Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a Scorpio witch born in Independence, Missouri, on Halloween during the Great Depression. I’ve written more books than I’ve published, but some were for practice. I have both trade paperbacks and ebooks currently published and available all over the planet … or so it seems … about thirteen of them at last count.
My first published book (for children 8-12) was The Haunted Igloo (1991, Houghton Mifflin, Boston). I wrote the sequel to that, but it was rejected for sliding from middle-grade to young adult. I wasn’t about to change any of it, so I ended up self-publishing it. This title is Spirit Lights (ages 12 & up). Next came another middle grade/young adult (12 & up), Down the Memory Hole, a story about a 12-year-old boy forced to share his room and personal space with his ailing grandpa, who has Alzheimer’s.
Next was a book for 8-12 readers, Footprints in Time: A Walk in Sacajawea’s Moccasins. Then came yet another Arctic novel — not a sequel, but a companion book to my first two books, Drum Dance. Drum Dance is young-adult through Adult. Ideally, one would read the first two books first, since there’s an unintended surprise in Drum Dance that links back to Spirit Lights. People who have read both have enjoyed finding that surprise.
After Drum Dance came my Great Depression historical novel, in which I jumped from children’s books to adult in Face the Winter Naked.
So this old lady has been busy through the years. In between the books I’ve mentioned were some odds and ends of published works for younger children, plus a collection of short plays (satire/humor), There’s a Snake in My Apple.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is The Ghost of Calico Acres, a Romantic Suspense/Mystery for adults, set in SW Wisconsin. I wrote this one about twenty years ago but never submitted it anywhere due to my family being on the move so often for my late hubby’s work. At one point, we ended up living down by Milwaukee, and I came across some folklore about hauntings in the area of my novel. Not sure how it happened, but soon there was a ghost story rattling around in my head trying to get out. After it collected dust in a drawer all those years, I finally read it again and saw possibilities for publishing.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have the normal writers blocks others freak out over, but which don’t bother me that much. I just leave my computer for a while and work out the problems in long hand on a pad of paper.
I also make full use of my creative right mind, which is actually the subconscious. I’ve learned to switch from left- to right-brain mode quite easily, and then I’m on auto-pilot. When I’m in this mode, I get lost in the story and don’t even realize I’m writing. At times, I’ve read something back later and not even recognized it.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Many old classics have influenced my writing, from the famed Dick and Jane readers in first grade, to Jack London, Edgar Allen Poe, poet Robert Service, James Michener, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, O.E. Rolvaag, Mark Twain, Frances Parkinson Keyes, Thomas Tryon, and so many others I can’t name them all.
Books such as Chesapeake, Steamboat Gothic, Harvest Home, Giants in the Earth, and The Odyssey of Homer are just a start of a very long list.
What are you working on now?
I’m getting ready to work on a novel set in the Flapper Era: Jazzbaby, and if I can find time from all this marketing and promoting, I want to do a small book about my experiments and experiences with ESP and astral projection.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Facebook and Twitter a lot to promote my work. And I also have a personal web page with my writing listed on that; however, not having a domain name, I don’t get many hits on the page. I also have a blog at Goodreads. but I’m usually too busy to keep that up. I also belong to a large online writers group, Backspace, which is authors helping authors. And of course, listing blogs and sites such as Awesome Gang are vital to promotion.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
The best advice I can offer new authors is to finish a rough draft before showing the story to others. I’ve seen too many writers who have talked out their work in progress only to give up on it entirely and never finish it. Many professional writers say they never share their work until the first draft is done, and the reason should be obvious: When you talk out your story, there’s no longer a burning desire to finish it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I ever heard was from my dad: “Bonnie, you can do anything you put your mind to.”
And that’s been my philosophy all my life.
What are you reading now?
I’m not reading anything right now, but have recently finished a couple of novels I thought were awesome: Flowers in a Window, by Mary McPhee. Chicago’s Headmistress, by Loretta Giacoletto, and Racing on a Wire, by Inge Moore.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing Jazzbaby is my next big project, which will take a lot of research.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
If I were stranded on a desert island, I would want The Complete Works of Robert Service. I would also want a couple of my own books that I think are awesome–and an author isn’t worth her salt unless she thinks her own writing is awesome, right? Drum Dance, Face the Winter Naked, and The Ghost of Calico Acres are my favorites. I could never part with them after getting so acquainted with the various characters.
Author Websites and Profiles
Bonnie Turner Website
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