Write Now Editing

Author Interview: Donna Schlachter

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I have a little something different for you today, folks. The originally scheduled author was unable to participate, so author Donna Schlachter graciously volunteered to fill in (thank you!). But I sent you the wrong questions and didn’t realize it until she returned them.

But that’s okay! We’re going to be flexible. We’re going to shift focus, and today’s going to be all about READING! (It’s always a great day to talk about books.) So thank you readers for rolling with Donna and me for a little something different before the holidays.

Thank you so much for helping me out! What was your favorite picture book as a child? What did you love about it?  I loved Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verse. It was poems about birds, and trees, and plants. And playing with tin soldiers on his counterpane (bedspread).

What was your favorite chapter book? What did you love about it?  Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. It had horses, and it really brought the horse to the forefront as a character.

Where’s the most unusual place you’ve read a book? Sitting on the deck of a cruise ship. That was unusual for me, given that it was my first—and only so far—cruise.

If you could visit any fictional place, where would you go? Why?  Cabot Cove, Maine. I’d like to know why that town is the center of the universe for small-town murders.

If you could turn any of your books into a movie, which would you pick? Who would you cast as the main characters?  I’d love to see my first cozy mystery series made into a television series because I think viewers would love the notion of a forensic accountant solving mysteries. I’m really excited about this series because an audiobook producer has committed to turning it into audiobooks.

Who’s your favorite author? Why?  Agatha Christie, because she’s the queen of cozy mysteries. She created such diverse characters, figured out interesting ways to kill people, and knew how to hook the reader.

Share five books from your TBR (to be read) pile. The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Alice Kimberly; No Bones About It by Donna Huston Murray; Canine Crimes II edited by Cynthia Manson; Destiny’s Road by Larry Niven; and The Doorstep Girls by Valerie Wood. And these are 5 of about 100 books. I swore to myself I wouldn’t buy another book this year until I worked my way through all of my TBR pile, And now it’s November. (Sigh) Looks like another year of not buying books. Right. Like that worked this year. 😉

Thank you so much for sticking with me today. I’d love to offer a free copy of A Mommy By Christmas to one lucky person. Leave a comment, and we’ll draw for one prize, an e-book copy of the book. Please remember to cleverly disguise your email address so the bots don’t find you. For example: donna AT livebytheword DOT com

A community care center, a calico cat, and Christmas—can a single middle-aged woman bring a town together in time to celebrate the King’s birthday? Can a widowed father find a reason to join in? And can the pair see God at work in their lives?

A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 50 times in books; is a member of several writers groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both, and is an avid oil painter.

www.DonnaSchlachter.com
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com
www.AllBettsAreOff.wordpress.com
www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor
www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter
http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/donna-schlachter
https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=donna+schlachter

Why Read? by Sandra Glahn

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I teach a seminary course in Theology and Literature, and I asked my students on the last day of class to tell me why people should read. I got my main points from them:

Read for information. Want to learn about women at the time of the earliest Christians? You can find books about that. Want to learn how submarines work? Your library has resources. Reading can expand our knowledge. In the days of Martin Luther, when a man was ordained, he marked the occasion by gifting the local monastery with a book—because books were so rare. Fast forward five hundred years—we can download scores of classics for free, find inexpensive paperbacks, and shop in stores full of used books. We can get PDFs of academic articles from all over the world, and we can have the latest Nobel winner delivered to our door. Reading is the doorway through which we enter all these worlds of ideas.

Read for empathy. Reading is the closest we’ll get to omniscience. Through reading, we can get inside the mind of another and see the world from his or her perspective. According to Harvard Business Review, “We may be assuming that reading for knowledge is the best reason to pick up a book.” But research “suggests that reading fiction may provide far more important benefits than nonfiction… Reading literary fiction helps people develop empathy, theory of mind, and critical thinking.” And empathy can change us. For all its weaknesses, the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, published in two volumes in 1852, allowed nineteenth-century literate Americans to see the world through the eyes of enslaved persons. Consequently, Stowe’s work “helped lay the groundwork for the [American] Civil War.”[1] Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy is helping later generations to feel the effects of an unjust prison system and advocate for change.

Read for exposure to people and places. Earth is currently comprised of 196 countries. One of my friends has a goal to read a book set in each one of them. Why? So she can better understand the world. She won’t get to travel to all 196 countries, but she can enter far-off places through her imagination. I will probably never visit totalitarian North Korea, but the Pulitzer winner The Orphan Master’s Son allowed me to experience life under its cruel dictatorship without having to suffer its abuses.

Read for companionship.  When my husband and I experienced a decade of infertility and pregnancy loss, I often felt alone in my grief as my church experienced a baby boom. Reading books by others who had gone through the same trauma helped me feel less alone. As I read, I thought, “You too?

Read as a spiritual discipline. In his book Under the Unpredictable Plant, the late pastor Eugene Peterson lists reading as one of the spiritual disciplines. When he was a young pastor lacking role models, he holed himself up in his office for several hours a week and read great novels. One such work was The Brothers Karamazov. Dostoevsky’s book shows grace embodied in the lives of several characters. Les Miserable’s “candlestick” scene provides another such picture of what grace can look like lived out in human interaction. 

The Count of Monte Cristo showed me why revenge never satisfies. Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time convinced me that “perfect love casts out fear” long before I realized she was quoting 1 John. Mako Fujimura in his book Culture Care helped me see the need for “slow art,” described by David Brooks of the New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time.”

 Why do you read? How have books changed you?

Dr. Sandra Glahn is professor of Media Arts and Worship at Dallas Theological Seminary and author of numerous books, including Latte with Luke (AMG). You can find her at aspire2.com, or follow her on Twitter: @sandraglahn

[1] Kaufman, Will (2006). The Civil War in American Culture. Edinburgh University Press.

How Reading Helps Your Editing

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There are a lot of rules for good writing, and good editors know all of those rules. Editors take writing and editing classes, read books, and go to conferences to help them better understand how to create a good book.

If you want to produce a great book, however, you need a great editor, and great editors know when and why to break the rules. There aren’t a lot of classes that teach you how to do that, though, so exactly how does an editor hone those rule-breaking skills?

By reading.

Read the rest of the article here on the PEN Tips blog!

Blog Tours: Great for Authors AND Readers by Meagan Davenport

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Do you ever wish you could get paid to read? Growing up, that was my dream job. Come to think of it, it still is! Over the last couple of years, I’ve found a way to do just that – in book currency. I work with several publicity groups, publishers, and authors who share ARC (advance review copy) books at no charge in return for a review. These options are excellent for authors and readers alike!

So how does one get started reviewing books (or finding readers)? The most important item is to get social. Authors: websites make great ways for prospective readers to learn more about you and your books. And don’t forget social media! Pick a couple platforms and utilize them well. Facebook is an excellent resource with a plethora of groups.

Readers: Goodreads and retail sites provide a solid basis to begin reviewing books. Copy/paste your review to each platform – no need to reinvent the wheel! If you start a blog, start small and free with WordPress or Blogger and leverage social media to promote your reviews! (Also, be sure to note if you received a free copy of a book.)

Three of my favorite resources for book publicity and review opportunities:

  • JustRead Publicity Tours focuses on Christian fiction and non-fiction. Services offered include conventional, bookstagram (original Instagram pictures), and takeover tours. This versatility allows authors to publicize their books in a variety of ways; similarly, hosts (readers/reviewers) can play to their own strengths. Readers who enjoy graphic design may prefer a bookstagram tour, while others may choose to interview the author on their blog. While websites are not required for reviewers, that may impact what you sign up for.
  • Read with Audra is part of Audra Jennings PR and geared toward readers. Sign up for Christian-fiction, non-fiction, and children’s-title mailing lists to be alerted of upcoming tours. Jennings works closely with New Growth Press and features many books from that publisher on her blog. Tours through Read with Audra operate much like JustRead’s program, and often make use of Netgalley (another awesome spot to procure or promote ARCs).
  • Finally, Anna LeBaron works with both authors and readers to leverage social media and make new books successful. She is a pro at both “official” (pre-planned) and “rogue” (“Let’s see what happens!”) book launches and has written a very successful book herself. Most book-launch team activity with LeBaron occurs on Facebook.

Has this whetted your appetite to move forward? Whether you join one or all three of these groups in your journey (or something else altogether!) – I’d love to hear it! What worked (or didn’t) for you?

No matter what, be persistent in the process. It takes time for both readers and authors to build up a repertoire. There is no magic number of reviews that will indicate a reader has “made it” as a book reviewer (or that an author has either!). Once you review your first book, you’ve already “made it”. You are a book reviewer. Even if an author hasn’t published anything, as long as you’re writing, you are a writer.

You also just never know which book will be the “magic” one that connects you with an author, publisher, or reviewer – so keep reaching out. Leverage your opinions. And above all, enjoy the process!

Meagan Davenport is a freelance editor and proofreader who averages 100+ books read every year. She is passionate about global missions, Lord of the Rings, and the finer points of Indian food and Washington apples (though not together). You can find her online at MeaganDavenport.com or on social media @readswheregoes and @readswhereshegoes.

ABOUT ME

Editor. Teacher. Novelist.
A passionate lover of fiction, Karin doesn't just write novels, she helps others write their best stories! A certified substantive editor with the Christian Editor Connection, her goal is to help authors to put her out of business by equipping them with the tools they need to become better writers.

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Substantive Fiction Editing: A substantive edit looks at the big picture. Start here to tackle the big issues before moving on to the nit-picky details. Substantive edits not only point out … [more]

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Lover of all things fiction, I also love University of Michigan football, the Detroit Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings, kayaking, gluten-free cupcakes, and my husband.

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