January 15, 2016
Good morning friends,
The day began much as it did yesterday. The temperature is
54 and we will reach the 70’s here in the Houston area. We also expect rain.
I walked in the neighborhood yesterday and was happy I made
myself do so. And that massage I received? It was wonderful.
I have a special treat for you today. Danele Rotharmel
stopped by. She’s my friend and a fellow author at Prism Book Group. Danele is an interesting lady and all of us
are excited about her debut novel. It released today, and I bought it a few
minutes ago. Here's a transcript of our interview.
I want to welcome Danele Rotharmel to Gay’s Days. She is
a true friend, a Prism Book Group author, and a natural cheerleader. She has a
word of encouragement for all of us on staff, and we couldn’t do without her. She's pretty too.
Danele grew up with a love for
reading, and by age five decided to become a writer. However, life took an
unexpected turn when a mysterious illness brought her close to death. A
low-level carbon monoxide leak from a faulty furnace in the home slowly poisoned
her. The event triggered severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and partial
amnesia.
During this
time, she faced a crisis of faith. She had to quit her job and stop going to
church. Unable to write or drive, she could barely remembered who she was. To
say she was upset with the Lord was an understatement. During a lengthy
illness, she reexamined her faith and came to the firm conclusion that God is
real, He is good. He’s interested and involved, and above all, God is
trustworthy regardless of tragedy.
The illness grew severe and she was
quarantined—only speaking to friends and family through the glass of a window.
The confinement lasted seven years. During this time, she wrote the first six
books in The Time Counselor Chronicles.
The first book in the series, Time
Tsunami, releases today, January 15, 2016 by Prism Book Group.
Okay,
Danele, tell us a bit more about you. What did you do before becoming a writer?
Thanks Gay for asking. I love telling the stories of my varied
background. Before I became ill, I held several jobs—both paid and unpaid. I was a
substitute teacher, a church secretary, the director of a small food bank, a
nursing home minister, and a Bible Quiz coach. I enjoyed each of my jobs, but
the ones I liked the most were the ones associated with my parent’s farm. I
drove a tractor, milked cows, and fed the calves. Working with the baby animals
was so much fun! I loved every moment of it! …well, most of the moments. Cleaning up after the animals could be a
little smelly at times.
Yuk! I’ve done a variety of
jobs too, but I’ve never cleaned up reeking manure. Don’t think I’ll try that
one. How did you get in to writing?
Would you describe yourself as a panster or
plotter?
Besides the introduction of the
Facilitator, my other biggest surprise surrounded my character Zara. When I
started writing Time Tsunami, Zara
was a soft-spoken woman with a southern accent. But as my book progressed, Zara
slowly transformed. She grew spicy, plucky, and brave. And then, out of the
blue, she started talking with a Jamaican accent. When I write, I “hear” my
characters speaking their lines, and Zara was definitely morphing into an
exotic island beauty. It took me tons of time to give Zara her Jamaican accent,
but I’m so happy I did. I loved bringing her to life. She’s one of my
favorites!
Your testimony is an inspiration. I too don’t care for
waiting—especially as I age every day. I hate the thought of time running out
before I see my goals met. What kind of books do you like to read yourself? Any
favourite authors?
Thanks Danele! Sarah loves
hearing that, and so do I! Tell us a little about your series. Is there a certain number of books planned,
and if so, do you have them already plotted?
They sound exciting. I’ve
considered having Sarah do a bit of time travel. Can you imagine my bumbling
angel going into times past or the future?
As she would say, “Merciful Heavens.” Where do you get the idea for time
travel and preventing a future event from taking place in the present?
While earning my teaching license, I worked as a cadet teacher at a
local middle school. At the same time, I also took a creative writing class. On
one of my teaching days, I broke up a fight between two students, and I
remember thinking that one of the students was headed for serious trouble
unless something changed. I talked to the student, but it didn’t seem enough. I
wondered if there was anything else I could do to put him on a better path.
That same week, I had to write a short story for my creative writing class. My
questions from cadet teaching swirled around and morphed into the idea of
time-traveling counsellors who surfed time waves to stop people from becoming
hardened criminals. When I received my story back from my professor, he told me
that I had a “sellable” idea. Years later, when my writing ability was restored
during quarantine, I pulled my dog-eared short story from a cardboard box and
turned it into Time Tsunami.
Right now, I’m
polishing my third book, Time Search,
and preparing it for review by my editor. I had a blast writing the books, and
I’m also enjoying editing them. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so it takes me an
hour to edit each page of my manuscripts. Considering the fact that I go over
my manuscripts several times, you can see how time adds up. I’m also working on
articles for my blog https://dragonflydanele.wordpress.com/ I open up about my illness and the struggle I
had reconciling my faith with my pain. At first I felt intimidated about
sharing my faith journey, but the reception my articles have received has been
so encouraging. Some of my journal articles have literally gone around the
world. They’ve been seen in places as far off as Mongolia and Taiwan.
The path my life has
taken isn’t a normal one. I never could’ve predicted the twists and turns that
I’ve encountered. But every step of the way, God has been by my side helping
me. Every day, I regain a little bit more of my health. I feel blessed when I
sit down to write.
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