Interview with the Awesome Daisy Carter

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

One of my favorite things about blogging is getting to know so many awesome people, and I have one especially awesome one to introduce here today: Daisy Carter. She has an awesome blog (which you simply must follow! :) and is incredibly supportive of the writing community! She's has a fun interview here today:


Hi, Meradeth! Hi, Meradeth’s readers *waves* Thanks for inviting me over!

I don’t do social media (call me a hermit!). You can find me on my blog, where I talk writing, books, and reading: www.DaisyCarter.com. If you’d like to drop me a line or have something critiqued, my email is DaisyCarterFresh at gmail dot com.

(Q) I think it’s pretty safe to say that most writers love reading. What are some of the books that
influenced you the most? Anything you’d like to recommend? :)

I fell in love with reading and writing at a very young age. I spent hours hidden away in the attic, the back of my closet, and under my bed reading books as a kid. No, reading
wasn’t forbidden in my house! I just loved to literally hide away with a good book. As I got older, I hid away and tried to write my own stories.

The books that influenced me the most as a kid were Judy Blume’s books. My mom read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing aloud to me and my older brother when I was in kindergarten. By the time I hit third grade, I owned most of her younger MG books: It’s
Not The End of the World, Blubber, Just As Long As We’re Together, and (my favorites)
all the Fudge books. I graduated to the harder stuff a year or two later. By sixth grade,
my girl friends and I spent recess reading Tiger Eyes to each other. I was way cool,
obviously. ;)

As for more current recommendations, I cannot say enough about Jandy Nelson’s The
Sky Is Everywhere. This book is, to me, nearly perfect. And I adore Ruta Sepetys’s
newest book, Out of the Easy. I could go on for days about it. I also just finished Gary D.
Schmidt’s Okay For Now, a middle grade that had me laughing out loud and tearing up. It
was phenomenal.

(You're seriously making me want to go back and read some Judy Blume--it's been ages! :)

(Q) What is your favorite part of the writing process? What about it makes you love it?

I really love everything about writing. I also hate a lot of it, some days! First drafts, when
I’ve hit my stride, are great. When I’m struggling to get through Act II, not so much. I
think my favorite part of the process is when I get in the zone and am writing without
thinking, just letting the words and characters take over my brain and my keyboard.
Then, when I go back and read something that really is good - that, with revision, could be
great – that’s a great feeling.

I think what I love most about writing is that from nothing but a pencil and paper, I can
create entire worlds, form people, save the town (or let everything go down in flames). I can relive moments from my own life but change the outcome. I can explore themes or
truths or events that I’m passionate about.

(Q) What’s your biggest pet-peeve when it comes to the writing world? Does anything get under
your skin and itch?

I’m a lefty, so I constantly have ink on the side of my hand. That’s a big one. :)

(Q) If you could meet any writer, living or dead, and pick their brain over coffee/tea/hot-
chocolate, who would it be? What would be your first question?

This one is too hard! I want to meet all the writers. Ever. But if I can only choose one, I
choose Harper Lee. My first question? Definitely, “How many drafts did you write, and
how long did it take?”

Thank you so much for having me over, Meradeth! I had such a great time!