Interview with KALEENA FRAGA
Kaleena Fraga is from Bainbridge Island, Washington. She
graduated from Oberlin College in 2013 with a double major in History and
French. Currently, she is spending a year in France teaching English in the
small Normandy town of Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët.
What are
you reading right now?
I just finished
MADDADDAM by Margaret Atwood. It was the third in a series and really fantastic!
I'm about to get started on THE LUMINARIES by Eleanor Catton. I’m also
rereading HARRY POTTER in French, because I’m in France now and trying to
immerse myself in the language.
What
first sparked your interest in writing?
I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't write. Even
before I knew how to hold a pencil, I loved telling stories. I was the kid who
had dolls with detailed backstories and, of course, an imaginary pet
dog/sidekick.
What do
you love the most about writing? The least?
I love it when one idea leads to another, and another, and
another, and I look down and I've been writing for an hour without realizing
it. It's the feeling you get when the ideas come so quickly you can barely type
fast enough. Basically, I love to be immersed
in a story. I do and don't like starting things. On the one hand it's exciting
and new and that can be a great feeling - but to find the right inspiration,
the right way to approach the story, to think about the characters and their
journey takes time (sometimes a lot
of time) and I'd rather just start writing than over-think things.
Tell us a
little about your writing process.
I take an idea and run with it. I read about how some
authors have detailed outlines of what will happen in their novels/stories...I’m
not organized enough for that. I've always just written and written and
surprised myself with what appeared on the paper.
What are
your passions?
Writing and reading, of course. I'm passionate about
history, especially presidential history, and I have a budding passion for long
runs.
What
inspires you?
The people around me, things I see on the news or online,
and questions I have about the world that I try to understand by asking my
characters to struggle and figure it out for me. Writing, for me, is a way to
understand the world. If I don't get something, maybe I'll understand it better
through the eyes of one of my characters.
Why
speculative fiction?
I really like the blurry line between fact and fiction. With
speculative fiction you can either stay close to that line or go much, much
further. I prefer to write stories where, among the characters living normal
lives, one thing is slightly off. I love how much freedom speculative fiction
gives to the writer to explore that one, strange thing.
As both a
writer and reader, do you prefer either science fiction or fantasy over the
other?
I prefer science fiction because the "science"
part can be discreet - normal people, normal lives, one odd occurrence.
That being said, I am waiting along with the rest of the world for George R.R.
Martin to finish up with the next GAME OF THRONES novel!
How was “Island
of Dreams, Island of Fears” born?
I think I was fifteen or sixteen when I wrote "Island
of Dreams, Island of Fears." I was travelling with my family when I first
saw the news coverage of the tsunami in Sri Lanka and it really stuck with me:
the incredible tragedy of the event, the sheer destructive power of nature, and
all the stories that the people who survived started to tell. It made me think
about how sudden death can be. So I took that idea and tried to explore it
through my story.
Do you
have any advice for aspiring authors?
Just to write, write, write. And read!