Basic Info for Author Visits
This is what my
humble beginning as a writer looked like:
When I told a
friend of mine back in 1995 that I was thinking about
writing a book, she said to me, “Ah, you
have something to say.” I frowned, and said, “No. I just have this awesome story in my head.”
So, with those words planted in your mind, “Let me tell you a story…”
My journey to
publication started in the mid-90s. One evening while I was reading, I thought
how simple the structure and dialogue was in this particular novel. You can write, you can do this, a voice
urged inside my head. Let me tell you, I almost fell off my chair. But the
words rang true for me. So, I decided to act on this truth, and took a writing
course—Writing your Novel—where I met
a great couple of like-minded would-be writer gals. Together we started a
writing support group, and I wrote my first novel—a paranormal romance. This
manuscript caught the eye of an agent, but I was hardly ready, and I see that
now. What I needed to do was to hone my craft and get better and better with
the process of writing. And that takes making lots of mistakes at the expense
of your ego. In other words: lots of rejection, rejection, rejection! Ouch!
Then one night,
during my writer’s group, one of my friends said something that floored me. She
mentioned that I hit my twelve-year-old character’s voice bang on. So, this got
me to thinking—how hard would it be to write a young adult novel? It was a
stupid question. Of course it was hard! After thinking about what my friend had
said to me, I decided I’d challenge myself and write not just a novel—but a
series—that would appeal to my son, who at the time was the target age of my
audience. Since I’ve always loved the time travel genre, it was a no-brainer
for me.
The
origin, inspiration, and development of The Last Timekeepers series…
The idea for The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis came to me in a
dream I had around 1998. In this dream, I saw seven arches, and there were
seven people (five kids, two adults) with crystals in their hands, walking up
to these arches. It definitely had an Indiana
Jones feel to it. I wanted to create a book series for young adults that
had a different slant to the time travel genre. I love history. I also love
myths and legends. There’s a few time travel series out there, but nothing that
has roots leading back to Atlantis—at least what I know about or have read.
Since there’s no concrete evidence that Atlantis did exist, then that left the
door wide open to possibilities. I had to do a lot of digging into the legend
of Atlantis, reading many books—especially Edgar Cayce’s psychic readings—and
surfing the internet, until I had a fixed idea on how to present this in story
form, and into a series of books.
The whole idea
of the series is based on not changing
our past, because it’s been written—a huge challenge for my time traveling
characters who must keep time safe from an evil Atlantean force released back
into the world. In the first book of the series, The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, the Timekeepers time
travel to Nottingham, England in 1214 where they must find an adolescent Robin
Hood and his band of merry teens before history is turned upside-down.
FYI—originally I had called the series The Timeliners, because their prime
directive was to keep time in line. Then, it became The Timekeepers, and finally The
Last Timekeepers, as the series became more evolved and developed.
It took 15 years
of writing in the trenches—querying publishers and agents, writing more books,
getting rejected again and again—before I finally signed a publishing contract
with Musa Publishing (a new epublisher) for The
Last Timekeepers series. And after all this time there was still one
catch—I had to rewrite the entire manuscript in the point of view of only one
of the characters. Originally, I had written the series with each kid having
their own chapter throughout the book. The publishing company found this
confusing and suggested I write the first book in only one of the character’s
voices, starting with Amanda Sault. That way, the next book would feature
another character’s point of view. However daunting a task this sounds, it was
sage advice and made the book stronger.
The process involved in epublishing…
Once all the
revisions are completed, then the edits begin. With my publisher this is done
in three steps – the first round, second round, and third round. If I make this
sound like a boxing match it kind of is. The first round of edits entails
looking at your story structure, the plot, the pacing, even changing some of
the character names if there’s too many names starting with ‘S’ or ‘A’, like
what happened in one of my manuscripts. Is there any hiccups or does the
storytelling run smooth? Should an entire scene be removed because it slows the
pace and breaks the tension? These questions are put to the raw material of
your novel.
Ding, ding,
round number two of edits! This round is not as intense, but any factors or
flaws are brought to my attention and changes are made. A good author/editor
relationship is about trust, but also standing up for yourself too. If I don’t
like a certain change, I’ll explain the reason to my editor, but in most cases
I trust her instincts. The third round is not so harsh, but requires at least
two read-throughs by my editor to make any last minute changes that will make
the book better and stronger.
Next is line
editing. Another editor goes through your manuscript line by line, catching any
grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, or anything that stands out. This is the
polishing stage, and the author gets their manuscript back in the form of a
galley. Now it’s crunch time depending on the deadline and release date.
Usually the author gets about a week to go over their manuscript (again), until
he or she feels completely happy with the job. Any mistakes I find are logged
on the galley sheet, and sent back to the line editor.
I should mention
that about a month before the author’s release date, their book cover is
designed. With the publishing company who I’m contracted with, I do have some
input when it comes to the design of my book cover. This is a fun process for
me. I get to suggest graphics, colors, and the overall tone I want my book to
represent. When both the author and the artist are satisfied that the book
cover represents the story, then the cover is signed off, and ready to be
shared with the public.
Finally, there’s
the tagline and blurb to create, and the book excerpt to pick out. Besides the
book cover, these are the only other sales tools for your book. The hook, line,
and hopefully sinker for a sale. A tagline
is—or should be—one of the simplest things to create. A tagline is—plain and
simply—a one sentence summation of the theme of your book. Something quick and
catchy. What you want to do is to catch a reader's—or an agent's or an
editor's—attention with a one-sentence description.
The blurb is the next step in getting your
book ready for publication. With a blurb, you want to entice the reader—to get
them engaged with your story so they can come along as you unravel the plot for
them.
And finally,
choose the excerpt. This is actually
easy. You've already written it. Now you
just have to find it. The advice I was
given is to pick an excerpt from the first third of your book. With a novel,
you want to select a scene that sets up the story and above all makes a reader
want to read MORE. In other words—a cliff hanger.
Coming up with ideas for books…
I find ideas
come to me naturally, whether they’re in my dreams (like the Last Timekeepers)
or while I’m sitting watching a television show, doing housework or walking the
dog. I love all things time travel, paranormal, and mysterious, so I naturally
fell into those genres.
The life of a writer…
First thing you
need to learn is to have structure and discipline. Without those two things,
there’s chaos. Get a day planner and jot down your priorities for each day.
Create a schedule and stick to it. Pick the days you write, the days you blog, the
time to check emails, do your social media stuff, promote, market, and all that
other business an author has to do nowadays. It’s crucial. Once you’ve
established structure in your writing life, stick to it. Trust me, you’ll have
days you need to juggle or cross off, just do your best. And keep a timer by
your side. Use it. Being a writer in this new publishing world has been a
challenge, but it’s been a blessing too!
The techniques I use to write…
Sometimes I’m a pantser (writing by the seat of my pants), sometimes a plotter (outline entire storyline)—it all depends on the tone of the book and where my imagination directs me. I have many notebooks and pads and sticky notes at my disposal. I also have a file full of ideas. I guess I start with the characters and build the story around them. The characters, my characters, must carry the story to completion, give readers closure. It’s a must. In order to do this, I begin writing out character tracking sheets (stats on characters’ appearances, clothing, likes and dislikes, etc.) which have served me well throughout the writing process. Then the fun begins. Research, research, and more research. When you’re writing time travel, you’ve got to know your facts to create the fiction. I love this part of the journey too. Only when I have enough facts, and I feel my characters are fleshed out sufficiently, then I begin to start writing the novel.
One other thing—I keep a series guidebook stuffed with all the vital information on my main characters—and recurring side characters. Info like the color of their hair and eyes, their brother’s or sister’s names, or any allergies is vital to log. Believe me readers know when something is amiss and will call you on it.
“When it comes down to it, the author’s job is to
make readers care. Care about the characters, and care about the story. That,
and give their readers an experience they'll never forget.”
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