I met Joanne Brothwell in person at the RT Book Lovers Conference and it was epic, epic I tell you! We rocked the bar, we rocked the dance floor, and she rocks the writing, rocks the writing right. And she’s from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Can you hear the wind blowing? I live in Colorado. The wind always blows, so you’ll have to let me know.

Joanne is a fellow Crescent Moon Press writer, and her book Stealing Breath just came out. Skinwalkers, love, and Indigo children. Here’s a quick synopsis:

 

Deep in the backwoods of North Dakota, twenty–one-year-old Sarah Ross is searching for a missing child when she is attacked by a glowing–eyed, transparent…creature. Sarah survives, destroying the monster by using mysterious abilities she didn’t even know she had.
Sarah meets the enigmatic Evan and the drama deepens into magic. Pure magic.

Joanne agreed to chat with me and it was wonderful! I generally only make writers suffer through 20 minutes of conversation, but with Joanne we went over.

Aaron: My first question: why set the story in North Dakota and not in Saskatchewan? The answer will shock you! Joanne, let us in on the shocking secret!

Joanne: Well, as a writer based in Canada, I wanted to have wider appeal than just Canadians. But to tap into the US market, I was told in no uncertain terms, that Americans do not like to read about anything but America *ducks*. I’m sorry, I can’t say whether that is true or not, but I also wasn’t about to challenge it and find out it was true the hard way. So I wrote about North Dakota, which I believe is the most similar, geographically, to Saskatchewan.

Aaron: So I’m always asking writers when they started writing. We have both extremes. Some started writing fifteen minutes ago, others were scribbling in the womb. With Joanne, her story was different. She started writing when she wrote her father’s memoirs. Joanne, how was that experience?

Joanne: It was both challenging and rewarding. In terms of challenge, I had to wade through hours and hours of audiotapes my father made for me and transcribe them. This was fun at first, listening to his fabulous stories of prairie life in the 50’s, but there were so many words and expressions he used that I was unfamiliar with, I was constantly having to rewind and listen over again.

In terms of the process being rewarding, I now have all of my father’s stories, forever captured in a book that will be enjoyed by me and my family for years to come.

Aaron: How was writing your father’s memoir similar to writing fiction?

Joanne: It was nothing like fiction. It could have been, if I’d attempted to find a theme, highlight a character arc, etc. But that wasn’t the goal. The memoir was transcribed nearly verbatim from his audiotape, because I simply wanted to ensure my father’s memories were preserved.

Aaron: I loved your story about the inspiration for Stealing Breath. Tell us how it all started! How did the Skinwalkers tie in with the Indigo children?

Joanne: One of my friends, an Indigenous Canadian, told me a story of a time she was on a road trip in the US. It was the middle of the night and she was growing too tired to continue driving, so she pulled her car over to the side of the road, somewhere in Arizona near the “four corners” (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah). She planned to have a nap, but was startled awake when her car started rocking as if someone was jumping on her car, their mocking laughter outside sending shivers up her back. Quite abruptly it stopped, and when she spoke to some of her Navajo relatives later, they said these tricksters were Skinwalkers, people who practiced “Bad Medicine” and could perform astral-projection!

How does Skinwalkers tie in with Indigo Children? About four years ago I had this story idea of a spiritually-evolved human, based on the New Age concept of the “Indigo Child.” This person would be spiritually closer to God, with psychic abilities and a purple/blue aura. This concept came long before the Skinwalker story. But after the Skinwalker story, I began to think— if Skinwalkers can walk outside of their skin, can they walk inside the skin of another? If yes, can they steal the souls of their victims? If they can steal souls, wouldn’t they want a special purple/blue one that’s closer to God?

Aaron: Saskatoon has a population of around 272,000. Give or a take a hockey player. Saskatoon. That’s just fun to say. All of you people at home, say it out loud to yourselves. You’ll thank me. But Joanne, you didn’t grow up in Saskatoon, but in a small, rural town. Your novel also takes place in a small town. Are you afraid that someone from your burg will come out and say, “Hey Joanne, eh, I read your book. How come I’m not in it?” Or will you accidentally out someone? “The mean guy in the store has a facial scar, and Carl Masterson has the same scar. That Joanne is telling stories out of school.” Any danger of that happening?

Joanne: I have two words for you, Aaron: plausible deniability.
Just kidding! Without a doubt, the setting of the novel is based on my home town. Heck, I even admitted as much to the local newspaper! However, I don’t think anyone would say they see themselves in the book. If they did, it would certainly be news to me.

Aaron: Okay, Joanne, first time you were ever really critiqued – what was your reaction – what happened? Describe, in detail, the blood, sweat and tears.

Joanne: The first time was after I’d paid for a manuscript evaluation. I got it back in the mail and it took a long time to muster up the courage to open it. It was about four pages long, with approximately three sentences highlighting the manuscript strengths. The rest was solid criticism. Too much telling. Too many adjectives and adverbs, improper grammar, no story structure. The negatives went on and on.

I felt positively sick. I can honestly say, I’ve never felt so deflated and mortified in my entire life. It was a good thing the critique was done by someone anonymous, because I’m certain their Inbox would have been filled with hate mail.

I took a short break from writing after that, to decide whether I even wanted to continue. If it wasn’t for the fact that I had a 100,000 word manuscript already written, I may have quit. But I felt like I’d already invested too much time and energy to give it up. So I picked myself up, licked my wounds, and got right back on the saddle.

Aaron: Last question, so we have to make it a good one. Without giving anything away, what is your favorite moment in the book? The moment that sums up the emotional experience of writing the novel and spending three years working on it. March 8, 2009 to March 8, 2012. Hit me, baby, one more time.

Joanne: There is a seduction scene about a quarter of the way in that I’m very proud of, where Sarah and Evan are playing pool in the town bar. It’s a hot and steamy moment that showcases the wonderful euphoric feeling of intense infatuation. In real life, those moments cause a cascade of powerful brain chemicals, the highly addictive ones we all crave. After getting the characters all hot and bothered, I finish the scene off with a big bang. Literally!

That pretty much sums up Stealing Breath:

Infatuation + Supernatural = Flash/Bang.

Check out Joanne’s website
Joanne’s Crescent Moon Press page
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Her books on Kindle

Thank you, Joanne! Your awesomeness transcends all international borders!