My book deals with a horrifying time in American history, a time most people know little about because they don’t teach it in history classes in school. Yet, it is a story of hope in the face of adversity. My target audience is readers who don’t mind squirming a bit while they read, who want to learn about the injustices our government forced on native peoples.
Smoky Zeidel – 4 June 2015
The Back Flap
It is the late 1800s, and the U.S. Government has mandated native tribes send their youth to Indian schools where they are stripped of their native heritage by the people they think of as The Others. Otter and Sun Song are deeply in love, but when they are sent East to school, Otter, renamed Gideon, tries to adapt, where Sun Song does not, enduring brutal attacks from the school headmaster because of her refusal to so much as speak. Gideon, thinking Sun Song has spurned him, turns for comfort to Wendy Thatcher, the daughter of a wealthy school patron, beginning a forbidden affair of the heart.
But the Spirits have different plans for Gideon and Sun Song. They speak to Gideon through his magical storyteller’s bracelet, showing him both his past and his future. You are both child and mother of The Original People, Sun Song is told. When it is right, you will be safe once more. Will Gideon become Otter once again and return to Sun Song and his tribal roots, or attempt to remain with Wendy, with whom he can have no future?
About the book
What is the book about?
The Storyteller’s Bracelet is the story about two young Native Americans, Otter and Sun Song, who are sent to one of the government-mandated Indian Schools in the late 1800s. Here they are forced to cut their hair, speak only in English, attend Christian church services, and give up every vestige of their Indian identity. While Otter, who is given the English name Gideon, tries to adapt, Sun Song does not, and she endures unspeakable abuse as a result.
But the spirits have not given up on Otter and Sun Song. Through Otter’s mystical storyteller’s bracelet, they embark on a journey that will save not only them, but humankind as a whole.
When did you start writing the book?
I started writing it several years ago. I had to set it aside for a while, when my life went through some upheaval and I relocated from the Midwest to California. I picked it up again once I was settled in LA.
How long did it take you to write it?
I am a slow writer. It took me a little over two years to write the book, and the idea formed about eighteen months before that.
Where did you get the idea from?
My sister gave me a storyteller’s bracelet for my birthday one year. Storyteller’s bracelets are silver cuffs engraved with pictographs that tell about the life of the maker, or the person for whom it is made. I looked at the pictographs on mine, and tried to figure out the story it was telling. From there, my imagination took over.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
There are a couple violent scenes. While I worked hard to make them vivid, I find it difficult to write scenes where one human is harming another. It just goes against my belief in the good of humankind in general, and my dismay that there is evil in the world.
What came easily?
I love to write setting description. The Desert Southwest is so beautiful; writing about it was a pleasure. I also loved writing the mystical scenes. It was fun to let my imagination run wild.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
These characters are all fictitious. The situations I put them in, while made up, are based on events that actually happened in some of the Indian Schools. Many of them were truly horrible places.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
Two of my favorite authors are John Steinbeck and Willa Cather. I have been told by several critics my voice is reminiscent of theirs. I am flattered and humbled to be compared to such greats, but I feel like I have my own voice, and that I’m not unduly influenced by anyone.
Do you have a target reader?
My book deals with a horrifying time in American history, a time most people know little about because they don’t teach it in history classes in school. Yet, it is a story of hope in the face of adversity. My target audience is readers who don’t mind squirming a bit while they read, who want to learn about the injustices our government forced on native peoples. Most of all, my target audience is readers who enjoy good literature.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
I’m a morning person. I get up early, watch the sun rise while I drink my coffee and catch up on my email and the news. Then, I brew a second cuppa and head upstairs to my computer to write. I never write past about noon. My brain goes into lockdown mode then, and words don’t come as easily. I use my afternoons to pursue other creative pursuits and to read.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
While I went into this book with a general idea of where it was going, I never outline, and I’m never consciously aware of where and how the book will end. I let my characters take over, tell me their story. Often, when I look at my computer screen as my fingers fly over the keyboard, I see words appear that I have no idea I was even thinking.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
A little of both. I tend to re-read what I’ve already written several times during the course of creating a new work, and if I find a typo, or a sentence that isn’t clear or I think is in the wrong place, I’ll edit it rather than relying on my memory to go back and fix it later.
Did you hire a professional editor?
I am a professional editor. I was an editor before I began novel writing. But I still have a professional editor look over my manuscripts for me. No matter how good a writer or editor a person is, it is difficult to find your own errors, because the writer sees what is supposed to be written rather than what is actually written. I wouldn’t think of turning in a manuscript that hadn’t been looked at by a professional editor.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
Usually, I prefer the music of nature as my backdrop. I live in the hills outside LA, where my closest neighbors are mule deer and coyotes and a plethora of birds. I prefer birdsong and wind to manmade music. The exception to this is when my husband is practicing his guitar. He is a professional classical guitarist, and I love to hear him playing while I write.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
Not this one. Long ago, when I wrote my first novel, Redeeming Grace, I worked with an agent.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
I’m with an indie publisher, Thomas-Jacob Publishing, LLC. Melinda Clayton, the owner, and I shared our last indie publisher. Unfortunately, that company turned out to be one of those you want to avoid at all cost, stealing our royalties, not registering our copyrights when contractually obligated to do so. When we left that company (along with more than a dozen other authors), Melinda started her own firm. I took 22 months off; I was so devastated I just couldn’t think about writing and publishing again. But Melinda had faith in me, and in my books, and always made it clear she was ready to publish me when and if I was ready to get back into that world. Time heals all wounds, and here I am.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
I came up with the concept for the cover. The publisher hired a professional artist, a young artist named Jack Stollery, to take that concept and bring it to fruition. I think he did a fabulous job.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
A bit of both. I am grateful that Thomas-Jacob is one of those rare publishers who actually promote their authors’ work, and Melinda has done a wonderful job with that. But I work hard at it, too. And I’m always open to new opportunities when I hear of them, like doing this interview for The IndieView.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Do your research, if you are opting for an indie publisher as opposed to publishing your work yourself. There are so many publishers out there, like my former one, with no scruples whatsoever. But fortunately, authors have yelled loudly and clearly on different forums about these publishers; if you do your research, you can learn which ones are bad. Steer clear of them, no matter how badly you want your book published.
I also can’t emphasize enough the importance of hiring a professional editor. I have started to read so many indie books that clearly weren’t edited, and I always end up returning them. Having a book with errors not only is unfair to readers who spend their hard-earned money on your books, it shows a lack of pride in your work. You wouldn’t leave the house intentionally with mismatched socks, or your skirt tucked in your underwear, would you? Why would you send your book out into the world with mistakes in it?
About You
Where did you grow up?
I grew up on the plains of Illinois, living there the first 50 years of my life. Rather than having a midlife crisis when I turned 50, I sold my house, packed up my daughter, my dog, two cats, and guinea pig, and moved to LA. When we left the Midwest, I didn’t even have a place to live in California lined up. I just sort of went on faith that it would all work out.
Where do you live now?
I live in a ramshackle cottage in the hills outside Los Angeles with my husband of six years, a Chihuahua named Tufa, two cats, and more deer, coyotes, gopher snakes, and fence lizards than your average National Park. I love it.
What would you like readers to know about you?
Nature is my great love, but nature keeps trying to kill me. I was struck by lightning 26 years ago, one of my houses was nearly destroyed by flood, another once by fire and once by tornado. I think I must be a cat and have nine lives or something.
What are you working on now?
I just completed a volume of nature poetry, called Sometimes I Think I Am Like Water, which will be released by Thomas-Jacob late May. Now, I am turning back to a book I began writing just before leaving my old publisher, a novel tentatively titled The Madam of Bodie. It’s set in the California mining town of Bodie, the “biggest, baddest town in the West,” during the 1880s mining boom. I’m really excited about this book. Once again, I hope it makes readers squirm just a bit when they read it. If it does that, I’ll consider it a success.
End of Interview:
For more from Smoky, visit her website, like her Facebook page, or you could even friend her on Facebook.
Get your copy of The Storyteller’s Bracelet from Amazon US (paper or ebook), Amazon UK (paper or ebook), Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords.
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