I have an interview with Carla today! Again, questions courtesy of my mom.
What is the thing you remember most about your early childhood?
Spending time with Emma. *laughs* That’s still probably what I do most. But when I was little especially, Emma read to me all the time and played lots of music for me. I wouldn’t let her stop. She never liked fairy tales, but they were my favorites when I was really little. I especially loved Cinderella. Then when I was four and Emma and Grace were eight, Grace got Emma to read me A Wrinkle in Time. I was probably a little too young for it then and I didn’t understand it very well, but I loved it. Emma didn’t, but she still read it to me over and over again, and A Wind in the Door too. *sighs* Emma really would do anything for me, and she always has. I just wish I could do more for her.
What is your favorite song to play on the piano?
Ooh, that’s a hard one. Grieg is one of my favorite composers, since he wrote “Morning Mood” which was what made me fall in love with music. But I can’t really play Grieg concertos yet. I can’t wait until I can play his “Piano Concerto in A Minor,” though I’m not likely to get to perform it with a full orchestra. Right now, I’m working on Debussy’s “Le Petit Noir,” which is a lot of fun. There’s a lot of staccato, with your right hand directly underneath the left for part of it, and it’s just so fun. I like more than just Romantic and Impressionistic music though. I also like playing more modern music. I have my own arrangement of “Let It Go” and of “King of Love” by I Am They too.
Do you enjoy hanging out with Grace…either with Emma, or alone?
Grace is fun, but she and Emma argue a lot, so it’s usually more fun to hang out with just Grace. Grace read me Narnia and she finds me all sorts of musicals and film score to listen to. We have a good time. I just wish Emma would be more willing to have fun and not be so serious all the time.
What do you do for fun?
Listen to stories and play music mostly. Sometimes I’ll hang out with other kids from school but Mom doesn’t like that and I’m not as close to them as I am to Emma anyway. I spend a lot of time on the piano. I do work really hard at it because I want to be a concert pianist someday, but I also just really like playing. Music is amazing. There’s so much emotion in it, and it can tell a story too. I’ll improvise music for my favorite stories sometimes. Once I pretended I was composing a soundtrack for The Missing series by Margaret Peterson Haddix. It’s one of my favorite series. And if Mom’s having a good day, sometimes she’ll play duets with me. I like it when we can do that. She likes to play “The Planets” by Gustav Holst and she’s created her own arrangement of it too.
If there was one thing you could tell Emma (that you haven’t already told her) what would it be?
I really can’t think of anything I haven’t told Emma. I tell her everything. I’d tell her again she needs to learn how to have fun, but I’ve told her that a lot, and so has Grace. *sighs* She’s always had too much responsibility since Dad has to spend so much of his time taking care of Mom. Emma deserves some time off.
Giveaway
Enter to win a signed copy of Acktorek: The Void! Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.
