Author Interview - Angela Carlie - Land of Corn Chips

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

ANGELA CARLIE

LAND OF CORN CHIPS

Angela Carlie has written the middle grade adventure, Land of Corn Chips.  In this book a young boy is joined by a dragon on a journey to a fantasy land.  I had fun asking Angela some questions about both her writing and her life. 

What is your favorite place to write?

There is only one prerequisite I have for a writing area: It must be near a window. I have my desk squarely situated in front of a second story window where I can watch the birds and the trees and the snow capped mountains. The window is usually cracked so I can hear the wind through the branches and other sounds of outdoor life such as tweets, croaking, and rain tapping.

While living with my parents as a teenager, my room had four large windows. My bed sat in the corner with a window on each side. We lived in the country in a double-wide manufactured home and I’d open those windows to allow the breeze to flow around me while I wrote about the pain and heartbreak of teen life in my journal. At night, my favorite time, I’d listen to the coyotes sing in the forest and doodle and dabble by candlelight. All near my windows.

Living in Washington, do you think your state gets an unfair rap because of its frequent rain?

I’m not sure what this rap is you speak of. Yes, it rains here. A ton. It’s gray and gloomy most of the year, but without the rain, it wouldn’t be as beautiful as it is. Our landscape is painted with every shade of green imaginable. And when we do get sunny days, they are that much glorious. Not all of Washington is constant rain, though. Parts of eastern Washington have very dry seasons.

I hear that you and your family are vegetarians. Since my brother has a food allergy, my family eats a special diet. Like you, we do not go out to restaurants. Do you find that society is accepting of your diet choices?

It’s true that I am a vegetarian. My husband eats a vegetarian diet most of the time, but will eat meat on a rare occasion. My son is not a vegetarian. I don’t force my beliefs onto him and allow him to make his own choices when it comes to these lifestyle decisions. I wasn’t always veggie. In fact, I’ve only been veggie for a little over a year now.

I also must make clear before I answer your question, we eat out a lot! We don’t have many choices in restaurants and frequent the same locations often because I don’t like cooking. Portland has some wonderful vegan restaurants. Portland is right across the river from us, but because of traffic we try to only visit there once or twice a month. The city I live in doesn’t have many veggie options.

I believe society is becoming more and more accepting every day. In fact, the American Dietetic Association believes a well planned vegan diet is appropriate for all ages. The United Nations suggests that the world must head toward a plant-based diet in order to save the environment. 

More and more people are choosing to go veggie and this makes me very happy. I believe I read somewhere that Amanda Hocking has recently made the switch based on ‘The Kind Diet’ by Alicia Silverstone.

Going vegan/vegetarian is not something that should be done on an impulse. People need to educate themselves about nutrition. Meat eaters rely on the animal to do all the work. The animal’s flesh holds the vitamins and minerals derived from the diet that animal needed to survive. By eating the animal, humans are getting their vitamins second-hand, basically. But, the point is, they are getting them. When we cut that source out, we need to know exactly what we should be eating to replace it. We can’t live a healthy life on French fries and pretzels.

Ha! I can talk about this stuff all day. One more thing, though. Although society is more tolerant, I do receive hateful comments on occasion. Even from friends. I think that’s human nature, though. Many don’t like to change and fear anyone different.

 What do you think of the cover for Land of Corn Chips?

I LOVE the cover! Don’t you?

When I set out to work with the cover designer (Robin at Robin Ludwig Design), I had a slightly different image. What we ended up with, though, is super awesome!

Can you share anything about your next writing project?

I’m so excited about my next writing project. It’s somewhat a secret, but I can tell you that it’s for the young adult market and it will be coming out by the end of June! Oh, and it’s a series. 

I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. I seriously want to!

Thank you so much for having me on your blog today! I hope I didn’t babble too much. You asked some wonderful questions!J

Until next time, peace.

Thank you to Angela and The Teen {Book} Scene for arranging this interview.