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MEET ALISON BELL
by Bonnie O'Brian

What books influenced you most when you were growing up?

Alison Bell

My all-time favorite book growing up was the D’ Aulaires BOOK OF GREEK MYTHS. The book was in hot demand among fourth and fifth graders back at Alcott Elementary School in Riverside, California where I grew up, but I checked it out every time I could. I loved reading the myths and looking at the beautiful, evocative illustrations. I also read a lot of science fiction well as historical books about World War II. My favorite fiction book was HARRIET THE SPY by Louise Fitzhugh. I still think it is one of the best children’s books ever written. The book, which quotes from “The Walrus and the Carpenter” by Lewis Carroll, inspired me to memorize the poem, all 18 stanzas, at the tender age of nine. I still remember most of it today.

When you went to college, were you already pursuing a writing career?

In high school I excelled in English and wrote for the school newspaper and for the school literary magazine. In college, I was a comparative literature major and also wrote for the school newspaper. For my senior thesis, I wrote a novella, and I won an award for the best thesis in my department. This gave me some hope and confidence that I could some day be a writer, but when I was young, being a fiction writer seemed very daunting and out of my league. I was in love with all the classics and intimidated by the Great Books written by such authors such as Virginia Woolf, Dostoevsky, Hardy, Fitzgerald, etc. I felt that until I wrote a perfect novel, I should not attempt to write.

What did you do after graduating from college?

After graduating from Occidental College I went to U.C. Berkeley and entered a Ph.D. program in Comparative Literature. I only lasted six semesters, however. I made the mistake of choosing Germany as my first language without being proficient enough in the language. When facing MA exams on the entirety of German literature, from Beowulf to the moderns, with a limited knowledge of German, I quit the graduate program. I joined the ranks of the working by taking a bus over to the San Francisco each day and working as a proofreader for a legal book publisher. This was a bleak task and I was terrible at it as I’ve never had much of an eye for detail. Luckily soon I jumped into a job as a technical writer, which wasn’t much better but at least got me out of proofing tables of legal statutes.

After that job I eventually transitioned into magazines where my best job was as an editor at TEEN magazine for a few years. I then moved into television, producing reality TV for a few years until I had the first of my three children. After that, I began to freelance write from home. During all of these years, I did write short stories and start novels, however, I lacked the will and the confidence to bring any project to completion. I did, however, as a freelancer, write for dozens of magazines and write several non-fiction books for children. I also continued to read fiction, usually a few books a week. In terms of writing fiction, I was beginning to feel that perhaps I would always just remain a good reader of books instead of the author of one.

What kinds of things inspire you to write?

It took my smart, quirky, larger-than-life daughter, who at age seven morphed into a tomboy after years of being the posture gal for pink princess dresses, to inspire me to finally try my hand at a sustained piece of fiction. This, and the fact that I finally figured out, “ I don’t have to write The Great American Novel. I can write a light-hearted book for a specific genre and still be okay.” My genre: children’s books, and the topic, a tomboy. Over a few weeks, in-between parenting, volunteer work, and my freelance jobs, I wrote the first draft of ZIBBY PAYNE & THE WONDERFUL, TERRIBLE TOMBOY EXPERIMENT. After several rewrites, I shopped it around for about a year, then finally found a publisher, and rewrote the book all over again. Since then, I’ve written five books in the “ Zibby Payne” series about a spunky sixth grader not afraid to speak her own mind. The fifth book in the series, ZIBBY PAYNE & THE RED CARPET REVOLT, is coming out this month, September. I am also trying to sell the first book in a series based on my younger son, Hank, 8, called HANK’S PRANKS.

Do you enjoy researching or do you prefer working totally from your imagination?

I think I could immerse myself quite happily for years in the research of a book, but the trouble is, I’d probably be doing so to avoid the actual writing. For that reason, I stick to real-life situations to write about that take a minimum of research. I like to take events that happen in real life, often to my family, then push them out and create a hopefully funny and compelling narrative from them. I also think, as it was once said, writing well is the best revenge, as writing fiction is also a wonderful way to get out all of your irritations, anger, annoyances, and opinions you feel as you go about your day. If, for example, I’m irked by a new trend in parenting, I can create a character who represents that trend, then hopefully do a bit of humorous skewering to get my point across.

Do you work on more than one book at a time?

While I am in general quite a good multi-tasker, so far I work best writing one book at a time. This may be because I only have limited hours to write. I write when my three children are in school, which means from about 8: 30 am – 2: 00 pm if I am lucky. This is not really much time especially as writers need a lot of time to stare at the computer screen, walk around, eat bowls of cereal, water the plants, and in general do everything you can to procrastinate before sitting down and actually writing a word. Then, when you get creatively blocked, you also need extra walking-around, get-me-out-of-this-mental- rut- I’m –stuck- in goof-off time.

What is the hardest thing about being a writer?

Surprisingly, not the writing. Yes for sure there are tough patches when you think your story will never work or you can’t get in a groove or every word you write falls with a thud and you start thinking you’d be better off clerking at the local 99 cent store. Or your editor gives you feedback that you feel is off the mark, or worse, dead-on accurate and you feel like an idiot because you didn’t think of it yourself. No, the hardest part is selling yourself as a writer. This means finding an agent or a publisher, and then marketing your book once it is published. Unless you are a big-name author, you will be doing most of your own publicity -- and it’s a full time job. You’re also expected to mingle and push your work at conferences, book fairs, and author readings, and for those shy-at-heart writes, it’s all very difficult.

You know what else is hard? The reviews. I’ve only gotten one negative one, but it was from a biggie source and it cut deep. You work so hard to write a book, work harder to get it published, then work even harder to get recognized, and then, after all your efforts, someone slams your book! It’s hardly seems fair.

What is the best thing about being a writer?

Several things: Finding one true reader who adores your works. Seeing your name for the first time on the title page. Having kids laugh at your book readings. Daydreaming about the day millions of kids across the country will go to sleep at night with one of your books on their night stand. Having the luxury to make a living (albeit a small one!) doing what you’ve always dreamed of doing.