Blog Tour: Joelle Anthony!

How did you invent the world Molly lives in?

There are a lot of people out there, scientist, environmentalists (doom & gloomatists) who believe the end of oil is coming and so there are lots of predictions about what that might be like. I read a lot of that and then picked and chose what worked for my story. And I made stuff up as needed too.

In what ways do you relate to Molly?

Well, it’s more like I’d like to be Molly. I would love to be as strong and capable as she is. And even more than that, I’d love to be musical. She’s more than the hero of my book, she’s my personal hero too.

Is the 2041 in Restoring Harmony actually what you predict may happen, or do you have other ideas?

I think it’s very possible that we will see a world like this someday. By we, I don’t necessarily mean people alive today, but mankind. It might happen in the next thirty years, or it might be a hundred years, but oil is a finite resource and unless we change the way we live drastically, I think we all might be in for a bit of a shock! Still, I’m no scientist, so I wouldn’t really take my word for it. If you’re concerned at all, there’s lots of info out there. Just google “peak oil.”

If you could travel to any time period (future or past) where would it be, and why?

Some of my favourite books are the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. They’re set around 1910. I would love to visit then, but honestly, I’d really want to stick to Betsy’s world as it’s quite sweet and trouble-free. The real world at that time was dealing with a lot of hardship just like every point in history.

Did you put any parts of people you know in real life into your characters?

I’m pleading the fifth on this even though I’m a Canadian now! If anyone recognizes themselves in my book then I am stating here, “It’s just your imagination or wishful thinking.”

What are the main differences in your writing process for fiction and nonfiction?

About the only nonfiction I write is short articles on writing, so it’s totally different in that I get an idea, I run in here and write it up, and then I polish it and decide if I have something worth submitting or not. For fiction it’s a much longer thought process before I ever even write anything down.

If you weren't a writer, what other occupation would you have?

Do you know of any way I could make a living reading? That would be awfully pleasurable and way easier than writing! Actually, I’d probably be a comedian – not stand-up but sketch comedy, like Saturday Night Live or Second City. That’s what I used to do and it’s the other thing I’m good at. The main problem with it is I’d not only have to leave the house, but I’d have to leave the island! Writing is the perfect job for a homebody like me.

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Thanks so much, Joelle!

Click here to visit Joelle's website and to view the other stops on her blog tour.

Joelle Anthony's debut novel, Restoring Harmony, releases May 13th 2010! Keep your eye out for my review soon :)