Weedflower’ was already in the copyediting phase when I heard about the Newbery award, so it didn’t really influence my writing of that book, but since then, I have become more aware of having an audience. Cynthia Kadohata Read Quote
I hate thinking about writer’s block! I don’t have writer’s block much, knock on wood, but if I do, I think it’s usually because I haven’t done enough research and am therefore unable to create a fully realized world. Cynthia Kadohata Read Quote
At the time I was writing ‘Weedflower,’ my friend Naomi Hirahara was writing a book about Japanese-American flower farmers. She knew quite a few elderly farmers and put me in touch with four or five of them who had been in camps during WWII. Some, like my father, were reluctant to talk about their experiences. Cynthia Kadohata Read Quote
In 1982, when I was almost 26 years old, I decided I wanted to write fiction. I’d majored in journalism in college, and I’d always assumed I would write nonfiction. Cynthia Kadohata Read Quote
It took seven years from the day I decided I wanted to write fiction to actually getting a book published. Cynthia Kadohata Read Quote
I try to find my deepest, often hidden feelings about what’s working and what’s not. This is difficult because I do lie to myself without being aware that that’s what I’m doing. Cynthia Kadohata Read Quote
I have so much respect for people who do blue-collar work because I come from that background myself. Cynthia Kadohata Read Quote
