 I haven't been doing a lot of writing these past two months. I had big plans this summer to finish my current novel and release my newest fairy tale novelette The Tomato Quest. This didn't happen. Why? Well, my other creative passion came calling. Theater. When she whispers in my ear, it's really hard to ignore her, especially when it's a great opportunity. This time around, I was asked to direct a production of Steel Magnolias at The Larry Keeton Theatre, a popular dinner theater in Nashville where I have performed over a dozen times. I couldn't resist the call and agreed to do it. So, I wound up spending all of July staging this play, and it opened last weekend for a three week run. My husband is stage managing, and I have decided to stick around and help with stage crew. I like staying involved, and it's fun to work with my husband (as you might tell from this silly picture of us on the set).  I've had an amazing cast, and directing this show has been a wonderful experience. I'm very glad I did it and have no regrets about taking time away from my writing... Well, let me think about this a little bit. Have I taken time away from my writing? I mean, it's true I haven't created any new words on my manuscript since June, but there are other aspects to being a writer besides the actual output of verbiage. A lot of it has to do with simply using my mind creatively with relation to telling a story. As I think back on the past month and a half of putting together a play, I notice that there are many similarities between writing a novel and directing a play. The main thing that is similar is how both of these creative outlets challenge my brain to think.  Blocking rehearsal for Steel Magnolias. I think about story and plot. What is Steel Magnolias about? What happens? What is the best way to make each important moment in the play clear so that the audience will follow along and accept it all without question? When directing, I am interpreting someone else's writing, so these choices are made through blocking: moving the characters around on the stage to make interesting pictures, keeping the actresses' faces visible, varying the activity between serious and light moments, and adding business (what the actors do besides just reciting lines). The goal is to keep the action from being stagnant and boring the audience. As a writer, I use these same tools. I decide when and where my characters will stand, sit, or move. I carefully choose moments to share what they are doing with their faces, arms, and bodies. I try very hard not to make these movements random and to keep enough description so the reader can always visualize the scene and stay invested.  A beauty shop needs "hairdo" pics. This show is set in the 80s, so I couldn't resist putting my old 1989 Glamour Shots and one of my actress's old headshots on the wall. LOL! I think about the scenery. Steel Magnolias is set in one location - a beauty shop in the 1980s. Still, it has locations within it, such as the hair stations, manicure station, hair dryer, sink for washing hair, and exits. Based on the demands of the script, I chose how I wanted this shop to look, and then my husband and a team of workers built it for me. For Steel Magnolias, I wanted the set to be as realistic looking as possible, to make the audience feel completely involved in the show. As a writer, I make all of those same choices. I decide how the scenery looks - whether it's a teen girl's bedroom or a haunted rowboat in the middle of a dark, vast lake. I don't have anyone to build these sets for me, so I have to describe these locations in a way that the audience will be able to visualize it and stay connected to the story.  The set before we added any props or decoration. Boy, did it change! I think about properties. There are tons of items that the actresses have to use throughout the play from hair curlers, towels, mirrors, and nail polish, to extra stuff like magazines, pom-poms, candy, purses, and a tin of cookies to name a few. I had a wonderful woman helping me gather the props and decorate the set with them. She has a keen eye for things like this. Ultimately, though, it was my decision what we absolutely needed and how they would be used. Again, this is an important part of writing. I must decide when to mention something a character is holding or using. I describe it purposefully. The more attention I give the item, the more value it has to the plot or the character's identity. There is no point in introducing an object in a story or novel that is unnecessary. For example, if my main character uses a purse, that purse needs to suit her. In the play, Shelby's purse is pink and glittery, because she proclaims multiple times that she adores pink. "It's my signature color!" In my current work-in-progress, my main character's purse is small and plain because she doesn't like to draw attention to herself. Dannie, in Lost on the Water - A Ghost Story would never use a purse, preferring pockets, and Juniper Sawfeather chooses a messenger bag to take on her adventures.  Dress Rehearsal for Steel Magnolias. Then, ultimately, I think about the characters themselves, their motivations and intentions. I was blessed to have six incredible actresses to work with on Steel Magnolias. They have wonderful instincts and skill, and often I would wait to see what they would come up with on their own in rehearsals. Then, I just needed to shape it with some suggestions to alter the tone or delivery of a line. Or I might correct something that I interpreted differently. Sometimes I'd give an idea that would sharpen a comedic moment or prevent something from falling flat. In some ways this process of directing is more like revising a finished manuscript. It is no joke when authors say that characters often decide what they are going to say and do on their own. This happens to me all the time while writing first drafts. So, when I go back in to revise and rewrite, that's when I nudge that dialogue into place. It's often the time when all the 'he said' and 'she said' tags get changed into action lines or phrases that give more understanding of how the characters feel about what they're saying. So, in a sense, when I'm revising, I'm directing my characters to give their best performances. Perhaps that's why I prefer revising to writing first drafts.  If you're in Middle TN and want to see this, click on this image. I think there are still some tickets for the final weekend. The final similarity I will point out is when the book is published or when the play is open, I sit back and wait for the response, crossing my fingers that people will like the finished product. I'm so proud to say that the response to Steel Magnolias has been awesome. One of our less forgiving critics in town praised it in his review, the ladies are getting much-deserved standing ovations, and the show is selling out all of its performances. I'll sum up by simply stating that directing this play has been an experience I won't forget. I'm not sure if being an author helped me be a better director or if being an actress/director helps my writing. A lot of people ask me which I prefer: acting or writing. I often joke that I like writing better because I get to play all the parts. This kind of goes for directing, too. Thanks for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it and were able to take something away from it. If you did, please feel free to leave a comment. Also, take a moment to scroll through my blog or visit the other pages of my website. I had a bunch of new stuff release this summer, including an audiobook, a new novel, a story in a free anthology of fairy tales, and my newest fairy tale novelette The Tomato Quest, releases next weekend.    A collection of books I've seen about haunting in Tennessee and other southern states. This summer I've invited authors to share ghost stories on my blog to celebrate the release of my new novel Lost on the Water, A Ghost Story. They've been sharing excerpts from their novels or real encounters they've had. Today, I thought I'd share a couple of my own experiences. I've witnessed ghosts a handful of times in my life. I don't consider myself a medium or to have any extra-sensory powers, but I have experienced a few things that can't be explained by anything else except paranormal phenomena. Most of my ghost encounters have been since I moved to Tennessee. Not surprising. Everyone says the South is haunted.  I always thought it was funny that all my pictures of the house came out fuzzy like this. It wasn't a foggy or overcast day. When my daughter was about 7 or 8, she came into the living room to find my husband and I watching Ghost Hunters. (Yes, I'm crazy about true ghost stories, if you haven't guessed that yet.) At this impressionable age, she asked, "Mom, are ghosts real?" I looked her in the eyes and lied. "Of course not." Then I explained how fake the show was. I didn't tell her that the house we'd just moved out of had ghosts in it. They were children, and they were often laughing and playing in our yard. I didn't tell her that the theater where we did (and still do) most of our shows was haunted. My husband and I had a rehearsal interrupted by one of them wiggling a doorknob to the room we were in and peeking in through the square window. I didn't tell her that the 150 year old building that used to house the child care center where I work was filled with ghosts who liked to turn on toys, slam doors, and entrance the babies in my care. (No kidding, they all would zone out and stare at the exact same spot in the room and then start smiling or giggling at whatever was up there. We named that ghost Duncan. A woman who now works in that facility recently visited us at our new location and said she has often heard the clicking of heels walking around in the hallways after hours.) My daughter didn't need to know about ghosts just yet. I wanted her to sleep at night. The truth is that I do believe in ghosts. Five years ago, for my husband's 50th birthday, we decided to do a 'bucket list' challenge and participate in a real ghost hunt. We signed up for the Ghost Hunt Weekend retreat at the Thomas House hotel in Red Boiling Springs. My husband has family in that area, and has known about the hotel his whole life. This hotel was built in 1890 over some natural hot springs and was once a popular attraction. Even Teddy Roosevelt stayed there once upon a time. For the ghost hunt, they gather everyone together and told the history of the building and all the ghost stories surrounding it. Then they split us into groups and took us around the property to see if the ghosts would reveal themselves.  Our haunted room at the hotel. In the dining room, they set up so we could hear Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), and we heard voices of a couple children and then a stern man's voice telling them "no" and to not talk to us. Later, in the restaurant area, they had a laser grid shining around the room, and we saw figures running through it. It was after 3:00 in the morning when we finally retired to our room. I still couldn't sleep, because they had told us about the ghost that haunted our particular room. I was certain she was there. It was a fun but nerve-wracking event. I used the memory of it in a scene in Lost on the Water, A Ghost Story. The setting of this book is less than an hour away from The Thomas House. I have a scene where the boys in town are sharing all the Tennessee legendary ghost stories they know with Dannie. Here's a bit of that scene: Jasper said that he and his brother spent the night at a hotel up in Red Boiling Springs and did an honest-to-goodness ghost hunt, just like they do on TV. They stayed up all night and listened to the spirits of children talking through EVPs and watched for shadows in the corners. “It was freezing, and you know how they always say places that are haunted are super cold. I couldn’t sleep at all.” “Yeah,” Brian teased, “but that’s because they said some lady haunts the room we were in and watches people while they sleep.” “That’s creepy,” Jasper said, defending himself. “Depends,” Chris said. “Is she a hot ghost?” I had to ask. “How do they know the hotel is haunted?” “Lots and lots of deaths there,” Jasper said. “They don’t call it Red Boiling Springs for nothing,” Brian added. Lamont tapped me on the shoulder gently and said, “There used to be these hot mineral springs up there. People came from all over the country to soak in them, thinking the hot water would heal them of illnesses. The hotel was built on top of them.” “And they’re red because of all the blood that spilled into them over the years,” Brian said as dramatically as possible. “Ooooooh,” Chris added, his hands flying in front of him like he was a blind ghost. I wished he would walk into a tree.  None of my characters are wearing life-jackets in my novel. It is terribly irresponsible of them. Lost on the Water is not a horror novel despite A Ghost Story being part of the title. It is a contemporary coming-of-age adventure story. There is ghost in the story (more than one depending on your definition of 'ghost'). The novel takes place at a real location, a lake in Tennessee called Center Hill Lake. This lake is vast and winding and surrounded by forest, an easy place to get lost if you're in a rowboat and don't know your way around. It is a popular vacation spot for boating and fishing trips. It is no surprise that there is at least one death per year. This is also a man-made lake. The Army Corps of Engineers built a dam on the Caney Fork River in 1948. The lake is 62 miles long, with 415 miles of shoreline and covers land in three counties. Apparently, when the lake was created by the dam, the water completely covered some small towns and the cemeteries within them. They say the bodies were exhumed and moved elsewhere, but I've seen Poltergeist and I have my doubts. At any rate, I found out that there is a Haunted Canoe ride that happens every November. Apparently, they tell you all the scary stories about the lake, and then you go out on the water in canoes and paddle right over one of the old cemeteries just fifteen feet below. Well, it's my 50th birthday at the end of this year, so I think we're going to have to do this canoe trip so my husband and I will be even-Stevens on our ghost encounter birthday trips. I'll let you all know how it goes.  Click on this image to learn more about the Haunted Canoe trip.  Lost on the Water, A Ghost story is on preorder now and releases everywhere on Tuesday, July 17th. You can find all the links and read another excerpt from it here. If you're a fan of stories like Stephen King's "The Body" (the movie is Stand By Me) or you're looking for a fun summer themed book, give this novel a look.
As always, I'd love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below or share a haunting experience of your own. You can join my mailing list here. And if you're new to the blog, scroll on down and enjoy the other posts. Thanks for stopping by.  This June and July I have invited authors to share ghost stories on my blog. The stories could be excerpts from their novels, stories of ghosts they've encountered in real life, ghost legends from the region where they live, or whatever other paranormal activity they'd like to share. My hope is that you'll read their books while you wait and get pumped up for the release of my newest novel Lost on the Water, A Ghost Story. Today's guest author is Leslie E. Heath. She is an author of fantasy novels. Her day job is working as a nurse in an old haunted hospital. But I'll let her share more about that. I know this post is a little longer than usual, but if you like real ghost stories and sightings and things that go bump in the night, it's worth it. **All names have been changed to protect the privacy of the nurses involved. I work as a night-shift ER nurse in one of the oldest hospitals in the United States. The original building was constructed in 1832 over a Revolutionary War Battleground. Unsubstantiated rumors say the old building was used to hold prisoners of war during the American Civil War, and the hospital hosts tours of the dungeon beneath it during the Halloween season. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have reported unnerving experiences on these grounds. I’ve worked in this facility for nine years, mostly on nights. These are a few of my own personal encounters. *** During hurricane season, it’s not uncommon for the staff to stay on hospital grounds when a large storm threatens the area. One such night, I stayed in the hospital, even though I wasn’t scheduled to work until the next day. The hospital at that time had three units that weren’t open due to staffing concerns and low patient census, so the staff were assigned to sleep in the rooms lining those abandoned halls. Exhausted by the stress of preparing my family to weather the storm and packing my belongings to head to the hospital, I fell asleep quickly in my private room. At some point during the night, I got hot and kicked off the blankets, as I often do at home. I awakened again with a shock as someone pulled the covers up to my chin and tucked them around my shoulders. I hadn’t heard the door open or close. Shaking, I pressed the light button on the bedside controls. I was alone in the room. I convinced myself it had been a dream, something my over-tired mind had made up, and I turned the light back off and tried to will myself back to sleep. The room was still uncomfortably warm, so I kicked off the blanket and rolled up in the sheet. I lay there for what seemed like hours, though I have no idea how much time actually passed. Before I could fall back to sleep, someone whispered in my ear, “There now. You’ll be all right. Now, get some rest,” and tucked the blanket back around my shoulders. This time, I knew I wasn’t dreaming. I sat up in bed and pressed the light back on. The room was empty. Goosebumps erupted over my arms and neck, and I threw my belongings back into my bag. I figured I’d sleep in one of the empty ER beds where my friends would be nearby. I pulled the door open, ready to flee down the hall, and ran straight into one of my co-workers. “Someone’s in my room,” she said. Her face had none of it’s normal color. Speechless, I nodded and grabbed her arm. “Mine, too.” We proceeded down to the ER together, and neither of us slept in the abandoned wards again, even though whatever spirit was in that room clearly had no wish to do me any harm.   Though we rarely interact with the spirits within the hospital, we see them much more often. Most of the time, they’re passing through the hallways in the dead of night and I see them when I’m heading in the same direction. One such night, the pneumatic tube system we use to send lab specimens and paperwork throughout the hospital was broken, so I had to walk my patient’s blood to the lab. This is a fairly common occurrence, because the maintenance crew likes to take systems down late at night to minimize interruptions to service during the peak business hours. This particular night, housekeeping was also stripping and waxing the floors in the main hallway, so I had to take a series of side passages to get to the lab. I turned yet another corner in the winding maze of the old building and stopped in my tracks. There, in the middle of the hall, a semi-transparent figure in a white antique nurse’s uniform floated down the hall toward me. I could clearly make out the details of her pristine blouse, skirt, and hat, but her face was blurred and I couldn’t see anything below the skirt. No legs. No feet. She moved toward me without acknowledging my presence, so I ducked back around the corner and pressed myself against the wall. I stood there, frozen, until I saw her pass by. I stepped out of my hall and watched until she turned another corner. When she was gone, I sprinted to the lab to deliver the blood I still held clenched in my hand, and I had a member of maintenance walk me back to the ER even though I knew he couldn’t do anything about the floating nurse.  After those experiences, you’d think I would have known that the hospital is haunted and would have stayed to the “safe” areas where I work regularly. Or not. One summer night, we had no patients in the ER. We’d been empty for hours. I finished all my annual trainings, and so did my friends and co-workers. A small group of us got bored and decided to go explore the old building, the original hospital that’s now only used as offices during the day. Even maintenance won’t go in there at night. The old building is attached to the new one by a walkway on the second floor, so we didn’t have to go outside in the rain to get to it. Four friends and I took the elevator up one level and walked side-by-side down the empty halls to the connecting bridge, our medical clogs clacking against the linoleum floor and echoing down the corridor. Had I been alone, I would have turned back at a dozen different points down that walk, but even the pressure of my friends couldn’t stop me from trying to back out when we reached that walkway. The lights in the bridge were dimmed for the night, and the lightning outside flashed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a deathly glow on the white stone of the old building. Two of my friends grabbed my arms. I could feel their hands shaking through the fabric of my scrub jacket. “I changed my mind,” I said. “I don’t want to go over there. Not tonight. We can check it out in the morning.” I didn’t care anymore if they thought I was a coward. “It’ll be boring in the morning,” Cheryl said. “We’ve all been in there a thousand times in the daylight. Let’s see what it’s like at night.” I let them pull me forward across the bridge, though every fiber of my being wanted to flee. The old building is a hollow square, with stone halls and offices encircling an inner, open courtyard. At some point in the building’s history, someone renovated and added elevators at the corners. We linked arms at the end of the bridge and continued to the right, toward the elevator. We had decided to go down to the first floor to see the grand entrance hall, which I had never seen before because it was on the opposite side of the building from the nursing offices. As soon as we passed from the bridge to the stone floor of the old building, the mood changed. The air in that space was icy cold—colder than air conditioning could explain on a stormy southern summer night. This time Cathy decided she wanted to back out. Again, the others grabbed her arms and convinced her to go on. We continued toward the elevator that would take us down to the main entrance of the hospital, where generals and administrators had given speeches, held ceremonies, and addressed the media for nearly two hundred years. We piled into the tiny elevator, and Elizabeth pressed the button for the first floor. Nothing happened. The doors stayed open. The button didn’t light up. Elizabeth pressed the button again, harder this time. All the buttons lit up. “Going up,” the cheerful automatic voice announced. “No!” We all yelled. Elizabeth pressed the first floor button again, several times in quick succession. The doors closed, and we went up. And up. All the way to the fifth floor. The top of the hospital. The old operating suite. During the day, the glass dome focused the light onto the center of the room, where the operating table had been in days passed. The room had been turned into a museum, or so I’d heard, though I had never seen it. The lights in the elevator flickered. The doors opened. Beyond the open door, a velvet blackness filled the room. A cold, rotten stench filled the elevator. It stank of blood, infection, and death. I gagged. So did Cheryl. “Down, dammit,” Elizabeth said through gritted teeth, pounding on the first floor button again. In the blackness, something moved. Papers shuffled. Boots scraped across the floor. “Down!” Elizabeth yelled. Part of me wanted to run, out of the elevator, down the stairwell that ran beside it. The rest of me was frozen in abject terror. “Why?” A raspy voice whispered from the darkness. “Why did you do this to me?” I closed my eyes, sure I was about to die. The elevator door slid closed with a creak. It dropped with alarming speed to the first floor, where it jolted to a stop so hard that it knocked us all to our knees. As soon as the doors opened, we ran from the elevator and out the front door. I can’t say I saw anything of that grand room we had hoped to explore. We sprinted together through the pouring rain, around to the back of the new building, where the bright red sign announced the entrance to the emergency department. I’ve never set foot in that building again. Whenever there’s some business that would normally lead me to one of those offices, I find another way to handle it. I email, call, and even snail mail.  The portico of the Portsmouth Naval Asylum (Naval Hospital), designed by John Haviland (1827). By unidentified HABS photographer - Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5730413 Wasn't that the best? I love a good ghost sighting, and now I feel a trip to visit this hospital is necessary and added to my bucket list. Added to my TBR list is Leslies newest novel. If the story telling she shared here is any indication of her writing, I'm going to love her books. Also, she needs to get these ghost stories together and write a horror novel asap. Right? Here's a blurb about her latest book:  Sometimes the only way to prevent a war is to meet it head on. Alija's village has known peace for twenty years, but only under the tyrannical rule of Tavan and his guards. Stripped of all weapons, the villagers know to keep their heads down. But when one of Alija's group suffers merciless punishment after they are caught with weapons, he and the others decide Tavan and his men must go. It's the only way to prevent a repeat of the village's violent history. How far will they go to gain their freedom––and are four untrained men enough to bring down an army? Available at Amazon Kindle  Leslie E. Heath is a wife, mother, runner, animal lover, nurse and writer. She resides with her family and a number of rescued pets in a quaint North Carolina town, near the Outer Banks. When Leslie isn't cozied up at home writing, she finds inspiration for her work by spending time basking or running at the nearby beach or trails. Her love of writing began when she was ten years old, fueled by her love of reading. Her affinity with fantasy allows creativity when it comes to character development, settings, and a little magic. *Note: She lives in North Carolina and works in Virginia, because she lives close to the state line. It’s not a terribly long commute, even though it’s a different state. Website Facebook page I hope you enjoyed Leslie's guest post. I have more guests with ghost stories on the way, so keep coming back. My novel Lost on the Water, A Ghost Story releases on July 17th. Only a couple more weeks! I'm also running my other ghost story, Passing Notes, for free until then. Please leave a comment for Leslie or myself. It's always great to see who's visiting the blog.
 This June and July I have invited authors to share ghost stories on my blog. The stories could be excerpts from their novels, stories of ghosts they've encountered in real life, ghost legends from the region where they live, or whatever other paranormal activity they'd like to share. My hope is that you'll read their books while you wait and get pumped up for the release of my newest novel Lost on the Water, A Ghost Story. Today's guest is author Teri Polen. I originally met Teri through her book blog Books and Such, where she has reviewed most of my books. I got to meet her in person at the Southern Kentucky Festival of Books last year, which was so awesome. In 2016 she approached me about reading her YA horror novel Sarah before publication and letting her know what I thought of it. I thought it was awesome! It's really spooky, and has a sense of humor as well. It's a great ghost story. She put a quote from me on the book's cover, and that made me feel really important. I'm so glad people are discovering her book. Sarah also was a horror finalist in the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Here is a blurb about the novel:  Seventeen-year-old horror fan Cain Shannon thought helping a ghost find her killers would be the supernatural adventure of a lifetime. Now, he just hopes to survive long enough to protect his family and friends from her. A bet between friends goes horribly wrong, resulting in Sarah's death. When she returns to seek justice against those responsible, Cain agrees to help her. But when he discovers Sarah has been hijacking his body, he realizes she wants retribution instead of justice. Terrified of what could have happened when he wasn't in control, Cain commands Sarah to leave his house - but exorcising her isn't that easy. She retaliates against her murderers in bloody, horrific ways, each death making her stronger, then sets her sights on Cain. With the help of friends, Cain fights to save himself and his loved ones and searches for a way to stop Sarah before she kills again.  Excerpt: I knew she was here because of the drop in room temperature, but I felt Eby tensed up at my side, surprised he hadn’t dashed out of here. I let out a huff, rolled over and sat up, figuring she was going to do what she wanted anyway, and sleep would have to wait. She was standing at the foot of my bed, light from the street lamp creating an aura around her. But something was different. Watching various nature shows over the years, I knew some animals sensed when a predator was near, their self-preservation instincts the strongest they possessed. That’s exactly how I felt right now. I was the prey. Sarah looked nothing like the innocent, victimized, shy high school girl she liked to portray. She was the embodiment of evil, her black eyes reflective pools of malevolence, hands stretching towards me as if reaching for my throat. As she cocked her head very slightly to her left, a confident, victorious leer stretched across her face. Everything inside me said to run, but I couldn’t get to the door without going by her and knew I’d never make it. With my hand on Eby’s back, I felt a rumble go through him as he growled at Sarah. Crouched on all fours, his body was rigid and I figured he was as nervous about running by her as I was. Sarah slowly rose off the floor, and I felt the muscles in Eby’s haunches grow even tauter in anticipation. What happened next was over in the blink of an eye, but I saw everything as if in slow motion. Sarah shot toward me like a bullet out of a gun. Simultaneously, Eby leaped in front of me, attempting to block Sarah from reaching me. Although a valiant effort, Eby had no effect on Sarah and sailed right through her semi-transparent shape, but I loved my brave furry friend for trying. When she hit my chest, I felt it at my core, like a wrecking ball had plowed into me. But she didn’t just hit me, Sarah was inside me again and I could feel her moving, as I felt myself fading, my life energy being drained. When Sarah had been a passenger within me before, I’d never felt her presence. This feeling was completely foreign to me. She was something palpable, not like an internal organ, but more of an extension of myself, an extra arm or leg. Just before my world went black, I had a brief connection with Sarah’s corrupted mind and the atrocities I saw made me welcome the darkness as it enveloped me.   This is a good horror story for readers 13 and older. So, if you're looking for a scare this summer, go pick it up. Available through Amazon Nook or her publisher Black Rose Writing. She also has a brand new YA science fiction novel The Gemini Connection out. It is definitely on my TBR list.  Click on this image to get to her website. I hope you enjoyed this visit with Teri Polen and will go download one of her books to enjoy over the next month. And remember, Lost on the Water, A Ghost Story publishes one month from today! (7/17). If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment for Teri or myself or share the link with your friends. You can always sign up for my mailing list here.
 This June and July I have invited authors to share ghost stories on my blog. The stories could be excerpts from their novels, stories of ghosts they've encountered in real life, ghost legends from the region where they live, or whatever other paranormal activity they'd like to share. My hope is that you'll read their books while you wait and get pumped up for the release of my newest novel Lost on the Water, A Ghost Story. First up on the Write and Rewrite guest list is author Laura Wolfe. Laura has an amazing two-book YA mystery series about a teen girl and champion horse rider who has an ability to see ghosts. I absolutely loved book one, Trail of Secrets, and I have book two, Barn Shadows waiting in line on my Kindle. I can't wait to read it.  The ghost story Laura Wolfe is sharing today is from Barn Shadows. Here's a blurb about the novel. A year after her tumultuous exit from the prestigious Foxwoode Riding Academy, seventeen year-old Brynlei returns determined to confront her demons and win Foxwoode's elite Top Rider Award. When she stumbles over an antique doll at the construction site of a new barn, a series of inexplicable occurrences force her to question whether her condition as a "highly-sensitive person" is to blame or if something more sinister is at play. As Brynlei becomes consumed with discovering the history of the unearthed doll, the bizarre happenings escalate to dangerous levels. She soon realizes that someone close to her is lying. But who? Could a decades-old tragedy and the threatening events at Foxwoode be more closely entwined than she ever imagined?  Excerpt Brynlei lay awake in her bunk, once again staring at the wooden slats above her. Anna slept, her steady breathing interrupted only by an occasional chirp or hoot from animals outside. The fan rattled in the window, but its shallow hum didn’t block out the myriad nighttime noises that could infiltrate a cabin in the woods of northern Michigan. The other girls seemed to be asleep, too, except for Grace who tossed and turned on the other side of the room. Brynlei closed her eyes and envisioned the doll in her suitcase. She pictured the black-and-white image hanging in the dining hall. The photo from 1965 had yellowed at the corners, its subjects stiff and discolored. The girl pictured with the doll would be somewhere around sixty years old today, if she was even alive. How had she been at Foxwoode the other night? It didn’t make logical sense, yet Brynlei was certain it was the same girl. Her dress, her hair, and her stature were all identical. Plus, when Brynlei had told Caroline about someone separating from the group during the scavenger hunt, Caroline had insisted that they’d all been together. The faint glimpse of understanding Brynlei had been trying to ignore now gleamed before her, refusing to dim. No one else had seen the girl because she was a ghost. The flashlight’s drained battery, her bathroom items repeatedly being knocked off the shelf, the mysterious fleeting figure in her mirror, the clocks blinking 4:29, and the brushes positioned in a semicircle all percolated in Brynlei’s mind. Each incident taken alone had seemed odd but meaningless. She had explained away each peculiar occurrence, not wanting to become embroiled in another ghost hunt. Taken together, however, the evidence of paranormal activity seemed overwhelming. Maybe the girl needed to tell her something. Perhaps the girl’s life had met with an abrupt ending. She could be stuck in the physical world because she was clinging to unfinished business. Brynlei had researched the subject of paranormal occurrences at length after she’d seen her dead grandma sitting in the living room armchair. Her sightings hadn’t occurred frequently, but they did happen. Even before her diagnosis as an HSP, Brynlei had known that ghosts were real. She’d seen them. There was her grandma, of course, but there’d been others, too. Like Mr. Brentwood, the man her parents called her imaginary friend. She’d played with him for hours in the backyard when she’d lived in the house on Hill Street. Even though he always wore a charcoal suit and a burgundy tie, he didn’t mind digging in the sandbox or rolling on the grass with her. He pushed her on the tire swing and ate picnics with her under the oak tree. He preferred tea with his cake and always thanked her for the extra effort. Mr. Brentwood’s eyes crinkled in the corners and glistened whenever he told Brynlei how she reminded him of his daughter. Brynlei had been young then—only three or four. She’d concluded that her parents couldn’t see Mr. Brentwood because he played hide-and-seek whenever they came around. She’d cried when they’d moved from Hill Street to their current house. Mr. Brentwood had explained that he couldn’t travel with her. The day they moved was the last time she ever saw him. Back then, she didn’t understand why Mr. Brentwood stayed in the house on Hill Street, but she had since learned that spirits who remained in the physical world were usually trapped there because of unfinished business, tethered to the place where they’d died. Their spirits lingered in the spot where their lives had ended and, sometimes, tried to send a message—or a warning—to others.  This series is perfect for readers 13 and older, especially if you LOVE horses. But add in mystery, a ghost, and a spooky doll? Sign. Me. Up. You can get these books at Amazon or wherever books are sold online. They are published with Fire and Ice YA Books.  Laura Wolfe is a lover of animals and nature. When she is not writing, she can be found playing games with her highly-energetic kids, riding horses, growing vegetables in her garden, or spoiling her rescue dog. Laura's YA mystery, Trail of Secrets (Dark Horse, Book One), was named as a Finalist in the 2016 Next Generation Indie Book Awards—First Novel category. Barn Shadows (Dark Horse, Book Two) was shortlisted in the 2018 Chanticleer Paranormal Book Awards. Laura holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan and is an active member of multiple writing groups, including Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the SCBWI. For more information on her upcoming books, please visit: www.AuthorLauraWolfe.com So, go download Laura's wonderful books and enjoy them over the next month or so until Lost on the Water comes out. Please leave a comment for Laura or myself. We'd love to here from you. Share this blog post if you enjoyed it. And you can always sign up for my mailing list here.
 It's time! I've had all of these covers ready for a while now, but I've been waiting to share them with you. As you see, I've got a lot going on this summer. Two new books and two audiobooks are all coming out one right after the other. And to think, I auditioned to be in a musical this summer. So glad that didn't work out. Sometimes my desire to sing makes me abandon my common sense. I mean, I can always sing in the car or the shower, right? Do people really have to hear me? I'm a teacher, but I work at the kind of school that doesn't shut down for summer break. So, I've taken this coming week off to get all of my plans for these releases in order. I hope you will join me in reading or listening to these books, leaving reviews, and encouraging your friends to read them too. BTW, I'm on the lookout for early readers who are willing to leave a review at Amazon and/or Goodreads the day the books are released. If you'd like to be one of those people, shoot me an email and let me know which book you're interested in reading. I'll put you on my list and let you know when the ARCs are ready.  I'll start off with the biggest project first! If you're a fan of the movie Stand By Me (based on Stephen King's short story "The Body") or you're looking for a good campfire read this summer, you'll enjoy my YA novel Lost on the Water, A Ghost Story. It's scheduled to release on July 17th! This story is about a girl from California who has to spend a couple weeks with her grandma near a lake in rural Tennessee. She sneaks out to try to join an 'all boys' campout on an island in the middle of the lake (where legend says a ghost shows up every summer) and soon gets horribly lost. You'll enjoy this adventurous and sometimes spooky tale. Learn more and read an excerpt. Lost on the Water is published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books (an imprint of Melange Books). They also published my Juniper Sawfeather Trilogy and Passing Notes. The cover design was by Caroline Andrus. My last blog post features an interview with her about her work at F&I and as an author. In keeping with my revision theme of this blog, I'll share with you that this book has been through so many rewrites since its original draft in November, 2009 that the only thing that has never changed in the story is that there is a grandma, a lake, and a rowboat. Ha ha! I hope you like the way it finally turned out. I've worked very hard on it, and I think it's a lot of fun.   It's been a fairy tale year for me. Well, in real life not so much. But in my imagination, yes. In January I published The Royal Deal, which was the first book of my series of original fairy tales called Chasing the Romantics. In April, I had another fairy tale "The Hallway of Three Doors" published in the Fellowship of Fantasy anthology Mythical Doorways. And now, finally, I plan to release my second fairy tale novelette The Tomato Quest this summer. (I'm aiming for late June). I've had to put it on the back burner a few times to work on other projects, and the revision from its original short story version was a little more extensive than I had planned. I think the end result is worth it. This story is about Dash and Lillian who are forbidden to marry because he is the son of a gardener and not of the noble class. Dash is given a ridiculous and impossible challenge by Lillian's father, and even though he can't possibly succeed, he is going to try. Lillian plays her part by striving to stall her engagement to someone else in order to give Dash time. There is some adventure, romance, and a fair bit of magic in this sweet story. I hope you'll enjoy it. Learn more about my fairy tales here.  Getting a book published is a feeling unlike any other. Holding a finished print copy in your hands for the first time is a joy that never fades. I have to admit, I have now found an experience with publishing that has brought me a new thrill - hearing my book read to me by a talented voice-over narrator. Wow. Getting audiobooks produced is so much fun! This summer I'm releasing audiobooks of two of my novels. *5/29/18 update - this audiobook is now live at Audible.com The first is my award-winning middle grade novel No One Needed to Know about autism acceptance and school bullying. The narrator/producer is Allie James. The recording is complete and approved. It should be releasing within the next week or so. This book is targeted toward 8-13 year old readers. You can learn more about No One Needed to Know here.  The other audiobook I'm having recorded this year is Cry of the Sea, the first book of the Juniper Sawfeather Trilogy. The book is being narrated/produced by Courtney Parker. I've heard the first chapter so far, and it's terrific. The audiobook is scheduled to be released in August, so we have a bit of a wait still. Courtney is a popular voice over artist, so I had to wait my turn to have access to her talent. If you're interested in learning more about this novel and the Juniper Sawfeather series, visit this page. So, that's what's going on with me this summer. I'd love to know what you think of these cover designs and if they get you excited about reading (or listening) to these books. Leave a comment below.
Please take a minute to sign up for my newsletter or follow me on facebook or twitter to stay up to date as the books get released and find out what other projects I'm working on. If you do, and you leave a message that you read my summer cover reveal post, I'll send you a free ebook copy of Passing Notes.
Welcome to day 3 of the Peace YA/NA Blog Tour! Today I'll be sharing an interview with author Caroline Andrus and a review of her young adult contemporary novella Peace in Flames.
I've known Caroline for about five years now. She is the head of acquisitions at Fire and Ice Young Adult Books (imprint of Melange Books) and does the majority of the cover art for their titles. She has personally selected all of the books and stories I've published through them and done all of the cover art for my books. I knew that her dream was to have her own work published eventually, and she has been working hard to write her own material. We both had stories published in the Satin Romance anthology Second Chance for Love, and hers was one of my favorite stories in the collection. So, it wasn't a big surprise to find that I enjoyed her new novella Peace in Flames. I'm looking forward to reading her other book Summer of Peace as well. I'll start with the interview, so you can all get to know her a bit better. Stick with this blog post, though, because I do have a review below, links to get your copy of the book, AND there's a rafflecopter with prizes!!! 
D. G.: How did you get involved with the Peace novella series?
Caroline: In fall of 2016, author S.H. Pratt came to myself and two other writers via Facebook group chat with an idea for a multi-author novella series. She had written a contemporary romance novella set in a fictional town in Montana called Peace. She asked if we would be interested in being a part of this project. I've never done anything quite like this before. I'd never even written anything as long as a novella worth publishing. I thought this could be a really great challenge for me. So, I signed on. D. G.: Did they give you parameters for your story? Character names? A bible of the other stories? I saw on the website there is a map of the town. Caroline: Most of the guidelines were voted upon by the members who initially agreed to participate in the series. There were a few that S. H. Pratt set in stone from the beginning, such as no scene breaks, no F-bombs, and no graphic intimate scenes. (Behind closed doors was totally okay, just nothing "on camera".) And, of course, every novella title had to have the word Peace in it. Each participating author created their characters and listed them in a group file on Google Drive. If one author wanted to use a character that another author created, they just had to talk to the original author to make sure they were portraying the character correctly. As each story was written, more locations were added to the town map. I personally created Generic Eric's Sandwich Shoppe and Soda Fountain as well as The Craft Corner. Eric's plays a big part in Peace in Flames and both locations show up numerous times in my follow up story, Summer of Peace. D. G.: Are there characters in your novella that overlap in the other books? Caroline: Some stories have more character overlap than others. In Summer of Peace there's a cameo by Jim Harwood, who is the star of Love in Peace by Krysi Foster. Dray Parker appears in both of my stories as well as numerous others, he's a sheriff's deputy created by S. H. Pratt. I also name drop Kadaisha in both my stories. She's the celebrity pop star alter-ego of Lynn Dyer who stars in Peace and Harmony by Lisa Ann. I honestly don't know if my main characters appear in any of the other stories! (I haven't had a chance to read them all yet!) I know the waitress at Eric's, Tammy, makes an appearance in at least one other novella in the series. D. G. : Peace in Flames can be read as a stand-alone. The website suggests reading the books in order of publication. Does that make a difference? Are there things I would know more about if I read the whole series? Caroline: The books truly do stand on their own. We suggest reading them in order simply because there may be minor spoilers to the previous books. The only spoilers in mine are events from Peace in Flames are alluded to in Summer of Peace, but nothing is spelled out. We all really tried to keep the spoilers to a minimum. The benefit of reading the whole series would really be to have a clearer view of this little Montana town. D. G. : You have second Peace book releasing. Tell me about that. Will we see these characters again? I really love Liam. Caroline: Yes! Summer of Peace is my follow up to Peace in Flames. Flames takes place during Valerie's senior year and focuses on her and Liam. Fast forward about eight months and it's the summer after graduation. Summer of Peace is Valerie's best friend JoJo's story. JoJo is featured in Flames, but in Summer she gets to shine. While Valerie is preparing to leave for college at the end of summer and spending most of her free time with Liam, JoJo isn't quite sure what she's doing with her life. Add in the return of Valerie's older brother, and the one guy JoJo has been in love with since boys stopped having cooties, and things get interesting. Summer is a much more straightforward romance. I've labeled it New Adult, but honestly, it's right on that edge where it could be YA or it could be NA. It is clean, though, so upper YA readers could totally read it. D. G.: In your author note at the end, you wrote that you didn’t intend to write about sexual harassment. At what point did you decide to take the dark turn with Chris’s character. That scene is terrifying, by the way. Caroline: I wish I had the answer to that. Chris is definitely a dark character, he has a lot of issues going on. I think he has a narcissistic personality and no moral compass. He's a big bully and nobody saw him taking things as far as he did. I think as I started to write the events, I just thought, here's this guy who is used to getting everything he wants. Throw some alcohol in him and how far would he really take things? Is it wrong that I'm glad the scene is terrifying? It was very emotional to write. I second guessed everything, but if other readers feel the same, I think I've done it justice. D. G.: Nope, not wrong to feel that way at all. The theme of my blog is revision, so share a little about your revision process for this book? Were there any scenes you had to rewrite? Is there an editor for the series? Do you use beta readers? Caroline: This particular book didn't have a whole lot of rewrites. I actually started writing this one, got stuck, then wrote an entire 20k draft of Summer, hated that draft and scrapped the entire thing, then went back to what I had started for Flames and just wrote. The only thing I remember going back in the end and adding were a few details that I'd left out that really needed to be there for the whole arson-angle. Each author was responsible for their own editor for their book. My editor is always Nancy Schumacher from Melange Books. Before the book even gets to her it goes through beta readers and multiple reads on my own. For Peace in Flames I think I had five readers. I received some really good insight from those beta reads. I specifically put a call out for a sensitivity reader who had been sexually assaulted herself. I didn't feel comfortable putting a book of this nature out without hearing that opinion first. She was extremely helpful. One of my readers also gave me a list of "watch words" - words that are weak and can easily be changed to make my writing stronger. Wow, that list has made a world of a difference in all of my writing since Peace in Flames!  Click on the image to learn more about these books.
D. G.: Nancy Schumacher is the best! She just finished proofreading my newest book. You are a book cover artist. Did you do your own book cover? Do you do book covers for others in the series. (I did notice that your chapter headings use the same font as the covers of my Juniper Sawfeather novels).
Caroline: I did design both my covers for the Peace Series. I also designed the cover for Peace of Work by Rachel Walter, and Peace and Harmony by Lisa Ann. (Rachel and I worked together to create a great cover, Lisa told me exactly what she wanted and I did it.) We were given specifications for our covers so that text-wise they were all uniform. I actually didn't even have the Peace font (which is called Digory Doodles) until I got involved with this series, and it looked so good when I tried it on the Juniper Sawfeather novels I couldn't not use it for those! D. G.: You are the head of acquisitions at Fire and Ice YA Books, head cover designer for Melange Books and its imprints, you hold two jobs, and you have a family. How do you make time to write? What do you have to sacrifice? Caroline: I write very, very, very slowly. Most of Peace in Flames and the first draft of Summer of Peace (which, as I mentioned above, was scrapped entirely!) was written last summer during my kids swim lessons. I had about half an hour while kid #2 was in her lesson, then I had about another 45 minutes during kid #1's lesson. At that time, I would sit with my little Bluetooth keyboard in the stands overlooking the pool and write using Dropbox on my Kindle. I've since moved to writing on my iPhone using Google Docs. Sometimes I use my Bluetooth keyboard, sometimes I just type on the screen. Whichever is most convenient. I also make use of downtime at work when there's absolutely nothing else to do (or when I've been working my butt off and have earned a break!) If I’m waiting for an appointment (doctor, dentist, orthodontist, etc.) I'll pull up Google Docs and write on my phone. When I'm caught up or, dare I say ahead with my work for Melange, I'll "slack" a little and spend some time working on my own books. I'm trying to train myself to not feel guilty for working on my own projects. Fortunately for me, I'm not the kind of person who enjoys going out and doing things. My idea of a good time is a night home writing or reading. (Or binging Netfilx while doing work for Melange!) D. G.: That's funny. I wrote the first draft of my YA novella Passing Notes during my daughter's swimming lessons. Many people ask me why I choose to publish with a small press instead of self-publishing. I often tell them it is because of my relationship with you and Nancy and the other Melange authors. There is definitely a feel of ‘family’ to this group. Why do you think authors should choose small indie presses as opposed to self-publishing? What do you see as the benefits. Caroline: That's a great question! When you self-publish you are responsible for everything! You need to find a quality editor and pay them, you need to hire a cover artist and pay them, you need to do absolutely everything yourself. You're footing the bill outright and there's always a chance you'll never recoup that investment. When you work with a publisher, whether small-press like Melange or traditional, you're covered. They're going to take care of the cover art and editing. All you need to worry about is marketing. (HA! As if that's not enough work, am I right?!) Some people have the funds available to hire everyone needed to publish a book. Others don't, and it's beneficial for them to give up a percentage of their book sales royalties. I don't think one way of publishing is right for everyone. Every author is different and has different needs. I do think that working with a publisher does give you that awesome relationship with other people in the business, not only with the publisher but also with your fellow authors. You can definitely get that self-publishing, but you have to find them, they're not just thrown at you like with your publisher. (Melange has a great private Facebook group for both the staff and our authors where we invite all of our authors to ask questions and advice. I'm not sure if other publishing houses have this, but I personally love it!) D. G.: As head of acquisitions for Fire and Ice YA Books, what’s on your MSWL right now? Do you have any advice for submitting authors? Caroline: Omigosh! I'm so in love with YA contemporary romance right now, I can't get enough! It seems like we mostly get submissions for fantasy and paranormal, which is great and there's definitely a place for them, but I'd love to see something different. I'd also really love to see some more New Adult submissions. If I had to make a wishlist, contemporary romance both YA and NA is at the top of the list. I'd also love to see more fairy tale re-imaginings and superheroes. My advice for submitting authors, no matter where you are submitting, is to make sure you're following the submissions guidelines for that particular house. If they want the first 3 chapters in an attachment (as we do), do not copy and paste it into the body of the email. There is nothing more annoying than trying to read in email. I send all of the submissions to my Kindle and read there. BUT, before you even GET to the point of submitting your manuscript, edit and revise. Then edit and revise again. Run it through spelling/grammar check. This is your first impression, don't be sloppy. Take pride in your work and show you're serious. D. G.: Well, I've been working on a YA contemporary romance, so it sounds like I better get it finished. I also need to start reading Summer of Peace, because it sounds yummy! 
Obsession and jealousy can be dangerous.
The Peace High School date auction is supposed to be fun, but Valerie Todd is dreading it. She knows who will win her date—Chris Burkeholder, the boy who’s been obsessed with her for years. New in Peace, Liam Sloan doesn’t know that Chris is used to getting his way. When Liam outbids Chris for Valerie’s date in the auction, life gets more dangerous for the new couple. Will Valerie and Liam survive Chris’ anger and jealousy?
My review of Peace in Flames
This is a short book packed with action. Caroline Andrus has written a novella that keeps you turning the pages to see what happens next. It starts out as a simple teen romance - new hot boy moves to a small town, and he's a bit mysterious. The local rich kid/stud has made his claim on Valerie, but she doesn't want him. Oh, but the book turns dangerous after this point, and the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat right to the end. I will admit, I got angry with Valerie for not coming forward about what happens to her. It's important to the plot, but in this time of "me too", I wanted her to nail the guy right away. I think this book is a great choice for people who have read Speak or Faking Normal and are looking for something else with a similar themes about teen sexual harassment. This novella is one of a series about the town of Peace, all written by different authors. I'm interested in learning more about this series as a whole and Caroline's follow-up novella Summer of Peace. I think the concept is fascinating. I recommend this book for readers 13 and older. 
About The Author
Caroline Andrus was born and raised in the St. Paul suburbs where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and Henry McCoy—a wild cougar trapped in the body of a house cat. She divides her time between writing, Facebook, designing, and managing her household. Since 2011 she has been second in command for indie press Melange Books. She is head of acquisitions for their YA imprint, Fire & Ice Young Adult books, as well as web designer, formatter, and head of their cover art department. In her minimal spare time she enjoys reading, rocking out to the radio, and binging TV shows on Netflix. She is passionate about both reading and writing teen fiction, and is pretty sure she will forever be eighteen at heart. You can find her online at: www.carolineandrus.com www.carolineandrus.com/blog https://www.facebook.com/CarolineAndrusAuthor/ https://twitter.com/AndrusCaroline https://www.amazon.com/Caroline-Andrus/e/B010P9ZO0Q/ www.goodreads.com/carolineandrus www.bookbub.com/profile/caroline-andrus Newsletter sign up: http://eepurl.com/c8q8OP
So, if you're not rushing off to grab a copy of one of her new books (as you should be) or prepping your YA or NA novel for submission to Fire and Ice YA Books, please take a moment to leave a comment below. You're also always welcome to browse through previous posts, sign up for my newsletter, or visit the other pages of my website. Thanks for visiting!
 Author Laurel Wanrow and I met through an online group for novelists of young adult books a few weeks ago. She announced the publication of her newest novel, Witch of the Meadows, and that it had an environmental theme. We discussed that we both had eco-fiction/contemporary fantasy novels and decided it would be fun to do a blog swap for Earth Day 2018. I interviewed her for this blog, and she is interviewing me about The Juniper Sawfeather Trilogy for hers. Here's a blurb for Laurel's novel:  For months, seventeen-year-old Fern has been sneaking out on her mother—really sneaking out—through a magical portal to an island halfway around the world. There, the grandmother Fern never knew existed needs her help rejuvenating their ancestral land. She has always been good at growing things, but that’s not magic. And magic is what the island needs. With its energy running out, the land is breaking apart, and the caretakers demand a real witch to take over the Meadows, not a teenager with a green thumb. Elbow-deep in dirt, Fern confronts a splintered community, unsure who to trust, but grateful for the support of a Scottish boy who looks at her with green eyes shining with magic—and something more powerful. Caring for this land is Fern’s birthright, one she longs to claim. But to take her place in this magical world, Fern must first figure out how to use her unique gift. THE WITCH OF THE MEADOWS begins the journey of a generation of magic-wielders as they restore their connections to nature and community.  That cover is gorgeous! I love the colors so much! Here's my interview with Laurel Wanrow about The Witch of the Meadows. D. G. : From Colorado to an Irish isle is a massive change of scenery for Fern. How did you decide on the two locations for your story? Is the island based on a real place? Laurel: I’m originally from Colorado and have many connections to it, including a family property very similar to Fern’s cabin in the mountains. I admit to choosing the isle because it was far-flung and romantic sounding—who doesn’t wish they could travel somewhere in a snap? It instantly gave Fern an ordinary world—one I know very well—and new world to explore and learn about. I had to do that, too. The magically hidden Isle of Giuthas—which means the Isle of Pines in Gaelic—is patterned off of the Isle of Man. For the most part, I used Manx flora and fauna, but took liberties, particularly with the ancient stands of Scots Pine the islanders are protecting—they are a native species to the British Isles, but don’t reach that size today. D. G.: Fern is a witch with magical powers that help the land become more fertile. How did you come up with this interesting concept and magical gift? Laurel: Some people would like magic to do things like fly or ace an exam. Fern’s love is growing plants, and in The Witch of the Meadows, she wants more than anything to help her Gran. Her magic is simply making that wish come true. D. G.: Is Fern aided by other magical creatures besides the winged wizards? When I think of Ireland, I’m thinking of leprechauns, elves, or fairies. Do they play a part in this nature story? Laurel: Sadly, no mythical creatures live on the isle. However, several of the Windborne wizards have an affinity for wildlife and are able to communicate with the isle’s native animals…and Fern, being descendant from them, might just share that ability. D. G.: Fern is a very appropriate name for a girl whose magic is connected to nature? How did you decide on this name? Laurel: As readers delve deeper into the story, they’ll discover that Fern isn’t the only one who has been named for a natural element. * grins * I specifically chose a plant-related name because of Fern’s affinity for plants…though how a parent would know that upon seeing a newborn would be…magic. D. G.: Are you interested in gardening or farming yourself? Tell about your relationship with nature and how it affected your writing this novel. Laurel: I love nature. I’m a life-long camper and hiker, love plants and animals and frankly find any wild place I go fascinating. Nature has been around me my entire life since I grew up as a kid of a National Park Service naturalist. I followed in the same career, earning an Outdoor Recreation degree and working at a number of parks and nature centers ‘before kids’ and a bit afterwards. While homeschooling my son, I turned to writing as a creative pursuit, and naturally my interests and background in teaching environmental education crept in. I do garden. I’ve never been a super-successful vegetable gardener but, like Fern, I grow flowers of all kinds, sticking mainly with natives. I think of it as more of an extension of exploring nature—experiments to see what I can grow and what those plants will attract: insects, salamanders, birds, snakes, frogs, raccoons… I’m always thrilled to find an animal in our garden. (A side note: While I haven’t farmed, I really like the dream of living on a farm, so much so that my other series, The Luminated Threads, takes place on a farm—in a valley of shapeshifters and magic-wielders, of course!) D. G.: This is the first book in this series. Do you know how many adventures Fern will have? Laurel: Fern has a major role in the second novel and will appear in a number of other planned stories. That said, I’m a ‘panster’ writer—I write by the seat of my pants—meaning I don’t yet have the entire series plotted out. This is a community of wizards, each with special gifts used for working with different habitats on or around the Isle of Giuthas. As the series unfolds, stories will feature different teens who are working with the isle’s various habitats. Fern cannot specialize in everything, and I think it’s important to note that no one gets things done alone. We need to work together within our communities of like-minded people to make things happen, in this case, to save a special island—which I hope readers understand represents saving the earth, our island home. Thank you, Donna, for having me on your blog! D. G.: You're so welcome. I'm looking forward to reading The Witch of the Meadows.   You can find The Witch of the Meadows in ebook and print at the following vendors: Amazon Kobo iTunes Nook And please visit Laurel Wanrow's Blog to read my interview with Laurel about my YA fantasy series The Juniper Sawfeather Trilogy.  Before kids, Laurel Wanrow studied and worked as a naturalist—someone who leads wildflower walks and answers calls about the snake that wandered into your garage. During a stint of homeschooling, she turned her writing skills to fiction to share her love of the land, magical characters and fantastical settings. When not living in her fantasy worlds, Laurel camps, hunts fossils, and argues with her husband and two new adult kids over whose turn it is to clean house. Though they live on the East Coast, a cherished family cabin in the Colorado Rockies holds Laurel’s heart. Visit her online and sign up for her new-release newsletter at www.laurelwanrow.com. Follow Laurel Wanrow at: https://www.pinterest.com/laurelwanrow/ https://twitter.com/laurelwanrow https://www.facebook.com/laurelwanrowauthor https://www.instagram.com/laurelwanrowauthor/ As always, I welcome your comments. Feel free to roam around my website and read some excerpts from my books. Happy Earth Day! Remember to recycle and reuse.
 It's Down Syndrome Awareness Day! I wore mismatched socks to show my solidarity, and now I want to share a little excerpt of my novel No One Needed to Know with you - a scene that includes an adorable high school girl with Down Syndrome. But before I do... I've written here and on other blogs a lot about how my novel was inspired by the relationship I had with my oldest brother when we were kids. I haven't written a lot about how some of my experiences as a teacher shaped the book as well. To supplement my acting career after I graduated from college, I became a substitute teacher in Special Education classes. I started with preschool children, then worked at a school with blind autistic children, and ultimately got a full time job at a private school for children with learning disabilities. When I went back to work after my daughter was born, I worked with special needs children at an elementary school in Tennessee and eventually got hired at an inclusive child development program in Nashville for children birth through 5 that helps special needs and medically fragile children alongside their typically developing peers. I've been there almost 13 years now. In other words, I've worked with a lot of children from 6 months through 12 years old with challenges, including several sweet Down Syndrome babies that I have loved with all my heart.  In No One Needed to Know, my main character Heidi attends a dance at a bowling alley that is a fundraiser for her brother's high school special education program. She meets his friends and learns a lot more about them and her brother during this experience. (My brother used to be in a group that went bowling regularly, and this scene is based on that.) Heidi is inspired by the dance to figure out how to teach the rude and mean-spirited kids at her own school more about kids with special needs in hopes it'll make them kinder. The setting and characters of the final chapters of the book are stolen straight out of my earliest teaching memories. This is from Chapter 12 "The Dance", well over half-way through the story.  Due to the fact that everyone in the group was so different from each other, I was desperate to know which disabilities Donald’s friends had. My mom told me I wasn’t allowed to ask that. She said it was rude. “Just talk to everyone like they’re no different from you or me.” “But Mom, I just want to know the condition—” “I’ll make you sit outside on a bench all evening if I hear you asking anyone,” she said. Dad backed her up with some extra warnings of his own. I thought they were being pretty ridiculous, and the questions burned on my tongue all evening with each person I met. Donald’s best friend (whom I didn’t know existed) was a guy named Peter. Even though he had the ability to recite the first five pages of The Hobbit by heart, I had to walk this hulking, six-foot-three boy to the bathroom because he couldn’t understand the directions. I also had to keep him from biting his left hand, which was permanently scarred from his front teeth. What kind of disability was that? Was it like Donald’s but way more intense? Then there was this other boy named Kincaid. He was on the small side, almost as short as me, so I took him to be a freshman. This boy twitched, barked, and swore alternately, particularly when he got nervous. What caused a person to do that? I met a few kids who looked like some characters I’d seen on TV. Their faces were round and their eyes small. One of them, a girl named Kathryn, was very cheerful and was excited about the e-reader she recently got for her birthday. In a thick voice that was sometimes hard to understand, she told me several times that she could enjoy all the popular books now because she could make the font big enough to read. When I knew my mom wasn’t in earshot, I asked her, “Do you have trouble reading because of your. . .?” I let it dangle on purpose, hoping she’d finish my sentence for me. “Oh, yes,” she said, nodding enthusiastically. “My Down Syndrome makes my eyes have trouble.” She pointed at another girl who was walking by. “Claire has a hard time reading, too, but that’s because she’s mentally retarded.” “Wait. You actually called her ‘retarded’?” I whispered the last word, afraid to say it all the way out loud. It didn’t matter, though. Claire heard us anyway. Claire stopped in her tracks and began to shout at Kathryn and me. “I’m not retarded! I’m not! Shut up, Kathryn! I don’t like that!” Ms. Anderson, my brother’s Life Skills teacher, rushed over to us, put her hands on Claire’s shoulders, and led her out of the party room. Kathryn and I followed her out to the main lobby where we found Ms. Anderson saying some quiet, soothing words near Claire’s ear. It took a minute to calm her down because Claire kept shouting things like, “She’s not supposed to say that! You said she couldn’t say that!” Their teacher said some more things that I couldn’t hear over the music playing, but after a moment Claire quit raging and lifted her tear-streaked face to Kathryn. “Say you’re sorry.” “I’m sorry,” Kathryn said easily enough. “Want to go bowl?” Then they took hands and strolled away together like nothing happened. I imagined going up to Cathy and ordering her to say she was sorry for blabbing about my brother to Jackie and the others and ruining my life. How awesome would it be if she just did it and then we wandered off from the other girls at recess to play handball and laugh with each other like old times? Ms. Anderson was about to walk away, and that snapped me out of my ridiculous daydream. I skipped up beside her and touched her shoulder to get her attention. “Why did Kathryn call that girl retarded? Isn’t that a bad word?” Ms. Anderson smiled gently at me. The lines around her eyes deepened in a way that let me know she smiled more than she frowned. I would think her life would be very hard working with these special needs teenagers all the time, but her bright eyes and laugh lines suggested otherwise. “We’re all pretty sensitive about that word being used incorrectly. There is, in fact, a condition that goes by that name, but we prefer to say ‘developmentally disabled’ or ‘developmental delayed’. A little more eloquent, don’t you think?” I liked the way she spoke to me in a light voice that made her words very clear but didn’t make me feel like she was treating me like I was a baby. How long did it take her to perfect that style of speaking? I wondered whether that was how she talked to my brother and his friends. It would be hard to talk to them like normal teenagers, wouldn’t it? So many of them sounded like little kids. I agreed. “My mom said I couldn’t ask about what’s wrong with everyone here.” She winced. “We’re also pretty sensitive about saying something’s ‘wrong’ with our friends here.” “Oh. Sorry.” “Look, I see that you’re interested in learning something, but I can’t go into specifics about everyone’s different diagnosis. There are confidentiality laws . . .” “I understand,” I told her. Right then I heard a cheer from one of the bowling lanes. I followed the sound to find Donald, Peter, and two other boys cheering about someone’s score with their arms raised over their heads. Donald and Peter did an awkward high five. I wondered what the score could be. “Great job, Donald!” Ms. Anderson shouted. “Donald?” I guess the shock in my voice came out a little more than I expected because Ms. Anderson patted me on the shoulder and said, “Your brother is a pretty good bowler. The best in the group by far.” “Really?” I could hardly believe it. My awkward brother? “I can barely pick up a bowling ball, let alone score well.” “Donald just might surprise you sometimes, I think.”  I hope you enjoyed that little piece of my story. You can learn a more about No One Needed to Know by visiting the page on my website.
It's available in print at Amazon. The book shares some insight on several kinds of special needs, although the main focus is autism. If you order a copy today, you'll have it in plenty of time to read in April - Autism Awareness Month! I'm always happy to read your comments or answer your questions. All the best to you!  That's my daughter being very princess-y. My life is full of princesses at the moment. And that’s okay with me. Last weekend, my 16-year-old daughter starred as Princess Fiona in her high school production of Shrek the Musical. I adore this musical, and I love the spunky, silly role of Fiona. I know I’m her mom, but I swear my daughter was perfect in the role. She was beautiful and hilarious all at the same time. (BTW, if you’ve never seen Shrek the Musical, the Broadway version is on Netflix).  Learn more about this series and read an excerpt by clicking this image. While she was busy rehearsing her show, I was busy cleaning up an old fairy tale of mine about a feisty princess who makes a dangerous bargain with her father to escape an arranged marriage. Her name is Faith, and her story is called The Royal Deal. I wrote this story back in my twenties along with several other original fairy tales. I decided to pull these stories out of their hiding spots on my computer hard drive and revise them. My plan is to release them (and write a couple new ones) as a series of novelettes every few months over the next year or so. I had a version of The Royal Deal on Wattpad for the last couple years, and it got a lot of votes and positive comments. I think people liked it because Faith is not your average princess.  With my 3-year-old Snow White. This brings me back to the point of this post. Here’s the thing about princesses in fairy tales: typically, they aren’t very self-sufficient or strong. They’re often kind of trapped or stuck in hopeless situations and don’t know how to get out of them. (I’m writing all this as a BIG FAN of fairy tales, mind you.) If you look at the most famous ones from the Grimm Brothers tales – or Disney movies – what you’re mainly seeing is a bunch of really sweet, kind, lovely young ladies doing their best to remain so despite their circumstances. When my daughter was little, I used to tell her things like “Cinderella would never yell at anyone” or “Snow White would keep her room clean” or “Belle would always say please and thank you” or “Sleeping Beauty would go to bed without arguing.” See? I’d use them as role models of good behavior. Princesses had manners. They were clean. They were helpful. This worked pretty well until my daughter turned eleven and got a mind of her own. I don’t care for the argument that all princesses do is wait for a prince to rescue them. I find that to be a very simplistic way to explain these old stories.  A local actress friend of mine who plays Cinderella and other princesses at parties. (I used to do this too in my younger days.) Cinderella stayed kind-hearted and worked hard despite her dismal treatment, and that is why she was honored with the gifts from the fairy godmother that allowed her to attend the ball and meet the prince. Meeting and marrying the prince wasn’t ever Cinderella’s goal. She just wanted to survive and maybe have the nice night out at the ball that she deserved. Having a prince fall for her was a bonus. Snow White, according to the Disney version, did dream of marrying a prince. Big deal. Lots of girls hope to have a great boyfriend or a husband one day. This is a pretty universal feeling for teen girls. However, Snow had bigger and more immediate problems. The biggest was surviving in the woods after her stepmother sent her there to be murdered. Getting married to a prince wasn’t on her mind when she was earning a place to live by helping the dwarves. Beauty (or Belle in the Disney version) traded places with her father to stay in the Beast’s castle. Obviously, she didn’t know he’d wind up to be a handsome prince if only she fell in love with him. Marrying a prince was never a goal of hers. She was a peasant, after all. This is another story about how a person with a good heart gets the happy ending she deserves. Sleeping Beauty (Aurora in the Disney version) thought she was a peasant. She'd been raised as one. Yes, as she wandered through adolescence she ponders how nice it would be to meet a prince (or any man, she’s not specific about it being a prince in her big song) and not have to live in the woods with her crazy aunts anymore. I don’t think she believed those dreams would come true for her. She thought she was stuck. Yes, we can put 2018 ideals on her and say she should've figured out her own way to escape the woods (and the curse she didn't know about) and lead her life, but this story wasn’t written in 2018, was it? Plus, that story isn’t really about her. It’s about the prince’s adventures to rescue her. Oh, and Ariel. You know I love my mermaids, but of the princesses Ariel is the one who is most true to the “I want to marry a prince” form. Let’s be clear, though, at first what she wants is just to be human and have a different (perhaps more exciting) life than the one she’s living. The prince thing comes later. Heck, she doesn’t even know the man she rescued from drowning was a prince at first. All she knows is that she loves him, and she will go through all kinds of pain and horror to be with him. Our 2018 ideals attack this way of thinking, but it still makes for good fiction. We want her to get her man after everything she goes through. Spoiler, it actually doesn’t work out for her in the original Hans Christian Anderson story. Disney made it a bit sweeter.  My favorite moment in the whole play - when Fiona wakes up and realizes she loves Shrek and plans to tell him. Now, Fiona from Shrek is a parody of the princess stories. Fiona doesn’t wind up with a prince. She longs to be rescued by a knight or prince and is certain they will fall in love. They will be wed and have a happy ending. Of course, her rescuer winds up being an ogre, and all her big plans are dashed. Fiona isn’t the strongest of characters. In fact, she’s a bit whiny at the start. But when she falls in love with Shrek, you realize she has something all princesses in fairy tales possess – a good heart.  Sorry it's blurry, but it's 26 years old and the only picture I have from this show. In the way back time of my early twenties, I had the wonderful job of doing traveling children’s theater, and I played lots of princesses in fairy tales. One of them was the princess from The Frog Prince. She’s the opposite of all the princesses listed above, because she’s a snot. Selfish and mean to that poor frog. Still, in the end, she kisses him, and guess what? She ends up marrying a prince. Let me remind you that marrying a prince was not the point of this story. She just got lucky.  Since I toured with Lilliput Players in the early nineties and the movie Shrek was released later in the decade, there have been so many retellings of fairy tales both in movies and especially in books. I see new ones all the time. I think these stories keep happening because people want more of our princesses than to be rescued by princes. One of my favorite authors, Tracy Barrett, (author of fairy tale books The Stepsister’s Tale and Marabel and the Book of Fate) said at a recent book signing, “The old fairy tales are so short that they lack motivation. They don’t tell why the characters behave the way they do. A villain is just evil. A princess is just kind.” That’s why she writes novels that are either re-visiting a tale like Cinderella or playing with the tropes of the genre – to fill in the holes. That all makes sense to me. In fact, I’ve even written my own re-telling based on the lesser known Grimm fairy tale King Thrushbeard. (It will be in my Chasing the Romantics series later on.) The Royal Deal is an original fairy tale - not a retelling. I wanted Princess Faith to have a lot of the typical trappings of a princess. She’s kind. She’s thoughtful. Despite being pampered and having lots of servants, she tries to be helpful. Unlike the princesses mentioned above, she's fully aware that she’s a princess and that she’s destined to marry a prince. She wants to marry the prince she’s been told her whole life would be her husband, but he’s gone missing and is presumed dead. Now she must marry the younger brother, whom she despises. What can she do? She decides to take matters into her own hands by making a deal with her father. If she can survive for three months in the woods by herself with no help, then she can choose her husband. So, I’ve written a fairy tale about a princess who doesn’t want to marry a prince. I’ve also written a fairy tale about a princess who puts herself into peril rather than having it done to her. You’ll have to read it to find out how it all works out.  This novelette is only 99 cents at Kindle or FREE for Kindle Unlimited  Well, that book is in the world now, and I’m starting work on revising the next story for the series, The Tomato Quest. The young lady in this story is not a princess, but she is the daughter of a wealthy nobleman. She’s in love with the gardener’s son. Right now, the story is completely in the point of view of the gardener’s son as he goes on a quest to seek his fortune in order to earn the right to marry the girl he loves. My plan is to add this noblewoman’s point of view to the story as well. She’s not a princess, but she has a lot of the same qualities of one so I shall treat her as such. I’ll make her sweet and charming, but, because it’s 2018 and not 1818, I will make her a little spunky and fiery, too. I hope in the end, readers will be happy with the way this novella ends.
If you love fairy tales (which if you’ve read this far into my post, I’m assuming you do), I have another fairy tale called “The Hallway of Three Doors” coming out in a new book later this month called Mythical Doorways. You can find an interview I did about that by clicking on the book cover image. This fairy tale does not have a princess, but it does feature one determined female protagonist and a rather charming prince. I hope you enjoyed this post. Please feel free to leave a comment below. Sign up for my mailing list, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter to keep up with my new releases. |
D. G. DriverAward-winning author of books for teen and tween readers. Learn more about her and her writing at www.dgdriver.com Archives
January 2020
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Author D. G. Driver's
Write and Rewrite Blog
“There are no bad stories, just ones that haven’t found their right words yet.”
A blog mostly about the process of revision with occasional guest posts, book reviews, and posts related to my books.
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