Blogfest 2009 » Kadohata Cynthia

Cynthia Kadohata on “Is it harder to write the first book as opposed to the second (or third, or fourth) or does it depend on the content of what you are writing?”

Kadohata Cynthia — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:00:56 +0000

For me, my third book (which was for grown-ups) was actually the easiest, but I think that’s because I was floundering to find a direction and had lost my writing compass. So it didn’t matter what I wrote because I didn’t understand where I was going or where I had been. The next easiest was my first book. For the first book, you have all these pent-up emotions and stories from your life. After the first book, you’ve kind of used up a lot of your stories from your childhood and have to research and use your imagination more. I enjoy that quite a bit, but it’s definitely harder. I do think, however, that whether a book is easier or harder to write had nothing to do with the quality of the book.

Cynthia Kadohata on “If you could have any super power, what would it be?”

Kadohata Cynthia — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:00:01 +0000

I’d like to be able to fly fast – then I wouldn’t ever have to get on a plane again!

Cynthia Kadohata on “What made you start writing?”

Kadohata Cynthia — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:00:53 +0000

It was just a hunger I had to write. I don’t know where the hunger came from. It was just in my heart. I remember one summer during college I worked at Sears in Hollywood, and I told the other sales clerks that I wanted to be a writer. They all laughed and one of them said, “What are you going to write about – working at Sears?” Then another one told me to marry a doctor or a lawyer and forget about writing. And my mother wanted me to go to law school. My dad said if I was going to write, I should write mysteries because I would make more money. I didn’t listen to any of them because my hunger was just too strong.