Articles
7.22.09 – Suzanne Morgan Williams: Bull Rider
By Genny Heikka
Suzanne Morgan Williams is the author of the Bull Rider (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2009) and 11 nonfiction children’s books. From the time she wrote her first book, Made in China, Ideas and Inventions from Ancient China, her work has taken her into classrooms, universities, and museums to work with experts, and to communities to share her experiences. See SBR’s review of Bull Rider.
Genny Heikka: How did you then move from writing nonfiction into fiction which is obviously what “Bull Rider” is?
Suzanne Morgan Williams: I decided to become a writer during a time when our family was moving and I had been teaching. I had wanted to be a writer, so I was writing everything. I was writing articles. I was writing reviews. I was writing travel, like where to find the best toilet in San Francisco after you’ve been on the ferry. That was for a parenting magazine. I mean, I had been a parent long enough that I knew three things you needed when you had young children was a place to go, something to eat and a bathroom.
GH: Well, I loved Bull Rider, and I can’t wait for my daughter to read it. Will you give a brief summary of the story for those who have not read the book?
SW: It’s about Cam O’Mara, who is a 14-year-old ranch kid living in central Nevada. His heart lies in skateboarding, and he has never wanted to compete with his older brother, Ben. Cam is 14, Ben is 19, and Ben has been the Nevada State High School Rodeo champion. Cam’s grandfather was a champion bull rider, and his dad is a team roper, so rodeo runs in the family as does ranching. What happens is Ben graduates from high school and joins the Marines. He is sent to Iraq and comes home very seriously injured. The story is about how Cam deals with that injury and then ultimately turns from skateboarding to bull riding in order to do it.
GH: So how did this story come about for you? Did you just have this idea or how did the Bull Rider start for you?
SW: I would say as an author, I always dreamed of sitting down having the story full-blown in my head. [laughter] Like Venus rising from the ocean in her seashell. But it never happens that way for me. What happens is I get an idea. I work on it, and I do some things–have some characters–and I go back and do it again. It’s really a process of layering. Bull Rider began as a book for very young children. What I need to do was write every mother’s nightmare. It was basically about a kid who wanted to be a bull rider like his grandpa, but his mom didn’t want him to do it. Well, it turned out that book did not work. It almost did but not quite. I put it aside for a while. Later, I was able to visit with some professional bull riders, and I got a real strong feeling for an older character and I wrote a little bit of the new book — that book turned out to be the Bull Rider that you read today.
GH: So how long did it take you then from start to finish to write the book?
SW: It had a whole lot of incarnations! The book itself was contracted in 2007 and published in 2009, but that is not to say that I got up every morning and worked eight-hour days to write for 5 years, but that is how long the process took.
GH: How did the Cameron character come about?
SW: Well, cam was my original guy from the little book, and he was the one who wanted to be a bull rider. What I really wanted was for Cam to be in competition with his older brother. I have two older brothers, and I’d watch them wrestle on the floor trying to outdo each other. In the second book, I met this bull rider, Sevvy Torturo, at a bull riding event in Reno. Sevvy was so delightful, and he had so many interesting things to say about being a bull rider and being a young kid learning to ride a bull that he immediately sparked a sort of new Cam, a lively Cam, who maybe wasn’t totally sure that he wanted to ride bulls.
GH: What about Grandma Jean? I loved her sense of humor and her playfulness and the tricks she played. [laughter] I just enjoyed her. So, was she based on someone you know…or how did her character come about?
SW: Grandma Jean is a combination of a whole bunch of women that I’ve had the honor and the joy of knowing over the years. She really has bits of my own grandmother, my mother, a little bit of me. All the pranks come from the mother of one of my son’s friend who, honest to goodness, would take these kids. She would have a birthday party for her son and they would go, and I know they were going to go out and prank somebody that night. They would toilet paper the pastor’s house or there would be a fountain in town that would be dyed that night, and I always knew who did it and [laughter] and it was always Debbie who was running it, but I also knew she wouldn’t get caught so I let my son go.
GH: One of the things that struck me about this story was the way that you brought to life the pain and suffering that Ben went through as a result of the injuries he got from serving in the war and, you know, one of the first things I was wondering is how did you decide on traumatic brain injury for him and what kind of research did you have to do, to be able to write about that the way that you did?
SW: When I started writing Bull Rider, it was really about Cam, and it had this brother, Ben, in the background who was in the Marines. It was 2004, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were on my mind. I needed to check with experts to find out what types of injuries and what types of therapy people who have been injured are undergoing. He said the injury of the Middle Eastern wars is the traumatic brain injury. That’s when you’re near a bomb explosion and the vibrations from the ground or the wall or if there’s shrapnel that actually comes into your head, the parts of your body that are exposed in these situations are the arms and the legs and the head. I knew that that was what had happen to Ben. The brain is a wonderful organ, and it does heal in mysterious ways. So, in some ways, that injury made them a little more of a hopeful character because there is possibility for recovering. Ben does recover, but he has some major frustrations in recovering.
GH: There’s humor in the book and there’s the bull riding and the skateboarding. So, have you gotten a big feedback from readers?
SW: The skateboarding was hard because I know what it looks like, but I had to learn all the vocabulary. And I didn’t want to be like stalking young boys at skate parks. Although I could sit a couple of blocks removed to watch and take notes. You don’t want to just be hanging out at skate parks with a camera and a notebook. I watched a lot of YouTube, and did a lot of How to Skateboard instruction online. My friend found four skateboarders who fixed a little bit of the vocabulary. I hear that boys really like to read this book–that they find something of interest to them, whether it’s the skating or the bull riding or the war or the relationship between the brothers. And one of the coolest things that’s happened to me is I’ve had several teachers tell me that boys that are in their classes who don’t like to read have finished Bull Rider.
GH: What has been your primary interaction with your readers? Do you get emails or is it primarily when you do your school visits?
SW: The emails I’ve gotten tend to be from adult readers. I got one from a fellow who served in Iraq three times and has actually written his own book about that experience and he now works with veterans and he’s actually using it with his church youth group to discuss the issues and that was a thrill. I’ve gotten emails from people who grew up on ranches who said it was right on, and asked how I learned about the ranching. I’ve received emails from teachers who said their kids loved it and couldn’t wait to hear the next reading if they were reading it out loud to their class. So that’s been really cool.
6.1.09 – James Rollins: The Man Behind the Books
By Alex C. Telander
Born Jim Czajkowski, James Rollins was always a storyteller, but put this on hold to pursue his other dream of veterinary science. After graduating from the University of Missouri, he moved to Sacramento, establishing his own veterinary practice. But the need to tell stories hadn’t been ignored and, by hiring extra help, Rollins made the time to start some serious writing. After receiving clear advice from the late Marion Zimmer Bradley through her magazine that he was really a long prose writer, he began writing novels.
Rollins’ submitted his first manuscript, Subterranean, to fifty different agents and was rejected fifty times. Looking to try a new genre, he wrote in the genre he loved to read, fantasy. Submitting his new book, Wit’ch Fire, to the Maui Writer’s Conference (Subterranean had been rejected too many times!), where he met author Terry Brooks. Rollins let Brooks know he was a long-time fan, and Brooks said he was also a fan of Rollins work. Rollins was shocked: “Have I just been dissed by Terry Brooks?” It turned out that Brooks was one of the judges for the conference and had shown Wit’ch Fire to his publisher who had agreed to publish the book. Rollins was also accepted by the next agent for Subterranean and soon had publishing houses bidding for the manuscript: “Within a week I ended up having a fantasy career and a thriller career.”
Rollins has since gone on to publish more than twenty novels and has become an internationally bestselling author. Writing under the name James Clemens, he has penned a successful fantasy series, while his SIGMA Force series grows in popularity with each installment; the new one, Doomsday Key, is due out June 23.
2009 is a very busy year for James Rollins. Jakes Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow was released on April 28, Rollins’ first foray into children’s books: “I wanted to write a kid’s book, it’s what I grew up reading.” Jake Ransom and his sister travel to another world where people from every culture live in harmony, while facing an everyday threat from dinosaurs. Jake Ransom is the first in what looks to be a popular children’s series.
On October 28, Rollins will publish Altar of Eden, hopefully his last book of the year,which began as a conversation between Rollins and his editor about why he hadn’t written about what he knew yet – a veterinary thriller. In his early days, Rollins was working enough not want to write about it, but now he had time and distance. He started laying out a story idea and the conversation continued on to other subjects. Some time later, Rollins’ agent called: “Did you pitch a story to your editor?” What began as idle chitchat turned into a book that Rollins is now working hard on to get done by deadline.
Rollins has a unique way of coming up with story ideas: anything of interest he writes down or cuts out and throws into a box; then he empties the box out and sifts through the pieces. Some make no sense next to each other, while others open up a world of juxtaposition and situation that Rollins never would’ve considered. The result is his complex plots with many different elements that somehow all come together; Doomsday Key is a classic example of this.
For the full podcast interview with James Rollins on BookBanter, go to: http://bookbanter.podbean.com.
Click HERE to see this article in the June 09 issue of SBR.
Fine out where to pick up a free copy of SBR.
2.09 – I Can Feel Your Heart Beat
By Jamie Engle
It’s February and love is all around us. You can barely walk into a store or hear a commercial that isn’t somehow tying into Valentine’s Day. Or, if it’s not about Valentine’s Day, it’s all doom and gloom about how tough the economy is and how much tougher things are going to get.
You can think of only one word: escape.
History shows people escape stress and strife by escaping to another world, if for only a couple of hours. Movies and books are the otherworlds of choice. With $1.375 billion in sales in 2007 and more than 60 million readers, romance novels have the largest share of the consumer-book market. It’s no surprise to area romance authors that people take a break from their worries with a good romance novel.
“Romance novels remind us that, with love, commitment, and family, we can and will survive anything life has to throw at us,” said Sacramento-area resident and New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan. “Love is timeless, and believing in love and being in love make the difficulties that come our way bearable. Sharing pain, as well as happiness with someone who loves us unconditionally, is satisfying and uplifting.”
“There’s no better escape than a romance novel because they’re not only fun, they’re uplifting,” adds Brenda Novak, also a Sacramento resident and New York Times bestselling author. “You’re always guaranteed a happy ending.”
Compared to 18 years or so ago, when they were known as “bodice rippers,” romance novels have undergone a tremendous makeover.
“The heroes and heroines in romance novels reflect the change in sensibilities and expectations we’ve undergone as a society,” Novak said. “Gone is the weak heroine who felt she needed a man to take care of her. Today’s heroine is strong, smart, and independent. She doesn’t need a man—but she might want one. More than ever, these novels portray two people coming together as equals. In many “old school” romances, there were scenes where the hero made love in a very forceful way—too close to rape for the modern reader. You don’t see scenes like that these days.”
“Today’s romance heroine is empowered,” said Susan Mallery, New York Times bestselling romance novelist. “The women are smart, funny and articulate as friends and as heroines. They stand up for themselves. Another goal, besides a man, is driving the story. Woman have become a lot stronger mentally and physically.”
Sacramento romance novelist Eileen Rendahl (also writing as Eileen Carr) said changes in romance novels reflect the changes in society.
“Romance novelists are constantly reinventing themselves and their books,” Rendahl said. “I think we reflect the society around us and for our books to maintain relevance, we have to change with the times.”
Today’s romance novel is much more diverse, both in character types and types of stories.
“When some people think of romance, they only look at the most tantalizing and scandalous covers – the so-called ‘bodice rippers,’ where the hero and heroine are put into a provocative pose. They don’t realize—because they don’t read them—that romance is truly a broad and diverse genre with smart heroines, often to romance that most people don’t realize: romantic suspense, urban fantasy, historical romance, paranormal romance, inspirational, and erotic are just a few. There are so many options and there is something for every reader who believes that society is better when the values of love, honor, duty, and commitment are supported and promoted.”
“Cross-genres, or the blending of genres, is not new,” Brennan said. “Romantic suspense became popular in the late 1980s and went out of favor in the late 90s. In the last few years, they’re gaining popularity again, becoming darker and grittier. The ‘women-in-jeopardy’ books have turned into ‘women-in-law-enforcement’ stories. Many mysteries have romantic subplots the supernatural has really taken genre-blending to its limits with world building, fantasy, and fun or fantastical elements. Truly, there is nothing you can’t do—if you tell the story well.”
“There’s been a huge diversification in what’s available as well,” added Rendahl. “There are romances with heroines and heroes of all skin colors and religious persuasions. There are wildly varying levels of eroticism. There’s much more variety than I remember there being 20 years ago or so, when I started reading romance novels.”
On opposite ends of the erotic scale, some of the largest gains in sales have been reported for the Inspirational and Erotic romance sub-genres.
“We’ve recently seen the rise and success of inspirational romances, erotic romances, paranormal romances and romantic suspense,” said Diane Pershing, romance novelist and president of the Romance Writers of America. “Our younger readers are worldlier than they used to be—either the good news or bad news, depending on your viewpoint.”
The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyers could be considered young adult contemporary vampire romance.
“It’s pretty fabulous when you see growth at both ends of the spectrum,” said Mallery. “Ten years ago you couldn’t sell a vampire story. Now, paranormal is one of the hottest genres—kind of like ‘Gray’s Anatomy’ with demons. Everything cycles through.”
“Readers are demanding fresh, new ideas and some of the best of these come from crossing genres,” Novak added.
One thing romances have in common is that it’s all about relationships and making connections.
“We explore everything, issues of all kinds,” Mallery said. “Our themes are more about connection: love heals, there’s no place like home, and importantly, keeping the community safe, building a community. Our nature is to want to connect. You’ll find the same in most genre fiction and in television. For example, the series ‘24’ is all about saving the community, or in this case, the country.”
“They are all about relationships,” said Pershing. “The search for that someone special, the hard work that goes into growing intimacy, both emotional and physical, the natural tendency of the human spirit to find his/her mate. It’s always been about relationships and it always will.”
No matter what style of story or type of character a read likes, the romance novel, like love itself, is timeless.
“Everyone falls in love sometime in their life.” Brennan said. “Love is timeless. Family is timeless, which begins with love. Honor, duty, loyalty, commitment, monogamy, all these are values that women hold as not only the ideal in love and marriage, but attainable. Frankly, we shouldn’t settle for less.”
“What’s timeless about the romance novel is it’s the dream of finding one’s soul-mate,” Rendahl said. “The idea is immensely satisfying. I think that’s why most books in any genre have a love interest somewhere along the line. For the ending to truly be happy (or tragic) there has to be some kind of romantic involvement.”
“Some of my favorite themes in romance novels are redemption, trust, the power of identity, freedom, love, happiness and family,” Novak added. “Romance novels are a snapshot of love at its finest. These books allow readers to enjoy that first blush of love, when love is like the best drug in the world, over and over again while still living a normal life.”
“It’s no wonder romance novels are successful in hard times,” Mallery said. “People want happy endings. In mysteries, you want the killer caught. In romance, love and family connection are confirmed. Romance hits a lot of what we like, and with all the different blending of genres, you can always find what you like.”
Statistics courtesy of the Romance Writers of America.
Read more about the novels written by these romance authors at their websites:
Allison Brennan writes romantic thrillers (www.AllisonBrennan.com)
Susan Mallery has written over 100 romances and counting (www.SusanMallery.com)
Brenda Novak writes romance and romantic suspense (www.BrendaNovak.com)
Diane Pershing writes romantic suspense (www.DianePershing.com)
Eileen Rendahl writes romance (www.EileenRendahl.com), and her alter ego, Eileen Carr, writes romantic suspense (www.EileenCarr.com)
Click HERE to see this article in the February 09 issue of SBR.
Fine out where to pick up a free copy of SBR.
