Amy Stoddard 13
Rebecca Weber, #3 16
Celeste Anne Stoddard 15
Rebecca Nelson, a.k.a. Rebecca #1 15 1/2
Rebecca Ruth Wilber, #2 12
Your hobbies?
Amy: bike, bake, baby-sit, and of course, write.
Rebecca #3: Mountain biking, swimming, hiking, and driving
Celeste: Writing, babysitting, reading, hiking
Rebecca #1: reading, reading, and just for a change of pace . . .READING! I also enjoy writing, painting, hiking, and listening to radio dramas and music
Rebecca #2: Reading, swimming, and crafts
Do you plan to pursue a career in writing, or is it just a hobby?
Amy:
Right now it is just a hobby, but if the Lord leads me, I may pursue a career in writing.
Rebecca #3: No plans, just a hobby
Celeste: Both, I want to keep writing as a hobby, then if any books sell, I want to pursue it farther
Rebecca #1: I love to write. It just seems natural to always be writing; in a journal, a prayer, or a letter to a friend, maybe a story if I have a good inspiration.
If I have anything important to say, I always feel like putting it on paper. I would love to be journalist or a published author someday.
Rebecca #2: I don't know. I do like to help people, so maybe I'll have something to do with that. I also love animals.
What author do you admire most? Why?
Amy:
Laurraine Snelling, she has really good books and is a Christian who is not afraid to put God in her books. I want to share my faith through writing like she does. Mrs. Paul is also an author I admire. She puts up with us and shares helpful hints and funny stories. She's a Christian, and a great person to know. (I'm speaking honestly)
Rebecca #3: Michael A Stackpole, Stackpole writes Star wars and x-wing novels. His books are great.
Celeste: I admire L.M. Montgomery because she is really good at developing characters and writing about every day events
Rebecca #1: The author I admire most is L.M. Montgomery. She wrote Anne of Green Gables. That was the first book I read that was a classic. The descriptions in it really made me notice the beauty here in Colorado more. (When you grow up here, it doesn't seem like such a big deal.) I also love L.M. Montgomery's sense of humor. You can't read her books without cracking up half the time. Anything that can make me smile is high on my list.
Rebecca #2: I like Jean Fritz's books because they are creative, interesting, and I love history.
(For Celeste, Amy, and Rebecca #1) Why do you keep coming back each year?
Amy:
I come back each year because I enjoy meeting the new people and I always HAVE FUN.
Celeste: I love writing, and it's a great way to get together with friends and meet new people
Rebecca #1: I keep coming back each year because it's fun! I also enjoy seeing my friends, Celeste and Amy, each year. It's also become sort of a tradition. Every year that I've been a teenager, I've spent part of my summers at WRITING CLUB
What exactly do you do at a club meeting?
Rebecca #2: When we get to Mrs. Paul's house the first thing we do is to read the chapter that we wrote last time.
Rebecca #3: Giggle
Rebecca #1: We go through the last chapter page by page and find mistakes in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and content. Some of the mistakes are easy to correct, like "baad" only has one "a." But with some mistakes, like how we should phrase something, or should we take something out, we end up debating it and sometimes voting. After brainstorming, we each write our own version of that scene and read it out loud. We write about two scenes per class. Between classes Mrs. Paul Puts all our stuff together to make a chapter, which we correct at the next class.
Amy:
In between all this we talk, giggle, and play with Gus, Gertie and Gimli(her dogs).
Rebecca #2: We also get a break sometimes to take the puppy outside.
How do the people in the group react when you read your writing/how do you feel?
Amy:
Sometimes they nod and smile, or they offer suggestions when I read my writing. I sometimes think of what I could have done differently, and I think about what everybody else wrote and learn from that.
Rebecca #3: Everyone's really nice. They'll say, "That's good," even after you read something that makes you think, "er . . . I wrote this?"
Celeste: Mrs. Paul is usually very encouraging and makes a comment or two.
Rebecca #1: Everyone is always very supportive when we read our work aloud. Nobody laughs at something someone else has written, unless it's suppose to be funny. You always know when you've done a good job, though. I'll be reading and someone will laugh or go "ohh!" and interact with my story in some way.
Rebecca #2: I get excited when I read my writing, but also a little nervous hoping people will like it.
How do you think the members and the "world famous author" Kathleen Paul co-operate?
Amy:
We get along really well. Mrs. Paul doesn't have an air that says, "You guys are amateurs. I'm the one with the published books." If she did that, I wouldn't be back next year.
Celeste: We have a lot of fun together. Of course, there are the "talkers" and the shyer people, and the teasers. But, we all get along fine most the time. Sometimes, there are disagreements about wording or something. But we take a vote then.
Rebecca #2: We give each other great ideas. Everyone is fun to be with.
Rebecca #3: Could you repeat the question?
Who does most of the work?
Rebecca #3: Everyone writes and everyone puts in their ideas, but I think Mrs. Paul works the hardest because she takes different stories and makes them into one chapter.
Celeste: Then she has to type it up.
Rebecca #1: Mrs. Paul does the most work. Period.
Rebecca #2: We all do a good chunk of the work, but Mrs. Paul does most of the work.
Rebecca #1: She also keeps us on track, which can't be an easy task.
Mrs. Paul: I didn't have to pay them much to say all that.
What keeps you from goofing off the whole time?
Amy:
The first year we didn't have that problem because none of us really knew Mrs. Paul. The second year we were bad, so she stuffed our mouths with popsicles. This year she just tells us to write and we're pretty good.
Rebecca #3: Who says we don't goof off the whole time?
Celeste: Either Mrs. Paul, or one of the girls that is feeling industrious.
Rebecca #1: She doesn't keep a horsewhip by her recliner or anything.
Rebecca #2: Sometimes when we get a little hyper (not me, of course). Mrs. Paul says, "We're running out of time! We've got to keep working!"
What is the hardest thing to do in WRITING CLUB?
Amy:
To think of what to write. I get a mind block and can't think of what to write.
Rebecca #3: Write instead of watch the dogs play.
Celeste: Thinking of interesting ways to put our plot down on paper, or correcting all the little stuff.
Rebecca #1: I have the hardest time not talking when we're supposed to be writing and editing, or talking about something else when we're supposed to be talking about the book. I mean, it's the middle of summer, I'm with my friends or girls I'm becoming friends with, and I'm doing something that is suspiciously like school. On the writing side of things, it's hard to keep the story at the right pace. If you move the story too fast, then it sounds choppy and childish. But if you go at too slow a pace, then the story becomes boring.
Rebecca #2: It is also hard to wait for the next class.
What do you like most?
Amy:
I like the writing. Ironic, isn't it? Even though sometimes I have mind blocks, other times I can think of lots to write. I love it when we read and I can learn from everybody.
Rebecca #3: I like getting the typed copy of the chapter we wrote in the last class. It's fun to read something that you wrote.
Celeste: Creating the characters, it's like making someone new, and molding them to make them just the way you want.
Rebecca #1: The part I like most is settling down to write the next section, and having all sorts of different ideas floating through my head, sometimes my own, but a lot of the time it's something one of the other girls or Mrs. Paul already suggested. Then I get to pick which ideas to use, and how I want to put the story together.
Rebecca #2: I enjoy everything. But probably my favorite thing to do is to listen to everyone's ideas.
How does God have a part in your books?
Amy:
In the first two books they shared the gospel. In the last and second book, they had to practice patience. God plays a roll. The characters are strong in their faith.
Rebecca #3: The characters pray and ask God for help. Karen and Melanie (the two main characters) aren't super-Christians. It's not like they walk on water or anything. It's more like they're not afraid to say, "God, please help me," in public.
Celeste: In all our books, there is stuff about trusting God for various things. There is also a lot of prayer involved when we sent the book out to be published.
Rebecca #1: God has a big part, although most of it is silent. All the good values that our characters have definitely come from God. We try to have our characters behave like Christians should.
Rebecca #2: In our books, the characters learn to trust God and how to represent Him well. Like in Where Love is Needed they had to learn to be nice to a person who treated them poorly.
What's the plot for this year's book?
Celeste: Karen and Melanie . . .
Rebecca #2: They're thirteen years old.
Celeste: take responsibility to watch a six year old tornado who broke both her arms.
Rebecca #2: Priscilla Clark (or Pistol) got into a skateboard accident.
Celeste: Karen's dad is planning to whisk her off to Yellowstone right as her mother is preparing for her second marriage.
Rebecca #2: Karen got a letter from her dad that says he and his girl friend, Patty, might take her camping at Yellowstone.
Mrs. Paul: Karen loves her father but he's kind of unreliable. It's hard for her to know how to react to the things he does.
Why do you always use the same two girls for the main characters?
Celeste: It's a series. And we all "know" Karen and Melanie and can write better about characters we are familiar with.
Which character do you like best? Why?
Amy:
Karen, she's bold adventurous, likes sports, likes kids, has a wacky personality. She's like me.
Rebecca #3: Karen, because she's more into the outdoors, and she's an only child.
Celeste: This year, I really like Pistol. I think she's fun. But of Karen and Melanie, I like Melanie better.
Rebecca #1: I like Karen best. Her kindness and outgoing nature often get her into scraps. She's more fun to write about, because she's always the one to get herself and Melanie into trouble.
Rebecca #2: All the characters.
Do you think the situations you write about are realistic?
Amy:
In the first book it's kind of weird that the same girls would call 911 two times in one day. But the fact that there was an elderly lady who got hurt and needed help is realistic.
Celeste: They are believable, but not probable. Most of them are just normal-like things, but most girls haven't called 911 three times in their lives.
Rebecca #2: I think that these situations are realistic, and could happen to some people. Like my uncle did get remarried, and we know people who have broken their arms.
What do you enjoy most about WRITING CLUB?
Amy:
Meeting the new girls and learning more.
Rebecca #3: Being around girls that are different from me.
Celeste: Writing and talking
Rebecca #1: I love reading the finished chapters and finding the stuff I have written in it. It is also fun to see how everyone's writing fits together.
Is there anything you don't like about it?
Rebecca #3: The cameras, other than that, no.
Rebecca #1: I'm not overly fond about correcting the finished chapter. English skills are an important part of writing, I just don't find learning them very interesting.
What is your favorite memory of WRITING CLUB?
Amy:
The parties. Everyone is relaxed and we have to attempt to get Mrs. Paul in a picture. We also get the first look at the book.
Mrs. Paul: After the book is complete, I take it to a copy shop. They run it off and bind it. Then we have an autograph party at someone's house where all the authors sign each other's book.
Rebecca #1: The first year our book was about two girls who did yard work for an old lady. Mrs. Paul kept trying to get us to do some yard work for her. We never did. Well, Celeste claims that she pulled a few weeds.
What's something funny that's happened, or something funny about WRITING CLUB?
Amy:
Watching the dogs.
Rebecca #3: Everything's funny. It must be. That's the only explanation for all the giggling we do.
Rebecca #1: We always have lots of on-going jokes. One of the best ones is the large difference in the number of mistakes we find each time we edit the chapter. You can always tell what time Mrs. Paul put the chapter together by how many errors there are. If it was after ten o'clock at night, then there are lots of them. One time she did it in the afternoon and there were only a few mistakes.
Rebecca #2: Some of the situations that our characters get into are pretty funny.
What have you learned from WRITING CLUB?
Amy:
Finding errors in the book and correcting them correctly.
Rebecca #3: I think I've learned how to add new elements to make a story more interesting.
Celeste: A couple grammar lessons from Mrs. Paul every now and then
Rebecca #1: How to pace a story. When you first start writing, it is easy to make the story go too fast by skipping all the details that make it interesting. My spelling, editing, and writing skills have also improved.
Rebecca #2: I learned how to make a good story and how to edit. I also learned a bunch of new words and rules about commas.
What other things are you learning, other than how to write and edit?
Amy:
Getting along with others and forgetting all the other distractions of life and having a great time.
Rebecca #3: How to think differently. When I first started the other girl's stories follow the same direction, but mine was weird, no space aliens or anything, but weird. Nonetheless, now I follow pretty much the same story line.
Mrs. Paul: That's normal for the newest members of the club. They soon learn to mesh their thoughts with the others, and write so that their contributions dovetail with the discussion we have over what is happening to our characters.
Celeste: How to listen to other people's ideas and not be upset if I get out-voted.
Rebecca #1: I have learned how to work well in a group. You need to listen to others ideas, also remember that your own ideas might get voted down.
Did you read Mrs. Paul's books?
Amy:
Yes, and they are awesome. You should read them.
Celeste: Yes, I really liked it
Rebecca #1: Yes, I did, and I enjoyed them very much.
Which dog do you like best?
Amy:
Gimli. He is so cute and loves to chew my sandals.
Rebecca #3: Gimli
Celeste: Gertie, probably. She's really sweet and cuddly. Gimli is cute, but he bites my toes.
Rebecca #1: Gimli, the puppy is my favorite. He likes me, too. Well, he likes my backpack, which is almost a part of me. Gimli loves to chew on all the things I have hanging on it.
Rebecca #2: I like all of her dogs. Gimli is very cute, though.
What other kind of dog or pet should be next on Mrs. Paul's list?
Amy:
Another dog. You can never have too many dogs. Cats, on the other hand. . .
Rebecca #3: A German Shepherd. Those are the best dogs.
Celeste: More puppies. They're soooooo cute.
Rebecca #1: A cat. She seriously needs a cat.
Rebecca #2: A kitten.
Mrs. Paul: I am NOT getting another pet!
Mrs. Paul sent your books to publishing houses, but keeps getting rejection letters. Does that mean your books are bad?
Amy:
No, it means we could use some improvement but it also means God has a different plan for us, or he's teaching us patience.
Celeste: No, it means the publishers have no taste. J Actually, almost all famous authors received countless rejections before an acceptance. God has his perfect timing. We need to trust and believe it.
Rebecca #1: Of course not. A lot of people are submitting books to be published. Publishers can only publish so many books.
Rebecca #2: It just means that the publishers don't have any room for our books or that it doesn't fit the company.
Any advice for teens who like to write?
Amy:
Set a goal and achieve it works for me. I tell myself I am going to write a certain amount and do.
Celeste: Always persevere in whatever you are doing. But don't get so caught up in it that you're not thinking about other people's feelings.
Rebecca #1: Just remember God loves you a lot.
Rebecca #2: My advice to the readers would be to persevere and work hard. Trust in God and He will guide you.
