Mother/Daughter
Writing, From Mother’s Point of View
My
daughter Terri’s interest in writing was sparked by a writers’ conference we
attended in Melbourne, Florida, when she was in high school. Years elapsed
during which time she mulled over an idea for a series which became Elements of
Mystery.
Meanwhile,
I had published travel pieces and a few short stories, but the publication of
my mystery novel, Make Old Bones, eluded
me. It had won first place in the mystery/suspense category at the Space Coast
Writer’s Guild in 2000. Finally in 2008 Terri and I attended a conference
sponsored by the North Florida Writers’ Association at Ponte Vedra Beach,
Florida. Make Old Bones once again
won first place in the Lighthouse Book Awards for mystery/suspense. Terri was
so proud, she cried! That spurred me on; that spurred her on. She finished
writing her mystery novel, Carbon Copy.
She hoped to ride in on my coattails. The opposite happened.
She
submitted to Wild Child Publishing, an electronic publisher; I had never
thought of doing that. When her book was accepted, I submitted also and was
accepted. Since then we have critiqued each other’s work. She is my biggest
fan! We feed off each other. My main characters, Otis and Clarice Campion, became
her main character, Lilly Allen’s, Uncle Otis and Aunt Clarice. When we are
together and we hear an interesting turn of phrase, we both screech, “I call
it!”
One
way I may have unconsciously influenced her is by setting, or a sense of place.
According to my professor, Dr. Richard Adicks from Literature of the South at
the University of Central Florida, there are six prominent features in Southern
writing: a sense of history or of the past; a sense of religion or original
sin; a sense of the grotesque; a sense of place; a sense of family or
genealogy; and agrarian, or rural.
I
write from a sense of place. Set your novel in a unique setting, and all manner
of ideas pop up. Terri imbibed this from somewhere. Her first novel is set in
New York and the Florida Keys, the sequel in Charleston. Her upcoming takes
place in Scotland. My first takes place in Daytona Beach, the second in St.
Augustine, the third in Ireland, and my work-in-progress in Scotland. We both
have hurricanes and castles figuring prominently.
Even
though we are much alike we have differences. My degrees are in English with
some nursing thrown in. Hers are in Accounting and Taxation. She comes up with
better plots. And while my mysteries are Cozies, hers are more modern.
But
the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree, to be trite! Great minds, and all
that!
Leslie
Talley
Author
of Make Old Bones and Bred In The Bone
Leslie Talley received her B.S. in Nursing from the
University of Kentucky and a B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of
Central Florida, Orlando, where she subsequently taught, as an adjunct,
Technical Writing and Business Writing for ten years.
Leslie and her husband Luke have two children: Terri
Talley Venters, Wild Child author of Carbon
Copy, Tin Roof, and Copper Cauldron; and Damon Talley,
video conference lead at Harris Corporation. Leslie and Luke have lived in
Titusville, Florida, for forty-five years.
Make
Old Bones and Bred In
The Bone are both available from Wild Child Publishing, amazon.com, and
barnesandnoble.com. Purchase links can be found on her website. http://www.makeoldbones.com/
Bred in the Bone
By Leslie S. Talley
In this sequel to Make
Old Bones Otis, Clarice, and Miss Letty act as exchange innkeepers at Castle
Keep in St. Augustine, Florida.
Castle Keep, built of timbers from a shipwreck, has a
disturbing history which carries over to the present. Recently a series of
break-ins by a homeless man and the sound of chains dragging in the attic
complicate matters.
Miss Letty and Clarice visit the original plantation site
where Clarice discovers a skeleton in the icehouse. In addition, they find the
burned body of the homeless man in a dragon sculpture, causing them to make
connections among disparate events separated by over a century.
Add to the mix a psychic, an African-American journalism
student, the Donner wedding party, Florida Gators, two snobbish Southerners,
father and son mural painters, an obstreperous Cavalier King Charles spaniel
named Charles Dickens, and an obnoxious, but, unwittingly, helpful
twelve-year-old named Beddington.
Mother/Daughter
authors, From daughter’s point of view
Wow!
Where do I start? 18 years ago, my mother and I only dreamed of writing a
novel, let alone getting it published. Our dreams of becoming mother/daughter
published authors was just something we fantasized about. Now we’ve both
published not only our debut novels, but their sequels as well.
Reflecting
back over the last 18 years, I realize how much hard work went into our first
books: Make Old Bones for my mother
and Carbon Copy for me. The hardest
part for me was starting. I thought about it for 8 years before I finally
started writing. The next hardest part for me was finishing. I spent 5 years
writing Carbon Copy. My mother was the reason I started and finished it. I
always tried to have a chapter for her to read whenever we planned a visit.
Then the next hardest part about the writing process was the waiting. Although
I was blessed to find a publisher within six months of finishing Carbon Copy, it was another 2 and half
years in editing before it was finally released in June 2012.
Now
that we both have the same awesome publisher, Wild Child Publishing, the
writing and editing are much easier for the both of us. I’ve recently finished
writing my fifth book, Silver Lining,
the epic conclusion to the Carbon Copy
trilogy, while my mother is almost finished writing the fourth book in her bone
series - The Bonnie, Bonnie Bone. My
mother and I are case in point that hard work, patience, and determination, can
make your dreams come true. We couldn’t have done it without each other’s
constant encouragement all of these years.
So
now that we’ve had our dream of being mother/ daughter published authors come
true, what’s our next dream? I still dream big. I’m looking forward to having
both of our books out in print so that we can do book signings together. And
although I loathe public speaking, I can’t wait to do a mother/daughter
presentation at a writer’s conference. Thank goodness my mother is an award
winning Toastmaster. I’ll just smile, nod, and show cleavage. We’re
brainstorming a co-authored book which is a prequel to Carbon Copy and Make Old Bones.
The characters in our books are related. My heroine, Lilly, is the niece of my
mother’s heroine, Clarice. The title will contain both a “bone” and an “element”.
My
biggest dream of all is to have one of my books get made into a movie. My
mother and I promised to be each other’s “plus one” if either of our book
movies get nominated for an academy award for best adapted screenplay. And yes,
I’ve mentally started writing my acceptance speech. Who knows what the future
holds for our books, but the best part of all is that I’m enjoying this
wonderful journey with my mother. I love you, Mom!
Terri Talley Venters,
Author of Carbon
Copy, Tin Roof, Body Of Gold, Copper Cauldron, and Silver Lining
Terri received
her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Master’s degree in Taxation from the
University of Florida. She is a licensed CPA and a Second Degree Black Belt in
Taekwondo. She lives in St. Augustine, Florida, with her husband, Garrison, and
their two sons.
Terri has two
other published works available from Wild Child Publishing. Carbon Copy and its sequel, Tin Roof, plus her unrelated novella, Copper Cauldron. She recently finished
writing Silver Lining, the epic
conclusion to the Carbon Copy
trilogy, coming soon from Wild Child Publishing. Her romantic/suspense novel, Body Of Gold, is coming soon from
Freya’s Bower. Terri also posts free short stories on her website each month. www.ElementsOfMystery.com. Follow her as she weaves her way
through the Periodic Table of Elements.
Terri is the
daughter of Leslie S. Talley, author of Make
Old Bones and Bred In The Bone which are also available from Wild Child
Publishing.
For the purchase links and more info
about Terri’s books, visit her website.
Tin Roof
the sequel to Carbon
Copy
In the sequel to Carbon Copy, Lilly Allen
returns to her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, to be closer to her
mother, help with her injured brother, and heal from the disappearance of her
fiancé Grier Garrison. While she awaits Grier's return, she busies herself with
her mansion renovations, her best friend's wedding, and her job as a news
reporter.
But even her busy schedule cannot stem the
worry over her brother's persistent amnesia and changes in personality. Is he
her real twin? Or did they rescue a clone?
On top of this, the months of pining
without a word from Grier begin to take their toll. She finds herself growing
closer to her favorite cameraman, Joe. His confession of undying love, followed
by a passionate kiss, has her questioning how much longer she can wait, and
whether she wants to.
To further complicate matters, two
unrelated news stories drag her into the seamy underbelly of the Charleston
Police Department where murder and drugs are common occurrences.
In the chaos of a hurricane, another body
washes ashore, and Lilly comes face-to-face with the murderer.
