CHANTICLEER 10 Question Author Interview Series with
M.J. Evans

We met M.J. Evans a little while ago, not far off the beaten path. I would love to tell you that we met on the trail, and honestly, now that I think about it, I suppose we can say that. The author trail, that is.

We were delighted to connect through our global CIBAs where M.J. won First in Category in our 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle Grade!

What’s that? You don’t know what our CIBAs are nor how they can help enlarge the digital footprint of your novel? Where have you been? I mean, it’s not  a secret! Check out more about the CIBAs here.

I found M.J. to be engaging, vivacious, and an all-around talent in so many ways. I’m so very excited to introduce you to our friend and Chanticleerian, M.J. Evans.

Chanti: Tell us a little about yourself: How did you start writing?

Evans: Most important to know about me is that I am a mother of five and a grandmother of twelve. My family is my world. I am also a former teacher of middle school and high school so you can know that I love being with teenagers. I have been a horse-lover since birth…I call it “being born with manure in my blood!” I started taking riding lessons when I was eight. When I wasn’t on a horse, I was reading both fiction and non-fiction books about them. Thus, I developed a love of reading as well.

Chanti: That’s funny. Manure in the blood. Actually, as a kiddo who grew up on a farm, I totally get that. Talk about genre. What genre best describes your work?

Evans: Fantasy has always been a favorite genre of mine so combining fantasy and horses seemed like the perfect fit. I have expanded my horse stories into “coming-of-age” and “historical fiction” to challenge myself. PINTO! Based Upon the True Story of the Longest Horseback Ride in History won me the Chanticleer Gertrude Warner Book Award! I have written four non-fiction books, one coming-of-age novel, one picture book, and nine fantasies for middle-grade readers and young adults.  You can probably guess that my favorite genre is fantasy. I love reading fantasy and I love writing fantasy. It is so much fun creating worlds and characters. I love to let my imagination run away with me. Regardless of the genre, because of my love for horses, most of my books are about horses or horse-based fantasy creatures.

 

I had so much fun doing research for PINTO! Based Upon the True Story of the Longest Horseback Ride in History, that I decided to do another historical fiction. It is called Sand Pounder and is about the Coast Guard’s mounted beach patrol during WW2. I love this story.

I am now just publishing my THIRD Historical fiction about a little-known horse story. The Stallion and His Peculiar Boy is based on the life of the famous Arabian Stallion Witez II. It will be released on Feb. 28th.

Chanti: This release is just around the corner! Best of luck, Margi! What do you do when you’re not writing? Tells us a little about your hobbies. (I think I know the answer…)

Evans: I am a serious equestrian. I love to compete in Dressage. I currently have two horses right in my backyard. If I am not in the arena working on dressage, I am on the trails in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I do a lot of story creating in my head while riding on those trails.

Chanti: That’s cool. And is there a blue ribbon around Amara’s shoulders? Lovely! Okay, back to the interview… What areas in your writing are you most confident in? What advice would you give someone who is struggling in that area?

Evans: One of my strengths is dialogue. I think I am good at it as a result of all the theater I have done. I always recommend to other authors who are struggling with this to read it out loud as though you are on a stage. Does it make sense? Does it flow logically? Does it fit the characters’ personalities and situations?

Chanti: Great advice.

Evans: My other strength is world building. This is important for fantasy books. I have a sticky note on my computer with the words: Smell, Sight, Sound, Touch, Taste. This reminds me to include as many of the senses in my descriptive narrative as I can so the reader can feel like they are there with the characters. This creates a world the reader can both picture and experience.

Chanti: Oh, I love how you include the senses! This is a great way to elevate your writing to the next level – keep it relatable, engaging, and hard to put down. It’s important to work on your craft. What do you do to grow your author chops?

Evans: I am always taking classes to improve my writing. Lately they have all been webinars! I am not a “formula” writer so the creative writing classes that I have taken that just focus on a certain formula are not helpful to me. I also don’t outline or do storyboards. I create the entire story in my head before I start writing. Once I start writing, I don’t look back until I get the story out of my head and onto the computer. That first draft is my foundation.

“Until you have the foundation, you only have an idea! Once I get the foundation, I can go back and embellish and edit…two, three, four, five times, however many revisions it takes.” – M.J. Evans

Just to give you an example: since I write for Middle-Grade and Young Adult, I need to hit the industry standard for length (word count). Take YA for example. Those books need to be 60,000 to 80,000 words. My Centaur Chronicles series is four books that are all about 65,000 words in length when they are finished. But the first draft is only about 45,000 words. So, you see, I do a lot of enhancing and building upon that foundation.

Chanti: You are such a professional! No wonder your works are doing so well. What craft books have helped you the most?

“My favorite craft book is The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. I use it all the time!” M.J. Evans

Chanti: That’s a good book. What do you do in your community to improve/promote literacy?

Evans: For seventeen years now I have been donating my time to dozens of Odyssey of the Mind and Destination Imagination teams at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. As such, I guided the students as they wrote their one-act plays for competitions. Over those years, I took all of my teams to the state finals and seven teams to the world finals. I also donated my time to speak to dozens of upper elementary and middle school students in both public and private schools. I teach them my favorite writing tips to get them excited about both writing and reading. I have been a volunteer writing mentor for Denver Public Schools, and volunteered to speak at the Jefferson County Public Schools writing workshops. I also donate my time to promote literacy at public libraries and independent bookstores as a guest speaker.

Chanti: I love that about you. Good job! Give us your best marketing tips, what’s worked to sell more books, gain notoriety, and expand your literary footprint.

Evans: You must know who your audience is. Most of my books are about horses. I know where to reach horse people. My Colorado trail guidebooks are in tack and feed stores in the Denver area. That is where horse people go on a regular basis! I also sign books at horse events such as the National Western Stock Show and The Rocky Mountain Horse Expo. I find that “hand-selling” is both fun and profitable because I love being with and talking to people and I love making connections with my readers.

I have also found that submitting my books to literary award competitions and then having the bonus of winning adds credibility to my books. I have those beautiful stickers that I can put on the cover that catches the eye of prospective buyers. I also love attending award ceremonies and meeting other authors. I have made some great friends that way and we help each other with our books.

I enjoy doing author visits at schools. Of course, as a former teacher, I feel very comfortable in the classroom. But this is part of knowing who my audience is and going to them.

Chanti: Those are all good things to do that are proven to pay off. What are you working on now? What can we look forward to seeing next from you?

Evans: I am now just publishing my THIRD Historical fiction about a little-known horse story. The Stallion and His Peculiar Boy is based on the life of the famous Arabian Stallion Witez II. It will be released on Feb. 28th.

Chanti: Now, M.J., do you ever experience writer’s block? What do you do to overcome it?

Evans: No. Because I have the story worked out in my head before I start to write I always know where I am going. The key is to set the time each day to write and stick to it! However, I do have one trick that works. Never stop writing at the end of a paragraph. Always quit right in the middle of a paragraph or even in the middle of a sentence. Then, when you return, you already have a start.

Chanti: What is the most important thing a reader can do for an author?

Evans: First: If you like a book PLEASE POST A REVIEW ON AMAZON, GOODREADS, and BARNES & NOBLE. Of those, the most important is Amazon as all their algorithms for promoting a book are based on reviews. Second: TELL YOUR FRIENDS! Third: GIVE BOOKS FOR GIFTS!

Chanti: Don’t you wish that was just an automatic thing people did? Reading is great – don’t get me wrong, but if you truly love something, take that extra step and share your thought, thumbs up, 5-star ratings… Doing so does more for an author than you can possibly imagine.

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Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mjevansbooks/?hl=en

Website http://www.dancinghorsepress.com/