Before she could write her name, Karen Stockwell was making up stories and songs she shared with her family. The urge to write stories continued as she grew. But things changed after a fourth-grade teacher saw her potential as an artist. Private art lessons followed. At Western Illinois University she graduated with a B.A. in Art Education and a minor in English. Afterward she continued to take art classes in drawing, painting, and printmaking and exhibited her work at art fairs and galleries. In hopes of breaking through an artist block, she completed an M.A. in Art History at the School of the Art Institute. Eventually her longing to be creative again was satisfied by writing poetry, which she shared at open mics. After several attempts at writing a novel, she dug in and completed Dreams of Darkness and Light, a tale of one woman’s personal and spiritual transformation through her dreams. Taking place in Oaxaca, Mexico and Chicago, it is populated by artists and writers. Her second novel, The Ballad of Sam and D. Lila, is a comic romance about two musicians based on Stockwell’s brief experience as a singer/songwriter. Finally, Everyday Mysteries is a collection of her poetry.

Karen Stockwell’s interests in art and writing have come together through her choice of characters and through illustrating her books. In recent years she’s become a fiber artist and has published articles on her work in Belle Armoire and Altered Couture magazines. She and her husband Clinton live in Chicago and Galena, IL. Her books are available at Amazon, her Etsy shop (stockwellcottage), River Lights Bookstore in Dubuque, IA and Hello Galena in Galena, IL.

Interview:

1. Will you tell us about your most recent published work?

Everyday Mysteries, my third book, is a collection of my poetry. It’s a compilation of work I wrote during my open mic days in Chicago in the 1990s/early 2000s, poems written for my novel Dreams of Darkness and Light, and recent work. I divided it into eight sections with themes like “The Creative Journey,” “Stories of Travel,” “Love, Lost and Found,” and “The Angry Poems.” I’m also an artist and did the marbling art that appears on the cover and the section openers. The poetry shows a wide range of my work, so I’m sure there’s something in there for everybody!

2. What personal challenges do you face as a writer?

I’m also an artist and so my energy is torn between that and writing. I take art classes, do fairs, and have an Etsy shop. There have been times when I was mainly focused on my writing and would stay up past my bedtime on a week night. I’m retired from full-time work now and am still grappling with time management.

I also suffer from carpal tunnel, which is worse in the morning. I’m sure I’m a candidate for surgery, but I am trying to avoid it. I take breaks while I’m on the keyboard when it bothers me.

3. What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

Lately I’m writing in a disjointed way because it’s keeping me going. In other words, I’m not following a linear plot. I’m working on the parts that interest me the most first. The ones that are less interesting will need to be researched. Eventually I’ll stitch the whole thing together, like a giant quilt, then fill in any missing pieces. I’ll have to go back through the whole thing and make sure I’m consistent throughout. I haven’t worked like this before, so it is challenging.

4. What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

Time badly spent, which is mostly watching the news on cable. If there was a conference, writer’s group, or workshop that I think would be helpful, I would be happy to do that instead. Not much of a sacrifice, but it would definitely take some discipline. I’m not willing to give up my art, though. I see art as play and writing as work.

5. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

It gave me more confidence in my fiction writing. And it established a roadmap to follow when bringing a novel to completion.

6. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? Will you tell us about them?

First I have to say that I like the challenge of variety and so I’ve worked on different genres. I’m driven by my own curiosity.

I have two books in progress. I’ve done a bit of work on both and couldn’t decide which to focus on. But I’m currently committed to the one that’s furthest along. It’s futuristic and is set in a world dealing with climate change issues. My heroine is an Asian woman who was sold as a child and is trying to make a new life under some scary circumstances. This is my third attempt at writing this story and it’s very different than the other versions. It would be the first book in a trilogy.

The other book deals with time travel. It has a female protagonist from the late 1800s who purposely lands in our time. Like Claire in Outlander, she has a conflict between love interests in different times. Other than that, it isn’t anything like Outlander.

I also have a partially finished novella about a painter dealing with forgiveness issues. That one is told through journal entries. And missing in action is a long short story / novella about an armed robbery based on my own experience. It only exists as a typewritten manuscript, not a file. I hope to come across it one of these days.

7. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

I do. I wish there were more of them! The good reviews are affirming. The negative ones can be helpful if they’re specific and let me see a way to improve my writing. If they’re mean, they’re more a reflection of the reviewer than my work. Or so I tell myself.

8. Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

In my second novel, The Ballad of Sam and D. Lila, I included a specific gallery in Galena, IL where my hand dyed scarves and books are sold. One of my characters bought a scarf from there. It was a hidden shameless self-promotion. A friend who read the book said he laughed out loud in two places, and that was one of them.

9. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

“Don’t be discouraged or distracted from your original goal of being a creative writer.” My parents meant well, but they kept advising me away from creative writing and it took a while to get back to it. I never intended to be an artist, but my fourth-grade teacher told my folks I had potential. That excited my mother who loved art and I was soon taking private lessons. Then they thought I should take journalism in high school because that was a practical form of writing. I worked on the school paper and yearbook, but it hurt my creative writing. It’s a very different form. I still struggle with not filling my prose with too many “facts” when I’m writing a description, for instance.

10. What are common traps for aspiring writers?

It’s easy to write by “telling” rather than “showing” action in fiction writing. But “showing” is much better writing. It’s a skill that needs developing, as does writing dialogue.

Most writing is editing, I’ve found. You write your draft, but then you edit like crazy, especially after other people have read it and given comments. You also need to give distance to the writing in order to have a fresher look at it, such as putting it in a “drawer” for a few months. But some inexperienced writers think they can do one draft and they’re ready for a publisher. It’s a whole lot more work than that.

If you want helpful feedback on a manuscript, don’t give your draft to a family member or close friend. They’ll tell you it’s great. Instead find a beta reader who you know will give you honest and useful feedback. It feels good when a friend tells you it’s fantastic. But the real world won’t be so forgiving.

11. What’s the best way to market your books?

I’m still trying to figure that out. I have a website and a Facebook page that I post to occasionally. I had a publicist for a while who wrote and distributed my press releases with some success in the Galena area, but none in Chicago as far as I could tell. I like doing book signings, readings, and author fairs. I think the personal connection is powerful. Author interviews like this one are great opportunities, so thank you!

12. What is your favorite childhood book?
 I remember two, one fiction and the other poetry: Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry and A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. Both had wonderful illustrations.

 Social Media:

Website: karenstockwell.net

Instagram: @karendstockwell

Facebook: Karen Stockwell, Author, Artist, Journalist

Etsy shop: etsy.com/shop/stockwellcottage