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Author Update: Jasmine Tritten

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Jasmine Tritten is an artist, poet, memoirist, and short story writer whose work can be found in over a dozen publications. In her second memoir, On the Nile with a Dancing Dane (August 2020), she explores the land of the pharaohs while following her love for dance and the Egyptian culture. Visit Jasmine on Facebook and her Amazon author page. Read her 2016 SWW interview to learn about her debut memoir, The Journey of an Adventuresome Dane. And in a 2019 interview, she and husband Jim discuss their first children’s book collaboration.

What would you like readers to know about On the Nile with a Dancing Dane?
The book is an adventurous travel memoir filled with mystery and surprises, from galloping a horse in the Sahara Desert to belly dancing on the Nile River. It’s a safe and inexpensive way to travel with me to Egypt, exploring the land of the pharaohs before iPhones and computers.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
About 37 years ago, when I went on a trip to Egypt, I wrote by hand a detailed journal. I used the journal to write this memoir. Photos were taken at the time using a plastic Brownie camera with one white button. I had to scan all the small photos into my computer and enhance them.

When did you know you wanted to write a second memoir?
While joining a critique group in Albuquerque, I shared one of my short stories from Egypt. Afterwards the leader of the group said to me, “I don’t want you to tell me about your adventures. I want you to take me with you on a trip to Egypt.” That triggered something in me to write the memoir and show (rather than tell) the reader about my experiences.

Tell us how the book came together.
In the beginning of 2020 before the pandemic, I started writing the book and then worked on it every day, since I had all the time in the world. After the summer, I used several beta readers to go through every page. Finally, I took it through two editing programs on the computer (AutoCrit and Grammarly). The book cover, the eight ink drawings, and the six scratchboard images I created myself. In August 2020, I self-published the memoir with the help of my husband.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
Rewriting and editing. Deciding which photos and artwork to use.

What is the best compliment you’ve received as an author?
When somebody in one of the reviews of On the Nile with a Dancing Dane said, “I was entertained with exciting experiences at every turn of the road – or river. I felt as if the author had slipped me into her backpack, and I was with her every step of the way.”

How did you become interested in memoir specifically, as opposed to fiction?
Because I have lived an exciting life and written detailed journals since I was a young girl, I have so much material to use that I don’t need to make up any stories.

What advice do you have for discouraged writers?
Write down what comes to your mind right away without worrying about whether it is good or bad. Later, you can work on the writing and make it into a good story.

What writing projects are you working on now?
My next project will be writing a memoir about a trip to Greece I made long before iPhones and computers were invented. The Universe is pushing me in that direction.

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



Author Update: Neill McKee

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Author Neill McKee is a world wanderer from Southern Ontario, Canada, who now makes his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Following the release of his award-winning Finding Myself in Borneo (2019), he published a second travel memoir in 2020, Guns and Gods in My Genes: A 15,000-mile North American Search Through Four Centuries of History, to the Mayflower. You’ll find Neill on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, as well as his website NeillMckeeAuthor.com. Read his 2019 SWW interview to learn about his first memoir.

What would you like readers to know about your newest book?
My travel memoir starts in 2017 in Ontario, Canada, as I uncover the stories of my rather religious McKee Scots-Irish ancestors in Canada (Chapters 1 to 3). In Chapter 4, I follow the trail of my maternal grandfather, John Addison Neill (my given name is my mother’s maiden name), who enters the USA in 1899, becomes a Methodist minister, and marries a woman in Wisconsin by the name of Effie Jane Haskins. Chapters 5 to 7 are about my grandparents’ adventures as they move west to Nebraska and Wyoming, still very much a part of the Wild West during 1895-1907. The remainder of the book (Chapters 8 to 17) takes the reader deeper into North American history as I discover the stories of my great-grandfather, Lafayette Haskins, in the Civil War. Other ancestors fought in the American Revolution, The French and Indian War, and King Philip’s War, which involved a bloody struggle between some of my Puritan ancestors in New England and the Native Americans they displaced, enslaved, indentured, or killed. Throughout the book, I compare American and Canadian early settlement, the role of religion, wars, the rule of law, and gun control.

What sets this book apart from other travel memoirs?
Many people search for their roots on Ancestry.com or other websites, and in libraries. Often, they end up with pages of family trees, which may be of interest to a few cousins but make most others’ eyes glaze over. I took a different approach and traveled to the places my ancestors lived, farmed, struggled, fought, and prayed, so that I could meet distant cousins, uncover new stories, take photos, and gain insights on the memoir’s theme: the conflict between guns and gods in my genes. I also had a personal challenge to answer that adds some tension: Should I, a peaceful Canadian writer in his 70s living in New Mexico, also become a citizen of gun-happy USA? Throughout the book I use vivid descriptions, historical analysis with some of my own interpretations, dialog, accounts of on-the-spot detective work, lyrical prose, uncovered ancient poems (and one of my own on a “Rowdy Man” ancestor in Connecticut), and 116 photos and illustrations. The pages are unencumbered by tables and chapter notes, which are placed at the back.

When did you know you wanted to write this second memoir?
During my 45-year career in international development, I lacked the time to properly write the stories of my adventures in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and more recently Russia. After I retired in 2012, I began writing Finding Myself in Borneo, the story of my first job after university. (It has won three awards and gained over 25 five-star reviews.) Simultaneously, during 2013-15, I visited my aging mother in Ontario, traveling from my home in Maryland a few times a year. My dad, who died in 2007, was always interested in old family history but never had the time nor the skills to do much research or writing. I discovered the beginnings of interesting stories in his old files, and I reached out to cousins, one living uncle, and three remaining aunts. I found many leads on both sides of the family and interviewed family members in person, picking up more stories, photos, and records. That’s when I knew I had another book to write. Also, by getting my DNA tested on Ancestry.com, I matched with distant cousins who had additional stories, records, and photos.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
I had to verify some genealogical links, which, with my own skills in genealogy research, proved challenging. So, I hired researchers at the New England Historical Genealogical Society (NEHGS), Boston, to do the refined work. I tracked down all the birth, marriage, and death certificates I could find, but NEHGS found some missing links and submitted my application to the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Plymouth, Massachusetts, and it was accepted. I also visited the Mayflower Society in Plymouth for help in verifying other New England ancestors of interest — many through female lineage.

Tell us more about how the book came together.
When I began the genealogical search on the Canadian side of my family in 2013, I only had a few records and stories from my father and cousins, but did extensive interviews with my only living uncle. On the US side, I had quite a few leads from a now-deceased cousin to whom I dedicated the book. These were anecdotes, website stories, etc. and a lot from Ancestry.com and other records. My cousin had done a great job, and between 2013 and 2015, I put these all together in two 200-page documents — one on my paternal side and one on my maternal side. They are more traditional genealogical accounts and, although I knew they would be interesting to my extended family, I wanted to write the story of our ancestors in a way that would be of interest to a much wider audience.

In 2015, after my wife and I settled in Albuquerque, I began writing stories for the book. That year, I also joined a graduate workshop in creative nonfiction led by Professor Diane Thiel at the Department of English, University of New Mexico. At the same time, I worked on Finding Myself in Borneo, and some of my submissions were on that subject. The feedback I received in these sessions was invaluable. I joined Professor Thiel’s 2016 workshop on writing poetry, as well, and also attended SWW workshops, which helped with both books.

For Guns and Gods in My Genes, I carried out the real travel research during the summers of 2017 to 2019, when I clocked 15,000 miles through Ontario and 22 US states. Besides going to the very places where my ancestors lived and died, I visited many historical museums and societies to dig up more facts and stories, and to uncover mistakes other amateur genealogists (like myself) had made and put on Ancestry.com. The receptions I received from local historians and museum curators were overwhelmingly positive.

Who are a few favorite “characters” you discovered from among your ancestors?
By following female lineage (Neill/Haskins or Hoskins, Robinson, Stevens, Gallop, Thacher, Conant, Fuller), I found real rascals and Indian fighters, as well as some fair and saintly people in my genes. For instance, Reverend Thomas Thacher, first pastor of the Old South Boston Meeting House, was a reformist and “Renaissance Man.” And Roger Conant, founder of Salem, Massachusetts, argued against the increasingly fanatical Puritans — people who brought us the infamous Salem Witch Trials. I also take readers into the foundations of, and myths about, the Puritan Pilgrims and their worldview through two visits to the recreation of “Plimoth” Plantation, Plymouth, MA. There I meet and humorously dialog with educator-actors playing the roles of real Pilgrims such as Samuel Fuller, the colony’s quack doctor and brother of my ninth great-grandfather, Edward Fuller, who came on the Mayflower with his unnamed wife in 1620. (They died in the first winter, but I descend from his son who came to New England in 1640.)

What was the most rewarding aspect of putting this project together?
The discovery through travel was the most rewarding, especially meeting like-minded people with a similar interest in preserving and documenting history. For instance, when I met the people who own the great Haskins house in Windsor, Connecticut, built in 1750, they immediately welcomed me and showed me all around the property, telling me more stories about the place. My former training in communication research helped me uncover myths and mistakes people make by not checking and triangulating facts. In my memoir, I document how this happens and how to avoid it. I also loved listening to many books on US and Canadian history, usually while walking and making notes. I have a pretty full library and, besides the 21 pages of chapter notes, I include a suggested reading list at the end of the book.

Any “Oh, wow!” moments when doing research for this book?
There are many “wow! moments” in my book. Here are two:

  • On top of a hill in Virginia I walk along still-visible trenches used by Confederate soldiers in the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-6, 1864). I then take an eerie walk down the hill into the woods where my great-grandfather, Lafayette Haskins, a 20-year-old foot soldier in the 7th Wisconsin Regiment (a part of the famous Iron Brigade) received a gunshot in the leg from the Confederate trenches above. (This was his last battle of his two years in the war. He had also endured more dangerous episodes of sickness in rudimentary, unsanitary hospitals.)
  • Through perseverance, I keep asking locals in a small town in western New York, if they know possible descendants of my Stevens ancestor who fought in the American Revolution. The clues I gather finally lead me to an 82-year-old flower farmer who, 25 years ago, had researched his whole ancestry through 25 generations and documented it all in a thick binder. He invited me in for a cup of coffee and a long chat, and this distant cousin and I still keep in touch.

Do you have a favorite quote from Guns and Gods in My Genes?
Here is a short lyrical prose piece from Chapter 6 (“Reverend Neill in the Aftermath of Wounded Knee”), when my maternal grandparents lived in Nebraska during 1904-05. It demonstrates how slim a chance any of us have of being born:

The Prince Albert Suit Coat, 1905: My grandpa Neill, a Methodist pastor, preached one Sunday morning in Rushville, Nebraska, then left for his other churches, 20 miles away. Warmed by a buffalo coat, he drove his sleigh pulled by Indian ponies through drifting snow, arriving in time for evensong. Realizing he’d forgotten his Prince Albert suit coat, with two more sermons to preach on Monday, back he and his ponies went in the cold calm moonlight. Opening the door, he found the house so still, his family breathing in deadly vapors. Grandma had dampened down the coal stove too soon. But Grandpa pulled her and their four children outside — all saved by love for that coat, his mysterious pride.

When writing memoir, is a writer’s responsibility to the truth of the facts or to his perception/feelings about what occurred?
I believe a memoir writer must pay attention to both truth and perceptions/feelings. It is even more important to follow the facts carefully in writing a historical memoir like this, where much has been written about the time and places in which the writer’s ancestors lived. I did extensive research and reading on North American history. But obviously my background, education, perceptions, political leaning, and temperament determined some interpretations in creative nonfiction. If these factors did not play a part in what I wrote, the book would have turned out as a dry piece of academic writing, possibly of interest to a few historians and genealogists only. I hired Pamela Yenser, SWW member, as my literary editor for this book (as well as my Borneo book). She helped a lot with methods of marrying facts and creativity. I tried to rise to the challenge of writing a book which would have wider appeal in both Canada and the US.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I have simultaneously been writing a memoir about my own beginnings in Ontario, Canada, which incorporates some of the stories that are not used in Guns and Gods in My Genes. It also connects with my Borneo memoir. It is presently being sent out for reactions and pre-publication reviews. Here is a brief write-up:

Kid on the Go! Memoir of my life before Borneo is Neill McKee’s third work in creative nonfiction. It is a prequel to his first work in the genre, the award-winning Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah. In this short book, McKee takes readers on a journey through his childhood, early adolescence, and teenage years, while growing up in the small industrially polluted town of Elmira in Southern Ontario, Canada — now infamous as one of the centers for production of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Each chapter is set to a different theme on how he learned to keep “on the go.” McKee’s vivid descriptions, dialog and self-drawn illustrations provide much humor and poignant moments in his stories of growing up in a loving family. In a way, the book is a travel memoir through both mental and physical space — a study of a young boy’s learning to observe and avoid dangers; to cope with death in the family; to fish, hunt, play cowboys; to learn the value of work and how to build and repair “escape” vehicles. The memoir explores his experiences with exploding hormones, his first attraction to girls, dealing with bullying, how he rebelled against religion and authority and survived the conformist teenager rock-and-roll culture of the early 1960s, coming out the other side with the help of influential teachers and mentors. After finally leaving his hometown, McKee describes his rather directionless but intensely searching years at university. Except for an emotional afterword and revealing postscript, the story ends when he departs to become a volunteer teacher on the Island of Borneo — truly a “kid on the go!”

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



2020 New Releases for SWW Authors #4

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Joseph Badal, Sarah H. Baker, Neill McKee, Jodi Lea Stewart, and several authors in the Corrales Writing Group represent the diverse membership of SouthWest Writers (SWW) with new 2020 books published in a variety of genres. The releases in this post couldn’t fit into this year’s interview schedule, but look for interviews or updates for most of these authors in 2021.

At the end of this post, you’ll find a list of interviewed SWW authors for books published in 2020.

Joseph Badal’s 2020 release, Payback (Suspense Publishing), is his newest standalone novel. When Bruno Pedace learns that his investment banking partners are setting him up to take the fall for their own corrupt practices, he does what he has always done — run away. But the documents he takes with him put a target on his back. He changes his name and, for nine years, goes underground, until an assassin tracks him down in California and badly injures him. Befriended by Janet Jenkins, a courageous woman who works in a battered women’s shelter, Bruno, for the first time in his life, with Janet’s help, fights back. He constructs an ingenious financial scheme to get payback for the crimes perpetrated by his former partners.

Visit Joe’s website at JosephBadalBooks.com and his Amazon author page.

After publishing more than 20 novels, Sarah H. Baker has released the first in a speculative fiction series, Promise Me Tomorrow: Book 1: The Prisoner (August 2020). More than three generations after the collapse of civilization and decades of Utopian peace, New Village is suddenly attacked. Villagers are killed and precious supplies are stolen, but one of the injured bandits is left behind. Kole, Protector of New Village, can’t turn her out; she won’t survive. If he allows her to stay, will he be able to keep his children and the other villagers safe? All her life, Shylah has fought for everything: scratch, cover, her very life. But in this strange place, marks work together, and they even take care of their mutts. Won’t Bryce be pleased when he comes back to get her? Now she knows their secrets. They won’t survive a day.

Visit Sarah’s website at SarahHanberryBaker.com. Promise Me Tomorrow can be found on Amazon.

In Guns and Gods in My Genes (December 2020), Neill McKee takes the reader through 400 years and 15,000 miles of an on-the-road adventure, discovering stories of his Scots-Irish ancestors in Canada and a trail that heads south and west into the United States. Much to his surprise, McKee finds his American ancestors were involved in every major conflict on North American soil: the Civil War, the American Revolution, and the French and Indian War. In the last chapters, he reveals his Pilgrim ancestors who arrived on the Mayflower, landing at Plymouth in 1620, and their Puritan descendants who fought in the early Indian Wars of New England. With the help of professional genealogical research, he tracks down and tells the stories of the heroes, villains, rascals, as well as, the godly and ordinary folk in his genes, discovering many facts and exposing myths.

Guns and Gods in My Genes can be ordered from Albuquerque bookstores (such as Organic Books and Bookworks), as well as from Neill’s website at NeillMckeeAuthor.com and Amazon.

Jodi Lea Stewart published her sixth book, TRIUMPH: a Novel of the Human Spirit, in September 2020. 1903: Deep in the Louisiana swamps, five-year-old Willy is kidnapped by a Vodou Priestess. One day, he will fight bloody battles in France and come face-to-face with the horrors of Vodou. In bustling New Orleans, bachelor Jack — a former Texas Ranger — has an encounter with a young beauty hiding in his hotel room. What she wants and needs will change his life forever. 1958: St. Louis, two girls of different races, Mercy and Annie, meet in the fifth grade. Together, they secretly explore St. Louis via bus and streetcar, encountering cultural prejudices at every turn — including from within one girl’s own family. The turbulent times and the Civil Rights Movement will test the girls’ loyalty and affect their choices on the way to adulthood. In a saga spanning from 1903 to 1968, compelling characters navigate the stormy paths of life in New Orleans, St. Louis, and Texas until they all collide in a startling and dramatic way.

Visit Jodi’s Amazon author page.

Kale is a Four Letter Word (Artemesia Publishing, September 2020) is the sixth anthology published by the Corrales Writing Group (members Chris Allen, Maureen Cooke, Sandi Hoover, James John Tritten, and Patricia Walkow). Kale has invaded our culture as the go-to food for healthy living, appearing everywhere on restaurant menus, in grocery stores, and in beauty products like soaps and scrubs. For some, the vitamin load and beneficial fiber cannot outweigh the bitterness and texture of this member of the cabbage family. For those people, kale has ignited a passionate response, often reflected in internet memes and T-shirt slogans. This collection of short stories shows kale in a new light. A couple of tales are horror stories about kale’s effect on a life; another one describes a speculative history of kale; one is a murder mystery where kale plays an unusual role; and one is a fantasy about kale’s rivalry with cauliflower. This book also features delicious kale recipes.

Visit Corrales Writing Group’s Amazon author page.

SWW Author Interviews: 2020 Releases

Connie Flores
• Our Fascinating Life: The Totally Accidental Trip 1979
Sue Houser
• Wilmettie
BR Kingsolver
• Knights Magica
Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin
• How My Brain Works: A Guide to Understanding It Better and Keeping It Healthy
Manfred Leuthard
• Broken Arrow: A Nuke Goes Missing
Shirley Raye Redmond
• Courageous World Changers: 50 True Stories of Daring Women of God
J.R. Seeger
• A Graveyard for Spies
Lynne Sturtevant
• Hometown: Writing a Local History or Travel Guide and The Collaboration Kit
Patricia Walkow
• New Mexico Remembers 9/11

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



2020 New Releases for SWW Authors #3

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Authors William Fisher, Cornelia Gamlem, Larry Kilham, BR Kingsolver, RJ Mirabal, and Lynne Sturtevant represent the diverse membership of SouthWest Writers (SWW) with 2020 releases in the genres of historical fiction, business, biography, and several speculative fiction sub-genres. The releases in this post couldn’t fit into this year’s interview schedule, but look for interviews or updates for most of these authors in 2021.

At the end of this post, you’ll find a list of interviewed SWW authors for books published in 2020.

William Fisher’s debut novel, Cruel Road (October 2020), is a mid-eighteenth-century historical drama. John Fraser, Scots-Irish gunsmith and militiaman, faces a difficult dilemma when his new and pregnant wife is taken captive by a local tribal chief. This is the story of real-life John and Jane Fraser, among the first settlers of western Pennsylvania. Their lives are challenged by Indian conflicts, French and English fighting over territory, and survival in the Pennsylvania wilderness. The book is a dramatization of true events. Most characters are actual historical characters. John and Jane Fraser are the author’s direct ancestors. Some characters are fictional, and certain actions and descriptions are conjecture.

Visit Bill’s Amazon author page.

They Did What? Unbelievable Tales from the Workplace (September 2020) is Cornelia Gamlem and Barbara Mitchell’s newest nonfiction release. People have been misbehaving at work since work began. If you’ve ever been curious about workplace misbehavior, this book just might hold some answers. A compilation of stories collected from HR and other business leaders have been woven into a narrative that showcases the challenges HR professionals face daily in dealing with employees. They Did What? is funny, sad, and most definitely unbelievable—except it is all based on actual situations.

Visit Cornelia’s Amazon author page.

In Destiny Strikes Twice: James L. Breese Aviator and Inventor (November 2020), Larry Kilham tells the true story of the flight engineer on the first transatlantic flight in 1919 who went on to develop 130 patents for home and military space heaters. Dismissing a high society Long Island life, Jim moved to New Mexico in 1929 to start fresh in the unencumbered West. There he built his oil burner business with sales in the millions of dollars. The twists and turns through his adventure-packed life reveal lessons for everyone including many insights for aspiring inventors and entrepreneurs.

Visit Larry’s Amazon author page.

BR Kingsolver published three novels in 2020 (read the interview for Knights Magica here). The two most recent releases are in the new Rift Chronicles series. In Magitek (book 1, August 2020), the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Danica James’ grandfather wanted to end war. Instead, he broke the world. Through the Rift came demons, vampires, and monsters. Danica is a cop with the Arcane Division. She’s also a magitek. Her job is to clean up her grandfather’s mess. She’s not making much progress.

In book two, War Song (December 2020), Danica James is still a cop with the Arcane Division who works to protect humanity from monsters — whether they be human or creatures from the Rift. It beats sitting in a factory cubical all day, which is where magiteks usually work. Most of humanity hates the magic users who rule the world, but for a hundred years, the Magi have kept the demons, vampires, and other monsters in check. But now one Magi Family has allied itself with the demons in a bid for world domination. It was ugly before, but now it’s getting worse.

Visit the author’s Amazon author page.

RJ Mirabal’s newest release is the young adult fantasy Dragon Train (December 2020). Jaiden, a 15-year-old farm boy, dreams of a more exciting life in a world where people have enslaved dragons as beasts of burden, guard animals, and soldiers. He has never been more than a few miles beyond his farm and the quiet village of Hilltop. Yet Jaiden desires escape from his grouchy and somewhat abusive father. And then the dragon train makes an unscheduled stop in Hilltop. Skye, the huge Blue Dragon pulling the train, may die of exhaustion unless someone can help. Thus, a boy and dragon embark on an epic adventure in the hopes of fulfilling their longing for freedom, excitement, and happiness.

Visit RJ’s website and his book page.

Fairy Trouble (September 2020), by Lynne Sturtevant, is a contemporary Celtic fairy tale. People used to know the truth about fairies and they were afraid of them. When visiting homemaker Ginger Stewart encounters a troop of fairies in the wild, green hills of West Virginia, she learns magic is real. She also learns our ancestors were right. There are reasons to be afraid. Ginger is astounded when a fairy attacks her while she’s calling on an elderly client, Violet. Violet has spent her life hiding the fairies and protecting them from the outside world. But something has changed. The fairies have become angry and aggressive and she has no idea how to pacify them. As the mayhem escalates, Ginger and Violet negotiate a maze of folklore, ancient symbols, and dark family secrets. Will they find a way to restore equilibrium to the fairies before it’s too late?

Visit Lynne’s Amazon author page.

SWW Author Interviews: 2020 Releases

Connie Flores
• Our Fascinating Life: The Totally Accidental Trip 1979
Sue Houser
• Wilmettie
BR Kingsolver
• Knights Magica
Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin
• How My Brain Works: A Guide to Understanding It Better and Keeping It Healthy
Manfred Leuthard
• Broken Arrow: A Nuke Goes Missing
Shirley Raye Redmond
• Courageous World Changers: 50 True Stories of Daring Women of God
J.R. Seeger
• A Graveyard for Spies
Lynne Sturtevant
• Hometown: Writing a Local History or Travel Guide and The Collaboration Kit
Patricia Walkow
• New Mexico Remembers 9/11

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



An Interview with Author Barbara Koltuska-Haskin

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Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin is a clinical neuropsychologist in private practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico. With over thirty years of clinical experience, and a background in research, she is an expert in brain health who strives to provide comprehensive and compassionate care. Her first book, How My Brain Works: A Guide to Understanding It Better and Keeping It Healthy (Golden Word Books, 2020), is “an everyday guide to harnessing our most powerful mental tools in shaping the healthful and successful lives we all seek.” You’ll find Dr. Barb on her website at DrKoltuska.com.

Why did you write How My Brain Works?
The purpose of my book, which comes from my more than thirty years of experience as a neuropsychologist, is to explain how neuropsychological evaluation can help people understand how their brain is working, in order for them to reach their full potential and/or to help them heal if they are recovering from brain trauma or other brain-related problems or diseases.

I always talk to my patients about a healthy lifestyle which includes healthy eating, exercising, mindfulness, gratitude, and getting enough sleep. Our brain doesn’t work in isolation. The healthier our body is, the better our brain will function. I truly believe that food is our medicine. Therefore, I share favorite healthy recipes. My lifelong hobby has been organic gardening and organic cooking, using produce mainly from my garden. I also share how to use commonly grown weeds, herbs, and edible flowers to enhance the flavor of meals so there is no need to use heavy sauces full of chemicals, calories, or artificial flavor enhancements. As a bonus, some readers may lose weight in the process.

I hope the book inspires others to take the first step on the road to a healthy, fulfilling, and successful life — this was the main reason I wrote this book.

What was the spark that got you started on the book?
This book probably would never have been written if not for the famous writer Elizabeth Gilbert. I was “writing” How My Brain Works for about three years in my mind before I decided to sit down and actually start writing it. I have a very busy practice, and caring for my patients has always been my priority. I felt that I never had enough time to start working on my book and had pushed it out of my to-do list. However, several years ago I saw Ms. Gilbert on TV talking about aspiring writers who complain they have no time to write. “Hmm, that’s me,” my inner voice said. Ms. Gilbert had brilliant advice for all those people. She said something like, “If you are really in love, no matter how busy you are, you will always find time to see your lover. So fall in love with your book and find time to write it. Assign time every week. It can be as little as fifteen minutes.” That did it for me. I decided to work on my book every Monday evening and try to write about one page. I kept this promise to myself and tried not to miss a Monday evening. It took over three years, but I did it. Therefore, I thank her in my book for this advice. I have never met her personally, but I hope I will in the future.

What was the hardest part of putting this project together, and what was the easiest?
The hardest part was keeping the promise to myself that I would work on my book every Monday. I was able to do it most of the time. The easiest was to take pictures of flowers and herbs from my garden for my book. It was fun!

Do you have a favorite quote from the book that you’d like to share?
The motto for my book is the famous saying of the mindfulness/meditation guru Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn: “As long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than wrong with you.” Also, I strongly believe and always tell my patients, “Knowing how your brain works is powerful, because what you don’t know could hurt you. If you know what works well in your brain and what does not — for example, which of your brain functions are strong and which are weaker — you can learn to use the good parts of your brain to compensate for those that aren’t that good. For example, a person’s good visual memory can be used to facilitate compromised verbal memory. You can also do specific mental exercises to work on improving that part of your brain that isn’t functioning well.”

How did the book come together?
The book writing and research took three years. The editing cycle and searching for the publisher took about two more years. I mailed the finished manuscript to my friends and professional colleagues and asked them to give me feedback. I wanted them to honestly tell me what was wrong with the book. All of them loved it and said it had a lot of important information and should be published. I did not believe them. I felt they were being nice to me because they were my friends, so I sent the manuscript to an independent and well-regarded editor. When he got back to me, he started his evaluation with the sentence, “I was very impressed with your manuscript.” At that point, I knew I had written a good book that needed to be published. After a long and frustrating search, I finally found a reputable publisher. An email from the publisher’s editor noted that “this is an excellent manuscript.” I looked at his email and my first thought was that he just tried to be nice to me. And then I started thinking, “He is an editor, he reads a lot of manuscripts because this is his job. My book was already accepted for publication, so he has no incentive to be nice to me. If he thinks this is an excellent manuscript, it must be.” I told myself, “Barbara, pat yourself on the shoulder,” and I did.

What interesting facts did you discover while doing research for the project?
I learned a lot of detailed and important information about the health benefits of herbs and common weeds. As a matter of fact, most herbs are just weeds, which is a source of their potency. They can survive in all kinds of soil and air temperatures. I knew most of them had a health benefit. I had grown them and used them in my kitchen for many years, but I did not know their detailed health benefits. I was amazed to find out how many vitamins and microelements they contain. Also, most of the research on Alzheimer’s emphasizes that the best Alzheimer prevention is daily aerobic exercise, like a brisk walk. Isn’t it amazing that such a simple and totally cost-free thing like walking is the most important prevention?

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing How My Brain Works?
The most rewarding aspects are all of the positive feedback from my readers and the great reviews on Amazon, Kirkus, and Online Book Club. My readers greatly appreciate the simple but comprehensive guide to brain functioning and healthy living that helps them overcome, or better manage, their brain problems. Also, they like the common language of the book and the easy and engaging reading.

Have you tried your hand at writing fiction?
Not yet, but I believe I have a creative mind and a lot of stories to tell, so I may try some novels in the future.

How has music helped you in your personal, professional, or writing journey?
I always loved music, especially classical music. I have many years of formal musical education in piano and voice, and I am a classically trained mezzo-soprano. I have a CD on the internet titled Old Masters Love Songs (I think people can listen to it on Spotify now). It is very beautiful and relaxing music from the 17th and 18th century, mostly Italian. I get a lot of praises for it.

I strongly believe that studying music for many years gives a person specific sensitivity training. You need to be able to recognize and feel the emotions that the composer “placed” in his masterpiece and be able to “run” them thorough your emotional channels and perform them in such a way that the audience can feel them as well. The music you perform needs to emotionally “speak” to them. This specific training makes me very sensitive to other people’s emotions, so I can quickly “sense” what may be going on with them. It also helps me to establish a good rapport with patients and makes them feel at ease in my office.

What are your hobbies or creative outlets?
I am an organic gardener, and I eat mostly out of my garden. I also share my garden goodies with friends, neighbors, and family and freeze the rest for winter, or I pickle the vegetables. As a matter of fact, all my closest neighbors started their gardens after getting my garden goodies for some time. I am very happy that I inspired them. Now we share seeds, starter plants, and leftovers from our gardens. We are a community and it is wonderful.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I would like readers to know that if they have (or suspect they may have) brain problems, it is not the end of the world. Most problems can be treated and/or successfully managed, and people can still have a quality of life. We only have one life, why not make it as enjoyable as it can be?

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



An Interview with Author Manfred Leuthard

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Author Manfred Leuthard is a world traveler, born and raised in Switzerland, who now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His experience with nuclear engineering and computer programming, as well as piloting a long list of aircraft, gave him a wealth of knowledge to pull from for his debut novel Broken Arrow: A Nuke Goes Missing (2020). You’ll find Manfred on his website at ManfredLeuthard.com and on Facebook.

What is your elevator pitch for Broken Arrow?
This is the story of a case of blackmail, mostly seen through the eyes of the narrator and the principal protagonist Harry — a helicopter pilot — who ends up embroiled in the heist of a nuclear weapons component from Los Alamos National Laboratories.

What challenges did this work pose for you?
Writing in first person voice was a challenge, as well as dealing with sex tastefully in a romantic setting. Grammar and vocabulary were challenges, too, because English is my second (actually fifth) language. I also tried to stay away from too many “flying stories.”

How did the book come together?
I used to fly for Los Alamos Labs, so I got to know the operation a bit and that helped spark the story idea. I tried to write 500 words (or two pages) a day. Altogether, it look about two years to put together — 1 1/2 years for 60 percent of the book and three months for 40 percent (during the pandemic). I had the manuscript edited by a professional editor, found a great book cover on Fiverr, and released it through Amazon KDP publishing in July 2020.

What were the hardest kinds of scenes to write, and what were the easiest?
Humor and sarcasm came easy, as did writing the science. Writing from the antagonist’s (crook’s) viewpoint was difficult due to my lack of relevant experience. Conflict dialog was hard to write, and violence was tricky.

What settings are included in the book, and why did you choose them?
I included Northern New Mexico because I live there. I’ve traveled extensively in Mexico, so that setting made it into the book as well. Aviation and nuclear engineering, which I’ve both done for a living, factor into the story too.

Tell us a little about your main character.
Harry Scott Anderson is a 52-year-old cynic who hates being lonely. His best friend and sole companion is a German Shepherd named Zorro. Harry is tired of constantly chasing new customers and has essentially given up on romance — until he meets Erin. His observant and meticulous nature entangles him in a plot to sell stolen nuclear weapons components.

What makes this novel unique in the thriller market?
Broken Arrow has a complex plot with many twists, including blackmailing the government and letting the crooks succeed.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing Broken Arrow?
Getting it out of the door and reading reviews chock full of adulation.

What is the best encouragement or advice you’ve received in your writing journey?
Find ONE person who believes in you. And find an editor who believes in you — even after having seen your prose.

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



An Interview with Author Ed Lehner

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Retired professor Ed Lehner is a luthier, musician, and Reiki master who also finds time to journal and write poetry and short stories. In 2017, he added novelist to his list of accomplishments with the release of San Juan Sunrise. His second novel, The Awakening of Russell Henderson (2018), explores a journey of failure, depression, self-discovery, and love. You’ll find Ed on Facebook and Twitter, and on his website ELehner.com.

What is your elevator pitch for The Awakening of Russell Henderson?
Chicago investment-banker Russell Henderson — newly divorced, suffering from depression, his structured life falling apart — makes a spur-of-the-moment decision to go on a camping trip to explore the Western United States. On the second day of his trip, he picks up a woman hitchhiker in western Iowa. This sets off a chain of events that involve an American Indian sweat lodge, a Tibetan Buddhist Rinpoche, and a road trip through stunning countryside. His relationship with the woman becomes more complex, especially when the dark secret of her past comes into play.

When readers turn the last page of the book, what do you hope they will take away from it?
I hope the reader will feel uplifted. I would hope, along with the story itself, readers might come away with new insights into the struggles in their own lives or those of others.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
This being only my second book, it is hard to pick out any unique challenges. Writing a novel, for me with my lack of experience, was the main challenge. But I would have to say, describing the sweat lodge and creating the Rinpoche (from a number of Tibetan teachers I have had over the years) and giving them both due respect was probably the hardest. Originally, I was not going to include the sweat, but finally felt it was a necessary part of the story.

Tell us how the book came together.
When my wife and I lived in Iowa, we usually spent three weeks of every summer camping out west, visiting national parks, exploring and hiking, mainly in the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. Along the way I met some great folks, some being Ogallala Sioux from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota where I experienced my first sweat lodge. Also I have studied Buddhism for thirty years.

With teaching relatively small studio labs in design when I was at Iowa State University, I got to know most of my students fairly well along with their struggles, fears, their self-criticism of not being good enough, not creative enough among other things. I kept journals of these encounters along with my teaching experiences, and, for the most part, many of my students created Russell Henderson.

Also, the first book I wrote, San Juan Sunrise, dealt with childhood abuse and recovery. I found digging into abused and damaged individuals, and their subsequent recovery, rewarding. For The Awakening, I wanted to write a road-trip book to include some of my adventures and the places I had visited. I added a spiritual growth aspect, and it all fell together. I first had the idea to write the book in 2016 and fooled around with it, but didn’t begin to seriously write it until January of 2018. I sent the manuscript to the editor at the end of July 2018, and it was published by the end of November that year.

Who is your main character, and why will readers connect with him?
Russell Henderson might be anyone…anyone who is feeling trapped and wants to break free of the influences of their upbringing, their familial and societal expectations. Somebody who is suddenly confronted by the confines of their present life and is facing the necessity to have to change, especially when they realize there are no roadmaps.

When did you know you had taken the manuscript as far as it could go?
I felt Russell’s relationship with Hanna, the hitchhiker, was fully developed, but it wasn’t until he had complete closure with his family secrets which were revealed after an event that called him back to his family home in Iowa.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
It was fun to share some of my own experiences. I am a closet romantic, so I had to include a love interest and found the opposite personalities of uptight Russell and free-spirited Hanna interesting to develop and work with.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I never knew exactly if or when I really wanted to be a writer. I’ve written quite a bit about my struggles with creativity on my blog. I began to write poetry after discovering Robert Frost in a literature class in junior college. I always had an urge to create but was drawn to the visual arts and ended up as a professor of graphic design. Also, I journaled and continued to intermittently write poetry for many years. Around 2012, I began writing poetry more regularly and attempted some short stories about the same time. Prose was a different animal to me, however, and thoughts about me ever writing a novel never entered my mind. San Juan Sunrise came quite unexpectedly when I was recovering from pneumonia in 2015. The book started as a poem which morphed into a short story and just kept going and growing until I had to bring it to a close around 90,000 words. I was quite surprised. The Awakening of Russell Henderson was intentional as a novel. Once I started, it was a great road trip.

Your writing takes several forms – poetry, short stories, novels. Is there one form you’re drawn to the most when you write or read?
Poetry and short stories are my favorites to write. They are obviously quite different, mainly much faster and more immediate from doing a full-blown novel but, nonetheless, have their own challenges of creating a full story, or a feeling, with only a few words.

How has the creativity and discipline you employ as a musician (or music itself) helped you in your writing journey?
I must say I have never been a dedicated or disciplined musician. But I find rhythm in poetry as well as prose to be the same as music in many ways. I see rhythms in the sentence, paragraph, chapter, the rise and fall of the plot or the protagonist that can be inherent in either a folk song or a symphony.

What are your hobbies or creative outlets?
I am a luthier and repair stringed instruments, mainly for the B Frank Foundation in Bayfield, Colorado that has around 500 instruments they put into the hands of any child who wants to learn music, along with offering lessons and orchestra. I also like being in the mountains, four-wheeling or hiking. I do still hang out with my guitar and mandolin quite a bit. Also, of late, I have been messing around with doing some photography again. Being a designer, I look for patterns and the interactions, anomalies, and details that sometimes occur that may be easily overlooked. I try to capture these images that I consider to be abstractions of our common visual sense. I think I also see these same concepts in my writing to some degree.

Who are your favorite authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
Renée Vivian for her beautiful poetry. Henry Miller for his writing style. Ernest Hemingway for his writing style, characters, and stories. Marc Levy for his gentle and sometimes surrealistic stories. Nina George for her delightful stories set mostly in Paris, my most favorite city. Anne Hillerman for continuing her father’s legacy of stories about the Navajo people in and around the area where I live. Kerry Greenwood for her Miss Fisher series on which I am totally hooked. I am also reading SouthWest Writers authors and have liked a number of the books I have read. There are so many other great authors that have influenced both the vocabulary of my visual world as well as my writing world.

Do you have a message or a theme that recurs in your writing?
I hope I project the idea of hope and possibilities of personal growth and/or healing, despite the real or perceived roadblocks that can be frightening and overwhelming.

What is the best encouragement or advice you’ve received in your writing journey?
The first encouragement came from my wife after she read my first draft of San Juan Sunrise. She thought it was a good story and that I should try to get it published. I had several other readers look at the manuscript who also thought it was a worthy story that should be out there. The same held true with The Awakening. Then my short story “The Anchor” was awarded second place in the Support Indie Authors contest, which gave me some nice validation for my efforts.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I have been writing short stories. I also have the sequel to San Juan Sunrise in the works and am working to bring it (slowly) to fruition.

Is there anything else you would like readers to know?
I have struggled most of my life with creative expression, and it wasn’t until I had some aha moments of self-discovery that I could finally feel the freedom to both design and write. My twenty-part memoir of my road to creative freedom is on my blog, www.elehner.com. Just go to August 2020 and scroll down to the beginning.

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



An Interview with Author/Editor Patricia Walkow

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Patricia Walkow is an award-winning author whose editing skills (as well as fiction and nonfiction contributions) have shaped dozens of anthologies including Corrales Writing Group’s Kale is a Four Letter Word (2020). Pat’s most recent editing project is New Mexico Remembers 9/11 (Artemesia Publishing, October 2020), an anthology of memoir and poetry from two dozen contributors living in The Land of Enchantment. You’ll find Pat on Facebook and her Amazon author page.

What would you like readers to know about New Mexico Remembers 9/11?
September 11, 2001 is seared into America’s collective memory. Although New Mexico is two thousand miles from the sites of destruction in Manhattan, the Pentagon near Washington D.C., and a verdant field in rural western Pennsylvania, on that day, our “home” was attacked, regardless of how many miles away from New Mexico those attacks occurred. As curator and editor of New Mexico Remembers 9/11, I wanted to create a body of work that enshrines the connectedness New Mexico has to the rest of the country.

One of the things I learned during the process was the extent to which the contributors—young and older—were affected, and how those wounds are not fully closed. It is my hope their poems and stories helped them make sense of it all. My wish is their evocative poems and prose will help readers who, to this day, still grieve.

What were you looking for in a submission to the anthology?
I was looking for prose and poetry. Happily, I received both. There were two requirements for submitting work: 1) the writer had to be currently living in New Mexico, even if they were not New Mexico residents on 9/11/2001, and 2) the submitter had to be a writer. That is why I opened up submissions to some local writers’ groups.

A few of the contributors were children or young adults on 9/11/2001. I wanted to hear their experiences and perspectives, and include them. As with any set of submissions, there is considerable variety in styles and abilities of writers. In the case of this particular anthology, the differences were related more to style than ability. As a result, I didn’t need to reject any of the submissions. However, I standardized some technical aspects, such as the use of dashes, fonts, indenting, etc. I read each story multiple times and provided a critique to the writer, identifying what was working well, what was confusing, or what was a problem. Using that approach, each story became more polished.

Although New Mexico Remembers 9/11 is not a SouthWest Writers publication, I approached this work with the spirit of SWW as a driving factor—writers helping writers—providing a publishing opportunity for those who submitted. Local publisher Artemesia Publishing (from Tijeras, New Mexico) took on the project. If that had not happened, I was fully prepared to release the book through KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).

Tell us how the book came together.
I had the idea of a 9/11 anthology in my mind for a few years. I had co-authored a story with my husband, Walter, about our own 9/11 experiences. We had been separated by distance and wrote an account of our days from 9/11 until I finally arrived home on 9/14. Certainly, there are thousands of stories about those days. They needed to be written. Originally, I pitched the idea to my own critique group, but that didn’t go very far. So, I figured I’d suggest the idea to SouthWest Writers, opening it up to them, and also to New Mexico Press Women.

The entire book took about eighteen months from initiation to publication set for October 13, 2020. Originally, I thought I’d wait to publish it until 2021 on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Instead, I opted to publish it in 2020 and give myself through 2021 to market the book. Each submission was originally written by the author, reviewed and critiqued by me, revised by the author, then reviewed and critiqued again by me. A few required a longer cycle. The publisher had someone do the cover design, but I did legwork ahead of time. The flowing New Mexico flag is something I found and wanted on the front cover. The cover design process was easy and quick, since the publisher and I were pretty much on the same page about it.

Why were you the perfect editor for this project?
I can’t admit to being the perfect editor for this project. However, I’ve edited several anthologies, and most of them have won awards for editing. I used a couple of beta readers to help with the 9/11 anthology. In addition, publisher Geoff Habiger and I made a good go of it, but we did find some additional errors and had to make more changes. Editing is an iterative process, and over the years I’ve learned that what an editor sees on the screen is often seen differently in print. I always print a manuscript to edit it, mark it up, and only then make changes on the electronic copy of the manuscript. It uses a lot of ink, but so does printing a book with lots of errors in it. Often, I use Word’s voice feature to read the text aloud. That can catch errors the eye no longer sees.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
There are twenty-five contributors to the anthology. That is a larger set of writers to work with than I am used to, and the review process was quite intense for a while. One of the challenges I had was writers wanting to keep certain punctuation or phrasing I thought was more confusing than illuminating, and some of them just not right. For example, some used dashes inappropriately, or left double or triple blank lines as breaks…in general, a lack of consistency. But as editor, I considered it my job to create the consistency. Any anthology I curate and edit will have a polished, consistent look. Reading the stories, I noted discrepancies between “facts” about the events and documented facts. Each fact in a story was verified, and these verified facts were used, instead. Had a writer not agreed to this consistent look or had been adamant about using an incorrect “fact,” it would have been a deal breaker for including that piece in the anthology. Fortunately, that did not happen.

Do you have favorite quotes from the book that you’d like to share?
There are so many. Here are a few:

The ability of the human spirit to surmount the tragedy of 9/11 is not forgotten in New Mexico. ~ Elaine Carson Montague

We need to know we are something together which we are not and cannot be apart. ~ Ryan P. Freeman

…spirits dropping from the sky – no way to unremember… ~ Sylvia Ramos Cruz

Back before—
before the trajectory of history
took an unexpected turn.
~ Janet Ruth

What was the best part of putting this project together?
I got to know some writers in a deeper way than I had beforehand. The fact they entrusted me with some of their deepest feelings and beliefs is very humbling. It has been my honor to work with them.

What did you learn in editing/publishing New Mexico Remembers 9/11 that you can apply to future projects?
Know what you want the final product to look like and stick to that vision.

Do you prefer the creating, editing or researching aspect of a writing project?
Researching is fun. Writing is fun, but researching still continues as you write. Editing is not “fun” but it is part of the process. I prefer the writing part.

How has your experience writing nonfiction benefited your other writing?
Facts are important whether you are writing nonfiction or fiction. To make fiction “real,” I think you have to use real facts in stories, whether you’re talking about a sailboat, or a murder investigation. Some fiction I write requires a good amount of research. If you’re writing complete fantasy and create your own world…well, more power to you.

What advice do you have for beginning or discouraged writers?
Understand why you write. To express yourself? To heal wounds? To make money? To tell a great story? I don’t write for money (which is a good thing, I’ve come to realize). Most importantly: WRITE. Be brave enough to have people read what you write. What you think you are saying may not be the way it reads. Join or start a critique group. It’s a huge help.

What writing projects are you working on now?
Fellow SouthWest Writers member Chris Allen and I are working on a murder/mystery novel with a bit of romance. It is set in hills and mountains of southeastern New Mexico, Lincoln County. We are on our second draft and haven’t killed each other. Yet. (We work quite well together, actually). The book has a working title of Lake Fortuna.

I am also considering curating another anthology for publication in late 2022. There are several topics in mind, and if I do pursue this project, I will open submissions to members of SouthWest Writers and other writing groups.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
The first word in my 1st grade reader was “LOOK.” I am still looking with my eyes, with my heart, with my mind. It is an endless source of writing inspiration.

Read more about Pat in her two 2016 SWW interviews—one on writing and the other about her debut novel, The War Within, The Story of Josef.

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



An Interview with Author Lynne Sturtevant

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Lynne Sturtevant combines decades of tourism experience with a love of local history to produce her nonfiction books. In a span of two months she published her three most recent releases: Create Successful Walking Tours (November 2019), Hometown: Writing a Local History or Travel Guide (January 2020), and The Collaboration Kit (January 2020). Find all of Lynne’s books on her website LynneSturtevant.com and her Amazon author page, and connect with her on her blog HiddenNewMexico.com and on Facebook.

How did these closely tied books evolve from the spark of an idea to their first draft?
All three books started as blog posts. For several years, I had a blog called The History Biz for folks working in local history and tourism. When I moved to New Mexico four years ago, I stopped updating the blog. About a year ago, I read through the posts. There was a lot of good content there. So, I decided to repurpose some of it as eBooks. The material needed to be updated and significantly expanded. I knew how to do that. What I didn’t know how to do was self-publish.

What was the most challenging aspect of publishing three books in two months?
The biggest challenge was just sitting down and doing it. Even though I’m comfortable with technology, there was a learning curve. To be honest, I wouldn’t have attempted it if I hadn’t taken a self-publishing workshop from SouthWest Writers. The process is tedious, but it’s worth it. I’ve become a huge fan of self-publishing.

Who are the audiences for the three books, and what would you like readers to know about each of these releases?
The Collaboration Kit and Create Successful Walking Tours are practical guides for people working in county historical societies, small museums, and historic houses, as well as entrepreneurs who offer history-themed walking tours and events. The books describe how to find interesting program ideas, how to work with other organizations, how to properly price events, how to deal with unruly customers, how much to pay guides, how to effectively use social media, etc.

Hometown: Writing a Local History or Travel Guide is for writers and people who would like to become writers. It’s a complete guide to conceptualizing, writing, publishing, and marketing a local interest book. I published two local interest books about ten years ago. Both are still in print and selling well. So, I have good information to share on this topic. Whether it’s a town history, a family saga, a neighborhood’s story or a collection of legends, a local interest book is a manageable project. The research is fun and there are lots of interesting and lucrative marketing opportunities that are only available for local books.

How has your experience writing nonfiction affected or benefited your fiction writing?
I’m convinced writing both fiction and nonfiction makes me a better writer. I have more techniques to draw from. When I find opportunities to use scene setting and character description in nonfiction pieces, it always strengthens the prose. I also do web copywriting. Part of my process is to interview people about what they want for their websites. I don’t just focus on their answers, though. I listen to the way they speak, their tone, their vocabulary. Because I’ve had lots of practice writing dialogue, I can bring their voices to life on their websites. As far as what nonfiction brings to the table, it’s editing. You learn to spot the chaff when you have to adhere to word count limits.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I’ve got two projects in the works. My novel The Good Neighbors, a contemporary fantasy about a troop of Celtic fairies rampaging through the hills of West Virginia, is in final editing. I’m in the outlining stage of another book for the local history crowd. The working title is Haunted: Profiting from the Paranormal. It’s about how to create ghost walks, graveyard tours, investigations of haunted houses, that sort of thing. I plan to self-publish both.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I offer website design and copywriting services to writers, artists and other creative people. You can find out more about that at www.magicwordscreative.com.

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



An Interview with Author BR Kingsolver

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BR Kingsolver combines adult urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and science fiction to craft imaginative worlds (currently eighteen published novels across five series). The author’s latest release is Knights Magica (2020), the fifth book in the Rosie O’Grady’s Paranormal Bar and Grill series. Find all the author’s books on BRKingsolver.com and Amazon, and connect on Facebook and Twitter.

What is your elevator pitch for Knights Magica?
The exciting conclusion of the best-selling five book Rosie O’Grady’s Paranormal Bar and Grill series. Find out why these books have been at the top of Amazon’s Supernatural Thriller lists for more than a year.

Who is your main character, and why will readers connect with her?
The main character is Erin McLane, a former assassin for the Illuminati who discovered the secret order was working for their own dark ends instead of for the good of mankind. It’s a redemption story, and people seem to connect with a hard, capable, but naïve woman trying to find her way in the world. She knows a hundred ways to kill someone, but has never encountered a coin-operated washing machine before. Readers also seem to like all the quirky characters at the bar, from the pink-haired half-elven astrophysicist, to the aeromancer waitress, to the pyromancer chef.

What was the most difficult aspect of world building for this series?
I constructed a city in a place where there isn’t one on the Oregon coast, and making sure the details remained consistent throughout all the books in the series was a bit of a challenge. That and describing the Fae village that lies between the Underworld and the city of Westport.

Tell us how the book came together.
I actually bought three pre-made book covers from another author. I didn’t have a story idea, or a character in mind. At the time, I was working on a book for another series, and then I wrote a book for still another series. When those books didn’t sell as well as I hoped, I started working on the first book in the Shadow Hunter series with only a series title and a vague idea of a girl/woman running from something. I really intended the series to be more lighthearted, and there are moments of that and of humor, but parts are much darker than I originally intended.

I wrote the first six chapters—in first person—trying to hide who the protagonist was and what she was running from, but it became increasingly difficult. I could have done it easier in third person, but most urban fantasies currently are written in first. So, I went back and wrote a prologue to give her back story, which turned out to be problematic. A lot of people don’t like prologues. I wrote the book in about six weeks, then turned it over to my editor and she loved it.

I’ve been working with the same editor my entire writing career. She does it all—comments on story, characters, sentence structure, spelling, grammar, the whole works. We usually do three passes with revisions, then I format the final manuscript and publish it. I released Shadow Hunter on April 17, 2019 and had my best month ever. The response was far beyond anything I expected. The book hit #1 in at least five sub-categories on Amazon. When I released the second book, Night Stalker, six weeks later, everything just took off. Dark Dancer is the third book—and the last cover that I originally bought. It released in August of 2019. Three best sellers in a row. I didn’t expect such an incredible response to the books.

Is there a scene in Knights Magica that you’d love to see play out in a movie?
Perhaps the part where Erin is taken underground, into the land of faery. But the scene I think would truly be fun is the costume party New Year’s scene at the bar from Night Stalker. The aeromancer juggling three witches would be incredible to stage.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
This was the first series I started with a story idea designed for a trilogy. That goes back to buying those three book covers. I was pleased with the way that worked out. The second trilogy with the same characters didn’t work out so well, and ended up only being two books.

In the past year you’ve published five books in the Rosie O’Grady’s Paranormal Bar and Grill series. What’s your secret to releasing so many books in such a short amount of time?
Sometimes a story just flows. I wrote the first three books in less than six months. The last two in the series took ten months to write. But I had few distractions with the first three books. I had recently retired and was sitting alone in Baltimore waiting for my house to sell. I really didn’t have much else to do except write.

Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently if you started your writing career today?
Start a mailing list and engage my readers. Be more active on social media. I’m an introvert, and all that is difficult, but if you don’t have a large publisher spending large sums to promote you, then you have to do it yourself.

What typically comes first for you: a character? A scene? A story idea?
A character. For one of my books, I had a character in mind for years, but then I had a story idea that was right for her, so I wrote it. Scenes are often adaptable to many different characters or stories.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?
I’m a pantser. I might have an idea of how I want a story to end, but very rarely do I know how I’m going to get there. That’s part of the excitement of writing.

What writing projects are you working on now?
My current book is called Magitek. It’s set about 200 years in the future after a series of pandemics and wars ended with an act that broke the world and opened a rift into other dimensions. In the aftermath of all that, most of the world is dominated by a magiocracy. (Magitek is currently on pre-order through Amazon, with a release date of August 30.)

Anything else you’d like readers to know?
I have four series of urban fantasy novels published. The ebooks are available from Amazon and print books from almost all online bookstores, such as Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, etc. Two of my series, Dark Streets and Rosie O’Grady’s Paranormal Bar and Grill, are available as audiobooks, published by Tantor. Audio production of my Chameleon Assassin series is scheduled to start in August 2020. The audio books are widely available almost everywhere on line.

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



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