TEN THINGS PEOPLE SAY TO WRITERS (BUT SHOULDN'T)



I've heard most of these firsthand!

SYLVIA STEWART, AUTHOR OF KONDI'S QUEST

I am very pleased to interview Sylvia Stewart today!  A godly woman who has led an interesting life with so many wonderful experiences, I know readers will love her new book, KONDI'S QUEST.  Let's begin with her bio:

Sylvia Stewart grew up in the (then) Belgian Congo. She spent 21 years as an Assemblies of God missionary in Malawi, East Africa, with her husband, Duane. In 1992 they were asked to go to Ethiopia to found a Bible College. They spent 11 years in Ethiopia doing mostly Bible College ministry. She taught college-level English to students who had never taken a grammar class before.

Sylvia has been published in Assemblies of God denominational magazines: The Pentecostal Evangel (now Today’s Pentecostal Evangel); Advance (now Enrichment); Woman’s Touch, and their missions magazine, Mountain Movers, which is no longer in print. She has also been published in WASI Writer, a writer’s magazine published under the auspices of the University of Malawi.  She wrote under contract with Network211.com, a Christian website, for a year and a half.

Sylvia’s book, Kondi’s Quest, was published in August 2011, after she worked on it for 24 years.  Kondi’s Quest is a novel for middle-school readers.  It shows that God’s love and presence is with us, even in very hard times.

                                             

Welcome, Sylvia.  What are some things you enjoy doing when you're not writing?  

I crochet, needle-point, and do hand crafts.

When did you decide that you wanted to be a writer?  

The first sample of my writing that is still intact was from the 6^th grade.  I’ve always loved a good story and read a lot.  Our tiny town library was great fodder for my hunger for a good book.  I think the desire to write starts with a fascination with reading a great story.

I agree with that sentiment.  In order to be a good writer, one probably has to enjoy reading!  By the way, how many books have you written, and what are their titles? 

KONDI’S QUEST is my first book.  However, I’ve written numbers of articles in Assemblies of God periodicals.  Also, for a year and a half I wrote under contract for Network211.com, the A/G’s website.

Why do you write the type of books that you do?  

They say, “Write what you know.”  I lived and worked in Malawi for 21 years, so it seemed natural to produce a novel set in Malawi.

I received that same advice, so when I began writing, I wrote about my family as well.

One question I like to ask other authors is: What was your greatest obstacle in writing, and how did you rise above it?  

My greatest obstacle in finishing KONDI’S QUEST was the distance between where I lived in Africa and the U.S. publishers I wanted to accept my book.  Back then, when everything was sent by mail, sending return postage from a small African country was almost impossible. 

How has writing changed your life? 

My house isn’t nearly as clean as I would like it to be!  Also, I’d rather interact with family and friends more than I do – if I just didn’t have to spend so much time at the computer.

Oh, I know whereof you speak!  We seem to have the desire for a cleaner house and more time with family and friends in common, I see.  

What Bible scripture has impacted your life the most?  

I couldn’t say just one scripture text.  I was raised in a godly home where scripture was read and prayers were said on a daily basis.  I’ve loved and memorized scripture texts since I was small.  My life verse is:  “You . . .  are a letter from Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts,” (II Cor. 3:3 NIV).

Do you have a favorite song and/or movie?  

There would be too many songs to count.  I love the old hymns.  Probably my favorite hymn, though, would be, “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”  God has been very good to me.

As to movies, I love the Jane Austen movies:  Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Persuasion.  She knew how to write a great romance story.

Who is your favorite author?  

Again, there are many.  I love D.E. Stevenson’s novels.  Also Miss Read’s books about English country life.  Mary Stewart, another English writer, writes a wonderful suspense novel.  (The English writers were easily accessible in Africa.)  We have a collection of Louis L’Amour books – saving them for our son.  As for favorite current writers:  Angela Elwell Hunt and Francine Rivers.  Also, our daughter, Lynnette Bonner, is an up-and-coming new writer.  Her historical romance series, The Shepherd’s Heart series, is just coming out with OakTara.  ROCKY MOUNTAIN OASIS is already in print.  HIGH DESERT HAVEN will come out in a few days.  Hopefully, FAIR VALLEY REFUGE and SPRING MEADOW SANCTUARY will be in print by Mother’s Day.

What are some interesting places you’ve lived/visited?  

We’ve been privileged to travel quite a bit, mostly between Africa and home.  However, our travels in Africa have to be the most memorable.  We’ve been in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Swaziland.

What’s one zany thing you’ve ever done?  

I’ve ridden a camel a couple of times; once when I visited in Egypt with my parents when I was a girl, and once in Ethiopia, where we worked for 11 years.  And anyone who’s lived in Africa for very long will have eaten some strange things:  fried flying ants, wild African game meat, sun-dried fish, etc.

I'm sure our readers will find those things quite out of the ordinary.  I am fascinated :).

Since you've written your book about Africa, please tell us about the featured book.  

KONDI’S QUEST is a story for pre-teens.  It tells the story of a young Malawian girl who has one desire – to win the love of her alcoholic father.  She has many adventures in her quest, and also finds out, in the midst of all her troubles, that her heavenly Father loves her. The story was told as true to the culture as I could make it, so adults find the glimpse of an African culture and way of life interesting, too.

Here is your golden opportunity: what would you wish to say to your readers?  

God loves you!  Others may seem not to, but He loves you.  No matter what you’re going through, no matter what wickedness you may have done, He’s with you, loving you and helping you each day.

Wonderful advice, Sylvia.

Include your links so readers can find you on the internet.  

Website link: http://www.sylvia-stewart.com

Book trailer link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SPtgTLa7q8

Blogtalkradio: http://www.Blogtalkradio.com/krvr/2011/11/07/sylvia-stewart-talks-about-kondis-quest-for-tweens

I urge everyone to get a copy of KONDI'S QUEST!  Thank you for being here today, Sylvia.  It has truly been my pleasure.

MEET LAURA JOSEPHSEN, AUTHOR OF RISING

I am happy to interview Laura Josephsen today and feature her latest release, RISING.  Welcome, Laura!

Let's jump right in so you can tell us a little about yourself. Thanks for having me on your blog, Mavis!  I'm a wife, homeschooling mother, freelance editor, and beginner student of Taekwondo. I live in Tennessee with my family, plus two cats and a dog.

You certainly have varied activities, Laura.  What do you enjoy doing when you're not writing (and in all that "spare time" that I'm certain you have)? Hanging with my family, reading when I have time, watching favorite TVshows, editing (I work as an editor, and I enjoy editing for other people very much).

When did you decide that you wanted to be a writer? I don't think I ever really decided. I've been writing for as long as I can remember.

 

 

How many books have you written, and what are their titles? Well, I've written four books and I'm working on a fifth, and I've co-written another four books. Out of those eight and a half books, I have three published. Restoration Book 1: Awakenings (co-written with Faith King), Confessions from the Realm of the Underworld (Also Known as High School), and Rising Book 1: Resistance (which is only a two-book series; I'm currently writing book 2).

Why do you write the type of books that you do? I don't have a particular genre or age group that I write. I have a tendency to write YA fantasy, because I love writing it, but I've written contemporary, adult, and science fiction, too. If I had to pinpoint a "type," I'd say I write about finding hope and light and life at the end of the dark tunnel. Some of my characters go through horrible things before they get there, but that's probably the overall theme in my writing.

What was your greatest obstacle in writing, and how did you rise above it? Finishing a book was probably my greatest obstacle. I rose above it by just learning how to get through the tough parts and keep going.

I can certainly commiserate with you on that.  There are just so many other things competing for your time.

What Bible scripture has impacted your life the most? Well, all of Psalm 91. But if I had to give one verse, the first one that comes to mind is Zephaniah 3:17.

Do you have a favorite song and/or movie? "Dare You to Move" by Switchfoot remains my favorite song after twelve and a half years. It meant a lot to me in the time of my life when I first heard it and has stuck with me ever since. My favorite movie would probably, overall, be Serenity, the tie-up to the show Firefly.

Please tell us about the featured book. Rising Book 1: Resistance is the first of two books. It was supposed to be one book, but it got too long and I had to divide it into two. Overall, these two books are probably the darkest I've ever written. They're technically science fiction, though they're not futuristic at all. They take place in a world with limited technology, where trains are the fastest means of transportation. I dealt with some really heavy issues and took my characters to some hard and painful places. This story has pushed me outside of my comfort zones and showed me that I need to go to some difficult places to do justice to the characters and their story.

It sounds as though you've really grown in depth as a writer in creating these two books.  I'm intrigued, and I'm sure readers are as well.

Here's the blurb for the first book:

All Alphonse wants is a quiet summer at home before his final months at university. What he gets is a half-dead stranger on his doorstep and the task of delivering a package to the leader of his home country. Not long after he boards a train toward the capital, he's attacked by knights, elite soldiers of the neighboring king.

Alphonse is temporarily rescued by Mairwyn, a mechanic with a haunted past and a deep hatred of knights. Together, they attempt to carry out Alphonse's urgent errand, only to learn that if they fail, countless people will die.

And even if they succeed, they may not be able to prevent the war that lurks on the horizon.

***

You can find me at:

My blog – http://laurajosephsen.blogspot.com/

Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4403495.Laura_Josephsen

Twitter – https://twitter.com/#!/LauraJosephsen

Rising Book 1 links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rising-Book-1-Resistance-ebook/dp/B0079DJ3HC/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1329012615&sr=8-5
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rising-book-1-laura-josephsen/1108828628?ean=2940013930056
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/132824 

It was a pleasure having you today, Laura.  Now everyone check out her links, then go out and buy her new book!

MEET SHAWN LAMB, AUTHOR of THE HUGUENOT SWORD

I am pleased to welcome fellow author, Shawn Lamb, and today we are featuring her latest release, The Huguenot Sword.  Shawn, please tell us about yourself and your books.   

I’m the author of the Christian historical fiction The Huguenot Sword. I’m a former scriptwriter for children’s television. I worked on the series BraveStarr, which was produced by the same studio responsible for He-Man and She-Ra.  I’m also the author of the YA allegorical series Allon.

I currently live in Nashville with Rob, my husband of 27 years, and our daughter Briana. She is a film artist doing storyboards and costume design. She drew the characters for Allon included on the website and in the videos. Unconditional is the Christian feature film she worked on and will be released this year.  It’s based on true story and a cross between The Blind Side and Courageous.

SHERRI WILSON JOHNSON and TO DANCE ONCE MORE

I am pleased to host an interview today with fellow Oaktara author Sherri Wilson Johnson and feature her latest release, To Dance Once More.  Sherri and I are definitely kindred spirits--we first "met" through our publisher's website, where our mutual values have become apparent over the past year or so.  I am therefore pleased to welcome Sherri and have her share something about herself.

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Welcome!  So glad to have you with us today, Sherri.   Tell us about yourself.

Posey Johnson

Hi, folks! I am Sherri Wilson Johnson, author of To Dance Once More. I am from Georgia—never lived anywhere else. I have been married since 1988. I am a former homeschooling mom of my two children (now 21 and 17) and I have a twelve year old Labrador and a two year old Chihuahua who doesn’t know she’s a dog. 


Well, we'll have to name your Chihuahua an honorary dachshund, since she seems to have traits like our doxies--Duke and granddog Shadow!

Now on to your novel, To Dance Once More.  Tell us  about it.

To Dance Once More is the story of Lydia Jane Barrington, a Victorian debutante. Lydia lives on a plantation in Florida under the watchful eye of her father. She’s quite an independent young lady who does not want to fall into the trap (as she sees it) that her mother and sisters have fallen into—marriage and motherhood. She wants to travel the world and experience life before giving her heart to a man. One day, her eyes are opened to love and no matter what, she cannot forget the blissful feeling it causes. She begins to believe that love isn’t such a bad thing after all. Then she discovers a secret that prohibits any of her dreams from ever coming true. She begins a quest to free herself and her family from a future of bondage. Hearts are broken and lives are torn apart because of Lydia’s own selfishness. Will she surrender to a call that God placed on her life and be able to experience love after all? You’ll have to read the book to find out.


Well, you've certainly piqued readers' interest now, Sherri, especially those who love a good Victorian novel.

WRITING: WHAT PEOPLE THINK I DO vs. WHAT I REALLY DO

They've been all the rage on Facebook lately, these posters--

TEACHER: WHAT PEOPLE THINK I DO vs. WHAT I REALLY DO

ARIZONA (OREGON, THE BEACH, etc.): WHERE PEOPLE THINK I LIVE vs. WHERE I REALLY LIVE

I personally get a kick out of them.

Someone shared the poster below on Facebook, so I had to share it here, of course.  

I'm not quite down to the point of the last picture on it, however--truthfully, I would change the statement to say "Will write 4 fun."

TO WRITE AND REWRITE? THAT IS THE QUESTION

It seems that all my author friends who have blogs are currently writing about the craft of writing.  Therefore, I must also put in my two cents' worth (or with inflation, maybe my twenty-five cents' worth) on this topic.

In my brief writing foray, I have found that it is best to begin with those things I know and with which I am familiar.  I don't write about daily life in Greenland two centuries ago, because I don't have a clue about what happened.  One can obtain a reasonable amount of correct information through research, but a new writer needs to concentrate on the details of description, characterization, and plot before branching out into the world of research. 

And let's get those grammatical conventions out of the way.  Writers simply cannot slink by without them:  spelling, capitalization, sentence structure, punctuation, diction--all those pesky little details that go unnoticed unless done poorly.

Therefore, in my grand total of two books (one published and one awaiting publication), I have based my stories upon actual events and real people.  It's quite simple to make a character believable when that character is a real person whom I know.  Appearance, personality traits, mannerisms, speech patterns--are already built in.  And, making a scene or a chapter ring true when I was "there" is fairly easy as well.  I can (and did) use license to change the time frame and details to make the writing flow, but 95% of what I've written in my two books actually happened.

I'll leave the more difficult details of writing to the seasoned writers--but if you are just starting out as I did a few years ago, write as often as possible about what you know, then go back and polish it, several times if need be.  In high school writing, my students often create that first draft--and then turn it in as holy writ to be graded.  They resist having to revise and aren't interested in changing one iota.  However, in polished writing, the difference between a high school single-draft essay and mature writing style comes in the form of hard work--lots of it. 

Revising and rewriting are not very glamorous (I mean, who goes around saying, "Oh, I can't wait to revise those ten pages I wrote yesterday!"), but they can pay big dividends in polishing an otherwise drab piece.  Sometimes, I set it aside and go back to it a couple of hours or even days later. With fresh eyes, the words sometimes come tumbling out so quickly that I must speed type to capture them. 

Try it.  You'll like it--or at least improve your writing skills. 

I have even revised this short post several times over the course of this day.  And, I will most likely revise it several more times before I'm satisfied with it.