While Anne Hawkinson is accustomed to the long hours of writing in solitude, she recently enjoyed a collaboration with another author overseas—the fruits of their labors bringing two, soon three, adventurous novellas into the world. Inspired by her recent partnership, Anne adapted the concepts from the adult novellas to a young child’s perspective. My Faraway Friend won First Place for Unpublished Early Reader at the 2018 Royal Palm Literary Awards. Anne discusses the transition from working solo to collaborating and her delight in changing genres in this week’s showcase.
Anne’s Writing Journey
I learned to read and write before starting school, bedtime stories were a mainstay, and books became my loyal companions and friends. The guiding forces were there, but life turned me in another direction. I wrote when I could, but that straight line from A to B turned into a squiggly, uncertain path. That path has since smoothed out (for the most part), and I’m finally in a position where I can call upon those patient, loyal forces and let them guide me where they know I need to go.
I’ve written for early readers, middle-graders, and the collaboration with Paul Hunter in Scotland has resulted in the publication of two adult novellas with a third in progress. Writing for adults was a brave adventure into unknown, exciting, and emotionally-rewarding territory. Stories in all three genres have garnered awards, which gives me the inspiration and courage to give my imagination and storytelling abilities free rein!
The Winning Entry, My Faraway Friend
Logline: Kathy’s best friend Paul used to live next door. Then he moved far away, across the Atlantic Ocean. Determined to find a way to visit him, she invents something to get her there.
My Faraway Friend came to life from an idea surrounding the collaboration on adult novellas I’m writing with an author who lives in Scotland, Paul V. Hunter (who I’ve never met in person). The concepts of distance and separation are emotional, life-changing experiences, and I chose to explore them from a young child’s perspective (with a little magic thrown in for good measure). I first wrote it as a contest entry that had a limit of 700 words and where something magical had to happen. On a whim, I decided to enter it in the RPLA competition.
Read an excerpt of My Faraway Friend here
Two Truths and a Lie, Writer’s Edition
A writer needs to find their own way of creating.
Choose a genre and stick with it because you can’t be successful in more than one.
Writing is hard, sometimes lonely work.
The lie? Choose a genre and stick with it. I’m thankful that I didn’t take that bit of advice to heart and listened to my creative voice instead. A writer does need to find their own way of creating. I struggled and failed when I listened to recommendations from instructors and editors on my personal writing process. When I adopted someone else’s idea of how I should write, it wasn’t me anymore, and the writing suffered. So did I. Get the basics down and have faith in your ability to create as only you can. Also true: writing is hard, sometimes lonely work. The ease at which a reader becomes immersed and committed to your story and its characters is testament to the long, arduous hours that they don’t really understand or care about, to be honest. They want to read an awesome story, and it’s your job to give them one. Being an introvert is a plus.
Other Works by Hawkinson
Keeping Up was my first published work – a four-line poem written over forty years ago. It was a scary, exciting thing to see my work in print with a byline. It inspired me to continue writing for young readers, hoping they’d come to love reading as much as I do. The Mystery at Moz Hollow, Shula, and The Red Door have all been middle-grade winners along with Huckleberry Heart, an early chapter book.
Coming Next for This Author
The published adult novella that I co-authored with Paul Hunter, Scotland’s Knight: The Rose in the Glade, won a 2nd place RPLA award this year. The second in the series, Scotland’s Knight: The Journey will be released in November of 2018, and the third in the series, Scotland’s Knight: The Hand of Fate is in progress.
I’m continuing work on the middle-grade mystery series that started with The Mystery at Moz Hollow, and I’ve begun work on a full-length, historical drama novel.
Connect with Anne
Visit me at www.annehawkinson.com to learn more about me, my writing projects, and my photography. I write a monthly blog for FWA on the topic of writing, and you can find me on Facebook @Anne.K.Hawkinson, Twitter @annehawkinson, and Instagram at annekhawkinson.
More About RPLA
The Royal Palm Literary Awards competition is a service of the Florida Writers Association established to recognize excellence in members’ published and unpublished works while providing objective and constructive written assessments for all entrants. Judges include literary agents, publishers, film producers, current or retired professors, teachers, librarians, editors, bestselling and award-winning authors, and journalists from across the nation. Entries are scored against the criteria set by RPLA using rubrics tailored to each genre. Winners are announced at the annual FWA conference during the RPLA awards banquet. To learn more about RPLA, click here for the guidelines.
