Her book My Sister is debut of the month here at Thrillers & More, but who is Michelle Adams? We would really like to get to know the woman behind the book a little bit more, so we asked her a few questions!
Who’s Michelle Adams? Can you describe yourself in a few words?
Thank you so much for making My Sister the debut of the month! To describe myself, I would have to say I’m pretty easy going, happy in my own company, and sometimes quiet in crowds if I don’t feel comfortable. I can be really sociable in the right company, but I dislike people who are rude to others. I’m optimistic about life, and I like my friends to be the same. I’m a total geek when it comes to books and movies, love the outdoors, and am a really boring dresser! I love jeans and a white T-shirt; it’s kind of a uniform.
How do you write? Are you alone or does it not matter for you where you are? Do you have music playing (and if so, what kind of music?) or do you need silence? What needs to be there, and what could you do without?
It totally depends on the stage I’m at. When I’m writing a first draft I don’t mind noise, company, music…whatever really. I find the background stimuli help with ideas, because it opens me up to the world around me. But I don’t really discuss the manuscript much with other people at that stage, perhaps with the exception of bouncing a few ideas off my husband who is critical regarding the believability factor, something I find quite helpful. But once I start editing I find it really difficult to work in any other than silence. I like to be in my office, door closed, and shut the world out. That way I can really focus on the world I have created. Although My Sister was written in a medical practice where I used to work, so my wish list kind of went out the window.
Do you read while you write? Or does that make it difficult to focus on your writing?
Again it depends on the stage I’m at. I read the most when I’m writing. I can go through a book every few days at that point (or at least I could before my baby came along). But once I’m editing I try not to read as much. I might have one book on the go for a month or two, just reading a little each evening before bed. I like to try to stay focussed on my own creation.
If stranded on a deserted island..and you can only have one book…which one would it be?
When I’m asked to chose one book I always come back to the same one; Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. I read this book for the first time about eight years ago, and since then it has always stayed with me. I just found something very poetic about the way it is written, and I know some people don’t like that about this book, but it really blew me away. But I also love the story, which at its heart is so simple. When I finished the book for the first time I was so upset by the ending, and was desperate for it to be different. Then I saw the screen adaptation and they gave me exactly what I wanted to see instead of the book’s ending, but it was a huge disappointment. The rest of the book suddenly meant less. I just think it is a wonderful, timeless, beautiful love story.
Which of the characters in My sister is the most like you? Or are they nothing like you at all?
I think I am like all of them and none of them. It is impossible, I think, for the characters of a writer’s creation not to have some similarities in personality or mannerisms. Thinking about it now across the things I have written there are characters that have had my own insecurities, my own foibles, and even those who smoked my old brand of cigarettes before I quit. The characters are part of me, so it’s natural. But equally, my work is fiction. You can’t get to know me better by reading it, and you can’t find me on the page. At least I don’t think so… maybe you should interview somebody who knows me and they might tell you differently!
