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Twisting Topeka

Page 17

by Lissa Staley


  Her debut YA Fantasy, If Crows Know Best, termed “a sure hit” by Kirkus Reviews, is available on Amazon.com in e-book and paperback formats.

  What was the inspiration for writing your story?  

  As I wandered about on Facebook one day, I read a post about Topeka history. It included a link to letters written by a WW II soldier stationed at Topeka Army Air Base (Forbes Field), describing dances at Lake Shawnee for the servicemen, and other aspects of local life at the time. This sparked the idea for my story, but I had not saved the link, and mysteriously could never find it again no matter what I used for search criteria.

  What is your most memorable moment from this year’s CNP?

  The moment when I realized I was never going to be able to find the ‘Letters Home’ link that inspired my story, and had to rely solely on my memory!

  What have you learned about writing fiction?

  Professor Tom Averill gave a superb presentation about short fiction techniques. This was invaluable, as I write novels these days and needed a refresher on plot structure, narrative arc and character development on a short story scale. As a bonus, I discovered I also like writing a non-epic tale!

  What’s the most important writing advice ever received?

  “Find your tribe” has carried through the longest for me, in art and in writing. We are fortunate to live in a community which invests so much in growing local talent and helping writers find each other. Critique groups and author association opportunities abound, plus the annual Community Novel Project and NaNoWriMo brings us together in creativity. My advice to anyone who aspires to write is, find some folks who are writing and join them! “A writer is someone who wrote today,” so invest time in learning the craft and tell your story.

  Ian Hall

  The Jesse Owens Effect

  Ian Hall is Scottish, born in Edinburgh, and spent the first 41 years of his life there. He now lives in Topeka, Kansas, with his wife Karla, and many gallons of homemade wine bubbling as he writes. His biggest literary achievement to date is a traditionally published novel; “Opportunities: Jamie Leith in Darien.” He is an award-winning writer and has published over 20 novels and 10 non-fiction titles on Amazon.com. He does not feel confined by genres, having equal success in Historical Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror and Detective Crime. He admits to watching far too much football (soccer), plays golf when he gets the time, and plays guitar and sings in a folk/rock band. He would love to have enough money to tour the world’s archeological sites until too old to walk. He loves to write, and enjoys literary challenges of all kinds.

  What was the inspiration for writing your story?

  I found various articles online that said President Roosevelt never shook Jesse Owens’ hand. That was enough to spark my ire. I was determined that in my version of history he’d never win the election of 1936.

  What have you learned about writing fiction from participating in this project? What have you learned about self-publishing from participating in this project?

  I love writing, but sometimes my projects get too time-consuming. I loved the time structure and schedule of the idea, and learned from it.

  What is your writing background? What do you usually write?

  I am not confined by genre. My last four projects were, a history of Winston Churchill’s Secret Armies, a Sci-Fi Adventure collaboration, a British Slang Dictionary and a modern conspiracy novel. Since writing in the Library project, I have started my own Alternative History’ WW2 series, set in Edinburgh, Scotland; Avenging Steel.

  What’s the most important writing advice you’ve received?

  Write what you know. Write what you are passionate about. Both these elements will show in the final writings.

  How do you make time for writing? Do you write on a schedule, or write for a certain amount of time each day, or do you only write when you feel inspired?

  Each day, I write until 11.00am (with Mike Oldfield playing to take away the street noise). I often wake up with the day’s writing already in my head, (sometimes a whole book), I just have to download it.

  Reaona Hemmingway

  Underground Ark

  Reaona Hemmingway resides in Topeka, Kansas where she is an active member of the Kansas Authors Club and KS Writers, Inc. During the month of November, she participates in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in which writers challenge themselves to complete a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. In 2009, her 2007 NaNoWriMo, Baseball Card Hero, was published and received honorable mention in the J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award contest. Her published work also includes September 11, Mariah, Prairie Angel, Collateral Bride, Home for Christmas, and Tillie’s Marbles & Other Stories.

  Why did you want to participate in the Community Novel Project?

  The challenge of meeting a deadline helps keep me focused on getting a writing project completed. I also enjoy working with the other writers. The Community Novel provides a social network authors need to grow and enhance their talents.

  What was the inspiration for writing your story?

  The novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo in 2013 is about two brothers who discover a plot to genetically control the population a hundred years in the future. In choosing a story for this year’s Community Novel project, I decided to write Underground Ark as a prequel to the novel. In the short story, a worldwide disaster creates the events that lead to the genetic plot a hundred years later.

  What is your writing background? What do you usually write?

  I began writing poetry in fourth grade, took creative writing in high school, and minored in Creative Writing in college. While studying creative writing, I switched from writing poetry to fiction. In 2006, I started participating in NaNoWriMo. My first published novel was my 2007 NaNoWriMo novel, Baseball Card Hero. The first full length novel I wrote was Mariah, which was published in 2010. I now have five novels and two short story collections published.

  How do you make time for writing? Do you write on a schedule, or write for a certain amount of time each day, or do you only write when you feel inspired?

  My writing routine has changed quite a bit over the years. In 2013, I went from living alone to moving in with my mom to help her out. I’ve gone from writing every day to looking forward to weekends when I escape to my house and binge out on getting as much writing done as possible in two days.

  Duane L. Herrmann

  Proclaim the New Name

  Duane L. Herrmann hasn’t let dyslexia, ADD, or PTSD stop him, though detours are common. It took more than a day, or a year, but he finally achieved some success. He is stubborn, he persevered and he is now an award-winning, internationally published author-historian-poet with publications in a dozen countries and books in libraries on three continents. Not bad for a farm boy who couldn’t read and still has trouble spelling! His story here is based on ground-breaking research he’s done into the early history of the Bahá’í Faith in Kansas -the second oldest Bahá’í community west of Egypt. His research has caused others to revise their histories.

  Why did you want to participate in the Community Novel Project?

  I had heard about it in past years but this year the format was more interesting to me and a challenge. My work is scattered around the world, very little has been published locally. This would change that.

  What was the inspiration for writing your story?

  I want to share some of the history of Topeka that I’ve learned over the years, and this was a new and exciting way to do that. I’ve never combined history and fiction before. Felicity is based on the real-life wife of Leonard Hilty, the first Bahá’í to live in Topeka, but her actions as a fictionalized character are her own. Everything is true up to the trip to Chicago. The other characters in the story and their actions are actual, though conversations are imagined.

  What real-life alternate or speculative twist for Topeka do you anticipate or fear?

  Is this asking if I’m afraid of or for the future? No. I’m not.

  What�
�s the most important writing advice you’ve received?

  Write what you know, and if you don’t know much—go learn!!

  How do you make time for writing?

  I don’t do other things - like watch TV. I don’t use a cell phone, so I’m not constantly looking at that or being interrupted by others. The absence of both those activities gives me a Great Deal of time! I do not write on a schedule. I write when the words come – even if I have to pull them out of the air.  It’s about focus and what other things/activities you give up. It’s about what is important.

  Miranda Ericsson Kendall

  The Printed Word

  Miranda Ericsson Kendall has been building her personal library since she was a little girl. She’s worked for the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library for five years, and leading programs that engage and support writers in her community is one of her favorite parts of the job. She majored in creative writing at Washburn University in Topeka, and her work has been published in Inscape, Argo, Homewords, XYZ and TK Business magazines, as well as in two prior Community Novel Projects. She hopes that someday you’ll read her work—whether you like to swipe a screen or turn a page.

  Why did you want to participate in the Community Novel Project?

  Participating as a project leader is an amazing experience, and I am happy working behind the scenes to support writers and help facilitate a successful project. It was hard to make the personal time to write for this project among other priorities, and I still don’t feel done with my revisions--but I’m so glad that I did it. Once again I’ve been reminded that if I want to be a writer, I have to prioritize writing. And if I really want to write, I can make it happen!

  What was the inspiration for writing your story?

  A couple of years ago I saw an article that speculated the eventual downfall of print books in favor of eBooks. I was already reading eBooks by that time, and I was surprised that I liked them. Being a fan of speculative fiction, though, I have a healthy distrust of technology dependence, and I imagined a scenario where everything was digitized, and then lost, completely. I wrote down this sentence in my notebook: “Ark of books—a librarian fills her house with books so that she can share them after the fall.” When the collaborating writers of this year’s Community Novel Project chose speculative fiction or alternative history set in Topeka, I had the perfect opportunity to work with the idea. I’ve read up on library trends, so I know that digital libraries are on the rise. And sadly, funding shortages in the state of Kansas are very real, so it wasn’t hard to imagine a scenario where the library reduces the budget by eliminating print—though I feel confident that our community loves print books enough that the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library will never go completely bookless!

  What is your writing background? What do you usually write?

  I see myself as a poet, primarily, because when I sit down to explore an idea, it usually forms into a poem on the page. I love writing short fiction, too, and I journal or at least jot down ideas and thoughts every day. I consider myself blessed beyond belief to be able to work with and support writers in my community as part of my job at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, and I’m super proud that I’ve completed two novels through NaNoWriMo programming at the library. Someday I might even revise them and submit them for publication—or publish them myself!

  What’s the most important writing advice you’ve received? What writing advice would you share with other writers?

  Poet Laureate of Kansas Eric McHenry said in a talk at the library a few years back that when writers submit work for publication, they’re “always up against what the editor had for breakfast.” He reminded us that judging creative writing is absolutely subjective, and many fine writers are rejected for publication every day. His advice: “persist and believe.” On the same note, Sylvia Plath wrote: “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” These are two poets who know what they’re talking about. If you want to be a writer, you’ll have days when you feel like you can do nothing but track mud across the page. You’ll have to be able to keep writing anyway, and persist, knowing that you have something valuable to share. Your words count! Write them down and share them with the world.

  C R Kennedy

  Cleansing Waters

  C R Kennedy is a graduate of Kansas State University where she majored in finance and accounting. Her passion for creativity and the Hollywood silver screen sparked her career drive to write vintage and modern-day romance, suspense, espionage and mystery stories. She is a member of Kansas Writers Inc. and Phantom Gavel Publishing. C R has several works in progress and available fiction can be found at crkennedyink.com. She also recently launched a fun and fresh blog about mid-century modern culture at AVintageChick.com.

  Why did you want to participate in the Community Novel Project?

  I love the idea of a local group of writers collaborating on a project that revolves around their community. Brainstorming together, critiquing each other, supporting each other…it’s fun and makes us all better at our craft.

  What was the inspiration for writing your story?

  I don’t make it a secret that I’m a huge fan of old Hollywood. Since I’ve lived in Topeka I’ve often heard about celebrities and movie stars spending time at Menninger’s Hospital. I thought it would be fun to blend those two ideas and toss an innocent young girl into the mix.

  What is your writing background? What do you usually write?

  I enjoyed writing in high school and college but never considered it as a career choice. About seven years ago I started playing with a story idea. Since then I have written many stories, poems, and nonfiction pieces. I enjoy suspense, romance, espionage, and mysteries in fiction. I also write a blog about mid-century modern culture.

  What’s the most important writing advice you’ve received? What writing advice would you share with other writers?

  Don’t give up if you’re passionate about writing and believe it is your chosen path. My very first writer’s workshop session was on a Saturday afternoon. I thought my submission was wonderful, but the group ripped it apart. I took it personally and considered giving up on my story. The next morning my priest gave a homily about never giving up. I took it as a sign, kept writing, and have never contemplated giving up since.

  How do you make time for writing?

  My days are sometimes random and chaotic, so I write whenever I can. But I’ve also learned not to force creativity. I find something else constructive, like cleaning the house or gardening, to do until the creative juices start to flow.

  Diana Marsh

  What Fate Ordains

  Diana Marsh grew up wanting to be an astronaut, until the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy and the realization of how much math is required to be an astronaut shot that plan to bits. Instead of going to the moon, she writes fiction predominantly set in the late 1800s – with an urban fantasy plot stealing her attention here and there – and blogs about Sherlock Holmes. This is her 5th year participating in the Community Novel Project, having previously contributed chapters to Capitol City Capers, Speakeasy, Superimposed, and Time Harbor.

  Why did you want to participate in the Community Novel Project?

  This is my fifth year contributing to the Project, and the reasons I keep coming back are the wonderful people I get to work with and the challenge that comes with collaborating with other writers. The Topeka writing community is lucky to have a library that is so supportive of its efforts and is willing to provide them opportunities like the Community Novel to showcase their work, learn more about their craft and the business of it, and add something interesting to their list of credits.

  What was the inspiration for writing your story?

  The inspiration for “What Fate Ordains” is two-fold, technically. I am a big fan of pod-fiction – podcasts that specialize in audio drama, like “Wormwood,” “We’re Alive,” and “The Message.” I am a sucker for a good audio drama. There is a podcast called “The Truth�
� that dramatizes short fiction, and their pilot episode was a story called “Moon Graffiti,” inspired by the speech prepared for Richard Nixon in the event that Apollo 11 ended in tragedy. Their story explored the crash from the point of view of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, stuck on the moon until their oxygen ran out. I’d never heard of the existence of this speech before – proof that maybe I live under a rock or something – and was compelled to look it up after I’d listened to the episode.  The speech, and the story, poked around in my brain until the theme of this year’s Community Novel finally gave me an opportunity to play around with my take on the idea.

  What is your writing background? What do you usually write?

 

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