Talkshow Thursday: Meet Pearl Ada Pridham
After working at a pregnancy centre that focused on helping women/girls who found themselves in an inconvenient pregnancy, I wanted to write a novel to bring awareness around this issue to churches and families.
How do you develop your characters? (e.g. decide on their vocation, names, etc.)?
I chose names that I liked and that fit in with the place and time. I gave characters vocations that seemed to work for the purpose of the story.
What sort of research did you do for your story, and was there an exceptionally interesting tidbit you knew you had to include?
I researched laws in the time and place of the novel that had to do with teen pregnancy and how it was dealt with. Also, part of the book takes place in Europe, so I watched travel documentaries about those countries and even made a trip there.
Tell us about your road to publication.
At first, I wanted to use a Canadian publisher, as I am Canadian. But I found there are not many traditional
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Have you ever considered writing under a pseudonym? Why or why not?
I write under my maiden name, Pearl Ada Pridham. I wanted to use my original name.
How are your characters like you? Different?
The main character, Alison, is like me in being a little naïve, on the introverted side, and leaning into prayer when she needs support. She isn’t like me when she makes big travel plans with her friend from French class in high school. I didn’t like French class back then and wasn’t ambitious enough to travel to Europe. However, now as a senior, I have travelled to Europe twice and am grateful for those five years of high school French.
If your book is part of a series: Did you set out to write a series? Why did you decide to write a series?
My book is part of a series. Originally, I didn’t set out to write a series. However, a couple of years ago, during a covid shutdown, I participated in NaNoWriMo as a personal challenge. My debut novel was finished, although not yet published, so I decided to write another book from the POV of the main character’s grandmother. I am still working on finishing and publishing that one.
After publishing my debut novel, I wrote a prequel from the POV of the main character’s father, which takes place five years earlier. That story, Ed’s Hopeful Journey, is shorter and therefore published only as an e-book.
How has your book changed since your first draft?
I changed the ages of the main characters at the request of my publisher. At first, I thought that would present logistical problems and I’d have to make major changes in the story line. However, once I resigned myself to attempting it, I found I only had to make minor tweaks in the story line.
About Something I Haven't Told You
Faced with pregnancy at the age of fourteen, she deals with shame, her father’s rage, choices, and decisions that jerk her into adulthood. But, with her sister as her biggest supporter, along with her mother, friends, a counselor, and a school program for pregnant teens, she found what was really important in life to her, and succeeds in fulfilling her dreams.
Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4e3j7TF
To learn more about Pearl visit her website: https://pearladapridham.com/
Thanks for the interview, Linda.
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