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“Someone always asks so I’ll say it: I’m 65; 7 grandkids.” But Ann Walsh shows no sign of slowing down. So far, she has written an impressive “eight novels, one poetry, three anthologies, one picture book. Not as many as some, but I didn’t start till I was 40.”

 

One of the first questions asked is if Walsh has a favourite out of the books she’s written. “Ouch, that’s hard. Does your mom have a favourite kid?” she jokes. “I mean, it’s hard to choose the favourite of your own.” Just as well, this gives the group an opportunity to discuss a range of her works.

 

“My first book came out in 1984, before any of you were born, sigh,” Walsh reports. Your Time, My Time is a love story set in Barkerville, BC that involves time travel.

 

It seems that Walsh has another connection to teens and science fiction. “The older SF writers, in the 70s and 80s, wrote some good stuff. I started reading it when I was a teen. Got laughed at. Girls didn’t read that stuff back then ... I thought girls could do anything these days. I could only be a nurse or a teacher, no other career options.”

 

Another novel she speaks about is Dark Times, a collection of thirteen stories from “awesome writers,” says Walsh. “My books – Dark Times is one I’m proud of. I picked all the stories. Carrie Mac has a story in it. It’s all sad stories.”

 

A young reader’s favourite is Shabash!, which Walsh also calls “a favourite of mine.” The idea for that book, she says, stemmed out of “making a dream come true – always wanted to write.”

 

The author also mentions Moses, Me and Murder! and By the Skin of His Teeth, both based on true stories during the gold rush. “The gold rush in BC was full of good stories,” comments Walsh. “I did a reading in Barkerville on July 1, Dominion Day. We call it Canada Day now. In By the Skin of His Teeth, one of the chapters happens on July 1, 1871. Moses, Me and Murder! Is the first of three stories set in Barkerville, [and] Skin is about the murder of a Chinese man in 1970.”

 

Ann Walsh then talks about her inspiration to work with such an interesting topic. “I started with a really, really good story I found [which] happened in Barkerville. So I spent a lot of time in Barkerville, getting a ‘feel’ for the place, and a lot of time doing research, mainly [in] books, but now there’s all sorts of stuff on the Internet. Type in Barkerville and see how many hits you get ... Nag your parents to bring you to Barkerville for a holiday.”

 

Surprisingly, according to Ann Walsh, “picture books take longer than novels. Each word has to be just the right one, like poetry." Many readers are quick to reply that they thought it would be the opposite.

“I thought so too, until I tried to write one!” she laughs.

 

“Ideas come from everywhere and nowhere,” declares Walsh, “sometimes in a dream, really. But putting them together so they make sense in a book – that’s what writing is about ... Sometimes things sneak into books, from real life.”

 

When she gets an idea for a story, she admits that “the hard part is sitting down to write it. I do a lot of thinking before I write anything. Susan Musgrave calls it prewriting and it takes up about half a writer’s time.”

 

Planning, she stresses, is an important part of the writing process. “[I] always plan ahead. Most of the time, anyway. But idea first is the way I do it. Sometimes just one scene, or one character starts it. Sometimes the ending changes. Sometimes I know it right from the first ... You need a map so your story doesn’t get lost.

 

“Stephen King says only a god gets things right the first time, but real writers know how to re-write. That’s [another] hard part for me, revision ... Getting from the beginning to the end is difficult. One book took me 3 years – I put it away while I figured out the middle part.”

 

When some teens express an interest in writing, Ann Walsh is eager to share some advice.

“Just write and keep on writing,” she types, “and then submit your stuff. That’s a hard thing to do, send it for publication.

 

“Tips for novels? Plan it, then write it all the way through,” she continues. “Then let it sit for 2 months, print it, go back and re-read and then begin your second draft. That’s the way I do it.

“Write what you know is a good thing to do, but with stuff like historical fiction, I always say ‘know what you write.’ ... All historical fiction needs a lot of research, [but] the story has to come first, or no one will read it. Another bad word – research! ... (I’d like to research a book in Hawaii. Maybe next time.) ... Historical fiction [is] fun, like a literary puzzle to write.

 

“Writing sometimes comes so easy it’s unbelievable,” remarks the author. “Othertimes, it sucks ... I write erratically – writers’ block gets me, and life gets in the way, too. I used to write at 2am, but not anymore!”

 

Her writing method has certainly changed over the years. “I didn’t get a computer until 10 years ago,” says Walsh. “Wrote three books on a manual typewriter, know what those are? I have 10 typewriters, [including] my father’s, one of the first portable ones made [in] about 1932.

 

“Making mistakes meant doing the whole page over, right. No spell check either; used the dictionary. Some chapters [were] rewritten 10 times, each page re-typed. Frustrating? You bet! Majorly!

 

“Computers have spoiled us,” she continues, “I think there’s less thought because it’s so easy to change something. Sometimes I call it computer vomit – it just comes out and keeps on going and going and going ... but I love my Mac. Granddaughter #6 started on the computer at 2 years old! She won’t play games with me anymore, I can’t keep up. She’s 10 now, and really fast.”

 

 

Before becoming an author, Ann Walsh was a teacher. “I have a degree from UBC – in teaching. I taught everything ... Grades 1, 3, 5, 6/7, teacher librarian, college English – lots of little jobs ... ending up teaching ESL at college.”

 

Thus, she knows from experience that “authors presenting in school really make kids want to read.”

 

“I always wanted to be a writer,” she recalls. “Took a short ‘how to’ course one summer, went home and wrote my first book ... kitchen table, manual typewriter, 3 drafts. I learned a lot about how to send stuff out, and I got confidence, because a ‘real’ writer [Robin Skelton] told me I had talent. So I wrote and submitted.”

 

Now, her fans were happy to hear, her favourite part about being an author is “doing things like these, talking to readers.” Luckily, there are “no paparazzi in Williams Lake or Kamloops!”

Still, Walsh reveals that her least favourite thing is “not making any money.” And “writing in a small town is hard. And lonely.”

 

 

Yet, with Ann Walsh’s array of works, one question proves particularly difficult to answer. “What kind of genre are your books?”

 

“Genre?” muses Walsh, “Mixed. Fiction. Historical fiction ... Some are fiction, some aren’t ... Lots of stuff. Some murders. Some history ... They are mysteries. Some action. Not much gushy stuff.”

 

Fortunately, a chat participant has the perfect description.

 

“They are classic BC literature.”

 

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Selected works from Ann Walsh include Horse Power, Forestry A-Z, Dark Times, By the Skin of His Teeth, The Doctor’s Apprentice, Shabash!, Moses, Me and Murder! and Your Time, My Time.