An interview with Anna Patrick

Anna, 

Who are your influences? 

Like most writers, my desire to write first evolved from a love of reading. When I was growing up I loved Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories. My childhood was idyllic, so I think I was attracted to the contrast of exploring a world that was darker than the one I knew. When I was in high school I discovered the Russian writers, which was a love affair that turned into a lasting romance. Dostoevsky, Bulgakov and Nabokov in particular left their marks on the pages of Meditations In Wonderland. A few other authors worth mentioning are Joseph Conrad, Cormac McCarthy, and Truman Capote. Last, I of course owe a great nod of appreciate to Lewis Carroll! 

When did you begin writing? 

In elementary school I carried around a black and white composition notebook that contained the workings of my “first novel.” It was based on a group of elementary school children that got separated while on a field trip, and I’m pretty sure it was atrocious and riddled with plot holes. Needless to say, as many elementary schoolers are prone to, I lost it at some point, but I never lost my love for writing. Maybe it’s because I’m an only child, but growing up I was always creating characters and stories. 

How do you come up with your stories, characters, character names, POV, etc.? 

I think some stories are with us all along. That’s certainly true for me in the case of Meditations In Wonderland. I carried that story around in my mind for years before I committed to writing it my last semester of my senior year at Boston College.

Characters, on the other hand, I think develop as you go. I learned more and more about Elizabeth with every chapter. I tried to follow my professor’s advice, as well, and get to know her off the page before I threw her into Wonderland, by writing her into unrelated short stories in an effort to develop her more. There’s nothing like finding out a character’s true grit by having them sit in a room when an intruder knocks at their door!

When it comes to character names and POV, I think that gets determined as you’re writing those first crucial pages.

Do you work from an outline? 

For Meditations I had a general outline – which, believe it or not, I actually did stick to! But when I say general, I really mean general. I had my plot arch divided between 13 chapters, and under each chapter I listed 2-5 bullet points of the “must include” items that were to happen. The rest unfolded at my desk. When it came to individual scenes, I like to let them unfold naturally. Like she did for Elizabeth, Alice gave me clues along the way to let me know where she wanted to go next. 

Tell me about your favorite scene in your novel(s). 

Barring spoilers, I’ll say that my favorite scene in Meditations In Wonderland is the final confrontation between Elizabeth and Alice. With any hero’s journey, especially an inner journey, the moment of epiphany is a sacred moment – a moment where Elizabeth is more than her insecurities. There is a silent magic to that moment she has an opportunity to evolve into the master of her own fate. I’ll leave it up to you to find out if, and how, she takes it or not!

Another scene worth mentioning, for the sake of fairness, is the scene where the reader is introduced to the Tweedle Twins – who are a bit different than the traditional Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum! They’re my comic relief, a whimsical break from the darkness. I think we all appreciate those moments. 

Can you tell us a little about your writing philosophy? 

Follow your muse down the rabbit hole. Go where your internal narrator takes you, even if it’s down a rabbit hole you didn’t expect. That’s how you discover the best your subconscious, creative mind has to offer. You might be surprised what kind of characters you might meet! 

Have you ever tried writing in any other genres? 

As I was developing my writing voice as a teenager, I wrote a lot of non-fiction short stories. The experience was invaluable, I return to it from time to time. Some of the tone and sentiments present in Alice’s letters in my novel are borrowed from those stories. 

Do you have any interesting writing-related anecdotes to share? 
I’m not sure if this novel could have reached its level of detail or depth without Pinterest. My Pinterest board for the book, which you can see here (https://www.pinterest.com/loveannapatrick/meditations-in-wonderland-novel/), guided so many crucial scenes. It essential story boarded the entire thing, especially the early pins. I couldn’t recommend this writing practice more! 

Do you listen to music as you write? 

I recreated the playlist I wrote Meditations In Wonderland to on Spotify, for anyone who’s curious! You can see it here. (https://play.spotify.com/user/annaepatrick/playlist/2dqWIAdeCPBCSN3lKhddPl). I write to music that matches a tone or mood I want to convey in a certain scene – lyrics aren’t necessary, for the most part. For writing Meditations in Wonderland I wrote most of the novel to the Anna Karenina motion picture soundtrack by Dario Marianelli, particularly the song “Unavoidable.” The rest was a mix of Nirvana, Filter, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, and Hans Zimmer songs.

Thank you Anna for taking the time for Buttonholed Book Reviews.

-Thanks for your interest in Meditations In Wonderland!

I think it’s worth nothing that this November marks the 150^th anniversary of Alice In Wonderland. It was a wonderful stroke of luck that the publication process for the novel allowed it to be published just a month beforehand! This novel also shares the same name as my Tumblr, which currently boasts 25k followers and growing.

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Read my review of Meditations in Wonderland