I’m happy to welcome Loretta Ellsworth to the Shelf today, for a stop on her blog tour promoting her latest novel, In a Heartbeat.
It is a story told in alternating voices, about the connection between two girls through organ donation. Eagan, a sixteen-year-old skater, dies after a head injury on the ice. Her heart goes to Amelia, a fourteen-year-old with a critical heart condition. Ellsworth explores the possibility of cellular memory as Amelia begins to feel different after the transplant, her attitude and interests shifting in ways she can’t fully explain. In a Heartbeat is about grief and regret, guilt and second chances. Here’s the book trailer:
What first inspired this novel?
My nephew died in a motorcycle accident, sort of a freak accident when his front tire hit a hole and the bike flipped. He had designated himself as an organ donor on his license. For a long time I couldn’t write. When I did, I found myself drawn to a story of organ donation.
What are some of the challenges in writing a narrative in 2-voices? How was your approach to writing this type of novel different than your approach to writing a story with a single protagonist?
Some of the challenges of writing a narrative in two voices are: keeping each voice distinct, not only in dialogue, but in thought and word choice throughout the novel. Also, their stories had to flow together, but each girl had to have her own obstacles, goals, story arc, etc. I tried writing each story separately and putting them together, but it didn’t flow that way. So I had to go back and write alternate chapters. This was my first attempt at multiple narratives (and maybe my last), but I’m glad I tried it and I learned a great deal from writing this book.
I can imagine that you might hope that the young adults who read your novel will be inspired to consider becoming organ donors themselves. What is your opinion on organ donation and when/how do you think this topic should be introduced to kids and teens?
This topic should be introduced before teens apply for a driver’s license and they should discuss their decision with their parents. My nephew didn’t discuss his choice with his parents and it was a shock to find out that he was an organ donor, but they honored his wishes. I do hope it inspires young adults to consider becoming organ donors as there is such a great need and in our case, we found it comforting to know that something positive came out of our tragedy.
In a Heartbeat is a real story of self-discovery for both Amelia and Eagan. What epiphanies about life do you think they realize throughout the novel?
Both girls come to realize how precious life is and what a gift it is – Amelia knew this before because of her illness, but she didn’t really know how to live because she’d missed out on so much of life. Eagan took it all for granted because she had such a full life.
Tell us a bit about the research you while working on this novel. What did you learn that most surprised you?
I spoke to organ recipients and transplant coordinators and nurses, and I read a great deal about organ transplants. I was surprised to learn that some recipients do claim to experience changes in their personalities and have memories that weren’t there before and some have instinctively known the first name of their donor without being told. Others have had dreams where they’ve seen their donor. I don’t think we can discount those people or their experiences; this is something that requires more research.
If you had to choose 5 things (ideas / books / objects / topics / people) that have most inspired your writing, what would you choose?
Some of my inspirations are as follows:
I think Harper Lee is the best writer on the planet – her book and writing style are so unique and her childhood is woven into her story in such an honest way that we can’t help but admire Atticus the same way Scout did.
I loved this book when I was younger and I’ve always thought that Charlotte’s Web was a book that any child can identify with – we discover what real friendship is.
I’ve always been fascinated with history and reading about or seeing pictures of the past always inspires me to write.
My own personal history inspires me to write – I often explore my own feelings through my characters.
What is the best writing advice you’ve received and the best you can give?
Don’t be so hard on yourself. We all question our own worth as writers. It’s difficult to maintain faith in our writing and it’s so much easier to just quit. So give yourself a break and rejoice in a well-written sentence or a good line of dialogue and don’t give in to fear and self-rejection. You’ll get there eventually.
Thank you so much for making a stop here today Loretta! For Loretta’s full tour schedule, visit her website.
One thing you have to say about the Southern Sizzlers, we have got some of the coolest friends you could ever hope to meet. Today it is our pleasure to introduce to you our friend Allison Knight, whose medieval story of love and jealousy, Heartsong, was voted the Best Novel of the Year by her publisher, Champagne Books, Inc. The eagerly-anticipated sequel, Battlesong, will be coming out August, 2010. Then you have to add to that our excitement about her upcoming “sweet Gothic” novella, working titled The Haunting of Hastings Hall — part of the Shadowed Hearts series. And we just got word today that Allison’s “A Treasure For Sara” has been nominated as Best Historical of 2009 by Love Romances and More.
In other words, Ms. Knight is one busy and popular author, and we are so pleased that she took a few minutes from writing to talk to us!
SS: Welcome to Southern Sizzle Romance, Ms Knight. Let’s talk about these releases. First, tell us about Battlesong.
ALLISON: Thank you for the welcome. About Battlesong, as the name implies this it a tale about a few battles. Of course, I write romance so these are battles between the hero and the heroine.
SS: What can you tell us about the story?Was there any incident or idea that inspired you?
ALLISON: I just knew Arthur, the youngest brother of Rhianna, my heroine of Heartsong, had to have his own story. Lo and behold the beginning (which I hope is a shocker!) came to me after my husband and I discussed various romantic hooks, some I’ve read, some I was thinking about using. (You have to understand I run most of my plots, especially the beginnings, by my husband before I actually start to outline things. He is great and often his comments will lead the story in a completely different direction than what I planned.) This beginning was a perfect start for Arthur’s story. Then I had to get him out of the situation I got him in, in the first place. Hence the title, Battlesong. Not sure that makes sense. You just have to read the book. I do love the beginning of this book.
SS: What drew you to the Middle Ages for these books?
ALLISON: I loved reading about the Middle Ages. And I write about the time periods I like to read myself. Besides, you can get away with a lot in a historical tale, that doesn’t work for a contemporary novel.
SS: Your readers can tell you do your research. But as writers, we’d like to know more about how you do it. Do you do all the research, or at least the bulk of it, before you write, or are you a look-things-up-as-you-go kind of girl?
ALLISON: I usually try to start with as much information as I think I’ll need. Notice I said – think! The book I’m working on now takes place during the reign of Charles the second. I did the research on clothing, London at that time, the plague and the London fire before I started. But, and that’s a big but, I get into the story and find I need to do more research. Not really sure if I need to do more research, or if something sparks an interest but off I go. I do love the research part. HMMMM Maybe that’s part of why I write historicals.
SS: In writing historical fiction, what resources do you find most useful, and why?
ALLISON: The computer…. I wrote my first three books on a typewriter. I hate to think of how many times I typed a page over and over and over. Being able to pick out sentences, rearrange paragraphs, change chapters. Oh, glorious.
With my second book, published by Kensington, I decided the second chapter was really the beginning of the book, not the original first chapter, which finally became the third chapter. I would have loved to have a computer then.
I also value my books. I have a wonderful book called the reverse Dictionary. I don’t know much about horses, or saddle parts, so I look up the word saddle in the reverse Dictionary and it lists everything and how and why. Invaluable. I have four different word finders – in case. You’d be surprised how many times they’ve come in handy.
SS: Got to get me a Reverse Dictionary! Having grown up loving Victoria Holt and Daphne DuMaurier, I am intrigued by the description of your novella as a “sweet Gothic.” How is it different from what you usually write?
ALLISON: A sweet Gothic is a Gothic without any sex. The most my hero and heroine do is kiss. Some of the Gothics by modern authors take the hero and heroine into the bedroom. I don’t. I figured my granddaughters could read them at 12 and 13 without their mothers yelling at me.
SS: Will we be seeing more Gothics from you? What great stories do you have up your sleeve for the future?
ALLISON:I love Gothics. I truly enjoy writing in the first person. I love becoming the heroine, struggling with danger, trying to figure a way out of a dilemma. At the present time, I’m working on the historical romance taking place in England during the fire, I also have the next ’song’ book in the works. Not sure yet if this will be Arvil’s story or another of Rhianna’s brothers. When I get tired of writing third person, I’ll write another gothic. It might be next week, or next year.
SS: I am seriously looking forward to your Gothic – I love ‘em! Now, we never tell our ages here on the Sizzle – such an insignificant factoid, to our way of thinking. But we have to say that you have had a long-running successful career as an author. How does one maintain that kind of achievement over the long haul?
ALLISON:Like any thing else that is worth doing, you keep at it, and you have to enjoy what you do. I love writing. I love story telling, I always have. My kids will tell you, I told them stories as we occasionally drove to my mother’s (a three hour trip) as well as the trips to the lake for swimming in the summer. (a two hour trip). We’d go two or three times a week to the lake so I finally ended up verbally rewriting some of the bible stories for inspiration. My kids still laugh about some of my tales. But I truly enjoy what I do.
SS: And your readers enjoy what you do, too! You have been involved in e-publishing as much as anyone I can name. What should aspiring writers know when they are comparing going e-pub with more traditional publishers? The upside of e-pub, and what to look out for?
ALLISON: Probably the best advice to give is KNOW YOUR PUBLISHER. Note, I’m shouting. When I first started with e-publishing, the concept was new, the publishers inexperienced, some of them dishonest. I was lucky. I got my books back without too much damage. But there are companies now with track records. Those are the ones you want.
Another thing. Be realistic. If you don’t promote your work, no matter who the publisher, you will not make any money. Also if you write to get rich, you’re not realistic. According to research, the average author makes about six thousand a year. Not a living wage. E-publishing pays more now than when I started, but it still can’t compete with the money paid by traditional publishers per book. However, you can receive royalties on books five, six, seven years old because they are still out there. And if you continue to publish people will look for your old books. Old paperbacks only come from used book stores. No royalties on that.
SS: We have all heard horror stories about authors who sign over their rights to an e-publisher, and then the company disappears, with no sales, no royalties, and no right to re-sell the works to someone who will really market them. How prevalent is that, and how do authors guard against these problems?
ALLISON:You always hear about the bad ones. But with this business, again the best advice is find out everything you can about the publisher, ask questions, contact other authors who write for the same company. Do your research. There are crooks in almost every profession.
SS: So let’s say one of us finally gets the letter we are all wishing for – an e-publisher wants our baby! What should we look for (and look out for) in an e-pub contract?
ALLISON:Like New York’s big publishers, many of the better e-publishers have boilerplate contracts. The important thing is to learn what royalties mean, what rights mean, ask about the company’s business model. And don’t sign anything where you have to pay one penny to be published. Don’t pay to have your work published. It’s worse than giving your hard work away for nothing…….
SS: We are all somewhat familiar with the ways an author promotes her books with a traditional publisher – ARC’s, signed copies, etc. But how does a successful e-book author promote her books? What works for you, and is there anything you tried but found not to be successful?
ALLISON: Well, let’s see. Making ARC’s for reviewers, signing copies you make of your cover, chatting online, having a web presence. What works for traditional publishers works for e-published authors as well. Today, all authors have to promote their work. It doesn’t matter who their publisher is. After all, a book is a book, whether you hold paper in your hand or an electronic device. How your eyes see the words really doesn’t matter.
The one thing I don’t have much faith in are bookmarks. You can pay a lot for them and they really don’t do much for you. People tend to throw them away.
SS: Well, kids, now you have heard the inside story on e-publishing from someone who has the credentials. We cannot thank you enough for your insights, and the way you encourage all of us who want to grow up and be just like you!
If you want to meet Allison Knight and other great writers (and the Sizzlers themselves!) join us at the beach for the Silken Sands Writer’s conference in March. White sand beaches, good friends, and all the romance industry guidance you could ask for – so why aren’t you registered yet?????
