I had a chance to interview the author, Roy Sheppard, about the book.
1)
What inspired you to write the book?
2)
Were you worried about not being taken seriously,
writing a book for women?
3)
How different are the books targeted towards daughters
and sons?
But what
works well are the two tones of voice in Dear Daughter. One young female
reviewer commented on how ‘balanced’ it was with comments from women and from me. That was so lovely to read because
a huge amount of effort went into trying to achieve that.
At my age
(55) a lot of my friends have 15-25 year olds. The majority of those parents
admit they are not close or communicate well with them. I have written and
lectured about relationships for 15 years. Many young people don’t actually
have a good relationship with themselves. This was an aspect of their lives
that hadn’t really been covered. Young people are usually written ABOUT. Not
written TO....Everyone seems to give young people a really hard time these days. I
thought, if I could write a book for all young people, instead of about them,
they might find it incredibly helpful. It would also be great for parents, to
give as a gift.
My challenge
(and it was a huge challenge) was to write something that was incredibly
relevant to a wide range of ages, and not be seen as too basic, or open to
being dismissed as patronizing. That was really hard.
‘Worried’ is
much too strong a word. I was, however aware that being a
guy, was a possible obstacle to women who don’t know me. I have always adored
women and probably have more female friends than male ones. I have lost count
of the number of young women (and a lot of older women) who come to me for
advice about all kinds of ‘stuff’. I am unlike most guys (according to women)
because I am a good listener. I wait. I don’t tend to jump in and tell people
what to do. I knew I’d have a potential credibility problem with Dear Daughter
– so I cheated!!!
I used all
the non-gender specific content from Dear Son and then I interviewed LOADS of
women.
The interviews
are the main difference between the books. Dear Daughter is 15% longer than
Dear Son. Obviously, girls and women are FAR more complicated than men!
For Dear
Daughter I was advised to interview ‘celebrities’. I’m so glad I didn’t do
that. I wanted ‘real’ women. Women who were ‘celebrities’ among their own
family and friends. I ended up talking to a lot of my female friends and a lot
of volunteers who were referred to me. A few women even contacted me because
they’d heard I was doing research.
They were all
amazing. I became an ‘honorary girlie’. We had incredibly
intimate conversations. It was so fascinating. I also interviewed some young
girls of 15-17 (with their parents permission of course) who described in a lot
of detail what it is like to be that age. All confidentially. The deal was; I
didn’t report anything they said back to their parents. This input has given
the book so much richness.
4)
Were there any pieces of advice that surprised you, or
that you think will surprise others?
I’m not sure
I’d say ‘surprised’ me. I was enlightened a lot instead!
But to answer
your question; I think a lot of women will be surprised that it deals with all
aspects of life in a down-to-earth, thought-provoking and inspiring way. The
reader can make up her own mind about how she wants her life to be. But armed
with balanced, practical advice from me and all the women contributors who
aren’t trying to control her, she’ll hopefully discover that she’s got what it
takes to have a fabulous future life as a woman.
Disclosure: I received complimentary products to facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment