Today’s interview is with Joy Goddard, YA writer, adult fiction writer, and teacher.
LQ: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
JG: When teaching full time, I used my experiences in elementary classrooms to write junior and young adult fiction for reluctant readers, especially teen boys. They liked my Northview Tales Series along with the other books that followed as each contains sports, adventure, and coming-of-age themes with an element of danger.
My characters are composites of the many students I taught, from the “weirdo” to the “brain” to the “jock.” Teachers across Canada (and in some regions of the States, too) continue to tell me their students recognize themselves in the stories and are eager to read the books.
More recently, I’ve been writing a teen/teacher blog, teaching a creative writing course for adults, and have teamed up with my husband, Dan, to create contemporary adult fiction that has both mystery and romance. It’s been a lot of fun.
We live in the Bay of Quinte Region in Eastern Ontario but often spend time with our two adult sons and their families in Southwestern Ontario.
LQ: What does your writing process look like?
JG: I get up early and write six to eight hours a day four times a week. Fortunately, my husband helps me with plotting and researching. On two days a week, I write book reviews or edit books and articles for other writers. Then Sundays I stay off the computer.
LQ: What was your favorite book to write so far?
JG: Moonshadow was my favourite book to write so far. Reading stories of Indian residential schools in the papers, I couldn’t get the tales of heartbreak out of my head; I spent three years exploring Indigenous issues in Canada which form the background to the book. However, the book is fiction. Moving back and forth between the sixties era and present day, it’s about a young woman who risks her life to find her granddad’s long-lost love, a runaway from a residential school. I consider the novel to be a mystery/romance, but reviewers are calling it a suspense/ thriller. Works for me!
LQ: Who is your favorite character to write about?
JG: I like to write about strong characters, male or female, who champion a cause greater than themselves.
LQ: Who are your favorite authors? Have any of them influenced your work?
JG: Jodi Picoult, Linwood Barclay, Gillian Flynn, Emma Donoghue, Joy Fielding, Liane Moriarty, Stephen King . . . There are so many. They all influence my work.
LQ: How are you doing during the current pandemic?
JG: So far, I am doing well during the pandemic as I work from home, I love to read, and I’m solitary by nature, which keep me out of the storm. Yet gotta say I miss getting out for lunch with a friend!
LQ: What are you currently working on?
JG: I’m writing non-fiction entitled Write Right: Novel Writing for Beginners, which will accompany an online course, and my husband and I are working on a murder mystery set in a vineyard. Lots of wine tours associated with this book—virtual—of course.
LQ: Anything else you would like to share?
JG: I love to hear from readers. I encourage them to contact me with questions or comments through my website at www.joygoddard.com.