Can you share your writing process with us, in a nutshell?
Diane & Mark: For the pure logistics, we are outliners. We use a large board, into which we stick pushpins to hold up postcard-sized cards with scenes, sections, or individual pieces of the story (or sections if non-fiction). Then we can physically see the jigsaw puzzle and move things around until they feel right.
Character is vital: We spend a long time on character development, and each day before either of us writes, at least at the beginning, we tend to read through all the notes and reacquaint ourselves with the character.
Diane: Yes, if I am beginning to live and breathe the character – if I am in the protagonist’s head, and she is in mine – she will write her own actions and words.
But, I want to bring up something else, something required for the writing process for me. It’s hard to define, but essential. My writing seems to stem from what my husband calls my “extreme heart.” My writing process only works well if heart is involved….
Many of the books, written for kids, feature main characters whose behavior is… well, appalling. Diane and I set out to create characters with heart and honor. We put the twins, Nadia and Aidan, in situations where they have to decide for themselves to do the right thing. They take risks for their family and they succeed in spite of their fears and flaws. Our kids don’t have to be snarky to be cool. As your kids read they accompany Aidan and Nadia on their adventure and are intrigued by the mystery they try to unravel. Plus, they learn, along with the twins, about; history, Native Americans, Celts, folk-lore, extinct plants and other environmental science, and more than just a little about morality.
The action is fast-paced. Our younger beta readers couldn’t put the book down. One Skyped us from Oregon to tell us how much he loved it. He even honored us with the comment, “This book is better than Harry Potter!”
We understand why you, as a parent, choose to teach your children at home. You may feel a level of concern about the academic quality of local public schools, quite justifiably! And you may feel that teaching them at home provide a higher level of moral instruction. Teaching them academic facts alone does not make them good people and we all want our kids to grow into people we can be proud of. Those kinds of lessons are difficult to get across to kids without seeming preachy. Here is where a book like The Ravenstone can entertain and teach at the same time.
A fun, suspenseful, entertaining book helps to teach those lessons! And a classic quality book becomes part of your child’s heart and mind, something she will remember her entire life.
EXCERPT: “It’s a magical, hopeful story full of loyalty, courage and heart.” “I appreciate this honor, this depth of character, in an age where so much of our media, books, TV, and movies are full of violence, darkness and a kind of “attitude” or “snarkiness.” I am tired of that! This is a family-oriented book, wholesome even, and very heartwarming.”
What a fun, suspenseful adventure! I got it for my niece, but read it myself first. I got hooked in and couldn’t put it down… It’s a magical, hopeful story full of loyalty, courage and heart.
The characters are well-drawn; the protagonists, Aidan and Nadia, are 13-year-old twins who are sent on a mission to help save their dad’s life work. But, they are also driven by the desire to achieve something great for mankind. They must take great risk, overcome fear, and survive great danger from a magic stronger than theirs.
I appreciate this honor, this depth of character, in an age where so much of our media, books, TV, and movies are full of violence, darkness and a kind of “attitude” or “snarkiness.” I am tired of that! This is a family-oriented book, wholesome even, and very heartwarming.
What inspires you to write?
The joy of creativity, of being creative, drives me. It always has! As a singer/songwriter, I learned to trust the creative process and dive deeply into it. You have to dare to be criticized, dare to be silly, to be crazy, to be wild. There are moments during writing where you forget yourself entirely. You lose track of time. The writing seems to have taken over. Sometimes you look down and are surprised by what you read, as if you didn’t, in fact, write it! I can only describe this experience as somehow verging on transcendent, in that it feels beyond the limits of experience, or independent of this world. It is exciting, inspiring, and rewarding.
As for ideas for books, they stem from my life (and I have had a very strange but interesting life), and from my imagination. And from the “What if?” game!
The book cover for our new middle-grade novel, The Ravenstone: The Secret of Ninham Mountain, is ready!
Many thanks to Matthew Kane for the wonderful image of mountain and river and to Sergey Ryzhkov for the incredible image of the raven in the air.
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BACK COVER TEXT:
The Ravenstone: The Secret of Ninham Mountain
“You were born to this path! This quest is your fate.”
Imagine a raven appearing out of thin air and guiding you to an exquisitely carved icon that glows with ancient light and pulses with shamanic power.
This is how the adventure begins for Nadia and Aidan Shaw, thirteen-year-old twins, who live in idyllic Cold Spring, New York, on the banks of the Hudson River. Armed with the power of the Ravenstone and their own special gifts, they embark on a harrowing quest across centuries, at the bidding of a mysterious old shaman. They must depend on their courage, their faith in their friends, and luck. Or is it destiny?
If they succeed, what they bring back could change the course of human existence.
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“Solomon and Carey’s imaginative storytelling sweeps you into a fascinating tale of mystery and adventure. Young twins stumble upon an ancient power that could help their family in the future, or trap them in the past forever.” ~ Linda Zimmermann, successful author of 30 books about the paranormal and mysterious stone sites.
Mark and I have just finished our first novel together: The Ravenstone, The Secret of Ninham Mountain. It has gone off to our first readers, and then it will get a final edit and proofing. And a lovely design for the book cover! We are excited. It has been more fun than I can describe, to write with my brilliant, articulate, eloquent, creative husband Mark. (Mark M. Carey) Not to give the plot away, but it is a middle grade-young adult fantasy novel… full of adventure, and some honor and glory! Aiming for publishing date of Sept 30.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Imagine an intricately carved black stone icon with matching raven heads on either end. Twins can use the stone, the Ravenstone, to travel through time.
Nadia and Aidan are 13-year-old twins who live in beautiful Cold Spring, New York. When they find the Ravenstone, they are given the chance, a dangerous chance, to use it to save their father. And to bring powerful healing to humankind.
How do they engineer this adventure. Can they survive the perils they will face?
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Many thanks to Linda Zimmermann, author of Mysterious Stone Sitesfor these kind words, about the book.
“Solomon and Carey’s imaginative storytelling sweeps you into a fascinating tale of mystery and adventure. Young twins Nadia and Aidan stumble upon an ancient power that could help their family in the future, or trap them in the past forever.” ~ Linda Zimmerman, successful author of numerous books on stone sites and paranomal events in the Hudson Valley and northern New Jersey
The Ravenstone: The Secret of Ninham Mountain