• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Rae Stoltenkamp

I write therefore I am

  • ABOUT
    • INDIE AUTHOR
    • INTERVIEWS
    • GUEST POSTS
    • CONTACT
    • PRIVACY POLICY, T&Cs & COPYRIGHT
  • BOOKS
  • EVENTS
  • BLOG
  • FREE BOOKS!
  • COMING SOON
  • VIDEOS

Back catalogue secrets

Back Catalogue Secrets II

March 15, 2020 by Rae Stoltenkamp Leave a Comment

The
Main Characters

Brueberon
–
A very lonely over-sized dragon in need of a friend.

Clarissa Henry – An extreme reader who
dreams of worlds other than the one she lives in.

Kastaspella – A dastardly witch
who detests Clarissa and hopes to make her life even more miserable than it
already is.
A Book Is Born

My
intention was never to write a children’s book. Before I started working at
Inkhead I actively avoided little children quite simply because I was afraid of
them. Okay, terrified is more accurate a description. As a teacher I stuck with
teenagers. Despite their erratic qualities I related to them very well. Perhaps
I was still a teenager at heart.



Ultimately I assumed my writing would focus on
teen and adult themes. At the time I was already writing the first in my Sci Fi
series and was almost done with the final edit of my debut novel. So I was a
little stunned to find myself writing The
Lonely Dragon
. I’m even more surprised now to find myself producing a
sequel. And still more astounded to find myself sucked into writing the memoirs
of a character I considered to be minor. I of course mean Jinx, Kastaspella’s
cat and feline Familiar. Let’s just hope he doesn’t read this as he’d
be particularly miffed that I ever considered him minor. I can assure you, my
thinking on that score has been totally revised.
If you
ask where the idea for The Lonely Dragon
came from, I honestly don’t know. The book wrote itself. Bruberon was the
character most prominent in my thoughts. In my mind’s eye he was like the dragon
from The NeverEnding Story but
without the sophistication and assurance that dragon displayed.
Clarissa’s
character is probably most like my own as she spends a great deal of time
reading and daydreaming. The rest of the story is made up of my love of mixing
fact and fiction till the lines blur.



The front cover came about because I worked with a young artist, Anastasia Scudamore and a group of children she was teaching at the time. The aim was to show them that art can be used as the basis for an income. I provided extracts from the book and the children created the most marvellous paintings. The first edition cover featured every single drawing even though book cover designers were appalled. I very much wanted every child to know their work was appreciated. The new edition still uses a cropped image from one of those paintings.
To
celebrate the fact that Memoirs of a
Feline Familiar
(the spin-off inspired by a once supposedly minor character)
is due for release as soon as all the final edits are done, the e-book of The
Lonely Dragon
is available FREE until 20 March. 



Enjoy!



Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: #giveaway, Anastasia Scudamore, Back catalogue secrets, Free books, Jinx, Memoirs of a Feline Familiar, spin off, The Lonely Dragon, The Neverending Story

Back Catalogue Secrets I

February 21, 2020 by Rae Stoltenkamp 2 Comments

When I
wrote my debut novel Six Dead Men it
was meant to be a stand-alone piece. I was already working on a Sci Fi Novel
and had several other ideas floating about for new novels. It also had a very
different ending to the current one. My ART at the time (a writing group run
by Caroline Natzler) were insistent I change my planned ending. Here was this
bunch of hard core writers who demanded the perfect word in exactly the right
spot and my realistic ending was proving too traumatising for them. Who could
have predicted it? Certainly not me.
It
took me a while to rethink my ending (an entire summer if I recall correctly)
to find a closing which didn’t involve a rewrite of the entire novel. This made
the writing process a touch challenging but I believe it produced a better
book. However, it also woke the voices of the subsidiary characters who then
demanded I write something just for them. It’s the reason I now also have Six Degrees, a book of short stories in
the series. But that is a post for another day.
That
first step of listening intently to what my readers were saying was a crucial
one for me to take. Collective sighs of relief flooded our writing group when I
returned with the altered ending and Kleenex lost out on a considerable amount
of revenue that day. It was initially this experience which made me realise the
importance of having an ART and is the reason I insist on
each of my new books going through the same process. I end up with gut
wrenching anxiety each and every time but know it will be to the book’s
advantage in the long run. With this in mind there is a whole lot of nail
biting going on as my ART goes through their reading of Memoirs of a Feline Familiar. I look
forward to all the comments and edits to come.
Without
my readers I am at best a mediocre writer. Giving you what you want makes me up
my game and improves the quality of my work on a daily basis. So huge thanks for all the feedback.
A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR YOU

If you haven’t read Six Dead Men as yet please take this opportunity to get hold of a FREE e-copy today.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Advance Reading Team, Back catalogue secrets, Free books, Mailing List

Footer

Alliance of Independent Authors
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Follow by Email
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
Tweet

Copyright © 2021 · Author Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in