{"id":12,"date":"2014-03-22T08:27:22","date_gmt":"2014-03-22T08:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/demo.wordpresshelper.org\/309\/?page_id=12"},"modified":"2014-03-24T07:49:51","modified_gmt":"2014-03-24T07:49:51","slug":"faq","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.adriennekress.com\/author\/faq\/","title":{"rendered":"Frequently Asked Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#Q1\">When did you decide you wanted to become an author?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#Q2\">Why do you write for children?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#Q3\">Where do you get your ideas?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#Q4\">Did you or do you have a writing mentor?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#Q5\">What led you to write <em>Alex and the Ironic Gentleman?<\/em><\/a><em><\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#Q6\">How about <em>Timothy and the Dragon&#8217;s Gate?<\/em><\/a><em><\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#Q7\">How did you get published?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#Q8\">What are some of your favourite authors\/what are some of your favourite books?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#Q9\">Does your acting experience help in your writing?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#Q10\">What do you find most difficult about writing? What do you find most exciting or rewarding?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#Q11\">What&#8217;s your advice for aspiring authors?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>          <strong><a name=\"Q1\" id=\"Q1\"><\/a>When  did you decide you wanted to become an author?<\/strong><br \/>\n          I\u2019ve been creating stories my whole life,  even before I could actually write \u2013 when I was very little I would tell my dad  stories and he would type them up on the Commodore 64 for me.&nbsp; As I got older, and learned how to write  myself, I became very passionate getting my stories down \u2013 first on paper, and  then typed up on the computer.&nbsp; Writing  was so much fun for me, and a wonderful escape.&nbsp;  This wound up being really very helpful, especially as a teenager.&nbsp; For example I went through a period one  summer at a summer job where no one really liked me, and I would come home and  just cry every night.&nbsp; So I started  writing a pirate novel (yes, I\u2019ve been writing about pirates for a long time J ) and that helped me escape from my frustrations at work.&nbsp; I could just disappear into the world I had  created.<\/p>\n<p>          I took creative writing courses whenever I  could, both in school and extra curricular.&nbsp;  I wrote anything and everything, from book reviews, to poetry, to plays  (I produced and directed one at both the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the  Summerworks Festival in Toronto).&nbsp; And of  course I would always have a novel on the go.&nbsp;  I never finished any of my novel attempts though.&nbsp; I\u2019d get a bit bored with the story and just  move on.&nbsp; ALEX was, as a matter of fact,  the first novel I ever finished.&nbsp;<br \/>\n          In fact it was the fact that I never gave  up on ALEX that inspired me to look into how a person gets published.&nbsp; Up until that point I was far more focused on  my acting career.&nbsp; Now at this stage I  had directed and produced my play, but ALEX just felt different somehow.&nbsp; That book was a huge stepping stone for me,  where I suddenly wanted to be a published author. <\/p>\n<p>          <strong><a name=\"Q2\" id=\"Q2\"><\/a>Why  do you write for children?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>          I don\u2019t think I write for children  really.&nbsp; And it was never a conscious  choice.&nbsp; I just really love children\u2019s  lit, yes even as an adult, and I wanted to write what I liked.&nbsp; So really, I write for me, if that makes  sense.&nbsp; If you\u2019d like to read more on the  subject, I have written a detailed blog post about it over at<br \/>\n\t\t  <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.nathanbransford.com\/2009\/01\/guest-blogger-adrienne-kress-on-why-she.html\">Agent Nathan  Bransford\u2019s blog.<\/a><br \/>\n          <strong><a name=\"Q3\" id=\"Q3\"><\/a>Where  do you get your ideas?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>          I get my ideas from everywhere.&nbsp; From other books, from plays.&nbsp; I\u2019m a huge fan of movies, so they are  definitely a big inspiration to me.&nbsp; As  are my friends, who find themselves in my books as heightened versions of  themselves.&nbsp; I basically enjoy putting  everything I like into one book.<\/p>\n<p>          So I like teachers, because my whole family  are teachers.&nbsp; And thus we have Mr.  Underwood.&nbsp; I love pirates, have loved  pirates since I was seven and saw a production of <em>The Pirates of Penzance<\/em> by Gilbert and Sullivan.&nbsp; I wanted a strong female main character for  my first book, so I created Alex.&nbsp; I love  Agatha Christie books, and that inspired the train sequence in ALEX.&nbsp; My love of the special features on the <em>Lord of the Rings <\/em>DVDs inspired the <em>Emperor and the Necklace<\/em> sequence.&nbsp; I adore the actor Chow Yun-Fat and that  inspired the entire Chinese pirates concept in TIMOTHY.&nbsp; Places I visit, art I see (<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:An_Experiment_on_a_Bird_in_an_Air_Pump_by_Joseph_Wright_of_Derby,_1768.jpg\">this&nbsp;painting<\/a> inspired the whole vacuum\/Champagne  bubble thing on the train), even the weather \u2013 I make a note of it all if it  strikes me in my gut.<\/p>\n<p>          <strong><a name=\"Q4\" id=\"Q4\"><\/a>Did  you or do you have a writing mentor?<\/strong><br \/>\n          My father has always been my writing  mentor.&nbsp; He taught high school creative  writing, in fact it was such a popular course that students would stay an extra  semester to attend it.&nbsp; It was one of  those wonderful rare cases where someone taking his work home with him was a  wonderful treat for his daughter.&nbsp; He  taught me how to write many different kinds of things, like poetry (and always  writes me and my mother poems for special occasions), encouraged me to write  all kinds of fiction and was, and is, extremely supportive and proud of what I  did.&nbsp; Also, importantly, he introduced me  to many different and interesting authors by reading to me every night before bed.<\/p>\n<p>          I suppose my other mentor would have had to  be Canadian playwright Djanet Sears who taught my playwrighting course in my  last year of University.&nbsp; She was  great.&nbsp; What I admired most of all was  that she was able to be critical of a work and at the same time respect the  genre and vision of the student, never imposing her own personal tastes onto  our work.&nbsp; She was also the first person  who ever told me that writing was something I could do as a profession.&nbsp; She said that she knew how focused I was on  acting, but that she hoped I would return to writing someday because I was very  good at it.&nbsp; It was the first time I&#8217;d  ever considered writing as anything more than a hobby.&nbsp; It was a turning point for me.<\/p>\n<p>          Also, I will say that I\u2019ve had many friends  who have helped keep me motivated on the writing path as well.&nbsp; My friend author <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lesleylivingston.com\">Lesley Livingston<\/a><em> <\/em>and  I have competitive writing sessions where we sit together at one table with our  laptops (or sometimes we do this over Skype) and just write together.&nbsp; Hearing the other person typing away while  you aren\u2019t is a pretty great motivation.&nbsp;  And if one of us is having a problem solving a writing dilemma we can  totally help each other.&nbsp; I know that  she\u2019s always a phone call away if I\u2019m just not sure where to go next in my work  (and also if I need the occasional pep talk).<\/p>\n<p>          Then there\u2019s my friend Joanna, who I\u2019ve  known since we were seven.&nbsp; We always  wrote together as kids, created plays, stories and radio shows etc.&nbsp; It was great knowing you weren\u2019t the only one  out there who loved writing.&nbsp; During the  summer when we were teenagers, before email was super popular, she and I would  send letters back and forth (yup, good old fashioned snail mail) about what we  were up to and then, at the end, we\u2019d include the latest several pages of the  novel we were working on.&nbsp; It was a great  motivation to keep writing, and also was such a treat to go and find the next  bit of her story in the mailbox.<br \/>\n          In all I\u2019ve been very lucky in my life to  have so many great influences and so much support, from all my friends and both  my immediate and extended family.<\/p>\n<p>          <strong><a name=\"Q5\" id=\"Q5\"><\/a>What  led you to write <em>Alex and the Ironic  Gentleman<\/em>?<\/strong><br \/>\n          I was initially inspired to write ALEX  while I was living in London, UK, specifically when I taking weekend break in  the town of Bath. I\u2019ve always had something on the go writing wise \u2013 plays,  short stories, and I\u2019ve always wanted to write a cozy mystery, but I\u2019ve learned  I am not very good at writing cozy mysteries. But I had never considered  writing a children\u2019s book before. I\u2019m not sure if it was Bath that made me want  to write that kind of book, or just the getting away from the city and having a  chance to think. But suddenly the decision to write a children\u2019s book just sort  of happened while I was there as I was doing a lot of walking and thinking and  stuff.<br \/>\n          I am a huge children\u2019s lit buff, total  Harry Potterphile, and wrote my thesis in my last year of high school English  comparing <em>Alice in Wonderland<\/em> and <em>Peter Pan<\/em>. Let\u2019s just say I have read  many great books in the genre. And I suddenly thought to myself, \u201cWell I bet I  could write one of these books.\u201d Not because it was easy, but because I knew  the genre so well.<br \/>\n          Well whatever inspired the initial  decision, it was definitely Bath that inspired so many particular details about  the book. The doorknob shop was based on a doorknob shop I passed on my walk,  the bridge that Alex and her uncle live on is based on the bridge in Bath with  all the shops on it (which in turn is based on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence  Italy) and so on.<\/p>\n<p>          Then as I thought more about the structure  of the novel, I decided that Alex was going to be a love letter, an homage, to  all my favourite children\u2019s books. So the first Act, up until Alex leaves on  her adventure, I consider very Roald Dahl (to me the Daughters of the Founding  Fathers\u2019 Preservation Society totally typify the sort grotesque characters he  liked to write). Then Alex\u2019s journey to Port Cullis is <em>Alice in Wonderland<\/em>, where she meets some interesting characters in  a forest and has miniature adventures where she needs to solve problems before  moving on. Lewis Carroll made fun of the world of his time in Alice, and I try  to do something similar with this section. Lord Poppinjay, for example, is a  composite of all the bosses I had as a temp. The third Act, Port Cullis and  onwards, is <em>Peter Pan,<\/em> at least the  part with the pirates. It also owes a lot to <em>Treasure Island<\/em>. There are other authors I reference as well throughout  the book: the chapters all begin with \u201cIn which . . .\u201d which is a reference to  A A Milne for example.<\/p>\n<p>          I just really love these books, they were a  huge influence on me growing up, and I kind of wanted to say thank you to them  with ALEX.<br \/>\n          As far as character inspiration goes, Alex,  I have to admit, is loosely based on me.&nbsp;  But she is braver than I am, that\u2019s for sure.&nbsp; I even called her Alex because when I would  play make believe as a kid that\u2019s the name I would give myself.<\/p>\n<p>          I also cast a bunch of my friends in the  book:&nbsp; Heather, Coriander the Conjurer,  Fenelle the Scribe, Francesca, O\u2019Connell, Shakespeare, Tanaka, De Wit.&nbsp; That was a lot of fun, and I know my friends  think it\u2019s pretty cool that they get to be in a book.&nbsp; The Extremely Ginormous Octopus is based on  the classic British actors, like Alec Guinness or Peter O\u2019Toole.&nbsp; And Steve and the whole <em>Emperor and the Necklace<\/em> section is based on my love of the <em>Lord of the Rings<\/em> movies.<\/p>\n<p>          Giggles is based on my cat I had in  highschool, Ginger.&nbsp; He was a total  attack cat, we had to lock him up when anyone came over because he would try to  hurt them.&nbsp; But he loved us so much and  was the sweetest cat with the people he cared about.<br \/>\n          <strong><a name=\"Q6\" id=\"Q6\"><\/a>How  About <em>Timothy and the Dragon&#8217;s Gate<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>          I really wanted to write another adventure  and not a straight out sequel.&nbsp; But I did  want to bring Alex back because she is totally awesome.&nbsp; So I came up with the idea of creating a sort  of sequel but also sort of stand alone book.&nbsp;  My idea was that both adventures (Alex\u2019s and Timothy\u2019s) would happen at  the same time, and then half way through TIMOTHY he\u2019d come across the end of  Alex\u2019s adventure and that\u2019s where the sequel would start.&nbsp; So I could get the best of both worlds.<\/p>\n<p>          The character of Timothy came about in  quite a straightforward manner.&nbsp; I  decided to create someone totally opposite from Alex.&nbsp; Where Alex was adventurous, Timothy was  not.&nbsp; While Alex was always eager to work  with people, Timothy was not.&nbsp; Alex is an  optimist, Timothy a pessimist.&nbsp; And while  Alex was a girl . . . Timothy was a boy.<\/p>\n<p>          Of course this all made my life very  difficult because it\u2019s one thing to write an adventure story about someone who  loves adventures, it\u2019s quite another to write one about someone who would  rather stay at home.&nbsp; Convincing Timothy  to go on his adventure was pretty exhausting quite frankly.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>          The dragon idea came to me fully  formed.&nbsp; I just wanted to write about a  dragon.&nbsp; But the Chinese dragon idea came  about only after I decided to write about Chinese pirates, and that came about,  I must confess, after I learned Chow Yun-Fat had been cast in the third <em>Pirates of the Caribbean<\/em> movie.&nbsp; I am big fan of that actor, and the idea of  him playing a pirate seemed so cool to me.&nbsp;  Then the idea of Chinese pirates in general seemed so cool to me.<\/p>\n<p>          So I did some research on them, and that\u2019s  where I learned that they tended to work together in fleets.&nbsp; What excited me most was that unlike Western  Pirates, women were commonplace in these fleets.&nbsp; In fact there was one woman captain who  became so good at her job that the government had to bribe her to stop.&nbsp; She was the inspiration for Duchess Rose.<\/p>\n<p>          But back to dragons.&nbsp; While researching Chinese pirates, I also  started researching Chinese dragons and found it fascinating that a huge part  of the lore was that these dragons would take human form.&nbsp; That led me to create a dragon trapped in  human form.&nbsp; I also learned that there  was a legend that if Koi carp could swim upstream and then leap over the  Dragon\u2019s Gate, they would turn into dragons, and that, of course, inspired the  basic transformation concept for Mr. Shen (Mr. Shen is named after the Shenlong  dragon, which was the spiritual blue dragon that controlled the wind and the  rain).<\/p>\n<p>          As far as other characters go:&nbsp; Evans Bore was a name that Lord Poppinjay  mentions very briefly in ALEX, and I just always loved that name and thought it  would be fun to expand on him in TIMOTHY.&nbsp;  Timothy\u2019s mum doing a pantomime theatre show references very slightly my  personal experience doing panto in the UK (but it was a very different kind of  show, not on a big stage at all.&nbsp; It was  a small three person touring production).&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>          Sir Bazalgette is inspired by probably one  of my absolute favourite architects, Sir John Soane.&nbsp; His house was turned into a museum in London,  England and it is one of my favourite places to visit whenever I\u2019m in  town.&nbsp; If you wonder what it looks like,  I\u2019d suggest you just read TIMOTHY as I pretty much just copied it when  describing Sir Bazalgette\u2019s home.&nbsp; I was  also very inspired by Soane\u2019s personal life, he had a son that greatly  disappointed him and fractured the family, and that was definitely the  inspiration for Edmund.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>          Writing TIMOTHY was both much harder and at  the same time easier than writing ALEX.&nbsp;  I found the research and the challenge writing about a different culture  really tough, as was writing about Timothy as I said above.&nbsp; At the same time I had developed a tone for  ALEX that I could then easily fit into TIMOTHY, and I\u2019d learned so much editing  and writing with writing ALEX that I didn\u2019t make half so many mistakes that  time around.&nbsp; In all it was a really  interesting creation process.<\/p>\n<p>          <strong><a name=\"Q7\" id=\"Q7\"><\/a>How  did you get published?<\/strong><br \/>\n          That is a very long and detailed  story.&nbsp; So what I\u2019d like to do is link to  the very long and detailed story over at my blog:<br \/>\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/ididntchoosethis.blogspot.com\/2006\/08\/agent-acquisition-part-1.html\">Agent Acquisition Part 1<\/a><br \/>\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/ididntchoosethis.blogspot.com\/2006\/08\/agent-acquisition-part-2.html\">Agent Acquisition Part 2<\/a><br \/>\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/ididntchoosethis.blogspot.com\/2006\/08\/great-publisher-hunt.html\">Great Publisher Hunt<\/a><br \/>\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/ididntchoosethis.blogspot.com\/2007\/01\/treasure-chest.html\">Treasure Chest<\/a><\/p>\n<p>          <strong><a name=\"Q8\" id=\"Q8\"><\/a>Who  are some of your favorite authors\/what are some of your favorite books?<\/strong><br \/>\n          I\u2019m a big fan of children\u2019s lit, so I will  always recommend the classics, <em>Peter Pan,  Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland<\/em>, the books of Roald Dahl. I also  highly recommend <em>The Phantom Tollbooth<\/em> by Norton Juster \u2013 it\u2019s fairly well known, but not as much as some other  children\u2019s books out there. It is brilliant and so funny. I am a Harry  Potterphile as well.<br \/>\n          As for grown up books, well I am a huge  Douglas Adams fan. I would recommend <em>The  Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy<\/em> (and its sequels) to anyone and everyone.<\/p>\n<p>          Also Shakespeare. Love Shakespeare.&nbsp; He manages to express certain ideas and  feelings in a way that makes you think, \u201cYes, exactly, it\u2019s exactly like  that!\u201d&nbsp; And it just feels great saying  his words aloud.&nbsp; I get lines from  Shakespeare struck in my head the same way people get songs.<\/p>\n<p>          <strong><a name=\"Q9\" id=\"Q9\"><\/a>Does  your acting experience help in your writing? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>          I definitely think acting helps with the  writing. As an actor you spend a lot of time on character development, no  matter how small the role. The more three dimensional a character can be for  you to play, the easier it is. Also the more rewarding. That definitely seeps  through into the writing world. Even the smallest of characters come to my mind  fully formed with extensive back-story. That isn\u2019t to say I have a JK Rowling  like glossary of characters (that woman is awesome when it comes to detailed  world\/character building), but rather that for some reason in my head I already  seem to know all about the characters I write and their motivations. Some of  the smallest characters in ALEX and TIMOTHY are some of my favourites because  of that.<\/p>\n<p>          Also, having come from theatre, I see the  scenes I write. I see a stage setting, and can place where everyone is in the  scene and where and when they move around the space. Having come from writing  plays, where as a playwright you need to visualize the piece on a stage as you  write it, this technique has really informed my novels. I think that is one of  the reasons people often tell me it would make a good film or television  series, because when writing it, I already see it in more theatrical terms.<\/p>\n<p>          <strong><a name=\"Q10\" id=\"Q10\"><\/a>What do you find most difficult  about writing? What do you find most exciting or rewarding?<\/strong><br \/>\n          The act of starting to write is very tough for me.&nbsp; That sitting down in front of your computer  and going, \u201cRight, let\u2019s write!\u201d&nbsp; And it  can feel torturous at times, the first few sentences typed out a word a  minute.&nbsp; It\u2019s the big secret about being  a professional writer:&nbsp; Writing is  hard!&nbsp; It isn\u2019t about being  inspired.&nbsp; In fact it is very rare that I  sit down to write and I just have inspiration and the words just flow out of  me.&nbsp; Most often it is a slog.&nbsp; And starting the slog, to me that\u2019s the  hardest bit.&nbsp; The discipline.&nbsp; Once you get going though, things start to  come together.<\/p>\n<p>          Most rewarding?&nbsp; Well when  people like the book, that\u2019s pretty sweet!&nbsp;  But I really really love making someone laugh.&nbsp; And when someone says that the book is funny,  or when I show someone a piece of writing and they just start laughing, I swear  there is really nothing quite like that feeling.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>          There\u2019s also the bigger thing, the being an inspiration thing,  which is almost too big a thing for me to really appreciate.&nbsp; I do get emails from kids, and even some  adults, who tell me that my writing has inspired them in some way or  another.&nbsp; That just overwhelms me.&nbsp; I\u2019m deeply honoured that I can be that to  people, and deeply humbled.<\/p>\n<p>          <strong><a name=\"Q11\" id=\"Q11\"><\/a>What\u2019s  your advice for aspiring authors?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>          There is a whole host of advice out there  on the web of how to get published and scambusters and all that, so I won\u2019t go  into that here. I guess from me, I would start by saying \u201cwrite\u201d. Don\u2019t ask  permission. Don\u2019t worry if you don\u2019t think you are good enough. Don\u2019t worry if  you think what you are writing is too dark or weird. Or not dark or weird  enough. The first step in writing is . . . writing. Too often we get bogged  down in the other stuff, the after the book is finished stuff. To finish a book  in the first place has got to be the greatest challenge, and the most  important.<\/p>\n<p>          Also . . . read. Read tons of stuff. Read  your genre, and read everything else. Read the classical stuff, read the ultra  modern stuff. Read graphic novels and plays. Read Dickens and Shakespeare. Read <em>Harry Potter<\/em> and <em>James and the Giant Peach<\/em>. Understand this world of literature you  are participating in, understand that there are so many levels and games to  play with as a writer.<br \/>\n          And don\u2019t get snobby. Don\u2019t turn your nose  up at any other genre, be it literary, SF, YA, Romance, etc. Respect the  craftsmanship it takes to write in general, and understand that each genre  comes with its own set of challenges and advantages. Open your mind and realize  that even if you don\u2019t like a book, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean the book is  bad. And if it is truly bad, realize that there is still something to learn  from that. Make your own decisions, and don\u2019t follow trends.<\/p>\n<p>          Most of all write.&nbsp; Just  keep doing it.&nbsp; Even if you think what  you\u2019ve written sucks, just keep going.<br \/>\n          As they say in <em>Galaxy Quest<\/em>:&nbsp; \u201cNever give up!&nbsp; Never surrender!\u201d       <\/p>\n<p>          I have tons of other more practical advice,  about learning the rules and then forgetting them (as trite as that sounds, it  is something I firmly believe in), about professionalism in the industry, and  editing your \u201cgolden words\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>          But the ones I listed here are the most  important to me.<br \/>\n          Be thoughtful.<\/p>\n<p>          Above all things, be <a href=\"http:\/\/ididntchoosethis.blogspot.com\/2008\/11\/thoughtfulness.html\">thoughtful<\/a>.<br \/>\n          As far as more pragmatic, step by step  \u201cwhat do I do to get published\u201d advice goes, I\u2019d advise people to check out my  blog (www.ididntchoosethis.blogspot.com).&nbsp;  The sidebar to the right has a whole host of links to posts I\u2019ve written  that offer general advice about the publishing industry and tips on writing.<\/p>\n<p>          However to start people off, please check  out the following two entries:<br \/>\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/ididntchoosethis.blogspot.com\/2008\/08\/so-you-want-to-get-published-getting.html\">So You Want To Get Published \u2013 Getting An  Agent<\/a><br \/>\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/ididntchoosethis.blogspot.com\/2008\/08\/so-you-want-to-get-published-from-agent.html\">So You Want To Get Published \u2013 From Agent  to Publisher<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When did you decide you wanted to become an author? Why do you write for children? Where do you get your ideas? Did you or do you have a writing mentor? What led you to write Alex and the Ironic Gentleman? How about Timothy and the Dragon&#8217;s Gate? How did you get published? What are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Frequently Asked Questions - Adrienne Kress<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.adriennekress.com\/author\/faq\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Frequently Asked Questions - Adrienne Kress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When did you decide you wanted to become an author? Why do you write for children? Where do you get your ideas? 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