Bestselling author W. Bruce Cameron chatted with #Powerjournalist Markos Papadatos about “A Dog’s Perfect Christmas.”
Cameron is most famous for his novel A Dog’s Purpose, which spent 52 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
Can you tell us about “A Dog’s Perfect Christmas”… What can we expect?
You can expect that the dogs will be cute, the actors will be great, and that you will be left with the sort of happy glow Christmas movies often impart on the audience. Though there are dire twists and turns, I promise, when I write a Christmas story, there’s a happy ending. Okay, one of the actors is actually me, so it’s not true that they are all great. I should have said, “all great except for me.”
What inspired you to write this screenplay?
It began with the book. In so many families, the mom is more of a hero to Christmas than Santa Claus. She’s expected to orchestrate a logistical nightmare, decorate the house so that it might appear on a magazine cover, meet everyone’s expectations, no matter how unrealistic, and then usually clean up everything because everybody else is too full from the dinner she cooked to help. I wondered what would happen if the mom was unexpectedly taken out of the picture by an illness. Who would step forward?
Many families are dysfunctional, and this fictional Goss family of Traverse City, Michigan, is no exception. With mom gone to the hospital, it’s up to a grumpy and depressed grandpa and a snotty teenage girl to save Christmas for the family. Oh, and to make things interesting, I tossed in a found puppy.
What motivates you each day as a writer and author?
I am in love with the blank page, the way people and events can be summoned from the mind into an existence that feels so real, and I love the structure of story. I’m probably descended from a long line of storytellers going back centuries, none of whom had real jobs.
When you write, do you write with the end in mind?
Anyone who approaches me and says something along the lines of “I’ve got a great idea for a book,” gets the same response from me: “How does it end?”
The end of a story is like the destination of a trip. You wouldn’t jump in the car and just start driving randomly unless you were me, driving to the grocery store and forgetting that’s my destination. You need to know where a story is going in order to be able to begin the journey.
What do your plans for the future include?
I am currently writing four adult books and two books for children. That is how it has been for years. I’m hoping to keep doing this for a long, long time. I don’t plan to do anything else except have my groceries delivered, since I can never remember to pick up everything I’m supposed to.
How does it feel to be a part of the digital age? (now with streaming, technology and social media being so prevalent)
It’s a wild ride. I was a very early adopter of personal computing and have tried to stay current with technology, even as the pace of change has accelerated.
I’m very concerned that, currently, our children, particularly young boys, are having their attention spans carved up into smaller and smaller slivers. For a structural purist like me, someone who believes a story should have a beginning, middle, and an end, it’s disturbing to think that the most I can garner from my audience is 60 seconds of attention.
I think we will be missing out on a lot of joy and meaning if we allow ourselves to be sucked into the digital vortex.
What is your advice for young and emerging authors and writers?
Writing is an unusual art. Almost no one does it merely for themselves. I know plenty of people who paint or sculpt or throw pottery who don’t care if anyone appreciates it or even sees it, but writers want an audience. We are like actors in that regard.
I think if you are just starting out, my advice is to aim for yourself as the audience. Later, when you’ve developed your craft sufficiently, you can hold it up for critical critique from friends and family. Initially, though, if it’s good enough for you, it should be good enough.
However, good enough should include making sure it is your best effort, and that means rewriting. Make it good by rewriting, but don’t depend on others to define what the word “good” even means.
What does the word success mean to you?
Feeling, at the end of the day, that I invested my time in myself, doing what I wanted to do, and didn’t let my attention be diverted by things that don’t make me happy or about which I can do virtually nothing
What would you like to say to our readers about “A Dog’s Perfect Christmas”… What’s the one thing you want them to get out of it?
Dogs, Christmas, and family provide the perfect mix for joy, peace, and love. Find time in your life for the holidays and celebrate those you love.
To learn more about W. Bruce Cameron, visit his official website.
