MoAA Interview #27: A.B. Westrick

Today, MoAA presents fabulous fellow children’s author A. B. Westrick!

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Alethea Kontis: What’s the best thing about writing?

A.B. WestrickA.B. Westrick: Achieving clarity of thought.

AK: What’s the worst thing about writing?

ABW: The process is slow.

AK: Finish this sentence: “Writing is like…”

ABW: breathing. The more you do it, the more alive you feel.

AK: If you could write anywhere in the world, where would it be?

ABW: In a sunny room with huge windows overlooking a waterfall.

AK: Pick five words to describe your latest work.

ABW: Edgy, honest, tense, heartfelt, Southern.

AK: Pick five words to describe you.

ABW: Thoughtful; wish I were funny.

AK: What’s your favorite type of tree?

ABW: Dogwood.

Brotherhood AK: What were you like in high school?

ABW: Super involved in extracurriculars from drama productions to marching band to church/community service groups.

AK: If you could give one piece of advice (writing or otherwise), what would it be?

ABW: Stop talking and listen.

AK: The Colin Harvey Memorial Question: What are 3 things you’d like to do before you die?

ABW: Eat in all the restaurants in Asheville, NC;

Carve out more time to read;

Practice yoga with the Dalai Lama.

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A. B. (Anne Bryan) Westrick grew up in Pennsylvania and later moved with her husband to Virginia where she spent hours walking Richmond’s brick streets, wondering how her Southern ancestors had fared during and after the Civil War. Her first novel, Brotherhood (Viking 2013), a Junior Library Guild selection, grew from those wonderings. She has been a teacher, paralegal, literacy volunteer, administrator, and coach for teams from Odyssey of the Mind to the Reading Olympics. A graduate of Stanford University and Yale Divinity School, she received an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2011. She and her family live near Richmond, VA.

Website: http://abwestrick.com/