books just slightly out of this world
I will be a panelist at the Moravian Writers’ Conference in Bethlehem, PA in June. My panel is called “Writing Moravians: Stories from the Archives.” I’ll be talking about the research behind my novel The Star Family with writers from Lehigh University and Craig Atwood, from Moravian College. Craig researched the period in Moravian history that inspired me to write The Star Family, and I’m looking forward to talking with him more.
Come join us in Bethlehem the first weekend of June.
I’ve been a writer since my teenage years in Memphis and have found that meeting new people and visiting new places has always stirred and fueled my imagination. My favorite books are mysteries. Growing up, I read Agatha Christie, Mary Higgins Clark, and Phyllis A. Whitney novels, which helped me to find my own voice and writing style. I’ve set my female sleuth novels in Memphis, Boston, Cape Cod, World War II Germany, Seattle, Victoria, BC, and Colorado, my home now.
Although I still love the mystery genre, for the past few years I’ve felt God nudging me to write an inspirational book. Thus was born, Angel Encounters.
Angel Encounters is a collection of real-life experiences with angels, spirits, demons, or Jesus himself. I gathered the stories from across the United States and several foreign countries. They are stories of near-death experiences, angel warfare, unexplained rescues, messages from the other side, appearances of departed loved ones, help from unlikely earth angels, and visits from God and Jesus in a time of need.
The book is designed to give readers hope and assurance of God’s love for them.
Jonna Turner
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002W7HIPE
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jonna-Turner/211333342228949?ref=hl
At the MSU-Denver publishing panel last Tuesday, Lynda Hilburn talked about her publishing history. She says she was like so many other writers, happy to get interest in her manuscript. Excited by an offer, she published with a small press against her agent’s advice. The problem? Distribution.
When she got her rights back after they dithered over the third one in the series, she put them up herself. And struck gold. Well, maybe silver.
That’s when she came to the attention of a large agency in NYC who made a deal with Jo Fletcher books, a fabulous editor.
The books are great fun. Psychologist Kismet Knight treats vampire wanna-bes. But wait, some of them actually ARE vampires.
Lynda and I will be on a panel at Left Coast Crime tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. — “This Can’t Be Normal, Can It?” Hope to see you there.
A huge thank you to Kristin Nelson from Nelson Literary Agency, Jennifer Ryan from Fulcrum Publishing, Lynda Hilburn who writes the Kismet Vampire Psychology series, and Betsy Dornbusch writer and editor of Electric Spec for a fabulous panel on the state of publishing today at Auraria Writers Week. A ton of information, free books and great fun. Thanks to David Boop for the picture.
Thanks to Cynthia Kuhn, fabulous professor and Mysteristas web magician, for taking this picture of me reading a story at the Faculty Reading the day before.
Come learn about how publishing has changed in the last few years from top professionals in the field.
Where: MSU-Denver, Tivoli 320BC
When: Tuesday, March 19 from 12:15-1:30 p.m.
Who: Literary Agent Kristin Nelson, Publisher Jennifer Ryan, Editor & Writer Betsy Dornbusch, and Writer Lynda Hilburn
Email crater@msudenver.edu or call 303-556-4095 for more information.
Hope to see you there!
Jerry Dubs writes about Egypt. Need I say more? His novel Imhotep tells the story of three people who walk through a time portal and find themselves in ancient Egypt. Now he’s working on a sequel.
Would you please tell us a little about yourself?
I’m a retired journalist. I covered state government, crime, local government, education, wrote feature stories and did a few years as an investigative journalist. I started with The Hanover Evening Sun and then spent 25 years with The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa.
My wife, Deb, and I have been married for 32 years. We have two sons, a daughter and one granddaughter. Deb and I have recently embarked on an experiment. While we were raising our kids we had a four-bedroom home, two-car garage, patio furniture, grill, and the works. Over the past four years we’ve been downsizing by squeezing ourselves into progressively smaller apartments. Now we’ve taken the next step. We’ve sold everything except our laptop computers, clothing and tennis gear. Everything we own fits into a Honda Civic.
Our idea is to travel the world (focusing on warm climates), living in furnished condos, apartments, homes, whatever we can find. Our first stop is Myrtle Beach, S.C., so we’re still in driving range of two of our kids. If we like the experience, we’ll start moving farther afield … Florida, St. Maarten, Ecuador, the Canary Islands, Malta, places like that.
Would you please tell us about your latest book?
The Earth Is My Witness is the last novel I published. Its protagonist is an accidental Existential-Buddhist detective.
It’s set in Hanover, Pa., where I spent the first half of my life and I had a lot of fun using my experiences there as fodder for the story. The story begins with the protagonist waking up in an extremely difficult situation and having no memory of how he got there. Things just careen out of control from there as he struggles to find out who killed his best friend.
What inspired you to write this novel?
Two things … I wanted to try my hand at a detective story with an unusual protagonist, one who would give me an opportunity to inject some weight into the mystery. And, I kept having a recurring nightmare about a body being buried in the basement of the home I grew up in. At least I hope it was a nightmare.
What does a typical writing day look like?
I’m a morning writer. (And a coffee geek, perhaps they go hand-in-hand?) After breakfast I settle in with music – jazz, world or classical when I’m writing, Diana Krall, Paul Simon, Dylan when I’m rewriting or editing. I write for two or three hours. If I’m unhappy with the plot or need to sort out some outlining, I usually do that with paper and pen. Using pen and paper rather than easily edited computer keystrokes makes me think more before I put words on paper.
Afternoons I usually play tennis or take a long walk.
Can you describe your writing process?
Usually I’ll kick an idea around in my head for a couple weeks, make some notes, do some research. For my next novel, The Buried Pyramid, I did a fair amount of reading about the era just after King Djoser, looking for historical events to serve as a skeleton for the novel.
I’m an outliner, so I spend a lot of time plotting, making notes about the kind of secondary characters I’ll need, jotting down ideas for scenes.
I usually write a chapter in one or two days. The next day I rewrite it. The third day, I read it, hopefully making very few changes, and then I move ahead to expand my outline and notes for the next chapter. The next day I give the chapter a final read. If I’m happy with it, I start writing the following chapter.
It isn’t unusual for me to wake up during the night with a plot idea, a snatch of conversation or a specific scene, and race out to write it down.
When I’ve finished the novel, I let it sit for a week or two and then read it, making notes. Then I begin the rewrite. When that is finished I send it off to a friend, who is a copy editor. When he’s finished, I make those corrections, and hopefully, I’m done.
How did you prepare to write about the book’s specific area or field of study?
Deb and I visited Egypt on our honeymoon, so I visited most of the scenes in Imhotep and The Buried Pyramid. I also do a lot of research, both hardback books and visiting web sites.
How did you come up with your title?
For Imhotep I just used the main character’s name. It said EGYPT and it felt right because of the central plot twist. The Earth Is My Witness is a quote from Buddha. My detective is Buddhist and there is a body buried in a secret place. For my next book, there is a pyramid called the Buried Pyramid. It is in the right location and time frame for the novel and there are some mysteries about it that dovetail with plot ideas I had. And it sounds mysterious, right?
What advice do you have for writers who have not yet been published?
Amazon has been wonderful for me. If you can’t find an agent, follow the publishing guidelines and put your book up as an eBook. Don’t charge too much. I might believe that my book is worth $20 a copy. But if no one buys it at that price, I must be wrong. I priced Imhotep at $2.99 and it was selling a few copies, a dozen or so a month. I dropped the price to 99 cents and it started moving. My best month I sold about 3,000 copies.
Excluding family, name three people who either inspired you or influenced your creativity.
Mark Twain. Perhaps the American best writer, both his writing and observations are incredible. Gore Vidal. His historic novels are witty, intelligent and fun. The Dalai Lama. His writing is clear and uncluttered, as are his ideas.
If your book were chocolate, what kind would it be and why?
Dark chocolate. (It’s the only kind I eat.) It has more flavor and yet it’s smooth.
Tell us about your main character’s psyche or personality. What led her (or him) to be the person s/he is today?
Tim Hope, the main character of both Imhotep and The Buried Pyramid, is an artist who begins the stories as an injured innocent, becomes a powerful, confident leader (in the first novel) and then is hammered by fate in The Buried Pyramid. I am still writing it, but so far he has absorbed the blows, and, though nearly broken, has begun to recover.
When I wrote about him I wanted to explore how a person who is sensitive, moral and intelligent would react to extreme situations, how they could reconcile reality with their idea of fairness.
Describe your protagonist as a mash-up of three famous people or characters.
David Lamb, the protagonist in The Earth Is My Witness, has the savour faire of the Dude, the imposing physicality of Woody Allen and the social skills of Shrek. Yet he still figures things out.
If you could host a magical dinner party, who are the six people (living or otherwise) you’d include?
Bob Dylan, circa 1964; the Dalai Lama, now; Thomas Jefferson, at the time of the writing of the Declaration of Independence; Isaac Newton, at the height of his mathematical powers; Carl Sagan, anytime; and Jane Fonda, when she made Barbarella.
What’s next for you?
I am nearly finished with the first draft of The Buried Pyramid. It is a sequel to Imhotep, my first and most successful novel.
Continuing the story of the main characters of Imhotep, it begins with the death of King Djoser and introduces some new characters, both in ancient Egypt and in the modern day. Like Imhotep there is a bit of time travel. I used time travel as a way to make the story of Imhotep possible. In The Buried Pyramid I’m using it a bit more, both as a plot technique and as a way to write about free will, randomness and fate.
It’s been a blast to write. I hope readers will have fun with it.
When I saw that S. P. Hendrick had written a series called “The Glastonbury Chronicles,” I was so happy to have more to read about one of my favorite sacred sites in the world, so I invited her to drop by and tell us about the series, the latest book in it and her other work. Please welcome S.P. Hendrick. 
Would you please tell us a little about yourself?
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California, and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English from San Fernando Valley State College which is now California State University at Northridge. I also studied at UCLA Extension, taking classes in Television writing. My first TV script, which was for The Man From U.N.C.L.E., was on the story editor’s desk when the show was cancelled. Under the nom de plume Jennifer Starkey I did publicity for such rock groups as Buffalo Springfield (you can find my photo with Neil Young, Stephen Stills and the rest of the group in their boxed CD set) and others. During that period and under that name I was a columnist for Teen Life, a national magazine, and my first novel, Sunset Offramp was published.
In 1991 my husband Jay Mayer and I went to a gathering in Millom, England and met my future publisher, Peter Paddon (Pendraig Publishing). I returned to Britain in 1994 to research the first volume of “The Glastonbury Chronicles”, Uneasy Lies The Head, and visited him in Luton while I was there, sending him a draft of the book when it was finished. He replied that if he ever got around to publishing fiction, he would love to publish it.
A few years later he came over for a visit, fell in love with our housemate, Linda, and moved over here to marry her. By 2010 he had decided to begin publishing fiction and took on not only that book, but my other series “Tales of the Dearg-Sidhe” and its first Volume, Son of Air and Darkness. The two series dovetail, though one takes place in the future and the other begins in the distant past, for the heroes of one series keep reincarnating together , while the hero of the other series is an immortal, and their lives are constantly crossing.
Would you please tell us about your latest book?
Volume VI of The Glastonbury Chronicles, The Barley And The Rose, finds the protagonists as Arthur and Gavin, son of the King of Britannia and Lord Tyrell, Prime Minister. After the first five volumes in which they and the King’s Companions, Knights of the Order of the Sword and the Rose (an ancient Pagan Order which preserves the arcane history of the lineage of the Sacred Kings whose blood and bloodline preserve the Land and its people) this volume finds them far in the future on the last outpost of the British Empire, a distant planet called Britannia. This time they are born remembering all that has gone before them instead of the way it has been in the past, when something triggers their Awakening. The two are telepathic with each other, their bond stronger than that of brothers, for they have lived and died together throughout history, throughout legend.
An ancient evil, one they recall from the far past on long-lost Earth, one they had believed to have died with their home world, has begun to make its presence known on a planet once more peaceful following years of revolution. Can they, aided by Dubhghall, the immortal foster-son of the ancient Goddess Morrigan, stave off this new threat, or will their foe put an end to everything they have known and sink the Universe into eternal darkness?
What inspired you to write this novel?
I had no choice. These characters announced they were back, they had a new adventure, and it was time for me to start writing it down as they dictated it to me.
What does a typical writing day look like?
There is no typical writing day. Each day is different. It is not unusual for me to be awakened in the middle of the night with “The Lads” as I have learned to call them, chattering away in my head and chiding me for sleeping when I should be at the keyboard writing. Sometimes it is in the daylight, sometimes the TV is on in the background, sometimes it is dead silence. The first book was written with black pen on lined yellow paper. Somewhere along the line I learned to compose on the computer and it now flows more easily that way.
Can you describe your writing process?
There is an initial “What if” and an examination of history for odd facts and people my characters might have been in prior incarnations. Then there’s the connecting of the dots in the same manner an ancient astronomer might have looked at the night sky to form pictures associated with mythology. And then I listen to the characters, most of whom I have been living with since about 1994 in some form or another.
How did you prepare to write about the book’s specific area or field of study?
I read history and mythology, then try to visit as many of the places which actually exist as I can. For the future history I try not to step on the toes of the past, but to echo it, as cycles keep repeating themselves over and over throughout time. And I look for quirks in mythology…folks who are mentioned perhaps once and then never heard about again, and try to give them lives.
How did you come up with your title?
Barley and Roses have been symbolic throughout the series. Barley is the symbol of the Sacred King and is used in several rituals in the books. It comes from the old notion of John Barleycorn Must Die, which is in itself a reference not only to the making of beer and whiskey, but to the sacrifice of the King. The Rose is the symbol of secrecy, and has also been used in the books to symbolize the women in the book.
What advice do you have for writers who have not yet been published?
Never give up. It was about 30 years between the publication of my first book and my second. If the ideas are good, you will eventually find yourself in the right place at the right time with the right publisher. Just keep writing.
Excluding family, name three people who either inspired you or influenced your creativity.
Robert Heinlein, Robin Williamson and William Shakespeare
If your book were chocolate, what kind would it be and why?
Dark chocolate, about 85% cacao. Rich, sweet, but somewhat bitter, complex and for an adult palate, because that’s the way my characters and their relationships are.
Tell us about your main character’s psyche or personality. What led her (or him) to be the person s/he is today?
There are really two protagonists, the King, in this case Arthur, and his Knight, Gavin, who is so close to him that in one life they were born conjoined twins, both the firstborn son of the King of England. One cannot exist without the other. They are the two sides of the same coin. The King must die and the Knight must slay him, usually taking his own life soon after. They are Hamlet and Horatio in the scene in which Horatio tries to drink the poisoned cup. They are who they are and what they are because they have been through that scenario countless times over millennia, each time trying to stay alive until the proper time and place, no matter what the Gods or their fellow man have thrown up against them, and when the time is proper and the place is right, they complete the cycle and are at peace for a time, until the Need arises once more. They have died unknown and unseen, behind their own lines at Ypres to bring about the end of The Great War, in the Tower of London to precipitate the end of the Wars of the Roses, in a sealed cave as the Revolution surrounded them to bring the blood of the Sidhe to a blue world to make it green and fertile. They have not always been seen as King and Knight, but their Order knows who they are and so do they, and so will they always.
Describe your protagonist as a mash-up of three famous people or characters.
Hamlet, Valentine Michael Smith, and King Arthur
If you could host a magical dinner party, who are the six people (living or otherwise) you’d include?
Robert Heinlein, J. R. R. Tolkien, Robin Williamson, Peter Jackson, J. K. Rowling and Joseph Campbell.
What are you working on right now?
A deck of Tarot cards which are based upon the characters in my novels, Celtic Mythology, and British folklore. I am hoping to get to Britain next fall to work on the physical research of the next couple of books in the “Tales of the Dearg-Sidhe” series, and working on a third companion series “The Glastonbury Archives” which will have a lot of back story on other characters and the Order of the Sword and the Rose, and there’s a detective novel I have written the first three chapters on, which I would really like to finish. Also a novelization of a modern mythological rock and roll screenplay I wrote some years back called The Midas Chord.