Author Profile: Feroze Engineer

We had a chance to catch up with one of our new authors recently, here’s what he had to say about his life, his writing, and a bit about us!

Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in Mumbai, where I studied Mass Media and worked as an advertising copywriter, before moving to the UK at 20 to study. Today I live in North London with my wife and 3 year old son. Unfortunately for my writing, I have a day job at Adobe that I enjoy and enables me to be creative during the work week.

In my free time, I enjoy jazz, reading thrillers (obviously), and whisky – often at the same time! Other hobbies include cycling and hiking in the English countryside.

You may also often find me in one of London’s galleries or museums. I’m particularly fond of Japanese woodblock prints. Finally, I’m a keen student of the Middle East and enjoy travelling.

How long have you been writing and what does your process entail?

I have always been a writer in some form – enjoying penning down essays at school, then starting my marketing career as an advertising copywriter. This is my first novel,and I have been writing it – on and off – for a long time. 

One of my favourite authors, Ken Follett, says he gets the ideas for his historical fiction during the research phase – he simply reads about a subject he finds interesting which, invariably, is always a rich source of ideas. After all, everyone knows truth is often stranger than fiction.

Similarly, my writing process is all about the art of getting ‘productively distracted’ - there’s something to be said about going down online information rabbit holes, for no reason other than sheer curiosity, or for the joy of it. When I’m researching for my novel, reading one thing always leads to another and before I know it, I’ve spent all my free time reading, and haven’t written a word! But, in the process, I soak up information and ideas that emerge in unexpected ways.

I am neither an architect nor a gardener – I plan and innovate on the fly in equal measure. Often, I enjoy writing in the Windows Notepad app, so I’m not distracted by typos, grammar and punctuation, but can let my fingers fly over the keyboard and get into a “flow state”. Later, I paste into MS Word and edit carefully. Coffee and jazz contribute to my writing greatly.

What inspired you to write this book?

Having been an avid consumer of fiction, particularly thrillers, I had always toyed with the idea of writing a novel. Then about ten years ago, I came across a few interesting strands of history.

The first strand I came across was a news article about Uday Hussein. I was fascinated by the level of sheer depravity he exhibited in his daily life, enabled by the absolute power he enjoyed as Saddam’s eldest son and heir. Some aspects were almost comical, like banning the import of Ferraris into Iraq, so he could be the only one to own them, or having his chosen car for the day painted exactly the same shade of pink as his suit. Then there were the disturbing rumours of rape and torture – things he did on an almost daily basis with utter nonchalance. He was also, at times, in charge of an irregular military force.

The second strand of history I came across was about an anonymous blogger in the early days on the internet in Iraq. As a rare source of information from Baghdad, the blog quickly gained an international readership, but the author’s identity remained a secret. With good reason – discovery by the state would mean torture and execution.

Even though the character of the blogger in my book is completely made up, the seed of an idea about some who spoke out from the shadows at great personal risk was planted.

Finally, and most importantly, I came across the most fascinating object in the novel - the ultra-rare and valuable 1936 Mercedes Benz 540k Special Roadster, with baroque coachwork by Erdmann & Rossi - one of only two ever created and the very pinnacle of pre-war engineering. Part myth, part legend, the car is said to have been purchased by King Ghazi of Iraq, owned for a time by the King of Jordan, before finally landing in Saddam’s collection. Then, mysteriously, the car disappeared. What happened to it?

Slowly, all of the above fermented in my mind and formed a plot that I simply had to write down. Ten years later, the story is finally ready – and I’m delighted to say that it is available now in eBook and paperback on Amazon.

How was your experience with The Spun Yarn?

The Spun Yarn was an important part of my writing journey – a service that I recommend  to all authors that are serious about their craft, particularly debut authors. Unlike a regular paid beta reader, The Spun Yarn uses a number of readers to prepare their report on your draft – statistically this provides a more reliable and valid commentary on your novel, according to your genre and target market. This also takes care of the baggage or biases that may come from a single paid beta reader. However, they go a step further and present the qualitative and quantitative data in a format that’s easy to digest, with key feedback themes summarised by the report editor.

Additionally, and totally unexpectedly, the readers also provided me with a couple of great ideas for scenes that I hadn’t even thought of!

Last but not the least, it was so good to read the quotes from all three readers stating that they really enjoyed the novel and why they enjoyed it. Even though it was clear the novel needed lots of work, I knew I had achieved what I set out to do – which is create a tightly plotted, unusual page-turner with a soul. This provided me with the encouragement to carry on and finish the job!

Reader Spotlight: Mia the Happy Homesteader

In the Reader Spotlight series we ask our smart, diverse, and multi-talented readers what makes them tick and what they're seeing in Spun Yarn manuscripts. Our readers span the gamut of literary taste, so expect to see a little bit of everything! 

Hi Mia, thanks for chatting with us today! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a middle aged mom of many, who lives on a small homestead in the Midwest. I raise poultry and waterfowl and am a prolific gardener, all of which helps me stock a “pay what you can” farm stand in the warmer months. I’ve been a voracious reader for nearly my entire life - I started reading before I was three and have never slowed down. Because I’m autistic and hyperlexic, books have not only been a form of escape when I’m overwhelmed, but also a way to connect with the world in a way that makes sense to me. I form a deep bond with characters in books, and think of them fondly when I’ve finished reading.

Storytelling is an ancient skill, and there’s a lot of oral tradition valued by my Mexican and Mexican-American family, and I think that reading is a natural extension of that important part of my identity. I had a background in ambulatory care and hospitality, before choosing to stay home full time when my youngest child was born, but the true love of my life has always been the printed word.

What are your favorite hobbies?

I have a lot of hobbies, and while reading is a significant one, I also love fiber arts. I knitgarments - sweaters, socks, hats, and once even a pair of merino wool shorts - and I love sewing. I started sewing when I was six and never stopped - it started with a dress for my favorite doll and evolved into clothing for myself and my children. I’ve been quilting for about a year now and find it highly meditative and relaxing. I also love to do anything outdoors when the weather is warm. I can happily spend an entire day puttering around in my 1080sq ft vegetable garden or picking berries in the fields behind my house. I love hiking, and the Great Lakes, and just being in nature.

You've been a reader with us for a while now, when giving feedback for the Spun Yarn, what part do you find most challenging?

I think the most challenging thing about being a reader is knowing that an author is trusting me with the creation they’ve put their sweat, tears, and whole heart into and trying to give the most useful feedback possible to help them see a perspective that could take their work to the next level. I want to be able to utilize their trust in me to the fullest extent by imagining what will elevate their work to a new stage. I really believe that authors are capable of impacting the way entire generations of people see the world, and I want to help them do so. It’s actually a huge responsibility, because I really believe in the power of books to make this world a much better place where everyone can see life from another point of view.

What is your favorite part about being a reader for The Spun Yarn?

I genuinely get excited by each and every manuscript that comes into my inbox, because there’s always the potential for sitting down for a few hours and escaping into a world that changes the way I see things for the rest of my life. I can say with absolute honesty that I’ve read a number of manuscripts submitted by our authors that have stuck with me for months or - at this point, for years. Every manuscript I open is the purest form of hope, because when someone gives me the gift of allowing me to enter a world of their creation, I have the chance to see through their eyes, and that’s often a really beautiful thing.

Is there a genre you haven't been chosen for yet and would like to be? Why or why not?

I would love to read some books about the supernatural, ghost stories or witchy stories, maybe even horror. I tend to read a lot of mystery and thriller, women’s fiction, and memoirs, which are my usual fare when I read for pleasure, but there’s also something really fun about being scared silly!

Reader Spotlight: Frank the Author, Golf Player and Family Man

Hi Frank, we're so glad to connect with you and have you tell everyone a bit about yourself. What interested you about reading for The Spun Yarn?

First, I love to read, but more importantly, I enjoy helping other authors achieve the best results for their hard work. Writing and eventually publishing two books myself, I wished I had this service before I published the first book. Fortunately, it was available to me for my second book. The beta readers at Spun Yarn helped me see things that really helped me so, I thought it would be cool to return the help.

You've been a reader with us for a while now, when giving feedback for the Spun Yarn, what part do you find most challenging?

Honest feedback is critical in helping an author craft their best work. Sometimes the stories are brilliantly written and other times, they need a lot of work. The most challenging part for me is delivering this honest feedback without discouraging the author or, in contrast, overly applauding the work. Writing is hard, but everyone has a story in them and bringing out the story should be encouraged either critically or strategically. This is more difficult than it sounds.

What is your favorite part about being a reader for The Spun Yarn?

My favorite part of being a Spun Yarn reader besides reading some very cool stories is knowing that I get to help an author improve their storytelling while, at the same time, improve my writing. I believe that critiquing others helps me see where I can improve my own skills.

As an author yourself, can you tell us why this type of feedback is so important to writers?

As story tellers, the plot, the characters, the visuals and the smells are all in our head. This sometimes blinds us to thinking the reader is in there as well, and when we write our stories, we take it for granted that they understand the picture we are trying to paint, which character is speaking, the looks, feels and smells of a scene or the expression that is prominent of a characters face. Having beta readers review the work not only helps me catch this before it gets to the reader but also lets me know when it's too much detail, repetition, or the scene makes little sense. For me, this type of feedback is critical. Not only does it help me improve my storytelling, but also helps me know when it's ready for editing. 

When you aren't reading for TSY or writing fantasy novels, what do you like to do?

In my downtime, I love to be with family, reading stories to my grandchildren, or going out to play a round of golf.

Anything else you'd like to tell us?

I would like to commend TSY for providing a much-needed resource to authors like myself. Feedback is critical to learning regardless of if you're a plumber, teacher, politician, or a storyteller. Seek it out, and you'll be better for it.

Announcing the Expert Reader Report

We are pleased to announce a new product, the Expert Reader Report, which pairs your manuscript (up to 100,000 words) with one top tier Spun Yarn reader in your genre.

This report features the same quarterly checkpoints as the Complete Manuscript Report and similar Qualitative feedback on the overall manuscript. It does not contain the Quantitative section, though there is a question aimed at understanding where you manuscript falls in terms of review ratings.

You might consider this report type if you’re looking for a more cost-effective option that allows you a second set of eyes on your work from someone who knows your genre well.

Of course, if you’re looking for trends and consensus, the three-reader option remains our golden standard, but if you know the kind of reader you’re looking for and only want one set of eyes on your manuscript at this stage, the Expert Reader Report could be a great option for you.

Not sure what you’re looking for or is the right fit? We’re actively working to create reports that reflect your needs, and this new report type is a result of those requests. Please feel free to reach out to us to learn more about our report types and see how we can meet your specific needs.

Update on our pricing

Due to rising costs and our continual efforts to improve our services, we are raising the prices of our products. These increases will correspond with further changes to the reports to enhance our services.

Effective April 1, 2024, the following price changes will occur:

• Complete Manuscript Report: $699

• Supersized Manuscript Report: $799

• Sensitivity Reader Report: $799

• Smart Start Report: $250

Here’s what’s new:

• We’ve enhanced the Action Steps & Analysis section, which replaces the Five or Fewer. This section will now contain as many areas as needed for your manuscript to help you focus on what’s important. Whether that’s three major areas or seven minor ones, we’re dedicated to ensuring your report is custom fit to your needs.

• We’ve provided readers more room to respond to individual categories in the Quantitative Feedback section, so if they have more to say, they have a significant amount of room to add comments.

• We’ve added two new pages to the Overall Feedback section. These pages focus on questions many readers ask as their additional questions and help target the areas essential for publishing:

• Did the opening pages grip you? Why or why not?

• Who do you think the ideal audience for this book is? What other books does it remind you?

• Out of five stars, how would you rate this book, and why?

• The big takeaway you’d like to share with the author is…
  

We are working on additional offerings currently and will share an update on those as soon as they are available. We appreciate your support and are happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for trusting us with your stories, and we are so grateful to support you on your writing journey.

Author Profile: Christine Galib

The Spun Yarn works with and provides beta readers and manuscript critiques for all kinds of authors. Our Author Profile series highlights some of the successful authors we’ve worked with, getting insight into their process so other writers can learn from their experience.

The odds are very good that as you’re reading this, Christine Galib is reading, writing, running, or taking the road less traveled. When Christine is not sketching stories or sneaking bad puns into her presentations, she is exploring the big outdoors and small towns, eating peanuts, discussing apologetics, and spending time with her mom, dad, songwriter sister, and composer brother. She loves getting lost in a good book and can be found at christinegalib.com.

Tell us about your book.

A dead professor. A gold pendant. A mysterious poem. As Carly Stuart starts college, the search for a murderer—and the Holy Grail itself—is on.

The only thing Carly Stuart wants to do is fill her late grandmother’s shoes—literally and figuratively. Following in the footsteps of her Gran, a world-renown, trailblazer archeologist who paved the way for women in the field, Carly enters Nassauton College as a freshman studying archeology, with her journal, satchel, and an entire closet full of Gran’s shoes in tow.

Carly’s dreams of becoming the next great archeologist get off to a promising start when she uncovers an ancient artifact and a note left to her by Gran, putting Carly on a quest for the Holy Grail itself. Armed with her quick wits and new friends—including Dr. Kells, her archeology professor, and Blane, her cute-but-nerdy boyfriend—Carly finds herself thrust into a mystery of international scale and historical significance that even Indiana Jones would be excited to pursue.

But when a young professor turns up dead, and with evil ones breaking in and anticipating her next moves, will Carly and her partners have the courage to see their Grail quest through?

Why do you write?

Beverly Cleary said, “If you don’t see the book you want on the shelves, write it.”

And so, I did. I wrote about strong female characters who bravely create their own path with grace, courage, and faith—and help strong female readers understand what being a trailblazer truly means. I wrote a book that doesn’t depend on obscenities or lewd scenes to move the plot along. I wrote a book that inspires women to be themselves—even if that means getting nervous around their crush, not knowing how to apply eyeshadow before a date, and carrying around a journal so they can clearly and critically understand their thoughts

I wrote a book that helps us fill big shoes and discover who we were created to be as our North Star guides us—even if that means taking the road less traveled and facing the facts with women’s intuition and wits. Or, in this case, even if that means embarking on a quest for the Holy Grail itself.

I wrote a book that empowers women and men of all ages to handle whatever journey life takes us on, to find value in partnership, and to always take the leap of faith when presented with the chance to do so. I wrote a book that is, in short, the kind of book I hope moms (and dads!) will be proud to read with their daughters (and sons!).

I wrote the book I wished were on the shelves when I was growing up. And in doing so, I found the story needed more than one book to be told. So, I wrote a whole series of books.

Etched in Stone is the first book in The Knights of the Dagger series. It is the story of a girl who wanted nothing more than to fill her grandmother’s shoes. It is the story of a girl whose quest for the Holy Grail helps her realize what being a knight is all about. It is a story that reminds us we are never too old, and it is never too late—or too early—to live our dreams, pursue our passions, and take evidence-backed leaps of faith into the unknown adventure ahead of us.

What challenges did you face when crafting this novel?

Being an indie author is not without its challenges, and writing a novel is not quite like writing a short story. One of the biggest challenges (sidebar: I don’t like to frame them as “challenges” but rather as “opportunities”) is balancing your day job with your creative pursuits. This requires dedication, determination, and discipline. Take every day as an opportunity to get to know your characters more. At the end (and beginning!) of the day, writing is about getting to know your characters and telling their stories.

How did you approach the publishing process?

Strategy, strategy, strategy! I developed a strategy for writing, publishing, promotion, and engagement—and beyond—that worked for me. I created my own imprint, road less traveled enterprises, to publish my work and others’. If you’re interested in learning more about the publishing process, I’d love to hear from you at roadlesstraveledenterprises.com.

How was your experience with The Spun Yarn?

My experience was phenomenal. The Spun Yarn staff is responsive, communicative, and highly professional. I love working with The Spun Yard and my beta readers. I appreciate the smooth process from completing the Google Form with information about my manuscript, to post-feedback report. Beta readers’ feedback helped me take my story to the next level by giving me substantive and specific pointers on what readers were looking for and expected. I value working with The Spun Yarn, feel they are in my camp as cheerleaders and champions of me and my characters, and already am working with them again for Book II! ☺

Do you have a favorite quote that captures your thoughts on writing or keeps you motivated?

“You can make anything by writing.” – C.S. Lewis

What advice do have for other authors?

Every day, write something: a word, a sentence, a paragraph, a page—something. Some days, this works, and you’ll get in the groove and a solid scene appears! Wooo! Yes! Wind blows; angels sing! Some days, well, some days your writing time will turn into going down the rabbit hole of YouTube videos, or article reading, or impromptu karaoke. Your pen will become a microphone and some pencils might become air drums. Don’t get mad about it. Let the journey take you where it wants you to go. Your job is to pick up your pen and let it. Even if that means some days, your pen looks more like a microphone.

You can find her on:

• Instagram: @roadlesstraveledenterprises

• Author Website: christinegalib.com

• Imprint Website: roadlesstraveledenterprises.com

To learn more about The Spun Yarn and see how you can use their manuscript beta reader program for authors to help make your writing even better, click here.

Author Profile: Erika Erickson Malinoski

The Spun Yarn works with and provides beta readers and manuscript critiques for all kinds of authors. Our Author Profile series highlights some of the successful authors we’ve worked with, getting insight into their process so other writers can learn from their experience.

Erika Erickson Malinoski grew up in Michigan and now lives in New Jersey with her multi-generational family. In between, she earned a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, taught secondary math and sex ed in California, and realized that the universe is very strange. She is also a devout Unitarian Universalist.

Perfect for fans of Dragon Riders of Pern and The Left Hand of Darkness, Erika Malinoski’s debut novel, Pledging Season, brings to light the inequalities of sexism and gender discrimination in a gripping alternate reality where gender norms are turned on their head in a powerful matriarchal society.

Tell us about your book.

I once saw science fiction described as “a love letter to our time,” and I just adore that description. Although Pledging Season is set on a colony world of Earth in the distant future, it’s really about modern day gender and what would happen if it were done differently. Often science fiction books about gender posit some sort of biological change, but I wanted to play with gender purely as a social technology. What stories do we tell about what is or is not “natural”? Who do those stories serve? How do they shape assumptions about who can do what? This book follows a young man who is coming of age in a fictional matriarchal society and is striving to pursue his dreams despite the sexism embedded in his culture. I hope readers will find that his journey makes the strange familiar and the familiar strange!

In addition, I wanted to write a book that doesn’t use violence to solve its major problems. Which is a challenge! There’s a very strong message in American media that having a climactic battle and either destroying or locking up the bad guy is what fixes things. When I look around at the big problems of today, though, whether it’s the pandemic, climate change, or rising inequality, they’re not things that can be solved that simply. One of my goals in this book is to help carve out a little more of the imaginative space for how we could do things differently.

Where did you get the inspiration to take on gender dynamics, which has become one of the big issues of our society?

Years and years ago, someone I respected wrote an essay arguing essentially that gender dynamics in our society are the way they are because of biology, and the hurt that happens as a result of them is just the way things have to be. I remember sitting at the dining room table one weekend furiously typing up a response, but I wasn’t able to finish it. My family was waiting for me to go on a trip, I had lesson plans to make (I was a teacher at the time), then packed weeks of teaching intervened, and I never returned to it. 

The impulse to respond stuck with me, though, and eventually crystallized into a thought experiment to try to show exactly why those arguments were nonsense. Could I take the exact same biological variation related to reproduction that exists in current humanity (and even many of the same stereotypes) and use it to explain why entirely different patterns of power and privilege were “natural”? How would such a society come about? What would their struggles for gender equality look like? By the time my anger cooled, I’d started reading a lot of non-fiction about gender, especially by trans people, and digging into all the layers just got more and more fascinating. Playing around with the different ramifications grew into an entire world.

Tell us about your writing process.

Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks!

For this book, the cultural setting came first, then I built the story to explore the impact of that. 

But I try so many things! I outline, then rewrite everything, then stick post-its all over the walls of my house, then rewrite the whole thing again. I think I went through seven or eight major rewrites of this book. There was a spreadsheet phase. I do try to keep my eye on the ball in terms of the themes I’m trying to get at, but everything else is all over the place. It’s only really in the final draft that I can look back and realize, “Oh, that’s what I was trying to say.” 

Since what I write is so much of a deep dive into how changing one aspect of how we organize society ripples outward, I also do an enormous amount of reading and research. In this particular book, once I started tugging on gender, that thread led me to a whole host of other cultural assumptions about who is “deserving,” how gender is shaped by other identities, what is justice, etc.

What do you enjoy most about the writing process?

Two things: One is getting to talk to cool people about interesting stuff. The other is when unexpected characters show up on the page and I’m just like, “Oh, hello, I have no idea where you came from, but you’re pretty awesome.” Some of my test reader’s favorite characters showed up that way.

What's the biggest challenge for you in the writing process?

Knowing when to stop. I love rewriting things, I could keep tinkering with drafts forever! Every draft, I look back and see how much better it was than the prior one, and I always think that if I just revised it one more time then it would be so much better. But eventually it’s time to shove the thing out the door and be done with it.

How was your experience with the Spun Yarn?

Really helpful! The Smart Start Report in particular came at a crucial time for me and gave me some key encouragement as a baby author. It was the reassurance I got from my readers that I was onto something that gave me the confidence when my husband’s job moved us across the country, to go into writing full-time instead of seeking out another teaching job.

How did you find your publisher/agent?

I’m self-publishing through several different e-book and print on demand retailers. I really like the level of control it gives me, and I also enjoy the variety of running my own business.

What's your favorite quote about writing?

“I write for myself, but I publish to have an impact on others.” 

It helps me let go of things when I get to the pruning phase of the manuscript. Some things I need to get out for my own benefit, but when it comes to revisions, the key is to think about and be compassionate toward my audience.

What encouraging words or advice do you have for other authors?

Keep at it! When I first submitted a manuscript to The Spun Yarn for feedback, I thought I was almost done. That was two-and-a-half years and seven drafts ago. Writing is a much longer process than I initially anticipated, which feels intimidating. But keep at it and keep revising, you’ll get there!

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Learn more about Erika Erickson Malinoski and her book, Pledging Season, at eemauthor.com. Sign up for her mailing list to read the first sixteen chapters of her book for free!

You can also find her on Twitter at @EEMauthor. 

To learn more about The Spun Yarn and see how you can use their manuscript beta reader program for authors to help make your writing even better, click here.

Author Profile: Samantha Specks

The Spun Yarn works with and provides beta readers and manuscript critiques for all kinds of authors. Our Author Profile series highlights some of the successful authors we’ve worked with, getting insight into their process so other writers can learn from their experience.

Samantha Specks is a licensed independent clinical social worker. She and her husband live in Houston with their baby (Pippa) and fur baby (Charlie). When not in Texas, they enjoy spending time on the lakes of Minnesota and in the mountains of the Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado. Dovetails in Tall Grass is Samantha’s debut novel. Currently, she is writing Dovetails of a River, which is set at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. 

Tell us about your book.

Inspired by the true story of the thirty-eight Dakota-Sioux men hanged in Minnesota in 1862―the largest mass execution in US history―Dovetails in Tall Grass is a powerful tale of two young women connected by the fate of one man.

As war overtakes the frontier, Emma's family farmstead is attacked by Dakota-Sioux warriors; on that same prairie, Oenikika desperately tries to hold onto her calling as a healer and follow the orders of her father, Chief Little Crow. When the war is over and revenge-fueled war trials begin, each of these young women is faced with an impossible choice to either lose herself or lose the ones she loves. In a swiftly changing world, both Emma and Oenikika must look deep within and fight for the truth of their convictions―even as horror and injustice unfolds all around them.

Dovetails in Tall Grass explores a tragic and complicated history. What inspired you to write about this subject matter? 

It was Christmas Eve on a silver snow covered road that the first seeds of the Dovetails story were planted in my heart. I was a high schooler—cozy, riding in my parents’ Suburban, making the final turn to my grandparents’ home, when I spotted something new. Headlights illuminated unusual shapes moving across the darkening horizon. A group of men on horseback. Curious, I asked my parents why people were riding in the cold. My mother explained: “They’re Dakota who are marching to show they haven’t forgotten what happened here long ago.” 

I felt compelled to learn about what they hadn’t forgotten. And quickly I found out that the riders I crossed paths with were the Dakota 38+2 Riders – a group that still rides every December from Lower Brule, South Dakota to Mankato, Minnesota (330 miles) – riding to commemorate the war. I knew before my family had arrived, Laura Ingalls and other settlers had called Minnesota home. But before them? I hadn’t thought much about any others who’d been there. So, I educated myself. I learned about the Dakota-Sioux people, about proud warriors, and hunters. Years passed and my interest never waned. During graduate school (Master of Clinical Social Work) I dug into the scholarly articles. I learned about the violence of westward expansion that happened here that ended many lives and changed so many others. The war that sparked the next three decades of warfare, massacre, and genocide of the Indigenous people of the plains. 

Historical fiction always requires a great deal of research. What kinds of research did you do to write this novel?

Reading scholarly articles couldn’t take the place of walking the bluffs along the river, touching the stone of old buildings that would have echoed the gunshots of battle, or standing on the ground where 38 men lost their lives at once. Each summer, my grandmother, mother, and I visited the historical markers scattered through the countryside. These markers were almost unnoticeable along a random gravel road next to a soybean field. The three of us would stand around quiet stone statues with dandelions sprouting around the bottom. Most of the monuments featured the names of the settlers – over 600 men, women, and children -- killed. Until the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the US-Dakota War was the largest civilian casualty event in U.S. history. Other markers listed the 38 names of Dakota men. Peaceful rolls of prairie and sleepy country towns held so much history that mattered then and now.

And the book research went beyond reading -- I talked to people, went to historical society events and lectures by the Dakota-Sioux community, watched documentaries, read trial transcripts, listened to podcasts, scrolled the pages of comments on old history message boards. I got research recommendations from the Dakota-Sioux community. Dug into Dakota oral histories. I sought advice and feedback. Capturing the actual events of the US-Dakota War on the page was extremely important to me, and initially, I wanted to work in every single detail and follow the exact timeline of all battles in the war, etc. But once I started working with an editor, I learned how I could stay true to the history but not get locked down in chronicling every single event. Then I really dug into my protagonists’ emotional journey – and that’s where the magic happened! (Although, I still managed to sneak in historical details like the actual weather conditions for my characters to encounter). After the first draft of the manuscript was complete, I worked with a Native writer, Diane Wilson (she’s brilliant, read her latest, The Seed Keeper) She offered feedback on cultural components. I reworked the manuscript again. After beta reader feedback from The Spun Yarn, it was time to think about publishing options! 

What is your writing process like?

Pre-baby and post-baby (I had a baby last pandemic, I mean, last year!) writing routines look different. Pre-baby, I’d write based on my level of inspiration and was always able to submit more words than I’d aimed for at each deadline with my editor. Something like 30-40 pages every two weeks. But since having a kid, I’ve had to get more efficient with my work time: I plan backward from my deadlines, block writing hours on my calendar, and assign scenes to each block. Then I masterplan childcare coverage to overlap those writing hours. It’s usually a few hours a day, four days a week, to squeeze out 20 pages per deadline.

And, of course, my own pressure to be more efficient often makes me less efficient. After a writing session that turned into a rabbit hole of historical research (try reading scholarly articles on water cisterns in the 1870s) and then an hour of me Googling “toys for a baby who can only roll to the left” I get a version of the “Sunday Scaries” I call the “Writing Scaries” and start a negative and self-critical shame spiral. Driving away from the coffee shop, I think to myself, “You imposter! You watch terrible reality TV and don’t read literary fiction. Sometimes spellcheck cannot even tell which word you are attempting to spell! Who are you kidding trying to write a book?” I arrive home to find that I missed my baby rolling to the right for the first time – and my brain screams, “YOU CANNOT WRITE THIS BOOK!”

But time passes and shame slinks back into the shadows. I’ll see an interaction between people at the grocery store that reminds me of something my characters would do, or I’ll read a research book, then listen to a podcast, and my brain starts to tick. Then, sure enough, “story” begins to bubble up and I just can’t keep it down. My heart sings out, “YOU CANNOT NOT WRITE THIS BOOK! IT IS YOUR TRUE CALLING!” and I’m off to Starbucks at six in the morning to cram in a Saturday morning writing sesh.

In summary: I go to a coffee shop and ride a roller coaster of the “Writing Scaries” about four times a week.

Why do you write?

In all honesty, I am not smart enough to be a writer. Even seeing the “Author Interview” request from The Spun Yarn for this felt odd for me! But I realize calling this article “Talking with Samantha, someone who is just lucky to tap into compelling ideas when learning about significant times in American history” would be weird. But that’s truly what fuels me! Once I’ve spent time in the trenches of historical research, the fictional story is something totally outside of myself that I just happen to be able to see. The more I study the fascinating dynamics of our past (cough cough *present*) the more fire lights within me and illuminates just what complexities would play out in a story arc. If I can get my fingers to type fast enough, the actual writing feels like grabbing the ideas/feelings/characters invisibly floating beyond my mind and sticking them onto the physical page. If I write well enough, at the end of my work the fire will spread to a reader turning the pages of a meaningful story playing out on our vibrant and vivid past.

How was your experience with The Spun Yarn?

Phenomenal. I felt encouraged and more confident after working with The Spun Yarn. The feedback was constructive and straightforward to integrate. Sarah [Beaudette, The Spun Yarn Editor-in-Chief] is so thoughtful, genuine, and supportive of writers; I could certainly see where that comes through in working with the company.

My only wish: That I could meet my beta readers and thank them in person!

What advice do you have for other authors?

Keep on, brave one!  

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Learn more about Samantha Specks and her writing at her website, samanthaspecks.com.
And follow her on social media at:
Instagram: @samanthaspecks
Facebook: @samanthaspecks

To learn more about The Spun Yarn and see how you can use their manuscript beta reader program for authors to help make your writing even better, click here.

Author Profile: Rebecca J. Sanford

The Spun Yarn works with and provides beta readers and manuscript critiques for all kinds of authors. Our Author Profile series highlights some of the successful authors we’ve worked with, getting insight into their process so other writers can learn from their experience.

Rebecca J. Sanford grew up in a small town in New York and fell in love with writing, language and culture at an early age. She is a People & Culture executive, a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association, and a proud sponsor of Women for Women International since 2009. She’s also a founding member of Fe League, a professional women's leadership organization. Her as-yet untitled novel was selected as the winner of the WFWA 2020 Rising Star Award for unpublished fiction.

As a teenager, Rebecca studied at lycée in southern France, sparking a lifelong love of travel - always with a pen and notebook close at hand. Later, while studying and conducting research in Buenos Aires for her master’s degree thesis, she ensconced herself in learning about the activities of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo and the role they played in recovering kidnapped children during the last Argentinian dictatorship in the late 1970s. 

This became the basis of her fictional novel.

Tell us about your book.
I’ve written a literary/book club fiction novel about a young woman who was adopted at birth, uncovers the truth about her biological identity and is forced to confront a devastating secret about her past and her adoptive parents. The book is inspired by the actual events of Argentina's Dirty War and the true story of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

Where did you get the inspiration to explore that part of Argentine history? 
I had the great privilege of working with the Identity Archive of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires while I was completing my master’s thesis. The work of these women inspired me tremendously.

How do you approach the writing process?
For me, the initial inspiration is chaotic and feels a bit like catching fireflies in a jar. But once a first draft is spread onto the page, it becomes more structured. I do a lot of revision work.

What do you like most about writing?
I love going deep into the work. The creative aspect of immersing yourself in another place and time – and doing everything you can to draw that experience out for the reader – is transcendent for me.

What's the biggest challenge for you in the writing process?
I’m a full-time executive, wife and mother, so making time for writing is my biggest challenge. I take little “residencies” and retreats whenever I can. My favorite writing spots are the beach and Rockvale Writers’ Colony in Tennessee.

How was your experience with The Spun Yarn?
I can’t speak highly enough about my experience with The Spun Yarn. I used it for beta readers on an early draft and again for sensitivity readers on a later draft. All the feedback was helpful, thoughtful and professionally cultivated. It truly made a difference in my work.

How did you find your literary agent?
I went the traditional route and queried agents directly. I also found a wonderfully supportive community in the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and received recognition through their Rising Star Contest, which helped expose me to some of the agents who judged.

What's your favorite quote about writing?
“Write what should not be forgotten.” – Isabel Allende

What advice do you have for other authors?
Keep writing. Keep creating. Keep telling your stories.

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Learn more about Rebecca J. Sanford and her writing at her website, rebeccajsanford.com.

And follow her on social media at:
Instagram: @rebeccajsanford
Facebook: @rebeccajsanford
Twitter: @rsanford

To learn more about The Spun Yarn and see how you can use their manuscript beta reader program for authors to help make your writing even better, click here.

Author Profile: Mark C. Roser

The Spun Yarn works with and provides beta readers and manuscript critiques for all kinds of authors. Our Author Profile series highlights some of the successful authors we’ve worked with, getting insight into their process so other writers can learn from their experience.

Mark Roser spent 22 years on the mission field in Africa where he pioneered churches, developed a four year Bible college, and taught on TV and radio. He received theological training from Xavier University, Centerville Bible College, Cincinnati Christian Seminary, the University of Biblical Studies, Louisiana Baptist Seminary, and a Doctorate in Biblical Studies from Logos Christian Graduate School.

As a celebrated and successful Christian pastor, Mark has always focused on the “big questions” of life. After returning to the United States following more than 20 years in Africa with a growing family, Mark and his wife Patricia were faced with the unimaginable challenge of losing their son Ethan in a tragic accident. 

In working through the grief of losing his son so suddenly, Mark turned the journey into a moving book, Blindsided.

Tell us about your book.
No parent anticipates burying their healthy child. Least of all––me. 

God had kept my family safe for twenty-two years in Africa. My youngest son was happy and unusually trouble-free. Everyone knew Ethan because of his smile, both at his high school, at his soccer club, and then at his college. He was nineteen years old. He had every reason to live. 

I struggled to breathe when the police detective told me, “Your son was in an accident. Are you sitting down?”  

Blindsided best describes it.

Media outlets around the world reported on “the freak accident,” and a series of articles followed, ranging from wonderful character tributes of Ethan to hurtful claims of “his inattention” as the cause of his death. The story had several elements of interest that caused it to go viral: the apparent randomness of the accident. I mean who dies during a track and field event? It happened at a premier Christian university, Wheaton College, during a supervised event, and over a hundred people watched Ethan die. It also happened to “a good kid” who was studying to be a pastor. 

For me, I needed to know why God permitted it. While wrestling with that age-old question of “why?” I also sought to understand how the accident had happened. The question of culpability was directed at Wheaton College and the NCAA.   

Even before I buried my son, I began writing a diary of events from the time I got the news. It helped me keep my sanity and process my raw emotions and questions. This timely chronicling of my journey makes the book accurate and authentic.  

At the same time, as a research personality type, I read what I could find on grief, but I could not find a book written by a pastor who lost a child that provides biblical answers to the why question. I could only find grief books that provided the standard answer that there are no answers this side of heaven. 

I knew God had His reasons. I also believed He was willing to answer my question as to why He allowed the tragedy to happen. Little did I know how profoundly He would answer me, and that His answer would have repercussions for multitudes and deep theological implications. Yes, the answers He gave are real to life, and biblical, and they address the root questions that fuel grief: why God allows tragedies and what culpability people have in any given tragedy, since God’s sovereignty and human responsibility play out in every life.

For anyone who believes in God, the “why” question is always there, whether they voice it or not. Yes, my book is controversial. I maintain that there are answers. That the God of the Bible, the Father of Jesus, answers us. That He shares the mind of Christ with us.   

Looking back, I can see my whole life was in preparation to write this story, not because I have lost a child, for many have lost children, but because of my theological training and years as a practitioner over two decades in Africa as a missionary, and the fact that before my son’s death, I had researched and published four books on big questions: God’s sovereignty, Satan’s modus operandi, missional living, and mankind’s final destiny. 

I hope you will allow me to share my story with you, for I believe it is God’s story, embodied in the person of Jesus. A story God tells in Scripture and that He has told through the centuries in countless lives, repeating itself again and again with equal intensity. And it is a story we all must hear again and again, lest we forget.

Where did you get the inspiration to turn this tragic loss into a book to share with others?
Ethan’s life seemed way too short, with too much unrealized potential and too many hopes and dreams buried with him. As a result, this question pierced my heart: “Who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living” (Isaiah 53:8). The first week after he died, I took many long looks at Ethan’s picture on my desk. His eyes were radiant and playful. It was as if perpetual laughter resided in those eyes, a delight with life and a love for everything around him. It was then, though overwhelmed by the impossibility of my task, that I promised him I would tell his story. “My son, I must make your amazing eyes speak again!”

Soon into the exercise, writing was a way for me to spend time with Ethan and relive some precious moments, because they had ended too abruptly. It also became a way for me to learn from his life and death. Little did I know that I would be recording an ongoing conversation God had with us concerning our son’s life and death. 

Tell us about your writing process.
Writing from day one was therapeutic for me.  A book by Patrick O’Malley, “Getting Grief Right,” confirmed that writing my grief story was the best way to process my grief, although at times I felt like I was trying to drain the oceans dry. The tears were flowing every day, and the place to cry was in my car. 

A psychotherapist, O’Malley’s experience validated other important aspects of my grief journey since he too found that his grief and that of his clients didn’t match the Kübler-Ross paradigm of five stages of grief, which is so deeply embedded in our cultural consciousness. O’Malley thus challenged the idea that mourning proceeds predictably from one stage to the next when done properly, and that grievers can expect to reach some psychological finish line. American culture, he argues, in pursuit of happiness, compartmentalizes mourning. Thus, mourners are advised to gauge their grief until they “get over it” or “move on,” as if grief is some bad emotion that must be discarded as soon as possible. That approach, however, provides no comfort, just more pain and added anxiety. Instead, O’Malley found help in his grief and helped others in their grief by having them share the stories of the loved ones that they lost. For me, this was just what the doctor ordered! 

It was only well into recording my experiences that I knew that God, who was comforting me with the greatest comfort my soul has ever known, would use my writing to comfort others, as deep as their sorrow might be (2 Corinthians 1:1-7). 

O’Malley’s book also explains that people grieve differently, because no two people are alike, and no two relationships are the same. Everyone has had different experiences in life too. That also helped me understand my wife’s grief, as she and I were grieving very differently in the early period of our grief.

I spent the first three to four hours of each day writing. That was when my mind was most clear. I did that for the first two years when I wasn't traveling overseas. I also took a handful of month -long breaks to get feedback and have editing work done.

In working through such an emotional time in your life while writing about it, how did you feel about the writing process?
I can’t say I enjoyed it. But I can say I felt purpose and found pleasure in imagining how the message might comfort others who had experienced loss, especially as the timing seemed perfect to publish with the Covid pandemic as so many were losing loved ones and those close to them. 

What's the biggest challenge for you in the writing process?
“Killing my darlings,” number one. And related to that was being willing to take the time necessary to let the writing ferment. At first, I thought I’ll have this book in print in twelve months, then I thought two years, but it took all three years. Had I stopped too soon, it would be a book read by family and friends, more of a sort of running eulogy about someone they knew and loved. But now I see my journey was meant to benefit others who have experienced loss, to help them find comfort in their loss. 

Also, now maybe to help other writers tell their stories the best they can…

How was your experience with the Spun Yarn?
The Spun Yarn helped me improve my writing in every area of storytelling. From dialogue, to setting, to plot-tension, you name it. The feedback provided has made it a page-turner. I have received positive feedback daily. Today, I got this note via my oldest son.

Johnathan:

You don’t know me but I feel like I know you through your father’s words. I just finished reading “Blindsided” and it touched me so deeply...

...A little backstory: my son, Garrett, was Ethan’s dorm mate at Dallas Baptist University. He was on the bottom bunk, right under Ethan. Garrett always spoke so highly of Ethan, even after Ethan made the decision to transfer to Wheaton. Garrett, Billy, and Tyler spent a lot of time together and Garrett loved Ethan like the brother he never had. He, like everyone that knew your brother, was hurt so deeply by his tragic passing. 

Because of Garrett’s praise for Ethan, I started reading “Blindsided” as soon as it arrived in the mail and couldn’t put it down. I finished it in less than two days-a huge accomplishment for someone like me who readily admits he doesn’t enjoy reading. 

The book touched me on so many levels and I felt this overwhelming need to write to my three children. The following is the verbatim text I sent to them:

“I just finished reading Mark Roser’s book about Ethan. Between tears and laughter, I came away with several pervasive thoughts that haunt me. Life is so fragile and a parent shouldn’t have to bury their child. That said, I also realized that Ethan’s life and death touched so many people deeply. Mr. Roser struggled mightily with grief and even questioned God why he would take such an awesome worker that could have done so much for the Kingdom. I can’t imagine his pain. However, he ultimately also realized how much Ethan’s death would advance God’s kingdom—“a thousand Ethans” or more found Christ through Ethan and those thousand Ethans likely led thousands more to Christ and so on. For me, the greatest lesson I learned from reading this book is how remiss I have been as a father. I don’t tell any of you how much I love all of you near enough. When you have children, hold onto them tightly and never let them doubt your love  for them. I LOVE EACH OF YOU DEEPLY and I’m so proud of all of you. 

Love, Daddy”

Please tell Mark and Pat how much Ethan touched my son’s life and his walk with Christ. I have seen Garrett grow so much in the last four years. He has also struggled with injuries, including an ACL tear. But I’ve also seen him become a great man of God. I have no doubt that Ethan’s positivity and influence have helped Garrett in so many other ways that I can’t even begin to fathom. Ethan was truly a special person.  Garrett is the only member of that Freshman soccer class that remains at DBU. Due to his injuries, he has one final year of eligibility despite already graduating and entering graduate school this fall. He continues to wear a wristband with Ethan’s number during every game to honor your brother’s memory. No one else on the team knew Ethan but they ALL know Ethan’s story. 

Thank you so much for sharing your brother with all of us. 

How did you find your publisher/agent?
I found a publisher after a long search at a number of various publishing houses, some that were hybrids of traditional and self-publishing. I almost self-published before I found Paraclete Press, and I went with them because they were prepared to print a first run of 20,000 copies. 

What's your favorite quote about writing?
“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” -Stephen King. The first part of this quote is my favorite quote. For a parent that meant “even when it breaks your paternal heart.”

What encouraging words or advice do you have for other authors?
Don’t rush it. Writing and rewriting, editing and re-editing is like fine wine. The longer you give it to ferment the more satisfied the reader. 

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Learn more about Mark Roser, Blindsided, and his other writing at his website, mcroser.com.

To learn more about The Spun Yarn and see how you can use their manuscript beta reader program for authors to help make your writing even better, click here.

Why We're Raising Our Prices

At The Spun Yarn, we're a small team of writers and readers. One of our defining company ideals is to put authors first, and that means holding ourselves to an incredibly high quality standard at an affordable price. We know that authors have appreciated this because through word of mouth alone, we've seen steady growth since we started back in 2017. We are so grateful to those authors who have helped us spread the word!

Given our commitment to doing right by authors, we wanted to transparently explain the upcoming increase in our prices. When we launched the Spun Yarn in 2017, we intentionally charged less than it actually costs to create a report. Now in our third year, we have generated more than 200 reports, with about a third of these for repeat customers. By operating a lean editorial and operations team, we’ve been able to eke out a three-year runway and we couldn’t be prouder of all the authors we’ve helped get their manuscripts closer to publication. 

In order to continue paying our readers a fair rate, and to continue operating, we are going to raise prices on December 1. We will continue to operate a lean team to deliver the products authors have derived the most value from: the SmartStart, the Complete, and the Supersized Manuscript Report, as well as the Sensitivity Reading Report that many of you have been asking for.

Until then, if you've been on the fence about whether or not to try a report, now is the time! Until December 1st, you can continue to buy or gift a Manuscript Report at at our current rates. You can use it now or next year, whenever you're ready.  On December 1, a Complete Manuscript will cost $499, a Supersized $599, a SmartStart $199, and a Sensitivity Report $599.

The Spun Yarn has been life changing for us, for our many readers and for our published and debut authors. Thanks for your encouragement and partnership. We look forward to changing your book trajectories for years to come.

Sincerely,

Sarah, Sean, Jay, Lauren, and Julie

The Writing Process: Thoughts from a Prolific Novelist

We like to sit down with our authors as often as we can to hear more about their process in the hopes that it’s helpful for other writers. No two processes are alike, and writers continually evolve their method. Here’s a peak into the way Richard Seltzer, a prolific writer, has managed to spin yarn after yarn.

The Spun Yarn: Richard, it's been a pleasure to work with you on two of your books, though I know you've written several more. How long have you been writing, and what are the kinds of stories you're particularly moved to tell?

Richard: I started writing stories in the second grade, 66 years ago, and reading them in show-and-tell. I've only been free to focus full-time on my fiction over the last two years, over which time I've finished six books. The books I write these days are largely fueled by a lifetime of experience. Events like the death of my wife and the last years of my mother and father come into play in unexpected and unintended ways. And the concept of "soul transfer" recurs in several of these novels -- the soul having the ability to move from one body to another and back again. This is related to the notion that ordinary life is magic – that we move from one body to another as we grow up and then age, that we take that for granted when it happens slowly, but would perceive it as fantastical if it happened quickly. In any case, adjustment to the new body is never easy. I'm also very interested in history and connections between past and present, like a palimpsest, where the present is written on the past and is influenced by it in ways we sometimes are unaware of.

The Spun Yarn: You used to work as a writer, marketing consultant, and "Internet Evangelist" for a minicomputer company for 19 years. What was it like to be an Internet Evangelist in the early 2000s? What did that job entail, and did it intersect with your writing at all?

That was great fun, in the early days of the Web between 1994-1998. For an entire year, DEC let me write a book about their AltaVista search engine (predecessor of Google). The result was the first consumer book about search engines -- The AltaVista Search Revolution. Then the company sent me around the world delivering speeches to convince people that there was business opportunity on the Internet. Many people still didn't have a clue back then. My typical speech was based on a dozen slides, one for each major industry that was going to be impacted. I laid out in simple terms the likely results 10-20 years later. That's very much the way things turned out. It was great fun opening the eyes of business people to what should have been obvious to everyone. I spoke in such places as Bogota, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Moscow, Zimbabwe, and all over the U.S. and Canada.

I did my own fiction writing on my own time; but with four kids, there wasn't much time at all. I began books then that I have finally now been able to finish.

The Spun Yarn: I'd like to share a snippet of the opening of your new Historical Thriller, Parallel Lives.

"Here was a world apart, totally separate from the city-life he was used to. But he wasn't a young man, nor were the other residents. They hadn't come here to be cured. There was no cure for what they had, and they didn't delude themselves that they would ever move from here to another earthly dwelling. This was the end of the road. They were old and would only get older. They were here to enjoy what was left of life, ideally to figure out what life was about before it ended, and to do so in deliberate isolation from family and friends. That was the attraction of this remote location. They were on their own."

This opening contains no fantastic elements, but the uncanny mood leads us to wonder if something beyond the pale is in store for Abe and his compatriots. Why did you set your story in an assisted living facility, and where did the idea for this story come from? 

In their final years, my mother and father both lived in an assisted-living facility a mile away from me. I visited every day and came to understand that environment, the rhythm of life there. While there, my father had a stroke that left him unable to walk and unable to talk, very much the character Dick in the book. And my mother wound up in the Alzheimer's wing, very much like Dick's wife in the book. I've also always had a strong interest in history and, more recently, in  Mercy Otis Warren and General Johnny Burgoyne. Having uncovered Mercy's history of the American Revolution and knowing that it was never reissued after its initial publication in 1805, I typed the entire 1300 page book and her plays by hand (the old type made scanning fruitless) and posted it on my website, and made them available as ebooks for a pittance just to get it a much-deserved audience. While I knew that Burgoyne had been a popular playwright on the London stage after he lost the Battle of Saratoga, his plays hadn't been in print for more than 200 years. I put those into an ebook. Since Mercy Warren and Burgoyne were both playwrights; and he had written The Blockade of Boston and she had replied with a satire The Blockheads I wrote a play that involved the two of them meeting Mercy for the bicentennial back in 1976. And in the novel Parallel Lives people at the assisted living facility have, present day characters have mirror selves in the past, such as Warren and Burgoyne, with whom they interact in unexpected ways.

At The Spun Yarn, we're always interested in comparing notes on process. How many revisions did this story undergo before reaching its current state? How long in total did you spend on this book? What were your stumbling blocks, if any?

I had scattered notes gathered over forty years, but the pieces didn't fit together, until I was finally able to devote full time to my fiction, here in my one-bedroom apartment (with 3000 books in what others would use as the living room) here in Milford, CT. Once I got the basic concept and the characters came alive (so I heard them in my sleep and writing was like taking dictation), the first draft took less than three months. I did the final draft in less than a month. The main challenge was making it plausible that a nursing home in New Hampshire had a cellar with winding corridors leading to other places in other times.

 The Spun Yarn: What kinds of resources did you use along the way, whether soliciting feedback or editorial help, writing schedule, etc?  

As I was writing, I got some feedback, chapter by chapter, from friends, in particular from Rochelle Cohen, widow of a close friend of mine, the artist and author Rex Sexton. Then I got  general comments as feedback from Jennifer Barclay, a developmental editor who is also an author and and agent, before I did the final draft, which I submitted to your readers at The Spun Yarn. .

The Spun Yarn: What are you working on next?

Yesterday I finished the first draft of another novel, All's Will That End's Will: The Shakespeare Twins, about the formative years of Shakespeare, the twin sister no one knew he had, and their passionate, tempestuous love for one another (with cameo appearances of characters from the plays). It's in the vein of the movie Shakespeare in Love, with a dash of Yentl (a woman struggling to get an education when it’s against the law.) That was lots of fun. I researched for a month (including rereading all of Shakespeare's plays). Then the book wrote itself in two months. Today I submitted it to Spun Yarn. I plan to do a final draft based on the feedback I get from the beta readers.

The Spun Yarn: We hope your prolific writing streak continues, and we’re excited to see what readers think about All’s Will That Ends Will. Thanks Richard!

Beta Reader Spotlight: Meet Khaiyah, the Teen Traveler, Content Creator, and Cheesy Romance Addict

In the Beta Reader Spotlight series we ask our smart, diverse and multi-talented beta readers what makes them tick, and what they're seeing in Spun Yarn manuscripts. Our beta readers span the gamut of literary taste, so expect to see a little bit of everything! 

By day, Khaiyah is a video editor, illustrator and content creator at the branding company DynamikWorks. She’s also a poet, recent high school grad, a world traveler, and of course, a Spun Yarn beta reader. Khaiyah started out beta reading Young Adult and Romance, but as she gets older she’s expanded her literary repertoire, and is one of our fastest and most reliable eclectic readers of all genres.

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The Spun Yarn: Khaiyah, I've wanted to interview you for a long time! You are one of our most prolific readers, but also one of our young beta readers, specializing in Young Adult, Historical Fiction, and Romance. You've been reading for us since 2017, and you always manage to return helpful feedback so quickly. I have many questions for you, starting with this one: I get the sense that you are a busy woman. What else are you involved in, and how do you make the time to read?

Khaiyah:   First of all, thank you! Yes! I’m so excited to have this opportunity to share a little bit more about myself and my love of reading. In the eyes of many I may be a busy woman, but I’d like to think that I operate with efficiency, haha. Outside of beta reading for The Spun Yarn, I am a video editor, illustrator and designer for my family owned branding business, DynamikWorks. I’ve been editing since I was nine years old and I’ve always had a passion for creation. In anything I do be it, writing, reading, videography, dancing, or singing, etc. I just want to innovate and create new things. My family and I also love to travel so we find ourselves on the road, frequently traveling to new states. I have an affinity for organization and time management. Something I’ve learned is that we always make time for what we want to make time for and I love reading and participating in this beta reading process with the Spun Yarn so I make it happen. Prioritizing and giving myself deadlines and sticking to them is what allows me to do it all. 

The Spun Yarn: What sparked your love of reading, how has it been a part of your life, and what are some of your favorite books?

Khaiyah: I like to joke that my mom reading to me while I was in the womb made me a reader before I had a choice in the matter, but in all honesty, I have just always loved reading. In school, I was a natural reader and seemed to excel in all things English. I think at a young age when you find something you’re good at it’s easy to continue in that vein and make it a large part of your adult life. As I progressed into high school, leisure reading became a part of my day-to-day life and it was something that I looked forward to all the time. Always wondering what would happen next to some of my favorite characters or when the next book in a series was coming out. 

As I grow into a young woman, I’m discovering more genres that I enjoy that I never would’ve picked up a few years ago or even a few months ago. I’m coming to enjoy more self-help books, fantasy, memoirs and non-fiction books on topics I’m interested in. Keep in mind that I’m still a romantic at heart and cheesy romance books keep me going so I have to include some in my favorites: 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Greene

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Twilight (The Saga) by Stephanie Meyers

You Are A Bad*ss At Making Money by Jen Sincero

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Divergent (Series) by Veronica Roth

I hope those aren’t too cheesy or predictable and that they’re hopefully stomachable for all my non-romance fans, haha.

The Spun Yarn: What are some of the things you're looking at very closely in the manuscripts you beta read? What are some of the things that are hard for authors to get right?

Khaiyah: When I beta read I’m looking very closely at how it makes me feel because when I provide feedback from a place of technicality it’s easier to glaze over the emotions in and behind the manuscript, and it becomes harder to grasp the meaning and purpose the author wanted to accomplish. The emotions a manuscript evokes are important for feedback and as a beta reader I want to ensure I have a clear understanding of what the manuscript makes me feel. A couple of other things that I really look at are the believability of the situations, the depth of the characters and their growth throughout the story, and what would make anyone else want to read it. What about the book kept me coming back for more? How did I and how can others connect with these characters? What was the author’s purpose and do I think they accomplished that purpose? These are just some of the things I try to cover while beta reading. 

In my experience I’ve found it’s a challenge for authors to convey growth in characters without explicitly saying they’ve grown and I see this issue in an array of instances. For example, blatantly stating a fact about a character’s growth instead of showing it through changes in behavior or differences in interactions or new thoughts. I find that reading manuscripts in which the author manages to imply everything versus openly saying it is much more enjoyable.  

The Spun Yarn: You're one of that small group of beta readers who is poised at the edge of adulthood. What are your plans for the future?

Khaiyah: My being on this metaphorical edge of adulthood can be overwhelming, exhilarating, unnerving, and also exciting. The range of emotions I experience just getting through one month is a rollercoaster in itself and thinking about the future can be, to accompany my rollercoaster analogy, a bit nauseating. Nevertheless, for the future I intend to do whatever makes me happy. I think that is the biggest commitment I can make to myself at this point in my life. I have seen so many people sell out at this age. Working towards their dreams all through their teen years and then adults force them to grow up. Unfortunately for many, unhappiness follows. I’d prefer my story be one of joy and contentment in all of my endeavors. So right now I intend to continue working with DynamikWorks and making content that makes people feel good and makes my clients happy. And of course I want to continue working with The Spun Yarn simply because I don’t feel like I’m working at all and that combined with a plethora of positives I don’t intend to stop anytime soon.

The Spun Yarn: What kinds of books do you think we need more of in this day and age?

Khaiyah: I think in this day and age we need more books that reflect real life. I understand and wholeheartedly support books being an escape from the reality we so badly want to change, but I also know that books are a form of awareness for issues that don’t get publicity. Creating more books that show the problems of some people’s everyday lives opens up a space for conversation and hopefully change. I think books are a way for us to reconnect as humans and open up to one another about things we go through. Books and written words are ways for us to empathize and understand each other and with more books that reflect real life, I think we’ll find new ways to love our neighbors and that is only for the best of humanity. 

The Spun Yarn: You’re absolutely right. One of the benefits of beta reading and especially targeted beta reading, or sensitivity reading, is that authors can seek out perspectives they couldn’t or didn’t think to access to before the digital age. More importantly, people whose voices are traditionally disenfranchised can increasingly tell their own stories if the publishing industry is vigilant about seeking them out. I hope we see more of both kinds of books, those that showcase new perspectives, and those that have thoughtfully incorporated those perspectives via carefully chosen beta readers. Thanks as always for your thoughtfulness and zeal, Khaiyah!

From a Crime to a Book: An Inside Look at a Mystery Author's Process

Every author’s process is different, and we’re always interested in hearing about how an author manages to move from an idea to a fully fledged book. We recently sat down with Spun Yarn author Steve Wechselblatt to talk about the strange journey his mystery novel has taken from genesis to execution.

The Spun Yarn: How long have you been writing?

Steve: I started writing fiction about eight years ago. My first book ended up in a drawer after three years when I finally admitted to myself that my idea was wildly impractical and/or far beyond my ability as a fledging novelist. During this frustrating time, I started working on very short fictions that later became the basis for Diamonds and Moths (2017).

The Spun Yarn: How did you come across the idea for the mystery novel you’re working on now?

Steve: In 2014 I began to look around for an idea for a novel that I could actually complete. I decided I wanted to work on a mystery because I always believed that mysteries are the place where reason (epitomized in the detective) confronts the irrational (humankind’s destructive emotions). Beyond that, I believe life itself is a mystery.

The Spun Yarn: Did the idea just come to you, or were you actively looking for something to sink your teeth into?

Steve: I wanted to start with something I thought was uniquely interesting. I began rummaging around the section on weird events that used to be part of the Huffington Post before it changed its format. I found the story of a young girl found nude in a water tank located on the roof of a Skid Row Hotel in L.A. Her body was discovered only when guests started complaining about the water’s peculiar smell. No one could figure out how she got up there or even why. I researched articles about the case. A tape of the girl in the elevator just before her death intrigued me and many other viewers. It sparked all kinds of theories. She looked scared, disoriented. Was she being chased? Was she on drugs? I obtained a copy of the  autopsy report, which did not find any illegal substances. The old hotel had been the haunt of serial killers, which added to the frisson to the case. When the police decided it was an unfortunate accident, many people suspected foul play or even some kind of supernatural event triggered by the once-notorious Night Stalker, one of the mass murderers who stayed at the hotel.

This was just what I was looking for: a case where conventional detective work and the irrational (here, the supernatural) confronted each other in a stark way. The fact that the mystery had a built-in audience of interested observers didn’t hurt.  I decided that exploring the story would require two distinct and equally credible narrators. I wanted them to start with totally different assumptions about reality, so I made one a detective and the other a psychic. I did want them to have something in common, so I made them both outsiders. 

The Spun Yarn: So how did you begin to work on your idea? Are you a panster or a plotter?

Steve: I am a born pantser. It’s hard for me to plot. Having a somewhat established story helped me. That said, I still found plotting hard. It is difficult for me to think in terms of cause and effect because I ultimately think life is so irrational. I also found it challenging to weave between two narrators with different events and viewpoints until the story brings them together. It was only with the third draft that the plot finally began to seem somewhat plausible. I say somewhat because it will have to evolve further.  At this point, the plot changes are less important than making the characters respond believably to the strange circumstances  I’ve put them in. 

The Spun Yarn: What kind of research did you do?

Steve: The idea itself came from the internet. Once I started writing, after researching the original crime, the victim, and the hotel history for a few weeks,  I wrote and did follow-up research more or less at the same time. When I ran into trouble with the writing, I’d go back to the internet. My research was all online. I even found a photo of a house in Silver Lake I thought my psychic might have chosen to live in. Of course, I would have loved to travel to L.A. to see the actual places I’ve described, but I couldn’t since I’m a full-time caregiver.  I had to do the best I could with articles and pictures of Skid Row and other places in LA. Many of the places I described are from websites about LA. Various posts about people reacting to the crime were terrifically helpful.

The Spun Yarn: So how long have you been working on the book, and how much longer do you think it will take?

Steve: The first draft took about a year. I’ve been revising since then. I really don’t know how to revise, otherwise I might have been able to do this more efficiently. Even now, as you know, I’m not done. There’s more work to do to make this what I think it should be. (Compulsively readable, of course). I have been working on this book for about 5 years (while doing short stories also).

Every idea evolves in the writing. I am still finding things I want to bring out – metaphors I want to highlight, not to mention different aspects of each character’s personality.  The Spun Yarn Manuscript Report highlighted that I need to work more on the voice of one of my protagonists, a dramatic scene that readers didn’t feel was sufficiently motivated, and a stronger ending. That’s what I’m doing that now!

The Spun Yarn: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us, Steve. We were fascinated by your idea, and your readers were too. Looking forward to seeing your book out in the world!

Steve Wechselblatt

is the author of Diamonds and Moths, and is published in Circa, a Journal of Historical Fiction, Chicago Literati, Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Journal, among other places.

Kristine Rudolph on Process, Tools, and Free Resources

We recently sat down with author Kristine Rudolph, a middle grade and women’s fiction novelist about to go on submission for her latest manuscript. We were impressed by the strength of her manuscript and by Kristine’s acute insights about choosing tools for specific stages in the writing process. We thought this interview with Kristine would keep you inspired over the holiday break!

You recently finished writing a middle grade novel, and we were struck both by its concept and your elegant execution of it. We know you can't say anything about the novel before it goes on submission, but In our quest to help authors refine a process that works for them, we'd love to hear a little bit more about yours.

My process usually starts with a “what if?” question. For example, in a women’s fiction manuscript I wrote years ago, I asked what would happen if a young child disappeared while in the care of her stepmother? From there I usually pull out my beloved yellow legal pad and draft the contours of a narrative arc. It’s very spare — think bullet points. But I need to see the big picture before I write. As I am drafting that bare bones outline, I keep another yellow legal pad where I describe the characters as they evolve in my outlining process. Sometimes it’s just preserving the necessary details — “need a best friend who is from a different school” — and sometimes it’s a general placeholder — “her mother.” Then, once the plot is all out on the legal pad, I go back in and fill out details on my characters. I try to not commit to details about them that I don’t need early in the process, which frees me up to paint them in later. I know some people who won’t write a word until they know their characters better than they know themselves. That’s not me. I try not to box myself in. Once I have the plot laid out and the characters described in a general sense, I start writing the first page. 

I used to edit heavily on a daily basis. I would never start writing again until I read and edited everything I’d written last. Now I find that “editor brain” and “creator brain” don’t always play nicely with one another and I don’t do any substantial editing until my first draft is complete. Once I do a few rounds of heavy edits, I always send my work to my longtime critique partner and some other beta readers. Because I write for middle grades now and have two middle grade readers at my house, I have an easily-gathered focus group. With my last manuscript I also relied on readers from The Spun Yarn and was blown away at how helpful the process was.

How long have you been writing, and what role has writing played in your life? How does writing interact with parenthood?

Like many others, I’ve written stories my whole life. I was a history major in college and had the opportunity to write a number of creative pieces based on historical research. Law school on the other hand —  I felt like that experience sucked the creativity right out of my skull. It took five years after graduating from law school before I started writing again. I wrote a women’s fiction manuscript that I self-published. I see that book as my “professional writing” launch, so that was sixteen years ago. I’ve written consistently since then and have completed and shopped five different manuscripts. 

I could write reams on how fiction writing and parenthood interact. On a basic scheduling level, I’m not the kind of writer who can go in and out of a story easily. I need a solid chunk of time. I work a few other jobs, too, so that means I am very big on time blocking. Once I set writing time on my calendar, that space is sacred. On an emotional level, parenthood makes the highs higher and the lows lower and feeling that intensity of emotion in both directions absolutely fuels everything I do, most especially my writing.

How many manuscripts have you written? What struck you about how different or similar this manuscript's evolution was to your first novel? Do you feel as if you're refining a process, or learning everything all over again?

This is number five! I have written three women’s fiction manuscripts and two middle grade ones. I have worked hard on craft to improve my skills in both drafting and editing. I have also gotten a lot better at “reading” feedback. I used to make every single change suggested. I agonized over them, really. Now I see all feedback as a set of data points. I look for patterns. And I always check the feedback against what my own goals are for the work. I am definitely not learning everything again every time. My first book took ten years from the first typed word to self-publication. The latest book took about six months.

How long did this manuscript take you to write, and how many drafts has it undergone so far?

About six months, although once I signed with an agent she asked for extensive revision and that took another six weeks start to finish. I have no idea how many official drafts there have been, but I can say I’ve done no fewer than a dozen heavy editing passes on it.

What are the resources you'd recommend to other writers who may be undertaking a novel for the first time? What kind of help did you seek out as you were writing?

Oddly, I would say I’ve learned a ton from Twitter. There are a lot of agents there and they talk about the business. Hashtags like #askagent and #amquerying and #amwriting are loaded with free info that can send you down fantastic rabbit holes. It’s also a great place to just get a feel for the current issues in the industry. 

Find a writing group of critique partner and stick with them. I cannot stress enough the value of having one person who knows my writing inside and out. She knows my crutches and when I can do better. Plus, the process of helping her with her writing has taught me so much. Her style is very different from my own and sometimes this business can be so isolating that it really helps to have an inside glimpse at how someone else thinks through problems in her own writing.

Join associations and attend their conferences. I’m a member of three and from networking to learning craft to learning the industry to just meeting writer-y people, there is nothing like it.

Any words of encouragement for novelists just starting out?

What I didn’t appreciate when I first started out was that you really, truly *only* learn by doing. You have to write, edit and get feedback, then do it all again. And again. And again. And slowly, through that iterative process, you will improve. Also, I underestimated the amount of energy I needed to spend keeping tabs on the publishing market. You can’t ever forecast what will be a hit, but you can pay attention to the business you want to enter and start to get a feel for the ebb and flow of trends. 

Finally, you hear it all the time, but it bears repeating — rejection is absolutely part of the process. It happens to literally everyone on every level. And it will absolutely grind you down. It is emotionally very grueling to hear “no” over and over again. But I think it does help to depersonalize those rejections. The amazing thing about publishing is that while the industry is in a lot of flux, that opens up opportunities for disruption on both the content and delivery levels.

Kristine Rudolph

Kristine Rudolph is a mother of three and creative writer based in Atlanta, Georgia. Her current projects involve contemporary fiction for middle grade readers. In addition to writing fiction, Kristine has taught exercise for more than two decades and, on her blog, you can find musings related to wellness, parenting, civic engagement, writing and whatever else captures her imagination. She is represented by Moe Ferrara at BookEnds Literary Agency.

Does Your Writing Toolkit Reflect Your Writing Goals?

Lindsay Ellis recently published a video about the gauntlet of finishing a book, finding representation, and finally a publishing deal for her upcoming book Axiom’s End. The whole process only took ten years! I found Ellis’ honesty refreshing. At the same time, it was a discouraging reminder that so many of our projects take convoluted creative journeys before they ever see the light of day. Your book idea may have germinated ten years before you had the creative means to bring it to the page. It may be another ten years before your story reaches its target audience. If you’re willing to do that much unpaid work, suffer that much rejection, and all without the guarantee of being published, then you may have that special brand of masochism called ‘the drive to be a published writer.’

There are very lonely, discouraging valleys in every author’s saga. Your grit can help you through these valleys. A writing community is even better, and when you’re working on a specific project, you’ll need a specific set of tools. In the digital age, there are so many tools that you’ll be overwhelmed if you’re not extremely intentional about what your writing goals are. Which tools best serve each step of the journey?

Part of the work of writing is learning which tools work best in the researching, drafting, editing, pre-publishing, and post-publishing stages. In the research and editing stages, developmental editors used to be one of the only options available to authors. To be frank, many developmental editors are only available to writers with a decent amount of money to spend. We didn’t use to have blogs, YouTube tutorials, Reddit, Google, and Facebook communities, all for free. Now, we have all of these things, plus book coaches and systematic audience demographic testing like ours.

Last week, Jennie Nash and I gave a webinar about the difference between book coaches and beta readers. I loved what Jennie said about our guest author Samantha Specks’s intentionality. Samantha is a historical fiction author who used both Author Accelerator and The Spun Yarn’s beta readers as tools in different parts of her process. You can tell just by listening to her talk about the research stage of her novel that Samantha is a very methodical, measured writer. You don’t have to have that personality, but it behooves you to employ that mindset if you want to make sure your manuscript is ready before you blow your shot with your dream agent.

I defy you to find two identical creative processes in the Paris Review’s volumes of interviews with famous authors, but you do have to define A Process that works for you. That’s the beauty and the overwhelming nature of being a writer today. Your potential toolkit is bigger than it’s ever been, and so is your responsibility to be intentional about filling it with the right tools. If you think of your creative journey as the sum of its discrete stages, which tools serve you best in each? If beta readers are part of your process, add them to your toolkit.

—Sarah Beaudette, Spun Yarn Editor-in-Chief