only a little kid. I guess he's a lot like me in many ways.
You know, my novel's main character isn't my favorite, either. On a different note, is there a particular author or book that's inspired you?
Ok, you would not be-lieve how many authors and books and movies and songs inspired me. To the reader who's looking... let me just say that there will be references to things all over the place. Just keep an eye out. ;)
Now I want to comb over my copy for all the hidden references I may have missed. How do you hope your book will impact the people who read it?
How do I hope that my book impacts my readers? Wow, what a question. I hope that when people set down my book, they clutch the dog-eared pages, stare off into the distance and just think "Wow, that was good." I don't want it to be the next Hunger Games or anything-- I just want it to give people a little bit of happiness. On a deeper level, though, I think that there's a lot of really good spiritual advice that can be gleaned from my book (not that it's preachy, just that it's in there), and I hope that it gives people a desire to come closer to God! That's my biggest goal, I'd say. To get people closer to God through it.
That's a worthy goal, indeed. :) So what are your plans for your writing moving forward?
I have a lot of plans for my writing moving forward! As I'm sure most authors understand, I actually have roughly 10 books I'm working on right now. Not that these will all get finished, but I think some of them have a very good chance. One of these is actually... *drum roll...* a sequel!! I'm currently in the process of writing another one, which I'm thinking about calling "Red River Valley" (thanks to my brother for the title). I'm really hoping that that one, as well as this one and anything that I write, will impact people for God. Thanks for your time!!
I definitely understand juggling tons of projects at the same time! I do hope you finish your sequel and publish it, because I'm very excited to read it. Thank you so much for sharing with us today, Brynna, and Godspeed with your writing.
Over the River and Through the Woods is available for purchase on Amazon.
