5 out of 5 quills A REVIEW The Queen’s Accomplice On Sale: October 4th
Susan Elia MacNeal plunks the reader down on the streets of war torn, bombed out London. We can see and hear the determination of the British people as they pull together and try to overcome the ravages of war. So how can it be that a serial killer is on the loose mimicking the infamous London ‘ripper’ from a previous century? And targeting only women who are ‘doing their bit’ for the war effort; many of them secret agents for MI-5.
Maggie Hope is still working for the British version of the CIA. But, now she’s been dragged into a murder investigation. And it’s suddenly gotten very personal when her own acquaintances and friends are the victims.
As always, with a MacNeal mystery, there are a couple of story lines within one book and at the end Susan ties it all together with a tidy bow. Fans of MacNeal’s Maggie Hope mystery series won’t be disappointed with this new offering. I was engaged to the last page by Susan’s excellent writing, and now can’t wait for the sequel, The Paris Spy.
Did you miss the wonderful interview I had with Susan: click here ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! October Author, Lisa Jackson. November will be best selling author, Grace Burrowes
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How to Land a Multi-Book Children’s Publishing Deal? Write From the Heart!
About a year ago, I was paddling down a familiar stretch of whitewater when I found a tangled up crawdad in a fishing line. After about five minutes of meticulous unwinding, I launched the little fellow back into the wild. My wife Tamara and my paddling buddy Tom, both thought that would make a great children’s story. The next morning, I wrote my first children’s book, Jason and the Crawdad King, on the back of a few napkins while sipping tea in a coffee shop.
Not far from where I found the Crawdad King
It was the first time in my life it felt like all the pieces were falling into place. The premise of the story came out of doing something I love. The suggestion for the story came from people I love. Plus, the story imbues a sense of wisdom from my personal experience and philosophy˗˗something else I love. And the whole package is directed toward the people that everyone loves—their children. From the time I found the helpless little crawdad, to the moment I’m typing this out on my laptop, it’s been one endless magic carpet ride. I think in spiritual circles they call it divine Flow.
The day I finished writing the story, Tamara’s daughter Chantelle came to visit. It was the first time I met her. It just so happens, besides being a professional ballerina in San Francisco, she’s also a brain child from Columbia University. In the two days she visited, she edited my book. Flow on, man.
Next I met my illustrator, Lili Avakem. Major Flow there. Lili and I met via the modus operandi of the 21st century…the internet. I was hoping to find an illustrator who was exceptionally talented, in love with illustrating, relatively unknown (like me), and hadn’t reached their full potential yet (hopefully like me too!). In short, I was hoping for an enormous stroke of good luck.
I held a contest on Freelancer.com, searching for samples from illustrators. Lili beat out 25 other entries. However, to win the contract to illustrate the entire book, I asked Lili and another artist from Thailand to submit one more illustration. I took one glance at Lili’s second submission and my jaw dropped to the floor in utter disbelief. I realized the enormous stroke of good luck I was hoping for had actually arrived. As I sit and write this, I still haven’t met Lili face-to-face. It’s like she’s some angelic creator of magic, hanging out in cyber space.
Shall we Flow a little further? After Lili and I finished the manuscript, I sent out queries to about 120 literary agents and publishers. After about a month, as rejection notices started to pile up, I was contacted out of the blue by Golden Bell Entertainment in New York. I never submitted anything to them. They contacted me based on an illustration of Lili’s I posted on Facebook. Go figure!
I recently landed a children’s picture book publishing deal, for nine books, with Golden Bell Entertainment in New York. “Wow!” You might be thinking. “How did you pull that off?”
I’ll lay it to you straight. It happened on accident. I’m was born a creative free spirit. It took me a long time to figure out what that was, let alone accept it. I was also born with powerful spiritual inclinations and an incredibly strong connection to nature. I’ve always seen things from a philosophical point of view, as I’ve wandered deep into the wilderness. That framework led me to a Master’s degree in Geology and a patchwork career as an exploration geologist. With a helicopter pilot as my chauffeur, I’ve prospected the Alaskan Arctic, the Yukon Rocky Mountains, and the Barren Lands of the Arctic Ocean. I also hung my hat for a spell in northern Sweden.
Artic Tundra…that little speck is me
And what was the result of those fascinating explorations? It deepened my connection to this planet we call Earth. So here I sit, a published author with the sky as our limit. And how did it all happen? By being myself and doing what I love, with people I love, to the core of my being. If you’re looking for success as an author, I’d suggest you start there. The rest will take care of itself. Your only job is to enjoy the journey.
Bio
Joseph Drumheller is a three-time award winning author with works in non-fiction, fiction and now children’s books. He has a deep love for nature and adventure, which fueled his previous career as an exploration geologist. He lives with his twin flame and extraordinary performing arts spouse, Tamara. They live in the great Pacific Northwest. www.josephdrumheller.com
DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Author, Lisa Jackson. November’s author will be best selling author, Grace Burrowes Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers!
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Why momentum is more important than quality. Blasphemy, right? Wrong. Momentum is more important, in this writer’s opinion, than quality.
The writer with momentum is an author who is MOVING FORWARD. Writing every day, six or seven days a week, if only a page or two a day.
The writer who is so stuck on ‘quality’ that they have only written one book in their life time, and they are still writing it, is the writer who is not moving forward or growing. If you only write one or two words a day, your manuscript is moving forward.
Many writers, who believe as I do, say that if you leave a project for a month, six months, a year, it is likely that you will never go back to it. And during that time the doubt creeps in: “who do I think I am?” “I’ll never be a great writer.” “I’m no good at this.” “My mother was right, I’ll never amount to anything….” “how good could I possibly be?” “I should go get a day job.” “How dare I?”
Remember, Quality gets layered in, draft by draft. Some newbie writers think that the first draft should be perfect. Sorry, that’s simply not the case. You’ve heard me say over and over: ‘that’s what rewrites are for.’
Quality is a multi-draft proposition. Momentum is the only thing that will get you a FIRST DRAFT!
“Write until it becomes as natural as breathing. Write until NOT writing makes you anxious.” Unknown
“The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say.” Anais Nin
“When we deny our stories, they define us. When we own our stories, we get to write a brave new ending.” Brene Brown
‘As a writer, I marinate, speculate and hibernate.’ Trisha Sugarek
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Author, Lisa Jackson. November’s author will be best selling author, Grace Burrowes
Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers! To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
This was the first time, in twenty+ years of writing that I couldn’t find a place to end the book. What was going on? Every new adventure that LaVerne had in the wilds of Alaska suggested another story thread.
It took me three years to write this saga.(87K words) I didn’t know it at the time, but I was letting it ‘rest’ at certain points and I think it’s a better story for it.
I have learned over the years to let it flow organically; when characters come busting through the door, I welcome them in. They always tell me their story and it always fits with what I am writing. The indigenous people in Song of the Yukon joined me early on. Black-eyed Joe was sitting in the back of the village store and LaVerne (heroine) and I were both surprised to find him there. Then I went on to meet Joe’s brother, Elk-tail and his mother Edna.
Without exception, at some point (early, if I’m lucky) my characters take over the story and I become the typist. I interview authors on my blog and so many of them say the same thing, so, with relief, I find I’m not as crazy as I thought I was.
Research: The story about my auntie LaVerne running away to Alaska is a true family tale. So all I had to do was pull from the many stories my mother told me as a child. But, living ‘off the grid’ in Alaska, in the 1920’s? The Internet is a writer’s best tool. Can you believe that we used to have to go to the library and do all this research, pouring through books? With a couple of clicks I was able to weave the Athabaskan (native American) language, their folk lore and their customs throughout the story. I was able to build a dog sled, from scratch using only wood and rawhide lashings. I was able to set a fur trapping line. I was able to build a cabin with only hand tools. (think about it) I was able to train puppies to become a dog sled team. I was able to describe, accurately, a funeral pot-latch.
My advice to other writers is: write every day. If you get stuck, let the story rest; go write something else. And never, never give up! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Author, Lisa Jackson. November’s author will be best selling author, Grace Burrowes Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers! To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
The conclusion of this delightful interview with author, Joseph Drumheller.
Q. What comes first to you? The Characters or the Situation?
JD. Characters. They tend to tell me what to write. After I found the crawdad that inspired, Jason and the Crawdad King, I spent the next morning sipping tea listening to Jason dictate. As he spoke, I wrote the story down on the back of some napkins.
Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing?
JD. Absolutely. One day I began writing at 10 a.m. I vaguely remember getting up to grab a bite to eat or to go to the bathroom. The next time I looked at a clock it was 3 a.m.!
Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment?
JD. I have two. (1) My wife Tamara. She’s the focus of out next work, Aura the Angel, The Ballerina’s Beacon. She was a child prodigy ballerina who spent 30+ years working in Off-Broadway productions in the San Francisco area. She is the epitome of love incarnate. (2) Lili Avakem. She’s my award-winning illustrator—born, raised and educated in Tehran, Iran and now living in LA. It seems everything we touch turns into magic.
Q. When did you begin to write seriously?
JD. I haven’t yet. If you love what you do, you’ll never work a (serious) day in your life.
Q. What makes a writer great?
JD. Heart, soul and passion. You can’t ‘try’ to be a writer. You either have it you or you don’t. And if you do have it in you, it still takes a lot of time and energy to sculpt your craft. But it it’s what you’re born to do, you’ll love it. Also, don’t worry about spelling. They have editors for that.
Q. and the all important:What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like for you?
JD. For me, it’s called a magic carpet ride. I wander around in nature (places I love) then go home or out for tea and write about it. I was born to be a free spirit. Writing is the only thing that has completely fit my lifelong tendency to be there proverbial round peg that doesn’t fit into any the square holes out there.
Q. How has your life experiences influenced your writing?
JD. When it come to writing, my life experiences are the whole ball of wax. Almost everything I write about is based on what I’ve seen and done. That’s why it’s so easy to write.
Q. Have you? Or do you want to write in another genre`?
JD. I have three published books in the genres of non-fiction, fiction and now children’s books. I also have eight more children’s books to come, with Golden Bell Entertainment out of New York.
The Subconscious, the Divine and Me (2012, Pine Wood Press) – An introduction to spirituality. Non-fiction.
The Unity Oracle (2015, Self-published) – An award-winning spiritual adventure novel. Fiction.
Jason and the Crawdad King (2016, Golden Bell Entertainment) – A picture book, featuring award-winning illustrator Lili Avakem. Children’s Book.
Q. Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
Don’t force your writing and don’t stop. If you love it, it will show. I would like to thank Golden Bell’s Polar Press
Visit Joseph’s website www.CrawdadKing.com and Joseph’s page on facebook
DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Author, Lisa Jackson. November’s author will be best selling author, Grace Burrowes Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers!
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When characters stroll into your story….LET THEM! I just completed an interview with FreshFiction.com and was relating to her that several characters had walked into my story (Song of the Yukon) and I welcomed them in. It happens to me frequently. They contribute interesting tributaries to my main story stream. Even though I had to stop and do some extra research it was so WORTH IT!
Keep writing, my fellow writers!
‘This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap.’~~George Bernard Shaw
‘An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.’ Francois Rene De Chateaubriand
‘I’m not the heroic type, really. I was beaten up by Quakers.’ ~Woody Allen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Author, Lisa Jackson. November’s author will be best selling author, Grace Burrowes Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers! To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
We are all so looking forward to this delightful children’s book by Joseph Drumheller. Joseph, in your own words, describe yourself. TS
JD. I’m a creative free spirit with a spiritual bent and a strong connection to nature. Cathartic mystical experiences and/or memorable happenings in the great outdoors are the underlying influences to almost everything I write. Yet, as I mature, the most powerful force I’ve experienced is love, especially from my wife Tamara. Without her consistent love, belief, and support, I’d be nowhere.
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? (shed, room, closet, barn….) Or tell us about your ‘dream’ work space.
JD. I spend a lot of time outside. When I walk, kayak, or cycle, the channels open up and the creative juices start to flow. Most of my books have been written entirely in my head. Typing them out in a coffee shop or in my office is the part that requires discipline.
Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)
JD. No, not when I sit down and type. Walking, kayaking or cycling in nature does the trick for me.
Q. Could you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know?
JD. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen some of the most remote and glorious parts of the planet via helicopter, working as an exploration geologist. Some of those places include the northern arctic of Alaska, the continental divide in the Yukon, the Barren Lands near the Arctic Ocean, and northern Sweden.
Q. Do you have a set time each day (or night) to write?
JD. No. I tend to be more of a morning person but when inspiration hits, it’s time to write.
Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?
JD. If writing doesn’t flow from the core of your being, take up tennis. With that said, I’ve never had a problem with procrastination. I was born two weeks early and always seem to get things done ahead of time. That creates its own set of challenges, like when I’m working with procrastinators!
Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters?
JD. I write almost exclusively from personal experience. The closer my characters are to home, the easy they are to write about. I found a crawdad tangled up in a fishing line while whitewater kayaking. That inspired Jason and the Crawdad King. Aura the Angle, The Ballerina’s Beacon is a story about my wife Tamara who was a child prodigy ballerina. My award-winning novel, The Unity Oracle, is essentially glossed over non-fiction, detailing mystical experiences I’ve had.
Q. What first inspired you to write your stories?
JD. Divorce. In the early days of a separation that led to divorce in 2009, I went on a solo self-directed retreat in a log cabin, along a mountain river. I spent four days writing. I’ve never stopped……
Join us for the conclusion of this fascinating Interview ~~ Saturday, September 17th
Release date of Jason and the Crawdad King Winter, 2017.
Visit Joseph’s website www.CrawdadKing.com and Joseph’s page onfacebook ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Author, Lisa Jackson. November’s author will be best selling author, Grace Burrowes Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers!
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
It’s taken me 3 years to write this saga. Since it’s set in the 1920’s there was extensive research to be done about how life was lived ‘off the grid’ in Alaska. It’s jammed packed with interesting characters and adventure.
The old timers would tell you, ‘it’s a good yarn’ and I’m proud of it. Based on the true story of my aunt when she was a mere 17 years old, running away from home and working her way from Seattle to the wilds of Alaska.
Alaska was calling! LaVerne’s dream was to follow in Robert Service’s footsteps to the wilds of Alaska. At sixteen she was already writing her own music and she believed that her talent could only flourish on the back trails of the Yukon. Alone and impersonating a boy, she hires aboard a freighter, out of Seattle, and works her way to the north.
From boat rides on the Yukon and encounters with native tribes to filing homestead papers and working the land, LaVerne uses newfound frontier wisdom as a basis for expanding both her music and her perceptions: “No man owns what Mother Spirit does not freely give.” Black-eyed Joe told her. What a charming folk tale, LaVerne thought. I could use the story in one of my songs.” It was here she learns the realities of frontier life that will shape her life, help her create music, and lead her in directions no woman has explored alone before.
‘Song of the Yukon covers more than music growth, more than homesteading in the wilderness, and even more than testing one’s abilities against a foreign environment. Most of all, it’s about one woman’s determination to achieve her dream against any odds – and it provides readers with not only a solid background in frontier experiences, but a sense of self and accomplishment that heroine LaVerne learns through hard experience. Song of the Yukon is a powerful saga, recommended for a range of readers. Thank you for the opportunity to look at your fine title! ‘~~ Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review ~~
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A writer has to find a way to love rewrites. No matter how good you are writing your first draft I guarantee you will find an awkward sentence structure, typos, a section that is not germane to your story. Best of all, if you’re like me, you’ll discover extra content when you explore some unfinished business in your story.
Love those rewrites! You’ll have a better book for it!
“Rewriting is a large part of the whole job. And get rid of stuff that’s not working. Just pare it down until it’s a beautiful thing you can hand in, probably late, to your editor.”~~ Kurt Loder
“More than a half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer is rewriting. I wouldn’t say I have a talent that’s special. It strikes me that I have an unusual kind of stamina.”~~ John Irving
“Artistry is important. Skill, hard work, rewriting, editing, and careful, careful craft: All of these are necessary. These are what separate the beginners from experienced artists.”~~ Sarah Kay
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‘As a writer, I marinate, speculate and hibernate.’ Trisha Sugarek
DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Author, Lisa Jackson. Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers!
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As I write my story I make notes, on the last page of my document, about story ideas within the story, lest I forget. We all have such interesting processes, none of them wrong. The important thing is to write EVERY DAY. Good, bad or ugly you must write to become a writer.
I’m certain that my style would drive some writers crazy. I’m what’s known as a ‘pantser’. I write by the seat of my pants. No story outline because I want to experience that magical moment when my characters take over. I never try to wrest the story away from my characters. No plot line because who knows where my story will end up? No character list because new characters are always walking into my story. Why would I keep that door slammed in their faces? And I try to never ‘force it’. If I run dry on one project, I switch to another and wait for the story to pile up in my head.
“If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.”
– Somerset Maugham
This from Charles Bukowski on forcing your story, “...too much just doing it for the sake of doing it? Just not waiting for the words to pile up inside and then explode of their own volition.”
“It’s none of their business that you had to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.” – Ernest Hemingway
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! A long awaited interview with Kathleen Grissom (The Kitchen House) September’s author will be Joseph Drumheller and October: Andrew Snook. Check out Motivational Moments…for Writers!
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