To start off our Emotionally Intense week, I asked Christine if she'd do an interview so we could introduce the topic and get to know her a little better :)
MM: So, what exactly is emotional intensity?
CF: To Quote my upcoming book, Emotionally Intense, emotional intensity can be described as "strong and intense emotional reactions to various situations." This can range from being really happy, almost to to point of being manic, to being sad to the point of depression. More often it means vacilating between the two - feeling consistently off-balance because of the way in which you respond to the world around you. For the women reading this, it's like extreme PMS 24/7!
I'll talk more about this in my guest post on Wednesday, but that gives you a pretty good working definition.
MM: LOL Yep, "feeling consistently off balance" pretty much describes how I feel when it comes to writing, revising, querying, and just about everything else in my writing world :)
In your book, you discuss emotional intensity in regards to gifted children. I know in my experience, most of the “creative type” people I know are pretty emotionally intense. Are creativity and intensity related? In other words, are all emotionally intense people gifted?
CF: Great question (not to mention a great follow-up book - Hmm...think I need to write that!). I do believe all gifted people are emotionally intense. But I do not think all emotionally intense people are gifted.
Creative people are - I think it is related to the way in which emotionally intense (and creative people) interact with the world. A good friend, Danyelle, calls it "painting in bolds while the rest of the world is painting in pastels". On Wednesday, I'll share my favorite poem describing intensity...In both of these examples, creative people fit the mold as easily as gifted people do.
I read something in an interview with Leah Clifford last week that rang very true - and on-point with this topic. She said "It's not easy being friends with a writer..." - Man, that is an understatement! We are a very angsty lot. Or, in other terms, we are very emotionally intense!
MM: As you said, we’ll get a little further into how writing and intensity relate on Wednesday. For now, can you tell us a little about your book?
CF: Love to. Emotionally Intense: Learning to Cope With Your Gifted Child's Outbursts (Prufrock 2011) was written specifically to help parents navigate the often intense world of gifted children. More than a book of parenting theory, it has strategies to de-escalate kids and give them the greatest gift any parent can bestow - the ability to recognize, monitor, and adjust their OWN behavior. I wrote it in a conversational tone with the hopes that it would be the dog-eared, coffee-stained book parents turn to like they would an old friend - something to help them remember how to cope with their kid's outbursts.
MM: What about you? Besides being a very talented writer and one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met…who is Christine Fonseca?
CF: Holy Cow...kinda open-ended, yeah??? I guess I am an emotionally intense writer! Okay I am more than that too....I am the mom of 2 amazingly intense kids, with an equally amazing and intense husband. I work as a school psychologist by day, and spend most evenings writing. When I am not doing those things, I swim, run, surf, ski, hike, and otherwise try to suck the marrow out of life! I write YA to stay in touch with that part of my soul...and I LOVE it more than I can say!!!
MM: Tell us a little about finding your agent and your road to publication
CF: Well, I really owe you and Elana for that...I was never planning on finding an agent for my NF. The world of publication for books related to giftedness is SMALL (they don't call it a niche market for nothing). But the reality is, I didn't think I could do it all on my own, so I wanted to find an agent.
After querying for a relatively short amount of time, I found Krista Goering of the Krista Goering Literary Agency. I was impressed with her knowledge of the niche I was venturing into (she had done her homework before we spoke), as well as her ideas regarding the agent/writer relationship. We landed the book deal pretty quickly after signing. We have other projects in the works as well, so hopefully more books related to giftedness are in my future.
Now, my world of fiction is different all together. I write YA fiction and am currently seeking representation for my completed ms, A BEAUTIFUL MESS.
Thanks for the interview!
MM: Thanks so much for stopping by this week, Christine!
This topic really fascinates me, especially in how it relates to writers. The quote from Leah's interview is so true - it's NOT easy to be friends (or a significant other of) a writer LOL The term "emotionally intense" just hits the nail right on the head :)
Be sure to stop by the rest of the week for more with Christine Fonseca and Emotional Intensity!
LINKS!!
Christine's Blog
Growing Up Gifted Blog
Christine's Website
Post Title
→Interview with Christine Fonseca
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