Today I’m welcoming Waheed Rabbani to my series of author interviews. Waheed is the author of Doctor Margaret’s Sea Chest, the first book in a historical fiction trilogy.

Elizabeth: Can you tell us a little about Doctor Margaret’s Sea Chest?

Waheed: Doctor Margaret’s Sea Chest is Book I of The Azadi Trilogy. This series of historical fiction novels is set during India’s struggle for freedom—Azadi—from the British Raj. The Books weave a tale of international intrigue, conflict, and poignant love between interesting characters of that era.

In 1965 an over 100-year-old sea chest, of an American doctor, Margaret, is discovered in the storage room of a hospital in Delhi. Another American doctor, Sharif, who originally hails from Delhi and is on contract at the hospital, is entrusted with the task of locating the mysterious woman’s relatives and returning her trunk.

Margaret, born in New Jersey, achieves her heart’s desire, in 1850, to become one of the first North American women doctors. She marries her Canadian cousin, Robert, and travels with him to serve in the Crimean war of 1854. There, they have to not only face hardships of battles, but also endure other conflicts. The surprise ending of Book I, leaves Margaret in a quandary, whether to seek vengeance or to continue with her journey to India.

The novel explores Christian and Missionary norms, and Victorian values. The Underground Railroad and the wars of 1812 and in the Crimea, are covered in a unique way.

Elizabeth: Have you already started writing books 2 and 3? Where do you see the story going?

Waheed: Yes, Book II: The Rani’s Doctor is nearing completion and would be published early in 2013. It continues with Margaret’s story upon her arrival in India and serving at a military hospital in Delhi and later her appointment as a physician to the Rani of Jhansi. There she is caught up in the 1857 Mutiny/Rebellion. Book III has been plotted. It covers the subsequent period up to 1947 when India finally achieves her independence. It is told through the eyes of Margaret’s descendants.

Elizabeth: How much historical fact is woven into your novels?

Waheed: These being historical fiction novels, the historical events are all accurate. While in the novel there are some real life personalities, the major characters are fictional, and their story is inter woven with the historical, and fictional, happenings. This enables covering the historical period in a non-intrusive manner, such that readers would find the story not only interesting, but furthering their understanding of the history from a pleasurable reading of the novel.

Elizabeth: How do you do your research?

Waheed: Fortunately, most of the primary sources (diaries, letters, accounts, etc) written in the early nineteenth century, being out of copyright, with the advent of internet are now available on-line. Hence, I did not have to travel to the central depositories (such as the British Library in London). Although I did travel to India and visited some of the locations I’ve covered in the novel.

Elizabeth: What is your writing process?

Waheed: I am a bit of both: a plotter and a “pantster.” While I do outline and timeline the events, invariably, I find the characters take over the acting of the scene. I am happy to let them carry on, even if it means tweaking the plot. It seems to me that this process results in a more natural (if you will) unforced narrative, which I’m sure readers would enjoy more.

Prior to retirement from engineering (in 2011), I wrote whenever I found free time. However, during the early period of my retirement I found the process of, ‘write when you feel like it,’ didn’t seem to work well. Hence, now I have forced myself into a 9 to 5 writing routine, as if I was at a full-time job. It seems to be working. But then again there are days, just like at a job, when I do not feel like writing and have to ‘call in sick.’

Elizabeth: Enough about your books, tell us about yourself.

Waheed: I was born in India, near Delhi, and was introduced to Victorian and other English novels, at a young age, in my father’s library. Most of the large number of volumes, were purchased by my father at ‘garage sales’ held, by departing British civil service officers and their families, in the last days of the British Raj.

I graduated from Loughborough University, Leicestershire, England, and received a Master’s degree from Concordia University, Montreal. While an engineer by profession, my other love is reading and writing English literature. I obtained a Certificate in Creative Writing from the McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, and with the teachings of all my lecturers there, embarked on this writing journey.

My wife Alexandra and I love to travel and have visited India and many other wonderful countries. We are now settled on the shores of Lake Ontario, in the historic town of Grimsby.

I’ve also contributed to the following Anthologies: Canadian Voices II, Indian Voices, and In the Wings: Stories of Forgotten Women.

More information is available on my website noted below.

Elizabeth: Are you a member of any writing and social media groups?

Waheed: Yes, I’m a member of a historical fiction on-line critique group, and a local readers’ club. I am also on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and others. I am a member of the Historical Novel Society and am as well on their book review team, helping to review (and post in their magazine) the numerous new books received by them every month.

Elizabeth: We’ve now reached the time in our interview for the let’s-get-to-know-the-author-better, nearly-pointless, sort-of-silly, rapid-fire questions:

Elizabeth: Coffee or tea?

Waheed: Coffee as the ‘eyes opener’ in the mornings. But in the afternoons I yield to tea and with dinner, red wine.

Elizabeth: Ocean or mountain?

Waheed: Both really. During winter holidays on the beaches, and vacations in the summer at cottages in the mountains.

Elizabeth: Hiking or shopping?

Waheed: Both, as per above, depending on where I am.

Elizabeth: Violin or piano?

Waheed: I once did sign up, at a local college, for piano lessons, and purchased one too! But, it is more of a novelty piece in our drawing room.

Elizabeth: Mystery or fantasy?

Waheed: Mystery, definitely. I suppose I am more of an engineer (left brained) to hardly ever read a fantasy novel.

Elizabeth: Hester Prynne or Scarlet O’Hara?

Waheed: Scarlet, absolutely, for her gutsy ways. Loved her saying: “Tomorrow is another day,” (or something like that).

Elizabeth: Love scene or death scene?

Waheed: Love scene, being a romantic at heart!

To learn more about Waheed Rabbani and his Doctor Margaret stories, visit his website,  http://tiny.cc/wrabbani

Waheed’ s book is available on Amazon: http://astore.amazon.com/waherabbhistf-20

Elizabeth: Waheed, thanks for agreeing to this interview.

Waheed: And thank you very much for having me on this interview. It was a pleasure to tell you all a bit about myself and my writing. I’ll be happy to respond to any questions from the readers. My email address is: wrabbani at cogeco.ca

 

The latest game for authors in the blogosphere is to tag each other for The Next Big Thing. Once tagged, an author answers a few questions, then tags other writers, with their permission.

Historical novelist Kim Rendfeld, author of The Cross and the Dragon , a retelling of two medieval legends, tagged me. Kim and I attended Indiana University at the same time, although we didn’t cross paths until recently.

What is the working title of your book?

The Stepsister

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I teach a children’s literature class to elementary education majors, and so I read a lot of children’s and young adult books. Right now, modern versions of fairy tales are very popular. I especially like the variations to the Cinderella story, and I wondered what I could do to make that tale different. I decided that having one of the stepsisters narrate the story would give the story an interesting twist.

What genre does your book fall under?

Gosh, it falls into a lot! Fantasy, historical fiction, children’s/young adult, and I’m giving this story a bit of a steampunk flavor as well.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Most of the characters are teenagers, and I don’t know Hollywood well enough to pick out actresses for the parts. I liked Drew Barrymore in Ever After and Hugh Dancy in Ella Enchanted, but they are both too old now. I guess this is a great chance for some new talent to get discovered.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Cinderella’s stepsister Dru, an inventor like her father, narrates this steampunk version of the classic fairy tale.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I’m looking for an agency—if you’re an agent and find my story interesting, please let me know!
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Not finished yet! My three adult novels each took about three years a piece. The only other children’s novel I’ve written took one month (I wrote it as part of NaNoWriMo). I’m guessing the first draft of The Stepsister will take about a year to finish—I’m hoping to be done by June 2013, so I can take it to the Historical Novels Society Conference.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Ella Enchanted is another retelling of the Cinderella story. Girl Genius has the same steampunk elements and a heroine a little like my own.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?

For the past few years, I’ve been writing historical fiction, reading fantasy, and teaching children’s literature. I think it’s no surprise that my latest work combines all of this.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Although readers probably think they know Cinderella and her stepsisters, when they read my version, they will discover that they didn’t know them at all. I’m aiming for a depth of character missing from most fairy tales.

Also, in The Stepsister, I use steampunk technology as a pseudo-scientific explanation for the magic that occurs in the Cinderella fairy tale.

I was tagged by:

Kim Rendfeld’s blog is Outtakes from a Historical Novelist . Her novel The Cross and the Dragon was published by Fireship Press this year.

I tag:

Beth Elliott  writes tales of adventure and romance set in the wider Regency period, including The Wild Card, shortlisted for the 2009 Romance Prize and recently released on Kindle. Beth’s blog is Regency Tales.

Tina Boscha is the author of River in the Sea, a haunting story of life on the North Sea coast during German occupation, based in part on the real-life experiences of Tina’s mother.

Tinney Heath is a fellow Wisconsin author who writes about the 13th Century. Her blog is Historical Fiction Research.  Her novel A Thing Done  will be published by Fireship Press this spring.

 

Today I’m welcoming Nicolas Kublicki to my series of author interviews. Nicolas is the author of The Diamond Conspiracy, in which Justice Department prosecutor Patrick Carlton discovers a decades-old conspiracy to control the world’s production of diamonds. His most recent Patrick Carlton novel is The Tesla Formula, published last winter in e-book and releasing in November of this year in print.

Elizabeth: Can you tell us a little about The Tesla Formula?

Nicolas: The Tesla Formula is an international thriller about economic and energy terror.

When genius inventor Nikola Tesla died in the midst of World War II, the FBI combed through his secret research – and discovered an invention so extraordinary that the agent could only reveal it to President Franklin Roosevelt in person. He didn’t make it. The government never found what he discovered – but a Hollywood star murdered by the Nazis left a clue.

When a cabal of rogue Saudi princes conspires with a global energy giant, power-hungry EU officials, and a corrupt Washington law firm to devastate the United States’ economy without shutting off a single oil tap, it is up to Justice Department prosecutor Patrick Carlton to track down Tesla’s lost formula before it is too late. But others want it first.

From the haunts of old Hollywood to the deserts of Saudi Arabia, through the wilds of Alaska to European capitals, Carlton will need the help of a beautiful Hollywood tour guide, a competitive FBI agent, a billionaire reformed mafia don, a scientist from a deep-black government agency, and a Polish secret agent to save the global economy from ruin and bring the plotters to justice.

But first, Carlton must stay alive.

Q: What inspired you to write The Tesla Formula?

A: 9-11. I was on the island of Capri in Italy editing The Diamond Conspiracy during the tragic events of 9-11. My girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, was a flight attendant and often worked on one of the hijacked flights. It took me some time to discover that she was safe. All Americans have had to work through the powerful, roiling emotions that the terrorist attacks triggered. As a writer, I did it through writing. The Tesla Formula is about many things, including a lost formula of Nikola Tesla, the global economy, alternative energy, and the oil industry, but at its heart lies a terror plot against the United States. Unlike the violence sown during (and since) 9-11, the plot involves a global terror plot that will devastate the United States without violence, which sadly is a very real possibility.

Elizabeth: In what ways is main character Patrick Carlton like you?

Nicolas: An excellent question, since authors so often write about themselves. In my case, I am a blend of Carlton and his best friend, billionaire reformed mafia don Max MacLean (minus the billionaire and mafia parts). Like Patrick Carlton, I am a lawyer, worked at the US Justice Department, lived in Washington, DC, have a law degree from George Washington University, love vintage automobiles, cigars, and Frank Sinatra’s music (he was my neighbor when I was a child), am both a patriot and a romantic, like to confront things head-on, and do things by the book. Unlike Carlton, I neither grew up on a farm nor wear cowboy boots (nor have as much hair left as Carlton).

Perhaps my greatest difference with Carlton is that I am not in the Navy Reserve, although I almost was. I had filled out my Navy Reserve application at the same time I had received my admission to law school. My mother expressed concern that it might be difficult to study law and serve in the Reserve at the same time. I decided that she had a good point and shelved my application, which I ended up never submitting. My mother was trying to be the voice of reason and she might indeed have been, but I regret my decision to this very day. In that sense, Carlton’s Navy Reserve service constitutes an unfulfilled longing.

Elizabeth: What do you see happening to Patrick Carlton next?

Nicolas: Patrick Carlton is facing all sorts of adversity in his third adventure – which I am currently writing – as he uncovers, then fights to stop another global conspiracy.

Elizabeth: What is your writing process?

Nicolas: Tortured. I collect sparks of ideas whenever they hit me, then choose one I like best and begin with a general plot, then perform a great deal of research about its constituent parts before creating an outline. I write until I have a completed a first draft. Following the common adage that writing is mostly rewriting, most of my effort and time are spent editing and rewriting my draft. I wish that I could be more precise and detailed in my outlining so I could avoid the incredibly long and tedious process of editing and rewriting, but I find that once I begin writing, the story reveals itself organically, far better than if I simply wrote a top-down, detailed outline. In a sense, I discover the story as I write it, which is a far more magical experience – and for me produces better writing – than outlining, although it takes so much longer.

Elizabeth: How much historical fact and other research are woven into your novels?

Nicolas: History is very important to me, most likely because my parents are immigrants who lived through World War II and because I attended a French school in LA from kindergarten through 12^th grade, where history holds a special place within the academic pantheon. My father was 19 living in Poland when World War II began. He hid a Jewish woman during the Nazi occupation of Poland, for which he received Israel’s Yad Vashem Righteous Gentile award in 1998 (she passed away two years ago and my father turned 93 in September). My mother was a teenager living in Nazi-occupied France during the war. My maternal grandfather was a French soldier who spent the duration of World War I in the trenches and survived the Battle of Verdun. I proudly display his medals (including the Croix de Guerre (war cross) and Medaille Militaire (akin to our Purple Heart, for being wounded in battle three times), dog tags, and WWII French Resistance armband in my office. I also travel to Europe regularly, where it is impossible not to see history everywhere (I visit my maternal uncle who turned 98 in September. He was a French soldier captured by the Nazis and sent to perform labor in Germany. He escaped and walked all the way back to Bordeaux, walking 30 kilometers each night, sleeping during the day). Many of us ignore history and focus on the here and now, which I find not only unfortunate, but a recipe for disaster. For me, history constitutes part of the present because it is how we got to our present. We owe so much to so many who made life in our country today possible. So history always finds its way into my novels, although they are present-day thrillers and not historical fiction.

In addition to history, I include many other researched facts in my books that I think readers will enjoy and that I believe lends more realism to the stories. Many editors and agents assert almost as a mantra that a thriller must deliver entertainment not knowledge. They say that because information delivery tends to slow down the high-speed, white-knuckle character of a thriller. Yet there are methods to deliver information without such a decelerating effect. I believe that if my readers are willing to pay for my books and invest the time reading them when there are so many competing demands on their time and money, I owe them more than simply a good yarn. I want my readers to finish my books having learned something of interest and of value. In The Diamond Conspiracy, that includes the history and processes of the diamond trade, Russia, South Africa, the Vatican, antitrust law, and the military. In The Tesla Formula, that includes Nikola Tesla, Old Hollywood, the international economy, the oil industry, astrophysics, alternative energy, terrorism, Saudi Arabia, Poland, France, and the European Union.

Elizabeth: Enough about your books, tell us about yourself.

Nicolas: I like to say that I am half French (mother), half Polish (father), and all American (born and live in the US). My father escaped Poland to get away from the Soviets at the end of World War II. That and his wartime experiences marked him for life. Many of his and my mother’s wartime experiences left indelible impressions on me. During college at UCLA, I studied political science with an emphasis on Soviet Studies. My goal was to fight the Cold War. I worked on Capitol Hill on national security issues before going to law school. During law school, the Berlin Wall fell and Soviet communism was defeated. The Cold War was over. I focused on real estate and environmental law and worked at the Justice Department before practicing law in my native Los Angeles for ten years, then shifted to the business side of real estate. Between the two, I wrote full time, but soon found that having to write on deadline, publish or perish, was detrimental to my writing and far less enjoyable than having to steal away time to write as I had while practicing law. As a result, I write part time, which clearly poses its share of frustrations, but I like to be involved in many things. In addition to running a real estate company, I teach as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine Law School, serve on the advisory board of an LA municipal park, and am involved in charity work. I am married, with two young daughters. I particularly enjoy driving my restored 1959 MGA roadster on weekends. I hope to have a vintage Cadillac like Carlton one day.

Elizabeth: We’ve now reached the time in our interview for the let’s-get-to-know-the-author-better, nearly-pointless, sort-of-silly, rapid-fire questions:

Elizabeth: Coffee or tea?

Nicolas: Coffee. Lots of it. Mostly in espresso form that I brew myself. The name ‘quadruple espresso’ is not unknown in my office.

Elizabeth: Ocean or mountain?

Nicolas: I love both, but am more partial to the ocean. In a perfect world, my family and I would hop from place to place chasing a never-ending summer by the beach.

Elizabeth: Hiking or shopping?

Nicolas: Hiking. More accurately, walking. I fell in love with walking as a child during summer camp. Now I walk about 45 minutes daily (although the scenery is not as alluring as the French Alps of my youth). In addition to the exercise benefits, walking sets my mind free and allows it to wander. I often get my best ideas and solve many of my plot and character issues while walking.

Elizabeth: Violin or piano?

Nicolas: Neither. My parents forced me to play the piano for years. I was good at it and even gave recitals, but I chafed at being forced to pursue that instrument. It was my first rebellion. The organ is my favorite instrument.

Elizabeth: Mystery or fantasy?

Nicolas: Mystery. Although thrillers would be more precise. Thrillers are often lumped in with mysteries, yet they constitute a distinct, separate genre, which the International Thriller Writers organization of which I am a member is working hard to rectify. To me, the main difference between the two is that in a mystery, someone is killed and the protagonist attempts to find out who killed the victim. In a thriller, the protagonist is being hunted while uncovering a mystery.

Elizabeth: Joan of Arc or Eleanor Roosevelt?

Nicolas: Joan of Arc.

Elizabeth: Love scene or death scene?

Nicolas: Love. Although in thrillers, death scenes are more prevalent.

To learn more about Nicolas Kublicki and his novels, visit his website at www.nicolaskublicki.com and The Tesla Formula page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Tesla-Formula/344451525570199.

Thanks for visiting today, Nicolas!

 

 

Today I’m welcoming Jeanne Treat, author of the Dark Birthright trilogy as well as a collection of short stories, Dark, Mysterious and Irreverent.

 

Q: Can you give us a brief description of the Dark Birthright trilogy?

A: The Dark Birthright trilogy takes place in seventeenth century Scotland, England, and the American Colonies. The series has sold more than 8,000 books and eBooks through promotion at Scottish and Celtic festivals, book events, and the internet.

The first book, Dark Birthright, is the story of a child born of mysterious circumstances, given to a fisherman and his wife to raise as their own. Dughall grows up in a family bound by honor and becomes a healer.  His life is torn apart when he is claimed by his real father, a cruel and powerful lord who tries to mold him in his image.  Dughall must define himself, in the midst of a struggle between a Duke, an Earl, and the family who wants him back.  All the while, he’s determined to marry the girl he left behind, a woodland lass with eyes as green as a peacock’s feather.

Book two, Dark Lord, follows the same characters. Set during a time of political and religious strife, it features action, romance, and politics.  Dughall is settling into his new role when the King (Charles I) imposes an Anglican liturgy book on the Scottish church.  Protests and riots plague the realm, forcing lords and commoners to take a stand. Dughall and his half brother Gilbert are placed in precarious positions, torn between loyalty to the crown, their families, and zealous subjects. The National Covenant is signed and war breaks out. Tempers run hot and actions are rash.  To maintain order, one brother must take their late father’s place.  Who shall become the Dark Lord?

Book three, Dark Destiny, continues the story of the Gordon clan. The English civil war is over.  The imprisoned King and his lieutenants are in trouble.  Dughall’s half brother Gilbert is one of them.  What will the Gordon brothers do?  You will meet the next generation of Gordon children – one son’s supernatural abilities threaten his father.  England executes the King and declares itself a Republic, but the Scottish government refuses to follow.  The King’s son (Charles II) tries to gain his thrones, starting with Scotland.  Unfortunately, he was given a directive by his father to execute Lord Dughall Gordon. What will the Gordon brothers do? Will they abandon Scotland for the Colonies?

Q: You describe your writing as historical fantasy. What made you decide to mix these genres?

A: I describe the series as historical fiction with a touch of fantasy. It is historically correct, but there is a sword with a curse on it and two brothers with the second sight. What is the second sight? When they were children, their mother described it as, “They speak to each other without words, they each know where the other is, and feel each other’s pain and pleasure. Sometimes they say what others are thinking. It scares me that people will find out.” This spawns some interesting situations, particularly when they are older.

I have always been interested in the supernatural – so you will see this woven throughout my work.

Q: How historically accurate are your novels?

A: The novels are correctly set in the seventeenth century in respect to geography and political and religious systems. They follow historical events closely and reflect what it was like to live as a lord, a peasant, a fisherman, and a woodland villager. To research the novels, I used books and the internet, but I also traveled to Scotland and England to visit castles, seaports, and stone circles. I worked with a Scottish historian from a village near Old Deer.

Q: Your books are illustrated by fantasy artist Jane Starr Weils. How did this collaboration occur? 

A: A press in Virginia agreed to publish my first book, Dark Birthright. They had already published The Rebel King Series, which was illustrated. My publisher suggested that my novel would benefit from character portrait sketches. Jane Starr Weils was one of the names mentioned, so I contacted her. She lives in New York near the Vermont border, so we visited her after a trip to Maine.

Here is how we created a portrait sketch. I would identify a person whose visage represented my character and photograph them. We knew some of these people. Others, we photographed at Scottish festivals. I would relay the photograph to Jane, along with a description of any changes – like clothing, hair color, and facial hair. She did an initial pass at the drawing and we collaborated until the sketch was perfect. The sketches are wonderful. I use them to promote my books.

Q: What is your creative process?

A: An author’s creative process is as unique as the writer. A friend of mine meticulously plans a novel ahead of time, using character descriptions, plot and chapter outlines, and theme and sub-theme descriptions. It works for her, but my creative process is different. I approach the task like it is an artist’s canvas. I know where the story begins and how it ends and that’s my road map. I ask the characters to talk to me and they do. In some ways I become them. My husband likes to tell people, “I’ve been sleeping with a dozen Scots in my bed for years. The women are fine, but it’s weird being with the men.”

Q: Enough of your books—tell us about yourself.

A: I grew up in Western New York, in a suburb of Buffalo. I began writing as a child and continued into my teens, when I penned a column in the school newspaper called “Tea Time with Cecily Fripple.” (Did I just date myself?) I graduated from college with an English Liberal Arts degree. I took literature and creating writing courses at school, which helped me to write.  I always wanted to be a writer, although I did not seriously pursue it until 2004. My mother is partially responsible for my success. The dedication in my novels says, “This book is dedicated to my mother, who told everyone I was an author before it was true.”

We’ve now reached the time in our interview for the let’s-get-to-know-the-author-better, nearly-pointless, sort-of-silly, rapid-fire questions:

Q: Coffee or tea?

A: Coffee – hopelessly addicted

Q: Ocean or mountain?

A: Definitely mountain!

Q: Hiking or shopping?

A: Hiking

Q: Violin or piano?

A: Violin!

Q: Mystery or fantasy?

A: Mystery

Q: Darcy or Heathcliff?

A: Hmmm… Neither… But Darcy if a choice must be made.

Q: Love scene or death scene?

A: Love scene

To learn more about Jeanne, visit her blog, http://jeannetreat.wordpress.com/

To learn more about her books and view some book trailers:

http://www.darkbirthrightsaga.com

Jeanne’s short story collection, Dark, Mysterious, and Irreverent is available for FREE download through 08/31/12.  Follow the link below and use coupon code KQ22Q

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/54082

Jeanne, thanks for joining me today!

 

 

Today I’m welcoming Monette Bebow-Reinhard to my series of author interviews. Monette is the author of two Bonanza books, Felling of the Sons and Mystic Fire; is marketing a major nonfiction, Civil War and Bloody Peace and a fiction series about a Greek vampire, a Vrykolakas; has just been offered a contract for Dancing with Cannibals; and is in final edit with Saving Boone: Legend of a Half-Breed.

Q: Can you give us a brief description of your most recent novel ?

A: Dancing with Cannibals is set in 1906 Africa to show the Belgium conquest of the Congo, when two Belgian prisoners are released to become colonists of African villages, to bring them Christianity and claim their resources. Simon sees the wrong in what he’s doing but enjoys the power, while Jean sees the wrong and becomes enamored of the cannibal culture, eventually marrying into it. Inevitably, however, neither man can control the destiny of a country when a more powerful one is determined to conquer it. I think the novel holds great lessons for the world today.

Q: What made you interested in this story?

A: Dicho did, actually. He’s my partner on the book and the instigator of the story and its history. He lives in South Africa but was born in the Congo. He is a French speaker with story ideas who was looking for help and contacted me and others through the website Authors Den to edit his stories and get them ready to market. He had six stories to offer, and I chose the one on cannibals because I’ve done a lot of research on the practice in this country and am interested in removing the stigma, from the point of view of the cannibal, as to the reason one would eat another human. Attitude, to me, is the most important thing in history, and something that’s often overlooked. We’re often judging other cultures through our own eyes. This book tries to change that.

Q: How much historical fact is woven into your story?

A: It’s amazing what he had when he sent the book to me to edit. He didn’t have a fiction novel. He had a series of historical events, two fiction scenes, and a number of fiction characters. I had to take what he had and turn it into a novel. First I asked him – do you want this as fiction or nonfiction? We went from there. I took his characters, and with a lot of back and forth asking him questions about their motives, the plot began to emerge. He had specific ideas of how this would go. But I told him, I don’t want to make this from the point of view that Christianity was a good thing to happen to them. Let’s go for a more balanced approach. I wanted to see us portray the culture as it was, and I depended on him to get the history and the culture right. I bought a number of books of Africa in this period, however, so that I could familiarize myself with it, and I also watched some videos—because Dicho wanted me to add the descriptive material. Even though I’ve never been there! He says he’s not good at it. So you will see more plot than description. But we did what we could. He gave me a lot of history I had to try and incorporate so that readers wouldn’t get lost or bored. It was a challenge to make this kind of book not preachy or what they call “an info dump.”

Q: How hard was marketing something like this?

A: Very hard. We couldn’t tell if publishers were turned off by the title, but didn’t see any reason to change it. We also didn’t know if publishers wanted to work with two authors. I have no experience with a co-authored submission and really didn’t know how to address these concerns. But we just kept at it. And really, we never received any kind of feedback from anyone about why they would reject it. We followed the right format, we found publishers who wanted historical, who wanted cultural, and who wanted controversial. But no luck. We did several rewrites, thinking that might help. I think adding the viewpoint of Betu, one of the cannibal women who eventually marries Jean, was the perfect move.

Now with Spartan, I saw the opportunity to try a new history publisher, and they scooped it up as though the best thing they’d ever seen. It’s exciting working with someone raw and eager, and we’ve already gotten comments on how to improve the material. So Dicho and I really appreciate having Dancing with Cannibals recognized for what it has to offer. Dicho has turned all the edits over to me, because I was mostly responsible for putting it in its current readable format.

But sometimes I wondered if I wasn’t more of a hindrance to him, than a help. I was reassured recently when a publisher who rejected Dancing (the only one who told us why) asked me to help Dicho get one of his other novels ready for her. She says she loves his story but it’s way too long, and needs to be edited before she can consider it. So Dicho’s hired me, not as a partner here, but as an editor. I charge a meager $1 a page, because I enjoy helping other writers. He’s very excited about this second opportunity, and this same publisher is willing to look at my Greek Vampire as well. She’s into romance and it’s called Adventures in Death and Romance.

I would love to see something out there about partnering on a fiction novel – the ins and outs. I still don’t feel I’ve learned enough to write this commentary myself. I wish more publishers and agents were more direct about why they won’t look at something. I know they’re busy, but they don’t realize the disservice they do to projects like this.

Q: Your novels Felling of the Sons and Mystic Fire are Bonanza fan fiction. Can you talk about your “obsession” with Bonanza and how you came to write these stories?

A: Oh, that would take too long! Seriously, I have an article at my website, “Becoming an authorized Bonanza novelist” on the Bonanza page there. In brief, I can say that I was in the right time at the right place, and got David Dortort’s attention as a fan who said all the right things. I finally got to meet him, and we worked on a couple of scripts together for television. With that association, retaining the friendship was easy enough as well as getting permission to sell Felling of the Sons, which I’d written first and used to begin the initial contact. I felt it was too good to get thrown into the fanfic pile. A few years later we talked Civil War together and David was impressed enough with my knowledge to give me permission for the second novel. He’s since died, and I miss him like crazy. No one else has managed to go through Bonanza Ventures with a novel for authorization, but I hear people are trying.

Back in 1992, after I began to see the series on the air again, and while also writing other historical material, I thought I’d try my hand at Bonanza fanfic. I couldn’t believe how easily these stories just poured out of me. For some reason—maybe the death of my sister during the show’s first season in 1959—the show just captivated me and even at the tender age of seven I began rewriting the stories on I saw on TV to make them ‘better.’ Pretty crazy, I know, but one of those episodes I rewrote was”The Crucible” with guest star Lee Marvin, an episode so intense it still frightens fans. My rewrite was so vivid to me, even years later, that I thought it was an actual episode. Imagine my surprise finding out that I wrote the whole story myself, because it wasn’t an episode. “Fork in the Road” is now one of the short stories in Cartwright Saga, which is a complete anthology novel I offer free to people who purchase both of these novels.

I think the best part about Bonanza was its use of history with fictional characters. I can still remember my surprise finding out Mark Twain really did work in Virginia City and Philip Deidesheimer really did create a series of honeycomb safety timbering for the mines. I did some follow-up research on this and learned that he never patented it and died a poor man. Things like this spurred my interest in history—oddly enough, my worst subject in high school was history. I now hold a master’s in history.

Q: Did you get your master’s in history to teach?

A: Nope – just to write. I have a major nonfiction, Civil War & Bloody Peace: following a soldier’s orders, that I’m desperate to get published. Well, maybe not desperate enough, I recently canceled a contract with Sunbury Press because they kept dragging their feet on it—after six months I still didn’t have an editor and then they said, well, maybe we could put it out in two volumes after assuring me it would make a good 450-page book. Well, yes, that’s the way it needs to be, which is why I signed with them. In its submission format it’s about 750 pages with maps and photos. And I think it’s a really good way to look at the pivotal period in our nation’s history, following the orders of one soldier to find out why he was sent where he was sent. The soldier is my grandfather’s great uncle, and he had the unique experience of being in the army for 22 years, as a private, non-com.

But my BA in history didn’t teach me enough about research to finish this book. So I went back to become a better historian. And I think the book will speak for itself, once I find a decent contract. I had Potomac interested but they weren’t sure how to market it. I’ve since created a marketing query letter and hope I addressed some of their concerns.

While getting the master’s and researching the Civil War I created the second Bonanza novel, Mystic Fire. Using the Cartwrights, and having the Civil War tear them apart with an understanding of who Lincoln was in 1862, I created what I call an ‘epic saga.’ It’s a bit more of a challenge to read than my first Bonanza novel because I tear the four Cartwrights into separate storylines—a fire, ghosts, Lincoln, cattle rustling, runaway slaves, the Civil War and an unusual assassination attempt—all combined to help assure me that I had the right title. Sadly, it hasn’t done as well as Felling of the Sons. I don’t feel I’ve yet found its market. The goal in part is to demonstrate what Lincoln was like in 1862, and I really enjoyed giving him a voice in this novel.

Q: Enough of your books—tell us about yourself.

A: Not much to tell. Normal life in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Two brothers and two sisters. My sister Diane died when I was six, and then my parents had two more girls. Diane probably would have been my best friend. We were two years apart. I was my father’s favorite, or so I’m told. He died when I was 14. My mother moved away when I was 18, taking everyone but me to Phoenix in 1971. I stayed in Wisconsin, where all I wanted was my own family. Married my husband Joe in 1975, and have three kids – Carrielynn, Adam and Bennett. All grown and into their own lives. My youngest has made me a grandmother, but sadly they live over in Seattle. I run the Green Bay Reading Writers Guild, and we have a Facebook page. I post a lot of writing related topics there and encourage writers to find readers before they seek publication. I worked in offices as secretary nearly all my life, while helping on my husband’s family’s golf course as manager (for a little while) and bartender. Going back to college was a dream that finally came true when my kids were older. I had one year of college in back in 1972, majoring in theater, and went back in 1994. I’ve been an actress practically all my life in local community groups, even helped form one. I was curator of a museum for three years until I got tired of no pay, no time and no appreciation. But I now run the Archaic Copper Newsletter in conjunction with that experience. I’m one of these persons who doesn’t sit still well! I like being busy. And I have a lot in my head that needs to come out.

Q: How difficult do you find balancing your writing career and your other jobs?

A: Very very. I remember back when all I had was a typewriter. I typed my first novel, and sure wish I’d kept it. It was every night, typing for an hour after the kids went to bed, with my peppermint schnapps (yeah, I’m German). I had to drink before bed because my husband snores! Then my mother sent me her old computer, and though I resisted at first, became very fond of the idea of changing the material before I printed it. I’ve been updating my computers ever since, giving my kids my old ones (Bennett now works for Microsoft). But always my writing took place late at night, and then once I started school, I’d write a couple of pages between classes or between assignments. I got little sleep in those days, and often credit my great kid with raising themselves. Plus doing theater? I sure hope they don’t look back on growing up and wonder where their mother was! I also put myself through my BA with jobs, part-time, temporary. One semester I worked three at the same time. Crazy stuff. I was fortunate that my first successes are Bonanza novels because they were so easy for me to write. Much harder has been my conception of a Greek vampire. I created him as my own original, but, through inspiration of Bonanza, put him into historical events.

We’ve now reached the time in our interview for the let’s-get-to-know-the-author-better, nearly-pointless, sort-of-silly, rapid-fire questions:

Q: Coffee or tea?

A: Coffee! Actually both, but coffee first.

Q: Ocean or mountain?

A: I’d have to say ocean, but doggoneit, I like them both! I think we need water more than rocks, though.

Q: Hiking or shopping?

A: Hiking! Although shopping is a good substitute, especially on hot days.

Q: Violin or piano?

A: Piano. I wouldn’t know which end of a violin to hold, and the sound kind of irritates me.

Q: Mystery or fantasy?

A: Fantasy. I love to plot, but have never tried sheer mystery. On the other hand, in fantasy we can let our imagination run wild.

Q: Darcy or Heathcliff?

A: Darcy – to be honest, I don’t know Heathcliff. Maybe if I did, I’d like him better?

Q; Love scene or death scene?

A: Death – because it’s so final, or so some people think. And it’s so real, where love scenes can be phony. I’ve been criticized for having so much death in my writing, but I am fascinated by it.

Thanks to Monette for joining me today.  To learn more about Monette, her writing and to order her stories, visit her websites:

www.monettebebow-reinhard.com

www.bonanza-legacy.com

www.writewordsinc.com

www.spartan-publishing.com

Thanks, Monette!