Interview With Elizabeth Gorcey

Today we have a special guest with us. Elizabeth Gorcey, where most of you may know her from Footloose or Teen Wolf. Did you know that she also has written some books? Read, Read, and Read is from the hugely popular Live On Life book series, written by the extraordinary mother-daughter team of Hollywood actress Elizabeth Gorcey (FOOTLOOSE, TEEN WOLF) and her amazing daughter Olivia (Age 11).

Author and mother Elizabeth Gorcey has been creating her entire life with paint, film and words. Her new book series is inspired and written along with her daughter, Olivia, who as a three-years-old began to spontaneously deliver wisdom and advice to anyone who was listening. Elizabeth dubbed her daughter’s musings as “Liv-Isms,” and each book in the series is based on these everyday insights. Sometimes kids are the best teachers, and in encouraging her own daughter to embrace and use her authentic voice, Elizabeth realized how much adults can, and must, learn from the purity and honesty of a child’s perspective.

I was lucky enough to be able to ask them a few questions.

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.  I started as a painter and went into painting characters on-screen in movies such as Footloose and Teen Wolf.  Then into documentary filmmaking. Also, I founded Caring Strokes a nonprofit art program for HIV-positive and high-risk kids. And, of course, now I’m working on a children’s book series with my daughter.  I love art and think it can help change the world.
2. What is your book about?  Read, Read, and Read is about how a book can be a friend and make a friend. It’s the third book of the Liv On Life children’s book series.
3. Do you have any writers that inspire you? For children’s books I am a big fan of Olivia the Pig series by Ian Falconer.  I love the look of the book and that fact that Olivia does not represent what we think of when we say ‘pig’. She is light and happy and the humor in the books is so relatable.
4. Was there anything that inspired you to write this book?  I have always loved to read all types of authors, but it was my daughter Olivia who inspired me to actually become an author.  Honestly, I didn’t expect to learn so much from a child. She taught me that what I have to say matters, that the voices of our children matter, and most important, that I have to stop and smell the roses.  We all do.  When Liv was barely three years old, I started to record the amazing things she would say.  I dubbed these “Livisms” and quickly had a very large collection of them.  I’ll never forget the very first time I recorded her: we were driving and there was a lot of traffic and I was frustrated and sighing and making all types of noises.  From the back seat I hear this cute little voice saying, “This is silly.”  I immediately turned around wondering whom she’s talking to.  It couldn’t be me! I asked her, “What’s silly?”   She looks out the window and says, “Look at those beautiful roses!  I’d really like to smell those roses!” Then she turns back to me and says, “You need to enjoy.”  I didn’t say a word—this kid had me totally dumbfounded.  All I could think was “where did you come from!?”
5. How long did it take you to write your book? It’s hard to put a time on it as we did a lot of drafts and then tried them out on a lot of kids.
6. What’s it like being able to work with your daughter? It’s really fun working with Olivia. She is an old soul disguised as a child.  We have a creative connection. It was not a question of teaming up with Liv—listening to and learning from her was the catalyst of the whole endeavor.
7. When did you decide to become a writer?  I decided to become a writer when I wanted to write a children’s book but didn’t and couldn’t find a writer to help me get my ideas out.
8. What advice would you give to aspiring writers? Write from your heart and your point of view.  And edit, edit, and edit.
9. What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Yoga, walks with my dog, painting, playing with my kid, and more walks with my dog.  Oh, and helping people find their authentic voices.
10. Do you have a favorite place to write?  I like to write on sheets of paper usually when I’m waiting for my daughter at one of her music lessons.
11. Are you working on any other books right now?  Yes, the fourth book and fifth book of the series, titled I Don’t Wear Jeans and What’s In My Backpack?, respectively.
12. I know you have done acting as well, what was that like? Do you enjoy writing and acting? Acting was one of my first loves.  I love to create and build a character from scratch; it’s truly wonderful.  As an actress, I got inside a character.  As a director, I was able to guide that character through their arc (story). And as a producer, I learned all the logistics to get the project done.  Working in all those mediums, considering all those points of view—it definitely helped me to step in and create a character and his or her story from the ground up.
13. Do you have anything else you’d like to add?   I would like the readers of the Liv On Life series to take away the following: in our modern technological world, we have to get back to the simple joys of life.  We have to consciously stop and smell the roses.   That’s the first takeaway and it’s something Liv reminds me of every day.  But beyond that awareness, I believe we must make sure there is an open, honest dialogue between adults and children.  Children have to know that their voices count, that they have to stay true to their authentic voices, and most important, that the adults around them recognize and honor those voices.

I would love to thank Elizabeth for taking the time to answer all of my questions.