Author Interview: Annette Laing (Don't Know Where Don't Know When)

Today I am so happy to post my interview with Annette Laing, author of the Snipesville Chronicles (Don't Know Where Don't Know When, A Different Day, A Different Destiny). 

1. When did you decide to start writing?

I don’t remember making a conscious decision, I just always wrote. I wanted to be a newspaper reporter from the age of seven, and that ambition lasted me to the age of 22, by which time I was editor of my college paper. Then I decided to write history instead, and went off to grad school. Fiction is now my preferred mode of reading and writing, but it wasn’t always so, and I’m glad of that. My adventures in nonfiction have given me something to write about!

 

2. Do you have any must-haves while writing?

Depends on my mood and needs. Sometimes, inspiration only strikes when I’m in my local Starbucks with a Frappuccino and my headphones. Other times, not so much. I often like to have a wi-fi connection so I can look up info in Google Books, but sometimes, it’s more a distraction than a help.

3. Can you tell us about the research you did for Don't Know Where, Don't Know When?

Like many Brits of my generation, I’ve always been fascinated with the Home Front experience during World War II. Growing up, we all heard about air raids, rationing, and the evacuation of schoolkids, but we never actually went through these things. So I’ve read a great deal about the War years. I also drew on my memories of growing up among the wartime generation, people of my grandparents’ age who were young adults during WWII. 

4. Who is your favorite character in Don't Know Where, Don't Know When?

Mrs. Devenish, because she was so vivid for me, and because it really moved me when I realized how much  I had been influenced by the example of the woman who inspired her.

5. What's next for you?

I’m working on the third book in the series, tentatively titled “Look Ahead, Look Back”, which is set around 1752, and will appear sometime in 2011.  After that, two more books in the series, and then on to the next, wherever that may take me—I’ll be sticking with time travel/historical fiction, most likely. Meanwhile, I continue to visit schools, run children’s time-travel camps, and promote my work in an effort to reach as many potential readers as I can. I’m on a mission to restore the joy of learning history to people’s lives, and especially to the lives of kids.

Thank you again, Ms. Laing!  We really appreciate your time.