Amber Wolf - 2016
Ms. Wong,
Thank you for
taking your time for me ~
Who are your
influences?
Everything influences me. A look, a
comment from a friend, a new scent, or an usually beautiful sky all make their
way into my novels. But with Amber Wolf, my main influence was my uncle Frank
and the surprise he left me in his papers after he passed on.
When did you
begin writing?
I’ve been writing for seven years and
people often ask me how I started. I took a lot of classes and attended a lot
of workshops where I met people who still inspire me. Most of all, I wrote every day and still do.
How do you come
up with your stories, characters, character names, POV, etc.?
Uncle Frank was in Europe with the U.S.
Army during WW II and met many people who had lost their homes and possessions.
He kept in touch with some, and over the years helped them settle here. He
rarely spoke about the war, but after he died I found manuscripts among his
papers. One was set in August, 1944 when the Soviets began the occupation of
Eastern Europe (particularly Lithuania) that would last into the 1990s. After
two years of research and writing, I had my own novel that distilled the events
of that summer into the story of a young woman, Ludmelia, who had to figure out
how to survive.
So what would a woman with a good
Chinese name (Wong) know about Eastern Europe? My actual last name is
Sinkewicz, and my heritage is Lithuanian.
Many readers have told me that the
history that forms the basis of Amber Wolf is important to know given today’s
situation with Vladimir Putin and modern-day Russia.
If you could actually
meet one of your characters, who would it be?
Why?
Ludmelia is modeled after my daughter
who is also 21. While I didn’t take my daughter out into the woods to learn how
to camp, track, and hunt like Ludmelia’s father did, I spent a lot of time
teaching my daughter how to survive in the cities of the 21st
century.
Ultimately, Amber Wolf is the story of a
strong woman who faces very difficult challenges.
Do you work
from an outline?
Welcome to the twisted world of writing
a novel. I usually start with a draft. The process can take weeks and the draft
can be anywhere from 20 to 100 pages. Then I do an outline based on the draft,
refine the outline, and do another draft. I repeat this process until the story
line is solid.
Another technique I use is treating
subplots as novellas. The story of Ludmelia’s father, for example, is an
important part of the story but I focused on it separately and wrote it as a stand-alone
story. When I incorporated it into the novel, it was already
well-developed.
Tell me about
your favorite scene in your novel(s).
I don’t want to give away the ending,
but the final scene between Ludmelia and the Soviet, Commander Roman Zabrev, still
rocks my socks.
Can you tell us
a little about your writing philosophy?
For me, the best writing comes from
ideas that make my toes tingle. Writers should write. Is that a philosophy?
Have you ever
tried writing in any other genres?
The
Baby Who Fell From the Sky is new South American folklore inspired
by my recent trip to Peru. It’s the endearing story of an old woman raising her
son in the Andes, rich with tradition, superstition, and shamanic ritual.
Purple
Trees is a novel about a woman who struggles
for a life of normalcy given a history of childhood violence and loss.
Generally considered women’s fiction, this brutally frank novel is set in the rolling
fields of New England.
Do you have any
interesting writing-related anecdotes to share?
I spent a few years focused on WW II
Soviets, and learned a great deal about torture techniques, jumping out of
planes without parachutes, and more. Every day, I “shared” my findings with my
husband, and every night he claimed he had trouble sleeping.
Do you listen
to music as you write?
No music for me. Uncle Frank once slept
through a bombing in London. I get that way when I write.
Jeff, I’d love to hear from your
readers. My email address and contact information is on my website at http://ursulawong.wordpress.com.
Folks can sign-up for a monthly email about writing events, my new projects,
and a bit of flash-fiction which recently has been about twisted ladies. Go
figure.
Enjoy the trailer folks
Ursula, on the behalf of my reader's and all of the other twisted ladies out there that are smiling with a grin right about now, I would like to thank you for your time. And have fun with & in your travels. Let Uncle Frank know, we all say hello it's mighty nice to meet the influence.
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About the author ~
Connect with Ursula
Ursula grew up working on the family dairy farm started by her grandparents who fled Lithuania and the Bolsheviks for a better life in the U.S. After losing her father at a young age, Ursula overcame poverty and went on to become a high tech engineer. An adventurous traveler, scuba diver, and hiker, Ursula writes gripping stories about strong women struggling against impossible odds to achieve their dreams.
Her work has appeared in Everyday Fiction, Spinetingler Magazine, and the popular Insanity Tales anthologies.
Her award-winning debut novel, Purple Trees, exposes a stark side of rural New England life in the experiences of a young woman struggling for normalcy despite a vicious and hidden past. After losing her parents, Lily Phelps grows up fast to find work and build a future, but her secrets threaten every one she loves.
Ursula taps her heritage in her WW II novel, Amber Wolf. Destitute after her parents are taken by Russian soldiers, young Ludmelia Kudirka joins the farmers fighting for freedom in a David-and-Goliath struggle against the mighty Soviet war machine. Rich with scenes and legends of Lithuania, Amber Wolf gels the turmoil of war into the saga of a family torn apart by the Soviet occupation.
For more about Ursula and her prize-winning flash fiction stories, visit her Reaching Readers Blog on http://ursulawong.wordpress.com
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