Interview with Amy Orr
Published 2019-07-22.
Tell us about your latest book. What do you hope readers take away from it?
My latest book is called Taming Chronic Pain: A Management Guide to a More Enjoyable Life, and I hope readers are able to take from it just that – a more enjoyable life. The book is a kind of one-stop-shop to living with chronic pain, including everything you need to know to understand your condition, to talk to your doctor, to explain to family, to manage your healthcare, and to manage the knock-on psychological effects pain can have.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing all my life, but it is absolutely not what I studied at school. I did physics and then finance, but found neither particularly satisfying. I was always writing (for myself), so when I moved to Canada with my husband and had some time, I decided to give it a go full-time. And I haven’t looked back!
When did you first start writing?
When I was about seven - I wrote a play for the school to perform.
What’s the most interesting book you’ve ever read?
Probably “Always Coming Home” by Ursula K. Le Guin. It’s just so varied.
What is your best marketing tip?
Understand SEO. It sucks, but it will save you time and money.
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
Being able to take my time to think, and have it still count as ‘work’!
What is your writing process?
There’s a lot of planning. I usually have an idea, flesh it out roughly, then give myself plenty of time to just think about it while I do other stuff. Let it fester, see what feels right and what comes to me. Then I start working on a plan, usually chapter-by-chapter, and with notes and reminders. I only start writing the actual content when I’m happy I know exactly what it’s going to look like.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
It depends on the book – I find nonfiction goes much faster than fiction. Taming Chronic Pain only took me two months, whereas my previous work of fiction took a year.
Who are your favorite authors?
Ursula K. Le Guin, Iain Banks, Daphne Du Maurier, China Mieville, Vikram Seth.
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