Interview of Roberta Olsen Major

by

Olga Vesta Button

OLGA’S QUESTION: Do you have a set time to write?

ROBERTA’S ANSWER: Yes! Absolutely! I get up at five in the morning and work until my kids get up for school. That hour and a half is sacrosanct. I don’t edit, read or copy edit. I just write. Even when I don’t feel like it. Even when I hate what I’ve written. There are days I go back and add more later in the day, but that morning time is the only time that is absolutely mine.

OLGA’S QUESTION: If you have a spouse, is he cooperative?

ROBERTA’S ANSWER: My husband passed away five years ago, but he was always very supportive of my writing--even though he was a non-fiction kind of guy. In fact, I finished the first draft of THE PRINCE IN THE FLOWER BED on a computer up at his lab while he was doing research for his doctoral dissertation. This was fifteen years ago, and the manuscript has gone through several incarnations since then (including a title change; it used to be ROSY CHEEKS, BEAR BEHIND!)--but it’s one of my favorites because of the sweet memories I have of being newly married as I was writing it.

OLGA’S QUESTION: Do you have children or a job you have to write around?

ROBERTA’S ANSWER: My children are my first priority. Job one. (And two!) But I have several other commitments that keep me from sitting at a computer keyboard eight hours a day. And for that, I am very grateful! I don’t think a rich soufflé of character and story can be created without taking a serious beating from life every once in awhile. I am a better writer for all those “distractions”.

OLGA’S QUESTION: Do you write from the soul with all the senses?

ROBERTA’S ANSWER: I think all storytellers must write from the soul to a certain extent. We take a part of ourselves--our strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes--and manipulate it into the clay from which we shape our stories.

For example, Rosemary, the main character in THE PRINCE IN THE FLOWER BED, is a little bit of wish fulfillment on my part. She’s nobody’s damsel in distress. She dashes into problematic situations, ready to do battle in ways that I, her creator, don’t have the nerve to do. On the other hand, she’s pretty clueless where the social niceties are concerned--and that awkwardness of hers really rings a bell with me.

This particular book, unlike BOUND, which Wings published in September, is kind of frothy. It’s full of wordplay and attitude--and written from Rosemary’s point of view. And she’s not big on lengthy sensual description. She’s more of a “cut to the chase” type.

OLGA’S QUESTION: Do you write a certain amount of pages per day?

ROBERTA’S ANSWER: Nope! I take that quiet hour of mine and go as far with it as I can. Some days, that translates into six or seven pages, and other days, it’s no more than a paragraph or two.

OLGA’S QUESTION: Do you outline or take notes by hand before typing?

ROBERTA’S ANSWER: I rarely do a formal outline, though I am constantly making notes in little notebooks when I’m away from my computer.

OLGA’S QUESTION: Who or what inspires you the most?

ROBERTA’S ANSWER: As far as source material, I love stories from my family history, life experiences, snippets from newspaper stories, and, in the case of THE PRINCE IN THE FLOWER BED, classic fairy tales.

OLGA’S QUESTION: If ever rejected, are you sensitive to rejection?

ROBERTA’S ANSWER: What human being isn’t? But it’s happened enough that I don’t take it personally. So much of publishing is so subjective. If the editor is having a bad hair day, for example, then she’s probably going to be annoyed by repeated references to “rippling tresses”. I think the best kind of rejection is the kind that’s done without resorting to snottiness. I’ve had some rejections that were couched so kindly that I wondered why on earth, if they liked it so much, they’d rejected my work!

OLGA’S QUESTION: Who has inspired you most in your career?

ROBERTA’S ANSWER: Tough question! My broad spectrum answer would be my teachers--from the second grade teacher who assigned a snowflake story and then praised my imagination, to the college professor who gave me absolutely no encouragement whatsoever at any time about my abilities as a writer. I had elementary school teachers who indulged me in my writing of plays. I had a junior high school English teacher who urged me to write poetry. I had high school teachers who assigned all kinds of projects that required writing--and encouraged me in my content, while correcting me in my mechanics. I had a couple of professors in college who made an extra effort to commend my writing. And even after college, as I’ve attended writer’s workshops and conferences, it is teachers who tell me, with a spark of excitement in their voices, “You’re a writer!” With these words of support ringing in my ears, I’m inspired to do my best, to keep at it even when I’m discouraged, to write through pain and frustration and whatever else life throws at me.

OLGA’S QUESTION: Do you write in more than one genre?

ROBERTA’S ANSWER: Yes, indeed! My first book for Wings was historical, as are three that will be published in 2002. As a former children’s librarian, though, I have a great love of stories for children and teenagers--which is why I am thrilled that THE PRINCE IN THE FLOWER BED, and the second book in the series, THE SEVENTH DWARF, were contracted by Wings. I think my inner child is sixteen--and she’s still a voracious reader, even after all these years.

THE PRINCE IN THE FLOWER BED is a fairy tale--and don’t we all wish for happily ever after?

And take a look at Roberta’s web page…