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FEATURED AUTHOR
CHARLOTTE BOYETTE COMPO
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Charlee is the author of over thirty books, the first nine of which are
the WindLegend Saga that began with THE WINDKEEPER. Married 35 years to her
high school sweetheart, Tom, she is the mother of two grown sons, Pete and
Mike, and the proud grandmother of Preston Alexander and Victoria Ashley.
She is the willing houseslave to six demanding felines who are holding her
hostage in her home and only allowing her to leave in order to purchase food
for them. A native of Sarasota, Florida, she grew up in Colquitt and Albany,
Georgia and now lives in the Midwest.
PROFESSIONAL ALLIANCES: She is a proud member of the Authors' Guild,
National Writers' Union, the Writer's Club Romance Group, Romance Writers of
America, Romance Foretold, The HTML Writer's Guide, EPIC (the Electronically
Published Internet Connection), Women for Literature, Ardeon, E-Authors, the
Phenomenal Women of the Web, and the first author to be published by
Twilight Times Books, now Dark Star Publications.
AWARDS: Recently, she won Inscription Magazine's 2000 Engraver Award for
Favorite E-Author and The Writecharm's Simply Charming Award for promoting
e-books and their authors worldwide. Her sci-fi/futuristic novel, BloodWind,
stayed on Dark Star Publications bestseller list for over 18 months and has
now been released in paperback. It was named as one of the Best Books of
1999 at eBook Connections as was her dark historical, In the Wind's Eye. Her
psychological thriller, In the Heart of the Wind, was recently nominated for
a 2000 R.I.O Award and has been named as one of the Best Books of 2000 at
Inscriptions and was awarded a Reviewer's Choice Award at Scribe's World.
NON-WRITING PURSUITS: Charlee has been taking classes in American Sign
Language for the last two years. She is a member of Beta Sigma Phi, Ladies
of the Heart, Partners of Mary, White Rose Sisters, and is the parish
secretary of her local Catholic church as well as the creator and webmaster
of its webpage .
Charlee can be reached at charleecompo@hotmail.com
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The Windhealer: Book Four of the WindLegends Saga series.
The Coming of the Raven:
Conar McGregor: A man forgotten, an identity erased. Broken beyond the
limits of mortal endurance, he rises again from the ashes, a dark demi-god,
devoid of feeling and barren of heart. Marked with the power of the Great
One since his conception and betrothed to The Great Lady, will he ever again
find love?
The Webspinner: a seductress beyond compare. Her powers enhanced by sorcery,
her treachery threatens to break the tenuous hold on sanity that Conar
McGregor has finally achieved after years of hell.
The WindForce: A group of twenty-two hand-picked men dedicated to seeing The
Raven overcome the evil enscorcling the land. The loyalty of these men has
given rise to The Dark Lord, but even they are not aware of the curse the
Black Ascendancy will bring to the realms.
When did you first start writing?
I wrote my first book when I was about twelve years old. I began writing professionally in 1972 when I took a job as the Entertainment Editor for a weekly paper. It was also about that time
that I discovered historical romances and read so many of them my family was teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. My husband, Tom, challenged me to write my own book and I took him up on it. It wasn't until 1986 that I actually began writing the first novel I would send out to publishers. That was The Keeper of the Wind, the first book in The WindLegends Saga series.
It was published in mass paperback in 1995. Since then, I've written over 30 books and have 13 that are available for sale.
Why do you write?
Because I have to. It is a matter of getting the ideas inside my head out. I have so many roaming around in there that if I didn't release them, I'd probably go looney tunes. Most writers will tell you the same thing. It's a difficult question to answer, actually, because it is hard to explain in terms that make sense to those who don't write. Some people have looked at me oddly when I insist I NEED to write in order to exist. It is a mental thing, a spiritual thing, an emotional outlet that those who can't do it, simply don't understand. There are people who think writing can be taught. All you need to do is go to college and learn verb tenses, how not to dangle a modifier, etc. I don't believe any amount of training will ever make a writer. You have to be born to it. You have to have that inner ability already there before you can do justice to the craft. No amount of teaching can make a writer. Only inherent talent can do that. Likewise, I don't believe there is such a creature as Writer's Block. All that is is the inability to concentrate: the distractions of every day life that prevent writers from writing. Get your mind back on track and the
words will follow. Banish the distractions and the ideas will flow. :)
What sort of books do you like to read?
I prefer books that scare me. One of my all-time favorites was Robert Marasco's Burnt Offerings. I didn't sleep easy for several days when I finished that book. There are several authors whose works I never miss: Dean Koontz, Brian Lumley, John Sandford, John Saul, David Wiltse, Fr. Andrew Greeley, Michael Connelly, Ken Eulo, and Dennis Lehane. I have very eclectic tastes in reading and what I read depends on where I am and how much time I have to spend on the novel.
Anymore, I read mostly during my lunch hour. It also depends a great deal on the mood I'm in. I enjoy Jude Devereaux, Johanna Lindsey and Shirlee Busbee for light, uncomplicated reading; Rosemary Rogers for a trip into a very adult-oriented historical romance; Anne Rice when I need to be confused; Mary Higgins Clark and Robin Cook for variety and when I need to laugh: Paul
Reiser and Dave Barry.
Who is your favourite author or who has influenced your writing?
My favorite author is John Sandford. I love his characterizations. He does
hard-hitting novels about a Minnesota police detective but he adds humor in
the mix.
The major influences of my work have been Anya Seton, Marilyn Harris, and
Rosemary Rogers. Those three women have written what I term dark historical
romance. There is an underlying darkness to their writing that sets it apart. It isn't light
and fluffy romantic fare. I think a lot of hardcore romance readers will name Anya Seton's
Green Darkness among their favorite paranormal romance stories. It certainly had a big impact on me when I read it. I like a hero with angst...all of my novels are hero-driven and written from the tortured hero's view of things. The greatest compliment I've ever received from a reviewer was: "Nobody does tortured heroes as well as Charlotte Boyett-Compo".
If you could meet any character from a book, who would it be and why?
I would love to meet Lucas Davenport from John Sandford's Prey series
of detective novels. The character is so multi-faceted and complex and I
would love to delve into that sharp as a tack brain of his. I would also
like to ask questions about his boyhood because I suspect there is much
there that has molded him to be the man he is today: cynical, distant,
unconcerned with his own safety.
What are you currently working on?
I am doing edits on two separate books. DarkWind, the first of two sequels of my bestselling sf/futuristic novel, BloodWind, is due out in November. I am also doing edits for The WindBeleiver, the seventh novel in The WindLegends Saga series. At the same time, I'm working on BlackWind, a novel that will be put out in weekly installments at my publisher's website, http://www.rfiwest.com , beginning in late September. I am about 1/2 finished with that particular book and already doing notes on a book I'll be starting after that one. I just finished a Halloween short story for One Woman's Writing Retreat for my good friend Cathy Atherton, the webmistress there. It's called 'Something From
the Wind'. Please look for it a http://www.prairieden.com near Halloween time.
What have you found to be the best way to promote your book(s)?
Word of mouth. I go on lists and announce when a book is scheduled out. I ask
reviewers to take a look at it. Rarely have I been turned down for a review.
I have over a dozen reviewers who eagerly await my next book and write to
remind me to send it as soon as the ARC becomes available. I am honored they
feel that highly about my work and make a special effort to inform them of
new books I'm working on. There are many whose opinions I value very much
and I'll run ideas for new books past them. I've been lucky in that I had a
fan start a listserv for me and we number over 100 now. The people on that
list are super supportive of me and I am very appreciative. Many of them go
on other lists and tell people about my books. It helps that I belong to
several organizations that also promote their authors intensely.
And finally, what advice would you have for writers starting out?
Please find the patience to realize this isn't an overnight endeavor. It takes
years to find a good publisher and months of hard work to promote your work
once it's out there and available for purchase. Hounding the publisher about
when it will be out will only garner you the reputation for being a whiner.
A publisher will do more for you if you work WITH them rather than against
them. I've seen a lot of newbie authors shoot themselves in the foot by
thinking things should be done right now and the heck with anything else.
Nothing is fast in this business. Developing patience...whether in sending
out a query letter or a manuscript or getting back an answer from a would-be
publisher or receiving edits from your assigned editor...will help you to
not go crazy. A fellow writer once told me: "Hand in your manuscript then
forget about it. Start writing the next one. There's is nothing so sad as
watching a person loitering at the mailbox waiting for a letter that may
never come."
For more information on Charlee and her books, please visit her website: