Donna Cook Interview

I recently had the pleasure  of meeting the well-spoken Epic Fantasy Author, Donna Cook, and she agreed to an interview here with the readers of Eye on Ashenclaw. The following is the result of that interview...

First off, tell us a little bit about you.I grew up in the cradle of the Arizona desert but relocated to Boise about 3 years ago. It was an unplanned move that ended up being exactly what I needed. I’m married to a fellow creative, artist Kevin McCain, who keeps me going when I want to quit. I have three sons and three step-daughters and a strict no-pet policy because we’re doing good just to keep up with all the people who live here. I’m a freelance book editor specializing in fiction and, of course, an author. I love to dance. I love to travel. I don’t love to cook but I do love to eat.

Tell us about your books/What genre do you consider your books?
Gift of the Phoenix is an epic fantasy adventure. Readers and reviewers often draw comparisons to Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Two very different stories, obviously, and mine has its own unique feel as well. What they have in common, though, is that big, fun, adventurous, magical feel. Who doesn’t like that? :)

When did you start writing? According to my mother, before I even knew how. My pre-writing scribbles are long gone, but the desire to write has never left me.

Why do you write? I can’t help myself. It’s playtime for grown-ups. I absolutely love inventing new worlds, new characters, new stories. Whenever I hear people talk about retiring, I think, “I’ll never retire.” I hope to spend the rest of my life playing with stories.

What would be your choice for a superpower?Either flying or invisibility. Or decisiveness.

Who is your favorite author? Several. Kate DiCamillo. Patrick Rothfuss. John Steinbeck. Rainbow Rowell. How much time do you have?

What are you reading now? I just finished re-reading These is My Words by Nancy Turner. One of my favorite books. It’s on the short list of books I’ll actually re-read.

Who is your favorite character to write? Ooooh, that’s a tough one. (I do not do well with favorites lists.) I love so many of my characters. Even the bad ones are fun to write. I’d say the character that lingers with me the most, though, is Nashua. She’s a side character in Gift of the Phoenix. I ended up writing a novella about her and plan to write more. Her stories are a pure labor of love. I don’t think they’ll have the broad appeal Gift of the Phoenix has, but I’m so drawn to her. It may be no one will read her stories, but I feel compelled to write them anyway.

Do you have a writing process? Yes. I brainstorm plot, subplot, characters, and world building in a spiral notebook. Some ideas make it to the first draft, some don’t. I don’t sweat it. The notebook stage is all about pure exploration. By the time I start a draft, I have a pretty good idea what’s going to happen, but there are always surprises along the way. I focus on big picture corrections in the second draft (plot, pacing, etc), then polish up the language in the final draft. I bring my editor in after the first draft.

What advice would you give to an aspiring author? I think aspiring authors sometimes read the answers to this kind of question looking for the magic bullet. Some new trick they haven’t heard of yet. There really isn’t a trick. Learning to write is like any other advanced skill. You must practice. You must learn the tools of your trade. So it comes down to three things: read a lot, study the craft of writing, and write a lot. For years. If you do that, there will be no stopping you.

What inspired you to pursue writing?It’s just always been a part of me. I could no more answer the question, “What got you interested in breathing?” For whatever reason, writing has always been in my blood.

What are your favorite TV shows/Movies to watch in between writing?Any movie about writing or writers inspires me. Finding Neverland, Miss Potter, Little Women, even something like Julie and Julia. Anything dealing with the creative drive.

What are your current projects? The Lost Branch is the follow up to Gift of the Phoenix. I finished the second draft and my editor gave it a green light for the final draft, which means all the story elements are solid. It’s time to look at the language. I’m currently letting that book rest before I dive into the final. I want to re-read it with fresh eyes to see if there are any opportunities I’m missing. Meanwhile, I’ve started the rough draft of a completely new story, The Crossroads. I may or may not get the entire draft done before going back to The Lost Branch. I’ve also been letting the second Nashua story rest, but have been itching to pull it back out. My Muse is fickle and secretive. I literally have no idea which of these projects I’ll be working on two weeks from now.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to readers?Thank you! One of my favorite things is meeting readers. I adore them. I’m grateful to them. Without them my stories would feel so lonesome. Thank you, thank you for reading.

Quick Fire:Cats or dogs? Dogs
Coffee or tea? Tea
Favorite food? Mexican
Vanilla or chocolate ice-cream? Chocolate
What are 3 things you never leave home without? Keys, phone, notebook and pen.
Laptop or desktop? Laptop
Who are 3 famous people you would to hang out with? Kate DiCamillo, Rainbow Rowell, Maya Angelou.
TV or Movies? Movies

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Best-selling author of Wake the Dead! On Amazon Kindle here!

All Artwork and covers of my works by William J. Kenney & Carlos Cara

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2014 unless otherwise noted.

Guest Blog by the Amazing Editor--Stephanie Dagg!

Stephanie Dagg is an author and an editor and she was one of the talented people that worked on my Wothlondia Rising project. We discussed her doing a guest blog on my site with an emphasis toward the fantasy genre. She decided to share a bit of her experience editing my story and what she turned in made me blush. It was flattering beyond comprehension. I can't thank her enough for her kind words and fantastic editing talents. Please read on...

First up, a big thank you to Gary for inviting me to write a guest post for his blog. And an even bigger thank you to him for taking a leap of faith and entrusting me, a total stranger at the start of this project, with his wonderful stories to edit. I tell you, I’ve been completely pulled into the fascinating world of Wothlondia.

Steph tending to her hobbies: llama farming and cycling!

I’ve worked on all sorts of books during my 25 years of editing, most of them as a freelance, and it’s true to say that fantasy is one of the more interesting literary genres. Fantasy authors are not only creative, extremely so, but of necessity also very methodical. Does that sound contradictory? What I mean is that because they’re creating a unique universe, they have it all mapped out in their heads, and often physically too. I made plenty of use of Gary’s map of Wothlondia during my editing, to check that when he said certain characters were heading northwest towards Greymoors from Chansuk that they were. (Editors have to keep an eye on everything!) Gary clearly knows his way around Wothlondia like the back of his hand since and he never put a foot wrong there!

Another example of fantasy writer organization. In one of the new stories, A Rose in Bloom, I felt we needed a couple more sentences in one part where a character, Ganthorpe, was rattled by the ringing of the bell for midnight. So I sent a request to Gary. Now, some authors tend to panic when an editor asks for extra material, and rattle something - anything - off. You duly slot it into place, only to find a few pages later that this new stuff proves to be inconsistent with later events, so it’s back to the drawing board. Not with Gary. He sent me a well-constructed replacement paragraph that lent the clarity I was after, and mentioning Brogan the timekeeper, so I put those in. I’m currently reading Covenant of the Faceless Knights and was delighted to come across a mention of Brogan and his bells in an early chapter! Everything fits together perfectly, not only in this story but in the way all Gary’s tales interact.

Fantasy has its own lexicon with words such as phylactery, mage and goblinoid that you won’t find in other genres. The language also tends to be more formal with some archaisms. I’m always delighted to come across those since I’m all for using as diverse a range of vocabulary as possible in writing. And the different races that inhabit the fantastic world have their own way of speaking. You can tell an elf from a dwarf from an ogre simply by listening to them.

Other distinguishing features of fantasy, on top of these elements of a cracking good plot, organisation and rich language, are the idea of a hero (or heroine) on a quest, the common ‘humanity’ of this central figure that means we empathise with him or her, the existence of magic and the supernatural, and the fight of good against evil. Alongside the quest there often comes a journey of self-discovery, and this is very much the case with Gary’s characters. You’ll see this strongly in the Wothlondia Rising series of short stories, particularly in Maturation Process and Reflections.

I guarantee that you will be deeply moved by the latter.

And all Gary’s heroes and heroines are likeable because they’re so real. We get clear, detailed physical descriptions of them and their personalities quickly emerge. We can see parts of ourselves in them, even if they’re elves, or barbarians or half ogres. For example, Rose Thorne enjoys a glass of wine, Rolin Hardbeard doesn’t like riding horses, Saeunn has her eye on the handsome lad from the next village, and Elec lets his personal hygiene slip a little when he’s on his own. They could be any one of us... But imperfect as they are, when put to the test they’ll do what’s right.

Fantasy mirrors not only real people but a real world. Wothlondia has many of the same terrors and threats that we have, such as racism, dishonesty, violence and crime. I’m just grateful we don’t have the added complication of Blood Rot Zombies!

In conclusion then, editing fantasy, and especially Gary’s Wothlandian fantasy, is an interesting and rewarding challenge. And memorable. Here are a handful of sentences from Gary’s stories that have stuck in my mind because of their sheer power or beauty:

Nimaira still lay on the cold ground, rubbing her jaw, with tears—not tears of pain, but tears of what might have been—welling in her beautiful eyes.

His eyes were reflections of the bluest of skies, quite unlike those of any ogre, whose eyes were always as black as the darkest caverns of the Subterrane.

The Paladin felt the darkness closing in on him, wresting control of his soul.

He merely stood frozen in place while a tumult of emotions bombarded him.

She had wept for countless hours and felt there should be no more tears left to cry, yet still they came, unbidden and unending.

You’re going to enjoy Wothlondia Rising, make no mistake.

And who am I? Briefly I’m Stephanie, an editor and author. I was born in England, lived a long time in Ireland and am now in France with the family where, as well as writing and editing, I farm llamas and run a carp fishery. I have a book related website and an ebook editing website.

I'd like to say thanks again to Stephanie for taking such time and consideration with my stories...so much so, that she made me sound like I knew what I was talking about! She gives you a deadline as to when your work will arrive and it makes it there on time and professionally edited. Stephanie is the consummate professional and I would highly recommend her to edit any and all of your upcoming projects! Please visit her website above...and tell her Gary sent ya'!

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit MY HOME PAGE to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase my full length novel, Covenant of the Faceless Knights, the short stories: Wothlondia Rising, and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

Cover art on Distant Familiarity provided by William Kenney!

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2012 unless otherwise noted.