Today's special guest is Danette Haworth, a talented author and master storyteller who creates incredible voices for her characters. The story of how I met Danette starts before I was an author myself. One day, I was at the store, browsing the bookshelves for my next read, and I accidentally stumbled across a book called, "The Summer of Moonlight Secrets." The cover and synopsis instantly piqued my interest, so I took the book home and devoured it quickly. Wow. Who was this author? You guessed it…Danette Haworth! As a bookworm, I used to love searching out my favorite authors on Twitter and following them, so when I found Danette's page and saw that her personality was just as fun and exciting as her books, I was so happy I'd found this author. What else did she write? I went online and purchased, "Me & Jack," another Haworth hit. Her writing had a way of captivating me…a rare find. Danette is very gracious when it comes to communicating with fans, so when we started talking on Twitter and Facebook, I was incredibly impressed with her as a human being! As we got to know each other, I shared with her my desires to become an author, and she gave me words of encouragement and shared her experiences with me. I ended up publishing my first book in 2014. We've grown a wonderful friendship over the years, and Danette is one of the most hilarious, interesting, and kind people I've ever met.
Her personality is true sunshine (you'll see that in this interview) and it's an honor to know her. So, without further ado, let's begin our interview!
Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?
I come from a storytelling family. As a kid of an Air Force recruiter, we moved around all the time, but without the emotional security base living can provide. My parents, brothers, and sisters were my only constant. My mom regaled us at dinner with stories of her day. It was like listening to a radio program—she performed different voices (and physical mannerisms) for all the characters in her anecdotes. She never told you what someone said or did; she showed you. My dad mastered in comedic timing. My parents, without knowing it, trained us kids in the art of storytelling. In fifth grade, I told my sister I wanted to be a writer when I grew up.
What is something unique/quirky about you?
I’m into urban exploration. That’s a fancy way of saying I love exploring abandoned buildings and property, another thing I got from my mom. Whenever we first moved to a place, she wanted to hop on a bike and see what was around. What a knack she had for discovering homes covered in vines, inhabited by moss, and hidden from view. I always wonder, What happened here? Why did they leave? How did they forget about this house? In my adult years, I once came upon a smiling house with a chipped porch. Inside, the kitchen table was set, ready to receive supper. Sprinkled on top of the plates and table were dead bugs and leaves and other debris. It was so weird, like I’d come into a moment of time that had stopped; the people, vanished.
Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?
Every story I’ve ever written plays as movie in my head as I write. I can imagine all of my novels as movies! But The Summer of Moonlight Secrets stands out as the best candidate for a movie because of its great setting: a once grand antebellum hotel in beautiful decay, replete with hidden staircases and secret rooms and the nearby springs which bear a mystery.
What inspired you to write this book?
Every book on the shelf contains a bit of the author’s soul. The same is true for my books. My first novel, Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning, was inspired by a lot of things that came together and burst like a supernova. A yellowing black-and-white photo of my then three-year-old mother; the nearby Econlockhatchee River, a black river that flows north; and the strong feeling I still can’t shake of being new in an old place. In fact, that last bit informs all my stories. And I think that feeling of being new, being strange, being an outsider, is something everyone feels from time to time, regardless of age. As we grow up, we get better at dealing with those feelings, but when you’re a kid feeling like an outsider, the last thing you’re going to do is tell anyone you feel like that. In that vein, I try to be very honest in my writing about the secret feelings we all have. I want my readers to recognize themselves in my books and know they are not alone.
Danette has shared the following photos below that she captured herself, showing us the inspiration for the setting...
What did you edit out of this book?
When I drafted Violet Raines, I wrote it as being narrated in alternate chapters by Violet and her best friend, Lottie. I finished the manuscript in that form. I had deep character studies written for both girls since they were both narrators. But I found myself captivated by Violet. I just loved her voice! I could hear her southern accent and she said things while I was writing that I didn’t myself come up with. She was alive.
Violet needed to drive the entire story. With surgical precision, I sliced and pulled out Lottie’s chapters. It was easy to fill in the gaps; I knew Violet so well. The resulting manuscript was tighter and more effective, and when I submitted it for critique at an SCBWI conference, the editor who critiqued it—the editor who would become my editor—asked me to send it to her in New York. She was taken by Violet’s voice.
I still had heart for Lottie’s more quiet voice. I have all of her chapters, all the things that happened to her in between and behind the scenes, all of it, saved in a file on my hard drive.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
While it’s true there’s nothing new under the sun, there’s always a new way to deliver it. I believe each person has an original story, a unique viewpoint, yet we share universal feelings. That’s what I try to tap into, those universal feelings that we dare not share. When a reader flips the last page of one of my books, I want them to feel understood and entertained and, ultimately, I want my words to make them feel happy.
Drop everything and buy her books here!
Make sure to check out her website and follow her on social media as well!
Thank you so much for joining us today! God bless!
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