6 North Cafe-Wentzville 2/21: Author shares blueprint for having dream career

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Meet children's authors Orozco & McAdams 2/21 at 6 North Cafe-Ballwin

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Henderson: Story brings writing into focus

Welcome to Helen Henderson, a former feature-story writer and correspondent who has also written fiction as long as she could remember. Her heritage reflects the contrasts of her Gemini sign. She is a descendent of a coal-miner's daughter and an aviation flight engineer. This dichotomy shows in her writing, which crosses genres from historical adventures and westerns to science fiction and fantasy. In the world of romantic fantasy, she is the author of two series: the Dragshi Chronicles and the Windmaster novels. Helen calls herself a tour guide to the stars, the Old West, and worlds of imagination and invites readers to journey with her.

Find her on the web at:

AuthorWebsite  /   Blog   /   Facebook   /   Google+   /  Goodreads

The Writers’ Lens is about "Bringing fiction into focus." What brings your writing into focus-- the characters, the stories, the love of words? I admit it, I am a plotter. For me, the story is what brings my writing into focus. Scenes, bits of dialog, and settings are captured as the video of the story runs through my mind. Sometimes only a bullet or two, or a paragraph is captured. At others, the keyboard taps out a full scene or chapter. But the time the storyboard is finished, a fairly polished draft of the complete story fills the three-ring binder. That does not mean that I plotted out the entire story, once my characters catch onto me, they take control. Although when I begin writing I think I know how a story might end, those whose tales are being scribed sometimes change the ending, and always take a different path to get there than the one I had envisioned. How do you find time to write and do a demanding job? Although I am not paid for it in earthly coin, I consider my  activities as a 24/7 caregiver as a demanding job. Carving out time to write means skipping a nap or more often taking advantage of time spent waiting for others. It is surprising how much writing can be accomplished in doctor's offices and hospital waiting rooms. And if computers aren't allowed, editing a paper copy helps keep the stories going along. Fill in the blanks: Writing/Editing books is like a twisting path. You never know where you will end up. And as fuel for the journey? Pizza, a glass of frozen white sangria, ending with a chocolate éclair for a sugar rush. What inspired your latest book? Hatchlings Curse is the second book in the fantasy series, the Dragshi Chronicles. The start of the chronicles was a short story that that morphed into a full-length novel. The characters refused to leave, demanding to tell more of their lives. Since then the tales of the dragon shifter Lord Branin Llewlyn and the trader girl Anastasia have expanded into a series. One of the problems was aging Anastasia from the young girl of the short story to the young woman of the first novel then a mature woman in the later books. Making it more difficult, there was a real Anastasia who was four years old when the first piece was written, and is now nine going on nineteen. And as far as what inspired the original piece, growing up on a farm I enjoyed lying on the grass watching the clouds. Airplanes were part of my heritage and I always wanted to fly. However since becoming a pilot (or my second choice an astronaut) never occurred, at least as an author I can soar with dragons. What do you think readers will like about your book? I have always preferred to be in the shadows, not out in the limelight. Instead of answering this as the proud author (it can be said I'm prejudiced), I'll share a few phrases penned by reviewers. "The characters are fantastic,"  and "The scenes are truly stunningly written." I will say this, I am very proud of the fact that romance has learned to take its rightful place alongside action in my novels. A factor that I attribute to working with the multi-published author, Carol McPhee. Would you share a bit about your next project? There are several exciting things on the horizon. Hatchling’s Mate, the third book in the Dragshi Chronicles is nearing publication next year. The fourth book, Dragon Descendents, is being written. On a different front, for those who know me, I also have a non-fiction background. Being readied for a spring 2015 release in connection with an organization anniversary is From the Back Street to Main Street – The History of the Methodist Congregation of Middletown Point. HATCHLING'S MATE: Lord Branin Llewlyn is a dragshi, a human who can exchange bodies with a dragon. After millennia of waiting...and searching, Branin and his dragon counterpart, Llewlyn, have found their intended mates. But, for the dragshi, the freedom of flight comes with a price. Now Branin has to find a cure for the childlessness of his kind. Cryptic references to mating flights add hope, but dark references about the deaths of suitors threatens not only his life, but the dreams of all dragon shifters. Click HERE for an more excerpts and a free read of the first chapter of Hatchlings Curse. Buy Links:   Amazon / Kobo / iTunes / Barnes and Noble

Brenda Villanueva: Enjoys flexibility of voiceover, audiobook career

AUTHOR'S NOTE: "The Mother Serpent's Daughter" is probably the most challenging of my stories for a narrator, with characters as young as four and ancient Maya, Inca and Aztec names that few people I know would ever attempt to pronounce. Thanks Brenda, for giving it another layer of depth and life! Welcome to Brenda Villanueva, a professional voice over actor in the San Francisco bay area.  Brenda is currently represented by MDT Agency and has a young, quirky, smart and engaging voice.  Recent projects just completed:  Competitive Mom Radio spot for Footlocker, Announce for Humblebundle.com, Announcer and Characters for Video trailer for Wattle & Comb Egg Farms and the audiobook "The Mother Serpent’s Daughter" by T.W. Fendley.  www.brendavillanueva.com Tell us about your training and next steps in your voiceover & acting career? My adventure in voiceover began years ago when I used to work in advertising. I had a Creative Director stop me one day in the hallway and asked me “Have you ever thought about doing voiceover?” I remembered I had no clue what he was talking about but he encouraged me to look into learning more about the industry. That conversation was in 2007 and in 2008 I started training in voice acting at Voicetrax of San Francisco. I trained in acting as well as various genres such as TV and radio commercials, character development for video games and animation, narration and industrials as well as audiobooks. I also take additional voiceover classes in Los Angeles and improv sessions at B.A.T.S. in San Francisco. Moving forward, I would like to continue producing more audiobooks as well as continuing my training in voiceover. Why/when did you decide to do audiobooks? I decided to pursue audiobooks because I enjoyed the flexibility of performing and the time frame needed to produce the audiobook. You don’t have to record and produce an audiobook in a tight turn around. One can work on it a few hours every day including editing and flush out some great characters within the time frame you are given. I felt  really connected to the characters in my most recent audiobook “The Mother Serpent’s Daughter” and even missed them when the audiobook was completed. That’s how it should always feel when you finish an audiobook. Recently a friend received several auditions on her book.  She liked their voices, but thought the inflection was wrong (too little, too much) and one gave more of a dramatic reading than a narration. Is it appropriate to give that feedback and ask for "reauditions?" It is definitely a great idea to ask for “reauditions” after hearing several auditions that were not close to what the author was looking for. Voice talent usually interpret the script based off their extensive or limited training and usually we are only given limited direction. If an author wants the talent to “reaudition” the book with additional and new direction, we the voice talent are more than happy to oblige. Hear a sample of "The Mother Serpent's Daughter": Audible | Amazon

White: Author of a memoir...with a dog

Welcome to Rossandra White, author of the memoir Loveyoubye: Holding Fast, Letting Go, and Then There's the Dog, (She Writes Press, April 2014). She’s a fourth-generation South African raised in Zambia and now lives in Laguna Beach, California, where she hikes the hills and canyons with her Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Fergie and Jake. Ms. White is in the process of putting finishing touches on her YA novel, Monkey's Wedding, which is set in Zimbabwe.

What brings your writing into focus—the characters, the stories, or the love of words? Characters do it for me. If something’s not working in my story it’s usually because I haven’t connected in any meaningful way to my characters. That’s where the heart lies.  I look to them to lead me where I need to go.

What are your top three reasons for writing? These three writers put it best:

• Elie Wiesel: “I write to understand as much as to be understood.”
• Ted Hughes: “What's writing really about? It's about trying to take fuller possession of the reality of your life.”
• Dani Shapiro: “Everything you need to know about life can be learned from a genuine and ongoing attempt to write.”

Is there a different genre or type of book you’d love to try and write? Oh yes! I’d love to write a story involving a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, along the lines of Must Love Dogs, or The Accidental Tourist.

What do I think people will like about your book? If you mean the above-mentioned book I have yet to write—no outline or anything yet—I’m thinking people would like it for the same reason they’ve liked my memoir, Loveyoubye: Holding Fast, Letting Go, and Then There’s the Dog.  A brief quote from a reviewer might help.  “Rossandra is such an exciting writer. She has an amazing command of the language and her emotional pitch of tragedy and triumph is sublime.”

http://rossandrawhite.com
http://twitter.com/RossandraWhite
http://www.facebook.com/RossandraWhiteauthorpage

LOVEYOUBYE -- A soul-searching story of how a journey home to South Africa empowers one woman to make a life-affirming choice when all seems lost.

The book can be purchased at the following locations: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indie-Bound and Book Depository.

Klann-Moren's award-winning novel rooted in facts of 1965 Selma civil rights' march

Welcome to author and artist, Nancy Klann-Moren, who began her writer's journey as a creative outlet on long plane rides while traveling for work. Her one-page ideas soon developed into fully realized short stories. Her goal―to create unique stories told in a distinctive voice.  Soon, some garnered awards, and publication in anthologies. Eleven of them are published in her collection of short stories titled, Like The Flies On The Patio. One morning while in a writers' workshop, she read an excerpt from a story titled, Fate Carries Its Own Clock. When she finished, the instructor asked what she was doing for the next couple years, because, “What you have written isn’t a short story, it’s a novel.” After a year of foot dragging, the seed he planted germinated, and grew into the award-winning novel, The Clock of Life. Amazon link: www.nancyklann-moren.com What brings your writing into focus-- the characters, the stories, the love of words? My stories tend to all be character-driven. This was definitely true while writing The Clock Of Life. I lived with these unique, compelling characters through their emotional journeys, and felt responsible for being true to their circumstances, and for revealing their weaknesses and strengths honestly. And, of course, fell in love with many of them. How much fact is in your fiction? Because the father of my protagonist, Jason Lee Rainey, had been involved in the civil rights struggle, there is a good deal of fact in this story. While creating the man's journal about his participation in the Selma to Montgomery march, I was able to score newspaper clippings originally published in the Selma Times-Journal during those days in March, 1965. With these, and the help of Google, the journal is most definitely historically factual.  And, by way of stories told to the boy by his father's best friend, other important, real events are highlighted. Even though the town in The Clock Of Life is fictitious, its small town charm came to life after I took a road trip through the back roads of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Hadlee possesses the real spirit of the many communities I visited.  I had my husband tell me the true story about the time he got his first suit, and the unfortunate instructions his mother gave the tailor. To go further with this would be a spoiler. Those who have already read the book know the outcome of that one. What’s your favorite writing accessory or reference? The hours I've spent scouring my tattered Thesaurus in the pursuit of turning a bland phrase into a vivid impression, are many. I've heard it referred to as the "book nerd's bible." Amen. If you could borrow one person’s zest for writing and/or life, whose and why? This one's easy - Ray Bradbury. I like to start my day with a cup of coffee and a page from The Stories of Ray Bradbury - just one of each - enough to charge my creative batteries. One day I can read about a giant sea creature who falls in love with a lighthouse, the next day a “wonderful white ice cream summer suit! White, white as the August moon!”   Describe the best writer you know and something wonderful he or she has written. This is a follow-up from the previous answer. “The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me. The feeling I have every day is very much the same as it was when I was twelve. In any event, here I am, eighty years old, feeling no different, full of a great sense of joy, and glad for the long life that has been allowed me. I have good plans for the next ten or twenty years, and I hope you’ll come along.” Written by Ray Bradbury on his 80th birthday. If you could meet one of your characters, who would it be and where would you meet? I would like to meet up with Jason Lee's best friend, Samson Johnson. We would meet at their secret spot on the flat boulder overlooking Mosquito Lake. I'm a sucker for Samson's precocious nature and his ability to rise above insults and stay positive and forward thinking. Is there anything else you would like to add? Yes. Readers hold the key to any writer's heart. Readers are our raison d'être, and I am particularly grateful to everyone who has expressed appreciation for my efforts. Website: www.nancyklann-moren.com Facebook:  Nancy Klann Twitter:  @klanncy THE CLOCK OF LIFE: In the small town of Hadlee, Mississippi, during the 1980's, Jason Lee Rainey struggles to find his way among the old, steadfast Southern attitudes about race, while his friendship with a black boy, Samson Johnson, deepens. By way of stories from others, Jason Lee learns about his larger-than-life father, who was killed in Vietnam.  He longs to become that sort of man, but doesn't believe he has it in him. In The Clock Of Life he learns lessons from the past, and the realities of inequality.  He flourishes with the bond of friendship; endures the pain of senseless death; finds the courage to stand up for what he believes is right; and comes to realize he is his father's son. This story explores how two unsettling chapters in American history, the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, affect the fate of a family, a town, and two boyhood friends. Book Awards and recognition for The Clock Of Life: 2014 - Finalist, Best Kindle Book Awards, Literary Fiction 2014 - Second Place, Writer's Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards, Fiction 2013 - Finalist, Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Fiction 2013 - Finalist, Readers' Favorite Book Awards, Southern Fiction BRAG (Book Readers Appreciation Group) and five-star review AIA (Awesome Indie Approved) Gold Medal and five-star review

Authors of FOLLY BEACH DANCES at Wentzville 6 North Cafe on 2/7

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