AND, I’m
giving away a free e-copy of the book!
A member of SCBWI, YALITCHAT and THE POETS’ GARAGE, Gayle
C. Krause is a published children’s author. Rock Star Santa (Scholastic 2008) has sold over
138,000 copies to date. Her work is in Chicken
Soup for the Kid’s Soul 2, Meanderings;
An Anthology of Poetic Verse (Diversion Press) and soon will appear in And the Crowd Goes Wild -A Global Gathering
of Sports Poems (Friesens Press) coming this month. Please visit her website at www.gayleckrause.com and her blog at http://thestorytellersscroll.blogspot.com.
Here, Gayle and I discuss her writing in general and “The Storyteller’s Daughter” in particular.
Q: What made you want to be a writer?
A: I’ve
been writing all my life, first poems about broken hearts in high school (don’t
we all do that? J), then a poignant one when my
grandfather died suddenly.
As an educator, who trained prospective teachers, Children’s Literature was my favorite unit to teach. I was a ‘do what I do,’ not ‘do what I say’ teacher, and every assignment I gave the students I did, too. Consequently, I wrote children’s plays starring my high school students and my Pre-K children, which they performed for the children’s parents. These plays were a perfect segue into picture books.
And of
course, I was, and still am an avid reader. I love fantasy and historical
fiction and when I read the call for the YA Timeless anthology I knew I had to
combine my two favorite genres. I came up with a historical fantasy for my
selection.
Q:
"The Storyteller's Daughter" is set long ago in the Middle
East. How did you become interested in this locale and its stories?
How did you get the idea for this story? What kind of research did you
do?
One of
the parties I developed for my nursery school was “An Arabian Nights” party. We
turned the classroom into a nomad tent, took the legs off the children’s tables
and sat around on pillows on the floor. I taught the high school students to
prepare Middle Eastern food and to sew harem costumes, so essentially ‘The
Storyteller’s Daughter’ was living in my head since that party.
Another
factor is that a few years ago I participated in National Geographic’s Deep
Ancestry Study and my familial information came back that my mother’s long-ago
ancestors traveled across Northern Africa, through the desert and across the
Mediterranean Sea to land in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and the southern hills of
Georgia.
As
soon as I found this out I thought about writing a Middle Eastern fantasy about one
of my female ancestors and “The Storyteller’s Daughter” was born. (Though I’m
really not related to Scheherazade, or maybe I am, with all those stories in my
head J)
Q: What wonderful parties those must have been! Your classes were lucky. =)
In "The Storyteller's Daughter" you use wonderful similes. They always reference and strengthen the world of the story. Is this a "writing gift" you've always had, or did you have to develop this skill?
A: It’s
a by-product of my teaching days. When I explained a concept to my students I
always gave them examples to help them understand what I was saying. I guess
the similies serve the same purpose in my writing, especially in cases of words
the young reader may not be familiar with.
Q:
Why did you decide to submit this story to Pugalicious Press for Timeless?
A: As I said above, the concept was in my head for a while and the specifications of a YA historical romance short story coaxed it out.
Q: What are your current projects? Are you working on anything new? Anything being published soon?
A: Currently, I have two projects in different stages:
2. A YA contemporary romance with thriller and light paranormal elements (ready to sub to agents.)
Q: Those sound fantastic! What advice do you have for teen writers, or other writers just starting out?
A: My
main advice is when a character whispers in your ear… “LISTEN.” And once you start writing… “FINISH” what you start.
Q:
If you were a frog, what kind of frog would you be?
A: Ha!
That’s easy…….The Frog Prince, of course.
Thanks
Gayle, and we look forward to hearing about all your future endeavors! And now – the giveaway!
Leave
a comment on this post by Sunday August 19 by midnight, and you’ll be entered
into the drawing. The winner gets a free
e-copy of Timeless in Kindle, Nook, or PDF.
Love stories that transcend time. From a thousand years ago
to the unknown future, Timeless will show how love is timeless. This anthology
of love stories contains "The Storyteller's Daughter" by Gayle C. Krause, "And
The Nightingale Sang" by Kip Wilson, "A Light Of Victory" by Jennifer Carson,
"The Angel Of The Bastille" by J.R. Sparlin, "Stella's Hero" by Kristine Carlson
Asselin & Ansha Kotyk, "In This Moment" by D. E. Atwood, and "It Lies
Beneath" by Magda Knight.
Timeless: An Anthology of Young Adult Romance is available for Kindle, Nook, and other e-formats.
Here
are other blog interviews with Timeless
authors!
http://www.anshakotyk.com/blog/2012/07/23/timeless-anthology-kip-wilson-and-the-influence-of-a-poem/
http://deatwood.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/interview-with-j-r-sparlin-and-a-chance-to-win/ (D.E. Atwood interviews me!)
