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An Interview with Author Loretta Hall

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Space enthusiast, former math teacher, and award-winning nonfiction author Loretta Hall received the Communicator of Achievement Award from the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) in 2016. Her newest book The Complete Space Buff’s Bucket List: 100 Space Things to Do Before You Die (Rio Grande Books) was awarded the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award in the travel book category (2016). You can find Loretta at her websites SpaceBucketList.com, NMSpaceHistory.com, SpacePioneerWords.com, and AuthorHall.com.

thecompletespacebuffsbucketlist200What is your elevator pitch for The Complete Space Buff’s Bucket List?
Space buffs want to do more than revel in someone else’s achievements. We want to be involved. We want to participate. This book has a hundred ways to experience space exploration without being an international astronaut or an unmanned space probe.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
I found it challenging to search out 100 space activities that weren’t all visiting museums, reading books, and watching TV shows or movies.

Tell us how the book came together.
My publishers at Rio Grande Books decided to produce a series of bucket list books on many different topics. Since they know how spacey I am, they asked me to write a bucket list about space exploration. It’s a short book, only about 12,000 words. The research, writing, and finding photographs took about two months.

Any “Oh, wow!” moments when doing research for this book?
Searching online, I discovered some really cool activities I had never heard of or imagined. For example, I didn’t know you could buy jewelry that contains bits of meteorites or that there are several resources for helping you learn to speak Klingon. And I discovered citizen science projects for furthering knowledge about things like planetary formation, formation of galaxies, and searching for impact sites of several artifacts on the Moon that haven’t been located yet.

How many things on the bucket list can you cross off? What thing on the list do you wish more than anything you could do?
So far, I’ve done 59 of the 100 items on my list. I’d love to spend three or four days at the US Space and Rocket Center’s adult space camp.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
I enjoyed discovering space activities I didn’t know existed. And I particularly liked cutting loose and writing text that would be fun to read.

outofthisworld150You have two other nonfiction books dedicated to the topic of space—Out of This World: New Mexico’s Contributions to Space Travel (2011) and Space Pioneers: in their own words (2014). What was the most rewarding aspect of writing these books?
I wanted to make space exploration and its history interesting to people who didn’t think they wanted to know about it. Instead of focusing on the technologies, I wrote about the experiences of the people who developed them. I tried to humanize the topic. When I give talks based on my books, I’m really gratified by the comments that indicate I’m accomplishing that.

What marketing techniques have been most helpful to you?
Giving talks related to the topics of my books works well for me. That way, I’m sharing fascinating information with people rather than just asking them to buy my books. Here’s an example I enjoy sharing: In a half-hour social period before a presentation to a small audience, three people bought copies of Out of This World; after my talk based on Space Pioneers, five people bought that book, which costs twice as much.

What is the most important part of a nonfiction book proposal that a writer needs to get right?
All of it! But seriously, I think it’s being realistic about what readers want. Authors can get enthused about a topic, do the research, and write a great summary; but if the author is the only one who’s interested in it, a publisher won’t buy it. For the proposal, we have to understand and explain why a significant number of people will be interested in our topic. Then we have to keep that in mind as we write the sample chapters and, ultimately, the book. If we think we’re providing worthwhile information, it’s up to us to write it in a way that will attract and hold interest.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. She has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Victor Acquista

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After a long career in the medical field, Dr. Victor Acquista has turned his focus of helping and healing to writing fiction that raises awareness of social issues. The science fiction story Sentient (Mirror Matter Press, 2016) is his debut novel. You can find Dr. Acquista at his website VictorAcquista.com.

sentient200What is your elevator pitch for Sentient?
Two highly evolved, telepathic species clash. One is driven by the desire to be the supreme sentient race in the galaxy—highly competitive and determined to dominate. The other is highly cooperative, united in collective consciousness, peaceful—this is our progenitor race and we are nearly annihilated. The genocide of our parent species by the Mind Warriors of T’rox leads us to establish a colony on earth, where telepathy is genetically blocked to avoid detection by T’rox. There are unintended consequences to this survival strategy.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
While I had published a nonfiction book and have written several short stories, a full-length novel represented a new endeavor for me. There is a gap between having a good story idea and telling that story in a compelling way. I was uncertain whether or not I could bridge that gap. Upon completion of the novel, I then had to get a publisher. This is more of a left-brain task as opposed to the creative engagement of the right brain required to spin the tale. I also chose to do this by leaving my normal work life/career in the rearview mirror. This posed some economic issues and some writing discipline challenges to say the least.

Tell us about your main characters. Will those who know you recognize you in your characters?
The protagonist, Anyeuros, is a musician who escaped the genocide of his home world and arrives on earth in current times. He is rather distraught by the war, violence, poverty, etc. he observes. He connects with Professor Jeremy Strickland, a brilliant, but troubled physicist who struggles with mental illness. This character has a sense of humor and is rather incorrigible. He is enrolled in an experimental drug program run by Dr. Rebecca Flores. She is a bit of a conflicted anti-heroine.

The story unfolds across three settings. Modern earth (the colony) is only one. The alien world of T’rox is stagnating and their leader Ka ‘Stan recognizes the social decay. He has plans to resurrect their society with new achievements beyond conquering other species. His champion is a ruthless clan leader determined to bring glory to his outcast clan. The third setting involves the early colonists of whom there are only four women and two men. Each has a unique personality and they all struggle with separation from the collective while trying to survive on a harsh new world.

There are bits and pieces of me in almost all of the characters. I am particularly fond of Nathan, Professor Strickland’s teenage neighbor. I like to think he embodies something I aspire toward.

Describe the societies you created for Sentient.
T’rox is an alien civilization strongly acculturated to compete as individuals, as clans, and as an entire planet. Always, they strive to be the best. In spite of having telepathic consciousness which allows sharing, they closely guard secrets and strategies in order to gain advantage over competitors. They are conquerors and kill or enslave other species. A problem occurs when you run out of new species to conquer. This hyper competitiveness turned inward, causing social stagnation and strife.

Adden, the home world of our species, also has evolved to telepathic consciousness, but they share collective knowledge and feel each individual has something valuable to contribute to the collective. As a result, their society is peaceful and without social problems such as poverty, discrimination, injustice.

When these societies meet, an event occurs resulting in our species intentionally blocking telepathy and shared consciousness. How this develops and is resolved over the arc of humanity’s history is the predominant plot element.

What was the most difficult aspect of world building for this novel?
This story had been percolating in my mind for quite a few years, so when it came down to actual writing, the world and society were essentially already built. The challenge for me came more with using examples via plot/character details that illustrate the world and social structures. In many ways, Sentient mirrors our own world and the things we struggle with.

How did the book come together?
I have a background in medicine, but I have been quite intrigued with neurobiology and behavior, social and cultural aspects to development and evolution. I believe we have latent human capacities such as telepathy. I imagined what it might be like to have an entire world linked in collective consciousness, and then asked myself, “Why are we not that way?” The answer I came up with—we intentionally blocked telepathy through genetic engineering as a way to hide from destruction. What problems would likely occur and how might that play out over the course of human history? Since individuals suffering with schizophrenia may experience auditory hallucinations, I posited this represented an incomplete genetic block of telepathy (mischaracterized as mental illness). I thought it would be interesting to cast a character with schizophrenia as one of the protagonists.

I had penned a couple of chapters over the years and many notes, but I really did not sit down to write the book until March, 2015. I finished a first draft by September, edited it umpteen times, and tried without success to get an agent. A small press requested the manuscript in December and we eventually moved to a signed contract. Sentient was released October 15, 2016.

Do you have a favorite quote from Sentient?
“When you rise to power on the wings of fear you must depend on fear to remain aloft.” ~Ka ‘Stan, Ghal of T’rox, 5th Epoch

pathwaystohealth150In your past life you were a physician for many years—and you published the self-help book Pathways to Health: An Integral Guidebook. How did your experience writing nonfiction affect/benefit your fiction writing? Now that you’ve written both fiction and nonfiction, do you have a preference?
I think writing nonfiction requires a different sort of creativity, specifically, weaving thoughts, ideas and information about some aspect of reality and communicating this to readers. For me, writing fiction enables me to play in the vast playscape of imagination without restriction. I enjoy writing and communicating through language. I do feel fiction gives me more expressive latitude and therefore it is my current preference.

What do you want to be known for as an author?
“Writing to Raise Consciousness”—whether fiction or nonfiction. I want to raise awareness of social issues and somehow help to make our lives better, both individually and collectively.

Looking back to the beginning of your writing career, what do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
Writing something to completion is just the first of three mountains I now appreciate as necessary to climb. The second is getting a publisher, which may or may not include getting an agent. The third involves aspects of marketing and promotion such that people actually purchase what you have written. Each of these requires different skills and energy. Looking back, I was particularly naïve about steps two and three. There is a learning curve to writing as a career. I feel as though I have transitioned from newbie to novice, but still have a lot to learn.

Do you have other creative outlets besides writing?
I enjoy gardening, cooking, and contemplation.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I have completed Serpent Rising, the first of a two-book adventure series, Saga of Venom and Flame, and am currently pitching this. I am half done with a satire, The Nihilist’s Pocket Survival Guide to Modern Society. I also am slowly gestating a fantasy novel, but do not have a working title yet. Although many genres are represented here, the common thread of incorporating social themes and issues into the characters and plots links all.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. She has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Kit Crumpton

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Author Kit Crumpton is a history lover, a public speaker, and a former engineer. The inspiration for her first book, Raiding the Empire of the Sun: Tinian 1945 (2015), was her father’s own manuscript based on his experiences flying B-29 bombers during World War II. You can find Kit at her website KitCrumpton.com.

raidingtheempireofthesun200What is your elevator pitch for Raiding the Empire of the Sun?
This book is about B-29 Superfortress bombing missions over Japan during the last year of WWII. It is written like an adventure novel, for good storytelling, but it is historically accurate. The main character is a Superfortress Airplane Commander based on the real life experiences of my father. It is well annotated with over 70 footnotes, and it includes a bibliography in the back of the book. There are four authentic letters that have historical significance to the story. The book also contains my father’s WWII bombing mission list.

How did the book come together?
Since sometime before 1975, I have had the three-ring notebooks that held my father’s manuscript for this book. I don’t know if he lost interest at some point or decided to nix it altogether, but since I had an interest in it, my father gave his manuscript to me. He also gave me a hand-written journal of all the B-29 missions he flew.

My dad died in 2008, and the one day I had vowed came to pass. I was enthralled when I read his manuscript, so I transferred the material into Microsoft Word and began re-writing the book. Research took me to places I would never have gone to otherwise. I now own a healthy library of B-29 technical manuals and WWII books of the war in the Pacific Theater. I have my dad’s military A2 file and the WWII monthly reports written by the historical officer at Tinian in 1945. I also have the letters my dad wrote to my mother while he was on Tinian. And he left behind negatives of pictures taken on Tinian Island. WWII Army Air Corps training films on YouTube were helpful as well. There at my fingertips, I had all I needed to follow the WWII adventures of the B-29s in the Army Air Corps on the Mariana Islands. This project took me five years to complete. Finally, I actually flew on the B-29 FIFI on September 20, 2015. My seat was right behind the pilot. Metaphorically speaking, during flight, I was looking over my father’s shoulder.

Tell us a little about your main characters.
The main character, the Superfortress Airplane Commander (who is based on my father), feels the weight of responsibility for the aircrafts he flies and for each crew member. There are two B-29 crews in my book, each having eleven men (i.e. Pilot, Co-Pilot, Bombardier, Flight Engineer, Radio Operator, Navigator, Radar, and four gunners). The bombing missions are dramatic. Crew members deal with tension from combat differently. I knew my father and could fashion the main character after him. I could not do this with the other characters, so they are more fictionalized.

Is there a scene in the book you’d love to see play out in a movie?
Yes, it is mission number three (depicted on the front cover) that shows an artist’s rendition of the B-29 named Eddie Allen in combat over Tokyo. If you look closely, you will see engine number one is disabled and the bottom of the aircraft is damaged like Swiss cheese. What makes the Eddie Allen poignant is that it was funded by war bonds purchased by Boeing factory workers who then built this aircraft. Eddie Allen was a B-29 aircraft designer who died in a test flight. My dad and his crew actually flew this mission on this special B-29.

How did writing this book impact you?
I have become more appreciative of “The Greatest Generation” and my country. United States citizens came together under extreme calamity, with a war in Europe that was started by Nazi Germany, and then we suffered an attack by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. By sheer internal fortitude, commitment and resolve, we were able to push back the predators in our midst and defeat them.

Also, there are pivotal moments (i.e. “come to Jesus” moments) that sometimes happen to people. I think some of these moments did something to my father and members of his crew. The main character of my book digs in his heals, is a leader and a survivor. My father really was all about the structured life and Standing Operating Procedure (SOP). I knew him to be a man who took responsibility seriously. For years after WWII, my dad and his crew kept in touch with the exception of one crew member who disappeared. Using twenty-first century technology, I was able to find him, but he has since passed away. In researching and writing this book, I feel like I experienced what they experienced. It’s truly amazing.

What interesting discoveries did you make while doing research for this book?
The B-29 was an elite, state of the art aircraft, especially designed to fight the Japanese on their own turf. It could fly higher, be stronger, go faster and carry heavy bomb loads. Too large for the runways on naval ships, the airplanes were housed on the Mariana Islands (Guam, Tinian and Saipan). When the United States used atomic weaponry, it was a surprise to the island’s inhabitants that “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” were housed on their island. It was a well-kept secret. My dad was able to fly his Superfortress Dark Eyes back to the United States after the war was over. This airship was named after my mother. I have a picture of the flight crew and the ground crew celebrating news of the end of the war under the nose of Dark Eyes.

The Eddie Allen was supposed to fly twenty-five missions and then be flown back to Spokane, Washington to be put on display as a war memorial. Heavily damaged, the wounded war bird had to fly all the way back to Tinian. Iwo Jima was closed due to an accident on the runway. It was a precarious trip back to Tinian. Years ago, my dad told me the last two miles were flown on pure fumes. The Eddie Allen never made it back to the United States, but it was strong enough to bring my father and his crew home.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing Raiding the Empire of the Sun?
Pride. Proud of my country, of our military, of my father and his crew. Proud that I have been given the privilege to tell and publish their story. And then also, thanksgiving. I was at a book signing at the Double Eagle II Fly-In aviation event on August 27, 2016. A gentleman, I think in his nineties, came to my table, and I told him about my book. He burst into tears. I think he was moved that I wrote a book about his generation and, most important of all, about my dad. I put my arm around this man while we shared a moment of reflection and thanksgiving. The same thing happened at another book signing I had in September 2016. This is evidence that my book strikes the heart strings of aviators and military historians. I am pleased that I have “hit the mark”, so to speak, with members of this group.

Why do you write in the historical fiction genre?
Because life is astonishing and history helps explain why things are the way they are.

How did your 25-year experience working as an engineer impact your writing?
My experience in computers and project engineering taught me how to plan, research, dig for the data and analyze it, organize, produce artifacts and figure things out. I’m not shy to ask for help, and I get it when I need it.

How has participating in Toastmasters helped in marketing and promoting your book?
I have been a member of Toastmasters for over sixteen years. I have found it compliments writing, promoting and marketing. It’s all about effective communication. I give my Toastmasters experience credit for my success at book signings and public speaking engagements. Toastmasters is an organization where people hone their leadership and public speaking skills. (You can find out more about Toastmasters at Toastmasters.org.)

What writing projects are you working on now?
I am working on my next book, The Fading of Lloyd. Lloyd was my uncle. He was born retarded in 1911 and died at Elgin State (Mental) Hospital in Illinois in 1941. On his death certificate the cause of death is listed as “exhaustion incidental to psychosis.” This sounds like psycho-babble to me, so I did some sleuthing, going down the dark crevices of mental institutions in the early twentieth century. I’ve been a genealogist for many years, and I’ve collected family stories, many of them about Lloyd. The Fading of Lloyd is a sad story but a riveting one. I hope to publish it in December 2016.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. She has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Lucy St. Clair

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Author Lucy St. Clair is a healthcare professional whose long-time dream of becoming a writer began with an early passion for reading. Her love of the science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal genres was sparked by the discovery of Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn. Lucy’s debut novel, Scattered Years: A Paranormal Adventure Across Time (2016), is the first in the Time Passages trilogy. You can find her on her website at LucyStClair.com.

scattered-years200What is your elevator pitch for Scattered Years?
Scattered Years is a paranormal time-travel adventure based on Tibetan Buddhist practice. Alice is a latent psychic whose abilities she explains away to herself. She lives a normal life until tragedy strikes and she sinks into a deep depression. A chance encounter with Buddhism soothes her spirit, but also awakens her psychic abilities, culminating in a deep meditative state that takes her back twelve years. She re-emerges in an energy vortex near Sedona, Arizona with a chance to avert the death of a loved one.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
This is my first full-length novel, so it was also my training ground for learning the ins-and-outs of both writing and publishing. It was my first experience with a writers critique group, which was invaluable. Now it’s my impetus for learning about websites and book signings. When you are new to the craft of writing, every step of the process is a learning challenge.

How did the book come together?
The death of a child in my family really brought home to me how soul-searing and traumatic that experience can be. Anyone who has lost someone so young understands the desire to undo time and reclaim that young life at any cost. The story itself took about two years to write (I have a day job, too!). Editing took a lot longer, mainly because of a combination of work, health issues, and learning how to use editing programs. Unlike many younger authors, I am not computer literate.

Tell us about your main characters. Did they surprise you as you wrote their story?
The protagonist of the story is Alice. The growing awareness of her psychic abilities takes her by storm, and she often feels like she’s just keeping her head above water. Her inner strength and moral compass keep her going as she deals with the unbelievable. Naomi is very down-to-earth and no-nonsense. She takes Alice in and gently nudges her along on her quest. In this first novel, Naomi remains a mystery. Book 2 of the trilogy will reveal more about her and why she elects to support Alice. Martin is Alice’s love interest. While he plays a smaller role, he is important to this first book and the trilogy as a whole. He’s a solid stand-up guy, a former marine turned cop. He’s also very sexy, and he has his own dark past.

As for the second part of the question, I was often surprised by the characters and the unfolding of events. I know it sounds crazy, but they drove the story. Sometimes I felt like I was just the recorder of events.

Do you have a favorite quote from the book?
It’s hard to choose just one, but this is one of my favorites: “We all work within the confines of our nature until we evolve beyond them.” (You’ll find it on page 306.)

Any surprising discoveries while doing research for Scattered Years?
A few minor ones. I didn’t know there was actually a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery near Sedona, Arizona until I started researching the Sedona area. My critique group buddies (two of them are lawyers) helped me with legal details that I wasn’t familiar with.

What first inspired you to become a writer?
I can clearly remember sitting in front of the huge glass-front bookcase at my grandmother’s house when I was around 4 years old. I looked at all those books and realized that every story, every world, every exotic place and time, could be mine if only I knew how to read. It was the most exciting idea my 4-year-old brain could conceive of. As I became a more and more avid reader, I began to consider writing. It’s taken me many decades to realize that dream.

Who are your favorite authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
I love Peter Beagle’s blend of fantastic and mundane, as well as his humor. Douglas Adams and Neil Gaiman always have me in stitches. Katherine Kurtz has great characters and a seamless consistency to her worlds. I also love Stephen Donaldson’s tortured anti-hero (Thomas Covenant) and his versatile multitude of styles. And of course, Stephen King is a master storyteller whose characters are unbelievably well developed.

Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently if you started your publishing career today?
I would have started sooner, for one thing! I would also have found a critique group, and figured out the whole networking thing, a lot earlier in my process.

Why do you write in the particular genre you’ve chosen?
I love paranormal/fantasy/science fiction for the freedom to construct any world you can envision and the discipline to remain consistent in how you maintain that world. It allows me to communicate the essence of my story in ways that can have a deeper impact due to the richness of their environs.

What’s your writing routine like?
Not nearly as disciplined as I’d like it to be. I recently made sweeping changes to how my “day job” and lifestyle are structured, and I’m still sorting out how that is going to work. I’d like to settle into a solid routine, because I feel it is such an invaluable tool for accomplishing anything. It’s a work in progress right now.

If you suffer from writer’s block, how do you break through?
Sometimes I have to just write any old thing that pops into my head. Sometimes I walk away from the computer and tend my little garden. Other times, clearing my head with meditation really shifts my perspective, and I suddenly stumble over a missing piece that moves the story along.

What are the hardest kinds of scenes for you to write?
Love scenes, without a doubt. I’ve read so many poorly written love scenes that are either so graphic that they sound clinical, or so laden with flowery euphemisms that they sound silly and sophomoric. In Scattered Years I tried hard to strike a balance and let the emotion of the encounter shine through the physical connection. Also, my writers’ group at the time was composed of me and three men, all young enough to be my sons. I cringed every time I handed them those scenes to critique. They, however, assured me they didn’t mind at all!

What advice do you have for writers still striving for publication?
The best thing I did for my book was to get a competent editor. Trust me, you won’t see your mistakes after you’ve read through it a dozen times. I know I sound like a broken record (does anyone even know what that means anymore?), but a critique group of honest, working writers is unbelievably precious. Writers associations like SouthWest Writers are a wealth of encouragement and information. It’s also very important to write every day: writer Vicky Petterssen nailed it when she told me, “Butt in the chair, rinse and repeat!”

Do you have other creative outlets besides writing?
I love growing things (I grew up on a farm) so my tiny garden gives me the joy of watching that happen. I love music and take voice lessons, which is a great expressive outlet, and I try to take every opportunity to put my camera to good use.

What are you working on now?
My second book in the Time Passages trilogy is in the rewrite and edit process, and the third is in the planning stages. I have a short story I’m shopping around, and I’m working with a virtual assistant to get my website up and running. I’m also hoping that Scattered Years will be available in electronic format soon.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. She has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Joyce Trainor

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Author Joyce Trainor writes and weaves, and loves on her grandchildren and 92-year-old mother, from her home in northern New Mexico. Joyce didn’t start out to be an author, but an encounter with a homeless man sparked the story idea that became her first book, No Handbook for the Homeless: A Novel (Sunstone Press, 2015).

nohandbookforthehomeless200What is your elevator pitch for No Handbook for the Homeless: A Novel?
A middle-class woman, overcome by debt caused by a drunk-driving accident, loses everything and everyone except her deceased son’s Belgian Shepard. The two must learn to survive among the homeless as she slowly rebuilds her life.

What do you hope readers will take away from the book?
I want readers to gain a new perspective when they see a homeless person, one filled with empathy—there but for the grace of God go I. I also want those who read the book to think it was time well spent.

Tell us a little about your main characters. Did they surprise you as you wrote their story?
Aileen, the narrator, is an ordinary person who finds herself in extraordinary circumstances. She is both mystified and terrified by what is happening. The other major characters, Wizard, Cesar, Father Rico, and Billy Dean all developed as I wrote the story. Occasionally, I wrote a scene, read it back, and decided it was something that would never have happened with that character—and it was back to the keyboard. Wizard especially was looking over my shoulder to make sure I got it right, and believe me he is opinionated. Billy Dean was pure fun. Everything about him still makes me laugh. And then there is Peanuts. His picture is on the cover. A lot of my readers became emotionally attached to him. They expressed more concern for the dog than Aileen.

How did No Handbook for the Homeless: A Novel come together?
I have to begin by saying the book is not autobiographical. I am blessed with a wonderful home, family, good friends, and neighbors. But it’s based on things I’ve observed in the world around me. The story began as one of those “I wonder” moments. My husband and I were stopped at an intersection and a homeless man was panhandling. He held up a sign to about every third car, but he was agitated, walking in circles, talking to himself and trying to cope. For the next few weeks he stayed in my mind. I wondered who he was and how his circumstances led him to that street corner. I wondered what my life would be like if I found myself without a home. It took a few more months before I wrote my first chapter, which I later moved to the middle of the book. From there the book took off. I wrote a chapter at a time, not always in chronological order. It took two years to write and rewrite the book and another year to find a publisher. I received dozens of rejections before Sunstone Press picked it up. I’m inexperienced when it comes to the business end of books and publishing. I was lucky to have a mentor, Santa Fe author Robert Mayer. He was generous with his advice.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
I needed to make the situations believable but also respect the reader. That is, I wanted the reader to feel an emotional connection with Aileen without betraying her thoughts. Some of the chapters were incredibly hard to write and rewrite. For example, the Christmas Eve and Christmas morning scene at the motel, I wanted to engage the reader without being overly sentimental. I paid a lot of attention to the details that set the scene, the little things, like spirals of snow in the stairwell.

Why did you choose New Mexico as the setting for the novel?
It’s a New Mexico story, but it could easily have been set in another state except for the weather. The weather is a key element in the story and helps drive the plot. You have to remember the impact weather has on the homeless. If it rains or snows or winds are thirty miles an hour, the person on the corner has no place of refuge. Most shelters are only open part of the year, and only at night. The people who stay there have to be up and outside early in the morning no matter what.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing the book?
Once the book was published and people started to read it, I got a tremendous amount of feedback from readers who told me it changed their way of thinking. They do things they never would have before, like buy an extra hamburger and give it to the man or woman standing on the corner.

What are the hardest kinds of scenes for you to write?
There are a number of deaths in the book. They were emotionally draining for me. I cried with my characters. I knew what was about to happen but couldn’t bring myself to write it down. I would write around it until I was in a mindset that allowed me to finish the chapter.

Who are your favorite authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
I love good storytelling. Tony Hillerman, Barbara Kingsolver, James Lee Burke, John Grisham come to mind immediately. I appreciate the way they use setting to drive the plot and characters and the way they engage all five senses.

Do you have other creative outlets besides writing?
I weave. I have two Rio Grande walking looms at home, and I love the feel of the wool as I weave. It’s gratifying to see the design develop from tiny threads set in just the right place. I find it very meditative. I do some of my best writing while weaving a rug.

What are you working on now?
I’m in the rewrite stage for another novel, Code Name Simpson. It’s a spy story set during World War II. It’s loosely based on my mother’s experience as a WAC assigned to a secretarial pool in Germany during the waning days of the war. Times being what they were, she was called upon to serve in a classified capacity. I may decide to self-publish this one because Mom is about to turn ninety-two, and I want her to be able to read it. If I wait to find a publisher, and then get it into print, that may never happen. I can’t wait to apply what I learn from SWW’s Self-Publishing Conference in October.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. She has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Joseph Badal

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Author Joseph Badal’s passion for writing was seeded in the tales his father told in which Joe and his siblings were the heroes. In addition to ten novels, Joe has published dozens of articles and short stories, and writes a column for his blog focusing on an Everyday Hero each month. His newest book, The Motive (Suspense Publishing, 2016), is the first in a trilogy that deals with human trafficking. You can find him on his website at JosephBadalBooks.com, his Amazon author page, and his SouthWest Writers’ author page.

themotive200What is your elevator pitch for The Motive?
When Doctor Matt Curtis flies from Albuquerque to Honolulu to bury his sister—a supposed suicide—he unearths reasons to question the coroner’s findings into his sister’s death. His search for the truth leads him into the dark and dangerous world of police corruption, human trafficking, and drug smuggling.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
The Motive is based upon actual events that happened to a friend of mine and to his sister. I wanted to keep the storyline true to those events but, at the same time, inject enough fiction into the story to make it more attractive to the reader. Also, because the book includes a great deal of activity that revolves around human trafficking and drug smuggling, I needed to do significant amounts of research into both those topics.

What sparked the initial story idea for the book?
Friends often approach me with ideas for a book, but 99% of the time the ideas are less than stimulating. In this case, when a friend told me what happened to his sister in Hawaii, I was immediately enthused about the topic. In fact, when he mentioned the actual events to me while at a dinner party, it was all I could do not to get up and leave the party. I couldn’t wait to get home to begin writing.

Tell us a little about your main character. Did he surprise you as you wrote the story?
Matthew Curtis is an Albuquerque orthopedic surgeon in his early fifties. He is a hard-working, everyday kind of guy who lost his wife to cancer and is estranged from his two adopted sons. Although he served in Special Forces as a young man, there is nothing dramatic or heroic about his current existence. When he learns his sister’s death has been ruled a suicide, he initially accepts the ruling and is anxious to settle her affairs and return to New Mexico. But as he begins to suspect that his sister might have been murdered, he slowly changes. How Matt changed throughout the book was a surprise to me. He goes from being reluctant about digging up the real cause of his sister’s death to being an active and heroic participant in dealing with vicious criminals and corrupt officials.

Why did you decide to use the particular setting you chose?
As I mentioned already, the idea for this story came from a real-life story told to me by a friend. Actual events occurred in Hawaii, so it was a natural step in writing the book to place it in the Hawaiian Islands. I did extensive research into the demographics of Hawaii and into crime in Honolulu. I patterned my characters after people I’ve known and after actual Hawaiian criminals.

Was there anything surprising you discovered while doing research for this book?
I would have to say the biggest surprise for me was how angry I became while researching and writing The Motive. The more I dug into the topic of human trafficking, the angrier and more disgusted I became. I was shocked at how pervasive the crime of trafficking has become, and how commonly it occurs in the United States. I had always thought this was a crime committed by foreigners against foreigners, in foreign lands. I was mistaken. As a result of my research, I vowed to write more about this subject and have now converted The Motive from a stand-alone thriller to the first book in a three-book series titled Cycle of Violence. The subsequent two books in the series are tentatively titled Obsessed and Final Justice.

Evil DeedsYou’ve written five thrillers in the Danforth Saga and two mysteries in the Lassiter/Martinez Case Files (one to be released in November 2016). What are the challenges of writing a series?
The biggest challenges in writing a series are keeping your main characters fresh for the reader and allowing your characters to continue to grow with each subsequent book in the series.

Looking back to the beginning of your writing career, what do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
I wish I had known early on that writing isn’t just about putting a good story on paper. A story must follow certain rules and must be “mechanically” well-structured.

What is your writing routine like?
I write every day, except during the 2-3 week periods before and after a book is released. I find myself so immersed in marketing and promotion around a new release that finding time to write is difficult. Although I have worked on two books at a time in the past, I try to avoid doing that today. I usually focus on one project at a time so that I can give that project my full attention.

BorderlineDo you have a message or a theme that recurs in your writing?
I try to avoid proselytizing and topics such as religion and partisan politics, although I do tend to denigrate politicians, in general. But the one item that comes through in all of my books is that my main characters are everyday people. They are never superheroes who leap tall buildings in a single bound. I want my readers to see themselves in my characters.

What are you working on now?
I am currently writing the 6th book in the Danforth Saga. It is tentatively titled Sins of the Fathers. I am also finishing the final edit of Dark Angel, the second book in the Lassiter/Martinez Case Files series, which will be released in November.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. She has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Juana Chavez

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Juana Chavez believes “every tale should have some shared experience so the reader can leave the book…contented and well fed.” A copywriter and former teacher, Juana lives in New Mexico with her husband in the quiet of an empty nest and posts a weekly Bible study on her blog. Her debut novel, Thirty-Seven: Four, was published by WestBow Press (2015). You can find her on Facebook, JuanarChavez.blogspot.com, and her Amazon author page.

ThirtySeven_Four200What is your elevator pitch for Thirty-Seven: Four?
Facing the terminal diagnosis of one of their own, four friends decide to take the Psalms 37:4 challenge and go after their hearts’ desires. In the process, God uncovers their hearts, leads them over obstacles, and reveals what they truly delight themselves in.

When readers turn the last page, what do you hope they take away from it?
Ultimately, it is God we should be delighting in, and then we will find what the desire of our heart is really all about. Also, that what we all desire is to be loved and appreciated, and God does love and appreciate us and shows us how much by the unique giftings He has given each of us to use for His Kingdom.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
I wrote this book almost a decade ago when my best friend was battling breast cancer. She was the inspiration for one of the characters. I set the book aside and put it with my other unpublished works. A couple of years back my daughter told me it was time to get one published, so I decided, “Why not?” I looked through them, and this one really touched me. It was so hard to relive the loss of my best friend, and yet I felt it was time to take this novel that she had been such a part of and really make it happen—for my friend and for me, to walk the talk I’d written about. I had to go back and rewrite, which was hard to do because I cried a lot! Memories of talking it through with her were so vivid. It was tough to do it without her.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing it?
Finishing it! To actually be able to say I wrote a book was a great feeling. I’m glad I did it, but it was like giving birth. It’s a painful process, but when it’s out it’s out, and I’m so glad the book is in the world.

How did the book come about?
I sought to be a writer for many years. I attended writers’ conferences, subscribed to writers’ magazines, bought all the books, read all the journals, and graduated Summa cum Laude with my degree in creative writing. I wrote numerous novels…all unpublished. Alas, what inspired me to write this book? My kid said, “Mom, just do it yourself! Go pick one and self-publish. Make it happen!” So I picked a novel close to my heart that I felt was marketable, would touch other people’s hearts, and told a good story. I had written it eight years earlier, took about seven months to rewrite it and get it through the publication process and, voila, Thirty-Seven: Four was born.

Tell us about your main characters.
I tell my friends this is a chick book. It’s about five women in a Bible study. My main character is named Raquel Duran, called Raqui. Her heart’s desire is to be the great American novelist. Sound familiar? She is this biker chick type, who also went to college for writing. Her mother, Laura, has always wanted to be a worship leader, but at 50 years old she fears she has waited too long. Then there is Jenna who longs for the bright lights of the stage, or is it the adoration of men she is really searching for? Sydney, the leader of the study, inspires everyone in the group (through her battle with cancer) to go in search of their heart’s desire. Her own desire is to be lovely one last time, and perhaps be the belle of the ball. Last to join the group is Stephanie, an ex-con who dreams of becoming a part of society like everyone else, and regaining what she’s lost. These are regular women most women can relate to from everyday lives.

Why did you decide to use the settings you chose?
I wanted to make it as real to life as possible so my readers would want to employ the lessons learned to their own lives. I made the settings every day, relatable settings. The main character is a housewife, her husband is a mechanic. These are blue-collar people living middle-class lives in a neighborhood that could be anywhere in America. I wanted people to see themselves in the book and to feel like they know these people.

Is there a scene in your book you’d love to see play out in a movie?
There is a scene in which Jenna is performing in A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream that would be very entertaining and comical to see in a movie. There is also a store scene that would be fun to watch in a theater. There are also scenes some readers have told me touched their hearts and would be perfect for the big screen. Sometimes people say they can see who the characters are, like my daughter telling me Jack is Tim McGraw, and one of my former students saying, “No, Jeremy Renner, definitely Jeremy Renner.” All along I picture composite people, not actual people for my characters.

Do you prefer the creating or editing aspect of writing?
I like every aspect of the writing process. I love writing on the creative side. When I first started I was arrogant enough to think that was all there was to it. I was like, “voila, masterpiece!” Now I realize I have to step away from things and say, “Okay, already, enough!” I can actually overwrite things. I’m my own worse critic and a great editor. Just looking at this interview answer, I could rewrite it a million times—really. My grammar alone is enough to drive me nuts. I have worked that out by becoming a copywriter, so I can go mad on someone else’s dime.

What is your writing routine like? What is your writing process like?
I write every day, as often as I can, which is hours a day. I write blogs. I write for work. I write emails to find work. I write bids for work. I write job applications. I write stories because I want to escape looking for work. I write! My process is to think, and then write it down, and then go back, read over it, edit it, and then read over it again, and then repeat as many times as is applicable.

If you had an unlimited budget, how would you spend your money for marketing and promotion of your books?
If I had an unlimited budget for marketing, I would put together a team of professionals who would do the work for me that I don’t know how to do. First I’d hire someone to build the platform for me before I wrote a word of the book. Then I’d hire a social media guru to get the word out about the book so everyone was all a “Twitter” about it (pun intended). I’d hire bloggers to be blogging about it, talkers to be talking about it, and pinners to be pinning it! Then I’d write my book, have it edited, release it, and then—like the latest in the Marvel series—there’d be people lining up to get my book! Amazon would actually be sold out! Waiting lists would actually exist! In other words, I’d do it by hiring the professionals, not scammers, and not a publishing team that has 200 other clients to promote as well.

What are you working on now?
My focus has shifted to my blogging for the time being. I write a women’s Bible study blog that is doing amazingly well. I’ve been really blessed to see the response to it. It’s on Facebook on my book page (or you can go directly to it at JuanarChavez.blogspot.com). It’s called The Study. I’m the one who does the investing in it, but it’s cheaper than self-publishing a book. The blog site is free, but the boosting for the site is anywhere from $3 to $20. I get around 1500 likes per week on the post. I know it’s probably not the blog post itself. It’s probably the verse and the picture I put up, but it’s still the Word of God going forth and that’s worth it. And people are reading my blog because my stats have been over 3000 hits on the actual posts themselves in the last few months. It’s been worth the investment to get God’s word out. I’ve thought about putting out a Bible study book, but I don’t want to charge for the study. God’s word should be free for all who want to hear it. So I keep putting it out there, cranking away, and praying that my stories, my novels, will someday be blessed—but more importantly, that my work for Him will matter more in the light of eternity.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. She has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Betsy James

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Betsy James is the author and/or illustrator of over a dozen books and stories for adults, young adults, and children. Her latest book, Roadsouls (Aqueduct, 2016), “explores the power of art and creativity for transforming not only one’s own life but also the world one lives in.” You can find Betsy on her websites at ListeningAtTheGate.com and BetsyJames.com, as well as her Amazon author page.

RoadsoulsWhat is your elevator pitch for Roadsouls?
We’ve all had moments when our lives felt so intolerable that we wanted to scream, “Get me out of here!” What if that silent cry were answered? (Be careful what you wish for.)

When readers turn the last page of the book, what do you hope they will take away from it?
I am sometimes asked this about short stories, but those have a more limited focus. In the case of a multilayered novel, I really can’t predict readers’ reactions. Different readers will identify with different characters, for different reasons; that’s part of what makes longer writing interesting.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
The biggest was that the main characters, Raím and Duuni, hated each other at first. They were like those black and white Scotty-dog magnets: pushed together, they leapt apart instantly and as far as they could. It’s hard to further the plot when the protagonists are snarling in opposite corners!

Tell us about your main characters, Raím and Duuni.
Raím: I have no clue where he came from, but a tall, red-haired, blind weaver has been banging around in my subconscious since I was a teenager. He is a secondary character in an earlier novel, Dark Heart, and wouldn’t shut up until he got his own book. Duuni came stepping out of the shadows to stand as immovable object to his irresistible force. She is up to the task.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing the book?
Writing the book. That isn’t a smart aleck answer. No one would stick it out through the monster process of a long, difficult book unless getting it done right, or at least as well as one knows how to, were not at least marginally more rewarding than not doing it.

What societies/cultures/history influenced the building of your world in Roadsouls?
Three, basically: the European folklore I grew up with; Zuni Pueblo, where I have taught, off and on, for many years; and European gypsy culture in the Thirties, as recounted in Jan Yoors’ book, The Gypsies. Perhaps also my time in Mexico, and hiking the deserts of New Mexico.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. She has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Melody Groves

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Author and ex-gunfighter Melody Groves weaves her passion for the Old West into her writing. Her articles have been published in numerous magazines including American Cowboy, Wild West, True West, and New Mexico Magazine. She’s also the author of three nonfiction books and four novels in the Colton Brothers Saga series. Her newest historical western novel, She Was Sheriff (Five Star Publishing, 2016), introduces a set of likeable characters her readers will love to cheer on. You can find Melody on her website at MelodyGroves.net and her Amazon author page.

What is your elevator pitch for She was Sheriff?
All she ever wanted was a gold band. Instead, all she got was a tin star.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
Not being from northern California, writing the terrain was tough. In 2014, I toured the area. I also did that when I researched Kansas for Kansas Bleeds (the fourth book in the Colton Brothers Saga).

Tell us about your main character and why readers will connect with her.
Maud is the lead character who is challenged to do (1) things she’s never done before and (2) things 1872 society frowned upon—especially for a woman. I hope readers connect because she’s breaking societal barriers as well as her own perceived limits.

What makes this novel unique in the historical western market?
At a recent Western Writers of American convention, my novel was held up as an example of the up and coming “strong female protagonist” Western! My publisher has a new line of novels called “Women Frontier Fiction” and I’m proud to be one of the first. Westerns are no longer typical “shoot ‘em ups”—although that’s my favorite kind.

Did you discover anything interesting while doing research for this book?
I do tons of research for all my novels and that era was fascinating in that the world was changing so quickly. We think of our 21st century as spinning—well, the West had the train, telegraph, East coast fashions, and thousands of immigrants from all over the world that spun their lives. People moved from place to place trying to make a living, trying to find the proverbial pot of gold. It was a relatively transient society full of various characters and in many instances, very little law.

Tell us more about She Was Sheriff: what sparked the initial story idea, how long it took to write, etc.
 I have no idea where the story came from other than I have a t-shirt with a woman on a horse and the title is She Was Sheriff (there are no copyright laws on titles). My imagination kept spinning a story that, piece by piece, came together. The book itself took most of a year to write, then a couple of months of editing and rewriting. After a tad bit of final rewriting, selling it to my publisher wasn’t hard.

What is it about the Old West that keeps you writing in that world?
I love the Old West. It was a time of lawlessness, but also a time where people re-established themselves. They became someone they wanted to be. That still goes on today. The West is a magical, open, awe-inspiring place. I was born here and have always loved it.

How did your gunfighting re-enactment affect your writing?
 For ten years I walked the streets of Old Town and other places, shooting good guys, bad guys, and sheriffs. I’m quite comfortable using my .22 Ruger, being shot, and shooting as a group. We performed in the O.K. Corral (a true Mecca for re-enactors), and I swear I was back in 1881. I use the experiences (and remembered bruises) in my writing. In re-enacting, the bullets may be fake, but the adrenalin is real.

BorderAmbush150You’ve written four novels in the Colton Brothers Saga. What are the challenges to writing a series? Do your protagonists still surprise you as you write their stories?
Series are hard to keep fresh. Thankfully, turns out there are four Colton brothers, so they’re always getting in trouble or making bad decisions—singularly or together. Hopefully, they stay fresh that way. My protagonists surprise me all the time. It’s truly fun to let them “do their thing” by not putting restrictions on their character. As their creator, I may have one thing in mind, then they turn around and do the opposite. Just like your own children!

What are your strengths as a writer, and what do you do to overcome your weaknesses?
I do pretty good dialogue, but then again, it’s my characters talking. I just write down what they say. I’m fairly good at reversals—when the reader thinks one thing will happen then it changes. As for weaknesses, women’s roles are hard for me to write, but I’m hoping I learned from She Was Sheriff. I’m not crazy about women in traditional Westerns, so I don’t give them big parts.

You have a knack for writing distinct characters, both heroes we love and villains we love to hate. What process do you use to develop your characters?
Developing characters is an ongoing writing exercise. When coming up with new characters, I find ones who have flaws, which make them interesting. I spend a lot of time thinking about people I know, then choose something from them. Or at times, I simply sit and watch strangers. I see terrific body types and then add characteristics—kind of like Frankenstein.

What are the hardest kinds of scenes for you to write, and what do you do to get over this hurdle?
The hardest scenes to write are fights or cattle stampedes. There are so many moving parts (literally), I find keeping them all in my mind’s eye difficult. So, I do two things—use pieces of “stuff” to place my characters on my desk. I’ll use a pencil eraser, a marble or whatever is handy and march them around like kids do with little tin soldiers. It looks silly, but logistically, it works well. The other thing I do is watch movies/TV shows with fights or stampedes. Those always inspire me.

Looking back to the beginning of your writing career, what do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
Isn’t that the million dollar question? If I could go back, I’d become a journalist instead of an educator. The most successful writers I know started in newspapers. I wouldn’t spend my time in the classroom, I’d be out hunting stories and writing my own. I recommend to younger writers to take as many journalism classes as possible and get a job in that field. I guarantee they’ll be great writers sooner than those of us who started later in life.

SonoranRage150What’s the best encouragement or advice you’ve received on your writing journey?
Best advice—“trust your reader.” At first I didn’t understand, but it means your reader is smarter than you think. Give them the information once, and they’ve got it. No need to remind them time and time again. In my band, the keyboard player one day said “trust your bandmate,” meaning assume he’s doing what he’s supposed to do—to the best of his ability. Readers are the same way. Just trust them.

Best other advice—choose what’s the most interesting. At the end of my book Sonoran Rage, it was a toss-up if James’ (the main character) fiancé would be waiting for him when he returned from being captured by Cochise. What everyone wanted, including me, was to have her there and fall into his bruised arms. But that’s what was expected. So, the more interesting choice was—no, she’d moved on (in all fairness, she thought he was dead). That opened up the future plotline that developed into several novels.

What are you working on now? Will we see Maud, Seth, and Pokey from She Was Sheriff again?
I’ll be starting book 7 of the Colton Brothers Saga as well as intense research for a book based on my Irish ancestors who immigrated to New Orleans during the potato famine. It’s a true Western, too, as they came to an unknown land to re-invent themselves. Maud, Seth, and Pokey are trying to find a story I’d like to write. While I’m working on the other two books, I’ll let these three characters play.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. She has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author and Poet Jeanne Shannon, Part 2

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Readers of Jeanne Shannon’s work find her “vitally rich and engaging” poetry to be imaginative, captivating, and meticulously crafted. Her articles, poems, memoir pieces, and short fiction have appeared in numerous publications. Summoning (Mercury HeartLink, 2015) is her newest book of collected poems. You can find Jeanne on her Amazon author page.

Summoning2

What inspired you to create Summoning?
I wanted to publish a “collected poems.” The poems in this book have been published in journals and in my chapbooks over the course of decades, and I wanted to gather them into one volume. But it turns out that this is just “Volume One” of my collected works, for I have enough poems for another book the size of Summoning that I hope to publish in a year or two.

How did you choose the poems/prose to include in this book?
I divided the book into sections organized around themes that I most often write about, such as the natural world (“Honey Locust”) and memories of childhood and meditations on mortality (“Summoning”), and chose poems that would fit into those themes. I tried to include only the poems that I consider to be my best work. No pieces were written specifically for this book. I wrote a first draft of one of the poems as long ago as 1955, and the rest of the poems date from the early 1980’s to around 2010.

What was the most rewarding aspect of putting Summoning together?
Knowing that I had complete control over the content of the book—it would be exactly what I wanted to give to the world. Because it was self-published, there would be no editor or other person trying to put their imprint on my work by telling me what to include or what to leave out or what to change. I take full responsibility for whatever shortcomings the collection may have.

Should a reader have to work to understand a poem?
No. Reading poetry should be a pleasure, not a classroom exercise in which a hard-and-fast meaning has to be identified. I think the idea of having to figure out what a poem means has caused many people to avoid reading poetry. Poetry can have its own logic, which doesn’t always match ordinary, “logical” logic. Archibald MacLeish said it best, “A poem should not mean, but be.” Learning to read differently—to listen for the music of the language, for example, as I did in the case of T.S. Eliot (see part one of the interview)—will free the reader from the notion that we always have to know exactly what the poet had in mind in writing the poem. As Eliot himself said, “Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.”

What do poorly written poems have in common?
That’s a big subject, but I think that too much focus on the ego of the poet is a common failing. Too many first-person pronouns. That is, instead of focusing on the subject of the poem (the view from the top of a mountain, for instance) the focus is often on the “I” of the poem. The spotlight is on the poet—“Look at me, how perceptive I am to see what I’m seeing down below”—rather than on the scene itself.

Another common failing is what Steve Kowit calls “sentimentality and emotional slither.” That is, vague and generic declarations of emotions without providing scenes and concrete images that convey those emotions that let the reader experience the emotions rather than simply hearing a boring recitation of what the emotions are.

Then there’s the dull prose that’s broken into lines to look like poetry. Dull prose is still dull prose, no matter what it looks like on the page. And there are gimmicks to make the poem look more interesting than it is; centering every line is one example. Occasionally that can be effective, but it can easily be overdone and call too much attention to itself.

What do well-written poems have in common?
♦ Charged, compressed language: words selected for conciseness and clarity and for their emotive quality.
♦ Musical elements such as rhyme (if it is used well and not just cobbled together for the sake of rhyming), meter and repetition.
♦ Intensity of detail (concrete rather than abstract).
♦ Simile, metaphor, and sometimes symbolism.
♦ Vivid and fresh imagery (images that appeal to the senses—all or most of the senses, not just the visual).
♦ Euphony—a pleasing combination of words. Poets must think about how they want something to sound as well as the thought they want to convey.
♦ Effective use of line breaks and stanza breaks.
♦ If it is a narrative poem, attention to the narrative arc and the scenes just as in fiction.

Poetry may well be the art of the unsayable. Poet Marie Howe defines poetry as “a cup of language to hold what can’t be said.” The best poetry is “the language beneath the language.” Any poem that can be completely paraphrased is not a poem, but simply versified or emotive prose.

Readers who want to learn more about what makes a poem work or fail to work can find few better sources of information than Steve Kowit’s In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet’s Portable Workshop (Tilbury House Publishers, 1995).

In part one of the interview you told us about your favorite poets. Who are your favorite fiction authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
Paula McLain (The Paris Wife and Circling the Sun) comes to mind, because her prose is often vivid and lyrical and she tells compelling stories. Lydia Davis for, among other things, her flash fiction that is like nobody else’s. (She has been characterized as “one of the most original minds in American fiction today.”) Carole Maso for her unique novels and her willingness to “break every rule.” Kate Braverman, especially for her novel Palm Latitudes that seems like a long poem in prose. Ron Hansen for Mariette in Ecstasy. James Salter for A Sport and a Pastime and everything else by him that I’ve read. Truman Capote for Other Voices, Other Rooms and some of his short stories. F. Scott Fitzgerald for The Great Gatsby. Lee Smith, especially for her novel Fair and Tender Ladies. She writes about the South where she and I grew up (about fifty miles from each other), and is the author I most want to emulate when writing fiction set in the Appalachian South. And always, always, Eudora Welty, especially for The Golden Apples. What all these authors have in common is language that burns with intensity and is perfect for its purpose.

What are you working on now?
Short fiction (I recently finished one short story and am working on another one) and a novel that is a blend of memoir and fiction.

For the first part of this interview, go to An Interview with Author and Poet Jeanne Shannon, Part 1.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. She has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



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