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July 30, 2009

Comments

Tracy

Great interview. I don't know if I could handle reading a story like that, but I can certainly see that the timing is right for such a book. I'll have to check out A Mother To Embarrass Me though. That sounds right up my alley.

Um, and the cheque is in the mail...split it however you want :)

Kyle

Sounds like another great writer. I'll have to watch out for her books.

Emily M.

It's a great book. Disturbing, painful, but also great. Thanks for the interview, Shannon.

L.T. Elliot

I love your interviews, Shannon. They're always funny and yet oh-so-informative!

Marisa

I have to admit, that Carol let me read the ARC of this book, and I couldn't put it down until I was finished. And I'm not just saying that because I love Carol, but she is one of the most fantastic, wrongly under-the-radar writers. I love that she can go from the seriousness of the Chosen One to the silliness of My Angelica. Even if you're not one for the "darker" stories, I encourage you to read this book. It's fantastic.

SpeedReader

I just got this book from the library and am anxious to start it because I've heard such fabulous things about it. And Carol really is a kick in the pants ... she emceed a writing conference I attended and had everyone laughing. I'd love to see the 2 of you emcee something together ... that could be really fun to watch!

Shannon Morris

I totally dig books like this. I'll admit it's painful and hair-raising to read but I think it's crucial for society to be aware of what people deal with in their lives. And most often it's the little people who deal with the worst of it. I have been a social worker for years and recently became a school counselor. I certainly have heard more than my share of 'stories' and my heart bleeds every time. Yet here I am. Maybe that's one reason I have chosen to write some. This way I get to pick and choose what happens, and take out the bad guys in the most painful ways possible if necessary. Not that I would ever do that, but maybe. We'll see. Thanks to Carol and to all you fabulous writers who inspire awareness and also offer a way to escape, even temporarily, into beautiful worlds of fantasy.

Celes

I actually just finished this book a few days ago, and it was really good! Hard to read, though, at times. But I'm glad I read it!

Katie-wa

Oh, I hate sad stories that aren't fluffy and happy! Does it end good? So long as it ends good, I can read it. So does it end happy? Or is it tragic?

Dr. Sallie N. Cheinsteen

Thank you for being a spoiler freak. I am, too. Once, a friend told me the ending of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince- I didn't talk to him for a long time. :) This book sounds interesting, and I'll have to see if I can get it.

Kinney

I loved this book! It was pretty scary and sad in some places, but I thought it was great. Thanks for doing an interveiw with Carol Lynch Williams :)

MIMI

I am so glad that you did this interview. I really struggle with allowing myself to go the dark places that I feel I need to write about. It does take a lot of courage to go there and it helps a new writer like me to know that there are others who have already tread that path.

Ennafan

What age group would you say that The Chosen One is for?

Jas fr Aus

Wow, what an interesting topic to be writing on. That's definitely a book I'd like to check out. I love these interviews that you conduct Shannon, because they always leave me inspired as to what to read next!

(A slightly irrelevant comment coming from the inner grammar-Nazi within me: shouldn't "till your sick of my list" be "till YOU'RE sick of my list"?)

Emma H.

I LOVE reading- all types of books. I've never heard of Carol Lynch Williams, so I checked out her books on the internet. I can't wait to read The Chosen One. Any book you recommend must be great! Carol sounds like a fun person. Thanks for introducing her to us! I'm always open to new books!

Thanks for clarifying that about Mormens and polygamy. I'm a Mormen myself and it's hard to explain that kind of stuff to people.

Julie

1) Thanks for the spoiler warning. That was an awesome way to do it, too.

2) What you said about people mistakenly believing that polygamists are Mormons/Mormons are polygamists reminded me of a bit from Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah. The main character is Muslim, attending a Catholic school, and this girl at school asks her to give a speech "explaining" 9/11 - as though, being a Muslim, she understands the extremist point of view. The girl agreed to give the speech "when you give one 'explaining' the Ku Klux Klan." It is such a good point to make, that there are extreme cultures everywhere and it's important to view them as such, not just a branch off of something else.

Je Reve

Now I want to read it. But I don't want to cry. Thanks, Shannon and Carol! Great interview. It reminded me of the polygamist-eating scene in A&H:)

Leslie

I can only imagine how hard it would be to write a book like that when I know how reading it affects me. Great interview.

I found your website because my family just finished The Goose Girl over the weekend (audio edition). We LOVED it. Even my husband was going on and on about how fabulous it was. :)

Marsha

I am not really sure where to post this but hopefully you will read it here :)

I just finished The Actor and the Housewife and really enjoyed it. What a tasty dish for a bookclub discussion! I am going to suggest it for my group to read. I think our group of LDS Housewives will have alot to talk about! Thanks for this book and all your books! I have read them all and loved each one.

Anyways I do have a question for you. I noticed that every (well almost every) chapter title starts with "In which ... ". Is there any chance that is a tribute to one of my favorite books of all times, The Girl of the Limberlost? I love that book and ever chaper title starts "Wherin..." which seems very similar to me and I would love to think you love Elnora as much as I do. If you havent read it you should. It is a real treasure and I think you would like it.
Marsha

Melanie

I'm right there with you, Shannon: I just finished The Chosen One tonight (this interview made me itch to check it out, and I raced through it) and wept through about the last 80 pages. Then, later, when my boyfriend called and asked how my day was, I burst into tears again and couldn't speak for several minutes. (Poor guy.)

I think this is the hardest story I've ever read, but it was also so beautifully written and so, so worth reading. Thank you, Carol, for writing this book, and thank you, Shannon, for conducting this interview (and all your interviews!).

(P.S. Shannon, thanks for this blog, period. I'm reading through the all the archives--I'm still working on 2006, but I'll catch up soon! It's inspiring. If you can write novels so well with so much going on in your life, then there's hope for my novel, too!)

julie

oh I have check this book out. thanks so much for introducing her to me..I will check out the book asap.

Sara Weiss

this book sounds really good i want to read it so bad! i was about to read the spoiler but i didnt thank god!!

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