Hey guys! I’m super excited to get to share an interview with one of my favorite writer friends–Mandy Perfetto / The Bluemoon Thinker! I met Mandy eighteen months ago at the Lancaster Christian Writers group, and soon after joined Scribes Oasis, another writer group she was involved in. This girl is fun with a capital F, and will keep you laughing all day long! Enjoy our interview below, and be sure to check out her websites so you can catch all her ‘randomness’ in the future!
Thank you for being here with us, Mandy. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am a Newbie Writer / Illustrator attempting to create stories, worlds, and characters that don’t suck eggs…..all works include pictures to help get you through the boring parts. 😉
I am also a full-time homeschoolin’ mama down to my last one. My other homeschoolin’ kiddo graduated in June. 😀
I live at home with my two kiddos, my awesome-sauce hubby, our invisible cat Murray, and three pretend goldfish named Shad, Schach, and Go.
When did you begin writing? What is your favorite genre to write in?
I’ve been makin’ up stories and drawin’ ever since I could manipulate a writing implement.
What is your current Work In Progress? What inspired this story?
Because of my ADD, I work on about five or more stories at once.
I have given myself a deadline for one of my stories, Bicusped Molar Longtooth the Third and the Gap-Toothed Monster. So, I’ve been working on that one the most consistently.
I was at my nephew’s fifth birthday party and I was listening to some of the other moms discussing the incredibly hysterical stage of childhood when the kiddos begin losing their baby teeth. One of the moms kept referencing the words gap-toothed. For some reason those words sparked the beginnings of Bicusped’s adventures in the Toothfairy business and my fertile imagination took over from there.
How long have you had your blog?
I am not exactly sure. I have several up and running, although all of them have suffered tremendously since school started back up.
Also, because of my goal of finishing up Bicusped, including second drafts of illustrations by February 1st of 2017, any time that I have allotted to writing is filled with working toward my looming deadline.
I have a limited amount of creative time, so blogging has taken a back seat to focusing on teaching my kiddo and finishing up Bicusped.
Can you tell me some of your strengths that help you when you write? Do you have any traits that would be perceived as a weakness, but are actually a strength to this craft? I believe that my Aspergers and ADD help me a lot with writing.
They both guide me and shove me in the direction of continually being more creative and imaginative.
Aspies are naturally driven people who tend to look at things slightly up and to the left or down and to the right. ADD-is-Good-for-Me type peeps enjoy the creativity of life to the fullest and notice all of the small details that other people just walk by and never take any notice of.
All of the so called quirks that Aspie and ADD people have, I consider attributes. They bless me with the resources to be bountifully imaginative and inventive.
What is your ideal working environment? What’s the reality?
Anywhere there is natural light, a good view, and chocolate.
I like to do most of my creating at the kitchen table in front of the bay window. It is an open and airy location with plenty of natural sunlight streaming in during all times of the day.
How do you manage to find time to write? Do you have any suggestions for those that struggle with time?
This time of year is always difficult for me due to the school year being in full swing.
My biggest suggestion is to set aside a day that is dedicated to some sort of writing activity.
For instance, I am part of a group of writers called Scribes Oasis who meet every Thursday for a few hours in the evening. For a couple of years now, we get together and spend three to four hours writing.
Whatever we are working on whether it be our blogs, stories, poetry, political essays, or writer interviews we allocate that particular block of time to creativity. ;)-
It’s wonderful to know that even if I haven’t written anything else all week, I will get something done thanks to my Thursdays with Scribes Oasis.
Who or what has influenced your writing the most?
Without the friendships that I’ve made through Scribes Oasis I do not believe that I would still be as devoted to my writing as I am. The Scribes are a boon to me.
They encourage me when I’m feeling down, smack me in the head with praise when my inner-critic grumbles that I can’t write worth diddly, and consistently and persistently champion my inner writer; doggedly pumping the life giving air of inspiration into my deflated week weary artistic soul.
What do you do in your spare time?
What spare time? I know nothing of this spare time that you speak of.
Where would you like to be in your writing five years from now?
I would like to be sitting in my own art studio on my hobby farm working on my books. 🙂
Hopefully in five years I will be a better overall writer and I will have learned half way decent grammar and punctuation by then. 😀
Can you name some of your favorite authors? What are your favorite books?
Mo Willems… Any of the Piggy and Elephant books
Jack Prelutsky… A Pizza the Size of the Sun
Charles Schultz… Peanuts
Stan and Jan Berenstain… The Bear Scouts
Peggy Parish… Any Amelia Bedelia book
Megan McDonald… Any of the Stink books
Melanie Watt… Scaredy Squirrel at Night & Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Christmas
E.B. White… Charlotte’s Web
Don Freeman… Dandelion
Virginia Lee Burton… The Little House
Roald Dahl… Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Judy Blume… Fudge and Superfudge
Patrick Carman… Floors
C.S. Lewis… The Magician’s Nephew
J.R.R. Tolkien… The Lord of the Rings
… Well, just about everything and anything found in your library. Lols.
Where can Caffeinated Fiction readers connect with you on social media?
Blogs-
Facebook-
Wow! Well thank you for allowing Caffeinated Fiction to interview you! I appreciate the way you shared your heart and passions for writing! I can’t wait to read your Bicusped story!! And you are such an encouragement to others who might not approach writing in a traditional way, but find their strengths and use them. Thank you, for that!
Readers, be sure to head over to Mandy’s websites to check out what she’s up to!!
Happy writing, friends!
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