Face The
Winter Naked is a poignant tale of a
family's plight during the Great
Depression. Plagued by traumatic memories
of the First World War, Daniel abandons
his family, leaving his wife LaDaisy to
fend for herself and the children. The
narrative alternates between Daniel's
life as a hobo seeking work and LaDaisy's
struggle to keep her family alive while
fighting off the advances of a man with
the power to leave her and her children
homeless. Turner's engaging writing tells
their stories with compassion and insight
and vividly brings to life the feel of
the era. If you liked Water for Elephants,
this is one for you. (5/21/10 by
MonK)
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Thank you
for visiting my website. Here you will find news
about my writing projects; in particular, new
books, as well as older ones that are still
favorites with children and adults alike. I have
plenty to keep me busy these days. I'm still
working on The Ghost of Calico Acres, which is
set in southwestern Wisconsin. In addition, I may
soon be publishing one of my most exciting novels:
Drum Dance, set in 1938 at a Hudson's Bay fur-trading
post in the Arctic, in the vicinity of the famed
Northwest Passage expeditions. I would really
love to get this book out before the Arctic melts!
Having
said all that, I'm now going to rant about the
state of book publishing. . . .
You may
wonder why I chose to become an independent
publisher, especially if you know how much I
resisted the idea of self-publishing for years.
My first children's book The Haunted Igloo,
was published in 1991 by a traditional publisher,
Houghton Mifflin. But authors know that getting
the second or third book published doesn't always
happen. Even if you have a toe in the door, that
door is often slammed on it. Hard. The sequel to
that book (Spirit Lights) was rejected,
as was another one. But the fact is, after my
husband became ill and went on the hospice
program, I was needed at home to care for him. I
no longer had time to query, and could not make
the author visits to schools. In order to get
those books "out of my hair" so I could
work on my adult novels, I decided to self-publish.
But I'm not sorry. It was a wonderful learning
experience for someone who loves working with
graphics and computers.
If there's
one thing you should know about the publishing
business, it's that these are difficult times for
both publishers and authors, especially new
authors. Finding an agent to represent your work
is a crazy circus; trust me, it's not even funny.
Frankly, I just got tired of spending weeks,
months, and years of my time on the slow-motion query-go-round
only to have my work rejected. Rejection doesn't
mean the writing isn't good (sometimes that's
true); in many cases it means that while editors
and agents like your writing and the premise of
the story, they simply have no idea how to market
it. I've been told I'm a good writer and that my
grammar is above par, and that makes me feel
great. But I've given up on finding an agent who
appreciates my work enough to take it on, who
sees potential in my book even if it isn't a
blockbuster. And these days, it's all about money
for the publishers, money to keep their
businesses operating in an uncertain economy;
money to keep their doors open so they can
acquire more blockbusters. It's discouraging for
serious writers to see shelf after bookstore
shelf featuring the same authors every week.
There are many good writers out there who deserve
a chance. Many are still young enough to play
games with publishers.
But not
me. At my age, I don't have time for all that,
especially when it's so easy to publish my own
books, and it's becoming easier than ever with
the emergence of new ebook publishers and digital
readers. But I'm not satisfied to make just
digital copies of my work, books that are nothing
but air and a few blips on a screen: I want paper
copies available for those who want to hold real
books in their hands. I have work to do. More
books to write. More books to publish. I'm a
passionate writer, a dreamer, a creator, and it's
time to let the rest of the world know I exist.
I wish I'd
known all this forty years ago.
* * *
Face the Winter Naked,
The Haunted Igloo, Spirit Lights,
Down the Memory Hole, Footprints in Time
Available from the
following booksellers: Lulu.com - Barnes &
Noble.com - Smashwords.com - Amazon.com (U.S., UK, Germany,
Canada, Australia, Japan & other European
countries)
Special order from brick 'n'
mortar bookstores.
Encourage
your children to read for pleasure . . . 
