Meet Rohn Federbush

Today, I’d like you to meet fellow Michigan author Rohn Federbush. Before I bombard her with questions, LOL, I’d like her to tell you a little about herself:

Seventy-two years ago I was born in a rented farmhouse in southern Illinois. As a divorcee in the 60’s, I raised two sons, who were the first of their 45+ cousins to pursue a college degree. I obtained a Masters of Arts from Eastern Michigan University in 1995. I am published in The Red Wheelbarrow, Potpourri, Princeton’s U.S. 1 Workshops, and the University of Michigan’s The Bear River Writers Respond to War. Awards, published poetry, short stories and non-fiction articles may be read at www.rohnfederbush.com. I retired from the University of Michigan as Administrator of the Applied Physics PhD Program. My husband, Professor Emeritus Paul Federbush, researches mathematical physics at the University of Michigan. We have traveled to Europe, China, Patagonia, New Zealand and Israel.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

When I was sixteen, my sister’s baby died after not completing a day of life. Her name was Diane Thaddeus Schultz. I was shocked because my high-school English class remained unaware of my family’s loss, or the world’s. So I wrote a poem and eulogized my niece, hooking me forever on the potency of catharsis and the power of adding to the remembrance of a lost child.

What a wonderful gift. How long does it take you to write a book?

The first draft is finished in about three months, but the editing takes even longer.

I hear you there. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

I’m usually at my writing desk by 9:00 in the morning. I’ve been writing full time since 1999, when I retired from the University of Michigan as an Administrative Assistant. Of course, I take breaks, and lunch. However, I don’t stop until I have ten new pages or 4:00 arrives. My completed books are piling up, but I am still happiest and better balanced when new work is created. It is tempting to market full time, but the writer work-ethic in me rebels.

Ten pages is a lot. I admire your work ethic. Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

I follow my curiosity. How does it feel to be this character or that one? Could I live in this place or that climate? What if I had lived in those times, in that war among those gardens? What if my goal had been to be a race-car driver, or a ghost-hunter, or a forest ranger? While I yet live, the wonder of life keeps me intrigued.

Good questions. What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I paint cartoonish pictures in oil and even watercolors. I love the control over colors. I paint a lot like Gauguin.

What does your family think of your writing?

After thirteen years of steady work, my family has pretty much resigned themselves to the fact that I’ll be writing on my death bed. One sister-in-law thought I might have missed a career as a painter, but she received one of my better oils.

How many books have you written? Which one is your favorite?

I’ve completed 15. My favorite is the one I’m working on. Editing or writing new scenes, always claims my heart.

What do you think makes a good story?

When an idea presents itself for a story, the title usually comes first and then the resolution. I think we all write with a purpose. Sure to entertain is required, but to last in the world of more books than people, the need to share an understanding of how life works and my belief in a Higher Power in our lives motivates me.

What is the most important thing you do for your career?

Hiring My Girl Friday, Florence Price, has saved me from frustrating chores I don’t have the patience to learn. Such as my website design, promotion ideas and an increasing number of tasks I ask her to undertake.

Florence is a gem, all right. What do you enjoy most about life?

I like being married better than living alone. Of course, I am married to the best man in the universe. I’m also thankful for my good health and a caring, loving Creator and Lord. My grandchildren are perfect and my children claim every ounce of affection I own.

Where do you start when writing? Research, plotting, outline, or...?

I outline. I use Elizabeth’s system from “Write Right” and Michael Hauge’s “Six Stage Plot Structure,” which is a furtherance of Debra Dixon’s “Goals, Motivation, and Conflict” structure for characters. I put the finished outline, which includes one-sentence scene descriptions into the body of my manuscript and start writing the Rough Draft. Nothing is ever final, the outline, the sequence of scenes, etc. But the skeleton exists. The next day’s scene can be reviewed before bed and embellished in the morning. If I get stopped, I interview the characters to find out where we’re going.

If I were a first time reader of your books, which one would you recommend I start with and why?

Salome’s Conversion, published by CreateSpace, is Biblical fiction and a great romance if I do say so myself. Favorable reviews may be read on my website www.rohnfederbush.com

List two authors we would find you reading when taking a break from your own writing.

Elizabeth George, when she hurries up and finishes another book Also Elizabeth Kostova’s next work is awaited.

Where can readers find you?

My website is www.rohnfederbush.com I’m also on Linkedin and have two Facebook pages.  

Salome’s Conversion is available at Amazon http://amzn.com/1466401389

Thanks for being here, Rohn. I wish you all the best.

Imagination

If you’ve been following my blog from the beginning, you may recognize the title. No, I’m not recycling that very first post. It must be babysitting the grandkiddies for several days that brings this topic to mind. Every time Hubs and I watch the 2½ and 5 year old, I am always amazed at their imaginations. The stories they make up as they play make me laugh and fill me with awe. They are very verbal children, taking after their mother and grandmother, I’m sure. I hope they never lose the fun and enjoyment of playing pretend.

I can’t remember where I first heard about a terrific website for children to make up stories. If you have children or grandchildren, you should check out this free site: http://www.carnegielibrary.org/kids/storymaker/  I tried it yesterday with the 5-year-old. What fun we had. There were a few questions at the beginning to help her get started. Then there were choices of pictures for settings, characters and objects to “drop” into the story. From there, she made up her story. She got the biggest laugh out of the castle that dropped onto the rose already in the picture. When we were finished, we printed out the pictures and story. She was thrilled. With no prompting from her grandmother, mind you, the title of her story was How a Girl Fell in Love with a Boy and ended with “they lived happily ever after”. Is that a budding romance writer or what? I still can’t get over how proud my granddaughter was to hold her very own “book” in her hands. It even had the title with her name as author on the “cover”. I think it’s going to kindergarten tomorrow.

Of course, you don’t need a computer program to help kids write their stories. Printing their words as they dictate the story to you and letting them draw pictures works well. That’s what I did for my kids in the pre-computer days. The important thing is that we don’t stifle their efforts. Somewhere along the way to adulthood, many children lose their imaginations either through neglect or discouragement.

Encouraging children to use their imaginations is something we need to do. Without imagination, where would we writers get the ideas for the books we write? The screenplays? The movies? If dreamers didn’t dream, where would our inventors come up with new and creative objects we can't do without? What would make a scientist explore new ideas? Why would explorers set off for new worlds?

Fostering imagination in our children doesn’t take money. It only takes our time and patience.






Come on back on Thursday to meet Michigan author Rohn Federbush.

Meet Jannine Gallant

I’d like you to meet author Jannine Gallant. I met Jannine through a group called Authors Helping Authors. Like so many in this group, Jannine is wonderfully supportive. Here’s more about Jannine.

Write about what you know. Jannine Gallant has taken this advice to heart, creating characters from small towns and plots that unfold in the great outdoors. She grew up in a tiny Northern California town and currently lives in beautiful Lake Tahoe with her husband and two daughters. When she isn’t busy writing or being a full time mom, Jannine hikes and snowshoes in the woods around her home. Whether she’s writing contemporary, historical, or romantic suspense, Jannine brings the beauty of nature to her stories. To find out more about this author and her books, visit her website at www.janninegallant.com.

Today, Jannine is sharing her insights into the other characters in our books.

The Importance of Supporting Characters

We agonize over our heroes and heroines, getting each little detail right, creating character sketches that describe their likes and dislikes, the important events in their lives, the exact color of their hair… Okay, maybe I’m obsessive about these things. LOL The point is, we as writers put a lot of effort into creating main characters we can really care about. But the h & h aren’t the only characters in our stories. In my opinion, the supporting cast can make or break a book.

I admire writers who delve deeply into their hero and heroine’s psyche and focus on the internal battle waging there. But I’m not that sort of writer. Yes, my h & h have problems, but much of what they have to overcome is external. When your book is plot driven, the importance of the setting and supporting characters comes to the front. These are the people who give your protagonists a headache, make them laugh, make them cry. In short, they support your h & h and let their personalities sparkle and glow.

I love writing funky, interesting, crazy supporting characters. And to add more impact, I often make them family. In A Deadly Love, the older generation shines. Brooke, my heroine, has a grandmother who wears fuchsia T-shirts and drives an ancient VW bus with peace sign decals plastered all over it. My hero, Dillon, has a grandfather who lives in a cabin in the woods with no electricity. He greets trespassers with a loaded shotgun. Dillon also has a six-year-old son. Writing kids can be tricky but rewarding. I have daughters. Creating a little boy was a stretch for me, but I hope I captured the unbridled energy and enthusiasm I see in my friends’ sons. I hope readers will see how Brooke interacts with Dillon’s son and like her more than they did before. I hope the way Dillon tries to be patient with his grandfather resonates with those who have older, difficult relatives. Most of all, I hope these secondary but oh so important characters leave a lasting impression.

 

Blurb for A Deadly Love:

In the heart of the redwoods, a madman waits...

Recovering from a broken engagement and determined to start over, Brooke Wakefield flees to her grandmother's home deep in the redwood forest. Discovering her teenage crush lives next door is a less than auspicious beginning. The last thing she needs is another man to break her heart, but every time Dillon glances her way, her heat level soars.

Dillon Tremayne isn't looking for a relationship. With a young son, an eccentric grandfather, and a logging company running him ragged, he can't afford any romantic entanglements. But Brooke's humor and strength are hard to resist.

When a woman from his past is brutally murdered and another disappears, Dillon is heartsick—and terrified the killer will target Brooke next. Can Brooke and Dillon find love in the heart of the forest? Or will a madman's twisted dream destroy their chance at happiness?

Excerpt from A Deadly Love:

June sat in the parlor watching a police drama. She glanced away from the TV when Brooke entered the room. Her thin, white eyebrows drew together over worried eyes. “I heard raised voices. Did you have an argument with Dr. Shaw?”

“No, Dillon and I exchanged a few heated words.” She dropped onto a chair and sighed. “He was angry I went out with Carter.”

“I told you he would be.”

“You were right.” Brooke scowled down at the toes of her black boots. “Dillon should have decided what he wanted from me a little sooner.”

June clicked off the TV with the remote. “I’m sure you two can work it out.”

“I burned that bridge, Grandma. Anyway, it isn’t like our relationship was going anywhere.” She swallowed against the hot lump in her throat. “Not that I wanted it to.”

“Oh, honey, you don’t fool me.” Her eyes softened. “You care about that man.”

Brooke blinked back tears. “I’ll get over him. Eventually.” She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. “I accepted Carter’s invitation to the black and white ball.”

Her grandmother’s lips firmed. “When I was young, girls didn’t keep company with one man when they had feelings for another. It made things simpler.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t know why I make it so hard. I really don’t.”

June stood and walked over to her chair. She laid her hand on Brooke’s shoulder. “You’re afraid of being hurt again. Carter is safe.”

“Maybe so.” She rested her cheek on her grandmother’s frail hand. “Men are overrated. Who needs them?”

June chuckled. “I’m afraid we do. The dishwasher was making a funny noise when I ran it earlier. I was going to ask Dillon to take a look at it.”

Brooke jumped to her feet. “We don’t need him. I’m a whiz with kitchen appliances.” She draped her arm around her grandmother’s thin shoulders and headed for the kitchen. “That dishwasher is no match for the two of us.”

Readers can find Jannine at:

Website: http://www.janninegallant.com/

Blog: http://janninegallant.blogspot.com/

Group Blog: http://rosesofprose.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/JannineGallant.Author

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JannineGallant 

Jannine has a question for you:

 

Who are some of your favorite supporting characters?

Do what you love

In honor of Labor Day, I could have taken the day off from the blog. Instead, here I am still working, writing about work. Fitting, I suppose, since that’s what we celebrate on the first Monday in September.

Besides celebrating the "economic and social contributions of workers", Labor Day is the retailers’ second best sale day after “Black Friday” and it signals the end of summer. Never mind we’ll have more hot summer days ahead. 

For kids in Michigan, Labor Day means back to school. This year, it means first day of kindergarten for my granddaughter. What excitement, and fear, she and her new classmates must be feeling. Trepidation at a new setting, new teacher, new kids. Excitement at a big step on a journey of enlightenment begun in pre-school. How marvelous for teachers to see such eagerness and wonder. Wouldn’t it be great if that eagerness to learn continued throughout a child’s life?

Somehow, we’ve come to believe that work is bad. It’s something we must do. That if it were pleasurable it wouldn’t be work. Maybe it’s that old Puritan spirit America was founded on that still permeates our society. As if it’s wrong to like your job. Of course, there is the extreme “be happy in your work” as the commander in The Bridge on the River Kwai admonished the prisoners.

Work can be what we do to earn enough to enjoy life. For many, including all the restaurant and retail employees who have to work today, work can be drudgery. Wouldn’t it be great if you could enjoy your work? I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “do what you loved and the money will come.” Believing passionately about something and doing it makes the job seem more like fun instead of work. We all know, or have heard of, people who live for their work. Workaholics, we call them. What motivates them? A quest for more money or a passion for what they do?

Our work give us fulfillment, a sense of purpose. For many, it defines who we are. We make cars, design buildings, feed the nation, heal people, raise children. Not surprising, then, the emptiness many feel when their job ends. Job loss whether voluntary or involuntary means the end of purpose. Downsizing, retiring or children leaving the nest leaves us adrift. Until we find a new direction.

Like many of you, I’ve had jobs where I hated to go into work and those that were pleasant or fulfilling enough. I never had one that fired me up and made me leap out of bed ready to get to work—until I started writing. Now, I’m not saying writing is fun all the time. There are good days when the words flow and there are bad days where the cursor blinks on the screen waiting and the words don’t come. Creativity can be elusive. Research can be tedious, as is proofing. How many times can you read past a typo and still miss it? I am so fortunate that I can do what I love. I’m still waiting for the money to follow. :)

In America, we are all fortunate that we can pursue our dreams. We can choose our work. We don’t have a government that decides what we’re good at and forces us into that occupation. In my book, Switched, that is the situation for the hero. Because of his aptitude, he must be a starship commander instead of a farmer where his passion lies. In contrast, the heroine has defied her academic parents and opened a small repair business. Upon learning of the commander’s conflict, she admonishes him to do what he loves.

In these economic times, it’s difficult to even consider pursuing one’s passion when the proverbial wolf is at the door. We often take jobs we don’t like, are overqualified for, just to make ends meet. We do what we must. In the meantime, we keep that passion alive for what we really want to do. We work toward it in our “spare” time until it becomes that full-time job we choose to do.

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

On Thursday, come on back and meet California author Jannine Gallant.