I am delighted to be kicking off the blog tour for Only Daughter and it is a pleasure to welcome author Anna Snoekstra to the blog. Only Daughter is a gripping read set in Australia. In 2003 Rebecca Winter goes missing, 11 years later a woman appears claiming to be the missing Rebecca. What follows is a twisty read with a really surprising ending.
Thanks for joining me Anna. I really enjoyed your book. What was the inspiration behind Only Daughter?
I was interested in the gap between the ages sixteen and twenty-five, the things that happens between those times in your life which can’t be taken back and will shape the person you become.
Do you have a ‘day job’? Or do you manage to write full time?
I resigned from my job working at a cinema in September 2015, so it has been exactly one year that I have been writing full time. On weekends I often nanny, which is a great way to get a bit of extra income as well as have some fun outdoors! I love children and writing can be solitary, so this is a great balance for me.
Can you tell us what a typical working day looks like for you?
I write out of a shared warehouse space, which gets freezing in winter and blisteringly hot in summer. I try to get there by 8.30, but often fail. Usually I’ll spend my first hour or so replying to emails, tweets and messages. Since I live on the other side of the globe to my publishers and agent, I usually wake up to a very full inbox.
By ten I try and turn the internet off and put my phone on the other side of the room. I’ll pour a coffee and look back on where I left my writing the day before. At the moment I’m working on editing. I work very visually, so I make huge boards with cards for each chapter pinned on them as well as notes and questions. I’ll usually stare at this for about an hour and pull my hair out a bit before getting started.
How would you spend a perfect afternoon away from work?
Me and my husband love taking mini- day trips. If I had the afternoon off, it would be nice to drive to a little town out of Melbourne. There are so many beautiful little country towns only an hour’s drive away. Maybe if it was an extra special afternoon off we’d stop off at a winery.
That sounds like a lovely afternoon off, especially the winery! Are you an avid reader yourself? If so, which authors do you find yourself returning to time and again?
I always have a to-read pile towering on the side of my bed. I attempt to read at the very least a book a fortnight, although it’s always tricky to find the time. For crime writers I can’t go past Tana French, she is just amazing. Although, I’ve never re-read any of her books. They were traumatic enough the first time! I always come back to Stephen Kings book On Writing. Every time I re-read it I learn something new.
Finally, can you tell us a little bit about what you’re working on next?
Yes! I’m so excited about my second novel, Dolls. It’s about a young woman who desperately wants to be a journalist, and how far she’ll go to get her story. It will be bigger in length and scope than Only Daughter, but will be dealing with similar themes of young women going to very dark places.
I’ll look forward to that coming out. Thanks very much Anna, its been a pleasure hosting this stop on your tour.
A review of Only Daughter will be here soon, and to read more about Anna visit her other stop today at Alba in Bookland tomorrows tour stops at Gin Books and Blankets and Stephs Book Blog
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