Please give a warm welcome to author, Darrel Nelson.
He's visiting the blog today to tell us about his new book, The Return of Cassandra Todd.
First let's learn a little about Darrel.
Darrel is a retired school teacher, who resides in Alberta, Canada. He is married to his beautiful wife Marsha, and they have four children together and ten grandchildren.
Now let's take a look at the cover of the The Return of Cassandra Todd.
Darrel, please tell us about your book.
What is it like to write romance from a male perspective?
When did you know you would be a writer?
Who or what inspires your writing?
Have you written anything else?
How long did it take to write your first novel?
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Do you have any writing rituals?
Any advice to aspiring writers?
What are your favorite books, or which book has impacted you the most?
What are you currently reading?
How do readers find out more about you?
He's visiting the blog today to tell us about his new book, The Return of Cassandra Todd.
First let's learn a little about Darrel.
Darrel is a retired school teacher, who resides in Alberta, Canada. He is married to his beautiful wife Marsha, and they have four children together and ten grandchildren.
Now let's take a look at the cover of the The Return of Cassandra Todd.
Darrel, please tell us about your book.
The
Return of Cassandra Todd is the story
of a young man named Turner Caldwell, who could never have imagined
that the outdoor training and survival skills he learned at Camp
Kopawanee, a summer youth camp where he worked three years as a
leader, would one day become so crucial. When Cassandra Todd, the
girl associated with making his life miserable in high school,
re-enters his life, little son in tow, and asks for help in eluding
her abusive husband, Turner finds himself entangled in a life and
death struggle that will require every skill he has in order to
survive. The novel
is a contemporary action/adventure love story that I hope will keep
readers turning the page in a headlong rush to see how things turn
out.
What is it like to write romance from a male perspective?
I think the key word here is “perspective.”
This may come as a shock but men and women are different! They think
and communicate differently. They express their emotions differently.
I’m not going to make any sweeping generalizations—like men are
more about physicality and women are more emotional—but I
think male writers bring a different perspective to the table. They
have a different way of looking at relationships and a different way
of presenting them. No one can think more like a man than a man.
Similarly, no one can think more like a woman than a woman. (Although
my wife claims that she knows me better than I know myself.) So it’s
that difference that allows me to bring a different perspective to
the table. A woman who recently read my first novel, The Anniversary
Waltz, commented, “I could tell it was written by a man. Not that
it’s a bad thing. But I could just tell.” So even though the
difference in perspective is discernible to women readers, thankfully
it’s not a bad thing.
When did you know you would be a writer?
I
started writing stories before I was old enough to realize I was
writing stories. It seemed a natural thing to pick up a pencil and
paper and create a world simply by using words—worlds of adventure
in steaming jungles (Tarzan was an early influence on me) or realms
of adventure in outer space (Buck Rogers). As I grew older and
finished university, I set my sights on becoming a novelist. I wrote
a variety of genres, ranging from historical romance to mystery, but
was unable to find a publisher. After I started teaching school, I
decided to try writing juvenile fiction. I wrote five novels intended
for junior readers, but could never find a publisher either. One day
I found a story idea that intrigued me. It was a detail from my own
family history. Ten years and several major rewrites later, The
Anniversary Waltz was accepted for publication. So I knew fifty years
ago I wanted to be a writer. I just didn’t think it would take so
long to become a published
one.
Who or what inspires your writing?
As I have grown older, I have discovered that
the real inspiration for me is exploring the theme of love and how it
can make such a difference in the world. I no longer write
Tarzan/Buck Rogers-styled stories. I prefer to write stories about
people, incomplete at the beginning of the story, who find
completeness or wholeness in one another as the story progresses.
Have you written anything else?
The Anniversary Waltz, my first published
novel, appeared in 2012. Before that, I wrote at least ten complete
novels and three or four incomplete ones over the years. They are
stored in a box marked Manuscripts,
and there they sit. I’ve had people say that I should take them
out, dust them off, and submit them for publication now that I’ve
had two novels published. But I don’t think I will. They aren’t
that great and were part of my growth as a writer. Writing exercises,
if you will. They have a place in my life, just not a place on a
bookstore shelf beside The Anniversary Waltz and The Return of
Cassandra Todd.
How long did it take to write your first novel?
You may not believe it but it took me ten
years to write The Anniversary Waltz. That may seem inordinately
long, and it probably is by most standards, but while I was writing
it, I built three houses and set the manuscript aside for long
periods of time. Whenever I revisited the story, I added details and
allowed the plot to grow. It went through many changes before it
reached its final form ten years later.
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
I write directly to my computer, so staring
at a blank screen can be intimidating. Always, the question of the
day is Now what am I going to put
there? Some days the screen fills
up rapidly as ideas occur faster than my fingers can type. Other days
the screen remains blank for a long stretch, and when I do begin to
fill it up, I find myself using the delete key a lot. It’s not that
I don’t love writing. But it involves a great deal of rewriting,
revising, and editing. And that’s on a good day!
Do you have any writing rituals?
I get up each morning, usually early, and say
my morning prayers, exercise for thirty minutes, shower, get dressed,
eat breakfast, and then try to be in front of the computer by 9 a.m.
I usually check my emails and answer any outstanding ones, and I like
to check my book reviews just to see if any new ones have come in.
Then I go over the material I wrote the day before, polishing and
revising and tweaking until I’m satisfied. When that’s done . . .
I face the blank screen once again.
Any advice to aspiring writers?
Don’t
quit your day job. And here I’m speaking from experience. I taught
school for five years and then resigned so I could write a novel. I
sent out many letters to publishers but nothing came of it. I was
fortunate to find another teaching job, and I stayed in teaching for
the next thirty-two years. During that time I wrote ten more novels,
several of which were intended for the youth market. When The
Anniversary Waltz and The
Return of Cassandra Todd were
finally signed by a publisher—after thirty years of trying—I
retired so that I could write full time and enjoy the process a
little more. On that note, another piece of advice: Don’t give up.
It took me thirty years to find a publisher. How badly do YOU want to
find one?
What are your favorite books, or which book has impacted you the most?
I like a blend of fiction and nonfiction. I’m
a huge Beatle fan, and so I read any book on them that I can get my
hands on. I also like to read John Grisham’s legal thrillers, and
Nicholas Sparks and Charles Martin’s romance stories. From a
literary point of view, I’d say Nicholas Sparks and Charles Martin
have inspired me the most in the direction my own writing has taken.
What are you currently reading?
I am currently reading When Crickets Cry, a
story of the heart. It’s the story of a man with a painful past who
meets a child with a doubtful future. They share a journey toward
healing for both their hearts.
How do readers find out more about you?
I would invite readers to check out my
website. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter. I post monthly
articles on my blog and on Just the Write Charisma’s blog spot.
DISCLAIMER: I was not compensated.
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