Charlotte/ C.K. Volnek - Author - Story Teller
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Adult Books
  • Middle Grade Books
    • Ghost Dog of Roanoke Island >
      • Meet the Characters from Ghost Dog of Roanoke Island
    • A Horse Called Trouble >
      • Meet the Characters from A Horse Called Trouble
    • The Secret of the Stones >
      • Meet the Characters from The Secret of the Stones
  • Contact Me
  • News/Writing Tips
  • C.K.'s Cover Designs
  • Newsletter

Interview with Janet Lee Carey, Author of DRAGONSWOOD

1/1/2012

17 Comments

 
Picture
Interview with JANET LEE CAREY
Author of DRAGONSWOOD

Photo by Heidi Pettit

Leave a comment to 
WIN a FREE Copy of Dragonswood!


Dragonswood

In a dark time when girls with powers are called witches, Tess escapes the witch hunter and hides with a mysterious huntsman until magical voices draw her deeper into Dragonswood where she learns the secret of her birth. Caught between love and loyalty, Tess chooses the hardest path of all – her own.

* “A dark fantasy illuminated by piercing flashes of hope.”

--Kirkus starred review

 “.. perfectly crafted combination of history, mythology, and fantasy. . . The political intrigue, mythology of Merlin, and romances that bloom . . . . will have readers racing toward the end and then going back to savor the events more slowly.”
--School Library Journal starred review


Thanks for joining us today Janet. I'm so excited to have you. And it's so gracious of you to offer a FREE book giveaway. All our readers have to do is leave a comment for a chance to WIN a FREE copy of Dragonswood! 

Can you tell your readers something interesting about yourself AND/OR your favorite character.

I’m terrified of spiders (Like Ron in Harry Potter) I go all squeamish around them and used to have my brothers suck them up with the vacuum cleaner. Strangely enough spider webs appeared in a few places in Dragonswood:

“I found a small alcove near the top of the waterfall where I might sit away from the swirling mist. I watched a spider spinning her web across the entryway. The mist hung in droplets from her silk, each drop seemed to catch fire as the wisps sped past.

 Onadon already had marriage plans in mind. How was that any different from the blacksmith who eyed me like his raw metal he could shape by force? Was one father’s magic much different than the other’s mallet? I am not property.”

I realized after writing the scene that the spider web represented Tess’s feeling of entrapment. She’s expected to marry a man she doesn’t love. I’ve learned the things I fear have a power that can translate into my fiction in surprising ways.  

It's fascinating to hear you find out things about yourself as you write. I'm the same way. What was your favorite book as a teen? Tell us about it and how it affected you as a person.

I loved reading Tolkien’s and Ursula Le Guin’s fantasies as a teen, but the novel that was the most life-changing for me at age 16 was Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha. The book opened me up to a whole new world. I was already on a search for authenticity, self-knowledge, and spirituality. I started a regular meditation practice after reading Siddhartha. The novelalso led to my first charity event, a music and dance festival with Indian music to raise money for famine relief in Bangladesh. All of that life change came out of reading that one book.

Because of my own life-changing experiences through books, my novels tend to touch on awakening spirit.   



I'm going to have to check that book out. Sounds delightful. Tell us about Dragonswood. How did it come about?

The idea for the first part of the novel came when I learned the details of the witch trials in medieval Europe. I discovered women accused of witchcraft were not only tortured and made to confess, they were often forced to give up names of other women they knew. The idea appalled me. I instantly knew there was a story in it. I imagined a tale of friendship and betrayal. The novel tests the main character’s loyalty to her friends, her family, to her first love, and ultimately to herself. 


I'm so excited about this book. Would you share your favorite excerpt/scene?

One of my favorite scenes happens midway through the novel when the fairies steal Tess:

“As I squatted, damp and shivering, holding my hands out to the fire, darkness weighed down over the world like a hushed, black wave about to fall. I was far from humankind, yet I felt I was being observed like an insect under a mage-glass. I glanced about. No eyes glared from the woods. I heard familiar scuttling noises of small forest creatures and the dry, dusty sound of flitting wings.

Still I sensed something else. Who watches? I looked left and right. 

Then in that hour light came, thrown like a ball to the base of a tree. One circling flame falling, then another, and another. I screamed as the light orbs piled up on all sides. Heat washed over me, drying my damp clothes to the stiffness of brown leaves. The rushing sound of flames hushed all else in the night wood. In brightness, I was lifted, swung, paraded through the forest on waves of living fire that did not scorch or burn, but sang beneath me:

Eshkataa breelyn kataa. Bring her in, her in, her in.

Fairy bound in human skin. Bring her in, her in, her in.”

Your book trailer is divine. Tell us about it.

This was our first time making a book trailer. We collected photos. I wrote the script/music and sang. My husband, Tom, played the Turkish saz. Our son, Aaron, recorded the music. I loved creating the trailer. Our goal was to “deliver the shiver.”   

How awesome that you wrote everything in your trailer and even sang your recorded son. Excellent job. How has writing affected your life? And what’s your favorite part of being a writer?

Writing affects every part of my life. Story is a source of inspiration for me. I don’t know what I’d do without it. I need stories like I need food and water. My favorite part of being a writer is that moment when the story sings and I’m carried away into another place and time. A story is a doorway. You only have to open it and go inside:

~Open as you have before
Let the traveler though the door
From the opening begin
The only way out is in~
--from The Beast of Noor

What advice can you give regarding the writing process?

Apprentice yourself to the work. It takes a lifetime to learn how to write a good novel, but we all start at the same place – a blank page. Begin where you are and start the climb. It’s worth it.

Regarding publication and marketing, what advice can you offer aspiring writers?

Writing is a solitary profession. That said we writers need a lot of support. It helps to find a good critique group and learn how to revise from critique. (Learning to revise in my critique group saved me years later when I received my first long editorial letter.) Read. Read. Read. Write.Write.Write. Attend writing conferences, but don’t contact an editor or agent until your novel is complete, revised, and ready to send. Finally every writer gets rejections. Believe in yourself and keep writing. 

How can your fans find, follow or friend you?

My Website http://www.janetleecarey.com

Blogs http://dreamwalks.blogspot.com  AND http://LibraryLionsRoar.blogspot.com 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/janetleecarey/ 

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Janet-Lee-Carey-Author/113029975405630  



Thanks for being here today Janet.  I'm a big fan of your work and I hope our readers will enjoy your stories as much as I do. And remember everyone... 


Leave a comment to WIN a FREE Copy of Dragonswood! 

C.K. Volnek
17 Comments
    Ghost Dog of  Roanoke Island
    - a tween ghost story with a twist of Native American Folklore and based on the real life mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island.

    Available in Print and E-book
    Picture
    View the Book Trailer for Ghost Dog of Roanoke Island
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbJEF9TjZzo

    A Horse Called Trouble
    A troubled teen must overcome her abused past to save the defiant horse who taught her to love and trust again.
    Available in  Print and e-book
    Picture
    View the book trailer for 
    A Horse Called Trouble

    Welcome to my blog.

    Hi. I'm C.K. Volnek, Author and Story teller. I love books and photography, dogs and horses, hiking and tulips, kids, pasta, sunsets and of course…writing. Please come back often and share your passion in writing.. 

    Blogs to follow:

    Moments of Clarity
    Victorine Writes
    Why is My Book not Selling
    Barbara's Meanderings
    Teen Word Factory
    Muse It Up Publishing
    Dasef's Book Corner
    Sue Perkins
    Pembroke Sinclair
    Stories Ala Mode
    Kim Baccellia
    Candid Canine
    Shellie Neumeier
    Under the Yellow Hat


    CK's bookshelf: read

    The Secret GardenThe ShackDear JohnThe Queen of EverythingTangerine

    More of CK's books »
    CK Volnek's  book recommendations, reviews, favorite quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists
    free counters

    Archives

    March 2015
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010

    Categories

    All
    #100blogfest
    A Horse Called Trouble
    Al Capone
    Aloha For Carol Ann
    Anne Johnson
    Author
    Author Interview
    Author Platform
    Bad Spelling
    Barbara Bockman
    Barbara Ehrentreu
    Beast Of Noor
    Bethlene Williams
    Blood Chronicles
    Book
    Book Birthday
    Book Cover
    Book Marketing
    Born Of Blood
    Brian Kittrell
    Building A Promotional Platform
    Bullying
    Characters
    Chicken Soup
    Children\'s Books
    Chris Henderson
    Christian
    Christine Irene Steeves
    Christine Verstraete
    Christmas
    Ckvolnek
    C.k. Volnek
    C.k. Volnek
    C.K. Volnek
    Colors Like Memories
    Contest
    Cover Art
    Crimson Dream
    Crossed Out
    Cry Of The Fallen
    Cyrus Keith
    Dark Fantasy
    David Normoyle
    Death In Writing
    Descriptions & Emotions
    Down River
    Dragon Flame
    Dragons Of Noor
    Dragonswood
    Driven
    Earrings Of Ixtumea
    Ebenezer
    Ellen Jackson
    Enchantment
    Exiled
    Fantasy
    Free
    Ghost Dog Of Roanoke Island
    Ghost Dog Trailer
    Ghost Story
    Ginger Simpson
    Halloween
    Heather Cashman
    Herman Agency
    Heroes
    Historical Romance
    Horse Story
    If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor
    Impossible To Hold
    Indian Folklore
    Inspirational
    Internet Book Fair
    Jack Dahlgren
    Janet Lee Carey
    Jan Fischer Wade
    Janni Lee Simner
    Jenny Lundquist
    Jill Corcoran
    Joel Andre
    John Hart
    Jo Linsdell
    Joyful
    J. R. Wagner
    Judge A Book
    Kathy Pieper
    Kathy Rygg
    Killer Valentine Ball
    Kim Baccellia
    Lady-In-Waiting
    Lawna Mackie
    Letters From Al
    Liebster Award
    Life After The Undead
    Linda Barnett-Johnson
    Lindsay Below
    L.K. Below
    Long Story Short
    Lost Colony Of Roanoke Island
    Margo Sorenson
    Marketing
    Martin King
    Marva Dasef
    Meradeth Houston
    Mg Books
    MG/YA Blog-A-Thon
    Middle Grade
    Middle Grade Author
    Midnight Find
    Midnight Oil
    Mike Larsen
    Mindy Hardwick
    Mirror Mirror
    Missing Assumed Dead
    Muse Author Blog-a-thon
    MuseItUp MG/YA Blog-a-thon
    Muse It Up Publishing
    Napibowriwee
    New Year
    No Goddesses Allowed
    Not What She Seems
    Odessa
    Omm Writer
    On-line Writing Confrence
    Pb
    Pembroke Sinclair
    Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz
    Perception
    Picture Books
    Prophecy
    Published
    Publishing
    Rebecca Russell
    Rebecca Ryals Russell
    Resolutions
    Reva's Quest
    Sb Knight
    Scary Story
    Scrivener
    Seeing Cinderella
    Self-esteem
    Shellie Neumeier
    Shortcomings
    Social Media
    So You Want To Write A Novel
    Spirit Stealer
    Stained Glass Summer
    Sue Perkins
    Tall Tales With Mr. K
    Teen Talk
    Thanksgiving
    The Ballad Of Booser Bogg
    The Beast Of Noor
    The Black Chronicles
    The Burberry Scare
    The Circle Of Sorcerers
    The King Of Lies
    The Last Child
    The Never Chronicles
    The Overtaking
    The Seraphym Wars
    The Tiger
    The Writing Friend
    Three Things To Remember
    Tweeting
    Tweets
    Tweet Tips
    Twitter
    Twitter Tips
    Veiled Virtues
    Victorine Lieske
    Why Is My Book Not Selling
    Witches Of Galdorheim
    Wounds
    Writechris
    Writer
    Writers' Blog
    Writing
    Writing Skills
    Writing Tips
    Writing Workshop
    Ya Author
    Yellow Hat
    Young Adult
    Zarena

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Yuliya Libkina, brewbooks, nanaow2006, orangeacid, peasap, Mr. T in DC, h.koppdelaney, The U.S. Army, Giorgio Montersino, LifeSupercharger, gilles chiroleu, DSuàr, jumpyjodes, Sugar Daze (f/k/a LittleMissCupcakeParis), Ethan.K, the bbp, *Vintage Fairytale*, kenny_lex, striatic, MarkBennett86, {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester}, Pink Sherbet Photography, Xurble, DanielWiesheu, Smiley Stew, George Vnoucek, laverrue, skuds, AngryJulieMonday