Maggie: I expect that it can be an issue, but I don't worry about it myself. I write what feels most important at each stage of my life, and together what I've written makes up my body of work. I appreciate the learning opportunities each form and genre provides and the different kinds of engagement with readers of all ages. I also appreciate the fact that I have not become stuck in a particular rut. Readers may find connections among my books, but they do not expect me to keep writing a particular kind of fiction.
Leanne: What do you say when people ask what genre you write?
Maggie: I give a list. I say that I write mostly for children and teens and that I've written an adult memoir. Then I wait to see what seems most relevant to them and focus on that.
Leanne: Do you think your writing has suffered due to lack of focus? Why or why not?
Maggie: I think my writing has been strengthened by variety. I wouldn’t say I have a lack of focus. I am focussed on each project as I work on it. I believe that each kind of writing teaches me things that benefit all my writing.
Leanne: Romance, mystery and children's literature authors are able to support each
other through associations, etc. Please provide tips or advice on how a
multi-genre author can access this type of support.
Maggie: A multi-genre author can join all the associations he or she wishes. I belong to
several associations for children’s writers and I belong to the Writers’ Union.
So far, I have not felt the need
to join any other associations, but if I wrote another historical novel, I
might seek out an association for writers of historical fiction.
Leanne: Please supply additional information regarding being a
multi-genre author
Maggie: I find great richness in writing in a variety of forms for a variety of
audiences. I encourage all writers to write what they want to write most at any
given time. There is more satisfaction, joy and potential success in that strategy, I think, than there is in any attempts to write
to the market, or to find a niche and stay firmly stuck in that spot.
Leanne: Thank you so much for being a guest on my blog, Maggie. I found your answers encouraging and helpful. Wishing you continued success with your writing.
Bio: Maggie de Vries
is the author of eleven books including the Governor General Literary Award
nominated Missing Sarah: A Memoir of Loss and teen novel, Rabbit
Ears, winner of the 2015 Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize. She is
also the writer of A Voice for Change by Rinelle and Julie Harper, coming
soon from HarperCollins. She has a picture book coming out with Orca in 2017
called Swimming with Seals. In November 2014, Maggie gave a TEDxSFU talk
entitled The Red Umbrella: Sex Work, Stigma and the Law. In March 2016,
she was part of a collaborative production called Hooker Monologues at
the Firehall Arts Centre. Maggie was children’s book editor at Orca Book
Publishers for seven years, and was a substitute teacher in Surrey for five. She
currently lives in Vancouver and teaches writing for children and young adults
in UBC’s Creative Writing Program. For more
information see www.maggiedevries.com
