Ask the Author

Discuss the October 2017 Book of the Month, Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon.

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Charlie Sheldon
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Re: Ask the Author

Post by Charlie Sheldon »

Here is the final text for the Back Cover page of Book 2 in the Strong Heart series - Adrift - which will be published this coming fall. In the meantime, and very soon, I'll be doing a giveaway of Strong Heart BUT will also send the first chapter of Adrift to anyone who registers with my publisher's little web page: irontwinepress.com/adrift

When the Seattle Express goes adrift…

The Seattle Express, a 700-foot container ship bound for Seattle, is on fire in the Gulf of Alaska.

Three hundred miles away, on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, Larry and Louise fire up their old tug, Warhorse, and head into the open ocean to salvage the burning vessel. The money from a salvage claim might just save their business. But it’s a race against time, the elements, and the secretive, powerful Buckhorn corporation, owner of the Seattle Express, who launches its own high-speed tugs hot on Warhorse’s tail.

Onboard the crippled ship, William (whom readers of Strong Heart will remember), fears this disaster may become a dark homecoming for him on the jagged shores of Haida Gwaii, the remote islands off British Columbia, where William was born and where he now may meet his fate. After William’s lifeboat goes missing for days, William’s daughter, Myra, and friends Sarah, Tom, and Sergei form a desperate plan.

Strong Heart took readers deep into the storied wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. In Adrift, Sheldon, a veteran of the sea himself, carries the story into a beautiful, brutal frontier of ice, wind, slicing cold, roiling waves, and ancient, mystic faith.
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Bukari
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Post by Bukari »

I think your experience in the wilderness and in the ports really helped you to bring out this story. I give you the necessary respect for the good work done. But, I want to know at your age do you still embark on these strenuous trips.
"Ever Tried. Ever Failed. No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better." - Samuel Beckett.
Charlie Sheldon
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Post by Charlie Sheldon »

You made me laugh. "At your age", huh? Yeah I stagger around as best as I can. Luckily enough all my joints work fine and I am careful. Was just in Denali Alaska for a week, remote cabin, in the snow, walking, exploring, in between finishing the final edit for the third book in what has become this series, Found. Plan is this summer to get into the Olympics as much as I can, a few good long trips, back country.
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Charlie Sheldon
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Post by Charlie Sheldon »

btw that's a picture from an Alaska trip last summer with my son, I am the geezer in the red coat furthest away. If I keep ding these tales Alaska's gonna be in 'em
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dtb
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Post by dtb »

Thank you Charlie Sheldon!

I am pretty excited to read Adrift.

:tiphat:
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Post by Radhika_puri »

I am looking forward to read the next book. I love to read adventure books.
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Post by Yvonne Monique »

I've just started reading this book and found this thread. It's great to read the author's replies to the questions. I am now even more curious to dive into the story.
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Post by Sarah Schmidt »

How do you make the settings in this story - and in Adrift as well - so realistic that the reader has no trouble imagining themselves in that scenario, or can envision the scenes with little to no difficulty? Do you normally struggle to pen scenes like that, or do they just flow?
Charlie Sheldon
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Post by Charlie Sheldon »

I see each scene and event, almost like a movie, before me, and while I may think, this scene will be on the ship, or set in the forest or canoe, ie of course there is intention behind the tale, driven by not an outline but rather a sense of tone, direction, and main points. Then I simply choose the details in the picture before me to describe, hoping the details as offered paint a whole picture in the mind of the reader as well. I addition I would argue I "know" the stage before me, as in, I have been there myself, or closely similar situations, whether it be in ships or in the woods, and so the details are many. I am glad people feel they are there, when reading. I try to be a bit of a minimalist, not over describing things, as too many words and descriptions slow the flow of the story and rob the reader of his or her own imagination. A few brushstrokes showing the "line", the "gesture", the tone, the color, are offered in hopes the reader fills in the rest and then the scene is theirs as much as mine....
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Post by Maris Charles M »

Someone had already asked my question on the comment and the author replied the question. Thanks to the both of you.
Maris Charles M
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Post by Maris Charles M »

Someone had already asked my question on one of the comment and the author replied the question. Thanks to the both of you.
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Post by Moneybag »

What do you aim to achieve with this book
Charlie Sheldon
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Post by Charlie Sheldon »

I wanted first of all to offer something a reader could fall into, a story to get lost in, yet emerge at the end with new knowledge about a region, scientific debates, and the power of legend.
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