For recently-published Lakeview author Cynthia d'Entremont, writing was something that came from her love of reading.
"I loved to read from the time I was very young. And I always had a really vivid imagination," said the Fort Sackville Elementary Primary teacher.
D'Entremont released her first novel, a young adult fiction book titled Unlocked, at a book launch in Halifax on April 10.
But she said she wasn't one of those people who always knew she'd be a writer. She made the decision about 10 years ago to try and learn how to capture her stories on paper.
She began her journey into the world of writing by taking workshops through the Writers Federation, where she found her first writing group.
"A few of us kind of jelled. Now this year, three of us have novels," she said.
D'Entremont compares writing to working with a lump of clay. "You don't say 'there, I'm done', you can work at it, and work at it."
And for d'Entremont, that work has paid off.
She has published several non-fiction articles and has a short story in A Maritime Christmas (Nimbus, 2008). She has won both the Joyce Barkhouse Writing for Children Award and a Nova Scotia Talent Trust Scholarship in Literary Arts.
Along with writing and teaching, she is also working on her masters in education, and expects to graduate in 2011.
In this interview with d'Entremont, she talks about her first published novel, the fantasy world she created and what's next for the Lakeview mom.
Weekly News: Why did you decide to write this particular novel?
Cynthia d'Entremont: I don't think I chose it, I think it chose me, and that's how I feel about most of the things I write.
I was looking at this little figurine that I bought in Poland of a man and a child holding a loaf of bread, and I thought I would like to write about people that are homeless. I did some research on what picture books were available, but when I started to write, the voice was obviously not for a picture book, it was a young adult. And then I knew I was into something a little bigger than I had thought.
I just started writing about people that were very desperate, and that's where the characters came from.
WN: Where is the book set?
CD: It's a world like ours, but it's not our world. I'm sure if you were looking for similarities in our world, you'd find them. But I really had no specific place in mind.
WN: What's the book about?
CD: The main character's name is Jaron and he's 15, and in their society they don't know why, but the people are living in the Garbage Heaps. They start living there when they're five, and that's just their existence, and they have to try to survive. They know they'll get what is called a leaving day when they're 15. They're not allowed to form any friendships, it's just a bizarre arrangement, and that's all they know.
Then the main character finds out that things aren't as they seem. The rules he thought he was supposed to follow might actually do more harm than good. And then it goes on from there.
WN: What do you like to read?
CD: I like to read fantasy. Although while I write, I like to read something completely different. So I haven't read a lot of the newer books that have come out. I don't want anything to compete or infiltrate ... I don't want that world to mix with my world.
I really like Canadian fantasy author Monica Hughes, I just think she had some really interesting ideas; and C.S. Lewis, I find his writing timeless.
The adult reading I tend to do is not fantasy, it tends to be mystery and suspense. I really enjoy trying to figure it out and looking for that slight clue along the way. I loved The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, the famous one that has this big twist on the end, but that one might have got me.
WN: Was getting your work published a difficult task?
CD: Yes. (Laugh) I counted them, and I think I had seven rejections before winning a writing contest with World Alive Press. I had two very close publishers before the contest.
I finished the first draft in 2006, so it has been a long road.
