| Interview with Terri Farley |
Let's get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
When I was eight years old, my grandma gave me her old Selectric typewriter. I sat down that day and
wrote a story called PAGAN, THE WILD PINTO STALLION. I had no idea what pagan meant except that it
was a synonym for WILD in my thesaurus!
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
After the debut (to family, only) of PAGAN, my parents scrimped together the money to give me writing
lessons (which I loved) in addition to piano lessons (which I didn't ; I struggled to read music & for a long
time just faked it, but that did teach me to play by ear!). Writing lessons meant I worked Sunday afternoons
with a published writer, Mrs. Youngberg. She read my work, critiqued it and recommended markets. She
was responsible for my first published work THE STALLION'S SONG (do you see a pattern emerging?)
finding its way into print. After that, I won a few writing awards in high school & college, wrote for my high
school & college newspapers and eventually started writing magazine articles on everything from cattle
drives to bats. I became a non-fiction specialist on wild horses and one day I got an idea for a story which
turned into THE PHANTOM STALLION series!
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
My latest book is WILD HONEY. It's part of THE PHANTOM STALLION series and has a pinch of mystery &
lots of first-hand facts on police horses (I watched training--think gunfire, popping balloons and fake bad
guys tackling riders from their mounts-- nd actually got to ride a police horse!). I've got to mention SEVEN
TEARS INTO THE SEA, too. It's not a horse book, but a Celtic fantasy which begins: "This is what it's like to
be crazy."
Let's hear about your family, who I'm sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Everyone in my family is a talented writer. My husband is an ex-Green Beret & an award-winning journalist
and columnist, my son just graduated from college & got his first job as a police reporter and columnist and
my daughter, a college student, spent this summer as a Senate intern in Washington, D.C., writing
committee reports and Congressional Record entries--she also proofreads my books!
Now for some fun facts. What's your greatest comfort food?
Sadly, there are way too many of them, but I'll give you a sample: Peanut M&Ms (I love chocolate),
edamame, hot spiced chai, pad thai, chicken mole, fresh pineapple, good strong coffee and that cowgirl
favorite, biscuits & gravy.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Make coffee, walk the dog/ ride my bike/ go to the gym (depends on the weather & my husband's
schedule), then answer reader email for an hour before working on my current book.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what's the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
That the Health Department hasn't confined me to a home for the criminally messy. I would be a very neat
person if a) books and b) paper had never been invented. Of course I'd be very sad, too!
Everyone asks the question about "if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?" so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
I would be red--the bright scarlet of Nevada sunsets, because it's impossible for me to hide my strongest
feelings.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Wonder Woman!
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world ("Beam me up, Scotty!"), during any time in history,
where and when would it be, and why?
It's awfully tough to decide, but I think I'd be a Native American in one of the plains tribes, galloping with the
wind in my hair.
So what's your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you're writing?
I'm as omnivorous about music as I am books. I like everything from rock to reggae, from country to harp
music. My favorite musical artists are the Dixie Chicks (I'm going to one of their concerts next month, YES!),
Richard Thompson (his "Vincent Black Lightning" is a great ballad!), James McMurtry (incredible lyrics),
Mark Knopfler (if I could pick any living musician to do my movie sound track, it would be him!) Janice Joplin
and many others.
The only book I've written to music was SEVEN TEARS INTO THE SEA. My friend Elane gave me a CD
which combined Celtic music with the sounds of the sea. PERFECT!
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows?
I loved WEST WING, but now the only thing I watch consistently is HOUSE, and I can't think of any show I'd
rearrange my life to watch. I'm trying not to get cable because I know I'd become addicted to Animal Planet
and the comedy channel.
What was the last movie you saw at the theater?
Superman.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Speak up for what you believe is right, every day of your life.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
A brand new horse series (can't reveal the title yet!) and another contemporary Celtic fantasy!
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
wanted to be a writer?
When I was eight years old, my grandma gave me her old Selectric typewriter. I sat down that day and
wrote a story called PAGAN, THE WILD PINTO STALLION. I had no idea what pagan meant except that it
was a synonym for WILD in my thesaurus!
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
After the debut (to family, only) of PAGAN, my parents scrimped together the money to give me writing
lessons (which I loved) in addition to piano lessons (which I didn't ; I struggled to read music & for a long
time just faked it, but that did teach me to play by ear!). Writing lessons meant I worked Sunday afternoons
with a published writer, Mrs. Youngberg. She read my work, critiqued it and recommended markets. She
was responsible for my first published work THE STALLION'S SONG (do you see a pattern emerging?)
finding its way into print. After that, I won a few writing awards in high school & college, wrote for my high
school & college newspapers and eventually started writing magazine articles on everything from cattle
drives to bats. I became a non-fiction specialist on wild horses and one day I got an idea for a story which
turned into THE PHANTOM STALLION series!
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
My latest book is WILD HONEY. It's part of THE PHANTOM STALLION series and has a pinch of mystery &
lots of first-hand facts on police horses (I watched training--think gunfire, popping balloons and fake bad
guys tackling riders from their mounts-- nd actually got to ride a police horse!). I've got to mention SEVEN
TEARS INTO THE SEA, too. It's not a horse book, but a Celtic fantasy which begins: "This is what it's like to
be crazy."
Let's hear about your family, who I'm sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Everyone in my family is a talented writer. My husband is an ex-Green Beret & an award-winning journalist
and columnist, my son just graduated from college & got his first job as a police reporter and columnist and
my daughter, a college student, spent this summer as a Senate intern in Washington, D.C., writing
committee reports and Congressional Record entries--she also proofreads my books!
Now for some fun facts. What's your greatest comfort food?
Sadly, there are way too many of them, but I'll give you a sample: Peanut M&Ms (I love chocolate),
edamame, hot spiced chai, pad thai, chicken mole, fresh pineapple, good strong coffee and that cowgirl
favorite, biscuits & gravy.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Make coffee, walk the dog/ ride my bike/ go to the gym (depends on the weather & my husband's
schedule), then answer reader email for an hour before working on my current book.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what's the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
That the Health Department hasn't confined me to a home for the criminally messy. I would be a very neat
person if a) books and b) paper had never been invented. Of course I'd be very sad, too!
Everyone asks the question about "if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?" so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
I would be red--the bright scarlet of Nevada sunsets, because it's impossible for me to hide my strongest
feelings.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Wonder Woman!
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world ("Beam me up, Scotty!"), during any time in history,
where and when would it be, and why?
It's awfully tough to decide, but I think I'd be a Native American in one of the plains tribes, galloping with the
wind in my hair.
So what's your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you're writing?
I'm as omnivorous about music as I am books. I like everything from rock to reggae, from country to harp
music. My favorite musical artists are the Dixie Chicks (I'm going to one of their concerts next month, YES!),
Richard Thompson (his "Vincent Black Lightning" is a great ballad!), James McMurtry (incredible lyrics),
Mark Knopfler (if I could pick any living musician to do my movie sound track, it would be him!) Janice Joplin
and many others.
The only book I've written to music was SEVEN TEARS INTO THE SEA. My friend Elane gave me a CD
which combined Celtic music with the sounds of the sea. PERFECT!
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows?
I loved WEST WING, but now the only thing I watch consistently is HOUSE, and I can't think of any show I'd
rearrange my life to watch. I'm trying not to get cable because I know I'd become addicted to Animal Planet
and the comedy channel.
What was the last movie you saw at the theater?
Superman.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Speak up for what you believe is right, every day of your life.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
A brand new horse series (can't reveal the title yet!) and another contemporary Celtic fantasy!
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
