Author Paullina Simons - Live Blog

Hello Paullina

Just wanted to tell you that Tully is the best book I have ever read. I have loaned it to 7 of my friends and they have all agreed.  Thankyou for such a fantastic book!!!! I have read all of your others and they have been great too but have to say that Tully was my favourite!!!! 

Thank you, Jacqui, thank you for your kind words about my Tully.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:07am)

I’m writing an online serialised novel called ED Day :

http://www.ed-day.blogspot.com

There’s about 4500 regular readers who don’t seem to mind reading the novel off their computer or laptop screens. Readers are encouraged to comment each new chapter goes up.

Do you think fiction does have a bigger future online?

Do you believe publishers are doing to encourage people to get used to reading novels off their laptop and mobile phone screens?

Have you ever thought about publishing a novel online? Or making one from back catalogue available to read online for free?

Dear Darryl,
I don’t think fiction has a future online. I think news and facts have a future online. For fiction, I think people really need to hold the book in their hands. For some reason, the electronic medium is a limiter on imagination, not its expander.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:37am)

Hello ,again, Paullina,

I was in the front row last night near my partner Adele, with whom you kindly engaged in discussion.

I did not have the courage to speak last night. This was likely due to the inescapable observation that there was one other man in this audience of Bronzed Idolators.
My question :
What traditionally associated feminine qualities in a man ,would your writing most likely attract?Which of your books would most likely achieve this?

Welcome,
Dennis M

Hi Dennis,
I think you can’t go wrong with any of the Bronze Horseman books because there is so much in them from a male perspective. But also, my first book Tully was bought and published by men and reviewed by men, and liked by men. And the Girl in Times Square has a strong, flawed, male protagonist detective that you might like. Red Leaves, too. And my editor, who is male, said Eleven Hours was the best thing I ever wrote. So there you go. Enjoy them all!

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:12am)

Hi Paullina, the best book i’ve read so far has to be Tully. I was riveted. Do you have any plans to make a film of any of your novels? I could really picture Tully playing out on screen..

Hi Melissa, I’d love Tully to become a movie, but the themes in it, of suicide and child abuse are very hard for Hollywood. We might need to do an HBO movie!

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:13am)

Hi Paullina, really looking forward to the next book. I was wondering how long it took you writea book and what you did in between writing?
Thank you.

Hi Janice, you’re funny. What I do between writing is live my life, the life I don’t live when I writemy books.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:14am)

Good morning Paullina,
do you writewhen you feel like it or do you have some kind of regimen?
ps. I looooove your books.

Hi Sally, thank you for loooooving my books. I do have a regimen but I don’t always writeduring it. When I’m in the zone, when I’m fully inside my book, I do NOTHING else but write. Otherwise I do what they call procrastination research.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:16am)

Hi there, i note you are a best selling author and at the risk of sounding incredibly lazy, can i ask what it is you writeabout? Im looking for christmas present potentials

Hi Aaron, I writeabout all kinds of things--I have a suspense thriller, two mysteries, three books of historical fiction set in WWII Russia, and three contemporary novels dealing with the search for the meaning of life. Merry Christmas. Oh, and a cookbook. Yum.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (11:07am)

Hi there Puallina, ive read a few of your books but not the latest one so Im really looking forward to it.
What’s been your favourite book so far?

My favorite book I’ve read or my favorite book I’ve written?
My diplomatic answer to the latter is that I don’t have a favorite, they’re all my children, and as to the former, I’ve loved a lot of books in my life, In Cold Blood, East of Eden, Anna Karenina and Shopgirl. Marianne Faithfull’s Biography is also one of the best bios I’ve ever read.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:28am)

Paullina, who do you read for fun and do they have any impact on what and how you write?
Thanks in advance
Ian of Katoomba

Hi Ian,
Books have a tremendous impact on what I write, that’s why I don’t read other people’s fiction when I’m writing my own, I can only be in so many places at once. I do read a lot of philosophy, essays, bios, memoirs, non-fiction stuff, and everything that goes in has an impact, that’s why you have to be careful about what you read. Mark Twain said that reading a bad book is worse than reading no book at all.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:31am)

Hi there Paullina, where so you get your character ideas from. Are they people you know or a conglomeration or people in the news? Im fascinated.

Hi Fran, I get my characters from all the people I meet and talk to, who tell me about their life, their sorrows, the things that have happened to them. Sometimes a news story affects me and I let it germinate inside for a while until it sprouts a seed. Like in the Girl in Times Square, Lily is an amalgam of the girl sitting next to me, who’s from Australia, and my sister.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:19am)

Paullina, me again, also plot ideas. Do you get these from real lie things youve seen or are they made up?
thanks

Hi Fran, plot ideas, hmm, well the plot comes from the story I want to tell, it’s often made up, that’s why we call it fiction; fiction takes real life and structures it and orders it into a story that makes sense to the reader. It’s like a puzzle, it can only be put together one way. I work very hard on storyline to make sure it is right for the characters. But I am, with the tools at my disposal, of real world things, experience, and wishful thinking, making up things wholecloth.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:35am)

Hi Paullina, how do you feel about chicklit not being taken seriousy as a genre? And do you consider what you do as chicklit?

Hi Tim, no I don’t consider what I do as chicklit. Many of my themes are too serious for a light treatment and many of my books end in satisfying but difficult ways. I’m not sure exactly what falls into this category, maybe casual reading on the subway on the way to work, but I figure if my books can make people cry on the subway, then they’re not chicklit. Like East of Eden by Steinbeck made me cry on the subway. Do you think that a female writer automatically is branded as a chicklit writer? What about Marilynne Robinson?

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:22am)

Dear Paullina,

I’m currently reading “The Bronze Horseman” and thoroughly enjoying it. I have an huge interest in stories of World War Two, particuarly personal ones. I’m hoping to develop a writing career, but I’m only just starting out. I too would like to writestories set in World War Two, so I’m hoping to get some advice from you regarding research that goes into writing books. How important is it to travel to the places that are mentioned in your books when compiling research on the topic? How do you go about research involving stories set in the past?

Hi Matthew, thank you for asking me for advice. You know, research is as individual as the book you’re writing. Only you yourself know what you need, what you can imagine, what your book lacks and how it will benefit from research. Some people can imagine the place very well from the photographs and writewithout going to a place live. I can’t. But, like, if you’ve lived in a suburban house and you’re writing about another suburban house, you might be able to extrapolate what you need from your own life experience without going to a whole other place. In the case of WWII research, you really need to figure out what your story is going to be about. What about the WWII years affects you? What has an impact on you? Who are you writing about? Who are the people that are going to populate your fictional world? Once you have those questions answered, you can start your story, and then do the research as needed to fill in the holes, plug in the gaps, add color, atmosphere, make your story plausible for the reader, make it real. But that’s second. Don’t let your research stop you from writing. Figure out what your story is, then begin. Good luck.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:57am)

Paullina,

Just loved Tully & Red Leaves.  Your books seem to be quite dark and have complex characters and you also seem to work in today’s social issues.  Where do you get your inspiration and do you have a favourite book - yours and/or another author you enjoy.

Keep up the good work.

Hi Tales, thank you for your kind words about my books. Sometimes I work out today’s social issues, but mainly I work out issues that fascinate me. Usually it’s not today’s social issues--it’s always things of a more personal nature--how to cope with conflict, how to endure great hardship, how to overcome the things you’ve been handed, how to play the hand you’ve been dealt.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:39am)

Hi Paullina,

I just wanted to say what a privilege it has been for me as a reader to have read your books. A friend of mine recommended The Bronze Horseman to me only a few months ago and I have to say I have never felt such a raw emotional response as I felt while I read that book. The story of Tatiana and Alexander still lingers in my memory even now! I read the whole series within a few weeks and am currently reading you latest novel which is fabulous. I will be attending the dinner in Canberra tomorrow night, so cant wait to meet you!! but I wanted to ask where you found the initial inspiration to writeThe Bronze Horseman?

Hi purpleiris,
OK, I’m going to call on you tomorrow in Canberra to ask your question in front of a large audience! It’ll be so much for effective for me to answer in public.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:24am)

Hi Paullina - I just wanted to drop you a note to say thank you for all the wonderful hours I’ve spent going on amazing journeys through your words, your characters, your books.

I have just finished Road to Paradise and like always when I read your books, I am always disappointed to finish, I want the stories to just keep continuing!!

Jody

Thank you Jody! Me too, I’m always sad to leave my books behind.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:25am)

Will there ever be a movie of the Bronzen Horse Man and if so when and who would be considered of Tatianna and Alexander

Hi Ness, I don’t know if there will ever be a movie made. I hope so. 

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:36am)

Hi Paullina,

I love and have read all your books, my favourite being the Bronze Horseman & Girl in Times Square. I can’t wait to read the next one!

Thank you, Carol, thank you for your kind words.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:49am)

you are one of my favourite authors!!!....i absolutely loved the bronze horsemen series!...my question is: do you know a shura in actual life? and where did you get the idea of the “potatoe counter” (i want one of those lol)

Hi Juanita, you’re making me blush!

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:48am)

Hi Paulina
Tully is one of my all time favourite books also, I have read it soooo many times but I always get something new out of it.
Alex & Tatiana - what an amazing stoy! I thought about their story long after I finished the book.

I am a huge fan of your writing, I have read all of your books except Tatiana’s Table & Road to Paradise, I have just bought both so I can’t wait to read them.
Jo

Thanks Jo! I can’t wait for you to read my new book, and in Tatiana’s Table, please try the mashed potatoes. They’re yummyful.

Paullina Simons
Tue 20 Nov 07 (10:58am)