The Page Turners discussion

Our next Q ad A is with author Joanna Senger! She wrote Reservation Ravaged.



The synopsis:
Hermione Daggert is a newly certified California private investigator and the junior partner in Denning & Daggert. Proud possessor of her own business card, she relies on her special analytical skills and ability to fade into the background so completely that people forget they met her. The senior partner, Emma Denning, turns over an assignment for a local Indian tribe, the Kanache, to Hermione. Over a year before, a man camped illegally on the reservation. The chief forced him to leave immediately. Ever since, the land on which he camped has seen unparalleled devastation. The chief’s grandson is injured in a freak accident on that section of the reservation and loses a leg.

Hermione is hired to find that man. And she does.

But that is only the beginning. The Kanache sell that section of the reservation to an academic entrepreneur, Dr. Frederic Unlickner, who uses the site to build the Institute of Holistic Health, his lifelong dream. Emma Denning despises Unlickner on sight and nicknames him “Dr. Unlikeable.”

No longer content to simply maim a teenage boy, the land seems to seek new victims beginning with a fiery crash, burning a young socialite alive. Hermione finds herself working at the Institute, trying to unravel the geologic mystery with several murders tucked inside. No longer sure that she understands human nature, or anything else, she narrowly escapes being swallowed alive by the land underneath her feet
Please post questions by November 23.

How did you begin writing?
Who is your favorite author?
Was the publishing process difficult?
How did you get inspiration to write Reservation Ravaged?

Here are the replies:

How did you begin writing?

I wrote my first short story at the age of nine, Roolah and the Elephant Herd. I also illustrated it,

Lord help us. I still have it, a cover made of orange construction paper, pencil scrawl on Big

Chief tablet sheets, crayon illustrations and all. I was heavily influenced by Tarzan comics.

Since then I have written policies, legal documents, procedure manuals, skits for children, and

just about anything that came my way. It is blissful to write plots which conform to my vision of

the world. The formal education process requires frequent writing, at least in the areas I studied,

but it is a disciplined, fact-based activity. I love being able to write what I personally know and

think, or to use the vernacular, let it all hang out.


Who is your favorite author?

When I was seven, my parents gave me a wonderful Christmas present: “The Tin Woodsman of

Oz,” the first book that I could read myself. Smitten with the Land of Oz, I went on to read and

later buy all the books in the series, and I still have them. L. Frank Baum was followed by

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (The Yearling), William Faulkner, Ann Rice, Agatha Christie, Joyce

Carol Oates, Stephen King and many others.

I strive for a style similar to Faulkner’s with respect to abrupt pace change and like Christie’s for

subtlety. With respect to mysteries, I particularly like those mysteries where “who-dun-it”

becomes secondary to the extraordinary discoveries made along the way.


Was the publishing process difficult?

The world of publishers and agents is confusing at best. Apparently, the term “publisher” admits

of many interpretations. I find it easier to navigate through the process than to figure out the

industry itself.

At its core, the process begins with writing the book. After expending the energy required to

write the manuscript, the author finds out that the completed manuscript is just the beginning.

Next s/he must submit the manuscript to the publisher for acceptance, go through the editing

process, evaluate and approve the cover, and proof the final copy. Then we start to market! No

one of the steps is beyond endurance, but the process is a lot of work taken all together.

Bottom line: It’s usually harder to obtain a publisher than to go through the publishing

process.



How did you get inspiration to write RESERVATION RAVAGED?

Perhaps my novels are like cakes: different ingredients mixed together in a specific way. From

the time I was preschool age, I used to tell anyone who came to our front door “My father lives

in an Indian house far, far away.” Having a regular dad just wasn’t enough. I wanted an Indian

dad. I have no idea where this preference came from, but it stuck. I couldn’t get enough of the

American Indians and researched Indian treaties while preparing to write RESERVATION RAVAGED.

The challenge was to create a fictional Indian tribe which was nonetheless plausible. Not easy, I

can assure you.

For two years I was a director at a graduate institute on the Central California Coast. While I

now live in Arizona, I haven’t lost my fascination with that section of California, the least known

region of the best known state. Sparkling, expensive, and insular.

Like any novelist, I create characters and then fall in love with them myself. The two female

private investigators have created their own agency and lead a life I can only envy from the other

side of the page. As for the two detectives, I would date either one of them in a minute. Good

guys, bad guys, and in between, the characters are like eggs, flour, and shortening. They make

the cake.