Chautona

I went over and over it, and as far as I can tell, it’s PERFECT.  YIPPEE!  So, it was time to DRAW FOR A WINNER…  I started by counting all entries (192) and then went to random.org… yeah, that was a nuisance.  So, instead, I printed out all questions, cut them apart, folded them up, and voila!

Then I drew for the HARDBACK….

Sorry Terran… I was really rooting for you (Sorry folks, but he won the first hardback last time!)  Then I drew again…

Ok, funny story.  Trinity has told me several times that she WON’T win, she NEVER wins, and so when that came out, I just stared.  For a second, I was tempted to fold it back up, put it back, and just draw someone else so she wouldn’t accuse me of rigging the draw.  However, I stand before you in all honesty saying that her name came out without any prompting by me.  I had no idea until it unfolded what name was on that slip.  (A part of me wants to raise my fist and say, “As God is my witness…”)

So, there you have it.  When your books arrive, ladies, I’ll get ‘em in the mail!  Um, Trinity?  If you’d rather have the first book, I’d be happy to substitute.

Heidi K (Abigail)- What age were you when you started writing? Were you a little girl? I have always made up stories in my head… I remember doing it as young as four or five.  However, I didn’t start writing them down until I was around twelve.  So, I guess it depends on if you consider twelve little or not.

Terran K- will dove lose her kidney in this book:) mwwahahahahah Alas, she will not.  She will almost lose her head, she will lose her temper, and she will lose her privacy a bit, but she will retain her kidney… for now.  As long as I can keep her from the quest for Candy Mountain, I think she may be fine… alas, you know her.  She is a curious little thing and something like Candy Mountain is hard to resist.

Terran K- if you could only one kind of cookie for the rest of your life what kind would it be? Andra’s chocolate chip… they’re crunchy on the outside, soft in the inside, not too sweet, not too bland… just perfect.

Terran K- what sorts of food do you like to eat while writing, snack foods or maybe Cheese Cake? I like Reeses Pieces, Chips and cottage cheese (ala Argosy Junction), and Nolan’s Key Lime cheesecake.

Terran K- would you ever consider writing a book with charlie the unicorn and halt and Gandalf and obi-wan and all the others?*wink wink nudge nudge* Well, Captain Jack Sparrow has sailed to Wynnewood where he picked up Gandalf and Halt on the hunt for Charlie the Unicorn.  Alas, obi-wan has given Charlie lessons in how to protect his kidneys, so they had to elicit the help of Dr. Who and the Tardis to find the thing.  Peter Pevensie tried to keep Reepiecheep from attacking the unicorn, but alas, the little mouse is now recovering at the hands of Miracle Max who assures me that Reepiecheep is only mostly dead.

Terran K- After writing the part with California :p did you have trouble keeping your head up in public? I still hang the “shame” curtains daily.  I avoid the public at all costs.  It’s just too humiliating.  At times like this, I wish I was Catholic.  I’m sure a few thousand Hail Mary’s would be very comforting right about now.

Terran K- Did you write “Terran” to be my opposite by plan or accident. I mean who wouldn’t blast some music while on the way to work?
I’m a morning person though so…. maybe other “Normal” people wouldn’t do that? But Terran isn’t opposed to blasting music per se… he just wants to know what the gal is enjoying.  As for opposites… it wasn’t deliberate.  I have a hard time picturing you as a pudgy teddy bear of a guy.  Something just doesn’t sit right.  I do think you both have a similar sense of humor, but I didn’t realize that until the other day.

Terran K- will your part of Willow where they go to California*shudders violently* be in the finished book? Absolutely not.  It was an attempt to be fun and let Willow “meet” the Hearthkeepers of California, but alas, it was a pile of dung that belonged in the compost pile instead of in the parlor of the story.  I prostrate myself and beg forgiveness.

Terran K- will/have you ever written a book about a kung-fu gecko?   also would you write said book? I think a Kung-Fu Gecko is on the horizon.  I’ve tentatively named it, “Gecko from the Get Go.”

Tia (JoAnn in WV)- I Love Willow’s book. Are you planning on editing any big parts out? Yes.  The California section will either be removed entirely (my preference) or severely edited/rewritten to be less of a drone.  I whole heartedly agree with Terran that those parts are just horrible.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)-Is there any special reason why Bertha is a midwife? Or is that the only female job available? Well, two reasons, really.  The first is that this is how she appeared when she first showed up in the book.  I’d assumed that Dove was a scrounger… an orphan that lived by the skin of her teeth in the caves… but then there Bertha was, taking care of the little girl that she didn’t even want around.  I think she made herself a midwife because it explains her willingness to protect Dove even when she doesn’t want to.  It’s like a doctor who performs life saving procedures on a murderer.  He does it because he’s compelled to save life when he can.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)- Did/does Aunt Fran ever become a Christian? Alas, I do not know.  Thus far, she has not, but if anyone can get through to her, it’ll be Nolan.  Grace and Craig have been “brainwashed” by their father, don’tcha know.  Nolan is the son of highly successful Winston Barnes of Barnes and Finch and his mother was “one of those Fillmores.”  She’ll listen to someone from that walk of life where she won’t to her “misled family.”

Tia (JoAnn in WV)- Does Noble Pursuits have a sequel coming? Well, Grace is in several other books, but as to a deliberate sequel, I do not know.  Last week, I would have said no, but I had this idea the other day, and I’m terribly afraid I might not be able to prevent it from being written.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)-  In all of the books you have started. How many were written because of one of your characters “demanding” their own book?   Well, let’s see.  For sure, Dead Limb Walking.  It’s a story about April from Thirty Days Hath… and Mismatched is about Allison.  Christine also gets her own story.  That book really spawned several books, didn’t it?  Hope 101 spawned Captured and Kirky.  Argosy Junction will likely tell Carrie’s story, but I’m not sure.  I like the idea of telling the story of the break from her family when they “became apostate” from the heart of a girl who just wants to serve her Lord and can’t see the damage.  However, so many of my stories are so interconnected, that it isn’t funny.  USUALLY, however, a new story begins, and then I find them getting to know people from the other books.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)- Do Ryder, Tavish and Cade have compatible enough personalities that they could ever meet and become friends? I think Cade and Tavish could, most definitely.  Ryder would be more of an older brother since he’s about six or seven years older.  I could see him taking the boys on a campout on Willow’s farm.  I’ll have to think about that.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)-Can you draw/make your own fabric like Willow does? Funny you should ask that!  I bought stencils to do that very thing.  I was planning to give either the fabric or something made from it away as a gift.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)- Does someone “find out” Doves secret, or does She tell it herself? Yes.  Don’t you hate that answer?  I’ll only say that the reader will not learn until Philip does, and that will be when Dove “reveals” herself.  Thanks to my eldest daughter’s filthy mind, that now sounds obscene rather than the “unveiling” (which also sounds terrible now) that I mean it to be.  Anyway, that being said, her secret is known to others before that point, but not advertised.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)- What are your personal thoughts about Chuck Majors? Amusing? Disgusting? Etc. I have a confession.  Creating Chuck Majors was very cathartic to me.  You see, once upon a long time ago, when I was pregnant with Challice, Kevin introduced me to a guy at church who had been gone for a couple of months.  That man looked at me, at my ringless hand, at my belly, and then said, “So, are you going to make this kid legitimate?”  Kevin’s fist went up to punch him, and I was mortified.  So, Chuck was introduced in the book, Introductions, when he does the same thing to Ami.  The way Nolan Burke responds was also very cathartic.  Then he just started showing up anywhere I wanted a little comic relief.  The guy is good at that.  In real life, a man like that would get an earful from me now.  In a book, he’s just one of those guys you love to hate… and then eventually he seems to become a little loveable on his own.  Cheri was good for him.  So was Willow.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)- Do you have a mental picture of ALL of your characters? Yes, and for the record, Chuck Majors looks NOTHING like the “real” Chuck.  I can tell you what each one looks like, how their voice sounds, if they scratch their nose with the side of their finger or their fingernail, and what you’d never catch them wearing or saying.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)- If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Why? This question changes depending on the day it’s asked and why it’s asked.  Right now, I’d say I would want to go to a tropical island with a four star hotel, and almost no one around.  I’d want it to be just me and Kevin and lots of cycling paths to keep him happy for part of the time.  I’d like to go because I’m weary.  I need to be refreshed.  I also would often say to Missouri.  I’d like to see my parents.  I love them and miss them so much it hurts much of the time.  I’d love to get on a plane, fly to Tulsa, rent a car, and drive into Noel, knock on the door, and just hug both of them until I dropped.  Anyone who knows me, knows that it’s big if I want to hug anyone.  Then I’d like to sit in the living room, relax on the couch, close my eyes, and listen to my dad play the guitar until I fell asleep.  However, I will confess, that the answer I most often give is India.  I want to go to India, see the beauty of it, and be shielded from the horrifying poverty.  I want to be the tourist that so disgusts Lalita in Bride and Prejudice that wants the fake India experience.  I’ve wanted to go ever since writing Hope 101.  I fell in love with India while writing that book.  It actually gave me an idea for a new book, but I don’t know if I can bring myself to write it.  That one will be an emotional nightmare for me.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)- What is one of the most frequently asked questions about your books? I think the most frequently asked question is how I come up with these things.  Snort.  I’m always trying to come up with a brilliant response, but the truth is, I don’t know.  They just appear in my brain and I write.  I often feel more like the transcrptionist for fictional people who want memoirs.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)- Have you ever deliberately made a character personifying a specific friend/enemy? Um, Chuck, for sure.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)- If you could have one of your characters over for dinner, who would you choose? Alexa Hartfield.  I think she’d be so much fun.

Tia (JoAnn in WV)- Have you ever met another Chautona? Nope.  As far as I know, there were only livestock versions of me.  Shetona (respelled to fit their “S” series) who was grand champion heifer of SW Missouri in 1985 and Chautona the goat… I try not to read into those.

Joann Thomas-  How many books have you sold?

Frankie C: Can you write a book about someone who goes back in time? Well, technically I did write one like that.  People from the future came to the past to “rescue” them from accidental deaths and to live in the future.  Among some of the  more famous people they “rescued” were Amelia Earhart and Glen Miller.  I also have ideas for a series that takes people back in time, but when they return home, they don’t quite know if they ever left or not.  It feels a bit historical to me, so I don’t know for sure if it’ll work.  I do plan to try it though.

Cassie C: What do you do when you can’t think of anything new when you’re writing your books? That has never been a problem for me.  My problem is being able to get all the ideas that I have down on paper in the first place.  Sometimes I do have trouble trying to decide the best way to write something though.  That can be annoying.  I usually just write it, even if I don’t like how it is, and fix it later when I know what I want.

Adric C: What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re bored? Well, I don’t get bored very easily.  My mind is always writing new stories, I do a lot of crafting and such, so it’s really rare.  However, sometimes when I don’t want to do what I need to do, I’ll go read or play solitare on the computer.

Cassie C: I love the Hardy Boys. Are you planning on writing any mystery books? Funny you should ask that.  Two of the characters from Ready or Not, Vannie and Laird, will be in a mystery soon!  I’m really looking forward to writing their story!

Adric C:  How many kids in your family are afraid of the dark? (insert chuckle from mom here lol) Only my oldest, that I know of, was ever afraid of the dark.  If the others were, they never said anything about it.  Challice also used to get skittish if she watched a Charlie Chan mystery after dark.

Sharon B:  Do you know how many books will be in the Wynnewood series? There will be at least three.  I cannot decide whether to continue telling the story after Dove reveals what she is or not.  Maybe I’ll make a poll for the website and everyone can vote.  What do you think?  Part of the problem is, I have an idea for a new series that is really exciting me, but I love my Wynnewood, and I don’t know if I’m ready to part with it yet.

Sharon B:  Is April your favorite month? Are you hinting that I’m a fool?  Hmmm.   Actually, April and October are two of my most favorite months.  I like them because here in the desert, they are the nicest months weather wise.  My favorite month, however, is December.  LOVE December.

Susan K:  How do you pronounce your name? Shuh-TONE-uh.  I have been called everything from “ChautUna” to “ChaNtona” to “Chautaqua.”  People always asked me if it was “Indian” when I was younger.  Now if they see me after they heard or saw my name, they usually say, “Oh, I thought you were black.”  Then they get embarrassed and start apologizing.  I used to get irked at it, because I thought they were implying that there was something wrong with being black.  Then I realized they were embarrassed for not saying, “African-American.”  I find that kind of funny

Susan K:  How often do people ask you if its a pen name? No one has done that yet, but most people ask if I have a nickname when they hear my name.  I think people just can’t imagine anyone CHOOSING a name that is so difficult to remember/spell etc for a pen name.  I considered using one, though.  I thought about a lot of things including using the one my dad used to say he wanted to use, but really, I am Chautona.  It fits me.  I’ve considered just being “Chautona” but nah.  I like being a Havig and it’s not a difficult last name.

Susan K:  How do you map out a new book?  Do you write the ending first? Actually, I rarely know the ending of a book when I start.  I usually have a “what if” scenario in my mind and a character comes to life from that.  Once I have that, I just write until the story is told.  For example, with Ready or Not, I wondered how a woman fresh out of college would handle being the instant mother of eight (I had eight children at the time).  Then I wondered what would happen if, like me, she had ZERO experience with children when that happened.  The story spiraled from there.   For the Wynnewood series, I thought of Dove and wondered what would happen in a superstitious time to people like her.  She is a very strong personality and really tells me what’s going to happen rather than the other way around.

Susan K:  Do you see your characters in people you meet or do you base your character off of people you know or are you just that awesome? Well, I’d say that I’m just that awesome.  No, just kidding.  Seriously, most of my characters come from nowhere.  Sometimes I’m inspired by someone or an event, but usually they’re just themselves.  For example, I don’t know Aggie.  I don’t know Dove, but she does have a little of my Jenna in her, and I don’t know Alexa or Lane.  I did see a man once, driving a banana yellow Mini Cooper.  He had a handlebar mustache and smoked a pipe.  I have a character that IS that man now.  Don’t know what the real dude is like, but my character just makes me smile.  He creeps my friend Michele out though.  Just sayin’.  Oh, and there is a lot of my mother and my oldest daughter in Grace from Noble Pursuits.

Susan K:  Why did you chose to write this particular series? I was intrigued by the idea of a little girl who was such a social reject that she didn’t know anything about the Lord.  I wondered what kind of adventures she might have, what kind of hardships, and what would happen in her life if someone stepped out from the rest of the cruel crowd and befriended her.  I had intended for it to be a girl who made friends with her and Philip would be that girl’s sister, but the minute I started writing, Philip took over as the other main character, and nothing I tried could change that.

Faithful:  Do you tell stories to your kids? I do tell stories of when I was a child or my parents were children, but I’ve only once told a story to my children that I wrote.  Challice was uncharacteristically rough with a book one day, and instead of scolding her, I told the story of “The Very Special Book” to illustrate how to care for books and why it’s important for more than being a good steward of our possessions.  It worked.  I never had another problem with her and being too rough.   I really want to see that book illustrated and printed.  Sigh.

JoAnn in WV:  You have a lot of stories in process…do you get them confused when you pick one to work on? Not usually.  I sometimes I have to make sure that what I thought was in the first book wasn’t cut out before I reference it in a sequel, but USUALLY the stories are like when you tell your kids about what you did when you were little.  We don’t usually confuse cousin Julie with cousin Martha or one town for another.

JoAnn in WV:  Do you have to go back and re-read the last chapter(s) to continue writing? If it’s been months since I’ve looked at a story, I’ll sometimes reread the last chapter or two to make sure I really wrote down what I think I did.  Sometimes my brain gets ahead of my fingers.  When I’m editing, sometimes I’ll find entire sections of sentences missing because my head filled it in but my fingers couldn’t keep up.  For instance, I might start to type, “Chautona answered a lot of interesting questions on her blog that day, but fortunately, no one asked how much she weighed.”  The problem is, often my fingers will type, “Chautona answered a lot of that day, but fortunately how much she weighed.”  When I reread those kinds of things, I shake my head and wonder why I think I can write at all.  I always reread the last paragraph or two before starting work on a section because it helps get the flow of the chapter back in place.

JoAnn in WV:  Do you “force” your characters into the role you create for them or do you let them lead? I try, but it rarely succeeds.  Sometimes, I’ll shelve a book until I can either accept that it’s not going to go the way I wanted it to or until I convince the characters that my way is best.  It took months to convince Cara that she needed to have an argument.  She is such a people pleaser that she was willing to ignore something really important to her in order not to rock the boar.  She’s just about to upset the book.  Good girl, Cara.

Trinity question 1: Where do you get the motivation to write each chapter? Basically, I have a story inside.  It’s dying to get out.  Chapters are just a way to eat the elephant one bite at a time.  When I don’t feel like working on something for whatever reason, chapters make it palatable (except for Aggie since her chapters are more like 2 chapters of my other books).  I just tell myself, “Finish this chapter and then go do something else.”  It keeps me going when I don’t want to deal with a hard scene, when I’m working on a story bridge, or when I am just tired and lazy.

Trinity question 2: How do you decide what each characters roles are going to be? Characters tell me what their roles are.  I’ve had characters I wanted to be gentle and patient who refused to do it.  I’ve planned for someone to do something that someone else insisted on doing.  In Willow, I had every intention of  Willow getting together with no one, but if she did, it would be Bill.  No doubt.  She refused to listen and ended up a mush pot.  LOL.  In book two of Cloaked in Secrets, Brodor Clarke has a secret that I TRIED to prevent, but the man wouldn’t relent.

Trinity question 3: What inspired you to start writing? Originally, it was the book, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  If you read my Bio, you can see how one teacher’s wise admonition really spoke to my heart.  I have always, from as early as I can remember, rehashed conversations, making them go the way I thought they should have, saying what I wish I had had the courage to say, or rephrasing something to avoid confusion.  Writing is a way to put all of that somewhere that I can see it working out how I wanted it to.  Unfortunately, characters often mess that up, but it is a start.  More recently, I started writing as a way to clear my head.  I had so many stories flooding my mind for so long that I needed to get them out of there!

Trinity question 4: Whens your favorite time to just get into writing your book (Ex: morning, afternoon, night time)? I write at all times of the day and night, but my favorite time is after everyone has gone to bed.  I start writing, and often get so lost in what I’m doing that it takes me a while to realize I’m hungry, falling asleep, or in dire need of the “little girls’ room.”
Trinity question 5: Does your Family read your books before they are published? No, actually, only my oldest has read everything I’ve published.  The older girls have each read a book or two, and Jenna has read Shadows & Secrets.  Kevin, the boys, and the younger girls haven’t read any of it.  None of them read before they’re published.

Trinity question 6: What is your favorite book that you have written? From the Cinders.  Ella’s story has a pull on me that no other story does.  Argosy Junction is my favorite of those that are published though.

Trinity question 7: Do you only work on one book at a time or more than one?   I have about forty books in process at the moment.  I usually am only working actively on two or three at a time, but easily up to five.  I rarely work on more than five at a time though.  Right now I’m working on For Keeps (the sequel to Ready or Not), Beneath the Cloak (the sequel to Cloaked in Secrets), in addition to Past Forward.  I am also currently editing Princess Paisley and Thirty Days Hath.

Nathan (Susan K) – Why are there so many weird words? I wanted to preserve a little of medieval England, but I didn’t want to make them all talk in Old English, so I mainly used old English words for the names of places.  Wyrm is the old English word for dragon.  I didn’t want to call the dragon that, because it’d get REALLY confusing, so instead, I named the forest where the villagers had assumed he lived, “Wyrm Forest.”  The same with Sceadu (shadows) or Ciele (cold).  Words to describe the places in the old English.  I mean, we get used to calling places in America by odd sounding names like “Appalachia” or “Monongahela” so I thought it’d work well.  For Dove, I needed her to have a word to call her other than creature so it didn’t become redundant.  By mixing ge-sceaft and creature, the words didn’t get over used.  Brodor, Modor and Fadaer were all so close to the modern English words, that I decided to use them for flavor.  I really did try not to make too many of them in the text.

Abigail (Susan K) – How long did it take you to type it in? Well, that depends upon what you mean.  If you mean exactly how long did it take to type every word apart from writing the story, then I’d say about 17 hours.  However, to write the story took me about three months.  To edit it, took another month or so.

Nathan (Susan K) – What’s the main thing that is going to happen in the new book? I would say it is that you are going to meet some new people that make the story very exciting in my opinion.  Either that, or trying to capture the unicorn.

Nathan (Susan K) – Why did you make a dragon in it? Becaues dragons are cool!  Ok, well that and because I needed something that a little girl like Dove could do that Philip couldn’t do for himself.  They needed to meet and he needed to feel enough gratitude to help him get over his natural resistance to her.

Bethany (Susan K) – Is there a unicorn in the second book?  (Cloaked in Secrets) Yes!

Abigail (Susan K) – Is there going to be a third book in this series? Yes there is!  Our amazing illustrator and I hashed out the plot for Beneath the Cloak just recently, and I’ve already started on it.  Let’s just say it’s going to be WAY too much fun for me.

Bethany (Susan K) – Is Cloaked in Secrets funny? Well, I think it’s hilarious in places.  In particular, I like the snowball fight, and Jakys.

Nathan (Susan K) – Is the second book (CIS) going to be full of action? Why don’t you tell me?  You have a village who thinks Dove is dead, Dove meeting people who want to kill her, having to go back to those people to help them, a double dragon rescue…  And that is just a little taste…  Action?  What do you think?

Sean (Susan K) – What was your inspiration for this book? I had been reading the Squire’s Tales and The Ranger’s Apprentice, as well as a delightful story by a friend of mine “The Third Wish,” and I think they all kidnapped my imagination and literally tossed me into the dungeon of fantasy until I agreed to try my hand at it.  I really wanted a story about someone so unfamiliar with the Lord that the Bible and all of its rich stories were new.  I wanted to show them through fresh eyes.

Sean (Susan K) – Why did you chose England (over say Germany – it could have been an angry book)? Silly reason.  I liked the name Wynnewood.  It means “pretty” wood.  Yeah, it’s Welsh, but close enough for me.

Olivia – Are you going to have a character named Olivia?  (She can write on walls and play with everyone else’s Legos) Well, actually, I have a perfect place where I can use Olivia.  But, I can only do it if I can find the name on medieval name rolls, so get your mom hunting to find it near the middle of the thirteenth century!

Miriam (Susan K) – Do you have a character that giggles a lot?  (like me) Well, you don’t get to see it in this book, but Letty giggles a great deal.  You’ll probably find her giggling a lot in the next book.

Bethany (Susan K) – Are there turtles in the book? Not in Cloaked in Secrets, no.  However, there is going to be a fire breathing toad in the next book!

Caleb (Susan K) – Do you have any hippos in the book?  If you do, what sound do they make?  My hippo says Baroo’. If you pretend that Bertha is a hippo, then I would say yes.  Bertha doesnt’ say Baroo`.   Bertha says, “bah.”  She’s a little rude sometimes, don’t you think?

Sean (Susan K) – Have you considered using the phrase, “I have a bad feeling about this?” Actually, I have!  I think I’ll make sure it’s in Beneath the Cloak.  What thinkest thou?

Susan (Susan K) – Do you find yourself wanting to use quotes from movies in your books?  Because as I read the ones I read, I found myself saying them.  lol I do!  Movie quotes are such a huge part of my life, that I know they’re probably popping up in books without me realizing I even quoted them.  If you read the sentence to me, I’d know it and what movie it was, but I don’t always realize I used it.  I have made a conscious effort to look for them very carefully in Wynnewood.  I can’t imagine inserting, “I’m blessed with work,” in a book set in a time long before people could even imagine movies.

Michele WV-  How’s Cara coming? Cara is actually in my tray again.  I’m happy that she has decided to blow her ever-patient top.  Things can happen now.  The end is almost near.  I’m kind of sad.

Christopher (Michele WV)-  Can I have a copy of the next book you write? I can’t imagine why not!

Erin (Michele WV)- Can I be a character in your books? Well, since your name is Erin… I might have a way to include you…

Sean (Michele WV)- Mommy said you like trains?  Can you write a book about trains…maybe with dinosaurs in it? Oooh… dinosaurs and trains.  Let’s see… if a little boy named Sean went on a journey, what would happen if the engineer was a dinosaur who took him on the ride of his life?

Christopher (Michele WV) – What is Dove’s secret?  (nice try, huh?) Dove’s secret is that she doesn’t know if she wants to trust the Lord to be who He says He is.

Michele WV – Will you finish Junie for me? Not on your life.  I want you to finish it for ME.

Michele WV–Are you actively seeking an agent/publisher yet? Yes, I am!  I have contacted a writing agent and she and I are working to prepare Plotting Santa for submission.

Michele WV- Does your family ever give you input on characters? Hmm I think there have been a few suggestions, but mostly, no.  I don’t even know if I have used any of the suggestions, but since they don’t read most of the stories, they don’t know enough to suggest.  Oh, I think it was in Plotting Santa.  I think I had a few suggestions there.

Michele WV – Are you enjoying working with Craig? I love it.  To be honest, the books wouldn’t have been nearly as good without his input.  He is a wealth of knowledge on fantasy, the area of England, the history, everything.  It’s amazing.  I’ll say something and he’ll say, “Oh, well you know this or that…”  And I sit here, jaw agape, taking notes.  He’s hilarious, he’s encouraging, and I really wish I could take him and his wife out to dinner.  I have a feeling they’d be a whole lot of fun to watch.  He is highly underpaid, though, and that produces guilt.  Huge massive amounts of guilt.

Rachel in Indonesia – Where in your house do you write best? In my recliner, in the living room.  It’s the most comfortable spot, my laptop fits perfectly, and I have a view of everything around me.

Rachel in Indonesia – Do you write because/when you’ve set aside time to write, or do you have to wait for inspiration to come? Both.  I rarely have “inspiration” problems, but when I do, or when I don’t know how to do what I want to do, I just pull out another book to work on for a while.  I set aside time AND I will sit down and pound something out when I think of it so I don’t forget it.

Rachel in Indonesia – How old were you when you wrote your first story? When I was twelve, I wrote my first “novel” type story.  Before that, all my stories were in my head.

Rachel in Indonesia – What was your very first story about? It was an embarrassing load of self-righteous drivel.  I don’t even think it had a plot– just a series of scenarios designed to show how spiritually superior the girl, her family, and another family was.

Rachel in Indonesia – Did you know as a child you wanted to write? At age twelve, I knew.  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  Just sayin’.

Rachel in Indonesia – Do you correct mistakes (spelling, punctuation, etc – easy stuff) when you see them as you write, or wait to go back later? If I see it, I correct it.  If I don’t, then it gets fixed later.  I’m not like Barbara Cornthwaite… I don’t perfect each section as I write; however, I do correct obvious muffs when I find them.  OR, if I’m not sure how I want to fix something, I’ll leave a note, highlighted in yellow, that usually says, “Pathetic, fix this!!!” or “Oh, come ON Chautona… do something about that”  and then when it comes time to edit, I do.  Unfortunately, in Aggie, I missed one of those notes to myself and made a huge mess.

Rachel in Indonesia – Do you write on the computer or on paper? Computer always.  I am convinced that I’d have written sooner if I had owned a computer earlier.  Once it hit me how fast it’d be to write on a computer, I went crazy!

Rachel in Indonesia – Do you enjoy writing mushy stuff any better than you did a few years ago? No.  Period.  Exclamation point.  However, I do think I’m better at it.  It is a little more natural to read for me.  I particularly do not enjoy writing anything physical.  A kiss about does me in.  EW!  The book Michele asked about, Cara, is probably the most romantic book I’ve ever written and there is no touching, very little talking, and a lot of raw emotion.  Mush to the core!  It’s nauseating, but it did help me get over that awkward hump.  Hope helped too.

Rachel in Indonesia – Did you ever finish your story of Ecnedaced(not sure I’m remembering that right)? Endecadec.  It was “Decadence” jumbled.  I changed the name to Kedwick (wicked jumbled) and I’ve completed more, but it’s not done.  Suddenly I’m in the mood to work on it.  Thanks a lot.

Rachel in Indonesia -Are you going to publish your Santa story? I am working with a writing agent right now to do that very thing.  I’m very excited.

Kristi in AL-  HOW do you find time to write? You know how some people sit down and knit or crochet, others keep a spotless house or garden, and others dash all over the countryside working taking their kids here, or shopping there, or running this or that errand?  Well, instead of doing those things, I write.  I might sit down, write five sentences, get up, go help a kid, come back, write five more, check HK, come back write another paragraph or three, go make a card, come back, finish the chapter, start a new one, etc.  It’s very Biblical too.  You know, “line upon line… here a little, there a little…”

Kristi in AL- What is your favorite of your published books? Argosy Junction.  It is very dear to my heart.  Between the message of the book, the poetry in it, and my father’s songs singing from nearly every chapter, how could it not be?

Kristi in AL- What is your favorite of your as-yet-unpublished books? Ella.  From the Cinders.  I really want to find a mainstream publisher for it, but I’m terribly afraid it wouldn’t be accepted since it’s a series, so I’ll take care of that one myself.

Susan K-  If any book you wrote could be made into a movie, which book would it be? Well, obviously Plotting Santa.  I think that’s kind of a given.  If any of the others could be made into a movie, I think I’d like to see it be Aggie.  Can you imagine the hilarity???

Susan K- And who what actors would you like to see play the lead roles? Ok, if we’re talking Aggie (cause the other changes so fast depending upon years) then I’d want

Aggie-  Amy Adams

Vannie-  Hallee Hirsh

Geraldine-  Glenn Close

Luke-  Logan Bartholomew or Skeet Ulrich

William- David Boreanaz

Libby-  Mare Winningham

Susan K- Is there any actor/actress you can see playing any of your characters? I always picture the little boy in Stuart Little as my Andy, but of course, he’s much too old now.

Susan K- Do you hear music in your head as you are writing?  Meaning, if it was a movie, this is the type of song you want playing during that part. Sometimes, yes.  I definitely did as I wrote Prairie.  Obviously, I did when I wrote Plotting Santa, and somewhat during Cara.  I tend to hum Aggie’s hymns while I write her, but I suppose that’s not what you mean.

Susan K- Do you desire any of your books be made into movies, or would that lose the books “soul” for you? Well, again, definitely Plotting Santa.  It’s always seemed like a movie book to me.  The other books would depend upon what they cut/edited/changed.  I mean, take Wynnewood.  If they stripped the Christianity from it, I don’t think I could handle it.  I guess as long as it still felt like “my story,” I wouldn’t mind.  If it just felt like it was influenced by mine, then it’d depend upon the story.
Susan K-  Who edits your books and how does that work? Well, that is a complicated question.  Originally, I had several people going over it with me, hoping to catch things.   I thought with lots of fresh eyes, it’d work better, but actually, it didn’t.  I had the gift of editing from a friend for Shadows & Secrets, and it had many fewer errors.  For Aggie and Cloaked in Secrets, I hired a professional editor, Barbara Coyle, after another friend and I combed it first.  I’ll probably stick with doing that in the future.  Basically, I send the book, they send it back with questions and correction suggestions, I do those, they read again, and voila!  Then I get to find all the stuff we missed when I go through the proof copy.  It’s amazing what you find when you actually have it in your hands that you missed on the screen.

Susan K- When are you going on a book tour? Just as soon as I win the lottery.  Wait, I have to play to win, don’t I?  Well, as soon as someone sends me a winning ticket or as soon as I sell enough copies to pay for it.  Ok, seriously though, I can’t see ever being “big” enough to warrant something like that.  Only if Santa sells.  That one actually has the potential, I think, to require that kind of thing.

Susan K-  I want to know if you are going to shop Santa around to a publisher, I know its been asked already, but I want to know also. We’re doing that now.  My friend Darcie is getting the book ready, is writing the query letter and book proposal, and then we’re going “shopping” to find someone to publish it.

Geri H-  What does your family typically eat for dinner when you are in a writing frenzy? Um, basically what we always eat.  If I don’t fix it, Kevin does.  Actually, he cooks more often than I do half the time.  I think it’s more likely to be something like Chili Spaghetti or Hamburgers than it is to be those things on other nights of the week just because it usually means I’ve forgotten to defrost something.

Geri H- If you were asked to have your books turned into movies, would you? I’d have to see the screen play first.  You know, I almost didn’t answer this one because it’s almost a duplicate, but then I realized that I have another book that I think would make a GREAT movie and would definitely agree to.  Alexa and her mysteries would be cool movies!

Geri H- What do you do to bring out your creativity or when you are having a writer’s cramp and can’t think of what to write about? That just doesn’t happen.  However, when I feel like I’m not enjoying it as much, I usually go make some cards, watch a movie, read a book, sew a garment, or take a nap.  Then I’m ready to go again.  I don’t think I’ve ever had writer’s block.  I always have the opposite problem.  I have DOZENS and dozens of stories swirling in my brain and I can’t type them out fast enough.  Drives me nuts.

Mitchell- Have you looked into getting your books approved for the AR reading program so school children can get credit for reading them? I have requested that Shadows & Secrets be considered for the AR program, but have not heard back from them about it aside from the initial “Thank you for your suggestion.  We will take it under advisement…” yadda yadda.  Once the second book is in print, I plan to ask again and include that one.  I hope that by asking with every book, eventually they’ll agree.

Mitchell-  Is Lord Charles Morgan still the lord of Wynnewood Castle in the second book? Yes he is!  And,he is in the third as well!

Mitchell- When reading the first book of the series, I came away feeling like Dove was just like any other little girl and don’t understand why the villagers treat her so badly, does the second book reveal the reason? The second book doesn’t reveal why Dove is so feared, but it does show that Bertha’s requirement for the cloak and the secrecy is wise.  In the second book, someone does see her and the result is almost catastrophic.  You will find out the fear and what causes it in the third book, Beneath the Cloak.

Mitchell-   I love book series with lots of books — can you make Wynnewood a 10-book series? That’s a very interesting question, because I was trying to decide if I should make it just the three, ending with knowing Dove’s secret, or if I should go in and branch out into some of the other characters etc.  I do have another series in mind that would have at least five to seven books, so I can’t decide which to do.  I think, after book two is available, I’ll put up a poll on the website and see what everyone thinks.

Zachary-    Have you considered adding monkeys to your stories?  (Would be funny if it was a barking monkey — yes, I’m silly.) I  like monkeys.  I actually have a character in one of my books who has a spider monkey!

Cari-  How do you keep your many story-lines straight? Just kind of like how you keep your kids straight.  You might get their names mixed up when calling for them or talking about them, but your head has it straight.  What cracks me up is how often I mixed King Jack and Prince Rupert in Froggilandria.  My characters are like “imaginary friends” to me.  They’re very real in my head, so keeping them straight is usually fairly easy.  What isn’t easy is being sure of what happened when in relation to different stories.  I dont’ want to write that so and so was married when they hadn’t met mr. right yet.

Cari-  Do you ever find you are confusing one story with another (since you have so many going at once)? Not generally, no.  Where I find it most is in Aggie and Wynnewood due to the series.  Once in a while, I am not sure if I wrote xyz in the first or at the beginning of the second, but usually I keep them very clearly marked in my mind.

Cari- Have you ever started writing one story only to have a character within that story demand it’s only story be told which results in another book? Yep.  Christine from Thirty Days Hath DEMANDED her own story (especially since I FORCED myself to stick to the outline and not let her stay with Adric),  as did April.  I was writing Bentley when I realized that Tait insisted on having his own story too.  It actually happens quite frequently now that I think of it.  Weird.

Cari-  Do your characters have their own “life” so to speak or do you feel you dictate how their life exists? Mostly, they tell me the story, and I try to convince them to do what I want.  Sometimes they’re very tractable and follow my “script” and other times they refuse to obey.   They dig in their heels, turn the wheel, or do whatever has to be done to make things go their way.  It’s very annoying.

CindyLouWho-  How long did it take you to write your first book? The first Aggie was written slowly over the space of a few months.  I was really writing for my own amusement and that of a friend, and then I kind of got addicted.  I’d say three or four months.

CindyLouWho-  How many books in all have you written now. Ok, lemme go count…  Ok, I have nineteen books that are completed or 3/4 completed.  I then have about thirty-five or so more books that are in progress.  Published, I have five as soon as Cloaked in Secrets is available.

CindyLouWho- Do you ever sleep? Every day whether I need it or not.  No seriously, I sleep at least 9-10 hours a day.

CindyLouWho-How do you find time to do everything you currently do? You know, I tried to figure that out once, but halfway through that process, I realized that there was a whole lot I could have gotten done while I wasted my time trying to see where I got the time in the first place.  I think the answer is that I don’t “make” time, don’t schedule this and plan that.  I just live.  And as I live, things get done.  Oh, and I shamelessly pay my children to do my work on a regular basis.

CindyLouWho-  Do you have a housekeeper do the housework while you’re writing? No, I have children for that.  Seriously, if it’s my job to get something done and I don’t want to do it, I pay them to do it for me.  Andra and Jenna both got paid for cleaning my room this week.  Andra did the initial blow through, Jenna did the fine detail work.  Brilliant.

CindyLouWho- How many late night writing sprees do you usually have? About 365 give or take one or two.  Seriously.  The family usually is in bed by 10.  I write until Nolan calls me to pick him up, go get him, write some more, he goes to bed, and then I write some more.

CindyLouWho-  Will you be having any book signings in AZ?  “) Got a spare room?  Not a spare ‘oom, a spare room.

CindyLouWho-  Do you ever plan on publishing a work of art that shares some of your stamped creations? A work of art?  I’m not sure what you mean.

CindyLouWho- Having not read any of your books yet, are your plots christian or just good wholesome reading or ? All of my plots are Christian aside from Plotting Santa which is pure fantasy silliness.  It’s crazy that I, who never pretended about Santa much less believed in him and did have him as a part of our family’s Christmas celebrations, wrote a Santa story.

CindyLouWho-  Are you in any bookstores in AZ that you know of? Any Christian bookstore CAN get my books.  They are also available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but someone told me their Borders said, “We cannot get that book.”  So, who knows?  I know Barnes and Noble will order it for you.  I always like to hear that someone went into their local Christian bookstore and requested my book.  Most bookstores will order a second copy for the shelf and that gets my books into more hands. 

Sharon B-  Which book is Kevin’s favorite? I’d say the one that sells the most.  Kevin hasn’t read my books.  They’re not really his genre.  He’s more of a techie non-fiction sort or a Tom Clancy type.

Sharon B-  What do your children think of Wynnewood? Jenna loves it.  She and her friend Hannah hound me for finishing the next frequently.  I don’t know if the older girls read it or not.  If they did, they didn’t love or hate it, because those I hear about.  Andra hasn’t read it yet, but it’s on her list for the school year.

Sharon B- What is your must have snack while you write? I prefer things that aren’t messy.  Red hots (Cinnamon Imperials from Brachs), m&m’s stuff like that.  Usually I’d say COKE, but it’s summer, and I don’t drink Coke most summers.

Sharon B- Do you have a time of day that you are more inspired? When the house is quiet at night and no one is around yammering at me.  hee hee

Sharon B- Have you thought of naming a character Sweetie? No, but now I have one in my mind already.  Oh thanks a LOT.  ARGH.  She’s gonna be fun.  Oy.  Ok, I’m going to have to find a title and make a document now.  Sheesh.  Some people.

Sharon B- How soon will the third book be released? (This is from my girls, lol.) I’m hoping for Winter 2011

Sharon B- Will you write another children’s series from another time period? I plan to do a few.  I want to write the stories of Willow’s childhood.  Kind of like Little House on the Prairie but Willow style.  Then, I want to do my other fantasy series so it’ll be from a time that never existed.  It’s going to be a whole world unto itself.    Then, I was thinking about a children’s sci fi series that starts with my Exiles of Kedwick that Rachel asked about.  Other than that, I’m not sure.

Sharon B-  Has the book writing slowed down you other interests such as sewing? Actually, that slowed down before I started writing consistently.  What really hurt it was when I decided to close Wardrobe Classics.  I was tired.  Then, I started to sew again just before I got sick and I haven’t really recuperated fully.  I still sew (going in to help Andra with a skirt in a minute) but not as frequently as I did, but that we can’t blame on writing.  I was writing Aggie in the height of Wardrobe Classics.

Bethany G-   Does Kevin read your books? Nope.  One of the guys at work ribs him about that, but it doesn’t bother me.  If he wrote a book, it’d likely be on computer interface systems, and aside from checking the book out or reading the preface to see what the point was, I doubt I’d read it either.

Bethany G-   Does Kevin or your kids ever make fun of anything you’ve written? Oh, sure.  Braelyn hates Noble Pursuits.  They make fun of my teeth more, though.

Bethany G-   How do you decide on/come up with character’s names? It’s an extremely scientific process that would take a great deal of time to explain.  Ok, I go through baby name lists until something feels like the person.  Sometimes I get the name first and the story comes later.  That happened with Rhonna and Tennyson.  I chose Aggie for Ready or Not because of what I wanted Ian to call her.  For Wynnewood, I had the HARDEST time coming up with a name.  I knew her permanent name and why she had it, but for the “nickname” that Philip gave her, it took forever.

Bethany G-   Have you written non-fiction? Some, yes, but nothing I’ve shared with anyone.  I’m not confident on non-fiction.  I prefer fiction.

Bethany G-   If you were to write non-fiction, would you write a book about someone you know personally, such as yourself, a friend or family member; or would you write about someone/something famous/historical? I would like to write a biography of California Joe, but I doubt I will.  I prefer the sanitized version of his life as told in the ballad over the truth.  If I wrote non-fiction, it’d probably be about a subject I wanted to encourage people in such as parenting or some kind of self-help thing.

Bethany G-   Have you ever knowingly put people you know in your books? Espically your children? Not people, but scenarios, yes.  For example, in Aggie, the scene where Aggie freaks over Vannie and wants to rush her to the doctor, that happened to a friend of mine.  I used the name Verily, which is my friend’s husband’s name, but I don’t know her husband at all, so I have no idea if my Verily is anything like hers.  I accidentally put my son-in-law in Aggie as Luke long before I ever met him, but I guess that doesn’t count.  I did almost feed Challice hot chocolate as an infant in the exact manner that Aggie fed Ian coffee.  I just happened to catch it when I squirted my arm with it and noticed it was brown.  There is a lot of my mom’s and Challice’s personalities in Grace, but I didn’t choose to do it deliberately.  Basically, no.

Bethany G-   What would your kids think if you put them in a book? I think it depends upon how I portrayed them. 

Bethany G-   Would you ever write a book in German? Nein.  Es wäre ein sehr kurzes Buch.

JoAnn WV-  Do you see yourself in any of your characters?  Which one or ones? Hmmmmm  There is a bit of me in Mavis, but more of my mother.  I actually tried to use Mom as a pattern for Mavis.  I also see a lot of me in Kari (Willow’s mom).  There is some of me in Grace, but only because in some ways, I’m a lot like my mom.

JoAnn WV- Do all of your characters have a real person that they are based on? No, most do not.  I did realize that Princess Paisley and events and people in that book are very very very loosely based upon Dell’s children and family.

JoAnn WV- Will you publish Princess Paisley? Yes.  I’m trying to edit it now.  I wanted to have that out for Christmas this year.

JoAnn WV-  Which of your characters is most like you?  Kevin?  Lorna? Most like me, I’d say Kari.  Like Kevin?  Hmmm probably David in From the Cinders.  Lorna?  Well, possibly Cari in Aggie.  If that child had half a chance to take over the world, she’d do it… and keep them laughing all the while.  Since I’m more confident than Aggie, she doesn’t try to pull those stunts with me, but she will try with Andra because Andra will let the kid get away with murder if I don’t keep on top of it.

Barbara H-  Jonah wants to know: when is the last book coming out? *lol* impatient, isn’t he? Well, I’ve already started it, and hope to have it out in Winter of 2011.  That’ll depend upon the ability to get it written with NANO coming up and of course with Craig’s schedule.  He is so generous to me, that I don’t want to put any pressure on him to “hop through hoops” to keep up with me.

Stay tuned at the end of the interview for more information on Craig, his website, and the blog where he showcases his recent work.

What do you suggest to people who want to learn how to draw more accurately?  Are there any books you recommend?  Videos?  Online classes?  Correspondence courses?

The easy answers are keep a sketchbook and draw all the time and learn to see.  80% of drawing is seeing and not everything you see translates to the page so get out there and start drawing from life.  You will learn something new nearly every time and usually more from your mistakes than anything.

As for books and stuff, for kids I can’t speak highly enough for “Commander” Mark Kistler.  He had a show on PBS but I think you can find his stuff online.  It’s drawing basics like perspective, foreshortening, shading, etc. and making it fun.  For older students who are interested in figure drawing there is no reason to go any further than George B. Bridgeman.  It’s volumetric anatomy for Artists and not Anatomists.  His “Complete Guide to Drawing from Life” is probably the most used book on my shelf. It will change how you see.

What is your dream project?  What would make you just go wild with excitement if you had the opportunity to do anything you wanted?

Ooooo that’s a rough one to nail down.  I guess it would be the opportunity to get my hands on some of the iconic characters of literature.  Someone like a Peter Pan, Long John Silver, Ebenezer Scrooge, Little John, Tin Woodsman, Pigsy, The Monkey King, etc would be a dream to tackle.  I guess to be able to add something to that experience for a reader or a viewer would be amazing.  To be able to really inhabit those characters in their worlds for a while is really why I prefer story related art.

What is the “downside” to art?  Policemen hate paperwork… what do artists hate?

That’s kind of a small question with a big explanation; I’ll try to keep it brief.  It’s the looks you and your family get sometime when someone either first meets you or asks about you and say, “ahh he/you is/are an artist.”  It’s the same dismissive look people give when talking about the deranged or hard of thinking.  Part of that is our fault really, Art has done more to talk to itself than it has to talk to others in the recent past and they just can’t relate.

The other thing that I am sure most everyone can relate to is when people disrespect your time, your talent and the difficulty of what you do.  My theory as this relates to Art is: once upon a time everyone use to draw, and it was fun.  Then at some point they stopped for lack of interest or discouragement or whatever but they retained the memory of drawing, coloring, painting, sculpting = play.  So when they have to deal with those of us that kept “playing” they think most of what we do is easy and basic goof-offery which leads to 5PM on a Friday projects due at 6PM that same day, a client asking for the moon and expecting it and the dreaded work on speculation.

What is the best compliment you’ve ever received?

Well first two things that pop in my head are both from the same person my Mother-in-Law, Beverly.  When I graduated college she gave me a business card case with “Illustrator” engraved on it, something about that meant a lot.  The second comes from a conversation my wife told me about where Bev had come to the realization that I see things differently because I am an Artist.  Her attempt to put herself in my shoes and that she was I guess impressed in some way I took as quite a compliment.

What question do most non-artistic types forget to ask in these kinds of interviews?

Seeing as how I don’t get interviewed, well ever, I guess the thing I hear the most is more of an observation than a question.  “I can’t even draw a straight line.”  To which I reply, “Neither can I that’s why I use a ruler.”

Craig shares a blog with several of his artist buddies  Sketch-of-the-Day.  There’s a lot of amazing work on this blog… I always love stopping by to see what he and his friends have done lately.  However, I have to give you a warning.  Not everything on this site is appropriate for children.  While there is nothing pornographic, a few of the images are of a more sexualized nature and therefore not appropriate for everyone.  So, consider yourself warned.

Craigs Posts

His Sketches of Dove

And his website!  C.B. Worrell . com!

Stay tuned for his work in Cloaked in Secrets!  The itsy bitsy bits of what I’ve seen coming are so EXCITING.  I’m almost as thrilled, if not more,  as I am about my book!

Now, on a professional note, working with Craig has been incredibly rewarding.  He has just enough professionalism to give you confidence in his work even before you see his ideas on paper.  However, he’s not so “all-business” that you wonder if he’ll sterilize your characters or if you wonder if he’s being tortured to do the work.  Just listening to him, you can hear the passion for what he does as he talks about things.  It’s truly a wonderful experience, and I recommend him heartily.  Now, if I could just win the lottery so I could give him an amazingly huge tip… that’d be cool.

He even did a portrait of me… sight unseen.  I’m just so impressed…

Now we’re getting into the visual aspect of it all.  Let’s SEE just what this guy is and who he admires.  Let’s really rip the soul from his creativity and examine it… umm no…. let’s not and let’s not say we did.  That was just… well… Yeah.  How about a nice simple question like, who his favorite artist is or something.  Oh, look!  There it is.  WOW.

Who is your favorite artist?

I keep collecting favorite artists, there’s really a lot of good ones out there so it depends on the time.  Right now I really love looking at work from Charles Dana Gibson, Barry Moser, John Singer Sargent, Jean-Baptiste Monge, Stephen DeStefano, etc.  The big Grandady of them all though, I love N.C. Wyeth, regardless of what I am into at the time I always love to see his work.

What kinds of art do you have in your home?

Right now we are finishing up taking down wall paper and putting up paint in our new house so we don’t have much on the walls but we do have a few things up.  A couple Wyeth prints, a J.C. Leyendecker illustration of the Statue of Liberty, a couple of antique food ads and great illustration of Super Grover by Alex Ross.  I’m trying to get some art from friends when we finally get our walls done.

Can we see a few of your favorite pieces?

Sure! Lady with the Rose by John Singer Sargent

Death of Robin Hood by N.C. Wyeth

“Accursed creator!  Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turn from me in disgust?”  from Shelly’s “Frankenstein” illustration by Bernie Wrightson

Several ladies wanted to know if you “liked working with” me.  You’re free to plead the fifth, be brutally honest and tell them I was a pest, or lavish the praise so we sell more books.  All is good.  Just sayin’.

I enjoy the heck out of it!  It’s rare to be able to work with a “true believer” to use a title coined by Stan Lee.  By that I mean there are so many people I’ve worked with that either don’t care too much for the subject or try to keep the subject at arm’s length for whatever reason, what sold me with you the first time we talked is I came from the conversation believing that there was actually a place called Wynnewood and such a person as Dove and Phillip and I wanted to go there and meet them.

Oh, we’re gettin’ to the good stuff.  The nitty gritty, and I think that’s appropriate.  After all, life in medieval times was very nitty (lice) and gritty (grime).  It works.  Just sayin’, but it works.  Onto the interesting stuff!

What kinds of things do you enjoy drawing most?  (Portraits, cartoons, realistic still life, abstract, etc.)

My general answer I guess is things I can empathize with, humans, animals, monsters, robots, zombies, etc.  I like looking at objects and landscapes, I love seeing other people draw them and kinda wish I drew them more but it’s hard to get to know a vase, car or a ray gun.

Do you prefer pen and ink, watercolor, oil, none of the above…

I like them all, never been able to really light on one specific medium guess that’s why I tend to go mixed most of the time.  I guess though my least used media are pastel and watercolor.  Don’t like how pastel feels in my hand and I can’t make watercolor behave.

How long does it take you to sketch something like the map you did of Wynnewood?

The sketches didn’t take too long but the final took a good part of a week to finish.

How are you inspired on your designs?  (Other artists, periods, movies, authors, etc.)

I’m inspired by everything, movies, video games, music, books you name it!  As you know when I am working on a large image I like to immerse myself film and music appropriate to the subject.  For Wynnewood it was “Braveheart”, “Robin Hood”, “Labyrinth” anything with rolling countryside, swords, castles and broad, adventurous music.  It’s all about creating a feeling that you can then put in the image.

Ok… tomorrow.  Don’t forget.  It’d be cruel to put this poor man through the misery of answering all these questions and then no one read them.  Just sayin’.

Well, after reading that his friend calls him an illustrationIST, I felt a little guilty using the “tor” so I went for both.  That way, everyone is happy… or no one is.  I’m good either way.  I think I got gypped by the way.  I doodled… and I can’t draw a crooked line!

When did you start drawing/how long have you been drawing?

I guess ever since I could pick up something and make a mark.  I really can’t remember not drawing.

Did you doodle all over your papers in school?

All the time, I actually found that doing that helped me retain and comprehend information better.  I still do it at weddings, graduations, lectures etc.

Did anyone encourage you to pursue your drawing seriously?

Most definitely my Mom and Dad, Teachers, family, friends, I was very fortunate in that department.

When did you know that you were “good” at doing something many people can’t even hope to attempt?

Wow kinda sounds like I have super human abilities or something, I wish!  A lot of art is about craft and anyone with a will to do so can learn, to be good at it, to paraphrase my painting professor from CIA, Jose Cintron, you have to have heart.

I guess when I found out that I might have an aptitude was in Kindergarten.  My first official commission was from the teacher’s assistant whose son was in the army.  In exchange for being allowed to stay up during nap time I drew his portrait.   Still one of the best likenesses I’ve produced

Tomorrow… same time… same place… new answers.  (Because who wants everything to be the “Same old, same old”?)

Last September, I got a phone call.  Now, anyone who knows me knows how much I love the phone.  *cough*  Picture it.  Ethan is trying to convince me he’s paying close attention to his math book while Wall-E plays in the background.  Andra is STILL clearing the counters from lunch, and Lorna is… well I am afraid to try to remember what Lorna was doing.  Roast simmers in a crock pot, the air is a balmy 99 degrees, and I’m sitting on my bed talking to a stranger about a strange creature in a strange place.

Now, I have to confess something.  I loved the conversation.  It didn’t feel like I was jabbering away at the guy for an hour and a half… but I did.  I’ve often wondered if he got off the phone, turned to his wife, and said, “What on earth did I just agree to do?  This woman’s a freak!”  I thought about asking… but I really don’t want to know.  Just sayin’.

Now, I’ll confess, I was nervous.  I had a mental picture of Wynnewood, complete with East and West being reversed in my mind… weird when you consider I have an excellent sense of direction every other time… apparently they were reversed in Medieval times.  It was a backward time in history, so that shouldn’t surprise us.  Back to nervous– I was convinced that no one could put what was in my head on paper.  How could they?  I drew an amazingly pathetic map.  I mean.  P.A.T.H.E.T.I.C.  Just sayin’.  I told him about Dove, about Philip, I gave away plot… the works.  He asked questions like

“What kind of soundtrack fits Wynnewood?”

and

“I was thinking about using Kells for the font, what do you think?”  (Like I knew what that meant)

He was AMAZING when it came to pointing out flaws or giving me little tidbits that I could use in the story.  “Well, the Druids feared hemlock…”  Oh yeah???  YIPPEE!  Down with the Druids I always say.  Gimme some hemlock baby!  (Ok, that’s just so not me!)  We discussed the difference between wooden castles and stone, being up above a moat… the works.  I left that conversation with all kinds of amazing information that weeks of research hadn’t uncovered.  I’m sure he’s sick of my constant facebook questions like, “What can you tell me about dwarves…”

So, with the impending release of Cloaked in Secrets, the sequel to Shadows & Secrets, I thought it might be fun to interview Craig.  And, because I’m cruel, mean, nasty, and socially unacceptable (and those are my virtues), I thought I’d break the interview up into five parts.  Just to keep things lively don’tcha know.  I give you… “The Interview”  *insert impressive and slightly ominous music here*

Well, Craig, we want to know more about you.  First, will you tell us a little about your family?

Most of mine and my wife’s family are back in West Virginia so here in Ohio there’s just the three of us.  My lovely and talented, celebrity Pharmacist wife Mandi, our lovely and talented Beagle/ German shepherd dog, Zoe and I.

Michele “introduced us.”  What kind of dirt on her would you like to share with 200 of her closest friends?

One time in band camp……. seriously though I never went to band camp but Michele and I did first meet in Junior High Band, fast friends then and friends we have been ever since.  She showed me the ropes of the ever intimate world of marching and concert band in Junior High and when I followed her into High School she was gracious enough to do the same. LOW BRASS FOR LIFE!

What do you do for a living?

One summer during college I was introduced by my then boss thusly, “this is Craig he’s studyin’ to become an Illustrationist.”  It stuck.  Essentially I provide images when words won’t work.  So web design, industrial design, package design, product conception, book illustration, game illustration, all of that fits in there.

Do you have any formal education/training in art?  If so, how much and how did you choose your course of study?

Yup, AP Art pre college and a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a major in Illustration.   AP Art was a year in High School where we had to produce 2 portfolios of work, one was a catch all with 2-D and 3-D work the other was a group of pieces all on one subject, aka a thesis.  Mine was on brass instruments (go low brass!).  College was a 5 year program, 2 years of foundation (painting, drawing, design, art history), 3 of a major with a thesis in the final year with a strenuous critique system throughout.

I chose Illustration because I love stories, always have and I love the idea of communicating ideas visually. How did I choose my course of study?  I wanted a course that would give me a strong footing in the fundamentals that encouraged interaction within all the majors.  Luckily a couple of friends had gone to CIA before me and I had a really good High School Art Teacher who gave me educated and honest counsel and CIA seemed like the place for me.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the next installment of, Craig– wonder artist extraordinaire!