As part of The Canvas Tour, I had the chance to interview Laura M Kolar, debut author of Canvas Bound, a young adult fantasy about a girl whose paintings literally come to life.
If you haven't already, you can see my review of Laura's new novel here.
How did the "captive art" idea spring
to mind?
It was a
combination of things. I’d recently had knee surgery and the pain meds gave me
some pretty crazy dreams. I’d also just watched several of the Harry Potter
movies where all the paintings came to life.
Are you an artist yourself?
Sadly, no. I
took watercolor in high school and some of those turned out okay, but the
closest I get to doing artwork now is coloring with my six-year-old.
Who are some of your favourite artists?
The list could
go on, and on, and on. But I will say that I tend to like landscapes more than
portraits or still-lifes, which is probably why that’s what Libby ended up painting.
In my original story she was very good at doing portraits and kept painting one
of a boy she’d never met.
What juicy hints of future Captive Art instalments can you divulge? *winkwink*
It’s so funny
you ask this question because Captive Art was originally written as a
standalone story, but when I got to the end, I realized I’d left a few
characters with some serious unfinished business. What’s funnier is I’d written
in hints for the next two books without even realizing I done it at the time. I’ll
give you a couple more though, 1) If all goes well, I plan on it being a
trilogy, though not entirely from Libby’s POV, 2) Aldridge Academy is full of gifted
artists, and 3) Travis gives away bigger clues than I do.
How long did it take you to write the novel from start to finish?
Sixty days of
writing and a year and a half of editing before I submitted to Red Adept
Publishing.
Was the publishing process difficult?
Yes, writing
the book was easier. Publishing a book takes a thick skin, patience and
perseverance, three things I’m pretty lucky to have, though not usually at the
same time.
Who are your literary influences?
Mandy Hubbard, Anna Banks and Veronica Rossi.
Favourite book of all time?
There are too
many to choose from, but I especially love the books by the ladies listed above,
as well as To Katie With Love by my critique partner Erica Lucke Dean,
for obvious reasons.
~~~
Huge thanks to Laura for answering all my questions!
In case you haven't already entered, you can enter the giveaway on The Canvas Tour page (or on my review post, it's the same one).
Make sure to check out the other stops on the tour while you're there. ;)
