R. L. S. Hoff Interview Published on: 04, Jun 2021

When my mother shooed me out of the house to “go play,” I’d smuggle a book and read in the crab-apple tree or the porch of the front door nobody ever opened.

I can’t remember the first story I ever read, though I remember that when I was in kindergarten, I often brought home a particular book from my school library. It was about a duck that ate a box of “crackers” and blew up (they were firecrackers). My mom hated it. I think that I loved it mostly because I got to exercise choice in my reading. Also, Kaboom!

I also remember the first book I ever bought with my own money. It was from one of those Scholastic book flyers that we’d get at school, and I put together the cash on my own. There were a lot of coins in the envelope I took to school. The book was Harry Helps Out, a story about a little bear who tries to be helpful at home and mostly makes messes. I still enjoy it.

My immediate family includes my husband, my three kids, and our dog, a little chihuahua mix. My husband and daughter are very supportive of my writing, my boys a little less so. I don’t think my dog cares one way or another.

I also have a large extended family. They’ve been largely encouraging.

The first story I remember writing was for a class assignment. I was inspired (sort of negatively) by being thoroughly unimpressed with the published author our teacher had brought in. I imagined I could do better. Plus, we had to turn something in. I don’t think I shared that tale with anyone but the teacher—it turned out that writing stories was a bit harder than I originally thought it was.

This is a hard question to answer. I write young adult fantasy and science fiction because these are the kinds of stories that come to me, and I do enjoy writing them—a great deal. However, I suspect that the things I enjoy most are the sorts of things that I would enjoy in any kind of writing—the immersion in a world that you’re creating as you go along, the pleasure of finding just the right way to say something, the joy of letting imagination take flight. Could you get that same pleasure from writing a picture book or a mystery? I suspect you could.

I think that it’s key to get to a good stopping point—one where the story has come to a rest despite the issues that remain. To make it satisfying to myself, I also feel it’s important to arrive at a point of hope.

Well, I am absolutely a pantser, not a plotter, so it’s much more going with the flow than a plan. However, I do know that there are four books in the Dicrandia Chronicles series—Songs of Healing, Songs of Innocence, Songs of Joy, and Songs of Love.

Songs of Healing is out. It’s primarily Princess Sarah’s story.
Songs of Innocence is Straltia’s story (though Princess Sarah comes into it, of course). This one is just now taking shape (I hope to have it out in December of 2021)
Songs of Joy is Gen’s story, and right now, I know a bit of where the major conflict will come from, but that’s about it.
Songs of Love jumps back a generation to tell the story of when Uncle Malcolm came to the capital as a teenager (back when he was just Malcolm). I’ve been playing around with the idea of this last one for years, so I could probably write a plot outline for it if I had to. That might kill it for me, though, so I won’t.

I often write sprawled out on a bed. Somehow words flow faster that way than when I’m sitting at my desk. Though I also write at my desk, or at a table, or in a fast-food place or a coffee shop. Before the pandemic I would sometimes plant myself a carrel in the library to get a few hours of concentrated work done (and maybe that can happen again soon). I’ve been known to write on busses. When I lived in China and had tiny kids, I used to write in the back of taxi cabs. (It was quiet, kid-free, work-free, time, which was precious in those days. Plus, it helped me to have something to concentrate on, so I didn’t freak out about the traffic.)

I try very hard not to have “messages” that I deliberately impart through my books. If I wanted to impart a message, I’d write an essay. When I’m writing stories, I want to create a world and an experience, and I do try to make that experience rich enough that people can learn something from it if they are so inclined. However, if people want to just enjoy the ride, that’s fine with me, too.

Hmm. I can’t very well say that the character of Anastasia Cartier was inspired by anyone in particular, but for at least some of her artwork, I believe I had Georgia O’Keeffe paintings in my mind.

There are so, so many books that are really worth reading. Here’s a sampling of books I’ve read recently that I’d strongly recommend: Science Fiction: Wild Seed (Octavia Butler); Fantasy: The Girl who Drank the Moon (Kelly Barnhill); The Kingdom of Back (Marie Lu); For young people: Crossover (Kwame Alexander); The Case of the Left-Handed Lady (an Enola Holmes mystery by Nancy Springer); For Adults: As Sweet as Honey (by Indira Ganesan).

Well, reading, of course. I also like bubble baths and digging around in my garden (though I try to avoid doing them in that order).

I typically write the ‘back of the book’ blurbs myself, though I don’t adore doing them.

The reading, bubble baths & gardening mentioned above. Sometimes I like getting out into the mountains—especially if somebody lets me just sit next to a mountain stream for a while.

I have appreciated the visibility that AllAuthor has brought to me and my books, and I enjoy playing around with the mock-up banners and magic tools.