Interview on Eleanor Parker Sapia's Blog: The Writing Life

Today I have the privilege of being the guest author on Eleanor Parker Sapia's blog: The Writing Life. Becoming a writer doesn't happen overnight. For me it has been a life-long process. Eleanor's insightful questions helped me to come out of my shell and talk about a variety of topics and how writing has opened a whole new world for me.

Enjoy!
The Writing Life Blog by Eleanor Parker Sapia

Writing Sequels - The Promise of More to Come

After completing my first novel, Between Heartbeats, I decided to write a three-part series. Publishers love it and if the reader enjoys the first book, it is likely he/she will stay with the author. It's a win-win!

The cover reveal for Heartbeat Interrupted will be coming soon. It is the sequel to Between Heartbeats and Book Two of the Heartbeat Series. It is in the hands of my editor and if the schedule goes as planned Heartbeat Interrupted will be available on Amazon and in local bookstores through Seiders House Publishing shortly after the first of the year.

I am about halfway through the first draft of Book Three in the Heartbeat Series. It is a departure from the first two in that my heroine, Diana, who is twenty years older, finds herself enmeshed in a baffling mystery surrounding an estate built during the Civil War era. There are many supernatural qualities to it, so it is a Gothic/Urban Fantasy.

I love writing, because I'll never be too old to write; I won't have to retire or wonder what to do in my spare time. 

Donelle Knudsen's Amazon page

A Writer's Journey

I'm giving a big thank you and a shout-out to Susan Faw for granting me an interview. Today's author spotlight is shining on Donelle Knudsen! http://susanfaw.com/2016/06/author-spotlight-donelle-knudsen/

Author Spotlight - Donelle Knudsen - SUSAN FAW susanfaw.com Today’s author spotlight has found Donelle Knudsen, the native Oregonian wandering the dusty trails ...

Booktrope novel - Between Heartbeats

My #booktrope #novel Between Heartbeats #Kindle will be available August 28 on #Amazon and #paperback in September.

Take a look ... stay tuned for more.

Here's a "teaser" from my novel, Between Heartbeats, which will be released in August 2015 through Booktrope Publishing.

Coming Soon - My First Novel - Between Heartbeats

Synopsis of my novel to be released summer of 2015. Stay tuned for more!

Can life change between heartbeats? Diana awakens on her seventeenth birthday in a joyful mood. But at breakfast she is told, during a heated argument with her mother, that the man she has loved as her father is not her father at all. Diana decides to unravel the mystery of her childhood and the reason for their secrets and travels across the country to visit her step-father. And so, Diana begins a journey where she discovers shocking truths hidden just beneath the surface. To further complicate her summer, she meets Kevin Wright, a college junior. When Kevin vanishes without a trace, Diana learns family is more than shared DNA and discovers who will help her when it appears all hope is gone. In Donelle Knudsen's Young Adult novel, Between Heartbeats, a young woman's quest to find her roots enables her to discover love and the power of forgiveness.

My "Between Heartbeats" Release Party is a virtual online event to be held on the event page link below. It begins August 1 at 6:00 am PDT, 9:00 am EDT, but if that's too early, you can log in a little later. Pour a cup of coffee and sit comfortably on your couch with your iPad, phone, laptop, or at your computer. 

Join in on the fun. "Meet" me, learn more about my book, interact with other readers and writers, and enter to win prizes: free paperback copy, e-book, gift card. 
https://www.facebook.com/events/1603288019955297/

Signed, Sealed, and To Be Delivered

The wait is over! After a year and a half of diligently writing, editing, and sharing my manuscript with my critique group, BETWEEN HEARTBEATS has been accepted by Booktrope publishers. 

My first book, a memoir, Through the Tunnel of Love, A Mother's and Daughter's Journey with Anorexia, was released April 2011. I must say, the feeling is as good, if not better the second time around.

I "found" Booktrope through Write on the River's writers' conference hosted in Wenatchee, WA just one year ago. I can't say the year has flown by, but I'm positive the next few weeks will as I have so many things to accomplish to get my project out the door.

You may keep up with the latest on my Twitter account: @donelleknudsen or my Author Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/DonelleMKnudsen

Have a wonderful week and don't set boundaries for yourselves.

"Between Heartbeats"

Two years ago I pitched my idea for a Young Adult novel, Between Heartbeats, while attending Write On The River writers' conference in Wenatchee, WA. The agent's response was encouraging and helpful, and so the journey began. Fast-forward to one year ago at the same conference when I seriously pitched my novel to a representative from a publishing house. Again, not only was the individual encouraging, but she asked me to submit the entire manuscript upon completion.

Here I am today, April 8, 2015 with a completed novel under my belt. The process has not been easy, but with diligence and with the help of my critique group, family, and my beta-reader, I sent it off to the publisher a couple of hours ago. Now the wait. Will they like it? Will they want to publish it? Time will tell.

How do I feel? It feels similar to when I sent my kids off to school on their very first day. I felt a sense of accomplishment and pride and hoped they were as ready for the next step in their journey as I was. 

Whatever happens next, I can say, I DID IT. The goal was set and the book is finished. What next? I'm already working on the sequel.

Happy Spring! I love this time of new beginnings: the awakening of the earth after a long winter, soft and vibrant colors and fragrances that tickle our senses, and the promise of warmer temperatures.

I have made good progress on my novel and will post updates and excerpts along the way. I've joined Twitter: @donelleknudsen and my website is under construction, stay tuned. My Facebook Author page is up and running: www.facebook.com/DonelleMKnudsen.

Please visit my new pages and posts. Leave a message or tweet so we can connect!

Change - It's good even when it hurts.

Gosh, it's been thirteen months since I've updated my blog. Briefly, it's been one heck of a year. But I'm back on track and anticipate the coming year with the growth, challenges, and surprises it will bring. Our family dynamics have changed with the maturing of our three grandsons, and I am grateful for the love and joy they bring to our lives.

My writing has changed direction a bit, as I am focused on my first novel, as well as a fictional short story for an anthology which will be published sometime next year. But my first love is writing Memoir. Joining a critique group a few months ago has been challenging. It helps me see what I need to work on, throw out, and improve, but the reinforcement, encouragement, and camaraderie is invaluable. If you are a writer, I encourage you to join a writers' support group or critique group that fits your needs. We need to leave our solitary offices and meet regularly with other writers.

Have a wonderful fall and coming winter season  Talk to you soon. I promise. . .

Ship in a Bottle

The first time I saw a sailing ship sitting in a small glass bottle, I was a child. I couldn't believe my eyes and asked my father to explain it. To the best of his ability, he explained how this feat was done, and I was awed by it. I still am.

Writing is something like building a ship in a bottle; the writer constructs an idea which is transformed into words, sentences, and paragraphs to form a story, poem, or a book. Certain confines and accepted parameters should be followed in order to create a cohesive, readable piece that not only entertains, but instructs the reader as well.

Thinking about a delicate, intricately constructed ship sitting within a solid glass container reminds me of my book, which was carefully crafted, strung together with my heart and soul, and endless hours of creating and editing. When it was finally inserted between the covers of a book, my "ship" was complete and ready to launch.

My first book was purely a practice piece and I kept it in the family. Then, I switched to poems and short stories and found I loved the challenge of getting to the point in as few words as possible. My second book, Through the Tunnel of Love, A Mother's and Daughter's Journey with Anorexia published in April of 2011, was born from a labor of love. And now I can say I am a novelist. My Booktrope novel, Between Heartbeats, was published August 28, 2015. It is the story of a young girl's coming of age.

Think about creating your own ship in a bottle, in whatever form you choose. I assure you that it will be one of the most worthwhile and rewarding things you can do in life.

Inspiration Comes From Unexpected Places

To my thinking, writers connecting with writers, either online or face-to-face, is imperative. Writers take on a lonely business, armed only with a pen and blank sheet of paper, or computer screen, and our imaginations. The wonderful thing is that these elements, combined with research and the desire to create, can take us as far as our minds and stamina are able.

So far this year I have attended one writers conference where I gained information and inspiration and submitted five entries to writing contests; however, my critique group is on hiatus, so my impetus to create something new every week has stalled. Add vacations, family time, and a recent surgery, and the result: my weeks have been chopped up into fragments with precious little to show.

One thing I always make time for is reading, and writing ideas down as they come, often at the oddest times. The most recent quote I wrote down is by Frodo Baggins from one of Peter Jackson's films in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien:  "He didn't mean for a lot of things to happen, Sam, but it did." Context: Frodo is speaking to his comrade, Sam, after Gandalf's untimely death in the underground caves. Their future looks bleak, because the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring has seemingly perished, and their grief is so deep that they fear the worst: utter defeat.

Frodo's observation gave me the inspiration to bring out a writing project I had been working on for six months, but put aside because it had become too difficult, too painful to continue. It was inspired by a true life situation that has caused our family much pain and stress over the last year. But from experience, I have learned that those are the best kinds of projects to tackle, because challenges, the hard things in life, are what make us stronger, teach us valuable lessons, and result in inspired writing.

So, thank you, Frodo, for reminding me that life isn't always easy, and to remember that I should never give up and to not admit defeat, no matter how daunting the task that lies ahead.