I’d like to welcome the amazing Adrian Andover to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!
Hardest thing about being a writer: I have some perfectionist tendencies, so it is really difficult for me to call a story “done.” I could rewrite, revise, and tweak forever.
Easiest thing about being a writer: Writing a first draft. I rarely struggle to meet my word count goals on a day-to-day basis when I’m writing my sloppy first drafts. I have lots to say and am an endless well of ideas, so the words usually come pretty easily (even if they aren’t very good at first).
Things you need for your writing sessions: Beverages! This always includes water. I mostly write on weekday mornings, so I usually have a steaming mug of coffee at my side, though I sometimes swap it out for tea.
Things that hamper your writing: Music. Outside of writing, I have a huge passion for music, both as a listener and as a songwriter. As much as I love it, having any kind of music playing (even instrumental or ambient) tends to distract me. I usually need to write in silence.
Words that describe you: Empath. Storyteller. Tenacious.
Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Realist. Obedient. Cautious.
The last thing you ordered online: I ordered some cozy mysteries written by writer friends! I bought Tish Bouvier’s Knot Before You Enter and pre-ordered a few upcoming holiday releases: Yule Regret It by Annie McEwen, A Zappy Little Christmas by Paula Charles, and Deck the Halls with Homicide by Christina Romeril
The last thing you regret buying: I work really hard at not having regrets, but I recently bought a few new notebooks, which I added to my absurd stack of blank notebooks. Every notebook has its own personality and purpose, and one of my greatest joys is starting a fresh one.
Favorite places you’ve been: I adore the Pacific Northwest—specifically Oregon. Last year, I was fortunate enough to attend the Ashland Mystery Festival last year, and I’m attending again this year. The festival takes place in southern Oregon, and I’d flown in and out of Portland in the northern part of the state. Essentially, I got to drive the entire coast of Oregon south and more inland going north. What a breathtaking place!
Places you never want to go to again: I struggle to answer this question because I don’t like to speak negatively of any place. I had a wonderful time visiting Disneyworld several years ago, but I don’t feel an urge to go back again. I experienced it once and had a great time, so I’ll leave it in the past and look back fondly on my time there.
Favorite things to do: Any activity that involves my loved ones. In particular, I love getting together with friends to attend any kind of live music event.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Going to the optometrist. I have a strange fear of eyes, and I feel very uncomfortable about any person or object getting close to my eyes. I’d rather have a cavity drilled than go through the puff-of-air glaucoma test.
Most daring thing you’ve ever done: When I was 22—two weeks after graduating from college—I packed almost all of my belongings into my tiny Hyundai and moved to a different state with barely any savings. I was renting a room in a house that I’d never visited before. I had three months of temporary employment lined up, and I had no plan for what would happen next. It all worked out exactly like it was supposed to.
Something you chickened out from doing: Skydiving—kind of. I didn’t exactly chicken out. I was supposed to go skydiving for my birthday in 2019. On the day I was scheduled to jump, I’d gotten a phone call that the facility was closing due to weather, so I rescheduled. On that day, I drove over an hour to get to the airport. I took a little course and signed all the waivers, but just as I was about to get suited up for the jump, a storm started to roll in, and I had to reschedule again. Due to my busy summer and fall, it didn’t work out. I had every intention of going during the 2020 season, but that didn’t work out due to the pandemic. I took it as a sign that I wasn’t meant to jump out of a plane.
Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: As I mentioned before, I’m also a singer-songwriter. Though you won’t find it anywhere anymore, I once wrote and recorded an album of original music. I used to perform in coffee shops, small art festivals, community events, and even a few bars.
A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: In the early days of the pandemic, I developed a daily writing routine. By 2022, I finished writing my first-ever first draft of a novel. At the time, I was super proud of it, but by the time I sat down to edit it, I abandoned the project to begin writing cozy mysteries. The story was literary fiction—very character-driven and light on plot. I likely won’t ever return to it, but it taught me so much about writing, persistence, and discipline.
The first 8-track, record, cassette, or CD you ever bought: I can’t remember the first album I ever bought with my own money, but I do remember my mom had John Denver’s Greatest Hits (1973) in the car when I was very young. She had a Chevy Cavalier, and it was the first car she’d ever owned that had a CD player. I listened to that CD over and over and over. It was the foundation for my love of music and inspired me to begin playing the guitar when I was six.
A type of music that’s not your cup of tea: I have appreciation for music across all genres, and I especially love singer-songwriter music. There’s something so moving about knowing that a song came from an honest place, regardless of genre. That being said, I struggle with music that feels like it was manufactured to fit a particular trend.
My favorite book as a child: Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn-Dixie. We read the book as a fourth-grade class. One Friday, we’d gotten to the scene where it’s revealed that Otis, the pet store employee, had been to jail. I needed to know why, and it killed me to have to wait until Monday. That weekend, I scraped some holiday money together, and my dad took me to the local Waldenbooks. I bought a copy of the book for myself, so that I could read ahead. Reading that book was such a defining moment of my childhood and in my life as a reader.
A book I’ve read more than once: I’ve reread many books. Maybe it’s the writer in me, but I love rereading as a means to understand the craft of storytelling. Because of Winn-Dixie is the book I’ve reread the most. It never fails to take me back to the feeling I felt as a fourth grader.
Your favorite movie as a child: I’m not sure what this says about me, but I used to love watching The Fox and the Hound. I would watch the first part of the movie (up until Widow Tweed releases Tod in the forest) over and over, even though it made me cry. I think it helped me connect with the melancholy part of me that’s always been there.
A TV show or movie that kept you awake at night as a kid (or as an adult): I went through a phase of fearing apple trees after seeing that scene in The Wizard of Oz.
