The Puyallup valley is full of creative talent and several authors live among us. Here is a collection of four local authors in different stages of their writing careers — from trying to get a first book published, to an accomplished talent who is the daughter of a world renowned true-crime writer. Just for fun, we asked these authors the following questions:
1) What was your first book?
2) What gave you the inspiration for that book?
3) What was the most difficult thing about getting that book published?
4) What was the biggest surprise during the publishing process?
5) What was your favorite pet, and why?
JANELLE MERAZ HOPPER, Puyallup
1) “A Three-Turtle Summer”
2) The book is a fictional autobiography about my and my mom’s life with my father.
3) The book was being marketed right after 9/11. Everyone in New York was scared to death of a bomb, and most of the time, the agents returned my manuscript unopened.
4) I was completely surprised at how the manuscript that I had been working on for years looked once it was formatted, and had a cover. What a rush!
5) I was raised in Oklahoma where turtles were everywhere. The title of my first book was named for my first three pet turtles — the kind they used to sell in Kress with a rose painted on its back. That book, added to the next two books made up my Turtle Trilogy. The last book, Custer and His Naked Ladies, is the third and final book of that series. Now, due to medical restrictions, I am petless in Puyallup, but I will always love turtles. I didn’t know until I researched the last book in the series that Native Americans believed that the turtle was the symbol of wisdom, perseverance, and the power of female energies. I just thought that turtles and I were a good match. We were both slow and methodical. I’ve never been a person who was comfortable with anything that required speed (like race cars, skiing, airplanes, etc.).
TODD DURGAN, Bonney Lake
1) Well, the first thing I have had published was a poem “Introspection,” which was in fact written specifically for the book I am currently writing titled, “Constituents of Contact Manipulation.” This will be my first book, maybe my only book, we’ll see.
2) I would have to say a few of my friends and a gentleman that kept asking me to write some of my material and send it to him for his book. I figured, well if he thinks it’s good enough for his book why not write my own book about my material?
3) Right now, it’s getting the book done. I do foresee some problems with some copyright and trademark issues though. Some of the patterns and symbols I have in my book are S.M.G. Ed Parkers and I have to have permission or pay somebody to use them... So I am currently brushing up on the copyright laws.
4) Unfortunately I haven’t had any yet. I plan on using an online publishing company so it should be fairly smooth I hope.
5) Well, it wasn’t really mine but when I was kid I got to baby sit the school snake for the summer and I thought that was pretty cool. I just thought that he was really cool looking and so low maintenance. But the coolest thing was how fast he was. He was a reticulated python, and he was fast when it came time to eat.
LESLIE RULE, Puyallup
1) “Whispers from the Grave” was my first novel. It was published by Berkley in 1995.
2) The idea for the book was inspired by something I saw in the news that scientists are doing. It involves tampering with nature to alter human life. I will not go into great detail, as doing so would give away the surprise ending and spoil the suspense for potential readers. I took the premise and created a story around it with a sympathetic protagonist. The story is told from the perspective of a 17-year-old girl. It is a little bit mystery, a little bit love story, and a little bit science fiction.
3) “Whispers from the Grave” was written in six months and purchased within weeks after my agent submitted it to a publisher. While that book was not difficult to get published, I have written manuscripts both before and after that I was unable to get published. I spent three years writing a first novel while in my early twenties. I was not able to get that manuscript published, but I am happy about that now as my writing was not polished back then and I would cringe if anyone were to read it! After my book was rejected, I turned to articles and I went on to publish about 50 articles in national magazines before I wrote “Whispers from the Grave.” I wrote another suspense novel, “Kill Me Again,” that was published in 1996. Since then I have written three nonfiction books of ghost stories and have a contract for a fourth that will be published in August 2008.
4) I didn’t have a lot of surprises about the publishing process as I grew up in a writing family. My mom is true-crime author Ann Rule, and I learned a lot about writing and the publishing business through her. I was surprised, however, when the publishers targeted a different reading group by changing the cover of the book for additional printings. The first printing was geared toward the young adult market. The book was designed to appeal to readers 12 to 18. When the publishers realized we had a huge number of adult readers, they simply changed the young adult designation on the spine, and the graphics on the front. It was my goal to reach young girls, and despite the fact that the book has been out of print for a number of years, I still get e-mail from teens, begging me to write another suspense novel. I am touched by this, and would very much like to write another. I was unable, however, to get my third novel published. Publishers can be fickle and editors come and go. The original editors who liked my work are long gone from Berkley. My sales are strong for my nonfiction ghost books and I now have a wonderful publisher, Andrews McMeel. They give me a lot of creative freedom and it is a great opportunity to display my photography along with my writing.
5) That is a tough question as I have loved so many cats and dogs. Choo Choo, however, may be the most remarkable cat I have known. He is a big orange cat, about 12 years old now. He is extraordinary because he is very psychic.
Most pets can sense what their people are thinking, and Choo Choo seems to know exactly what I am thinking!
I realized this a decade ago when I was doing watercolors of fairies. I wanted to make their wings look like a dragonfly’s wings, but I could not find a photograph of a dragonfly to use as a model. I spent a couple of days looking through books and magazines and was getting frustrated because I could not find a suitable image when I opened my front door to find that Choo Choo had captured a dragonfly and left it on the doormat for me.
I felt bad, as I don’t like to see anything killed, but I used it as a model for my paintings. Everyday for the next week, Choo Choo brought me another dragonfly. Then I decided to put a mouse in one of the paintings and began to search for a photograph of a mouse so I could get the proportions right. Once again, I could not find a photo. I opened my door to find a dead mouse AND a dragonfly, side by side — courtesy of Choo Choo!
I sat down with my thoughtful cat and had a “talk” with him through my thoughts. Without opening my mouth, I thanked him for the gifts and told him that that was enough and to not bring me anymore dead creatures. The gifts immediately stopped appearing on my doorstep — until a month later when I started thinking about dragonflies again and Choo Choo promptly brought me another one!
RAE A. Macdonald Puyallup
1) “A Fishing Surprise” is my first published book and my ninth story that I have attempted to market to the children’s publishing world. Here is the promo snippet: “We’re hungry, we’re hungry for fish tonight.” But no fish are biting for these two little fishers. As the sun beats down and the kids begin to lose hope, when suddenly an apple, then two, and then dozens come floating down the stream. A generous tree upstream has dropped its apples just in time to save the day. Told in down-home, toe-tapping rhyme, this fishin’ tale captures the magic of a hot summer day and inspires a “sunny-side-up” look at life. Beginning readers will enjoy reading this story independently.
2) I take daily bike rides around the southwest part of Puyallup which is awash with beautiful waterways and a variety of wildlife drawn to the waterside. One August day, for some unknown reason, I chose to do my daily ride in reverse. As I rode upstream along Meeker Ditch, I encountered a surprise that I had never seen before, apples bobbling happily along. I followed the apples upstream to the source and immediately began to wonder what the fish, ducks, crane and other wildlife would make of this surprise as the apples traveled on their way to bigger waters. And, what would some young fisher folk think of them on a hot August day when no fish were biting? I began to develop the story in rhyme as I rode along, and in the following days I added more and more lines. There is a connection for me between exercise and telling stories. All that rhythm, movement and fresh air free up my imagination and make the words flow. I often carry a small writer’s notebook with me just in case I have a flash of brilliance that I want to remember.
3) The children’s book market is extremely competitive, and it is very difficult to get a manuscript noticed at any major publishing house as submission editors receive thousands over the course of a year. After several years of submitting stories, I have come to the conclusion that persistence pays off along with submitting a manuscript to the right publishing house at the right time. And, the right time is very subjective depending on the needs of the editor that opens your manuscript envelope. Many, many worthy manuscripts are rejected just due to the sheer volume of submissions and the distinct needs of a publishing house. My advice for those thinking of submitting stories is to read widely and pay attention to which publishing houses produce stories or materials much like your own. I owe my success on “A Fishing Surprise” to carefully targeting my manuscript to NorthWord with an interest in nature related themes.
4) The process of working with a story through publication was exciting. I had a couple of huge surprises along the way. The first came after I had gone through the editorial process of making the story the best it could be, and then it was time for the art director to select an illustrator from the vast number of children’s illustrators looking for their next book project. One day I received a contact from a fellow children’s critique group member that I had known and shared writing projects with for many years. She was so excited to tell me that she would be the illustrator of my book. I danced up and down with joy for Kathleen Kemly has long been one of my favorite artists. So, what are the odds of having one of your book critique partners chosen to illustrate your story, when it could have just as easily been someone far way that I would never meet? This was an amazing and happy surprise. Kathleen is from Ballard and we have had the time of our lives this fall promoting our book and doing signings. To prepare for the project she joined me on a bike ride around the DeCoursey Park area to sketch scenes for this book.
My second surprise came after the book was finally released this fall. Even after my many years as a children’s school librarian in the Sumner School District, never once did I anticipate the absolute joy of sharing my very own book with children. This has been the highest moment for me, as children have genuinely celebrated with me on this accomplishment. Students are working very hard with high expectations on their own writing, and this was a signal to them that writing a story is a very worthwhile and satisfying process.
5) This is a tough question...for someone who enjoys animals. But, I must answer with this. A big, golden dog has wiggled its way into my heart three times through the years. My husband had a big canine friend when we married, and now we have our third in a line of similar big dogs. A furry friend who loves walks and takes me out regularly is all the inspiration I need for my next story.
Reach Reporter Susan Schell at 253-841-2481 ext. 315 or by e-mail at susan.schell@puyallupherald.com.
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