Zada
Connaway interview, author of
Mother's
Journals:: Parts 1, 2 and 3
I was
born in the naval hospital at Bremerton Washington. We moved often, following
the job market, as my stepfather struggled to provide for his family of six
people. Therefore, I was raised in a variety of places in Washington State,
including Port Townsend, Seattle, Kent, Neah Bay and Kennewick. There were also
brief stays in South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana.
What
was it that first got you into writing and when did you start writing?
I wrote
diaries and journals as a girl and young woman. Since my family moved
extremely often, every move opened a new library to me. Opportunities to make
long-standing friendships were nonexistent. Instead, I would devour books
as a substitute for friends. In high school, I excelled at writing essays
and doing theme work. When I decided to finally attempt college in my
thirties, I enrolled in writing classes. As an avid reader, writing came
naturally and easily to me. Now I am an older woman who has come through
many trials and experiences. They say to write what you know, and that is
what I am doing, hoping to enlighten and entertain other women in the process.
Probably
every author I ever read had some influence on me; even if only to let me know
what to avoid in my own writing. I particularly enjoyed Louisa May Alcott
when I was a preteen, and later came to admire the writings of such authors as Leon
Uris and Irving Stone. For entertainment today, I am quite fond of Koontz and
King.
Being an
older woman, my main interest is issues surrounding women. Such as how they
handle a variety of situations and their treatment by men and society as a
whole. My writing today is about abuse, domestic violence and child
abuse. I hope that my writing will touch others, bringing understanding
and awareness of the problems perpetuated by our culture, while offering solutions
and encouragement.
There is
a companion piece to Mother’s Journals: parts 1, 2 and 3 which I am
currently working on that is untitled as of yet, and will focus on the other
side of the family. There are several short stories in the works, as well
as a monthly column I will be writing for a new e-zine set to start up in
January of 2008. This magazine, Feigh Ink, will be allowing
me to do a monthly column that focuses on educating people about abuse and
domestic violence. I aspire to offer insight, hope, resources and support
to the victims and families who are still suffering from the effects of, or who
are currently in the grip of abuse.
I have
also been writing a blog which focuses on abuse on one of my sites, http://zadaconnaway.spaces.live.com/
which also appears on the site
that I set up to promote my book, “Mother’s Journals: parts 1, 2 and 3 http://www.freewebs.com/zadaconnaway/ .
I seldom
write during the day, as I find the quiet of night more conducive to creative
flow. My days are usually full of more mundane things like preparing
meals, housewifely duties, tending the garden and my various animals.
But, there are the occasional inspiring ideas that come during the day and are
hopefully retained long enough to get written down. I am often up typing
most of the night, taking a nap in the afternoons to compensate for the short
nights.
When
someone who has read my writing actually understood all the nuances and enjoyed
the ride. This is especially true when it is a person who is unknown to
me personally.
Unavoidable
interruptions are frustrating of course. It’s much too easy to lose focus
when something pressing invades your thoughts; and it’s even worse when you
lose your vision of a character and their actions.
What’s the
best piece of feedback that you’ve had from your audience?
The best feedback
has been the lack of negativity. My work has been very well received by
all accounts.
Do you write
for a particular audience, or is your first priority to satisfy your own
creativity?
Women would be my
first priority, as I have known so many who felt trapped in bad
situations. My work so far has been aimed at those who are in denial of
the abuse they are being subjected to. Usually, this is due to treatment
they received as youngsters, so it seems normal to them. We all learn by
the examples set forth by our parents, how they treat each other and their
children.
Do
you have a homepage? Do you have any short stories or poems published online?
(If so, please provide the URLs):
I
currently have two websites:
http://zadaconnaway.spaces.live.com/
is mainly for blogging about abuses and solutions as well
as education on what the terms actually mean. Comments are more than
welcome, as are questions.
I also have http://www.freewebs.com/zadaconnaway/
which is for the promotion of my book, Mother’s
Journals : parts 1, 2 & 3, and the works of a few other authors even
though my blog appears there also.
On http://www.authorsden.com/zadaconnaway there is currently an offering of a short
children’s story, but I will be changing it periodically.
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