Author Interview: Karen Kondazian

Author Interviews, Reading Related
Karen Kondazian is the debut author of The Whip, a novel about Charley Parkhurst, who was the first woman to vote in America while dressed as a man. Karen's spent the last month doing both a physical and a virtual tour to celebrate the release of The Whip. I could tell you more about her--and about Charley--but I think I'll leave that to her. 1. The Whip is your first novel. How did you enjoy the process of writing a novel and how much of your acting career influenced your writing? It took me six years and 27 drafts to complete The Whip. I’m not sure you can call that enjoyment (possibly more was blissfully the morning...and for some reason that was when my best work occurred. Perhaps it was because I was tired and did not struggle and obsess to write well. I just let it flow, come what may. The writing process, I found, is so much like the acting process. As an actor, you do intensive research, you create a back story for your character, and you let your mind dream the character in situations. How is the character the same as you? How is the character different from you? There is something called ‘sense memory’ in acting where a little thing, like a smell, sound, face or music can trigger an emotion. So in emotional places…
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