An Interview with Author, Claire Croxton

Nobody is better at mixing batches of snarky humor with dashes of poignancy than Claire Croxton, aka Patty Stith. Her stories and novels are full of three-dimensional characters who are funny, even snarky, on the outside. Yet, she teases the reader by subtly exposing the characters' internal pain. Claire's perfect blend of highs and lows captures every spectrum of emotion, drawing the reader in, page by page.

As she prepares for the release of two books in early 2012 by The Wild Rose Press, I am happy to introduce you to this talented author.

1) You are an artist in a variety of ways--in your writing, quilt-making and cooking. Many people have enjoyed both your writing and your cooking. Both are superb! I'm curious. How would you say writing is like cooking?

How is writing like cooking? That’s a good question. I approach both with the same methodology—total abandon. I’ll glance at a recipe to see what it suggests and then do it my way. Most of the time, the results are edible. I’ve learned to curtail that free-spirited approach with writing. There are guidelines for every genre and if you don’t pay attention to those you end up with a book that isn’t marketable. Of course, I keep telling myself that I’ve created the newest, hottest, bestselling genre,(soul-searching snark) but most likely authors need to get established before they can start breaking rules.

For me, cooking is a mindless outlet for creative energy. I love the challenge of cooking a meal for 10 on short notice—investigating the contents of my pantry and freezer in order to whip up a delectable meal. Writing offers a similar challenge. For example, a scene that needs to convey a certain emotion. I sit before a blank computer screen and let my fingers fly. No real thought to it. Unlike cooking though, the results aren’t always readable.


2) Was becoming a writer an inevitability for you? What was your path to becoming a writer?


Yep. It was destined. My brother taught me how to read when I was four. Both of my grandmothers lived within 2 blocks of the public library and I spent most of my childhood there. I still have my first library card. I got it when I was 6. By the time I was 8, I was writing stories in notebooks and I always kept a journal.

It never occurred to me that I could be a “writer.” I always thought I had to have a real job. So, I taught high school, English and History. When I moved to Alaska, I worked as a grant writer/administrator for years. I loved the job because it combined my two favorite things, writing and project management (I get a perverse pleasure from getting things done ahead of schedule.) It was a very stressful job though and the writing was strictly technical.

One day at lunch with a friend in Anchorage, I was bemoaning the fact that I never got to write fun stuff anymore. He encouraged me to write a book. The thought had been running around in my mostly empty brain for years. He was the right person at the right time to encourage me and boom! Three years later my first books are being released.


3) Your book, The Redneck Ex, will be released by Wild Rose Press on January 20, 2012. Is it true you wrote your first draft during NaNoWriMo? Give us the pitch that hooked The Wild Rose Press editor, Rhonda Penders.

I did write the first draft of Redneck Ex during the 2009 NaNoWriMo. I have the chiropractor bills to prove it. I was writing so much that I lost feeling in my right arm. I was having too much fun to stop. The final version of the story is vastly different from the frenzied first draft, but I loved process.

I started my current WIP, Ex-Ray, during the 2010 NaNoWriMo. I was busy editing this year, so I wasn’t able to participate, but I really appreciate the idea behind NaNoWriMo—setting aside time to give yourself permission to write garbage. Don’t stop. Don’t edit as you go. Get it out there.  Then go back and perfect it.

I described Redneck Ex to Rhonda Penders as: Northern Exposure meets Sweet Home Alabama. I’m not sure if that sold the book or if it was going to dinner with her. It didn’t take her long to realize that the voice in Redneck was authentic. It was either the story of my cousin the rodeo queen or my tale of cooking up a snapping turtle that convinced her I was writing from the redneck experience.


4) Many of your stories take place in Alaska and Arkansas. You've lived in or visited many other places in the world. Santorini Sunset, which will also be released by The Wild Rose Press early next year, takes place in Greece. Any other plans for stories with worldly setting?

Oh, do I ever have worldly plans! The hero in Santorini Sunset, Raul Sobrevilla, is from Peru. I want to do a sequel to Santorini set on Raul’s family’s ranch in Peru. I’m also working on a story, Loch Lonnie, that takes place in Scotland and Arkansas.

And I’m working on two short stories—one set in Japan, the other set in Dubai. The bulk of my stories are set in Arkansas and Alaska simply because I know those places so well. There’s still a lot of research involved to get facts correct, but I can close my eyes and see the settings. That helps speed things along when I’m writing scenes.


5) What's the best piece of advice on writing you've ever received?

I can’t narrow it down to one piece of advice. There have been so many people involved in my writing career who have taught me valuable lessons.

My parents: You can do anything you set your mind to, sugar dumpling. Just do it.

Dusty Richards: If you edit while you write, you’ll never get the damn book finished.

Velda Brotherton: Sense of place…make the reader feel, see, smell, touch everything the character is.

Jodi Thomas: Triumph Comes Through Perseverance

The best writing tip came from my mother. We both make quilts. When you’re working on a sewing project, you stop mid seam so that when you return you know where you are and you can start right back up again with no problem.  One time when I was fussing because I could remember where I was in a story that I’d set aside for a few weeks, she recommended I stop writing mid-sentence.  That little tip has helped me tremendously. No matter how long I’m away from a story, I’m able to resume writing quickly and relatively pain-free.


6)  You recently created Trailer Trash Productions, a resource for writers who would like to create a book trailer. You've produced several beautiful trailers, some of which are shown in this blog. Please tell us about Trailer Trash Productions and the services you provide for authors.

Trailer Trash Productions works with authors to create book trailers that reflect the voice, setting and tone of their books. There are several different ways to approach a book trailer and many different elements that can be incorporated. You can go with a simple slide show with text set to music or you can be as elaborate as making video, composing your own music and narrating the trailer.


Anyone can do her own book trailer. It’s fairly simple, but the problem lies with copyright issues. Going online and downloading pictures from Google Images just won’t work. It’s impossible to know if the pictures you select are copyrighted or not. Same goes for music. Lots of people download the karaoke version of their favorite song, but even that is copyrighted.  Most people don’t think it’s that big of a deal, but if you’re using your book trailer to promote your book you’ll be making money from the end product. That’s going to get those folks whose copyright might be infringed upset.  That’s one reason why hiring a book trailer professional is a good idea. The other reason is producing a trailer takes a lot of time. Wouldn’t you rather be spending that time writing?


Here's an example of a Trailer Trash Productions:

7) What's next for Claire Croxton?

New York Times Bestseller, novels to screenplays to Hollywood-A-list blockbuster movies, vacation home in Tuscany.  Or…I’m getting another batch of feeder pigs whose care will cut into my writing time.  Either way, I’m happy.

Thank you, Claire, for some great insight into you and your writing. It's cold outside and I have a cozy fire and  a glass of wine. Now all I need is the release of your books!

Have a peek at Claire's book trailers by Trailer Trash Productions:

Visit Claire Croxton's blog, Claire Croxton, Romance Author

Five Questions for Dusty Richards, Western Novelist

********** NEWSFLASH! **************

Just received the news that Dusty was voted "Readers Choice Best Living Fiction Writer" by True West Magazine! Kudos, Dusty!

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Prolific. Award-winning. Storyteller. Writing Coach. These are all words that describe Dusty Richards. A winner of two Spur Awards and a Western Heritage Award, he is one of the founding members of Northwest Arkansas Writers, a critique group in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Not only is he working on his 100th+ novel, he is also well-respected in the writing community for helping aspiring writers.

Recently, I rustled up an interview with Dusty.

Award Winning Western Novelist, Dusty Richards

1) When did you first decide you wanted to write Westerns? What prompted you?
I was a Saturday matinee fan of Gene, Roy and Hopalong on the silver screen. Then I began reading Will James. My mother was a good reader, so even though I could read them, I let her read them to me. That was pre-TV. She sat in the ring of light over the wingback chair in the living room and read Will James books to me. Will James wrote other books besides Smoky.

By high school, I progressed to paperbacks. They were a quarter a piece and lined book racks in the drug stores by the zillions. I read one a night. Then I scoured the libraries for Zane Grey, William Haycox and others. A book about Cochise, Blood Brother, sent me to research the Apache wars, since I lived in the middle of all that then. Another book by Tom Lea, The Wonderful Country, really impressed me. Then I found Will Henry's books--I could read them but never could see how he wrote them.

I wanted to write and so I did. I wrote my own books when I couldn't go buy one. I wrote them in long hand and knew they lacked whatever those selling writers had between the lines--I simply could not see what was missing. These were the books that my teenage daughters discovered and read, then told me to sell them. I stepped into the world of writing, dumb as a newborn duck. But somehow I wrote and sold three books to a small printer in Missouri. That encouraged me--but after two years and no published books, I severed that tie, or thought I did.

I learned twenty years later he printed them. But today, I can't find any copies. For awhile, they were on ebay. But before my daughter could find them to purchase, they were sold. My real success began when I met Dr. Frank Reuter at OWL – Ozarks Writers League. He critiqued a book I thought was ready. Oh my, after he finished with it, it was bloodied enough to fill the blood bank. But he encouraged me. I took all the things he said to do to that book and did them. Then, I sent him another and it he returned it - whole pages with no marks. Finally a third book went to him and he told me when I went to pick it up, "I was so busy reading the story I might not have critiqued it as hard as the others.”

I knew then I had a book and with the tenacity of a billy goat, I went out to sell it. It was Noble's Way and my first real sale of a book in New York.

Dusty and wife, Pat

2) You keep a busy schedule, with a variety of responsibilities. Tell us how you are able to maintain a writing schedule that has allowed you to write over one hundred novels.
I tell you what, my wife puts up with me--she encourages me even today. Back then, I had an old Commodore Computer and she pushed me into buying a Mac. I had not sold a book, but I saw what the Mac could do. I was impressed with the machine but had to think on the price. Pat said, "If it was a tractor and did all that, you'd already own it." I went out the door with it.


I write. Even when I worked for Tyson, did an hour anchoring TV show every morning, ran two ranches of my own, auctioneered and rode announcing--every night I was home and I typed from six until ten. At ten my wife came to get me to watch the news with her. Any rainy day, I wrote all day. I didn't know a sitcom on TV.


I never took "no" for an answer. In between books I wrote short stories. Personally, I think short stories are the best thing to practice on. You get results quickly and you learn to be sparse with words. What else can you do? These situations train you for writing scenes.

3) Not only are you well-known in the Western genre world, you are also well-known in the writing community as someone who has tirelessly mentored hundreds of writers. What is the best advice you’ve been given by a writer? Is that the same advice you’d give to new writers?
I would like to save any serious writer I meet from the tough trail I took to become a writer. Admittedly, I was hard headed, but once Reuter showed me the way, I flew. Some people I try to help only want praise. They don’t want to hear me tell them what they must do, so they don’t listen. I want to help that student that listens and learns, not the wanna-bes who don’t read. If you aren't a reader, don’t expect to become a writer.


I know there is a brain-to-finger connection and the only way you accomplish writing is to write. You will never have time to be a writer. You must steal it. You must learn to say no. You must make an obligation to your writing. Sure you will write crap and the real truth comes when you realize that. You have to have faith that your message is coming out. Learn from other writers, but don’t copy them. We don't talk like we write. The only way we get that writing voice is to write, free of concern that what we compose in the front of our brain is coming off in the style we want. Experience will build that in you.


My advice--don't fret about whether it is good enough while you're writing. Write the entire draft first. Then you will have an obligation to edit it and make a book out of it.


2010 Western Heritage Award Winner

 4) You’ve won several awards for your western novels: two Spur Awards and recently, the Western Heritage Award for your book, Sundown Chaser. These are great accomplishments for a Western writer. Any as-yet-unattained goals?
Of course, I would like one made into a movie; either a short story or a book. That will be hard, because they don't take much risk because movies are so expensive. That's why they go back to redo old ones with a proven track record.

2007 Spur Award Winner

5) If you could have a conversation with Louis L’Amour, or any other author, what would you like to talk about?
I read lots of Louie's books. He wrote some good ones and some that are so-so. I won't be critical of him here. I guess you could say the same thing about some of mine. I’ve been lucky to have had an evening with Charles Portis, author of True Grit and one with Larry McMurtey. Elmer Kelton was a dear friend and shared lots with me. Bill Gullic, who wrote Bend in the River, spent hours telling me tales of the days when the Saturday Evening Post paid him $12,000 for books they serialized,


I'd like to have talked to Will James for an evening, fished for trout in the White River with Zane Grey for a day, drank a few beers with Walter LeMay who wrote The Searchers. Then, I’d like to toss in a sunny afternoon visit with Will Henry, who I met but didn't get to speak to. I missed meeting Tom Lea of The Wonderful Country. We were in El Paso for WWA (Western Writers of America) and they went to see him. I missed that and have always regretted it. I met Jack Bickham at OWFI (Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc.) but was afraid I'd sound stupid and never asked him a thing. That was my mistake. And toss in the nice visit I had with Tony Hillerman, who writes about the Navajo Police out in New Mexico.


I have been blessed haven't I? But I am not through yet. I hope I didn't overdo my visits with those folks above, but they--like the Northwest Arkansas Writers where I’ve shared some of my work--are all part of what inspires me to write and why I help folks, wanted or not.

Be sure to post a comment by Monday, December 20 to be entered in a drawing for two of Dusty's books: Sundown Chaser and Writing the West. Drawing will be held on that date, and winner will be announced on this blog and on Facebook.

To learn more about Dusty Richards, visit him at:

http://www.dustyrichards.com/

Passing on the Write Stuff

On my four-hour drive home from the OWFI Writers' Conference in Oklahoma City this weekend, I had plenty of time to reflect. The common thread through all of my thoughts was how good I always feel after attending a writers' conference.

Probably the first good feeling that comes with attending a conference is motivation. When I see the list of contest categories, my mind often races with story ideas. Add my competitive spirit and a deadline to that, and you have one motivated writer!

Meeting new friends and getting reacquainted with old ones is another treasure of these conferences. I think all of us writers know we are a different sort, sometimes quiet, maybe a little introverted. Certainly we all live in our own imaginary worlds much of the time. But put a bunch of us together, and we open up and share to our hearts' content, as though "we were lost, but now we're found!"

But, I think it's the wealth of information shared by other writers that leaves me with the best feeling, long after the conference is over. I never cease to be awed by writers who continue to share knowledge in a variety of areas -- technique, marketing, motivation -- with anyone who asks, all for the simple reward of helping a new writer succeed. When you think about it, in this sometimes ruthless and competitive world, that really is amazing.

The conference was filled with such sharing writers, who brought a variety of up-to-date information to an audience hungry to learn. It not only inspired me to write, it gave me the confidence to go beyond my writing, to the necessary next step of marketing. (Oooh, not something that comes naturally to most writers!) And the biggest surprise was that I daydreamed about one day being one of those presenters who might share some valuable information with other writers.

On a personal note, Dusty Richards and Velda Brotherton, founders of our writing critique group, are two people who consistently help me (and countless others) with improving our writing skills, as well as keeping us motivated. They have set the example for all of us writers to help other writers -- to pass it on. As friends and mentors, they definitely have the "write stuff!"

Cowboys

I spent twenty-seven years of my life in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so cowboys are not a new phenomenon to me. In Tulsa, I saw them everywhere--well, at least I saw men wearing cowboy hats and cowboy boots everywhere. They sauntered into grocery stores, and politely removed their hats at movie theaters and restaurants. But, being a California girl originally, cowboys remained a unique characteristic of Oklahoma, kind of like the heat and humidity of Oklahoma summers, or the southern twang of "y'all." I watched from afar, but never got to know a "real" cowboy.


But last weekend, I had the honor of attending the Western Heritage Awards at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Surrounded by hundreds of cowboy peers, my friend and writing mentor, Dusty Richards, was presented an award for Outstanding Western Novel for his book, The Sundown Chaser.

Before and during the ceremony, we were surrounded by cowboys and cowgirls--most were real, but there were certainly some "wanna-be" cowfolk, like me. What a community I found -- ranchers, horsemen, performers, artists, writers -- all with a love of cowboy culture.

I have to admit, I was surprised to feel so "at home" with a group that in the past, I had only watched from "afar." But their warmth, patriotism, determined self-sufficiency and down-home charm drew me in.

In some of the presentations, I sensed concern that cowboys may become a thing of the past. There are fewer western movies and fewer novels these days. I overheard one rancher talking about the "cowboy way" not being the most efficient way to ranch anymore. But, in the hundreds of people present that weekend, I also saw a determination not to let that happen -- a determination to keep the cowboy alive.

When I left Oklahoma City to return home, I thought a long time about the cowboys I'd met and listened to, and I hoped more people would get to know a cowboy, and wouldn't simply watch this symbol of American culture from afar.