Elizabeth Macdonald, Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?
Ok so I work with the Beautiful Lives Project, it’s a nonprofit that helps physically and mentally challenged children get self-esteem, it helps them feel good about themselves by letting them play on the fields or courts with professional sports teams, like baseball or basketball. It was founded by Bryce Weiler, he’s a blind sports caster who found that he has a phenomenal talent, an eidetic mind that can quote sports stats like an encyclopedia. So I wanted to help children who feel differently from others that they are totally fine and should be happy and comfortable and feel safe and secure with themselves because they have gifts that will make them shine. We’re working now on a regular t.v. show on Facebook that will spotlight children with Downs Syndrome and their successes, also their families and communities. It’s that spirit that’s behind Tideon.
I guess I always felt different and awkward as a kid, I didn’t talk until I was five years old. I guess I was overwhelmed, growing up in a very large family. But I loved to read and write, I’ve always wanted to be a reporter, since age 10. When I was in 6th grade a class assignment was to write your own myth, like a Roman or Greek myth. That’s when I wrote Tideon, it always stayed with me, the story of a little boy who doesn’t fit in, and how his father and his neighbors think he’s a misfit. I felt like I just needed to get this story out there.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Well, I think the hardest part is having all these ideas in my head, and then writing them down and organizing them. But once I get going, it’s like a magical adventurous ride that’s better than any amusement park. It starts a vivifying process that stays with me during the day, when I go running, all of a sudden I’ll have this mini, magical eureka moments, yes write it that way, or yes put that sentence here or paragraph over there. It’s a lot of fun, but it probably makes me really annoying to be around because I’m distracted.
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
I’m thinking of writing a sequel to Tideon, I have the ideas in my head now for it. I wrote a book called Skirting Heresy: The Life & Times of Margery Kempe, and a play off my book that debuted in England two years ago. I’m thinking of doing more with that. It’s an historical fiction book based on the true story of Margery Kempe, considered the first autobiographer in the English language. She was put on trial and almost put to death multiple times for her beliefs and because she preached about the Gospels on the streets of England when that was against the law. The monarchy of Henry V repeatedly tried to capture her. This is Catholic England before Joan of Arc was executed, my favorite period in history
If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?
I love Noah Schnapp and Finn Wolhard from Stranger Things, Jaeden Martell, Noah Jupe and Jack Dylan Grazer.
When did you begin writing?
Well I have wanted to be a reporter since I was ten years old, and I still can’t believe I’ve been doing journalism four about thirty five years now. I started out at Money Magazine, then onto Worth Magazine, then the Wall Street Journal. I guess I am always hungry and wanting more.
How long did it take to complete your first book?
I’ve been fascinated with Catholic England before Joan of Arc was executed for about thirty years now. I’ve been studying that period for some time, as well as Margery Kempe, Joan of Arc and Julian of Norwich since the mid-‘90s. So in 2012 I started to think, I should put this into a book.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
I wrote my college thesis on C.S. Lewis so I guess it would be him. And the write George MacDonald.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
I think the hardest part is having all these ideas in my head, and then writing them down and organizing them. But once I get going, it’s like a magical adventurous ride that’s better than any amusement park. It starts a vivifying process that stays with me during the day, when I go running, all of a sudden I’ll have this mini, magical eureka moments, yes write it that way, or yes put that sentence here or paragraph over there. It’s a lot of fun, but it probably makes me really annoying to be around because I’m distracted.
Describe your latest book in 4 words.
Boy misfit becomes hero.
Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the future for your writing?
I think I can pull off a sequel to Tideon, if I can just wrestle the ideas in my head into submission!
You can learn more about Elizabeth Macdonald and Tideon at https://elizabethmacdonaldbooks.com/
