Book Feature, Author Interview, and Giveaway: Geraldine Brooks

Check out the latest book from Pulitzer Prize Winning author-Geraldine Brooks. You can see more information at her site.

I have two copies of this book to giveaway. Please post a comment on what you find interesting about this book. The winners will be chosen on March 22.



CALEB’S CROSSING is inspired by the life of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College in 1665. Brooks first learned about him during her time as a Radcliffe fellow at Harvard in 2006. Caleb was from the Wampanoag tribe of Native Americans who lived on Martha’s Vineyard and this year Tiffany Smalley will become the second Vineyard Wampanoag to graduate from Harvard. There is little official information on Caleb’s life and Brooks’s novel is an informed imagining of what he might have gone through.



What makes this novel truly special is its narrator, Bethia Mayfield. Bethia is the strong-willed daughter of a preacher who lives in the settlement of Great Harbor on Martha’s Vineyard. She struggles with the restrictions placed on her—namely, that she is denied the education freely given to her brother. Bethia finds respite in the wild landscape of her home and it is while clamming one day that she meets Caleb, the son of a local chieftain. They form a secret friendship that, in time, leads to Caleb coming to live with the Mayfields. Bethia’s father eagerly takes Caleb under his wing, determined not only to convert him to Christianity, but also to groom him for matriculation to Cambridge and eventually, Harvard.



The harsh realities of life for both women and Native Americans are fully confronted in CALEB’S CROSSING. It is a story of difficult friendships, cultural transitions, and facing injustices.


About the Author:
Australian-born Geraldine Brooks is an author and journalist who grew up in the Western suburbs of Sydney, and attended Bethlehem College Ashfield and the University of Sydney. She worked as a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald for three years as a feature writer with a special interest in environmental issues.

In 1982 she won the Greg Shackleton Australian News Correspondents scholarship to the journalism master’s program at Columbia University in New York City. Later she worked for The Wall Street Journal, where she covered crises in the the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans.

She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 2006 for her novel March. Her first novel, Year of Wonders, is an international bestseller, and People of the Book is a New York Times bestseller translated into 20 languages. She is also the author of the nonfiction works Nine Parts of Desire and Foreign Correspondence.

Brooks married author Tony Horwitz in Tourette-sur-Loup, France, in 1984. They have two sons– Nathaniel and Bizuayehu–and two dogs. They divide their time between homes in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and Sydney, Australia.

Geraldine Brooks was fantastic in that I have a Q&A to post about the new book.

Caleb Cheeshahteamauk is an extraordinary figure in Native American history. How did you first discover him? What was involved in learning more about his life?



The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head/Aquinnah are proud custodians of their history, and it was in materials prepared by the Tribe that I first learned of its illustrious young scholar. To find out more about him I talked with tribal members, read translations of early documents in the Wopanaak language, then delved into the archives of Harvard and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, especially the correspondence between colonial leaders and benefactors in England who donated substantial funds for the education and conversion to Christianity of Indians in the 17th century. There are also writings by members of the Mayhew family, who were prominent missionaries and magistrates on the island, and John Cotton, Jr., who came here as a missionary and kept a detailed journal.



There is little documentation on Caleb’s actual life. What parts of his life did you imagine? Do you feel you know him better after writing this book, or is he still a mystery?



The facts about Caleb are sadly scant. We know he was the son of a minor sachem from the part of the Vineyard now known as West Chop, and that he left the island to attend prep school, successfully completed the rigorous course of study at Harvard and was living with Thomas Danforth, a noted jurist and colonial leader, when disease claimed his life. Everything else about him in my novel is imagined. The real young man—what he thought and felt—remains an enigma.



Bethia Mayfield is truly a woman ahead of her time. If she were alive today, what would she be doing? What would her life be like with no restrictions?



There were more than a few 17th century women like Bethia, who thirsted for education and for a voice in a society that demanded their silence. You can find some of them being dragged to the meeting house to confess their “sins” or defending their unconventional views in court. If Bethia was alive today she would probably be president of Harvard or Brown, Princeton or UPenn.



The novel is told through Bethia’s point of view. What is the advantage to telling this story through her eyes? How would the book be different if Caleb were the narrator?



I wanted the novel to be about crossings between cultures. So as Caleb is drawn into the English world, I wanted to create an English character who would be equally drawn to and compelled by his world. I prefer to write with a female narrator when I can, and I wanted to explore issues of marginalization in gender as well as race.



Much of the book is set on Martha’s Vineyard, which is also your home. Did you already know about the island’s early history, or did you do additional research?



I was always intrigued by what brought English settlers to the island so early in the colonial period...they settled here in the 1640s. Living on an island is inconvenient enough even today; what prompted the Mayhews and their followers to put seven miles of treacherous ocean currents between them and the other English—to choose to live in a tiny settlement surrounded by some three thousand Wampanoags? The answer was unexpected and led me into a deeper exploration of island history



You bring Harvard College to life in vivid, often unpleasant detail. What surprised you most about this prestigious university’s beginnings?



For one thing, I hadn't been aware Harvard was founded so early. The English had barely landed before they started building a college. And the Indian College—a substantial building—went up not long after, signifying an attitude of mind that alas did not prevail for very long. It was fun to learn how very different early Harvard was from the well endowed institution of today. Life was hand to mouth, all conversation was in Latin, the boys (only boys) were often quite young when they matriculated. But the course of study was surprisingly broad and rigorous—a true exploration of liberal arts, languages, and literature that went far beyond my stereotype of what Puritans might have considered fit subjects for scholarship.



As with your previous books, you’ve managed to capture the voice of the period. You get the idiom, dialect, and cadence of the language of the day on paper. How did you do your research?



I find the best way to get a feel for language and period is to read first person accounts—journals, letters, court transcripts. Eventually you start to hear voices in your head: patterns of speech, a different manner of thinking. My son once said, Mom talks to ghosts. And in a way I do.



May 2011, Tiffany Smalley will follow in Caleb’s footsteps and become only the second Vineyard Wampanoag to graduate from Harvard. Do you know if this will be celebrated?



In May Tiffany Smalley will become the first Vineyard Wampanoag since Caleb to receive an undergrad degree from Harvard College. (Others have received advanced degrees from the university’s Kennedy school etc.) I’m not sure what Harvard has decided to do at this year's commencement, but I am hoping they will use the occasion to honor Caleb’s fellow Wampanoag classmate, Joel Iacoomis, who completed the work for his degree but was murdered before he could attended the 1665 commencement ceremony.

Q & A with C. Allyn Pierson

C. Allyn Pierson Interview; Author of Mr. Darcy’s Little Sister


1. Describe your fascination with Jane Austen. What started it?
My real fascination with Jane Austen began when I had an au pair who was from England and is a big fan of JA (and Colin Firth!) When I read Pride and Prejudice when I was in school it did not come across as a great love story to my jaundiced eye. I think the 1995 BBC series made a huge difference for a lot of people because we could visualize that characters and the subtle interactions and could see the clothes and the houses, etc. This made it much more real when I went back to the book (over and over). Now I love reading Austen and every time I pick up nuances I did not notice before.

2. Why did you choose to write about Georgiana?
I think Georgiana is a very interesting character because she is mentioned over and over by Miss Bingley to get Darcy’s attention and to make Elizabeth feels inferior, but Elizabeth doesn’t meet her until late in the book, and even then it is very briefly. Elizabeth and her aunt realize that Georgiana is very shy, but they do not get to know her well because they must leave for home when Lydia runs off with Wickham. Because she is such an enigma and there is so little factual evidence, there is a great deal of room to develop her character in a sequel. Also, her age makes it clear that her coming-out would be very soon and the difficulties of appearing in Society for an extremely shy girl would be considerable, so there are lots of dramatic possibilities.

3. How do you find time to write with your career as a doctor?
I only work as a Dermatologist part-time because I have a son with autism. He does not live at home now, but when he did he went to bed early and I was at home with him. I had plenty of time to write after he was in bed and during the day when he was in school. I also do not watch television at all, and have not for about 15 years, which leaves much more time to do creative projects like writing books.

4. Further writing projects? Will it include more pertaining to the Jane Austen saga?
I have at least a couple more Pride and Prejudice sequels I would like to write- one about the second year of the Darcys’ marriage when some unexpected problems throw them for a loop, and another about Anne de Bourgh and her relationship with her mother and husband.

5. Favorite book? Favorite author?
As you might guess, Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice. I am also a big fan of Laurie R King’s Mary Russell books- they are beautifully written and I have read them over and over.

6. Anything else you would like to share with our readers!
I am currently trying to sew a Regency ball gown for the Jane Austen Society of North America Annual General Meeting- they have a ball the last night of the meeting and I feel that I should at least attempt to conform! It would be shocking for an Austen sequel writer to not have at least 1 Regency gown!


MR. DARCY’S LITTLE SISTER BY C. ALLYN PIERSON—IN STORES SEPTEMBER 2010
Pride and Prejudice continues...
Georgiana Darcy grows up and goes in pursuit of happiness and true love, much to her big brother's consternation
A whole new side of Mr. Darcy...
He's the best big brother, generous to a fault. Protective, never teases. But over his dead body is any rogue or fortune hunter going to get near his little sister! (Unfortunately, any gentleman who wants to court Georgiana is going to have the same problem...)
So how's a girl ever going to meet the gentleman of her dreams?
About the Author
C. Allyn Pierson is the nom-de-plume of a physician, who has combined her many years of interest in the works of Jane Austen and the history of Regency England into this sequel to Pride and Prejudice. She lives with her family and three dogs in Fort Dodge, Iowa. http://www.callynpierson.com/

Q&A with Tim Wendel

I have a blog tour today with author Tim Wendel featuring his book entitled Red Rain. Tim answered some questions for this tour so the readers can get to know him better. Be sure to check out my other post for information on the book and a giveaway.

Red Rain/Tim Wendel

I was fascinated by the idea of the Japanese balloons. How did you
decide on that as your subject?
When I go to a party, especially in the Washington, D.C. area, where I live, I really listen to what the buzz is about. In a roundabout way, that’s what led me to writing RED RAIN. It was in the last few months of Bill Clinton’s administration and several us were discussing how jaded things had become, how may be it wasn’t best that all the secrets were out, so to speak. That’s when a complete stranger asked if we knew about the best-kept secret of World War II – the Japanese fire balloons. He was with the Smithsonian and he told us a bit about the balloons. How close to 10,000 were launched from Japan. How they started forest fires throughout the West. I couldn’t get the story out of my head and a few days later I was at the National Archives and then the Library of Congress beginning to research the novel.


Describe your research process for this book.
I’m lucky to live near Washington with all of its great research facilities. That said I like to research and write at the same time. I’ve seen some great projects by some friends of mine be researched for years and not much gets down on paper. So, I’ll write and when I hit a dead end or need to really underscore a scene that’s when I’ll hit the library again. Try to figure out what kind of car they were driving. Perhaps what that room would have looked like.

Are any of the characters based on actual people that you know or have
encountered in your life? If yes, why did you think they were
interesting enough to include in your book?
The Neal Starling character is based on several of the guys I fought fires with as a member of a Hot Shot crew in the early 1980s. Away from a fire, we had great debates about politics and such. But on a fire-line, I trusted those guys with my life. If they said, we’re heading in this direction and doing this, my reaction was, OK.


Tell about your publishing process? How long did it take from writing
your book until the time of publication? Was the process a struggle
or was your book picked up quickly by a publisher?
The novel was shopped around for a time and several publishers passed because they couldn’t see the main character, a person of action, being a woman. In fact, one publisher said if I rewrote the Yoshi character as a male lead, they’d give it strong consideration. I couldn’t see that and that’s why I went with Shana Johnson and the good folks at Writers Lair.
Ultimately, I wanted a character that was really torn by the war. Of course, Yoshi is Japanese-American and that portion of the population, especially along the West Coast really had a hard time of it. Too many were driven off their land and relocated to internment camps like Manzanar, which is featured in RED RAIN. Often your best characters have the most at stake. They are really at the crossroads of their lives and even their times. That’s what Yoshi ultimately is.


Favorite books? Favorite authors?
Oh, that’s a tough one. I’ve had the good fortune to study under Richard Ford, Oakley Hall, Carolyn Doty, Alice McDermott, Marita Golden, Margot Livesey, John Casey and Nicholas Delbanco. I’ve learned so much from all of their works. Perhaps I should give you the titles I tend to come back to while teaching my grad-level classes at Johns Hopkins.
Topping the list would THE GREAT GATSBY by Fitzgerald. To me, it’s perhaps the best use of first-person narration. Recently in my fiction workshops, I’ve been assigning WHO WILL RUN THE FROG HOSPITAL? by Lorrie Moore and CITIES OF THE PLAIN by Cormac McCarthy. Two very different works, but both employ similar plotting devices. I love the voice in Bob Dylan’s CHRONICLES. And, finally, I return to Michael Ondaatje’s IN THE SKIN OF A LION every few years. Of course, he wrote THE ENGLISH PATIENT, but I really enjoy this one.

Background info-short bio.
I always enjoyed reading as a kid. My family grew up in the country, between Buffalo and Rochester in Western New York. Of course, this well before cable television and the Internet, so reading was what you had. My parents were big readers and going to the local library was a huge deal. We went every weekend during the winter. Richard Ford, who I’ve had the good fortune to do a workshop with, once said that if you love reading then it’s only natural to try writing yourself. That’s what I started to do by junior high school. I wasn’t particularly good back then. I was a lousy speller, for example. But I worked on several newspapers in college and then after graduation. They were a great proving ground. I covered everything from fires and murders to sports events and concerts. That period really improved my ability to write and do it on deadline. Later on in my career, I wanted to learn more about writing and that first took me to conferences at Squaw Valley and then to do graduate work at Johns Hopkins University.
In total, I’ve published eight books, novels and narrative nonfiction.


Have you always wanted to be a writer? What jobs/careers have you
had in your life?
I decided at the age of 15 or 16 that I wanted to be a writer. I haven’t looked back.



What one item can you not live without?
A good book to read and a spiral notebook. You have to be open to the things that come your way. I wrote my first novel, CASTRO’S CURVEBALL, on the D.C. Metro, the local subway here. At the time, I had an intense day job with USA Today. I didn’t have much free time, but I tried to write at least a page in my spiral notebook every day on the Metro going to work. One day I almost didn’t write. It seemed to be pointless. But with my stop only minutes away, I got out my notebook and started to write in a voice that I like to think is more desperate and innocent than my own. I ended up rewriting my first novel in that voice, the voice of Billy Bryan, the washed-up ballplayer in Havana. I’m convinced that if I hadn’t picked up my pen that day, that voice/character would have moved on to some other writer.


What are you working on now? Anything to be published in the near
future? Do you plan on staying within the historical fiction genre?
I’ve also been promoting a new nonfiction release, HIGH HEAT: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE FASTBALL AND THE IMPROBABLE SEARCH FOR THE FASTEST PITCHER OF ALL TIME (Da Capo). That’s been a lot of fun, too.
I just finished a new novel set near Niagara Falls, where I grew up. It’s entitled OVER THE FALLS, and the characters and setting are all somewhat star-crossed. My next project will probably be nonfiction, perhaps set in the 1960s. Things seem so divisive today, so I found myself wondering when were things as or even more divisive. That’s the ’60s for me, so I think there are some lessons and great stories to be found there.


Any guilty pleasures? Such as food, candy, etc.
A bowl of ice cream and sitting in front of the tube to watch the late movie. I’m an old school guy.


Anything else you would like to share.
In closing, I’d urge readers to check out the YouTube book trailers for RED RAIN and HIGH HEAT. These days a writer has to be part promoter, too. Both of these are short and can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gULjPukGrHc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjOQatCEB4I&feature=channel
And people can always reach me through my web site, www.timwendel.com

Thanks for your time, Tim

Book Review, Author Interview and Giveaway-Shiva's Arms by Cheryl Snell

Title: Shiva's Arms
Author: Cheryl Snell
Publisher: The Writer's Lair Books
Pub Date: 2010
ISBN: 9780615340814
Pages: 193
Genre: Fiction
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for my honest review.

Synopsis:
When Alice marries Ramesh, she is plunged into a battle of wills with her mother-in-law. And when a family secret is revealed that costs the old woman everything, it is up to Alice to heal the rift between them, as Shiva’s Arms evolves into an exploration of cultural identity, the power of reconciliation, and the meaning of home.


About the Author:
Cheryl Snell has published over four hundred poems and stories online and in print. Her books include both fiction and poetry, and Prisoner’s Dilemma, her recent volume of poetry and art, won the Lopside Press Competition. Snell has been nominated for the Pushcart and Best of the Net four times, and her poem "Fire on the Cuyahoga" was chosen by Dorianne Laux for inclusion in the Sundress' Best of the Net Anthology last year. Follow her author's blog about all things Indian at
shivasarms.blogspot.com.

My review:
Shiva's Arms is a book about the struggle between husband and wife, son and mother, and daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. The plot not only follows these conflicts but adds cultural differences in the mix to make it more complicated. Alice is American and she married the Indian born Ramesh, only to face a life she didn't know was coming. The book explores the cultural difference and the difficulties that these marriages often face. I liked that the author took on a new take in having the character of Ramesh being torn between his wife and mother to show the cultural differences and difficulties. I think it gave the story more substance, rather than just allowing for a story of conflict between husband and wife only. There were a few areas that I thought could have flowed better as I was reading about the couple being in India and suddenly they were in America without any transitions and it left me confused in spots. I think that perhaps it was also because I am not familiar with Indian customs and they weren't explained in the detail I would have liked to have seen. The book does contain a short glossary of terms for the reader and also some recipes for food items that are mentioned in the book. I think that someone who is familiar with Indian customs will really enjoy this book and I think if I had known more about the customs, I would have enjoyed this book more. However, it really opened my eyes to a different culture that I knew nothing about and the differences that occur between families of different cultures when they become intertwined.

I have one copy of this book for giveaway. Please leave a comment below with your email. The winner will be chosen on July 29.

















The author was so gracious to grant an interview and answer the questions I had for her about the book and her life.

How did you come up with the idea for this book?

The idea for the book took hold as I witnessed conflicts between immigrants and the family members they leave behind. What is lost and what is gained? Stories my husband told me about his childhood in India and my own position as an “unsuitable bride” provided both setting and emotional center.

It’s the threshold, not the center, that holds the most fascination for me, as it does for the characters in my novel who have divided loyalties. My desire to create this particular story focusing on cultural identity came about because I wanted to understand the protocols of another culture, and convey the complexity that is at the heart of the momentous act of immigration. These are my themes, and I keep returning to them.


Have you always been interested in the Indian culture and how did that start?

My interest began with my marriage, and the fact that an Indian family moved in next door to us. Suddenly I was immersed in the culture, from both sides. I had a bird's eye view of the neighbors' lives as immigrants, and the walls between our townhouses were thin enough so I could even hear what they argued about. Remember when Wonderland’s Alice said, “What if I should fall right through the center of the earth…oh, and come out the other side, where people walk upside down?” I thought they must feel like that, even more than I did in my new situation.

Before I knew it, I had been pulled into samsara, the important householder stage.Armed with the basics of acceptable behavior—don’t touch the men, no shoes in the house, have a fry pan uncontaminated by meat handy-- there were still an overwhelming number of ambiguities to sift through, from the comic head-shaking that looked like No but meant Yes, to the serious conflict between freedom and family. I began to imagine a novel built on the swirl of relationships around me.

Always drawn to the stories with characters belonging to two cultures—think of the work of Narayan, Desai, Mukerjee— I wanted to know which part of a divided self goes and which part stays.

People ask me how I can write about a culture not truly mine. The answer is I can write about it because I do not completely belong. I'm neither behind a closed door nor in the thick of things, but rather in the archway, a good place from which to observe and to have a conversation with my own divided heart.

What got you started writing?

Like most writers, my love of reading lead to it. I wrote for my own pleasure while I developed my career as a classical pianist, and I only began to take writing seriously when I retired from concertizing and married. I began to write both short stories and poetry.


Writing poetry transcends the personal, for me, whereas fiction relies on empathy. For both forms, I start with an image, a phrase, or an idea. Both forms distill language and meaning–in a poem every word counts, sound and syllable. In fiction, the sentences must advance plot, reveal character, and build up resonance in readers' minds through symbolism, motif, and theme. With a novel, revisions are more rigorous, more of a juggle.


With so much to take into consideration—characters, scenes, and points of view—it seems counter-intuitive that a novel is more forgiving. But I find that its sprawl makes it more tolerant . “In the novel or short story you get the journey. In a poem you get the arrival,” May Sarton once wrote.


That’s not to say that it’s an orderly progression. When characters run amok, and suddenly have their own plans, it’s hard to force them back into the author’s. Mary Lee Settle advised that empathy without identity is one way to keep control of a character, but it’s difficult to maintain that distance.


Transformation, the way the characters change, what conclusion the narrator comes to, are born out of writing one’s way into the piece again and again, trying on different plots, tone, voice. I feel my way.


What genre do you normally read? Favorite books? Favorite authors?


I read and review literary fiction and contemporary poetry, which is what I write. On my nightstand right now are Bellow’s Humboldt’s Gift, Roth’s Dying Animal, and Making Good Use of August, by Sherry O'Keefe. Flaubert is always where I can grab him, in case of emergency. Sentimental Education is a favorite of mine.


Tell about your background. Education, family, etc.

My father was a doctor and my mother and artist. My husband is a mathematical engineer and a professor. I have brothers who are scientists and a sister whose expressionist art is well known in certain circles, and with whom I often collaborate. We have several books of poetry and art, and we keep a blog called Scattered Light at http://snellsisters.blogspot.com


Describe yourself in three words.

Worth the wait (courtesy of my husband)


What item can you not live without?

Reading glasses.

Any interesting fact about yourself you would like to share.

I've been making videopoems lately at http://www.youtube.com/cherylsnell3


Further book plans? What are you working on now? Anything to be
published in the near future?

After ten books, I sometimes think I've used up all the words there are. But I'm always working on several things at the same time - it's my hedge against writer's block. I have another collaboration of poems and art with my sister, another short story collection, and a third volume about another member of the fictional Sambashivan family taking shape now.
Thanks for asking!

Author Interview-Terry Brennan

Terry Brennan, author of The Sacred Cipher, has answered some questions for the blog about his life and the writing of this book.

About the Author:
Over the past 35 years, Terry Brennan has accumulated a broad range of experience in both the profit and non-profit business sectors.

His 22-year, award winning journalism career included:

Seven years as a sportswriter and editor with The Philadelphia Bulletin, at the time the largest-circulation afternoon newspaper in the nation;
Leading The Mercury of Pottstown (PA), as its editor, to a Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing;
Serving as Executive Editor of a multi-national newspaper firm – Ingersoll Publications – with papers in the USA, England and Ireland.
In 1996 Brennan transferred his successful journalism management career to the non-profit sector and served for 12 years as Vice President of Operations for the Christian Herald Association, Inc., the parent organization of four New York City ministries, including The Bowery Mission.

Now Vice President of the National Organization on Disability in Manhattan, Brennan also won the Valley Forge Award for editorial writing from the Freedoms Foundation. His two adult sons and their families live in Pennsylvania. Terry, his wife Andrea and their two adult children live in New York City. His first novel, The Sacred Cipher, was published by Kregel Publications and released in July of 2009.



On a more personal level:


I grew up in the Catholic Church but it wasn’t until my marriage to Andrea and our experience with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal that the God of the Bible broke through and convinced me he was real. So, for the last 30 years, the journey has been primarily in trying to accept God’s love for me. I know He loves everybody else. But me? That’s the struggle.


My kids – Michael, Patrick, Meghan and Matthew – always inspire me with their enthusiasm for life and their encouragement. But my greatest inspiration while writing The Sacred Cipher came from my wife, Andrea. Not only did she give me the gift of a year of Saturdays in which to write the book, but she kept me sane and rooted during the many long, agonizing stretches when I struggled with fear, doubt and inadequacy. Andrea is my best friend and biggest fan.


As for me, I was a journalist for 22 years and loved almost every minute of that life. Then providence intervened, picked us up out of the newspaper business and dropped us into New York City working for the organization that runs The Bowery Mission. And I spent 12 years serving in a ministry to the addicted and homeless here in New York. That move was a radical change on so many levels but resulted in so many blessings for all of our family that we wouldn’t change a moment of it.


Interview:
How did you get the idea for the book?


My wife and I lived in The Bowery Mission for many years while I worked for its parent organization, the Christian Herald Association.

I had already formed the idea for the second half of the story (which is the surprise part) and that was kicking around in my head.

Then, one day I was standing at the back of The Bowery Mission’s 120-year-old chapel, looking up at the organ pipes that rise high above the speaker’s platform. And I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if there was a room hidden behind the organ pipes?

Of course, I had been behind the organ pipes many times and knew what was there – certainly not a hidden room. But the idea was intriguing, and that’s when the two pieces started coming together and, eventually, formed The Sacred Cipher.


The Sacred Cipher is an adult thriller/suspense triggered by the discovery of a hidden room behind the organ pipes in The Bowery Mission’s chapel in New York City. In a safe in the room is found an ancient scroll with a message written in an extinct language that has never been deciphered. The first half of the book takes place in NYC as a ‘team’ of guys tries to discover the content of the message, and the second half is when the team goes off to find out if the message is, in fact, true.


Here’s the blurb from the back cover of the book:

"When New Yorker Tom Bohannon uncovers an ancient scroll containing a dead language that has been lost in the sands of time, he doesn't fully comprehend the danger that's about to unfold. Though Tom and his team of ragtag scientists and historians want to decode the ancient text, others don’t want the cipher revealed. And they are prepared to kill to keep it hidden.

"From a market in nineteenth-century Alexandria to a library in present-day New York to the tunnels beneath Jerusalem, the secret of the cipher is gradually revealing itself across the globe. And for those in its path, life is about to change - forever."




Describe your path to writing this book?


The path to this book, as I note below, started when two ideas came together in the chapel of The Bowery Mission. Other writers got excited about the story idea and encouraged me to take the time to sit down and write it. It took a year of Saturdays to write the book, a year to secure an agent, another year to secure a publisher and another year for editing.


The path to writing is pretty short.

I sit in a chair, staring at an LCD screen. I put my fingers on the keyboard in my lap. And the story tells itself through my fingers.

Really, that’s the way it is.

I do research, both online and at the huge Humanities and Social Sciences Library on Bryant Park in New York City. And I love that part of the work.

But, the writing? I don’t have a plan (sorry to all of you who labor over plot outlines and build fully-formed character personalities).

I have a story, and I try to tell the story … or let the story tell me and I tell you.

I was a journalist for 22 years – 15 years as a sportswriter. When you cover a game, any kind of game, you have a very short deadline in which to file that story. An hour if you’re lucky. Sometimes as little as 15 minutes. So you get used to telling the story through your fingers. Not too much thinking. Just try to figure out the story of the game, or the athletes, and tell the story to the best of your ability in the time allowed. Then, the next day, you get to do it all over again. And, just as an aside, don’t make any mistakes.

That is the learned skill I bring to novel writing. I have an idea what the story is going to be, some understanding of the people who are playing in that story, and then I sit down to write the story. And it usually tells me what to do and where it’s going.

Conception to revision – that’s about the way it goes.

Pretty lame, eh?



Have you always written, when did you start, etc?


I think I was born a writer … it was the way God wired me. But I didn’t become aware of it until I was a freshman in high school. I’ve written ever since. I wrote for my high school newspaper and my college humor magazine. I’ve written advertising copy, short stories and spent 22 years as a journalist – 15 as a sportswriter.

But I never considered myself a ‘writer’ until I tried my hand at my first novel in the mid-90’s. That one took four years, then sat in a drawer for six years. One day, I thought, I wonder if there is any value in that book? Eventually I went to my first writer’s conference – the Philadelphia Christian Writer’s Conference – in 2005. I had an idea that I pitched to anyone who would listen, got a lot of encouragement and … boom … that was it. Off on this crazy journey. It took four years for The Sacred Cipher to go from an idea at the ’05 Philly Conference to launch date 2009.




I knew from the end of the book that you had used some factual info but a day after I finished this book, I saw a news story online about the Rosetta Stone and realized that you used quite a bit of factual events and information. Have you always followed the info on the Rosetta Stone and the history relating to it or did you begin to research it just for the writing of this book?


I was a history major in college, and I truly love the thrill of research … digging into books, the Internet, any information I can find and trolling for that luscious morsel that will give the story life – and a surprising twist.

But, I can take no credit for the introduction of Demotic into the story.

I was privileged to have an archeologist in Jerusalem – Kathy Vance – as a collaborator on The Sacred Cipher. I would send her all these ideas I was working on for the book and she would email me back and say, No, don’t use that one. Use this one. That had to do with one of the historical characters and also to the use of Demotic as the extinct, indecipherable language used to write the Sacred Cipher.

The scroll that is discovered in The Bowery Mission is written in Demotic – the third language on the Rosetta Stone. Once the decision was made to use Demotic as the language, that obviously brought the Rosetta Stone into play. That’s when I went to work in the Humanities and Social Science Library here in New York City and researched as much as I could find out about the Rosetta Stone … and then tried to figure out how the Stone would fit into the unfolding of the story.

The search for the scroll’s meaning leads the team to Sir Edward Elgar, the English composer, and a cipher he wrote over 100 years ago that has yet to be deciphered. The scroll’s history reaches back to the 11th Century and at one point crossed the path of legendary English preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Writers like Stephen King often say a story is organic … that it has a life of its own and will tell you where it wants to go. I was stunned to find out that is what happened with The Sacred Cipher. The Rosetta Stone, and the Demotic language, ended up being entwined into so many different aspects of the book … so much more so than I had any idea at the beginning. So I kept adding layer upon layer of factual information on top of this fanciful story about a secret message from 1,000 years ago that changes today’s history.

The Bowery Mission is real … Demotic is real … Sir Edward Elgar is real … Charles Haddon Spurgeon is real … and so are dozens of other facts and folks that are weaved into this adventure.

Most of the research was done is the massive and beautiful Humanities and Social Science Library on Bryant Park and Fifth Avenue in New York City. And on Google Earth.




As I was reading, I could see this as a movie. Any plans for one?


Many people who have read The Sacred Cipher have said the same thing … and I can only hope you are prophetic. I would love to see the book as a movie, obviously. I think it’s a very visual book. Even though it’s jammed with information and interesting facts, it’s also full of action. I hope someone out in Hollywood, or Indie-land, gets their hands on a copy and feels the same way. But no nibbles, yet.

The closest we’ve gotten is that my wife and kids and I pretend we are the casting director for the film version of the book and try to decide who would play the lead roles?

At the moment, this is as far as we’ve gotten (and it changes regularly):

For the lead, Tom Bohannon: Robert Downey, Jr. or Gerard Butler (if makeup could age him a bit) or, more of a long shot, Aiden Quinn or Liev Schrieber.
We all agree Sean Connery or Gabriel Byrne … or, perhaps, Harrison Ford … should be Dr. Richard Johnson, Jr.
Danny DeVito or Paul Giammati, or Sean Astin as Sammy Rizzo.
Charlize Theron, or Drew Barrymore, or Kate Hudson, or Rachel McAdams as Kallie Nolan.
For Joe Rodriguez, Amaury Nolasco (from Prison Break TV show).
As Tom’s wife, Annie – Jennifer Connelly, or Tea Leoni.



Can you give any info/hints on the sequel? When will it be released?


I am deep into writing the sequel, Scorpion Pass, at the present. It starts right at the end of The Sacred Cipher and continues the story into the next phase of its evolution. All I can tell you is that the same characters are involved, that there are some major surprises to be revealed in Scorpion Pass and that all is not as it seems.

In the interim, I’ve written another novel, Hunger’s Ransom, which is a contemporary suspense set in New York City. That novel – and it’s necessary rewriting and editing – has been set aside, for the moment, as I work to complete Scorpion Pass.

My publisher, Kregel Publications, has not yet set a release date for Scorpion Pass.



Fave author? Fave book?


I’ve always loved the classic American authors – Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald – particularly Steinbeck. Steinbeck is my favorite, all-time author. That guy was a wizard with words. As a kid, I read every Fu Manchu mystery. As a college student, every James Bond thriller and the required Lord of the Rings trilogy, including the prequel The Hobbit. In between, Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes … you get the drift.

Today, I enjoy Dennis Lehane’s work – particularly his latest – The Given Day. I think he’s become a lyrical writer. And my son, Matt, has hooked me into both Stephen King and (more my style) Cormack McCarthy. McCarthy’s The Road was a revelation. A wonderful story in a very unique style.

Sprinkle into that adrenalin mix some historical biographies and/or autobiographies (Mornings on Horseback By David McCoullough). And lots of contemporary thriller writers, like Joel Rosenberg.




Include any other info about the book that you would like my blog readers to know.



The Sacred Cipher is a contemporary tale of mystery, intrigue and suspense wrapped around a historical novel – based on real people, real places and real events – encapsulated by an archeological treasure hunt that threatens the lives of all those involved. All of which culminates in a revelation that could be ripped from tomorrow’s headlines and which, if true, could lead the Middle East to the cusp of nuclear war.

And the story is more than plausible.

It’s a rollicking, fast-paced adventure, a combination of Indiana Jones, The DaVinci Code and the Jason Bourne movies, filled with fascinating historical lore. Judging from the reviews, it’s a story that has captured the imagination of both male and female readers. I really enjoyed the discovery of the journey. I started with the idea of how the book would start and how it would end and … in very general terms … what the story would be.

It was such a hoot. I wrote it in a year of Saturdays and was constantly amazed at where the story would take me, what the characters would tell me and the wild stuff I would come up with in research. It was like I was on an adventure with a bunch of friends who would only give me little clues about what was going on.


As for me … learning to be a novelist …

The easiest part is coming up with basic plot. I’m a plot-driven writer, so it’s not hard for me to come up with basic plot ideas. I have several plot ideas tucked away that will be my next few books.

Flushing out the plot details is not that difficult, either. It takes time and effort, and there are many days when I’m stuck and frustrated, or I find myself written into a corner I can’t seem to escape. But my 22 years in journalism, more than half as a sportswriter often writing on deadline, effectively trained me to write when it was time to write. Sit down and get the fingers moving. I often say I think through my fingers, and it is often true. I just sit down and start at some part in the plot (never sequential) and put my fingers to work. Most of the time, the story reveals itself.

One of my greatest struggles is in character development. That takes a lot of effort. Understanding and developing motivation … building characters of complexity and depth … those are continuous challenges for me.

I struggle with confidence, and I haven’t overcome that one yet. Organization, and I haven’t overcome that one yet. But the greatest roadblock is discipline. When I have it, magic happens. When I don’t, nothing happens. Creating and sticking to a rigid schedule is one of the few ways I’ve found to establish discipline.

Author Interview-Abigail Reynolds

About the Author:
Abigail Reynolds is a physician and a lifelong Jane Austen enthusiast. She began writing The Pemberley Variations series in 2001, and encouragement from fellow Austen fans convinced her to continue asking “What if…?” She lives with her husband and two teenage children in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information, please visit http://pemberleyvariations.com/




When did you first discover Jane Austen? I was 12 when I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time and fell in love, and all the other books followed quickly.


Tell a little about your love/obsession with Austen and her books. At first I think it was escapism and enjoyment of Austen’s wit that kept me reading. Her humor is sharp but not cruel, and she seems to care about all her characters even with all their faults. There isn’t any division into bad and good characters, just ones that are weaker or sillier than others. It’s a world view that appeals strongly to me. As I grew older, I realized the Regency world wasn’t all tea parties and balls, and then I started delving deeper into the characters and finding new understandings, especially in some of the character flaws. Austen’s characters are like old friends that I keep with me all the time.


Describe your writing schedule? I mostly write at coffee shops and late at night at home when my family is asleep. It’s always squeezed in, with a few paragraphs written at my son’s karate practice, then scribbling down lines while cooking, etc.


How do you fit is all in… family, writing, medical practice? That’s easy – I don’t fit it in! I always feel like I should give more time to work, writing, and my kids. A couple of times I’ve tried to give up writing, but my kids complain that it makes me really cranky and tell me to start again! I’ve let go of a lot of things like keeping my house even remotely tidy, and my husband does a lot of work around the house. But writing fits in well because I often don’t have much physical stamina because of a chronic illness, and it’s something I can do while resting.


How many books do you read a year? Oh dear – I’m not sure I can count that high! Usually it’s a couple of books a week, sometimes less when I’m in the throes of writing and there’s no room in my head for anybody else’s characters. Just lately I’ve been reading a series of children’s books by Sally Watson that I loved as a kid but were out of print for decades. It’s like a trip down memory lane.


Fave authors/books? Apart from Pride and Prejudice? My reading is very eclectic. I love Robin McKinley, Gillian Bradshaw, Kate Elliott, Mary Balogh, and I’m currently really enjoying reading Maria V. Snyder’s books.


Do you plan another what if series from another author? Probably not. I embarked on these books because I wanted to spend more time with Austen’s characters, rather than a particular interest in what-if stories. I’m more likely to write original fiction.


How many books do you see publishing in the current Jane Austen what if series? The sixth book, Mr. Darcy’s Obsession, will be coming out next October, and I’ve finished the first draft of a seventh. I’ll probably keep writing them as long as there are people interested in reading them!

Guilty pleasures? Chocolate, chocolate, and chocolate. Did I mention chocolate?

Hidden talents? For a long time, writing was my hidden talent. I didn’t tell anybody in my real life about my secret life in the Regency. My other talent, diagnostics, is useful in my other job. I’m good at teasing out odd symptoms that nobody has ever thought much about and putting them together in a big picture, which is actually a lot like the intuitive parts of writing.

I noticed on your blog you mentioned writing conferences. How many do you attend a year? Would you suggest inspiring writers to go to these? If so, do you have a suggestion on which ones work well for those not yet published? I usually go to two conferences a year, and I find them very useful. It’s a good way to learn the unwritten tricks of getting published and to make connections, as well as learning about the craft of writing. The annual Romance Writers of America conference is a good opportunity, but can be overwhelming, especially for first-timers. I’d recommend the Chicago-North RWA Spring Fling conference (www.chicagospringfling.com) in April which has a particularly good lineup of workshops, agents and editors, and will be a bit more personal. I’ll be there.


Thanks for inviting me!





MR. FITZWILLIAM DARCY: THE LAST MAN IN THE WORLD—IN STORES JANUARY 2010!



In this sexy Jane Austen sequel, Elizabeth Bennet accepts Mr. Darcy's first marriage proposal, answering the "What if...?" question fans everywhere have pondered



" I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry."



Famous last words indeed! Elizabeth Bennet's furious response to Mr. Darcy's marriage proposal has resonated for generations of readers. But what if she had never said it? Would she have learned to recognize Mr. Darcy's admirable qualities on her own? Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy follows Elizabeth and Darcy as they struggle to find their way through the maze of their prejudices after Elizabeth, against her better judgment, agrees to marry Darcy instead of refusing his proposal.



Two of the most beloved characters in English literature explore the meaning of true love in a tumultuous and passionate attempt to make a success of their marriage.

Author Interview-Kelly Gay

Kelly Gay, an author of urban fantasy books, has answered some questions about herself and her writing.



Why did you pick this genre to write in? Is it the genre you read most from? I don’t really think of genre before I start writing. I write whatever story is in my head at the time, though I naturally lean toward paranormal, fantasy, and strong heroines. Once I had the world and characters in my mind for THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS, I knew immediately that the story would fit best in urban fantasy. I read a lot of UF, but not when I’m writing rough drafts in the same genre. I like to have a clear head when I write new material, so I’ll switch to paranormal or contemporary romance, straight fantasy, or young adult. I love historical fiction and anything with a paranormal vibe.



I noticed on your website that you have had a plethora of jobs that are in all different areas. Can you list some of those? Do you think any of those jobs gave you ideas or story lines for your writing? Yeah, I’ve had a few odd jobs for sure! I’ve done many different jobs in construction, working for my dad—framing houses, roofing, driving backhoes and dump trucks. I worked at bookstores, movie theaters, in retail, at restaurants… But none were as fun as working with horses. I managed barns, groomed for show riders, and watched over foals at a breeding farm. Oddly enough, none of them really gave me inspiration for stories, but a lot of the jobs allowed me to day dream and stew on story ideas so that I could write later when I got home.



What path did you take to becoming a writer? The long one. J It took over a decade of writing, first screenplays and plays, and then fiction to finally get published. I have piles of scripts and about six or seven novels stacked in my office. My rejection pile might even rival my manuscript pile. My path consisted of writing manuscripts, honing my craft, submitting to agents and editors, pitching at conferences, and entering contests. I had some successes and near-misses, but it wasn't until 2008 that I finally sold to Pocket.



What is your writing schedule like? Do you write full time now or hold a job in addition to your writing career? I have three books contracted (the sequel to THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS, and then two young adults novels with Simon Pulse that I’m writing as Kelly Keaton), so I work full-time now on the writing. I usually work from 9 AM until 4 PM, writing new material in the mornings and editing in the afternoons, unless I’m under deadline for something, then I’ll focus on what’s needed. The biggest adjustment has been managing my time and being self disciplined.



What has been your experience in the publishing world? Positive/Negative? Definitely positive. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have teamed up with the folks at Pocket. They are talented, down to earth, fun people to work with.



What upcoming projects do you have? The sequel to THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS is up next. It’s called THE DARKEST EDGE OF DAWN, and releases Aug. 31, 2010. Then, in Spring of 2011, my first young adult book, a dark post-apocalyptic urban fantasy set in New Orleans, will debut under my penname, Kelly Keaton.



If you could meet one author for dinner, who would it be? Herodotus. Ancient history geek, here. I’d be in heaven, sitting down and chatting with the author we call the Father of History.



Do you have fascinating hobbies or guilty pleasures? My guilty pleasure is online role playing games. Massive time sinks, but I love to veg out and go running through some fantastical landscape as a mythological being and battle things. It’s very therapeutic!

Author Interview: Susan Sizemore

Bio: Susan Sizemore is the author of many romance and fantasy novels and short stories. She writes the Vampire Primes paranormal romance series for Pocket Star books. Her current release is DARK STRANGER. She lives in the midwest, knits, loves dogs, spends too much time on http://twitter.com

Sign up for Susan's newsletter at sgsizemore.msn.com

Follow Susan at http://twitter.com/SusanSizemore

What path did you follow to become a writer?

You mean what path did I follow to become a published writer? I've been writing all my life. You don't have to be paid/published to be a writer. I've written stories since I was six year's old and made them up in my head before I learned to print with crayons. I spent a decade writing Star Trek fanfic for fun, then got the itch to write original fiction. So I got involved in a critique group, joined the RWA, started sending out proposals and getting my share of rejections. I entered writing contests, won the RWA Golden Heart in 1991 and sold WINGS OF THE STORM three days later. I've been writing professionally since then.

Fave author? Fave book? How many books do you read a year?

I don't have one fave author. There's too many great authors to have just one. Let's say that there's a small group of authors I'm not willing to wait for the paperback to come out. I snatch up Terry Pratchett, John Scalzi, Laurie R. King and a few others as soon as their books hit the stores. There are some forever favorite authors that I return to over and over - Dorothy Dunnett, Dorothy Sayers, Tolkien, Mary Renault, Gene Stratton Porter, Mary Jo Putney among them. How many books a year -- not enough.

Do you have any hidden talents? Guilty pleasures?

Is being the world's worst guitarist a hidden talent? I have some guilty pleasure movies that I know are bad but love to watch.

Hobbies?

Knitting. Travel. Reading. Bicycle riding.

Tips you would give an aspiring writer?

Finish the book. Starting is easy, but making your way to the end is the hard part. Then finish the next book, and the next.

How do you come up with story ideas?

Anything could spark a story idea. The best way to start is to ask, "What if...?" and take it from there. And listen to the characters. They're living the story and frequently will say, "Wait a minute, that's stupid. This is how I'd really do it."


Be sure and check out Susan's latest book entitled Dark Stranger.

Author Interview-Jane Doiron

Jane Doiron, the author of my latest cookbook, has given an author interview for the blog about herself and her new book.

Tell me about work, family, hobbies, etc.
I have been teaching for 22 years. I currently teach 2nd grade, but I have taught 3rd grade and Pre-Kindergarten. My husband and I have been married for 22 years. I have a son in college and a son in high school. I guess my hobby is cooking! I've taken a few cooking classes over the years such as cake decorating and bread making.

What made you decide to write a cookbook?
I always wanted to have my own cookbook, but it wasn't possible until I discovered "self-publishing" on-line. If you want to publish a book with a self-publishing company, you don't need to worry about being turned down. With the rising cost of high school and college tuition, I thought the income from the book would also help us out.

How do you think this book is different from other cookbooks out there?
The recipes in my cookbook are family-friendly and give you the option of preparing in advance or freezing the meal. The whole idea is to help save you time when you're too tired or have very little time to prepare a complete meal.

What was the publishing process like? About how long did it take from the beginning of deciding to write to the finished product?
I started writing my manuscript in January of 2008. I submitted my manuscript to the publisher in April of 2009 and it was published in August of 2009. Editing the book was very time-consuming and stressful. I was responsible to catch any errors as the publisher would print what ever I approved.

Plans for other books? If so, will it be more cookbooks or another genre?
I would like to publish another cookbook. It would probably be a "Make-Ahead" type of cookbook as the response from busy moms has been great.

How did you choose the recipes for this book? Did you pick out your favorite things to eat/cook or did you choose them based on what you thought others would like?
I've tested out so many recipes over the years. The recipes in the book are family favorites. If my family approved the recipe, it went in the book!

Author Interview-Diana Francis

Diana Francis, the author of Bitter Night, has so graciously answered some questions about herself and her writing for my blog. After learning more about her, please go to the giveaways and enter to win her new book.

Short Bio:

I was raised on a cattle ranch in Northern California (outside a town called Lincoln which is now part of an enormous sprawl). I taught myself to ride a horse at the age of six, as no one had the time to teach me—they were all busy learning how to irrigate, how to cajole an angry bull into another field, how to pull a calf… Afraid of heights, and absolutely sure I was going to die, I managed to scramble up on the back of a very patient and lazy strawberry roan destrier, and plod off into the sunset.

Thereafter, I spent much of my early life on horseback, or so far buried into a book that the rest of the world ceased to exist (much to the annoyance of my family—it took several attempts to get my attention). We all had very specific jobs on the ranch and mine was horses and cattle—out rounding up at dawn. And since I rode bareback, my standing request was to wake me up 5 minutes before everyone else headed for the barn—time enough to dress and eat my Wheaties, and no sleep time wasted on saddling.

After high school, I attended college after college, racking up a BA and MA in creative writing and a Ph.D. in literature and theory. My very patient and supportive husband traipsed across the Midwest and back to Montana for me (though my husband insists that he’s been running and hiding and I just keep finding him), where I now teach at the University of Montana-Western. We also a son Q-ball, who in our humbly unbiased opinions, is the most wonderful son ever produced, and a daughter, Princess Caesar, who is the most wonderful daughter ever produced.

I have a fascination for the Victorians, weather, geology, horses, plants and mythology, I like spicy food, chocolate and cheesecake, and I have an odd sense of humor. (Or so I’ve been told. Often.) Incidentally, the Pharaoh is in fact my real name, and oddly enough, is of British origin.

Some of my current favorite sf/f writers are Ilona Andrews, Carol Berg, C.E. Murphy, Patty Briggs, Lynn Flewelling, Rachel Caine, David Coe, and Anne Bishop.




What path did you take to become a writer?

I was always a storyteller. I used to construct these elaborate stories for me and my friends—early role playing games. I grew up on a cattle ranch, so we had ample space for epic stories and we could use real horses.

I didn’t actually start writing until I was halfway through high school, and then it was poetry. Awful poetry, I might add. Really bad. But I had caught the writing bug. Still, it didn’t occur to me to write my stories. I read voraciously, but actually writing myself was too alien a concept to even enter my mind.

When I went to college, I decided on a lark to take a fiction writing course. It was a disaster. One of those where everyone is out to attack attack attack (I teach those courses now at a university and mine are much more positive if you ask me). Despite how awful it was, it taught me that I wanted to write. They hated my fantasy stories (not very literary), but I didn’t care. I wanted to write them.

So I wrote a lot. It was bad, too. Not as awful as the poetry, but very purple. Lots of adjectives and adverbs and grandiose language. But learning is in the practice and in reading, so I kept going. I wrote a trunk romance novel (I don’t know why romance at that point. I was reading a lot of it probably). And then I embarked on a fantasy epic.

I went to grad school and got an MA in creative writing and learned a lot of skills and I also learned I needed to write. I needed to just finish a novel and practice a whole lot more. So while I was working on my PhD., I wrote another novel and took literature classes. I wrote a few short stories, a few of which were published (check my website out under free stories for some of those).

Then I got a job in Montana, so we moved. I decided to take my nearly completed novel to Wiscon and participate in the writers workshop there (okay, only the first chapters). I got some encouragement there, and I also got a new idea for a book. So I came home and was thinking about submitting the novel when my friend called and said, do you want to do a book in a week? Um, what? It’s a strategy from the romance writers community and it’s very much like NanoWriMo, except you write in one week. The idea is that you can get time off from work and family for a week and pour all your energy into a book. By the end, if you don’t have an entire book done, you at least know if it is going to be worth pursuing, or if you want to work on something else. In the end, you’ve only invested a week, so it’s worth doing.

I started writing Path of Fate in that week and finished it about seven months later. I so desperately wanted to send it out to editors, but I knew that was a bad idea. It needed polishing. So I sent it to two beta readers who gave me feedback and then I revised. When I was done, I wanted to send it right out, but then I realized I had to master the art of the synopsis and coverletter. These are crucial. So I spent a couple of months perfecting them, and then started submitting to agents and editors. I was able to meet with one editor at World Fantasy Con and make a personal pitch, and a couple of weeks she made an offer on the trilogy.

Wow. Sorry about that. It got long.


Did you always want to be a writer?

Well, see the long-winded answer on that above.


How do you come up with story ideas?

Writers are magpies. We see bright shiny bits everywhere and we collect them. They might be historical facts, images, events—anything. We also are always wondering. Why did that happen? What would happen if? Why did he do that? What would make a person do that?

All the questions and shiny bits start to coalesce into stories and then we feel the need to write them down.


How do you balance teaching college courses, academic writing, and fiction writing?

It’s a mad juggle, quite honestly. I’ve learned to be fairly disciplined, though I wish I had better planning skills. I frequently panic and stay up later at night than I’d like. I have a family, too, and they get priority, so it means I’m frequently behind the eight ball.


Tips you have for aspiring writers?

Keep working at your craft. Read a lot and pay attentions to how writers do what they do. Study the industry. Know how to submit and to whom. There’s a lot of great info on the web. And last of all, persevere.

Hobbies?

I don’t have a lot time for hobbies. I used to have some, but anymore, there’s just no time. Though whenever I can, I go geocaching with the family.


Do you have any hidden talents? Guilty pleasures?

My hidden talents involve being double jointed and being able to pick things up with me toes. Sad, huh? I can cook pretty well, though, and I make great foccaccia bread.


Fave author? Fave book? How many books do you read a year?

I don’t really have one favorite author or book, though if I had to pick one, I’d go with Jane Austen and either Pride and Prejudice or Persuasion. I read a fair bit, though not nearly as much as I’d like. I read a lot of my teaching, and then squeeze in all I can. My TBR pile is more like a mountain and I may never get to the bottom of it. Sigh. As they say, so many books, so little time.

Thanks for the wonderful questions and I appreciate you having me here today!

If you want to try out any of my books, you can read chapters and free short stories on my website: www.dianapfrancis.com

You can follow me on twitter: dianapfrancis
On Myspace: www.myspace.com/difrancis
On facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Diana-Pharaoh-Francis-Fantasy-Writer/163098893459?created