Tag Archives: Author interview

Oct21

Creative Juice #314

Posted on October 21, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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A lot to admire in this week’s collection of articles.

Giant wood trolls.
Have you ever wanted to write a scary story but just couldn’t get started? Here are some creepy starting points. . . .
Masks.
Flickr photography contest winners.
Street art.
Wonderful jungle baby quilt.
You’re a writer, and you’ve been invited to be interviewed on a podcast. Here’s how to be a great guest.
The beauty of a small town in photographs.
A photo exhibit celebrates Black girls.
I never knew children’s gardens existed.
Some amazing quilts.
What would you do if you won really, really big in the lottery?

Sep29

Video of the Week: Interview with Debut Novelist, Christopher Tallon

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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I am amazed how poised he is on his very first television interview.

Feb4

Creative Juice #280

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Read and recharge.

This quilt is the maker’s pandemic project. Hmmm. It’s not too late to start a pandemic project, is it?
The problems of translating poetry.
Interview with author Hope Adams about her novel Dangerous Women.
Adorable pet pictures.
Sand sculptures carved by wind.
A painting as a social observation.
What the January 15, 2022 underwater volcanic explosion near Tonga looked like from a satellite.
Celebrate Black History Month by reading one or more of these recommended books by Black authors.
Capturing movement in a sketch.
This art journal page would make a lovely Valentine. Video tutorial included.
Arresting photographs of entwined snakes.
Don’t be stingy. Advice for writers and all creatives. And read the comments—there are poems in there!

Jan11

Meet Author Shonna Slayton

Posted on January 11, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Shonna Slayton is a prolific writer of young adult historical fiction and fairytale reimaginings. Her books include Cinderella’s Dress (2014), Cinderella’s Shoes (2015), Liz and Nellie (2016), Spindle (2016), Snow White’s Mirror (2018), The Tower Princess (2018), Beauty’s Rose (2019), Cinderella’s Legacy (2019), Sleeping Beauty’s Spindle (2020), The Little Mermaid’s Voice (2021), Lessons from Grimm: How to Write a Fairy Tale (2020), and its companion volumes, the workbook (2020), the high school workbook (2020), the middle school workbook (2020), the elementary workbook (2020), Prompts from Grimm (Grades 7-12) and Prompts from Grimm (Grades 3-6). I am delighted that she agreed to be interviewed for ARHtistic License–she has so much to share with us.

ARHtistic License: Many of your books are YA historical novels and/or fairy tale sequels. Where do you get your inspiration?

Shonna Slayton: I’ve long been interested in writing historicals and in particular telling women’s stories. But I also have a bent toward fantasy. Why not combine genres? With fairy tales, the inspiration is already there in the original story, giving me plenty to riff from. Once I’ve picked a fairy tale and paired it with a historical time period, the boundaries are set, and I’m free to imagine how to merge these two ideas.

AL: How long does it take you to finish writing a book? What is your favorite part of writing a book? What is the hardest part of writing a book for you?

SS: Each book is different. My favorite part of writing a book is the part I’m not currently working on (!) At least, that’s what it feels like right now. I’m deep in the weeds of Act 2 right now, pushing toward Act 3 and the words are coming ever so slowly.

AL: Are you a plotter or pantser?

SS: As much as I would like to be a plotter, I’m more of a discovery writer. I know many of the plot points going in, but not how I’m going to get there. I rely on the characters to make those decisions, but the characters are not fully formed in the first draft…kind of the chicken or the egg scenario. I write in a spiral, moving forward, but often swooping back to earlier chapters to add more information as I learn it.

AL: Your first few novels were published by a publishing house. Did you have an agent? What was your submission process like?

SS: Yes, I was originally published through Entangled Teen. I’ve never had an agent. I went to a writing conference with plans of what classes I was going to take, but when Entangled publisher Liz Pelletier stood up to introduce herself and the sessions she was giving, I changed all my plans and went to her talks. At the time, she was working off of a different publishing model which fascinated me, and I wanted to be in on the experiment. I simply submitted my work directly to her a few days after the conference. She’s a smart business woman, and I was thrilled to work with her company for as long as I did.

AL: Now you mostly self-publish. Sometimes readers assume authors choose to self-publish because they’re not good enough to get a book deal. That’s certainly not true in your case. Why did you decide to abandon traditional publishing?

SS: To be honest, traditional publishing abandoned me. My fourth book got cancelled, and while the company was willing to keep working with me if I changed what I was writing, I wanted to finish what I started.
Fortunately, when self-publishing started to take off, I thought it would be a good idea to have a foot in both publishing models. My first attempt at self-publishing (Liz and Nellie, about Nellie Bly’s race around the world) came out between my second and third traditional book. So, when my contract was cancelled, it wasn’t much of a leap to turn to self-publishing.

Looking back, knowing what I know now, cancelling my book was a smart business decision for Entangled and, it turned out, for me, too. My books didn’t generate enough revenue to keep a publisher’s interest, but when all the royalties come to me, I can make it work. Under a trad publisher, my books would have slowly died, but with the tools available to indie authors (such as paid advertising, newsletters, control over pricing, and a bit of courage to put yourself out there), I can keep a steady stream of readers finding my books.

AL: What’s up next?

SS: I’m working on an original fairy tale trilogy based on kelpie mythology. While set in a fantasy land, it’s got a Scottish flair.

I’m also in the process of producing audiobooks for my Fairy-tale Inheritance Series. The first audiobook, Cinderella’s Dress is out now. It’s been fun to work with a voice actor to bring the story to life.

AL: It’s been great to hear about your writing and publication journey. Thank you for sharing with us. I’ve read most of your books and enjoyed them immensely.

SS: Thanks for inviting me onto your blog, Andrea! I love how you focus on creativity in a variety of ways here.

May25

An Interview with Author Kelly deVos

Posted on May 25, 2021 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Kelly deVos is from Gilbert, Arizona, where she lives with her high school sweetheart husband, amazing teen daughter and superhero dog, Cocoa. She holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from Arizona State University. When not reading or writing, Kelly can typically be found with a mocha in hand, bingeing the latest TV shows and adding to her ever-growing sticker collection.

Kelly’s work has been featured in the New York Times as well as on Vulture, Salon, Bustle and SheKnows. Her debut novel, Fat Girl on a Plane, was named one of the “50 Best Summer Reads of All Time” by Reader’s Digest magazine. Her YA dystopian thriller duology, Day Zero and Day One, are strangely prescient of the 2021 political climate in the US. Her next book, Eat Your Heart Out, releases on 6/29/21 from PenguinTeen.

ARHtistic License is thrilled to be able to discuss Kelly’s work with her.

ARHtistic License: Your website proclaims “Fierce reads for the feminist in all of us.” By that, do you mean that your books feature a strong female protagonist, or that you deal with feminist issues?

Kelly DeVos: I have always been interested in girls and woman trying to perform in spaces that are traditionally male dominated. In Fat Girl on a Plane, I tackled the fashion industry. While ostensibly being focused on women, at the highest levels of design and advertising, the fashion decision makers tend to be male. In Day Zero and Day One, my protagonist, Jinx Marshall, is a coder. Computer science is again another space where the major players tend to be male. When I think of fierce feminists, I conceive of girls and women who are trying to be true to their own interests and advocate for themselves.

AL: Your heroine in Fat Girl on a Plane breaks into the New York fashion scene. Your descriptions of working for a designer feel so real. Do you also have fashion experience? Or how did you do your research for the book?

KdV: I worked for many years as an art director and graphic designer including for brands like Roberto Cavalli Eyewear and Tom Ford Eyewear. I worked on a lot of photoshoots over my career and also heard a lot of stories and gossip about the fashion world. So I tried to channel that when writing Fat Girl.

AL: Day Zero came out in 2019, and Day One in 2020, but I read them in early 2021, and I found them chilling, especially in light of the January 6^th attack on the Capitol. Your duology portrays a country divided into factions, with conspiracy theories flying, after an election that was allegedly stolen. How much of the book was inspired by the recent U.S. political climate?

KdV: Thank you so much! I was trying to make it as topical as possible. It’s strange to think about, but I actually wrote most of Day Zero in 2015, before the election. Like most of the people in my social circle, I assumed Hillary Clinton would win. The question that started the book was, what would happen if someone like Donald Trump won? Of course, now we know. But most of Day Zero was conceived before the 2016 election actually happened.

AL: How do you do your world building?

KdV: Honestly, whenever I think about world building, I reread books by Kristina Perez, author of Sweet Black Waves. Her world building is always so excellent and she considers all aspects of the world she’s creating. She addresses the world’s politics, religion and economics and all that stuff is existing in her stories in a really subtle way.

AL: Your soon-to-be-released book, Eat Your Heart Out, takes place at a weight-loss camp overrun by zombies. (And, according to rumors, it’s very funny!) Where on earth did you get the idea for this one?

KdV: I was thinking a lot about the toxic elements of diet culture and how, in some ways, that it turns people into monsters. In Eat Your Heart Out, I made that idea really literal. My main characters are forced to go to a fat camp that’s crawling with zombies. I did try to incorporate some Shaun of the Dead type humor to balance the scarier elements.

AL: What’s up next?

KdV: I’m currently working on a Dracula retelling from the perspective of Lucy Westenra that I hope will be coming out in the summer of 2022.

AL: Why do you write for young adults?

KdV: Like a of writers, I was a reader first and that’s how I fell in love with stories and storytelling. Books were so important to me as a young reader and really helped me navigate my coming of age experiences. I wanted to write for young adults in the hopes of offering something that might be similarly meaningful.

AL: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

KdV: Definitely a plotter. I’m honestly kind of in awe of pantsers because I truly don’t understand how they do what they do!

AL: How long does it take you to write a book?

KdV: At this point, I would say it takes me about six months to create a first draft. The amount of time that it takes to edit can vary a lot depending on what kind of feedback I get.

AL: What is your biggest writing challenge?

KdV: I feel like I come from the “plot is character” school of writing. So my top level note is always to reveal a bit more about my characters’ interiority.

AL: Do you ever get stuck?

KdV: I do sometimes get stuck and I have a couple of things in a drawer that I just don’t know how to fix. Sometimes, my way of getting unstuck is to move on to the next idea.

AL: What is the most fun part of writing a book?

KdV: For me, working on the first draft is the most fun. I love it when I have a new idea and I get to put it on paper!

AL: What is your favorite book about writing?

KdV: I personally use Outlining Your Novel and the workbook that goes with it. The writer of that book, K.M. Weiland, also maintains a website that contains a ton of great information that can be accessed for free.

AL: What types of books do you like to read? Which authors do you especially admire?

KdV: I go through phases. Right now, because I’m writing a lot of horror, I’m reading a lot more contemporary. I’ve also been wanting to learn more about Middle Grade, so I have been reading all the marvelous books written by Dusti Bowling. I would recommend her verse novel, The Canyon’s Edge, to readers of any age.

AL: How did you get your agent?

KdV: I got my amazing agent, Chloe Seager, through traditionally querying. I’d heard great things about the Madeleine Milburn agency and decided to send in a query.

AL: What is something about your books or about yourself that you wish your readers knew?

KdV: My dog, Cocoa, is responsible for any typos you find! LOL

Follow Kelly DeVos on her website, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Facebook.

May9

Meet Kathy Temean, Illustrator, Author, and Children’s Literature Advocate

Posted on May 9, 2020 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Meet Kathy Temean, Illustrator, Author, and Children’s Literature Advocate

I first discovered Kathy Temean’s blog, Writing and Illustrating, five or six years ago, and I’ve been following it ever since. If you like to write or draw for children, you must check it out. Kathy has been a long-time member, speaker, and regional advisor of the New Jersey chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and is very knowledgeable and helpful.

I have since found out that she herself is an award-winning illustrator. She is also a consultant who helps companies (and especially authors and illustrators) develop marketing plans and websites.

I am so thrilled that Kathy agreed to be interviewed for ARHtistic License.

ARHtistic License: What books have you written or illustrated?

Kathy Temean: I wrote and illustrated Horseplay and illustrated Yogi’s Team, and various book covers, and have written and illustrated many articles for magazines like Highlights and Sprouts. Plus I have done artwork for Individuals like Jerry & Eileen Spinelli, major corporations like McDonald’s, Pfizer and Merck, and businesses like Mullica Hill Merchant Association have commissioned my artwork.

AL: How did you first hear of SCBWI?

KT: To understand that, I need to tell you about my writing journey: I went to college to study art. My only connection to writing was my Dad who wrote short stories for magazines, articles for the newspaper, and love poems for me and my mother. I am sure he would have loved to write a novel, but he worked hard to make a living to provide for his family. I had to do the same, working full time to take care of my family and doing my art on the side. When my mother and father passed away in 2001, I had the task of cleaning out their house and found all the treasures of my childhood and Dad’s writing. Oh, how I wish I had found them earlier in life. I would have loved to discuss writing with my Dad. I started write so much that I really thought my father had taken over my body. All I could do was write. Maybe it was because I was an only child and I didn’t have a brother or sister I could talk to, or just grieve, but I poured my heart out writing for hours every day and night for many, many months. With my art background and so many cherished memories and the inspiration of my father’s poems, I started writing children’s picture books. One night I got up from my desk and couldn’t take a step and had to have my knee replaced. I started thinking I should use my artistic talents to illustrate the books I wrote. Then I realized I didn’t know anything about how to write or get a book published, so I read every book I could find and did everything suggested. One of those suggestions was to join the SCBWI. I did. Went to the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York, won an award for my illustration titled “Boys with Bear” and met other writers, illustrators, agents, and editors.

Boys with Bear by Kathy Temean

I had worked for some major companies setting up corporate events, so I volunteered my talents to the New Jersey SCBWI chapter in order to create programs that would not only helping me navigate the road to publication, but others, too.

AL: Did you win other kudos for your illustrations?

Babes on Beach by Kathy Temean

KT: I did. “Babes on Beach” (Society of Illustrators in NYC), “Homework Helper” (SCBWI Summer Conference), “Cinco de Mayo” (PASCBWI Conference), “Exploring the Garden” (NJSCBWI), “Boys with Bear” (SCBWI Winter Conference).

Homework Helper by Kathy Temean

AL: You were the regional advisor for New Jersey SCBWI. How long did you serve in that capacity?

KT: 10 years. I stepped down at the end of 2013 and still attend the NJSCBWI events. I have conducted workshops and have done critiques at some of the NJSCBWI annual conferences.

Cinco de Mayo by Kathy Temean

AL: Tell us about your passion for children’s literature and the authors and illustrators who create them.

KT: I love children and I love to write and illustrate. Seems like a perfect combination to me. The thing I loved about being the SCBWI Regional Advisor was how I got to see writers and illustrators grow and succeed. Having a little part in that success was special. That is why I have kept up my Writing and Illustrating blog.

Exploring the Garden by Kathy Temean

AL: Tell us about your illustration work. What software do you use?

KT: I have done a lot of traditional techniques, but when Photoshop came along, I jumped on board and taught myself how to use the software. It was instalove. I love that I can play around with the colors, correct anything I don’t like. I just wish I had more time to experiment more.

AL: You also assist writers with marketing and with author websites through your consulting business. Why is an author website important?

KT: For the last two decades I have gotten upset with writers and especially illustrators for not thinking enough of their work to show it off. Facebook is nice, but not good enough. Having a website gives a writer/illustrator a chance to tell their story. Think of it as having a picture book about you. You need to put up something interesting, provide some unique content that will bring visitors back. Even if you don’t have a book out there, you want to put your best foot forward, show off a little, and get that editor, agent, or future buyer interested in you. You never know where your next opportunity will come from. Just make sure what you design and create is professional and interesting.

Cover by Kathy Temean

AL: Besides a website, what are some of the most important things authors and illustrators can do to promote their work?

KT: Don’t run scared of having a blog. Just the word can make some of my clients faint. A blog is a great thing to include with your website. Why? Because it lets give you a place to put up pictures, notices, and stories about what you are doing to help build an audience. Your website designer will not be there 24/7 to put all the new things up on your site. With a blog, you will have complete control without having to depend on and pay someone else.

You don’t have to do something every day. Think about what you can reasonably do. Could you take an afternoon once a month to come up with four things to post? If so, you can schedule them to post on four different days during the month. Hint: If you see something interesting you would like to share, put it in a file so you can get your hands on it the afternoon you schedule to come up with your four posts.

Also get a Twitter account. You can set your blog up to automatically tweet what you post. That is so helpful. And people will click on the tweet and will be steered to your site.

If you have a new book coming out, make sure you put it up on your website. I know you are thinking Duh! But I have seen that happen too many times. Also, I know a debut author who did not have a website ready for their book launch. This is very bad. Don’t let that happen to you. You can’t expect to hire someone to do a site and get it up a couple of days. I have seen some sites take a year to finish and not go live until after the debut book has been out for months on the bookshelves. Make a marketing plan or hire someone to help you accomplish that. Don’t miss your window of opportunity.

AL: Your blog is one of the most helpful I know for writers. How often do you post?

KT: I started the blog in 2009 and have blogged every day since then. Even through major operations, pneumonia, and vacations, etc.

AL: How do you keep up that blogging pace and still do everything else that you do?

KT: A lot of late nights and I try to plan what I want to feature a month ahead. Writers and illustrators should think about submitting something to me. Think about what they could send to get their name or books seen. I feature authors, books, illustrators, agents, and I am always looking for articles that would interest other writers and illustrators. I love to get submissions – an illustration I could use with a post or holiday post – poem — a how-to article – a new book with their journey – a good new announcement for a kudos post. It’s a win-win for them and me.

AL: My favorite feature is the weekly Illustrator Saturday. The posts are full of illustrations, some in various stages of completion, so that we can actually see the artists’ process. How do you find 52 illustrators every year?

KT: There are so many talented people out there. It really is amazing. I am in awe of all the talent. It is a lot of work doing Illustrator Saturday, but most illustrators see the benefit of being on a blog that gets thousands of visits every day from all over the world. Many of my visitors are agents, editors, art director, publishers, teachers, writers, and illustrators. All are lovers of children’s books.

I rarely get anyone send me a link to look over their illustrations or tell me about themselves. I think they should. Even if I don’t think they are quite ready, there could be an illustration that catches my eye and could use, which might be something that would catch someone else’s eye, which could lead to a job. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

AL: You also keep us apprised of upcoming new books in the children’s market and even run book giveaways. Do you seek these books out, or do the authors or publishers offer them to you?

KT: It’s a mix of both. In the beginning I asked writers if they would like to be featured, but now publishers are sending me books coming out, hoping I will feature the author and the book. It is funny how I have seen an author, illustrator, and even a publisher grow from posting this feature on the site. At first glance it might seem like it is just a chance to win a free book, but it is much more than that. I always ask the author to write up their journey with the book. Everyone loves to read what an author and/or an illustrator had to go through to get their book on a bookstore shelf and into the hands of a reader. There is a lot of knowledge being shared in those stories. Plus, we are all in this journey together, so we have support the new books coming out to keep the industry going. We want it to be strong when we submit a manuscript and have people see and buy your book when it comes out.

Kathy Temean

AL: You profile agents who are building their children’s book lists and also feature an agent of the month, who critiques several submitted first pages of manuscripts. I am in awe of your contacts.

KT: I am glad you find the info about different agents helpful. If writers and illustrators read the features, it could save them a lot of time trying to figure out who is out there and may be a good fit for them. Just remember, the industry changes frequently, everyone should check to make sure the agent hasn’t left the company or that they are still accepting queries. Last month, I had an agent who decided to close submissions and I didn’t realize this, since I had just researched her. So things can change on a dime. One day they can be working for an agency and the next they can be working for someone else or traipsing around the world with a new boyfriend. I do my best to keep up.

AL: What else would you like readers to know about you?

KT: I would like to let writers know I am currently working on organizing a Virtual Writers Retreat. I have done a full manuscript critique retreat for the last seven years. It has helped so many writers get published or opened doors for them with an agent. This COVID-19 and everyone being locked down and afraid of flying, I decided going virtually would be a good idea. If you write a novel, where would you get a chance to have an agent or editor read your full story. Plus, everyone gets assigned to a four person critique group and everyone gets a 20 page critique with one of the other agents. The retreat is open to picture book writers, too. Their cost is less. They get a total of four PB critiques and a PB critique group. Here is the link for more details.

Children’s authors and illustrators, now it’s your turn. Check out Kathy Temean’s websites. You can learn so much there! And take advantage of Kathy’s offer–she’d love to have some submissions about your work and your journey.

Jan4

Interview with Jenifer Tull-Gauger, Karate Instructor, Author, and Illustrator

Posted on January 4, 2020 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Interview with Jenifer Tull-Gauger, Karate Instructor, Author, and Illustrator

Jenifer Tull-Gauger and her husband, Kirk Gauger, run East Valley Martial Arts in Mesa, Arizona. Tull-Gauger has also been writing and drawing since childhood. Her most recent book, The Two True Karate Kids: A Dojo Kun Character Book on Battling Dishonesty, was released December 1, 2019. I met Jenifer through folk dancing, and reconnected with her in November at the Tempe Book Festival. I’m thrilled that she consented to be interviewed for ARHtistic License.

ARHtistic License: Have you always lived in Arizona? What are the pros and cons of living in a desert area?

Jenifer Tull-Gauger: I grew up in southern California and our young family moved to Arizona over 22 years ago. Arizona has provided opportunities that California couldn’t. We love the people here, and are so happy to be here now. A huge perk is the weather most months out of the year. And for me, a huge drawback is gardening in an arid climate. I don’t like working with cactus, so I must contend with big water bills.

AL: You and your husband have been practicing karate for twenty years. How do children benefit from karate training?

JTG: Karate is great for people of all ages, but children especially stand to benefit from karate training because it helps them form values, inner strength and the knowledge of their power, in their formative years. For our children, we have seen improvements in self-confidence, self-defense, respect, and character-building in addition to the fitness it provides.

AL: I know a dojo is a karate school, but what is dojo kun?

JTG: A kun is an oath, so the dojo kun is the oath of a traditional karate school. Our Dojo Kun lists our most important rules and values that we uphold. Each student is expected to work on using them in daily life – both in and outside of our classes. For me as an instructor, I teach people how to fight or harm others for self defense, and these rules teach them how not to fight, or at least how to have a moral code for the use of force. Our Dojo Kun is the traditional one created by Shungo “Tode” Sakugawa around 200 years ago. It is translated as: 1) Strive for a good moral character. 2) Keep an honest and sincere way. 3) Cultivate perseverance or a will for striving. 4) Develop a respectful attitude. 5) Restrain my physical abilities through spiritual attainment.

AL: You’ve been drawing since you were a child. What sort of art training have you had? What advice do you have for budding artists?

JTG: I took as many art classes as I could in junior high and high school. Other than that, I have practiced a lot on my own, including learning Sumi-e, Japanese brush painting, from a book. That was fun. My advice for budding artists is to just do it! Practice with different styles and media. Sketch as much as you can (or would like to) and regularly. Youtube is also a great source for techniques, ideas and inspiration.

AL: How is illustrating a book different from drawing pictures? What did you have to keep in mind as you created your accompanying illustrations?

JTG: For me, the biggest difference (and thorn in my side) in illustrating a book is the editing process. In fine art, I create a piece and when it’s done, it’s done. In illustration, I receive feedback from my art editors and then make revisions to make sure the pictures are supporting the story I want to tell. With book illustration, there is also the use of left-to-right action and awareness of where the eye is led in order to encourage the turning of the page.

AL: Do you draw your illustrations by hand, or do you use graphic software? Tell us about your process.

JTG: I use a mostly traditional process, but with the help and support of technology. My process for the Dojo Kun Character book series is to do a rough layout sketch or book dummy, then create real-size pencil sketches. After input from my art editors, I go over the outlines in black ink. All of that is done by hand. Then I scan the line art into digital files, print it all out, and fill in the colors by hand with brush pens. After another round of editing thanks to other artists’ eyes, I’ll make additional edits. Then I layout the pictures and text in Microsoft Publisher before consideration of final adjustments. If images need more digital manipulation than Publisher allows (such as removing backgrounds or parts of pictures), I’ll use GIMP.

AL: How do you find time to write and work on illustrations?

JTG: It is tricky finding the time to do both. This tripped me up for years. Then I implemented two things that help me make this doable. One is prioritizing. I have one project at the top of my list that I work on regularly. I put most of my focus and energy into that project. (I’ll put things of secondary importance in my to-do list where I anticipate having a break in my primary project, such as when waiting on input from editors or “beta-readers.”) The second is I commit to working on my books daily, even if it’s only for a short block of time. And when my day allows, I spend more time. Using a to-do list helps. As did figuring out which one series of books I want to work on at this point and having one area of focus. It is true that my other stories, my poetry, and my personal journal writing are on the back burner as I’m focusing on my karate picture books at this time. But it’s worth it to see the progress of these Dojo Kun Character Books as they come into being.

AL: You’re a member of SCBWI and you have critique partners. How did that help you on your journey to publication?

JTG: Both of these have helped me immensely. The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators has helped with my professional development and with teaching me the nuts and bolts of the trade. Through them, I’ve also met people who have helped guide me on my path to publication. I have found a lot of moral support and help in both the SCBWI and my critique partners. Plus, it’s awesome and inspiring just to be around other creative types. Additionally, it is invaluable how good critique partners can help you “see” the writing and illustrations through other people’s eyes or from other perspectives.

AL: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

JTG: I’m a mix of both, and depending on the story, I may lean more toward plotting it out beforehand, or flying by the seat of my pants and making it up as I go along. I actually enjoy both. When left to my own devices, I will usually have a solid idea plotted out in my head of what I’m going to write. But I try to stay open to inspiration and go with the flow of creativity while writing. I did a longer work, a children’s chapter book for NANOWRIMO a couple years ago, and was amazed and delighted at how some parts of the story took twists and turns that I hadn’t expected when plotting it out. There were times that I was writing my characters into trouble and had no idea how they were going to get out of it.

AL: What was the most difficult part of writing your books? What is the most fun part of writing your books?

JTG: The most difficult part of writing my first book was the uncertainty of what to do with the story and when to do it. I actually had the idea and wrote the first draft years ago. After I took it to my writer’s support group for feedback, it sat, going nowhere, for years. (That is the purgatory where most of my stories and poems sit.) The most fun part of writing and illustrating my book is just overall the adventure of it all. Some of the high points of the adventure are getting lost in the creative process, and learning of new (or previously unknown) helpful resources such as the Biteable app which eases the process of book trailer creation. I enjoy meeting new people at writers’ events or even on social media. It’s fun to encourage other writers and artists to find that spark within them and follow where it leads. And I love bringing my art and writing to the table in karate training, as well as bringing the most important lessons of traditional karate out into the world to help children, even those who may not train, improve their lives for now and for their futures.

AL: What types of books do you like to read? Which authors do you admire?

JTG: I like to read all types of children’s books. It’s important to keep up with the industry. I admire Tomie dePaola for continuing to support and encourage younger writer-illustrators in the SCBWI even though he doesn’t need to. And I admire many authors I have met who have helped and encouraged me, including Pat Curren who once won a Tomie dePaola DVD on the craft of picture books and gave it to me because she writes for teens. As far as my personal reading, I’m open to trying out any book from any author, but I will put it down if it doesn’t hook me within two pages. Dean Koontz is my favorite author to read.

AL: What is your favorite book about writing?

JTG: There are so many great books about writing! I would have to say my favorite is Natalie Goldberg’ Writing Down the Bones. It contains so much great advice and sharing of knowledge and writing experience. I also really like Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, which inspired me to get to know her better through her writing.

AL: Your book The Can-Do Karate Kid: A Dojo Kun Character Book on Defeating Laziness & Procrastination came out in May 2019, its companion coloring book came out in November 2019, and The Two True Karate Kids: A Dojo Kun Character Book on Battling Dishonesty came out in December 2019. What’s next?

JTG: My third Dojo Kun Character Book, about wrestling with quitting, is at the top of my writing and illustrating priority list. I’m also working on a companion coloring book to go along with the second book in the series. These will be released in the first half of 2020. And I’m looking forward to my book launch party for The Two True Karate Kids on February 15^th, 2020. It will include a Karate with Your Dog Class!

AL: Do you have a funny story about any of your books or about the writing process?

JTG: Maybe not really laugh-out-loud funny for most people. But I enjoy a dry sense of humor, and I find many of the “little things” in life hilarious. My picture book adventure has so many little funny things like that. Such as a five-year-old calling both the snail and slug monster in my first book “snails” (he’s from Arizona). Or his mom giving Procrastination (the snail monster) a voice, “Don’t do it now, you can do it later.” Or the response from a teen “beta reader” when she saw that I made the adult female karate teacher bald. (She was not on board with this idea.) I got to see her face as I was there in person: priceless.

AL: What is something about your books or about yourself that you wish your readers knew?

JTG: Hmm, I feel like I put all of these things out there in my weekly writer-illustrator and karate blogs. So this is a tricky question for me. But there is one thing that I may not get out there enough. I wish that all adults with elementary school aged kids in their lives knew I aim to make my books educational yet fun, character-building conversation starters with enough weirdness to make kids want to talk about them (and a can-do attitude, honesty, perseverance, etc.).

To learn more about Jenifer Tull-Gauger, check out her author website. And if you’ll be near Mesa, Arizona on February 15, you’re invited to the launch party for The Two True Karate Kids. Since the plot includes karate and the adoption of a dog, the book’s publication will be celebrated with a karate class that’s going to the dogs. The party will take place 9:45 a.m.—11:30 a.m. on Saturday February 15, 2020, outside East Valley Martial Arts, 1829 S. Horne, Suite 8, in Mesa. It will include book signings, a book reading, pictures with your dog and the author, and a Karate with your Dog Class. Participants in the class are invited to bring their dogs to go alongside them through a martial arts influenced obstacle course. Donations will be accepted for the Arizona Humane Society. Sounds like lots of fun, doesn’t it?

Oct29

An Interview with Author Edward Hoornaert

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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I became acquainted with Edward Hoornaert several years ago, when I was a participant in Weekend Writing Warriors, where authors post snippets of their works-in-progress for feedback. Hoornaert is a prolific author who earned the nickname Mr. Valentine for his romance novels (Mr. Valentine is also the title of a romance novel by Vicki Lewis Thompson which was inspired by Hoornaert), and then turned to science fiction. (See my reviews of Alien Contact for Idiots and Newborn on my Books Read page, #3 and #1 respectively under 2017. A review of Alien Contact for an Enhanced Nutcracker will be coming soon.)

Edward Hoornaert against the backdrop of the Canadian Rockies, Ed’s “spirit’s home.”

I recently sent Ed some questions about his work, and these are his responses:

ARHtistic License: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Ed Hoornaert: I’m a plantser, or maybe a potter. Not Harry, unfortunately for me. [Andrea’s note: I call myself a plotser.]

My first ten or twelve novels (out of 20) were written ‘by the seat of my pants.’ However, I had too many failures that died around page 50 because I discovered there was no ‘there’ there. So now I write an outline, 5 to 10 pages long, of the first two-thirds of a book. Plotting further than that tends to be wasted because the book inevitably takes off in (slightly) new directions. I always have a vision of the ending, though.

Actually, I spend more time getting to know what makes my characters tick than I do on plotting. Come to think of it, in the best books you can’t really separate the characters from the plot; different characters would result in a different story. That’s what I aim for.

AL: How long does it take you to write a book?

EH: I drafted The Guardian Angel of Farflung Station in about three weeks. Then I spent more than twice that long rewriting and honing it before I submitted it to my small-press publisher. It remains one of my favorites because it came so quickly.

At the other end of the spectrum, The Trial of Tompa Lee, a sci fi novel that was my final book for a traditional publishing house, took about three years. Interestingly, the gestation period says nothing about the books’ quality. They’re both among the best I’ve written, based on reviews.

AL: What is your biggest writing challenge?

EH: My biggest challenge is holding the world and my family at bay long enough to write. I’m still not comfortable with the selfish side of writing at home. It’s tricky, you know? I have a great marriage and family, and I want to keep it that way.

AL: Do you cut a lot from your drafts when you revise?

EH: Back when I wrote by the seat of my pants, I had to cut a lot from my drafts, but now that I sort of plot my books, I almost always add rather that delete. My draft scenes are often sketchy, sometimes all dialogue, so I flesh them out and add sensory details. Until the last couple passes, that is, when I’m looking to trim clumsy or wordy passages. Then I aim to cut around 5% of my words.

AL: Do you ever get stuck?

EH: Lordy, yes. Usually, there’s one of two reasons:

First, I didn’t plan out my idea or my characters well enough to know whether the conflict will sustain a book. Getting stuck like this is often fatal.
Second, I sometimes need time to pause to figure out what, exactly, should happen next and why it matters. These may be conflicts between plot (what the plot wants a character to do) and the character, who’s like an actor asking a director, “Why on Earth would I do something as silly as that, instead of this?” I need to dig deeper.

AL: You got your start writing romances for Harlequin Silhouette. Then you turned to sci fi and sci fi/romance and self-published. Why self-publishing?

EH: Actually, I got my start with Tab Books writing a couple of computer books for children before I went to Silhouette. After Silhouette, I published with Five Star Speculative Fiction, an imprint of another big publisher. For the record, some of what I write these days is put out by small presses.

I left the rat race in 2012, by which time I’d gotten the rights back to my sci fi novel. I brought it out as a self-published book that year, along with two sequels that make up The Trilogy of Tompa Lee. It’s impossible to sell the last two-thirds of a trilogy, and I couldn’t find any houses interested in reprinting the first book just to get the sequels. Self-publishing to the rescue! The second book in the trilogy has a 4.8+ rating out of 5, so some readers are glad I took the leap.

Self-pubbing is perfect for me. My career in technical writing had been perfect training. The technical issues of formatting and production were child’s play after software manuals, and being in a two- or three-person department had drummed into me the absolute necessity of going over and over a manuscript until I was sick of it, and then going over it some more.

AL: What, for you, have been the benefits of self-publishing? What are the benefits of traditional publishing?

EH: Main benefit of self-publishing—I don’t have to wait forever and ever; the wheels of large publishing houses grind very, very slowly.

The main benefits of traditional publishing were 1) money, because with the Harlequin behemoth behind me, I made decent shekels; and 2) I didn’t have to do any of my own marketing. I hate marketing.

AL:Your Harlequin books were written under a pen name: Judi Edwards. Why? Was it thought that men couldn’t write women’s fiction?

EH: No, I don’t think that was the reason. A fair number of romance novels back then were being written by men, such as Donald Maass (now a literary agent and author of some of the best books about writing available). I even heard rumors that up to 10% of romances were male-authored. The folks at Harlequin Enterprises — I actually wrote for Silhouette Books, a Harlequin subsidiary — knew that men could write romances women would read.

Although I wasn’t privy to their reasoning, I got the impression the powers-that-be were afraid some women wouldn’t buy a book if they knew a man had written it. Maybe they’re right. There is a bit of prejudice against men working in the genre.

AL: Alien Contact for an Enhanced Nutcracker has just come out. What’s up next?

EH: Nutcracker is the sixth book in my Alien Contact for Idiots series and the first new book in the series in a year; I took time off to write two books in my space-opera series. Although I haven’t decided for certain—an idea has to grow in my mind to the point it “takes over,” and whether that will happen is unpredictable—I’m probably going to take a hiatus from both series and work on a standalone book.

Several years ago, I drafted a manuscript about a colony of people forced to explore the relationship between madness and creativity. I’ve always thought the concept was dynamite, even if the execution was a popgun. I’m fifty-four pages into a rewrite, concentrating on changing and sharpening the character of my female lead. She was a bit boring because I didn’t understand what drove her. Assuming the book “takes over” it’ll be near-future science fiction with elements of romance. The working title is Never Seen a Purple Cow.

AL: What is something about you and your books that you’d like your readers to know?

EH: One of the tried-and-true paths to success these days is to publish a lot of books—every month or two if possible. The problem with this approach is that quantity takes precedence over quality, and I hate the idea of publishing a book that isn’t as good as I can possibly make it. I rushed one of my books, and I’ve regretted it ever since.

So I’d like readers to know that I’m old school. I rewrite and hone until a book is as engrossing as it can be. Quality over quantity!

Ed’s cat, affectionately known as Effing Feline, makes a weekly appearance on Ed’s website.

Sep24

Interview with Author Kathie McMahon

Posted on September 24, 2019 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Meet Kathie McMahon, a retired teacher, musician, and author. Her new chapter book, Mortimer and Me, is releasing this Saturday, September 28, 2019, at 10 am at the rehearsal studio of East Valley Children’s Theatre, 4501 E. Main St., Mesa, Arizona, on the southeast corner of Greenfield and Main. If you’ll be in the Greater Phoenix area, you’re invited to come!

ARHtistic License: Your chapter book, Mortimer and Me, is for ages 6-9. What’s it about?

Kathie McMahon: Eight-year-old Jimmy is the new kid in school and he’s already been labeled a troublemaker. After his first attempt to make a friend turns disastrous, the only one who seems to care about Jimmy is Mortimer – a big ole clumsy moose that wanders into town causing problems of his own. Jimmy and Mortimer face one setback after another, including a run-in with a couple of bullies and an escape by the class pet. The soccer game between the teachers and third graders might be the opportunity Jimmy is searching for. Maybe he and Mortimer can finally prove to everyone that they belong.

AL: How did you come up with the idea?

KM:My dad used to tell me bedtime stories about Mortimer and all the trouble he would get into. Each night was a different catastrophe. I can still hear my dad’s low voice saying, “Mortimer? Go help someone else!” Dad’s Mortimer was a donkey, however, not a moose. But one summer, my husband and I were on an Alaskan cruise. We saw a moose standing by the train tracks, and then in town we came upon a gift shop called “Mortimer and Company,” with a huge picture of a moose in sunglasses. All those stories came flooding back and a new Mortimer was born.

AL: You taught elementary school for years, and you’ve written musicals for East Valley Children’s Theater. How does writing novels differ from writing musicals? How are they similar?

KM: I taught elementary band and general music for twelve years and then decided to move into the regular classroom, where I taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grades for 20 years until I retired in 2005. When I taught music, I always did school musicals by published playwrights. Once I started in the regular classroom, I found myself wanting to teach the social studies and science curriculum in a different way. So I created musicals that aligned with the curriculum and performed one every year. After taking a sabbatical to hone my composition skills, I started writing music for community theatre, specifically East Valley Children’s Theatre, for which I’ve won four AriZoni Awards for Original Musical Composition. When I started writing novels after I retired, I found writing dialogue to be the easiest because of my playwriting experience. What I found the most challenging was the narrative, the descriptions needed around the dialogue. I’ve been working on that a lot, but you’ll still find my novels to be very dialogue-driven.

AL: Are your musicals available to other groups for performance?

KM: My school musicals are self-published. I’m currently revising those and will be adding accompaniment tracks. I hope to have them on my website soon. I’ve had one musical, The Floating Princess, published by Pioneer Drama. C. Lynn Johnson is the playwright and I did the music and lyrics.

AL: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

KM: I’ve always been a pantser, that is until I wrote my first YA novel. I finished the first draft and it is a mess! The plot and characters took quite the twist and turn in the process, to the point where I’m not sure how it even all lines up. So going back and revising it is going to be a real chore. I swore I would outline from now on! I’ve already outlined book two of the Mortimer series, and I think it’s going to be much easier to write. I will still have my moments of “pantsing,” I’m sure, because I always want to let the characters take me in a direction I hadn’t thought of before. So I suppose I will strive for a balance of both in the end.

AL: How long did it take to write Mortimer and Me?

KM: Oh my, it’s been quite the process – you wouldn’t think writing a chapter book would take so long! When I first started writing, I was actually teaching the writing process to my sixth graders as they navigated through how to write a story to be published. So I came up with Mortimer and used him as an example. The story evolved, and initially I planned for it to be a picture book with an original song. I imagined a toddler listening to the story and then learning a simple song about Mortimer. When I pitched it to a publisher, she suggested making it into a chapter book and introducing a boy character. So Jimmy and Mortimer’s relationship was born. I also found my writing voice in middle grade, the age group I had taught for 32 years. I put Mortimer and Me on the back burner while I worked on some other projects. Eventually I came back to it and decided to self-publish it as a chapter book series. It’s been quite the ride!

AL: What kind of research did you do for Mortimer and Me?

KM: Well, I researched moose, of course! Living in Arizona, we don’t see any here! I wanted Mortimer to have the characteristics of a moose, but some human traits as well. I think every child has fantasies about having a certain kind of animal as a friend. So while I’m not suggesting anyone go up to a moose in the wild and try to pet it, I found many examples of moose wandering into towns every now and then. I found out that they normally don’t attack humans unless provoked. I also visited Wisconsin to get a feel for life there, and to research my ancestors who emigrated there from England. You can find out interesting facts about moose on my website, and if you’re interested in my ancestors from England, you’ll have to wait for my YA novel, once I finally revise it!

AL: What was it like working with illustrator Tom Tate?

KM: Tom and I have been friends for many years. He’s been an illustrator most of his life and recently finished his own project, Tales of the Mythlewild, which he wrote and illustrated. We met through SCBWI and were part of the same critique group. Mortimer and Me is the first book he’s illustrated for someone else, something I talked him into because he had already critiqued the story. I hope this leads to other opportunities for him, because he is extremely talented! Since he already knew the story, he nailed Mortimer on the first try. Jimmy took a little longer because he doesn’t often draw contemporary kids. But in my mind, Jimmy was my younger brother. I was able to send Tom some childhood pictures of him. After that, the other characters came easily, and he added some nice touches for the front matter and chapter headings.

AL: What types of books do you like to read? What authors do you admire?

KM: Like every other author, I’ve been reading my whole life, so this is a tough one. I grew up with the Nancy Drew series and Little House on the Prairie. As a teacher, I liked to read historical fiction to my classes so they could learn historical facts in an interesting way. That genre has always been one of my personal favorites, along with science fiction – even though science is probably my weakest curriculum area! As a writer, I really relate to the writing styles of Richard Peck, Jerry Spinelli, Gary Schmidt, Gordon Korman, Sally J. Pla, Linda Mullaly Hunt, and Natalie Lloyd.

AL: What is your favorite book about writing?

KM: I’ll admit I haven’t read a lot of books about writing, but right now I’m reading It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again by Juila Cameron, who also wrote The Artist’s Way. Excellent advice in both books!

AL: What is the most difficult part of writing a book? What is the most fun part of writing a book?

KM: Writing a book is much more difficult than I ever imagined! I never had a writing course in school, other than what writing I had to do in AP English classes and two years on the high school newspaper staff. So there was so much to learn! I attended every workshop, conference, and webinar I could and just became a sponge that soaked up as much advice as possible. Then putting all that into a story was challenging! But that’s also the fun part. Taking an idea and watching it grow is exciting. I know I’ve hit a soft spot when I read an excerpt to my husband and he gets tears in his eyes. Or when I re-read something I’ve just written and I laugh out loud. Writing can be frustrating, but so rewarding at the same time!

AL: Why did you decide to self-publish? You’ve created your own imprint, Pearl White Books, named in honor of your grandmother. How did you do that? Do you have plans to publish books by other authors under that imprint?

KM: I have spent the last ten years querying and submitting three different projects to agents and editors. I’ve received some very positive feedback, as well as discouraging ones. I have many friends who have gone both the traditional and self-publishing route. I finally decided that what I really want to be is what is called a “hybrid” author – meaning I would like to do both. I thought Mortimer and Me would be a good place to start. I developed a website and social media platform and hope to build a fan base for this series that might lead to some agents willing to represent me. I used Kindle Direct Publishing through Amazon, which I found to be very professional and extremely helpful through the process. They allowed me to start my own imprint, Pearl White Books, in honor of my maternal grandmother. And yes, that really is her name! Funny, but I never really thought about her name before. Obviously, her parents didn’t know she’d marry someone named White when they named her Pearl. She was my inspiration and role model. She always knew the perfect gift to buy for birthdays and Christmas, and for me, that was usually books and music. She’s been gone for many years now, but I couldn’t think of a better name for my imprint. Right now, I’m just using it for my own books, but you never know what the future will bring!

AL: Mortimer and Me is book one of a series. What’s in store for the second installment?

KM: Like I mentioned before, it’s already outlined! The title is Mortimer and Me: The Bigfoot Mystery. Jimmy and Mortimer go camping and find a huge footprint that they can’t decide if it’s human or animal. So they decide to find out what it is . . .

AL: What is something about your books or about yourself that you wish your readers knew?

KM: Probably the biggest challenge any author faces is what story to tell. I struggled with this a lot when I started out. “Write what you know” turned into “Write what you can find out about” which is now “Write the story only you can tell.” As a retired teacher who likes to travel a lot, I wasn’t sure “my story” would be interesting enough that anyone would want to read! Journaling helps a lot when you’re trying to create ideas, and I found that I have a lot to say! You’ll find that my stories have a lot of heart and usually center on family, specifically relationships with grandparents. I’m the grandmother of five, so I can relate to that. My husband and I have traveled a lot since we retired, so you’ll also find that flavor in my stories. Plus, I love doing research, so even if I haven’t been there, I can travel there virtually. There are universal themes that all kids can relate to: friendships, relationships, belonging, family. Those things constitute the heart of my stories, and I hope there are those who can relate to them as well.

Aug31

An Interview with Author Victoria Thompson

Posted on August 31, 2019 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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An Interview with Author Victoria Thompson

Victoria Thompson is the popular author of twenty-two romance novels, the historical Gaslight Mystery series (twenty-two books and counting), and the Counterfeit Lady novels (Book 3 coming out soon).

I have to brag that I’ve know Vicki since 1982. When my second child was born, she was my La Leche League leader. Soon afterward, she started a Bible study group for young mothers, and she was instrumental in leading me back to the Lord.

She was also the first person I’d ever known to actually have a book published.

Vicki graciously agreed to be interviewed for ARHtistic License.

What was your undergraduate major?

VT: English/Secondary Education; I like to say I’m a retired teacher—I taught one year and retired! This was in a public Middle School in 1970.

You teach writing popular fiction in the Masters program at Seton Hill University. How did that come about?

VT: I was invited to teach in the program when it was just getting started in 2000. A writer friend recommended me.

I’ve heard your books characterized as “cozy” mysteries. What constitutes a cozy?

VT: A “cozy” or traditional mystery is defined as a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community. That doesn’t mean a small town, necessarily, although many traditional mysteries are set in small towns. It just means the group of suspects are members of a small social community, i.e. friends, family members, members of a church or club, etc.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

VT: Yes. My process is actually somewhere in the middle. I come up with my victim and the cast of suspects before I start writing, but I have no idea who the killer is or what exactly will happen, so I just wing it from there.

Why historical fiction?

VT: I love history and I love exploring how human nature has not really changed ever. The technology is different, but people are not. They are still concerned about the same things now as they were a hundred years ago. I have tried writing contemporary novels, but they just never quite click, for some reason. I think I just have a naturally historical voice and sensibility.

How do you do your research?

VT: I have three sets of bookshelves full of reference books in my office that I consult, but it’s also very easy to use Google for things as well. I don’t even have to get out of my chair! Google will often lead me to a specific reference book and if it’s not available any other way, I’ll get it from the library or inter-library loan.

How long does it take you to write a book?

VT: Around 6 months, including research and “thinking.”

What is the most fun part of writing a book?

VT: Getting to that point in the book where you realize you’ve got all the clues in place, you know who the killer is and why they did it and all you have to do is write it up so others can read it. For me, this usually happens around 2/3-3/4 of the way through the manuscript.

Who is your agent, and how did you connect?

VT: My agent is Nancy Yost. We have been together about 25 years (neither of us remembers exactly when she took me on). She was originally my editor for two books I wrote for Avon. I had just hired a new agent when she told me she was leaving Avon to become an agent. Two years later, I fired that agent and went with Nancy.

Victoria Thompson

What is something about your books or about yourself that you wish your readers knew?

VT: I have very little control over the cover art (I do get to approve it or suggest changes), and no control at all over when or how often the books are published and how much they cost. Also, I’d love to write 12 books a year, to keep my fans happy, but that’s physically impossible.