February Author Spotlight: Abigayle Claire

Abigayle Claire has just published her first novel, Martin Hospitality, a story about a young girl who finds herself pregnant and alone in rural Kansas. When she is taken in by the Martin family, she struggles to fit in, but quickly finds herself drawn to their kindness and faith. However, as her past returns upon her, she fears she may find the limits of their hospitality.

What inspired you to write this story?

In March of 2015, I had a really bizarre dream. I had been reading a Beverly Lewis book and my aunt and uncle were moving to Kansas. The dream was a combination of those two things and gave me the basic idea for Martin Hospitality: a pregnant teen who had to rely on the help of a large, Christian, homeschooling family.

What was the creative process for Martin Hospitality like? Did it come to you all at once or did you take some time to work out the story?

It definitely took some time. I had the dream that was my initial inspiration but it took character sheets and plotting to give me themes, twists, and true development. Ultimately, it took writing the first draft to fully develop the tangle of ideas in my head.

You mention character sheets and plotting, what did those look like? Did you continue to use them as you untangled the first draft, or were they more of a jumping off point?

For plotting, I used Microsoft Word to create an actual outline. I broke it down by chapter by chapter and wrote down large scale things (like theme, pivotal scenes, cliffhangers) and smaller things (tour the farmyard, go shopping). I only made it through about twelve or thirteen chapters before I began drafting. I didn’t use the outline as much as I thought, but because I had listed all those things out, my brain had a pretty good idea of where to next. I never outlined the rest of the story, hehe … And it all came together fairly well at 34 chapters long.

For character sheets, there’s a whole bunch you can use. I used this one and this one for planning Martin Hospitality. While some writers go all out and answer these questions for all their characters, I only did them for my two characters whose POV I was going to be in and my “villain.” My favorite character chart to use now is this one. I definitely recommend them no matter what you’re writing as it really helps solidify the details and unique traits of your characters, allowing all of that depth to seep into your story. I continued to refer to these all throughout my writing.

How did you go about deciding on Self-publishing? Had you heard of Create Space before?

It really wasn’t much of a decision for me. I knew I wanted the flexibility that came with self-publishing. While it meant I had to do more myself, it meant I had control over all the details and that was more appealing to me than a jump-through-our-hoops traditional route where they do a lot for you if you can meet there standards in the first place. I have nothing against traditional publishing, though, and might even give it a shot eventually.

I had heard of CreateSpace and while I checked out other places like Lulu and Bookbaby, I really liked CreateSpace’s print-on-demand policy, that they received part of the royalty instead of a down payment (or both), and that they were so closely linked to Amazon. So the decision wasn’t very hard for me in this respect, either.

You’ve mentioned your editor before, what was the experience with Create Space like?  What were some things you wish you had known going in?

My editor I hired outside of CreateSpace, but she was the first person I had to employ and trust with my novel. Throughout the entire marketing/publication experience, I wish I had known the standard amount of time each detail took. That way I could have planned more exactly instead of giving myself a set amount of months and lining everything up. It all worked out alright once I changed my hopeful publication from Christmas to February. Still, I was little nervous about how the timing would all work out a couple times in January! The hardest part was having to let everyone else meet my deadlines while I sat around and waited for the artists to finish their final files.

I would like to shift focus a little bit; on your blog you describe yourself as a  ‘Christian Author’, what does that mean for you?

For me it doesn’t just mean that my writings fit into the Christian genre (although they do). It means that the two are inseparable. My faith is an inherent part of who I am and therefore it’s an inherent part of my writing. But beyond the fragments of my worldview that are bound to filter into my writing, I also strive to intentionally have my novels as a whole reflect Christ and focus on some key virtue or quality. In Martin Hospitality this was primarily redemption.

Martin Hospitality is available on Amazon here. You can find more of Abi's thoughts as well as updates on her work on her blog The Left-Handed Typist.

Favorite Reads for February 11th

Articles

The Saving Power of Story on Memoria Press
One of the things I think is important in life is purpose. We need to understand not just our purpose in life, but the purpose behind what we do everyday, behind even our hobbies and the things we do for fun. This is a good reminder from Memoria Press of what one of the purposes behind stories is.

Derrida vs. the rationalists on The New Humanist
  In my opinion, Derrida and Deconstructionism is to blame not only for the decline in reading which is so often bemoaned but also for a plethora of other ills that plague our attempts to discover, transmit, and build on truth and wisdom. This article does a good job of laying out how Deconstructionism began and how it functions. The author believes that deconstruction has a lot to teach us about the human condition, and lays out some of those points in a clear manner. I disagree with almost all of his conclusions, but the article is well written and lays out the argument very well. I think it is important to read things we disagree with, not only to understand opposing view points, but to understand the things that matter to them, the questions they are asking, and the assumptions they are making. Too often our apologetics answer questions nobody is asking, and assumes things people began questioning decades ago.
I write a little bit on deconstructionism at some point if there is any interest. I think it is incredibly important, especially for writers, to understand and argue against it because of the pivotal role it has played in how reading is approached and taught in the last century.

Posts

What Is Deep POV And Why Is It Important by Tessa Emily Hall
Deep POV is one of the defining aspects of great story tell and something I'm struggling to master myself. This post is a good introduction to it and an explanation of how it works. I think Rosemary Sutcliff is one of the best at utilizing this technique, pulling you into her stories and creating a rich sense of atmosphere.

Also...
My friend Abygaile Claire just published her first book! Martin Hospitality is now available on Amazon. Check out Abi's blog The Left-Handed Typist for more information on her book, and a peek at what she has coming up next. Also, look for an interview I did with Abi to be post here in the next week.

Understanding Tolkien: Conclusion

I hesitate to use the words 'Understanding Tolkien' and 'Conclusion' together in the same sentence, but the purpose of this short series wasn't to make any of us masters in Tolkien studies. Rather, my intention was to give a taste of how he communicated on important subjects using his skills as a writer. Hopefully this encourages you to study Tolkien in greater depth, with an eye to the richness that lays behind the printed words on the page.

At the end of the day,  there are two vital lessons to learn from Tolkien as a writer. We must interact with the world around us, and we must read.While interacting with the world is a post for another time, here are some of the best books I've read on Tolkien which I think would benefit every writer whether they write fiction, fantasy, history, or essays.


By Tom Shippey
J.R.R Tolkien : Author of the Century,  and The Road to Middle Earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology
Tom Shippey was one of Tolkien's successors at Leeds University, and at one point taught from the syllabus that Tolkien had constructed. What makes Shippey such an engaging read is his vast understanding of Tolkien's academic background as well as his wealth of historical knowledge. It is my humble opinion that no library is complete without a copy of these books, and any writer who has not read them is sadly missing out. Author of the Century  focuses  on Tolkien's impact in relation to the times in which he lived, and how it interacted with his professional studies, while The Road to Middle Earth is a closer look at how philology shaped Tolkien's world and how language inspired many of his best creations.
Shippey is one of the most knowledgeable writers I have read, for he possesses not only a deep understanding of philology and history, but also literary criticism both historic and modern  coupled with a keen mastery of the writer's craft. I am currently reading through several more of his works at the moment and enjoying every one of them.

The Philosophy of Tolkien by Peter Kreeft
Peter Kreeft is one of those author who I will read no matter his subject, anything he writes is worth the time it takes to read, and this one is no exception. Kreeft is perhaps the one author on this list who's knowledge surpasses Shippey's, and even then only in Christianity and Catholicism, though one might say he remains near-peer in every other area. Kreeft is an exceedingly knowledgeable and readable (why can't those two traits coincide more often) author with a deep and vast mind. I highly recommend that you look more into his writings.

J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter
The definitive biography on Professor Tolkien, this short work is valuable because it focuses as much on Tolkien's mental life as it does on his physical one.Tolkien's early life contained much of the
"action", but it was the second half of his life that saw the many threads of his earlier years woven together.
 
The Battle for Middle-earth; Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings by Fleming Rutledge
The thing  that I really enjoy about this book is the way it examines LOTR chronologically, exploring themes as they develop with the plot. Rutledge begins with the first chapter and works his way through the story, examining how Tolkien builds his message. I believe this is an important read, along with Philosophy of Tolkien, because as Christian authors, we need to understand what we are saying and communicating in what we write.


 The Master of Middle Earth; The fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien by Paul Kocher
I almost didn't include this book, I've only read it once, and never owned it. However, Kocher's chapter on Aragorn fundamentally changed how I looked at LOTR and how I look at heroes. I've seen this one at a few libraries, and it is well worth your time. I didn't write an article on Aragorn for this series but he remains in my mind one of the most important characters in the story for understanding Tolkien's thoughts on leadership and service. The contrasts between Denethor and Theoden, Aragorn and Boromir, Aragorn and Eomer, Gandalf and Sauroman may be something I explore in the future.

I hope this series has given a few of you a slightly better picture of Tolkien's background, and how it allowed him to become such a great writer. I was asked recently why I chose Tolkien to focus on, there are so many other great authors. I believe Tolkien understood history the way few others did, I believe he understood the modern condition better than many of his peers, and I believe that his Christianity allowed him to understand and balance both of those in a way that his peers could not. He studied and lived deeply and richly and that is what contributed to his excellence as a writer. If we too wish to be excellent writers, we must do the same.