April CSR Discussion Day: The Secret Heart by Dabeagle
Entry posted by Cia in CSR- Can't Stop Reading
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I hope you enjoyed this little tidbit of a read for April, because who doesn't enjoy taking a peak at a story by Dabeagle? If you haven't before, I hope you enjoyed it. The Secret Heart is a story about a story about a teen facing all those challenges teens do, and Dabeagle tells it so well. Part of a larger series, you can dip back into world if you enjoyed the characters too! Make sure you share your thoughts about the story and his writing below, but first, the interview!
Do you eat your fruits and vegetables? Veggies are hit and miss, but getting better. Dessert is usually fruit.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing? I enjoy working on my project car, sometimes gaming and repairing Telechron electric clocks.
If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be? Things I screwed Up and Didn't Properly Fix.
What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment? I think the compliment is the easier of the two – anytime I made someone feel. If you are invested enough to feel, I think I've earned my crust. I don't get many criticisms, so the closest I can think of is when I try and offer (unsolicited) advice, it hasn't gone well. Oh, and one of my editors told me once that one of my sentences was so nonsensical it was Trumpian.
What’s the best part of being an author? I think there are two things that tie for the 'best' slot. I usually love my characters, spending time with them and telling their stories. However I love interacting with the readers and seeing their comments. Sometimes I go back and look at the comments or emails again, just to feel good at their insight, observations or reactions.
Which would you find harder, finding a good gift or having a hard conversation? I have raised, along with my husband, three boys from foster care; hard conversations come with the territory. I definitely struggle more with the perfect gift (guess what? You're getting a clock.)
What inspired you to write a short story for Micah in your Sanitaria Springs series? Micah is an unusual character. Because there are so many stories in the world that focus on straight folks, I tend to have them more as background characters, with few exceptions. In Sanitaria Springs I follow the gay kids in town, but again Micah is an outlier. He was introduced in a version of 'A Christmas Story' where in he was a spirit guiding Alec through a traumatic experience. Although that hasn't really been touched on since, I find it interesting to tie them together in a cosmic sense. Periodically I check in on the different characters; Micah's tough because he's an amalgam of some of the kids we've had, some of our experiences with our own kids, and things that come to mind I entertain myself with on long drives.
Do you have a favorite line or scene in the story? I like the allegory of the creek, still feeling love even if you can't see it. I think it's an important thing for people in general and a hard lesson to learn. I struggle with it myself.
Tell the truth… did you Google rizz? I did not. One of my favorite things is to use 'teen speak' on my teen. I once had a conversation with he and his best friend about how they had 'no rizz', were 'sus' and so forth. My son was laughing and embarrassed until I did the same to his friend, then there was finger pointing and telling me to stop using those words. It also helps to identify more authentic language – for instance my son calls everyone 'bro', whereas when I was kid 'dude' was more common. He even has called girlfriends 'bro' and that seems to fly, but he also helps me weed out words. For example, 'skibidi' is apparently for little kids. Insert eyeroll here.
Do you have anything you’d like to share about your current or upcoming work with readers? For folks that were fans of House of Frost, I have an indirect sequel coming. I'm putting some final touches to it before it goes to edit. I say indirect because it doesn't follow the original main character, but it does exist in the same universe and we do meet with the original main character later on. I hope people enjoy it!
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