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Ask the Author
- EveS523
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-- 02 Oct 2017, 11:40 --
How much research into Native American traditions, folklore, etc did you do before writing this story?
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Strong Heart is a book of fiction, a story. It is always a delicate dance when writing about an area and people who may live in that area between being realistic, so the reader falls into the tale believing it is real, and yet not somehow appropriating the culture and the people such that they become labelled inaccurately or insulted. I actually did NOT do a lot of research into real Native American traditions because I did not want to be "using" them, which it is not my right as a non member to do. But because the tale is set in the Olympics and deals very seriously with the question, HOW could Native Americans have really always been here as their legends hold, I was either going to possibly anger specific tribal members if I used their tribe, names, or legends, or write something entirely unbelievable. In the end I chose to try to thread this difficult needle as follows - first, I invented a tribe, the Sol Duc tribe, as a small tribe lying somewhere west of the Elwha River, and I tried to make that tribal structure and life realistic based on what I knew and had experienced by working with tribes for many years negotiating with them about treaty fishing issues. So, while it is true the Sol Tribe is located on land claimed by either the Elwha or Makah tribes, because ALL of the land is claimed and used by someone, the tribe in my story is not using or appropriating anything from "real" tribes. I was trying to be respectful of the existing tribes and their traditions doing this. (As an aside neither is the town of Sol Duc real, as some readers may have noticed, although the Sol Du River is real.) The other tribe in my story is a real tribe, the Haida Tribe, of which William is a member, but again I consciously and carefully had him taken from Haida Gwaii as a boy and put in a Canadian government school when a child, something the Canadians did until the 1970s (the Americans did this too, nearly as long), and then running away to the United States. So, he is Haida but by birth not necessarily by acculturation. Finally, the tale told by William's grandmother, on Haida Gwaii, is not based on any Haida legends at all and I was very very careful to have her state as she began the story "This is the story of the time before we were a people as people. This story tells how we became people." The story she tells is entirely fiction (of course) and actually explains how it was modern people may have arisen where the book claims they did. My challenge here was and is to write a story which does include First Peoples such that you, the reader, believe what you are reading is or might be true, accurate, and based on fact; yet do so in such as way as to show respect and honor the First peoples without taking their stories, legends or culture in an inappropriate way.
Did thread the needle? I don't think it is possible to thread this needle without offending someone, especially in these times of identity politics and a world where belief now seems to hold that people of color cannot write about people not of color, or men cannot write truly about women, etc etc. If you read the whole story you will know my argument is that we are ALL from the same tribe, and this is just my twist as to how that happened, and even that twist is a side element to the tale itself, because it is the story that is important. After all, stories are what made us modern, I believe. And, after the story is done, if some of you readers get curious and get out maps and source books to learn about this area and First Peoples and the long and fascinating and difficult history of this region; and if you ponder, as I did, the relationship between scientific data and oral legend, then I have been successful. And, even better, you might pick up the next tale in this series, Adrift, when it comes out in about a year.
Thanks for your question. I hope I have answered it. Charlie
- Doaa Wael
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- Doaa Wael
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Thank you so much for your insights, I enjoyed reading them! I am glad all your hard work paid off in the end. Thank you for sharing your experience, interests and your time with us! I think it is a great idea to invite the author hereCharlie Sheldon wrote:I can see I might regret this forum because I may be kept busy, but I have nobody to blame but myself. My inspiration for the story is lifelong, based on early family history, a grandfather who spent some time in the early years of this century with the Haida people, a curiosity about human origins, basic contrary thinking, and then my love for the Olympic peninsula and the wilderness therein, where I go hiking whenever I can. I have written a number of other novels, usually staring with a simple direct question, and I wanted to do something more difficult, asking more layered questions. I wanted to do something about human myth, legend, origing, and a heroic quest, and I wanted the hero to be an ornery young girl because so few of them are found in literature. I had (and have) no idea how I a grizzled geezer can produce a believable young girl but she emerged and t's up to the readers to determine how rela she is. She was damn real to me. Is damn real. How long did it take me to write? Once I started, when I took a literary fiction class at the University of Washington in 2013 between gigs on ships, I started the first draft October 8 and finished the first 155,000 word draft December 28, less than 90 days later. Then it took 3 years to prune edit change, ponder, ponder again, edit and edit again to get finished. Did I feel like giving up? No because when I started I was ready and it just appeared, and I had a few readers early on who really encouraged me. The hard part was finding a publisher, that's a 20 page tale of rejection frustration pain and humiliation. I did not want to self publish because that way you cannot get reviews or returns from bookstores, and finding a publisher ain't easy. IronTwine Press has been great, a small new publisher in Bothell Wasington, and Ethan and I are doing what we can.
- Manang Muyang
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While there was a point in the book where I struggled to keep awake (Sarah's first story), the next chapters all flew. When I reached the end, I could only say "Wow." You wrote a strong book. I'll be anxiously awaiting Adrift for the next chapter of this amazing story of origins and destinies.
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What was your hardest scene to write?
What is your work schedule when you're writing?
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- Heidi M Simone
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- juliusotinyo
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I loved the book and am still contemplating the ending. Especially Sarah's ordeal in the 'other time.'
I share in your curiosity on origins of people and consistently challenge common narratives, I am intrigued with the more outlandish events.
Do you mind or have you written a standalone version of Sarah's journey. Or a historical story similar to that?
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Favorite scene to write (hsimone) - the scene where Sarah goes off up around the bend to draw, because the bear just leapt into the story. It was a total surprise. Astonishing.
Julius - I have not considered offering Sarah's story as a stand alone tale. I am having enough trouble flogging one story, let alone two. Her tale is the first such "ice time" tale that has ever appeared for me.
-- 03 Oct 2017, 08:57 --
Oops, sorry Gali - my work schedule when writing - great question by the way. For me when I am writing, or editing, I go somewhere quiet and just do it. Originally I felt I had to be on a train or a ferry, as I had found that being essentially lazy, the idea of sitting down to write for hours was totally intimidating, but anyone can scribble for 30-45 minutes taking the train to and from work as I did in NYC or a similar ferry ride as I did the first years in Seattle. You only work a short time but if you do it every day a book appears very fast. I stopped writing for a few years then when I started again with Strong Heart I just wrote in my house after Randa went to work, I'd start after breakfast and write for two, three, five hours. These days I pretty much feel I can do this anywhere and any time, I have a pad to use when wandering around. For example I am now editing and finishing the third book in what has become this Strong Heart series, and to do that I went over to the peninsula and found a cheap dingy motel room with terrible TV and had nothing else to do but edit. The weather was nice so in the days I took off, hiked somewhere, found a nice log to lay against, and edited in the forest. Whatever works, I think....
- Manang Muyang
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From my research about my favorite authors, I observe that they create characters who are modeled after themselves. James Lee Burke and his Dave Robicheaux, Sue Grafton and her Kinsey Millhone, John Sandford and his Lucas Davenport, and Lee Child and his Jack Reacher are but some who come to mind. Lee Stone admits to modeling Slacker Mills after himself. Mois Benarroch even gives his main characters his name.
Would you say you have an alter ego among your characters? Would you ever create someone who is a lot like you?
- Angela Stripes
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Who is your favorite character in the story?
When I write, I tend to gravitate toward my side-characters or villains in some stories as much as main characters in others. It makes it a bit tricky to help the audience like my main character when the side-kick is my favorite.
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And, Angela - I like them all. I think of course Sarah has to be the favorite, I have no idea where she came from, none at all, but there she was - is.
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Lastly, it was a pleasure to review this book! I can't wait to see what else you publish. Thank you for your words!