Katie Montinaro is the author of the upcoming contemporary novel, The Girl in the Sunflower Dress! She tells us about her book, how daydreaming helped with story formation, and her love of movies! Katie also imparts some advice for up and coming authors, and reveals that she is a sweettooth.
Hi Katie! Thanks for taking the time to come and chat! Can you tell us a little about yourself and The Girl in the Sunflower Dress?
Thanks for having me, this is a real treat! So, I’m Katie Montinaro and I am a Melbourne based author (feels weird to say that), high school teacher and mother of three – well four, if you count our cheeky labradoodle who thinks he’s a giant human baby. I love to read and obviously write, but my other passions lay in cinema and movies. Writing and publishing has always been a dream of mine, ever since I was little and about four years ago I decided to start taking my dreams seriously; and here I am, about to release my debut novel The Girl in the Sunflower Dress!
I’m terrible at the old “elevator pitch” because I think the book is about so much more than what you can convey in a couple of sentences. It’s about self discovery, love, family and choices – the choice to choose your own path and your relationships. The Girl in the Sunflower Dress follows a young seventeen year old girl called Chelsea Roberts who isn’t quite sure of her place in the world after high school and as she tries to make sense of the next chapter in her life, she stumbles upon her father kissing another woman in a very public place! At the same time, she is reunited with an old high school crush (swoon) and together they team up to uncover the truth about that kiss, only, they uncover more than they ever could have imagined.
What inspired you to write?
I’m a big daydreamer and often a lot of my stories come from daydreams to be honest. I’ve told myself stories since I was little, perhaps that’s just part of being an only child; I had no one else to really play with so I had to use my imagination a lot and it’s something I never really outgrew. With The Girl in the Sunflower Dress, I had one scene that kept kind of popping into my daydreams, and that is the scene in the hospital where Chelsea and Noah are hiding behind the Christmas tree spying on her father (this happens very early in the book, so no spoilers), and I just built the story around that. I had a very strong character voice and presence in Noah, but I knew it wasn’t his story to tell.
I get inspired by lots of things though, a song, a quote, a picture (thanks Pinterest!), art – lots of things. But mostly, it’s daydreaming. Or the second I lay my head down on my pillow to sleep at night! It’s like someone screams ‘Lights! Camera! Action!’ and my mind starts to create.
If you had to choose would you host a surprise pool party, or a surprise movie party, and why?
Hands down, surprise movie party! And everyone would have to dress up as their favourite character from a movie. I’m a Media teacher so this should come as no surprise to those who know me. My mum and I are movie buffs and we’ve slowly turned my eight year old son into one as well. His choice is anything superhero, my choice would be a little more difficult just because there are so many movies I love! I’d probably do a three movie marathon starting with Rebel Without A Cause, moving to a classic 90s/early 2000s rom-com like Ten Things I Hate About You and ending with an action movie like Olympus Has Fallen. Or maybe I’d have to do a whole weekend because I’d feel too bad for all my favourites that were left out!
Do you have a favourite character? Mine’s 100% Chelsea!
I love that Chelsea is your favourite. I have a soft spot for her, for sure. My favourite is Noah. I think I fell in love with him as I wrote him. Does Noah exist? If so, someone needs to point me in his direction.
When writing, do you have a go-to snack, and why specifically that snack?
I have a major sweet tooth so my go to snack while writing The Girl in the Sunflower Dress was a hot chocolate with chocolate chip cookies to dip. I also like to snack on crunchy things when I’m thinking so I made up a nut mix with dark chocolate chips – and sunflower seeds of course!
What do you find the most rewarding thing about writing?
Holding a physical copy of my book in my hands for the first time was incredibly rewarding. I cried. I filmed it to put up on Instagram (of course!) but I had my address, clear as day, in the frame and couldn’t cover it up because I kept moving the camera around to wipe my eyes, so that never saw the light of day! But that was the most rewarding part of the whole process. In terms of just writing, I love when all the bits and pieces you’ve scattered throughout the story come together. You feel like a genius! Or creating witty banter between the characters. I do chuckle to myself when I write. If you’re not having fun writing it, then why bother doing it?
Did any locations in the book come from or were inspired by real life?
Yep! The book is set on the Mornington Peninsula which is my stomping ground but I didn’t want to go into overdrive when describing it because I wanted people to imagine it taking place near them. I think it helps to create a stronger connection to characters when you can imagine the story taking place somewhere near you. Having said that, Noah and Chelsea go to the beach, the zoo and head to the strawberry farm which are all places I frequent.
What was your favourite part of the writing process, and why?
It’s really difficult to choose a favourite part of the writing process because I genuinely enjoyed everything from start to finish. When writing the first draft, it’s exciting because you’re locked away in this little world that you have created with characters you’re shaping and it’s exciting to see where they take you, to see the story unfold in front of you. Then editing is just as exciting, and terrifying, because you know that the feedback you’re getting will only make the story stronger and are curious as to what changes need to be made. Then getting all the editing done, front cover design, formatting – it’s frustrating at times, but it’s such a creative outlet for me that I enjoy doing those things. I like being a part of every stage of the process.
As a debut author, do you have any advice for other aspiring authors?
I had a conversation with a colleague at work and he said to me “at some point, you’ve just got to do it,” and that really stuck with me. We can talk all we like about being writers and wanting to have our work published but at some point, we have to stop talking about it and just do it. Just write, just find time to chip away at it. Don’t compare yourself to other writers out there and their words counts, focus on your words. Do your research into the industry, build genuine connections with those in industry (from other authors to editors to bookstagrammers etc), go to book functions, find out what path is right for you and go for it. Then come and tell me about it because I’m a one woman cheer squad who’ll encourage you all the way!
