Bio:
Eileen Cook is a multi-published author with her novels
appearing in eight different languages. Her books have been optioned for film
and TV. She spent most of her teen years
wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a
writer. Her newest book, WITH MALICE, will be out in June 2016. She’s an
instructor/mentor with the Simon Fraser University Writer’s Studio Program.
You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things
that strike her as funny at www.eileen
cook.com. Eileen lives in Vancouver with her husband and two very naughty dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/EileenCook.author
https://www.instagram.com/eileencookwriter/
cook.com. Eileen lives in Vancouver with her husband and two very naughty dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/EileenCook.author
https://www.instagram.com/eileencookwriter/
What she has written:
With Malice, Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood, Unraveling
Isobel, The Education of Hailey Kendrick, What Would Emma Do?, The Almost Truth,
Unpredictable, Year of Mistaken Discoveries, Do or Di, Remember, Used to Be:
Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood; The Education of Hailey Kendrick, Fourth Grade
Fairy (Fourth Grade Fairy, #1), Wishes for Beginners (Fourth Grade Fairy, #2), Gnome
Invasion (Fourth Grade Fairy, #3), How I Met My Husband, Ink Stains and Sassy
Seven.
Bonus Giveaway!!!
Heads up, there is
an awesome giveaway of Eileen's With Malice going on at another part of the
blog. To get there click the With Malice mini image or the link bellow! The
giveaway is restricted to people living in the UK, US and Canada. Good luck
with the giveaway!
Link here:
1) How old were you when
you started writing, in your opinion?
As far as I can remember I always wrote and told stories. I
was lucky enough to come from a family of readers so I was surrounded by books.
The first story I wrote was in second grade. We were given a picture and told
to practice writing sentences about it. I linked all of mine together to make a
story. The teacher wrote on it: I’m sure
someday you’ll be an author. My parents saved it (because parents do these
weird things) and when I published my first novel they had it framed and gave
it to me.
2) What do you want a
reader to gain from reading your works?
Reading is what I do for fun, so the best thing I can do is
give someone a good story that they have fun reading. The second thing I hope
to do with any book, is raise an interesting question or issue they can discuss
with a friend. For example, in WITH MALICE I’m curious how friendships change,
and what do you do when they aren’t healthy anymore? And if you had no memory, who
would you trust to tell you the truth? I love talking about books with friends
so if I can give some people a jumping off point for a discussion I’m happy.
3) What are your three
top suggestions on becoming an author, or being a pleasure writer?
Writing for publication is a difficult business, as is any
career in the arts. The best thing you can do is read a lot so that you’re
learning from the books you enjoy. You also need to write a lot. Writing takes
practice. And most of all remember that writing is supposed to be fun.
4) What is your
favourite novel, why?
I always find this such a hard question because what book I
am enjoying at any given time often changes. One that I re-read recently and
enjoyed was The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I like it because the characters
are complicated. They aren’t all good or all bad, they are messed up and
complex and in situations that put them way out of their comfort zone.
5) Who is your favourite
author, why?
Another hard question! I don’t think I have one favorite. I
love Stephen King, Kate Morton, Gillian Flynn, and about a million more. I find that what books and authors I like
changes depending on the mood I might be in.
6) What are your
favorite pass times besides writing?
Reading is right up there. I also like to knit- if we’re
friends eventually you’ll end up with a scarf, socks, or sweater. I spend a lot of time with my two dogs and
love having friend over. Several of us are board game junkies so we spend a lot
of weekends doing that.
7) Who in your life do
you credit your imagination to the most?
My family. We were always big readers. I remember going with
my parents to the library and checking out stacks and stacks of books. My
grandparents always read to me when I was small and told me stories of when
they were growing up. A love of reading is what led me to being a writer. I
wanted to make up those books I so enjoyed reading!
8) What are the top five
things on your bucket list?
-
Live in Italy for 3-4 months
-
Live in NYC for 3-4 months
-
Live in London for 3-4 months
-
Have more time to read
-
Be on the NYT bestseller list
As you can tell travel is one of my favorite
things. I love the idea of being able to spend a lot of time in one area. I was
lucky enough to live in Europe a couple of times. Once for university and then
after I got married we lived in Belgium for a year. When you have more time you
see a different place than if you are visiting for just a few days.
9) What is your funniest
childhood memory?
I was a total klutz as a kid. Who am I kidding? I am still a
total klutz. I was always falling over things, tripping, breaking an arm or a
leg. I suspect if there was a video of
my childhood it would look like one of those slapstick black and white films.
10) To the youth of
today, if you could tell them one thing, what would it be?
Don’t let other people tell you what you need to do to be
happy. I spent a lot of wasted time in
my teens trying to make other people happy. I can’t even believe how much I
worried about what others thought of me (was my hair right? Was my outfit cool
and different or just weird? Did anyone just notice what awkward thing I’d
done?) Now I realize the best (and sometimes hardest) thing to do in life is
figure out what makes you happy and
then ensure you spend more time doing that.
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