Rogue's Angels Present: Child of the Earth by Susan Crow

Please welcome Susan Crow author of  Child of the Earth

Susan Crow will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Child of the Earth

by Susan Crow

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GENRE: Nature Writing

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INTERVIEW:

1. What or who inspired you to start writing?

“The good earth and the profound heavens were - are - certain.”

I think negativity actually inspired me to start writing! There was so much negativity about and I wanted to prove it wrong. My writing has always been very positive - I’m an eternal optimist - and I wanted to show people there was another way to view the world.

2. What elements are necessary components for this genre?

The most important thing is utter honesty. When you’re so in love with your subject, you’re inclined to be very creative with your description - this is fine, but you have to keep an eye on maintaining a truth in the description!

With nature writing particularly, you need to acknowledge that you’ll never be omniscient and that the learning never really ends. I think it’s an important thing for readers to know that the writers don’t have allthe answers.

4. What expertise did you bring to your writing?

“The wintry wind can take the breath with it. It fills loose clothing and presents Michelin men in the cleansed streets. Or it catches the flaps and long tails of coats, slapping the wearer in the face or around the legs.”

Child of the Earth is a lifetime of observations. I suppose the expertise is in the intention to share and further my own knowledge of nature. When I think about nature, I tend to think in a poetic way.  The beauty and minutiae of it is incredible, and I can’t help but want to share this with people.

6. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

My next book is a return to fiction, with the second in the Rosie Janeseries for children. These are rhyming stories which I wrote for my own children when they were little.

Also, I have an inkling I’ll be unable to leave the nature writing here. I have an idea in a formative stage, but it needs some real thought before I share it with my publisher.

9. Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?

Not as such!  A friend and I are challenging each other to write weekly poems during the lockdown. We started this before the lockdown, but now we’re calling each other and exchanging emails to share our poems. Since the lockdown was announced, we’ve actually got better at sticking to our deadlines! The subject and style for each poem is decided each week, and then we have until the following Thursday to get it written.

We’re getting rather good at sonnets!

We do critique one another, and find that praise is the best way to encourage development for our creative writings.

10. When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

I used to submit creative pieces to competitions, but the choice to be published came quite recently. In the last few years, my daughters established a small independent publisher, Crowvus, and they encouraged me to share my writing with them and the world.

11. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)

“Even in the chill of December, there is a reason to communicate with Nature.”

I think the worst advice was being prompted to model myself on another writer. Even when you admire an author, it’s so important to maintain your own voice.

The best advice I ever received was to use my writing as a form of communication with the readers.

12. Do you outline your books or just start writing?

I have to have a plan. I don’t stick to it rigidly (or sometimes at all!) but I do need deadlines to stick to. It only has to be a loose plan, just something to keep me on track.

13. How do you maintain your creativity?

“As I write, the last ashes of logs are dropping in the grate, the man and the dog are sleeping, with whispers of the day past, and a tawny owl softly hoots for me. When I no longer acknowledge these with quiet gratitude, I will have forgotten all that Nature has taught me. I owe it.”

I have no problem with maintaining creativity! If I allowed myself, I would just write and write all day! I just love writing. I’ve learnt now how to stop when there’s something else to be done, but getting back into writing again is never difficult.

16. Anything else you might want to add?

Child of the Earthis not only an account of my relationship with the natural world, it’s also my hopes for the future of the planet. I believe that, by inspiring adults and children to connect with nature, we have a great future ahead of us. I hope this book shares that with its readers.

BLURB:

Here is a nest egg of memories and anecdotes teased from a life uplifted by an appreciation of the natural world.

Memories of childhood in rural England, raising a family in Orkney and Lincolnshire, and retirement in Northern Scotland are threaded together into a broad tapestry of the natural year. These experiences meet with a view of Earth's uncertain future to illustrate the necessity for respect of all lifeforms and shares a passion for the wellbeing of this planet with all generations.

Child of the Earth is a source of inspiration and delight - a literary garland of hope.

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EXCERPTS (Please choose only ONE to use with your post):

Excerpt One:

The ninth day of January and it is frosty. Smells carry well. Hours earlier, we caught a whiff of cleaning-out-the-byre when we were coming down the hill and, a few moments ago, I went outside to empty the household rubbish and caught the same scent.

January in Caithness is not the same as January in Orkney.  It isn't the same as January in Lincolnshire. January in Caithness is completely unpredictable. A couple of years ago, when the year changed, I noticed the plants in the window boxes were suffering from windburn and the pond at Newtonhill Croft was very full due to melting snow and rain. And yet, last year, daisies were flowering, and we had gnats indoors. This week we have had some strange winds which sometimes became aggressive and then suddenly dropped, waved the flag of peace, and left behind an absolute stillness. Last year, same week, one of our number was nervous about walking home from work due to the threat of falling roof tiles.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Author Biography:

Susan Crow

Susan grew up in the Isle of Axholme, which inspired the Crowvus best-seller, Child of the Isle. She has a deep love of nature which is apparent in all her writing from the poems she has had published in various anthologies, to her 2020 release, Child of the Earth.

Susan released Rosie Jane and the Swodgerump as part of the John O’Groats Book Festival. This story was written and inspired by raising her six children in Orkney. After moving to England for a while, Susan finally returned to North Scotland in 2009, and continues to write her monthly blogs, What’s It Like Up There?

Her latest book, Child of the Earth, is a nature companion, drawn from her own experiences throughout her life. It provides a colourful telling of Susan’s encounters with nature, told with a style which makes it accessible to all readers.

Author Links:

Website: https://www.susancrowauthor.com/

Publisher: https://www.crowvus.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stempertoncrow

Blog: https://susancrowauthor.blogspot.com/

Child of the Earth Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B086P6PM5W/

Child of the Earth Crowvus Shop: https://www.crowvus.com/shop

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Susan Crow will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

RAFFLECOPTER:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3352