Today I'm delighted to be interviewing Dee White, author of the YA novel Letters to Leonardo. I read this book last week in one sitting. It is a gem and another great book from Walker Books. I suspect Walker Books will have several nominations in the next CBCA awards. Welcome Dee and let's find out more about the inspiration and writing of Letters to Leonardo.
Letters to Leonardo by Dee White. 
1. Where did the inspiration for the story come from and what prompted you to want to write it?
A friend told me a story about a man who got a letter from his 'dead' mother on his twenty-first birthday. I thought, how bizarre. Then I thought, what a great premise for a story. But I was working on many other things at the time so the idea just floated around in my head space for a few years.
When I started plotting Letters to Leonardo, I realised I had to come up with a plausible explanation to explain the boy's mother's absence. In fact, I initially used the premise in a film script for uni, but my lecturer said it wasn't believeable that a child wouldn't know what had happened to their own mother.
I had a friend who had a relative with bipolar, and over the years I had come to realise how difficult this was for both the sufferer and their family. I had wanted to write about it, and bipolar was a way to explain Matt's mother's absence.
2. What for you is the most important aspect of the writing process? Is it setting, character, theme, plot etc.
I think character is the most important thing for me. My character's are always the first things to emerge in the story. They 'speak' to me and 'steal' the plot and take it in their own direction. Themes also seem to arise out of the actions of my characters. In fact, I get very attached to characters in my stories and have a lot of trouble allowing bad things to happen to them.
3. Have you always been interested in art? Who is your favourite artist? Is it Da Vinci?
I have always been interested in art, but not really known a lot about it. I think that realism is my thing - I have trouble connecting with some 'abstract' art.
I'd have to say I admire not only da Vinci's art, but his dedication to it - the fact that he was prepared to cut up dead bodies to learn about the anatomy of the human body so that he could get it right in his paintings. I confess, I'm a bit like my main character, Matt. The more Matt became obsessed with Leonardo da Vinci, the more I did.
4. How do you see art and writing fitting together? Does one inspire the other often for you?
Art seems to spring up a bit in my work even though I'm really not good at it myself. I suppose that being a writer, I understand the need for artistic expression in any form. In Letters to Leonardo, the art is really a conduit for Matt's emotions. I think that art allows my writing to take on a more visual perspective - and add depth to the feelings and experiences of my characters.
5. Why did you write it in first person? Did you consider writing in third person? If so, why do you reject it?
I started writing Letters to Leonardo in first person because it allowed me to bring my readers closer to Matt and understand what he is feeling.
I was awarded a mentorship in 2002 and my mentor persuaded me to rewrite the book in third person because she said that would allow me to build up the suspense more. But this never really worked for me. Matt felt too distant - and I felt that I couldn't show his introspection and really allow the reader to know and empathise with what he was going through.
Later on, after advice from a publisher, I went back to writing my original story in first person - and that's the one that got published.
6. What research did you need to do in writing this book?
I loved the research part of the book even though it was very time consuming and extensive.
The research process involved finding out about Leonardo da Vinci's life and works, what it's like to suffer from bipolar, and how the mental health system works.
In fact, research was such a large part of writing this book that I discussed it in detail on Mabel Kaplan's blog http://belka37.blogspot.com on the 27th June
7. What was the hardest part about writing Letters to Leonardo?
Having to do bad things to my characters.
.
8. What was the best?
This book took over ten years to write, and all of it has been a fantastic experience and learning curve. Probably the best part was seeing my proofs of the book, and knowing that the writing process was complete, and that I had seen it through from start to finish. Of course I was also very excited about the fact that Letters to Leonardo would soon be on bookshelves.
9. After you had written it did you test it out with any young people or other writers before sending it to a publisher? Did you change anything as a result of this? What and why?
I had wonderful writer friends read my manuscript and give me great suggestions, and I also gave drafts to young adults to read. One of them was my eldest son, and he liked what I had written but felt that the ending was too weak.
In my heart I agreed with him. The ending was predictable and didn't allow my main character the growth he deserved, but how else was I to end the book? My dilemma was that I was so close to my characters by now that I didn't want anything bad to happen to them. My son told me to stop being wimpy, and thanks to his 'encouragement', I managed to find an ending that we were both satisfied with.
10. What advice would you give to a young writer about the process of writing a novel?
I wrote over thirty drafts of Letters to Leonardo, so I suppose my advice would be to redraft, review and rewrite some more. And don't give up. If you love your story, stick with it.
11. What did you feel was the most valuable thing you learned in the process of writing this book?
I think the most valuable thing I learned was the importance of having faith in yourself and your story - and how important it is to keep rewriting until you are happy with the end result.
Thank you so much Dale for hosting me on your blog.
My pleasure Dee and I hope lots of people go and buy Letters to Leonardo. They won't be disapppointed. It's a great read. If you want to catch up on any of the other stops on the blog tour check it out below.
Below are the tour dates. Come and join me here on 29th June or stop off at any of the other sites.
24th June 2009 http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com
Dee and Matt talk about promoting Letters to Leonardo online.
25th June 2009 http://spinningpearls.blogspot.com
Author interview
26th June 2009 http://thebookchook.blogspot.com
How art has been used in Letters to Leonardo
27th June 2009 http://belka37.blogspot.com
The research process involved in writing Letters to Leonardo
28th June 2009 http://weloveya.wordpress.com
Guest blogger – talking with Vanessa Barneveld – interactive discussion with bloggers
29th June 2009 http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale
An author interview covering things like inspiration and perspective
30th June http://www.letshavewords.blogspot.com
Mentors in YA fiction, and Leonardo da Vinci’s involvement in the book
1st July Cyber launch http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com including cross to Robyn Opie’s blog http://robynopie.blogspot.com – hurdles overcome on the way to publication.
2nd July http://persnicketysnark.blogspot.com
How the author’s life paralleled Matt’s – her growing obsession with Leonardo da Vinci
3rd July http://bjcullen.blogspot.com
Working with a publisher and the editing process
4th July http://sandyfussell.blogspot.com
Interview with the elusive Matt Hudson
5th July http://teacherswritinghelper.wordpress.com
Class writing activities based on Letters to Leonardo
6th July http://tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com
Tips 4 young writers on how Letters to Leonardo was written
7th July http://www.JenniferBrownYA.com
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
orangedale) wrote,
