Two questions with Author Tracy Holczer (Guest Post / Blog Tour)

The Secret Hum of a Daisy | wearewordnerds.com

What was the easiest scene to write? What was the most difficult?

The end of Chapter 3 called Just Like That was the scene that came easiest. I remember that one flowing easily as I tried to follow what naturally came next in Grace’s story. At the time I wrote this scene, I had no idea where I was going or what, exactly had happened to Grace’s mother. I didn’t know what part, if any, Grace played in her mother’s death. So the story questions that came out in that scene were ones I wanted to answer. They kept me going.

The most difficult scene is in Chapter 20 called A Trick of the Light. This is a turning point scene for Grace and she has to dive deep into feelings she’s been keeping locked down tight. The initial scene I wrote went partway there. But my editor nudged me to go deeper. When I’m writing, I often feel as though I’ve gone deep, only to discover, after careful editorial notes, that I haven’t gone as deep as I can. This is a bittersweet moment. Sweet because you see how much better you can make things. Bitter because it’s hard to go there.

About The Secret Hum of a Daisy

The Secret Hum of a Daisy | wearewordnerds.com

The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer

Release Date: 2014-05-01

Twelve-year-old Grace and her mother have always been their own family, traveling from place to place like gypsies. But Grace wants to finally have a home all their own. Just when she thinks she’s found it her mother says it’s time to move again. Grace summons the courage to tell her mother how she really feels and will always regret that her last words to her were angry ones. After her mother’s sudden death, Grace is forced to live with a grandmother she’s never met. She can’t imagine her mother would want her to stay with this stranger. Then Grace finds clues in a mysterious treasure hunt, just like the ones her mother used to send her on. Maybe it is her mother, showing her the way to her true home. Lyrical, poignant and fresh, The Secret Hum of a Daisy is a beautifully told middle grade tale with a great deal of heart.

Read the first chapter