AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR CHRISTIE WALDMAN

Today we sit down for a chat with Christie Waldman, author of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Learn more about Christine and her books at her website.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels? 

When I was seven, I had a second-grade teacher who thought kids should be writing stories and plays. We even wrote a class play which we performed for the parents with paper mâché puppets we made ourselves. When, for my story about a talking horse, I kept going back for more yellow paper, my teacher said, “I think you’re writing a novel.” Oh! I liked that!

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication? 

Sixty years! From first draft to publication of The Voice of the Wooden Dragon was forty-one years.

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author? 

Hybrid

 

Where do you write? 

Home office

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind? 

Silence

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular? 

Most are imagined, but some details come from history or my own life. 

 

Describe your process for naming your character? 

Mostly, the names just come to me. They need to sound “right.” “Meredith” was the name of the statue that inspired The Voice of the Wooden Dragon (carved by Bill Loomis of Carbondale, Illinois).

 

Real settings or fictional towns? 

My novel has both: the Land of Deweydaire and Philadelphia.

 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has? 

Dr. Sampson, an oddball dragon doctor, performs hypnosis with a yo-yo.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk? 

Chewing on pens and pencils

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why? 

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. It is such a great story—so full of heart! 

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours? 

Everything happens for a reason, even things that look like wrong turns, is how I see it. If, for example, I had gone to a college other than SIU in Carbondale, Illinois, I would not have met Bill Loomis or seen his dragon statue, “Meredith,” which gave me the idea for The Voice of the Wooden Dragon, the book I feel I was meant to write. 

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve? 

People who automatically find some reason to disagree with you instead of looking for common ground.

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves? 

Aside from the essentials, food, water, and sunshine: the music of birds, the beauty of nature, and fresh air. 

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held? 

“Walking beans” (hoeing rows of soybeans) 

 

Who’s your all-time favorite literary character (any genre)? Why? 

Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables. She’s loving and lovable. She’s an imaginative dreamer who grows up into a lovely young woman. She’s probably based on her author’s life.

 

Ocean or mountains? 

Mountains

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy? 

Country girl

 

What’s on the horizon for you? 

Perhaps I will try to write some short stories. Maybe one will turn into a novel. Also, I have Francis Bacon-related research to complete and patchwork quilts to make for my grandchildren.

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books? 

I would love to see children’s creative writing, art, and music cultivated in homes and schools. I did not get this nurturing growing up, other than from that one teacher. Still, I went to college seeking a liberal arts, humanities education that would prepare me to become a “serious fiction writer.” Bernard Malamud once offered this advice to would-be writers: “You must know and love literature and read and think of it endlessly.”

 

The Voice of the Wooden Dragon. 

“Wanted: Princess Meredith!” Friend and foe seek the outlaw dragon princess who fights on behalf of oppressed human farmers. Things go from bad to worse when her cousin Prince Rupert—that bully!—takes the throne. Somehow, with the help of her friends, the boy Peter, court-jester dragon Felix, and a little girl in America named Suse, she must find a way to defeat Carlos’s magic, reclaim her power, and fulfill her destiny.

 

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JOIN ME ONLINE MONDAY EVENING FOR MURDER, MAYHEM, AND COZY MYSTERIES!

This coming Monday evening, January 27th at 7pm ET (6pm CT, 5pm MT, and 4pm PT), I'll be the guest of the Cozy Mystery Party Facebook Group, hosted by Heather Harrisson and Shawn Stevens. If you'd like to join in for a fun hour + of all things murder, mayhem, and cozy mysteries (there will be prizes and surprises!), join the group ahead of time at https://www.facebook.com/groups/cozymysteryparty. Hope to see you there!

FAILURE AS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE BY AUTHOR CJ WARRANT

CJ Warrant is an award-winning writer of dark romantic suspense, sensual thrillers and contemporary romance that pull at your heart, make you shiver with fear, and hope for a happy ending. She loves coffee, baking and family, but not in that order. Learn more about her and her books at her website and blog.

Failures From Start To Finish

Today I would like to talk about failures I’ve had in my life. Through out the years, I’ve learned from experiences and people that failures are not all bad.

Over the years, I’ve learned to write in the dark. What I mean by this is that I never shared with anyone that I wrote stories and poems. Family, friends, and co-workers alike, I’ve kept my talent to myself. So when I seriously decided to tell the world what I did, I got a response like “You write?” Imagine a quirked brow, eyes wide with surprise, and sometimes with a slight frown as they absorbed the odd news.

I used to think not speaking up was my first failure to myself. But I know now that back then I wasn’t ready to tell. It was just one part of many stepping stones I had to climb to become an author.

As much as I wanted to be published, I needed to hone my craft—at every level in my writing. Granted, I still have trouble with grammar and mix tenses, which I find another failure, but as I write more and with each book, I’m learning to correct it before it goes in the hand of my critique partners. Mostly…I can be honest and still have pitfalls with my grammar, but I’m learning.

After writing my very first book, which won’t see the light of day, I pitched it to an editor at a well known conference. That was my next failure. I didn’t know what I wrote. Or my voice. I always thought I wrote contemporary. Who knew I had a darker side in me? It showed in my writing, which the editor graciously pointed out. But I learned from that experience and learned to hone it.

Another failure is learning about the publishing world, which is scary for some. It’s vast, with so many rules—and many players jockeying for contracts. What’s even scarier for me is finding an agent who would represent and support what I write. Some of my author friends don’t see it as a failure. But I do see my fear of rejection as one, more so than a publishing house rejecting my book. I think everyone has—at one time or another in their writing careers—had those fears.

Now, since I’m published, I’m more confident in submitting to an agent. But I don’t let it rule my head with worries. I know there is an agent out there for me. My purpose now is to strive for that next book deal. With or without an agent, I’ll move forward with my career.

Over all, my career is like a newborn. I have to nurture it, learn from my mistakes, and let it blossom. With each failure, comes success. I see all my failures as way of learning to grow as an author and as a woman in this crazy world. So take strides with what failures you’ve had in your lives—no matter personal or business. It’s another lesson to learn from and move forward with great knowledge.

Forgetting Jane

Amnesia and an unspeakable crime have stolen everything from Jane Doe except the haunting image of a girl in a yellow dress, which replays itself over and over in her mind.

Small town cop Elias McAvoy is haunted as well, by the crushing guilt he feels over the deaths of two women, one by his own hand. He can’t-he won’t-let Jane down too.

Together they delve deeper into Jane’s case, battling against her memory loss, and an increasingly tangled web of lies and murder that span forty years-and ties Elias and Jane together in ways they never imagined. As the mystery of the girl in the yellow dress unfold, so does Elias and Jane’s love for each other. However, when the killer reappears, intent on finishing what he started, Elias must face his demons in order to save the woman he loves or lose her forever.

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FAVORITES, FAILURES & FRUSTRATIONS--GUEST AUTHOR DORA BRAMDEN

Award-winning Australian author Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate romance. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

What’s Great About Epic Fails?

I’ve had so many wrong turns in my life that I’ve come to expect them, even dare I say welcome them. At the time I feel like they’re some kind of retribution for a past life crime, but later I find they were there to move me on from a stuck in the muck position.

The first time this happened I was pregnant with my second child. My employer told me that because I’d been hired as a casual, I didn’t qualify for maternity leave and I wouldn’t be able to return to my part-time job. I really counted on that money and was incredibly upset. It was a community organisation and I assumed they’d be supportive of a young mother. Wrong! I made a big mistake not making sure my employment terms were agreed upon and had a signed contract.

From that epic fail I found out that I must be responsible and not assume others will look out for me. Also, after my son was born, I found work in another community organisation closer to home and with varied fun roles and greater opportunities. So I look back and think I was kind of lucky that bad time happened to me.

Much later when my children were grown, I was divorced, and succumbed to a terrible illness that had robbed me of my home, family, career, use of my legs and my thinking brain. Extremely lucky for me, I recovered, but there wasn’t much of my life left the way it used to be. I had to begin again. What was great about that was that my life was a clean slate. Everything that had been blocking me was also gone.

A lovely man came into my life and supported me through a long recovery; he’s still by my side, more than two and a half years later. Friends and family bore with peak hour traffic to visit me in a city hospital for weeks on end. At times, I couldn’t even talk to them but they kept coming in. I learned that I didn’t have to entertain people, or do things for them to have them want to be around me. I learned that I was enough.

At times I wanted to get better quickly, so desperately but timing is everything. I feel now that I’m better and living a life I love, that I needed to go through that time to be the person I am now. I wrote A Dance with the Laird before I became sick, and I edited it after I recovered. I rewrote some of it to include what I learned in my journey.

Natalie Baxter, my heroine, has made some epic fails; marriage to a man who appeared reliable and career focused led to tragedy. She still hasn’t learned and decides she will focus on her career, but jetlagged and lost she’s put on a collision course with the man who’ll challenge everything she believes about herself.

She’s decided to keep away from finding love but can’t resist the charms of Angus McLaren, AKA the Laird. Submitting to her attraction to him seems to be the worst thing she could do, but of course it is fate stepping in to help her out.

Angus has a great deal of responsibility resting on his shoulders. He too has made mistakes that have left him wary of love but he can’t resist helping someone out. He thinks falling in love is an epic fail, but caring Natalie is the woman to thaw the ice around his heart.

Epic fails and frustrations can turn out to be the very thing you need to get what your heart really wants.

A Dance with the Laird

Natalie Baxter’s sorrow is she can’t conceive a child. She’s devoting her event planning skills to helping orphans. Falling for Angus McLaren, Laird to an ancestral estate is a mistake. He must have an heir to secure it, and the family foundation’s work with orphans in the third world. He can’t consider marrying Natalie, his beautiful event planner. He can, however, be her lover for the one month they have together, organising a charity ball.

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