Welcoming T.S. Krupa to Jorie Loves A Story,
featuring an Interview & *LIVE!* Author Q&A!
FULL DETAILS:
Jorie interviews Ms. Krupa ahead of the 5:30pm (EST) live commenting blog event which will take place in the comment threads of this post! IF you are unable to drop back during the time in which Ms. Krupa will be responding to reader comments, questions, and compliments please make sure to leave your response *early!* in order for her to respond! All comments are still moderated by Jorie, who will be on hand during the live event making sure all comments get through! Once approved you will have the ability to post a direct response without waiting. Readers and visitors of Jorie Loves A Story can easily leave a comment by using Email, WP, Google+, Facebook, & Twitter interfaces without the stress of captcha as I do not use that service! *Remember!* return back to this page in the early evening hour of 5 o’ clock to make sure you do not miss Ms. Krupa! I do recommend subscribing to the comments in order to keep in the loop!
My path crossed with Ms. T.S. Krupa whilst checking Twitter, seeing what was new and finding that a wicked sweet Indie author had found me! She asked me to check out her website and the premise of her début indie novel “Safe & Sound”. I was offered to receive the novel in exchange for an honest review as well as host a special feature to coincide with the book if I elected too. I thought it would be a smashing idea to host an Author Interview, as she’s just getting her feet wet in publishing, and I know I always appreciate reading interactions between authors and book bloggers myself! Therefore, this particular extra feature became quite enhanced when her publicist Ms. Bauer suggested a *live Q&A* where readers could pitch questions and Ms. Krupa could answer live at a scheduled time! I’m happy to have found a new way to bring an author to my blog, and offer such a unique event to my readers as well! Let us pause now whilst the conversation commences!
Book Synopsis for Safe & Sound:
When great love is lost forever, what does it take to find the courage to move on?
When Jill met Jay Greenfield she knew she had found her forever love. She was a kindergarten teacher, he was a high-powered attorney and their lives were perfect. But when a tragic accident takes Jay’s life, this young bride is left to pick up the pieces.
Jill finds herself a young widow facing multiple decisions she thought she had a lifetime to decide. With support from her childhood best friends, Lanie and Stella, Jill attempts to piece her life back together. With nightmares plaguing her dreams and the struggles of constant grief over Jay’s passing, Stella and Lanie keep near constant vigilance over her. In the process of settling the estate, Jill learns that her husband was not quite the man she thought he was. She finds herself transported to the small beach town of Oak Island, North Carolina. But the fairy tale ending she envisioned no longer exists. She must face the reality that Jay is gone as she finds herself having a chance at love one more time.
Safe & Sound follows a yearlong journey of love, loss, friendship, and conquering the
unexpected.
I gathered from your biography you come from a strong Polish background. Did grow up in a family full of story-tellers?!
Looking back on my childhood I would say that is an accurate statement. As a kid I always gravitated towards adults. I would sit at the table and listen to them talk about the various challenges or indulgences of life. I don’t think it was meant to be story-telling but to a young kid, they were stories that let my imagination run wild.
I think its exactly how you said it is when we are children. All the stories we overheard from our family members were quite dear to us, even if they were only imparting sage advice befitting the day or hour we were with them in conversation. Each of those nuggets of inspiration have a way of incorporating into our writing life down the road!
What do you feel shifted your mind towards taking writing out of your personal journals and into a full novel?
Journal writing is very personal about specific thoughts, emotions, feelings that are only relevant to you. Whereas, I find novel writing is about story-telling. I had less and less to say in my personal journal and more and more to tell in forms of a story. The biggest push though came when I just couldn’t sleep anymore because I had this story running through my thoughts.
I oft find myself with the opposite problem; where I excel in writing fiction or poetry, I am not always as apt at conveying what I want to impart on behalf of a personal journal! I have started and stopped journalling so many times during my life, that sometimes I wonder why I keep attempting to maintain one! I suppose in the back of my mind, I always would hope I could bridge the gap between fiction and antidotes of my real experiences. I’d like to have those to share with my future children. Alas, every writer I think falters on that one note: what to do when the stories are eager for you to write them down!
When did your writing from worrying about what others thought to caring more about your own personal thoughts and processes!?
To be honest, I don’t know if I am there yet. The first book is easy to write in regards of expectations because there aren’t any. With the second book it will be very much, can I live up to the expectation of the first, and will it be as relatable without telling the same story. But I find that once I get into my comfortable space and start writing I can tune most things out, it’s in the editing process that I can ‘over-think’ the details.
I think as long as you are comfortable in your own writing voice and the characters which speak to you as you write feel wholly true to your own spirit as you write their stories; you’ll do just fine when your second book is released! Afterall, at the end of the day, the writer has to be confident and happy with what they have cast out into the world. Long before the audience of readers ever sees their work, they have to own what they created. I think its a process and the day will arrive without notice when you feel your not second-guessing yourself anymore. Confidence grows in quiet hours.
What are your earliest memories of books and authors? Which stories were your favorite companions? And, why?
I ‘wrote’ a book when I was like 5 or 6. It was mostly a poorly drawn collection of stick figures put together in book form but it was my first attempt. From there I can always remember excelling at story-telling assignments about Paul Bunyan, Camelot, Pilgrims and even the Egyptians. I liked the realm of make-believe and story-telling but it never occurred to me as a career. I was also drawn to reading. I would fly through books in a night and it would drive my mom crazy as she didn’t want to keep buying books that would take me no time to read. But I loved ‘The Babysitters Club’ series by Ann M. Martin and even tried to start my own club (it failed). I also read R.L. Stine and Judy Blume.
I enjoyed listening to you as a budding writer and publisher, binding together your creations, thoughts, and stories in such clever ways! I must confess, my Mum & Da didn’t mind how long the stories were which appealed to me, because I went through a difficult moment in school where the mere fact I was reading at all was a celebration! Short, long, or in-between the lengths varied at different ages throughout my childhood, but if my heart were committed to the story, my parents never dissuaded me from reading them. For instance, going to the bookshoppe to collect more “Babysitters Clubs” was a regular weekly occurrence and more oft than naught, more than once a week!
Where were you on your life path when writing started to become the central focus?
Ha! I was in the middle of writing my dissertation for my doctoral degree when I started writing Safe & Sound. It was a completely unscheduled side adventure in my life path. I had been so focused on scholarly articles and writing that writing for fun was a welcomed diversion.
Oh, I love learning how a writer unexpectedly became a writer! As though they had this bubbling little voice inside itching to reach out and find light! It sounds as though Safe & Sound started out as a pet project but soon became a central focus with a heart of its own?! Its interesting isn’t it? How life reveals a hidden piece of our paths right in the middle of another moment just as important!?
I oft disclose on my blog how music is my muse as it evokes the ink onto the page. Are there specific pieces of music which evoke your muse? Or, does it change with each new story? Perhaps even it is simply for ‘background’ whilst you create?
I do agree that music is so important to me in all aspects of my life. I listen to it to when I clean, run, work, drive that it was only natural for me to listen to it while I wrote as well. I mostly just played my iTunes songs which are extremely eclectic and can range from Frank Sinatra, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Zac Brown Band, Adele, Jay-Z, Nelly etc. I would put in my ear buds and start a song and usually (on a good day) but the time the second or third song played I was completely zoned out and focused on my story. I would use music to set the mood. For example, in Safe and Sound the beginning was very sad and heartfelt so I listened to songs that dealt with loss of a relationship or losing love.
Eclectic is surely the word for me as well — I vary a bit from your choices, but I always had a penchant for the songs and songwriters of the early 20th Century; including Old Blue Eyes! Adele belts out such strong ballads as to make my heart quake and wish I had a startling vivid romantic drama to pen! I only listen by earphones if I am not in my study, as generally speaking what helps me write is having the music go through the stereo’s speaker system to where its barely noticeable once I get into the muse! I believe I am more of an atmospheric writer, as I cannot listen to all musical varieties as I write but rather have to opt for music which befits the character I am creating.
I noticed inside your Author Q&A, you only write from places you visit. Do you ever research outside these realms, and write whilst borrowing from your imagination?
I start with places as I visit for structure and then the locations within the story are imagined. If you try to go to Oak Island and look for Rusty’s it sadly does not exist, although I think it should! I think with each future story, I will venture a little further and further from what I know but I don’t think I could ever make up an entire world with new words and creations like J.K. Rowling for example. It’s not the way my mind works and I greatly respect her for the way she was able to create that!
Hmm,… I found this to be quite remarkable actually because I tend to lean more towards Rowlings! I love creating and envisioning worlds which are just outside the reach of the naked eye! I am always inventing words, phrases, locales, and places of interest! Even creating new combinations of names fascinates me! I think your strength is through seeing the world as it is and reflecting that back through narrative which strikes a chord with readers as though they had sat down with a person’s memoir. Whereas I like to jump outside the scope of our living realities a bit and explore a realm not readily as well known. Thankfully literature has as many portals to travel through as there are writers to pen the stories!
Did you have any repercussions from studying writing at University!? Did you need ‘down time’ to resume where you had left off before your studies?!
So I was in a spot in my dissertation where the pace was completely my own and writing Safe & Sound did not slow me down. I in fact just successfully defended my dissertation at the beginning of this month and will be graduating in May. It does take me a little bit to switch from scholarly writing to novel writing because the styles and expectations are so different.
My hat is surely off to you, then! I am not sure if I could have juggled a dissertation AND completing my first novel, much less launch my debut! I completely congratulate you on graduating from grad school and by having your story out in the world ahead of ending this chapter of your educational journey! Your home is surely lit aflame in celebratory remunerations! I appreciated the insight into shifting gears in writing styles as well.
Did you meet your husband through field hockey? And, what encouraging words can you impart on those still seeking their forever love?
I did not meet my husband through field hockey. He didn’t even really know what field hockey was until he meet me! I met him at Texas Tech University while we were working on our Master’s degrees; me on Sport Psychology and him on Sport Management.
If you go out seeking forever love it will be hard to find. It has to find you and you have to be open to it. I was told that when I moved to Texas I was going to find a ‘cowboy’ and I rejected all those ideas. I didn’t find a ‘cowboy’ but I found my husband when I wasn’t looking.
Actually, I was re-iterating what I had read on your website?! Perhaps, I misunderstood but it seemed to have been writ to elude that you both met somehow through field hockey! I also took inspiration from your novel being an exploration on the fundamentals of ‘forever love’ and the ability to transcend out and in a state of love after tragedy. Either way, the best news is that you both found each other, worked towards degrees within the same field, and fell in love! Love is always a blessing to celebrate no matter how it alights in our lives or when our season for love arrives! Oh, I don’t know! I wouldn’t mind meeting a cowboy! Between the fact I love riding horses & I’ve heard great stories about cowboy families who are natural bourne story-tellers,.. as I wink a nod to an author I know who married her own cowboy!
Being that New England was your home, do you have any musings of settling a story in the town in which “Safe & Sound” was originally set? (Cape Cod, Massachusetts)
I do eventually want to set a story in Cape Cod! I have so many wonderful memories from there growing up that I would love to share those with my readers. However, based on my current thoughts and outlines it might be a couple stories before I can get my characters there but you never know what will happen during the writing process!
The battle of the stories! Laughs. Is it not grand that we all have a deep well of inspiration to pull from to where we never quite know where we’re headed off next, but we have a delightful time sorting out the map of where our characters lead us!? I’m not an outliner, but I do like sketching out ideas and then, seeing where I want to venture based off where my inklings and ideas are merging!
How do you think readers will process the heart of the story being hinged on the proposition where writing a will not only is a safeguard on our mortality but is a process of accepting our mortality?
I hope that they process it as an unfortunate but necessary part of the process. I still struggle very much with mortality and I don’t know if I have fully accepted it. BUT in life there are no guarantees and trying to prepare for every outcome is part of my process and acceptance.
I have a completely different take on this part of life. Mostly I would suppose because I grew up having lost my loved ones throughout my younger years, but also, because I never feared mortality because I was constantly surrounded by the peace of this chapter ending and the next one beginning. Death never felt like an ending or a moment of finality but rather, by extension the next step in our journey.
Your main protagonist is caught up in a life shift and choice of undertaking the idea of a second chance at love. Do you feel you could brave the sails and try to recapture love after its lost?
That’s a tough question! It’s hard to see outside the lens of your current life and imagine different scenarios but I would like to hope that I would be able to ‘brave the sails’ and be able to find happiness again whether that be new love or on my own. It’s about not forgetting those who you lose but being able to take those memories and build upon them. To be cliché ‘if it doesn’t kill you it only makes you stronger!’.
Again, I differ a bit in this regard as well. My faith has carried me through the pain of my loss on the previous vein of thought, but in this one, as love is always eternally tied, I suppose I never quite felt as alone as I could. On the other hand, I grew up knowing my great-grandmother lost her husband at a very young age, and although she was definitely strong enough to live alone, I oft wondered how her life would have been a bit fuller if she had accepted love again. I suppose I take the “Love Comes Softly” side of love; where the Grahams were an example of how when a door closes, a window will always be left open.
What has been your greatest blessing as an Indie Author?
I have found many blessings during this process and many were very much unexpected. The extremely supportive nature of the Indie Author/Novel community is AMAZING. I have met so many wonderful people through social media that it is at times overwhelming. The second is that as an Indie Author everything you read in Safe & Sound is mine for better or worse; the names of the characters, the locations and the title. That was all very important to me as a story-teller.
I completely agree with you on the liberty and rights of authors to not only create the stories they feel are a part of their heart and creation, but to have the ability to decide on the fullness of the stories contained therein! I never understood fully why authors rights are limited in scope and do not always envelope the naming of characters, the titles of books, and other little aspects of writing & our process as writers that many readers might not be as aware of themselves! Afterall, as far as marketing is concerned, half the time I question their choices after I heard ‘original’ ideas by the authors! Surely one can market a title no matter what it is if the author is convinced its a truer vision of their story!?
I can imagine social media is similar to opening the floodgates and sorting out how to keep your balance between meeting new readers and contacts, with your personal life! I know I felt blessed when our paths crossed and I was thankful how keen you were to allow a book blogger to receive your novel! I have found the book blogosphere (which is an extension of the publishing world!) to be interconnected as much as you have found the Indie Author community! I think those who are bookish tend to remain close-knit to each other!
What are the tools of your trade? Can you describe your writing process and the tools you use in which to create your stories? Do you write at a specific hour of the day?
Right now I work full time so I am limited on my writing time. Safe & Sound was written pre-dominantly between the hours of 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. during the week and maybe 4p.m. to 2 a.m. on the weekends. Usually I sit at my husband’s desk in the office located in our house. I turn off the overhead lighting and just use a desk lamp and then I stare at my laptop listening to music through my earbuds until I can pick up my place on where I left off. My writing process was not very fancy. I would sometimes scribble ideas, names, and locations in my notebook to reference but otherwise I just used WORD on my computer. I used my husband as my initial editor and close friends as my ‘beta-testers’.
I give you credit for not only being a night owl, but for working straight through into hours which I know must have undercut your work day! Your dedication to your craft and to the process of discovering your writing voice as you went along is a credit to your work ethic as a writer. I loved how you said ‘beta-testers vs. beta-readers’, as I oft felt early readers were ‘testers’ as they are tasting the words right off the page after they were initially birthed into being! Tasting to see how they sound and reflect back the story and the characters who hold the story together!
Describe your perfect day.
The perfect day would be some variation of this: Waking up on a beautiful warm sunny day and heading out for a run. Coming back and having breakfast with my husband in hopes he made his wonderful banana pancakes. We would then spend the day doing something outside with friends/family like hiking, hanging out by the pool, etc. The day would end with us grilling outside and eating on the deck as the sun sets. Later in the evening I would probably write for a couple house once the house settle down until it’s time for bed.
The perfect day is really about being able to spend time with people you love and being able to put technology away!!
I cannot think of a better way to spend one’s hours than in the comfort of family and friends! Being in nature or leisurely enjoying the comforts of relaxing at home are a mighty fine way to spend the day! May you always find the hours and moments to step away from technology and have the balance between what is necessary and what is elective not override your everyday joys!
Author Connections:
Site | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads
Converse via: #SafeandSound
I’d like to thank Ms. Krupa for such a rewarding Interview which gave us a keen insight into her writing life and the way in which she came to love the craft of writing! I am looking forward to seeing the comments coming in below & look forward to the lovely conversations which will emerge out of this wicked sweet live event! I want to thank Ms. Krupa for her time in being with us today and to Ms. Bauer for providing such a wonderful press kit to make blogging about the event such a delight! I look forward to meeting new readers as well!
*Exclusive Event on Jorie Loves A Story* starting at 5:30pm EST in the USA! Everyone is welcome! Drop in & return!
**Readers & Visitors: After the #livechat concludes, please be assured that your notes, questions, & compliments left in the comment threads will be seen by the author! Continue the conversations! And, thank you!**
Author Interview & LIVE Author Q&A
courtesy of T.S. Krupa and:
Announcement of Event was cross-posted on T.S. Krupa’s GoodReads Page!
{NOTE: Similar to blog tours, when I feature a showcase for an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog.}
{SOURCES: Author photograph of T.S. Krupa, author biography, book synopsis, and Author Q&A banner badge for Live Q&A event provided by Royal Social Media and used with permission. Jorie requested an Author Interview with Ms. Krupa, to coincide with her book review of Safe & Sound. The questions were submitted to the author directly & returned. Author Interview badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.
Ruth Hull Chatlien has been a writer and editor of educational materials for twenty-five years. Her specialty is U.S. and world history. She is the author of Modern American Indian Leaders and has published several short stories and poems in literary magazines. The Ambitious Madame Bonaparte (2013) is her first published novel.
