Wings ePress Interview Margaret B Lawrence To Touch The Sky

Interview Margaret B. Lawrence

Sandy Smith

1. Would you tell us about your exciting new book, To Touch the Sky?

To Touch The Sky is set at the time of and following the Oklahoma Land Run of April 22, 1889. When I began the novel it was my dream to write it and publish it in time for the Centennial Celebration here in Oklahoma. That didn’t happen because life intruded on my plans. To Touch The Sky is the story of Sarah Grayson and Luke McLaughlin who met on the day of the Run and their lives were inextricably entwined by their love for each other and the circumstances surrounding them as they battle a maniac who is intent on Luke’s destruction.

2. Where did you get the idea for this book?

The two characters have always lived in my head. I have never required eight hours of sleep. 5-1/2 to 6 hours is normal for me. This is “out of step” with a majority of the world and most especially with a farm-life where “early to bed, early to rise” is the norm. I spent most of my life telling myself stories at night after the lights went out. Luke and Sarah were the main characters that had all kinds of adventures.

At a time in my life when I was a dog breeder and travelled to various dog show around the country I had a friend who travelled with me with her dogs. Sometimes, to keep us entertained on these long drives I’d tell Patricia a “story” that I made up as I went along. She began encouraging me to write. It took a while for her to convince me that anyone other than my family and friends might be interested in my stories.

3. Who is your favorite character, Luke McLaughlin or Sarah Grayson?

Oh, you do ask hard questions and I don’t honestly know if I can answer it. Luke is honorable, honest, loving and giving. He is the epitome of the old western hero from all those movies starring Gary Cooper, or Randolph Scott, or John Wayne--or Clint Walker. I suppose the mention of these stars will give away my age. LOL When I think about Luke I picture Clint Walker (old TV Show Cheyenne). Both are tall, broad-shouldered, lean-hipped.

Sarah is also honorable, honest, loving, giving, loyal, completely unselfish and totally unaware of her beauty--both internal and external. She believes in family and in doing everything in her power to see that her family is healthy and cared for in every way humanly possible. She can’t bring herself to be deliberately hurtful (This gets her in trouble in To Touch The Sky). I’ve never found a movie or TV star that looks like Sarah. She’s very clear to me when I picture her face but she doesn’t look like anyone but herself and she’s very real to me so I suppose, if I must choose…it would be Sarah because I would like to be more like her.

4. How different are Luke and Sarah’s personalities?

Sarah is optimistic. She sees the sunshine instead of the shadows. She is full of laughter, and joy. She is forgiving and is a loyal friend.

Luke is quiet, circumspect, a bit wary of strangers. He is a strong and loyal friend who will do all in his power to help when it is needed. But he can be relentless with an enemy.

5. How much research was involved in this book?

Actually, quite a lot. I spent months in the library researching the time period…and fed in all those facts in the earliest version of the book. My first rejection letter for To Touch The Sky said it sounded like a text book for Oklahoma History. LOL So, back to the drawing board for a rewrite.

6. Do you write just historicals or do you write in other genres?

My favorite genre is romantic suspense. In a way, To Touch The Sky is an historical romantic suspense. I have a series of romantic suspense novels, the first of which was published by Wings ePress in January. Caresse; A Loving Touch is contemporary and the first in The Willow Glen Series. The second book, Michael; A Gift Of Trust, will be out in August, 2002. I’m currently working on Briana; A Badge Of Honor which is about 2/3 completed.

7. Do you have critique partners?

Yes, I do. I have excellent critique partners now--after a really bad experience with a critique group early on. The first critique group to which I belonged were extremely harsh and unkind. They never found anything they liked and only criticized. Since it was my first experience with a critique group I didn’t know this was not the way it should be. I nearly decided to give up and quit trying to write. Interestingly enough, as far as I know, I’m the only one from that group that is published. So my advice to anyone joining a critique group, don’t stay if they make you doubt yourself and your talent.

8. Do you have problems wanting to edit your book as you write and if you do how do you keep from doing it?

Oh, yes. And often I am not able to stop the editing. It’s one of my greatest failings as an author. It slows down the flow. My advice is: Don’t do as I do. It is much better to write the entire story, beginning, middle and end--then go back and edit, edit, edit. If you do as I do and edit every paragraph before moving on, it is much more slow getting the story down on paper.

9. What do you do to promote your books?

Goodness, I’ve done quite a lot. I’ve gone to conferences, secured interviews in the local paper, given copies of my books to the local library, gone on a nearly year long book signing tour, printed up flyers to hand out, book marks to hand out… You name it and I’ve tried it. It can be very expensive. The ill-fated book signing tour cost (no exaggeration) thousands of dollars. And it was not a good way to spend the money.

10. What other books are in the planning?

I’ve mentioned the third in The Willow Glen Series. I have plans for three others in that series. All I need is the time to write them. I also have one half of the sequel to To Touch The Sky in the very early first draft stage. I hope to complete Whispered Words Of Love some day. And I also have a short contemporary outlined. I would like to write: Mom Goes On Strike some day.

11. What message do you have for someone seriously working to publish today?

:::sigh::: Well, it’s advice that I should listed to myself. Keep your butt in the chair and write. Write the story, edit it to the best of your ability. If necessary, take classes on creative writing whenever available. Find critique partners who support your effort to become a published writer.

And most important of all, believe in yourself and your dream.

And although it is a totally biased opinion, I’d also recommend finding an e-publisher. Epublishers tend to NOT want cookie-cutter stories. They want the authors to write the book of her (or his) heart. Most of all, find an e-publisher who is honest and ethical. I recommend Wings ePress, Inc. who meets all these criteria.