Dead to Writes – S1, E3: The Case of the Carriageless Horse

In this Episode:

* Donna interviews #DeadlyFriend author Steven M. Moore (The Chaos Chronicles Trilogy, Carrick Publishing 2018)
* Tips for authors courtesy of Steve and Donna
* #ReadersOnTheRun short story feature: “The Case of the Carriageless Horse”, by Steven M. Moore, World Enough and Crime (Carrick Publishing, 2016)


Are you a published author? Would you like to be featured on our podcast? Email Donna at carrickpublishing@rogers.com – subject line: Schedule an Interview on Dead to Writes.

All music featured on Dead to Writes is brought to you courtesy of songwriter, composer and performer Ted Carrick. Keep up with all of his new music at his YouTube Channel

Find us on Facebook: Dead to Writes, or on Twitter: @DeadToWritesPod . You can also visit our site: www.deadtowrites.ca or look for donnacarrick.com or carrickpublishing.com .

Dead to Writes – S1, E2: Snake Oil

In this Episode:

* Donna interviews Deadly Friend author M.H. Callway (Windigo Fire, Seraphim Editions, 2014)
* Tips for authors courtesy of Madeleine Harris-Callway
* #ReadersOnTheRun short story feature: “Snake Oil”, by M.H. Callway, 13 Claws (Carrick Publishing, 2017)


Are you a published author? Would you like to be featured on our podcast? Email Donna at carrickpublishing@rogers.com – subject line: Schedule an Interview on Dead to Writes.

All music featured on Dead to Writes is brought to you courtesy of songwriter, composer and performer Ted Carrick. Keep up with all of his new music at his YouTube Channel

Find us on Facebook: Dead to Writes, or on Twitter: @DeadToWritesPod . You can also visit our site: www.deadtowrites.ca or look for donnacarrick.com or carrickpublishing.com .

Dead to Writes, S1, E1, Sugar ‘N’ Spice

We’re thrilled to bring you Dead to Writes, the Podcast, Season 1, Episode 1, featuring Toronto author Joan O’Callaghan!

Subscribe today and don’t miss an episode. We’re at iTunes, Google Play and now YouTube!

In this Episode:

* Donna interviews #DeadlyFriend Toronto author Joan O’Callaghan
* #ReadersOnTheRun story “Sugar ‘N’ Spice” by Joan O’Callaghan, featured in Thirteen, an anthology of crime stories by the Mesdames of Mayhem (Carrick Publishing 2013)

Are you a published author? Would you like to be featured on our podcast? Email Donna at carrickpublishing@rogers.com – subject line: Schedule an Interview on Dead to Writes.

All music featured on Dead to Writes is brought to you courtesy of songwriter, composer and performer Ted Carrick. Keep up with all of his new music at his YouTube Channel

Find us on Facebook: Dead to Writes, or on Twitter: @DeadToWritesPod . You can also visit our site: www.deadtowrites.ca or look for donnacarrick.com or carrickpublishing.com .

Dead to Writes – Podcast S1, E0.1, the Prologue ~ Dec. 9, 2017

Our inaugural Dead to Writes Podcast Episode is up at iTunes!

Join us for the fun of it.

In this episode:

•An interview with musician/composer/songwriter Ted Carrick
•#ReadersOnTheRun feature, title story “North on the Yellowhead”
•Today’s Tip for Authors
•Fantastic theme music: Eyes of Gold by Ted Carrick

Are you a published author? Would you like to be featured on our podcast? Email Donna at carrickpublishing@rogers.com – subject line: Schedule an Interview on Dead to Writes.

All music featured on Dead to Writes is brought to you courtesy of songwriter, composer and performer Ted Carrick. Keep up with all of his new music at his YouTube Channel

Find us on Facebook: Dead to Writes, or on Twitter: @DeadToWritesPod . You can also visit our site: www.deadtowrites.ca or look for donnacarrick.com or carrickpublishing.com .

Character Driven Part I: Peeling back the layers

Daphne, by Donna CarrickIt usually begins with an image.

The tilt of a head, or the turn of a hand.

He is standing in the doorway of a darkened room, daylight streaming around his silhouette, obscuring his true nature from the mind’s eye.

Or she is sitting alone on a curb. She is looking away from me, at nothing, I believe, as a tornado of urban noise swirls around us. I cannot catch her eye; she will not deign to acknowledge me. Her story eludes me in the beginning. She will not speak, but needs to be coaxed. Slowly, she rises to her feet, and the great journey of discovery begins.

For me, this describes the art of writing.

There is an image of a person, male or female, a mere shadow hovering on the edge of my consciousness. Yet, in my deepest soul, I know a story is waiting to be told.

The Noon GOdSo it was in the case of my first published novella, The Noon God. In my mind I saw Desdemona as clearly as you would see the person next to you on the bus. I saw the rush of long golden curls, the ice-blue eyes, the determined forehead. And I saw the father she had once adored: J. Caesar Fortune, broad-browed, full of pride, seemingly indestructible.

And yet, like all who claim mortality on this earth, capable of being felled. Capable of death.

Slowly, his legacy revealed itself to me: the many books, the lectures, the mass appeal of a life’s work.

I sensed the sunlight that shone always on this great man…no, not on him, really, more like from him. As if he radiated an inner light, casting the darkest of shadows on all who loved him.

So there was Desdemona, the disillusioned daughter of a renowned author. And there was Caesar, a man of singular passion, driven to greatness.

Debbie2 SmallAnd then, in the varying recesses of that stage, there were ‘the others’, Lucy, Gail, Uncle Willard and Angelina, those lesser loves, whose lives were caught up in the vortex of that passion, and each, in its own way, damaged at the core.

The Noon God was inspired by and is dedicated to my late sister, Deborah, who died at nineteen years of age by her own hand. Like any survivor of family suicide, I’ve long been compelled to try to understand the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of such a final act.

The FIrst ExcellenceI think it’s fair to say my novels are all primarily ‘character driven’. From my earliest as yet unpublished works to my latest, The First Excellence, I have been led around the globe by an obsessive need to peel back the layers, to discover the truth behind those silhouettes.

And as with most art, great and small, the true quest remains: the discovery of self. The telling of a story more real than imagined, by imaginary players on the stage of our minds.

Words, beautiful words…

As writers, they are what we see when we close our eyes. They are our tools, our materials and our finished products. They have tremendous power over us. They can persuade, entertain, teach, inform, seduce, anger or sadden us. They lead us into our nightly dreams, and they greet us each morning as they march into our newly-awakened consciousness.

Author Janet Fitch (White Oleander, Paint it Black) once revealed in an interview that before sitting down to write she first reads passages from her favourite poetry. Doing so prepares her mind for the elegant flow of prose that is found in her books. Her skilful use of the words themselves is a testament to her love of them.

Many writers struggle with the modern reader’s expectations. How do we know whether we are saying too much or too little? Readers today have no patience for detailed description, long, eloquent passages that become redundant and insult their imaginations by leaving nothing undefined. And yet the educated reader still longs to see something of the art in our words. He wants to be elevated by the imagery as it unfolds.

A well-chosen phrase in the hands of a confident writer is like a bow and arrow in the hands of a skilled archer. One does not want to overshoot the mark with sloppy or flowery words. Nor does one wish to fall short and leave the reader wondering what the heck is going on. What we seek most ardently as writers is the ability to say exactly what we mean, in a manner that allows our stories to move forward while delighting our readers with some sense of our personal flair.

The goal then becomes two-fold as a writer of fiction: to use the language with precision, saying what we mean, and to also seek out subjects that will have ‘meaning’ to the reader. It is not enough to say what we mean, if what we mean is meaningless. As writers, people rely on us to broaden our perspectives, and to present them with ideas that will take them beyond their own existences.

Much is made of the old writers’ adage to “write what you know”. Today’s writer understands that, unless his personal knowledge of the world is already exceptional, he will be expected to leave his comfort zone on a regular basis. On the other hand, we don’t want to lie to our readers. That’s where research comes in.

I view writing not only as a tool to communicate ideas to the reader, but also as a motive for broadening my own understanding of the world. For me, this is where the real ‘art’ of writing is accomplished — in seeking out new ideas to grapple with so that I can present them to the reader with confidence and, I hope, with grace.