Welcome to my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, scriptwriters, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with authors Charles and Wendy Siefken.
Armen: Hello, Charles and Wendy. Please tell us something about yourself, and how you came to be authors.
Charles and Wendy: It started out as a school project that kind of blossomed and then became a challenge from the principal to write, publish and market a book. Since Charlie was always writing stories anyway we decided to take him up on that challenge. Since he was struggling in some of his classes we had to put in some of the criteria to get a grade for it – kind of like extra credit.
Armen: Ahh, extra credit, I haven’t heard that one before. Why did you begin writing and what inspired you to write your first book?
Charles and Wendy: For Charlie it was the book Eragon. That is what started his love of reading stories and writing them. It was a bonus to find out that the author Christopher Paolini was also a kid in school when he wrote it. For me, I have always loved telling stories and I wanted to help Charlie navigate through some of the troubles of publishing. We didn’t have a budget to speak of and he wasn’t even 18 yet so all communications went through me and we discussed everything.
Armen: Regular readers of this blog know that The Hobbit was the trigger book for me. It’s great to see that younger writers are already influencing and creating new authors. When did you first consider yourselves authors?
Charles and Wendy: The first time we held a paperback book in our hands.
Armen: You write (YA or tween) books, was there a reason to choose this genre and age group?
Charles and Wendy: For us, it just seemed to fit and come naturally. The principal was teaching outside of the box when it came to Charlie and the challenge to become a published author, we didn’t want to ruin it for anyone who came after so we kept it PG. Once we started it we just kept doing it.
Armen: You hear so much about our troubled education system. It’s good to see evidence to the contrary. Even if they won’t own up to it, I personally owe quite a lot to my teachers. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?
Charlie and Wendy: We have published a book, Kai’s Journey, and two short stories, Curse of the Red Eyed Witch and Hiding in Plain Sight. Kai’s Journey is a series of books with book two coming out shortly. The other two are shorts that we had entered into a contest.
Armen: Which authors did you read when you were younger and how did they impact you as a writer?
Charlie and Wendy: Charlie read all of Christopher Paolini’s books as well as Rick Riordan and all of J.K. Rowling’s books. I have always read pretty much whatever landed in my hands. Anything from Nancy Drew mysteries to Louis Lamoure books.
Armen: I’m a big fan of Riordan and Rowling as well. I never read Nancy Drew, but I did read the Hardy Boys with my oldest son. Do you get a second opinion on your stories before they’re published – if so from adults, children or both?
Charles and Wendy: We do, we have beta readers and family members who all read them first before we publish. A certain young man, who is 13 I believe, loves our books as well. His mom loses her computer when we send an e-copy of our latest story!
Armen: Too funny, my wife got her own laptop for similar reasons. Do you have any tips for anyone thinking about writing in the YA/tween market?
Charles and Wendy: Yes, do your research if you are doing a subject. If you are doing one on werewolves, research lycanthropes, if you are doing it on a plant, make sure it’s in the area you are writing about. If you are talking about a certain kind of cave make sure that type of cave can be found in the region you are writing about. Yes we do. There has to be a grain of truth in your story so even if it’s totally fiction, it’s plausible. If it’s another world, all bets are off and anything is possible!
Armen: I couldn’t agree with you more about research. I’ll often spend a day to verify a fact I’ll use in one conversation. People are surprised how much research is needed for created worlds, too. Are your books available as eBooks, paper, or both?
Charles and Wendy: Right now, they are only available in e-books. We hope to have Kai’s Journey in paperback, soon.
Armen: Maybe you can get it out there in time for Christmas? How involved were you in publishing process?
Charles and Wendy: We are very involved; from the beginning of writing, editing and polishing to marketing and promotions.
Armen: Do you have a preference between eBooks and paper? Did you choose the titles / covers of your books? How important do you think they are?
Charles and Wendy: We prefer paperbacks. We did choose the titles and were fortunate enough to find a wonderful artist who drew the two characters on the front and our publisher has a wonderful book designer who did the background and married the two together for a wonderful book cover.
Armen: Many writers have trouble choosing a favorite character, kind of like choosing among their children. Do you have a favorite and if so, why did you choose that character?
Charles and Wendy: Yes our favorite character hands down has to be Boris. He is a fatherly character in the story Kai’s Journey to Clover. He is gruff, loud and loves people fiercely and loves to cook. He is a guy you could walk up to and hug. His laugh is very infectious. At least we think so.
Armen: What are you working on at the moment?
Charles and Wendy: We have several irons in the fire. One of them is called Fallen Angel, which is about a pirate ship that finds a derelict ship that has an AI on board. We have also finished writing Kai’s Journey, Book 2 that is being edited. We are also working on the third book in the series to finish out Kai’s Journey.
Armen: Combining pirates and a ship with an AI, that sounds interesting and complex. Do you guys plot your stories out or do you just get an idea and run with it?
Charles and Wendy: We get an idea and pretty much run with it. We do plot some of it along the way but the stories in general seem to have a life of their own and take off from there.
Armen: Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?
Charles and Wendy: We have had plenty of rejections. We started out trying to find an agent and just didn’t have any luck with it at all. We let it roll off our backs. We knew that someone out there somewhere would see the diamond in the rough that we were. And someone did!
Armen: Yeah, I always say it’s a lot like dating – it only takes the right yes to make all of the rejections worthwhile. Do you do much marketing for your work? Do you think of yourself as a brand?
Charles and Wendy: Yes we do most of the marketing. We are a brand and it took a bit to figure out the whole brand business but I finally got the hang of it. Our brand is that we are a mother and son writing team.
Armen: That’s certainly a unique angle that should appeal to many in your YA/tween audience. What’s your favorite / least favorite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?
Charles and Wendy: Our favorite part of the writing life is that we get to lose ourselves in another life and create new worlds. Our least favorite part is that we don’t get the chance to do it full time, yet.
Armen: I know what you mean about losing yourself in your work. Many athletes talk about being in the zone, when everything just feels so good. Sometimes when I’m writing I think I know what they mean. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Charles and Wendy: Sometimes it’s just the moving forward of the plot line. As some would call it, writers block. Sometimes it can be a real pain.
Armen: It happens to all of us. I usually find taking a break or even a short nap (one of my most awesome powers is taking a 10 minute nap). Writers are often described as a different breed of cat. Do you have any interesting writing quirks?
Charles and Wendy: Yes, we talk about our characters anywhere. Sometimes we have gotten some strange looks especially when you are trying to figure out how to kill a character off. That can get a bit touchy in some places!
Armen: I can imagine! Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Charles and Wendy: Oh my goodness we learned so much! We literally knew nothing about the publishing industry and had to learn from the ground up. We didn’t write a bunch of stories because I knew we needed professional editing help and couldn’t afford it on our own. Not a good editor anyway. So we have many stories started but not finished. Now that we are learning we are going through a bunch of them and taking what we have learned about writing, sentence structure. We’re breathing life into the characters and cleaning up the stories.
Armen: Do you have a favorite quote or catchphrase from one of your characters or from someone else?
Charles and Wendy: Our catchphrase is “Never give up.” I don’t know who started it but it’s a really good motto to go by.
Armen: Very nice! What do you do when you’re not writing? Any hobbies or eccentric habits?
Charles and Wendy: Charlie likes to work on cars and play video games as well. He reads books and spends time with his high school sweetheart. I like to cook and garden when I can I enjoy spending time with friends and family. We both are people watchers and get many ideas for characters from just watching people.
Armen: Are there any writing-related websites and / or books that you find useful?
Charles and Wendy: Yes, many sites. Our biggest place we go to often is believe it or not, Facebook. There are many groups on there that are helpful and very willing to share their knowledge. MasterKoda is one such place.
Armen: Yes, I use FB, probably a bit too much, and I’m a big fan of MasterKoda. Where can we find out about you and your writing?
Charles and Wendy: You can find out more about us on our site www.SiefkenPublications.info
Armen: Charles and Wendy, I’d like to include a brief synopsis of your book and maybe an extract if you wouldn’t mind.
Charles and Wendy: We’d love to!
Synopsis for Kai’s Journey
After his father accidentally releases a killer virus into the world, Kai is left alone to battle the creatures the virus created. While fighting for his existence in the barren post-apocalyptic world, Kai runs into an unlikely ally in a young woman named Clover.
Fueled by a flicker of hope, the two teenagers join forces with a rag-tag band of survivors in a heroic journey. Can the human race endure?
I then invited Charles and Wendy to provide an extract of his writing…
Extract from Kai’s Journey:
The acrid, metallic smell of death reached him on the next breeze. Pulling a rag over his nose and mouth, Kai walked up to the nearest one, using his boot to turn it over. He then knelt down. It had once been human, but died as a zombie. There were bullet holes in the main part of the body as well as the arms and legs. He’d seen these kinds of wounds on the creatures before. Some, who called themselves the military, used them as target practice as if they were no more than animals. At one time though, every one of these beings had been a human; someone’s mother, father, brother, sister or friend. Now they were dead. Some call them zombies. Kai call them a burden that he alone felt responsible for.
He didn’t need to see any more and headed back to the road in disgust. A cluster of buildings lie ahead. Only a few shadows moved among the buildings. Time and experience told Kai that they were the living dead. This town was just like every other place he came across since the accident seven years ago. He hoped to find shelter for the night, maybe even a few supplies. From the town up ahead there was a sound he hadn’t heard in a long time. A single howl that reached down into his soul and stirred something he’d thought long since disappeared. Momentarily forgetting his exhaustion, he ran toward the town and the sound. Again the howl filled the air as he ran past dilapidated buildings with broken windows and sagging porches and front steps. A few of the creatures he’d seen earlier going from building to building were nowhere in sight. Kai heard the howl again, coming from around the corner of an old store front building. Noiselessly he crept along the wall to the corner and peered down the alley to see a crowd of zombies surrounding a beautiful white wolf trapped at the dead end, its hackles raised. A growl rumbled from its throat as it bared its teeth. Kai’s stomach tightened in fear as he watched as the living dead move in for the kill. It had been so long since he had seen any dogs or pets from the old world that he knew he had to do something.
“Hey!” Kai yelled.
They turned as one towards him when Kai charged around the corner, his sword raised. Deftly he severed the head of the nearest of the walking dead ones. Quickly he moved from one to the next, thrusting his sword or slashing to keep them at arm’s length. Soon he stood next to the wolf. The wolf’s eyes never left the dead as she bared her teeth.
“I won’t hurt you. I just want to help,” Kai said.
With their backs to the wall, Kai and the wolf kept the dead at bay as they fought. Soon bodies lay scattered and unmoving in the alley.
Armen: Charles and Wendy Thank you so much for sharing your time. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Charles and Wendy: Yes you can find our books on Amazon.com.
Amazon Links
What an interesting interview. Three cheers for the teacher who made the challenge and another three cheers for the mom who had the wisdom and (well) patience to accept it and help her son accomplish it. Too often, as parents, we blow off opportunities that could make a big difference in our children’s’ lives.
Nice page guys! Kai’s Journey is a really special book 🙂