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Barbara Ehrentreu

Barbara Ehrentreu

Teen & Young Adult Poetry
    • AllAuthor AllAuthor 4 years ago
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    • If you could choose three people to invite for a dinner party, who would they be and why?
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      • Barbara Ehrentreu Barbara Ehrentreu 4 years ago
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      • I thought about this a lot and I would invite Shakespeare, Mark Twain and Barbara Kingsolver. Shakespeare would have so many stories we would probably not get to eat. Mark Twain would be there for humor, as I think he would be a lot of fun. Finally, Barbara Kingsolver, because she has such a unique and compelling style of writing I know she would be very enjoyable to talk with. I have never seen her in person and I would like to someday.
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    • AllAuthor AllAuthor 4 years ago
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    • How do you think concepts such as Kindle, and e-books have changed the present or future of reading?
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      • Barbara Ehrentreu Barbara Ehrentreu 4 years ago
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      • I think they have allowed people to get books more easily and with less aggravation. You can just click and get a book now without having to worry about carrying it anywhere. I do think, however, that people now have a broader choice of where and how they will read. Many people, and I am included, prefer reading print books. They give you a more substantial experience for reading. It's easier to go back and forth to reread. However, I like reading on my iPad and many stories are better on it. Mostly, I think that e-books and Kindle have brought reading to a new level. You can look up a word instantly if you don't understand it. You can highlight anything. I think it has enhanced the experience of reading with these features.
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    • AllAuthor AllAuthor 4 years ago
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    • Have you ever incorporated something that happened to you in real life into your novels?
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      • Barbara Ehrentreu Barbara Ehrentreu 4 years ago
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      • This answer is easy. Yes, for my first novel, If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, I used my daughter's eating disorder and her hatred of her body for both the main character and the secondary one. In After, my second novel, the story is based on my late husband's real illness of a heart attack and bypass surgery. The phone call contains dialogue that is straight from the phone conversation I had with him.
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      • Barbara Ehrentreu Barbara Ehrentreu 4 years ago
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      • Yes, I read my book reviews. I am always excited when I find a new one. When for some reason I am down on myself or my writing, I go and read my reviews. They make me feel good. So far, I have yet to get a really bad review. All of my reviews have been four and five stars. If I did get one I would wonder why. So many people have loved my books. This is the truth. However, by the sales they are not bestsellers.
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    • AllAuthor AllAuthor 4 years ago
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    • What's the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
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      • Barbara Ehrentreu Barbara Ehrentreu 4 years ago
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      • In my WIP The Mill Valley High Five, I am using third person and a few of my characters are boys. One has been in the series since the beginning and many of the criticisms I got from my groups was that he needed to have more personality. The other is a new character I introduced in the sequel, Who Is Jennifer Taylor? that is not published yet. The character has a few chapters and writing from his prospective was difficult for me. However, I have seen a lot of teen shows and I know his character. I had to develop him a little more to understand his motivation and to be able to write from his point of view. I think boys have similar thoughts to girls but they are more pragmatic, and they also take things a lot differently. Boys have to be written in a less emotional way, though they do have emotions, they keep a lot inside of themselves. So a lot of Danny's chapters are him thinking about things. Also, unlike girls, I am never sure what my character is going to do. I just write them and they kind of tell their own story. Still not sure where he will end up and for me that is part of the fun of writing.
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      • Barbara Ehrentreu Barbara Ehrentreu 4 years ago
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      • I had been in several critique groups to get feedback on my manuscript and they were very helpful in revising. But even though my editor was very pleased with the plot and the characters I still had to do a lot of work to edit my book. First of all, I had some terrible habits, such as using words like that a lot and I had to rewrite a lot of my sentences. Also, I wanted to use a line from a Dr. Seuss book and I had to get permission from the Dr. Seuss Foundation and Random House to use it. After months of waiting they agreed. So I learned that if you want to use anything that might be registered you need to get the okay early. All they wanted was credit at the beginning of the book. Plus, I had no idea that there were two edits before a book was ready. Lucky for me the line editor found a sequence flaw that my copy editor did not. After all of that editing I was unaware that I would need to proofread the galley too.
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    • AllAuthor AllAuthor 4 years ago
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    • Writing can be an emotionally draining and stressful pursuit. Any tips for aspiring writers?
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      • Barbara Ehrentreu Barbara Ehrentreu 4 years ago
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      • Yes, and they are to write when you feel emotion. Writing poetry always helps me to feel better if I am going through any emotional situation. When you do that you are able to convey the emotion you felt to your readers. In a novel, if you are writing a particularly critical scene sometimes it can be draining. Then maybe it would be a good idea to take a walk or watch TV or spend some time with your family. This helps to clear your head and you are ready to go back and work. Writing for a long period of time can be draining so be sure to eat and drink during that time. You should take a break every so often and have something to nibble on and to drink with you. This is especially true if you are doing a marathon thing like National Novel Writers Month or you are on a deadline for something.
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      • Barbara Ehrentreu Barbara Ehrentreu 4 years ago
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      • The most important elements of good writing are clarity and the ability of the author to get you to convey the emotions they want the reader to understand. By clarity I mean you need to be able to understand everything you are reading. If something stops you then you will lose focus and maybe not want to return to the reading. Therefore, writing needs to be as tight and grammatically correct as possible to be clear. The way a writer converts emotion is by developing strong characters with whom the reader can identify and a plot that is based on the motivations of these characters.
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      • Barbara Ehrentreu Barbara Ehrentreu 4 years ago
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      • I have always written since I was in grade school when a poem of mine was published in a school district newspaper. But I was inspired to write in 3rd grade and that poem was the result of it. I didn't start writing seriously until I was in my first year of graduate school. Paula Danziger had a workshop and I needed to write three pages of a book to get into it. That was the start of my first novel, If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor and that was twenty years ago.
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