Author
Bio:
Dusty
Crabtree has been a high school English teacher at Yukon High School
in Oklahoma since 2006, a challenge she thoroughly enjoys. She is
also a youth sponsor at Cherokee Hills Christian Church in Oklahoma
City and feels very blessed with the amazing opportunities she has to
develop meaningful relationships with teens on a daily basis. Her
passion for teens has poured into her writing as well. She is the
author of the young adult urban fantasy, Shadow Eyes, through Musa
Publishing, which she wrote in order to give teens an intriguing and
provocative book series that promotes moral messages. She lives with
her husband, Clayton, in Yukon, Oklahoma, where they often serve
their community as foster parents.
If
you could work with any other author, who would it be and why?
Becca
Fitzpatrick, author of the Hush Hush series! I love her writing
style! Her words flow so smoothly, and her plots transition
seamlessly from one scene to the next. As I was writing my first
novel, Shadow Eyes, she was the one I read while thinking to myself,
“Man, I want to write like that.” Without her knowing it, I
think she made me a better writer.
What
would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write?
Well,
I’m actually a high school English teacher by day, but I doubt you
want to hear about that as it has nothing to do with writing, except
that I sometimes gain some interesting fuel for my young adult books.
Since school takes up so much of my time, I try to write late in the
evening before bed, on the weekends, or on school breaks…basically
whenever I can find some free time. Summer is my main time to write.
As far as where, I love to write on my couch or sitting at my table
on my laptop. But if something comes to me while I’m out, I always
have my notes app on my phone.
What is the hardest part of the writing for you?
I
think trying to write the beginnings of chapters is the hardest part
or when I first sit down to write after a long break. Once I get the
flow going, it’s much easier, but that first initial writer’s
block is sometimes hard to get through.
When and why did you first start writing?
I
didn’t start writing until May of 2010 when I started working on
Shadow Eyes. I had never tried to tackle writing anything before my
friend suggested I write a book. I told her she was crazy, but once
the seed was planted and I started, I couldn’t stop. I loved
writing and couldn’t wait every day to go home from my teaching job
to write some more.
How did you come up with the idea for the book?
It
originally came to me as an idea for a screenplay for what can only
be described as a Christian horror movie. It would have had several
interwoven characters who would unknowingly be harassed and
influenced by creepy evil shadows. When my friend convinced me I
should write a book, I immediately thought of my screenplay idea. A
few days later the visual of what is now my prologue just came to me
one morning, so I took both ideas and worked them around in my head
until I came up with a teenage, female protagonist who could see the
shadows while nobody else could…or so she thinks…
Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?
I
love reading, especially young adult books! I don’t think I’d be
a good author or English teacher if I didn’t. Because of being so
busy, though, I don’t get to read nearly as much as I would like.
Right now, I’m reading the last of the Fallen series by Lauren
Kate! After that it will be The Mark of Athena, the latest Lost Hero
book by Rick Riordan!
Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?
Find
a subject or idea for a story that you are truly passionate about and
write a detailed outline with a killer ending. If you do, you’ll
be far less likely to drop out or give up in the middle of the
writing process. Also, write short stories and other small works now
for practice and enter them in contests or try to get them published.
When you get to the point of looking for an agent or publisher for
your first novel, you’ll have more luck if you can include some
writing credentials in your query letter.
Synopsis:
Iris
Kohl lives in a world populated by murky shadows that surround,
harass, and entice unsuspecting individuals toward evil. But she is
the only one who can see them. She’s had this ability to see the
shadows, as well as brilliantly glowing light figures, ever since an
obscure, tragic incident on her fourteenth birthday three years
earlier.
Although
she’s learned to cope, the view of her world begins to shift upon
the arrival of three mysterious characters. First, a handsome new
teacher whose presence scares away shadows; second, a new friend with
an awe-inspiring aura; and third, a mysterious and alluring new
student whom Iris has a hard time resisting despite already having a
boyfriend.
As
the shadows invade and terrorize her own life and family, she must
ultimately revisit the most horrific event of her life in order to
learn her true identity and become the hero she was meant to be.
Check
out Dusty’s blog at http://dustycrabtree.wordpress.com/
Find
her on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/dusty.crabtree.1
Follow
her on twitter at https://twitter.com/dustycrabtree
Shadow
Eyes is available for purchase at
http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=176
(also
available at all major online bookstores)
View
the book trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7UP9A0Fm78
0 comments:
Post a Comment