Author Spotlight no.84 – Barbara Ann Derksen

Complementing my daily blog interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the eighty-fourth, is of author, speaker and photographer Barbara Ann Derksen.

Barbara Ann Derksen is a Canadian with a flair for words. She began writing 20 plus years ago, surprised herself when readers responded to what she wrote, and has been writing in one form or another ever since. She has always been an avid reader and continues to enjoy many emerging writers as well as established ones.

Barbara describes herself first as a Christian. She has been married for 43 years to singer / songwriter HC Derksen, is the mother of four gifted children, and the grandmother of nine. Barbara and her husband travel with Christian Motorcyclists Association so wearing leather and biking across country is part of her current lifestyle. She is a certified scuba diver, and a lover of all things water related.

Her books are something that readers look for each year. They flock to her tables and to the websites when a new one appears. Her recent distribution into the UK, France and Germany has opened the door for Europeans to discover what North Americans already know.

She writes adult fiction and non-fiction, as well as children’s stories, is often invited to speak to women’s groups and has even been invited to speak in Africa at a pastor’s conference.

And now from the author herself:

I love watching the expressions on my reader’s faces when they tell me what they liked about one of my books or that they had a hard time putting it down so they could go to sleep. Answering questions about my characters is a bonus. This is what keeps me writing.

My favorite genre to read and write is murder mystery. In the Wilton / Strait Mystery Series, each book completes the puzzle in my character’s life but leads into the next.

Vanished introduces my readers to the beginning of the Wilton / Strait Mystery Series, with Presumed Dead, Fear Not, and then Silence adding to the collection. In ‘Vanished’, death, fire, and kidnapping send my characters, Andrea Wilton and Brian Strait, to the country of Haiti where voodoo, restavic children, and scuba diving lead them to discover a diabolical plot that sets nerves on edge.

Besides mystery, I write devotionals. Each year, collectors approach to purchase the latest one for their own personal time with God or for church Bible study groups and small group devotions. From Straight Pipes, my first, to Chaps, the latest, my devotions take people to the place where God can touch their heart and leave a lasting impression. 2012 will see the release of the fifth about the Sermon on the Mount. I also plan to add my devotionals to Amazon Kindle for wider distribution.

I was born in Canada, but lived in the US for 12 years. It was in that country where my writing found a voice. I worked as a journalist for six years with over 2500 articles published in newspapers and magazines during that time. In 2005, my first book was published and I have added 10 more since.

I am a member of The Word Guild, Manitoba Writer’s Guild, The Writer’s Collective, and Christian Motorcyclists Association. I have spoken across the US and in Manitoba, Canada for women’s groups and in church services on topics such as The Writing Experience, working in the ministry of Christian Motorcyclists Association, Love, Parenting, Time Management, and a host of others.

I believe in learning and honing my skills so with 11 books to my credit, I have attended several writers conference and a host of workshops. According to my readers, it’s working because they feel that each book is better than the last. This summer, with the release of Silence, the fourth in the Wilton / Strait mystery series, and Road Trip, my fifth devotional, I begin work on a new series. I plan to let some new characters tell their story in Finders Keepers, a series of books, each one solving the mystery of a missing child.

Developing a social media presence, getting published at Amazon.com and adding my books to Amazon.ca has kept me busy this year. I’ve also added my books to Amazon’s Kindle collection making them available in Canada, the US, Great Britain, France and Germany.

Wow, Barbara, you’re a busy lady. Thank you for taking time out today.

You can find more about Barbara and her writing via…

Her books can be found at Amazon (Vanished is also available at Amazon.co.uk) and her website is http://www.barbaraannderksen.com where she posts to her blog at least twice a week and has sample pages of all her books available. Past interviews are also posted on the media tab.

The blog interviews will return as normal tomorrow with non-fiction author Charles Shingledecker – the three hundred and sixty-eighth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me.

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum and you can follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.  I also now have a new blog creation service especially for, but not limited to, writers.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them)  on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Story A Day May 2012: May 12th – Hold On

Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.

And here we are a year later doing it all over again. Today’s prompt was write a story from a non-human / inanimate object’s point of view, so here is my 725-worder.

Hold On

No-one’s told him how he should be feeling but it’s nice… a kind of tingling.

He stares at his new neighbour. He wants to curl his mouth, if he had one, like he’s seen those pink stick things do. He thinks they’re called ‘peeple’. He’s heard one of them say “sum peeple!” but he can’t be sure. He has to call them something and they’re small, like beetles, so they’re the beetle peeple.

He doesn’t understand their language, still feels like he doesn’t belong, even after all these years.

He did once, he thought, hear familiar words, his mother tongue, but it came from a little black box. He was listening hard until one of the peeple prodded the box and it crackled, like it was in pain, then the voice was replaced by music… loud, unpleasant, not like the birds. He knows music from the birds but that doesn’t help because he can’t speak their language either.

The new neighbour’s really quiet. He’s sure he should be picking up something… maybe she’s still too young. He can’t remember how old he was when he first started sensing things… not feeling, he doesn’t feel as such, but he’s old, wise and knows how life goes – in his part of it anyway.

He’s seen thousands of peeple coming and going, using him as shade, shelter, protection… a climbing frame, until one got very high then screamed as it… ‘he’ went down very quickly. A moving white box with coloured lights came and put him, and a screaming bigger ‘she’, inside and went away making lots of noise.

He prefers it when it’s quiet, and dark, it’s cooler when it’s dark. Sometimes it gets too hot. He thinks where he’s from, originally, is colder, except he can’t really remember. He remembers a journey, going over some water but most of it was land, green like here. He thinks he was young, like his neighbour, when he arrived. It was a long time ago. When she’s old enough he’ll ask her if she remembers. There won’t be so far back for her to think.

After the white box went, some more peeple came and put a barrier around him, and big yellow squares with black squiggles he couldn’t understand but he knew what it meant; that no-one could touch him anymore, couldn’t climb, couldn’t hug.

He liked it when peeple touched him, even when they cut squiggles into him. It didn’t hurt, just tickled a little, felt nice, like they were making him their own, like he belonged.

But now he has a different kind of company, his own kind and he can’t wait for her to grow, to have someone to ‘feel’ with.

There’s that tingling again. It’s like… no, it can’t be. He tells himself not to be so silly. He knows ‘silly’ from the little peeple. They’d do funny things with their faces then tell each other not to be silly, but silly looks like a lot of fun.

It is! It… no, it can’t be… It is! A new bud!

He’d felt sick for ages, not like the little ‘he’ who’d fallen from him because ‘he’ hadn’t moved… but tired, old. It’s not like that now. It feels like when little ‘he’ started climbing, to explore, reach out… grow.

They’re taking the barrier away! He must be better. He can have peeple touch him again. He feels like being very silly today!

There’s a big ‘he’ with a large shiny stick. What’s he doing? He’s pulling a bit of… something out of it and it’s making a roaring noise, like he’d seen one of the little ‘he’s do which made a little ‘she’ scream. All the other peeple laughed but he didn’t find it funny. The little ‘she’ had looked scared. He remembered scared from when the sky grew dark, and the rain came, and there were loud noises way above them and the peeple screamed and ran to him, and he made them feel safe.

Hey! He’s cutting squiggles into him, making him his own. It’s not unpleasant but it’s not stopping, he must really like him.

He feels all wobbly, wants to put his branches out to balance himself. He felt like this when he got sick, but he doesn’t feel sick now, he feels… free. He feels… aliv…

“Timber!”

“Hold on!”

Any idea what type of tree he was?  You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum and you can follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.  I also now have a new blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them)  on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Author interview no.367 with historical writer and poet Elizabeth Vallone

Welcome to the three hundred and sixty-seventh of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with historical author, poet and Post-weekend poetry contributor Elizabeth Vallone. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Elizabeth. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Elizabeth: I’m Elizabeth Vallone and live in the Hudson Valley of New York State about 45 minutes north of New York City.

I came to be a writer in a circuitous way.  I was going for a master’s degree in counselling and development and my professor suggested I become a writer.  He said he loved the voice in my research papers.  I finished my degree but also started taking writing courses.  I had always wanted to be a writer but life took down other paths.

Morgen: Life has a habit of doing that, doesn’t it. I didn’t know what I wanted to do until a couple of years ago by which time writing had definitely had its hooks into me. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Elizabeth: I write historical fiction I guess because from childhood I’ve always read biographies of historical figures and later historical fiction.  It’s what I am drawn to.

Morgen: What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?

Elizabeth: I write under my own name, Elizabeth Vallone, though my first work of historical fiction was under E.P. Vallone. Beyond Bagheria was a work of historical fiction set in New Orleans in 1920.  In addition, I’ve been a contributing editor on a couple of anthologies.  One was Imprints on Rockland County History – the Biographies of 12 Women and Curaggia—the Writings of Italian American Women.

Morgen: Historical is incredibly popular. I had three agents tell me at Winchester Writers Conference last year that they want more of it (and crime). Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Elizabeth: Have had plenty of rejections and I just felt one day my day would come.

Morgen: I feel like that now. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Elizabeth: My editors function as my agents.  They were instrumental in getting the book published and finding venues to promote my book.

Morgen: Are your books available as eBooks? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Elizabeth: I’m a paper book person or audiobook person.  My book is not available as an ebook right now.

Morgen: I love audiobooks as they mean I’m able to multi-task. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Elizabeth: I do much of the marketing, I find venues and I do power point presentations which dance around my story and give a historical perspective.  One presentation is Constance de Hauteville and the Italy that Nobody Knows and the other is Italian Unification—It Didn’t Start When You Think It Did.  My editors also find venues that I might speak at.

Morgen: A couple of years ago (November 2010) I was volunteering at Chorleywood Literature Festival, here in the UK, and watched English TV personality and author Peter Snow do a talk for over an hour on Wellington with no notes, only slides, it was incredible. There’s nothing quite like seeing someone live… I guess a bit like musicians. Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? If any of your books were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Elizabeth: Barbarossa’s Princess, my recently published work, was a labor of love so it is my favourite.

I believe Kate Winslet would make a terrific Constance de Hauteville.  She resembles Constance, is the right age and has the theatrical experience to do a great job.  I personally feel she would get an Oscar out of it.

Morgen: Ooh, wouldn’t it be good if someone she knew was reading this? Did you have any say in the title / covers of your books? How important do you think they are?

Elizabeth: The title of the book was a joint effort with the editors.  We came up with Barbarossa’s Princess and numerous suggestions.  Regarding the cover, one of my editors is an art critic and knows an awful lot about art.  He suggested I look at works by Dante Rossetti.  I came to Rosetti’s work “The Beloved” and thought it was made for Barbarossa’s Princess.  When I called and told him my thoughts, he said that was the very one the two editors had in mind so that’s what we went with.  It’s a lovely cover of a beautiful piece of artwork which the Tate Modern gave permission to use.

Morgen: It is beautiful. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Elizabeth: I’m working on a book whose working title is Bavarian Blue.  It’s set in WWI Hoboken, New Jersey.  Few people know that when WWI erupted, President Woodrow Wilson evicted the Germans of Hoboken from their homes and businesses. because of the strategic location of the town just across the river from NYC.  Hoboken was predominantly populated by people of German ancestry.  It changed the complexion of the town, giving the more newly arrived Irish and Italian the jobs and power in town.

Morgen: You sound so busy, do you manage to write every day?

Elizabeth: When I’m on a roll, I write every day.  I’m a morning person and basically roll out of bed and write until noon.  I find I get my best ideas in the morning.

Morgen: I’m definitely a morning person too. Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

Elizabeth: When I have writer’s block, I work on other things, ideas for stories, poetry.  I keep out the other works for about a month and then go back renewed and ready to work on the original piece.

Morgen: Variety keeps a brain active. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Elizabeth: Every story is different.  With Beyond Bagheria and Barbarossa’s Princess, I had the idea and knew what my ending was going to be.  I start writing and aim for the end.  With my newest work Bavarian Blue, I don’t know how it’s going to end and it’s really 3 stories in one so I’m having a really interesting time trying to figure things out.

Morgen: I’m mid-way through fourth edits to my chick-lit and I’ve often said it’s my least favourite aspect of writing but I’ve not touched it for a year and am really enjoying getting to know my characters again. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Elizabeth: I use history as my frame for building the character and the story.  Of course, a lot of imagination is at work filling in dialogues and situations that might have occurred as I go from point A to B to Z in the character’s life.

I try to use names of people I’ve met who have stayed with me.  For instance in Barbarossa’s Princess, Constance servant is called. Almudena.  I had a Spanish teacher whose given name was Almudena and I’ve always liked it.  It sounded right for the servant.  There are a lot of names of minor characters that are names of people who have drifted in and out of my life.

Morgen: Of course they have to be authentic, don’t they. Do you write any non-fiction, poetry or short stories?

Elizabeth: When I need therapy, I write sonnets to release whatever is bothering me.

Morgen: Some of which you’ve kindly shared on this blog’s Post-weekend poetry page. I mentioned editing a moment ago, do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Elizabeth: Do I do a lot of editing?  I think that’s all an author does is write, edit, write, edit, edit, write.

Morgen: With a lot of vacuuming, washing up and anything else they can find to do in between. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person?

Elizabeth: In Barbarossa’s Princess I used both the first person and third person.  It seems to work out well.

Morgen: It’s become very popular to do that and I know quite a few novels which have alternate viewpoint chapters so you get to know both sides of the… um, pardon the pun, story. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Elizabeth: I had written the biography of a gentlemen called, Hezekiah Easter, who was the first African American legislator in Rockland County, NY.  There seemed to be an interest and then the people who were interested in my doing it seemed to just vanish.

Morgen: That’s a shame. Maybe they’ll be renewed interest given your other books are now out. I said that editing (is often) my least favourite aspect of writing, what’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?

Elizabeth: The least favourite thing about ones writing life is that you have to go out and promote the book once it is done.  I wish I could leave that to someone else.  The most favourite aspect of writing is how the ideas come to you and how you weave them into the tapestry that ends up being the final product.

Morgen: It would be nice to have more time to do what we love best, to write, isn’t it? Although equally it’s great getting to chat to the readers directly. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Elizabeth: Write, write, write and keep on writing.  Let other writers critique your work. If you don’t like what they have to say have a good cry and then step back and see what criticism is real to you and what is not and go with that.

Morgen: and join a writing group. If you could invite three people from any era to dinner, who would you choose and what would you cook (or hide the takeaway containers)?

Elizabeth: I would love to invite Constance de Hauteville and her son Emperor Frederick Hohenstaufen II to dinner as well as Frederick paramour, Bianca Lancia.  Think it would be really interesting to see the interaction between Frederick and his mother since she died so young so they really didn’t really know each other.  I’d invite Bianca Lancia because she was supposed to be the only wife he really loved.

I would have my son-in-law, Chris Ravanello, cook a wonderful venison dinner with wonder vegetable dishes.  He’s just won the NYC Almost Famous Chef competition and he loves to cook.

Morgen: Oh wow. What a useful person to know. Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?

Elizabeth:  I’m a docent for the Hermitage museum in Ho-ho-kus, New Jersey.  I give tours of a house that dates back to before the Revolutionary War.  Lots of famous Americans stayed at the house including Marquis de Lafayette.

Morgen: Hence your interest in history (one of my worst subjects at school). What do you do when you’re not writing?

Elizabeth:  I love taking long walks, do yoga, see films, attend the theatre when I’m not writing and visiting my family.

Morgen: Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?

Elizabeth: I’m on Facebook, of course, and Twitter and Linkedin.  Find great networking opportunities there.

Morgen: They’re great, aren’t they. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Elizabeth: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and my blog http://epvallone.wordpress.com.  I should have a webpage up soon, epvallone.com.

Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Elizabeth: Just want to say that your audience would find Barbarossa’s Princess riveting.  There is intrigue, violence, love and ultimate triumph.  Besides that they will learn about medieval beauty treatment, gynaecological and obstetric practices, history.  They will be amazed at the Norman Sicilian Court and the de Hauteville family.

Morgen: Is there anything you’d like to ask me?

Elizabeth: No, but I would like to thank you so much for the opportunity of telling you about Barbarossa’s Princess.

Morgen: You’re so welcome, Elizabeth. Do come back and do something else when you have time.

Elizabeth Vallone possesses a B.A. and M.S. degree from Montclair State University and Long Island University.  She is a teacher and freelance writer. A contributing author to the anthologies Imprints on Rockland County History (1983) and Curragia: Writings of Italian-American Women (1998), Mrs. Vallone published Stone Perpendicular to Stone—A Tribute to the Land of My Ancestors in 1997. In 2005, Beyond Bagheria, a first attempt at historical fiction set in the New Orleans of the 1920s was published.  Mrs. Vallone is currently working on historical fiction set in WWI Hoboken, NJ. She lives in Rockland County with her husband.

Update October 2012: I’m delighted to announce that Barbarossa’s Princess is now available on Kindle and free to prime members.

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

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You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

• Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group (http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
• Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group (http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934)
• Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group (http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)
• Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group (http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)

We look forward to reading your comments.