CHARLOTTE BOYETT-COMPO

CATCH UP ON WHAT CHARLOTTE BOYETT-COMPO HAS BEEN DOING RECENTLY

Carol: What have you written since our last spotlight?

Charlee: I finished DarkWind, the first of two sequels to my bestselling sf/futuristic, BloodWind, and started BlackWind, a novel being sold in serialization installments at my publisher. Upon completion, it will be released in paperback. DarkWind is scheduled for release the middle of November 2001.

Carol: Has anything new happened in your writing career that you would like your readers to know?

Charlee: I signed contracts with German publisher Kripgans Books for the release of eleven of my novels in the German language. The books will be sold in ebook, hardbound, and paperback versions in Europe and North America.

Carol: What do you have planned in the near future as far as writing?

Charlee: I just started on a novel titled The Veil of the Wind. It will be a dark historical romance. Also, the next book in the ten volume WindLegends Saga series, The Windreaper: Book Five, will be released in February.

Carol: Do you have any book signings coming up in the near future?

Charlee: I will be signing at the Romantic Times Convention in Florida in November. I have also been asked to sign at a local bookstore but plans haven't been finalized on that yet. It depends on how much time I have available between now and the Spring.

Carol: Do you feel your writing has taken you down any new paths since our last interview?

Charlee: No, I just think I am coming into my own with the amount of new readers I am getting every week. Word of mouth and great support like this from Sime-Gen has gone a long way in promoting my career. I am very grateful for all the help the reviewers and webmasters have given me. Recently at the Romantic Times convention in Florida, I had readers come up and buy all seven of the various books I had for sale. My books were the only ones a gynocologist bought from among ALL the other authors there...and we're talking over 200! That made me feel very proud and humbled. One lady came all the way from Jacksonville just to meet me. Another drove in a bad rain storm just to be there to buy BloodWind. That kind of thing makes all the disappointments pale into the background.

Carol: Do you have any insights you would like to pass along to new authors?

Charlee: Don't let your family destroy your dreams. Sometimes our loved ones think they are doing us a favor by trying to discourage us from becoming writers. I'm sure many of them have our best interests at heart and don't want to see us hurt, our dreams crushed. I am just as sure there are other members of our families and many of our friends who are envious and don't wish to see us succeed. They can't write and get published, why should we? Many times, our writing is a joke to those who supposedly care for us. I'll put this to you: If they truly care, why go about discouraging and even shaming us about what we have chosen to do? I have heard of writers whose families have come right out and said: "You'll never get published. Why bother?" A true writer will write, will tell his/her tale, will strive to put other work down on paper or on the computer screen because to do otherwise is unthinkable. Be polite to your family but take what they say with a large grain or salt. Hopefully, you'll be able to make them eat their words one day! And never forget: You are not alone in this. Other writers are going through the same family intrusions. Buck up and cast it off. You'll be happier if you learn to ignore the criticism.

GET TO KNOW CHARLOTTE BOYETT-COMPO THE PERSON

Below are the questions we have in order to get to know our authors as a person. Many times people have misconceptions about an author and who they really are. Many people don't always think of an author as a real person. Some think authors don't feel the same things or go through the same things as we do. They don't think about the fact that you the person may have had traumas, jobs, a home life and all the other things that we go through in life.

Carol: What misconceptions do you think people have about you as a person or a writer?

Charlee: That I can write anytime, anywhere. People are always coming into my office at church and upon seeing me typing think I'm working on a book. I get annoyed with that attitude. For one thing, I am there to work, not do things that are not ethically right. If you are working for someone, you should be WORKING for them, not goofing off and I resent the implication that I would cheat my employer in that manner. The other thing is: I have to have complete silence and no interruptions in order to write. I can't be answering phones and be distracted. I can't have people wandering in and out, needing my attention. I take both my jobs very seriously and give both all I've got. That means separating the real life for the fantasy life. My family knows that when my office door at home is closed, I am not to be bothered. They will knock if it is really important. I just wish I could get the people at church to be as courteous. Being the church secretary means having people burst in...without knocking...and assuming you will drop whatever you're doing to assist them. Sometimes, that is not always possible.

Carol: Do you have children?

Charlee: We have two grown sons, Pete and Mike, and Pete has two children: Preston and Victoria. We were also the adopted parents of a whole bunch of kids who preferred our house to their own while they were growing up. We keep in touch with quite a few of them still.

Carol: What kinds of things do you like to do in your spare time?

Charlee: I like to read when I'm eating my lunch up at work. That seems to be the only hour of spare time I've got for that endeavor. I watch tv when I get home just to relax then I go in and write for a few hours...sometimes half the night. One of my favorite times to myself is in the shower. I even brush my teeth in there! THen I crawl in my coccoon...the electric blanket...and watch a half-hour or so of soaps until I get sleepy. Watching soaps operas always puts me to sleep.



Carol: How would you describe yourself?

Charlee: I am basically a very shy individual. I tend to like being by myself. I enjoy peace and quiet and solitude at times. I don't like crowds and especially not large parties. I suppose you could label me a loner. I am not inhospitable...I do like occasional company...but I am not a coffee klatch-type individual. I've never been one for going out shopping with a bunch of girlfriends. I have a few very dear friends with whom I like to share time and a supper now and then, but I prefer homelife with just me and BB and our kids on the weekend.

Carol: What's your favorite color?

Charlee: Teal green. It is a very comoforting, soft color.

Carol: Do you have any pets and if so what kind?

Charlee: I am enslaved by six demanding felines. Oldest to youngest: Logan, the Wolverine aka Widget (Yellow and White Maine Coon); Chelsea aka P.M.S. Girl (Calico); Sneaky Pete aka Big Head (Yellow Tabby); Dashboard aka Dasher the Dashing Romeo (Gray and White Tabby); Stormy aka Bitsy (Tortoiseshell); Taffy aka Onesie (Yellow Tabby).

Carol: Is there anything you would like the readers to know about you the writer or you the person?

Charlee: I don't tolerate stupidity very well. The older I get, the less inclined I am to forgive people who deliberately hurt others or who believe themselves above the law. I am less tolerant of crooked politicians and more apt to voice my opinion in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper. I guess I'm getting cranky in my old-age, but there comes a time in everyone's life when they have to stand up for what they believe in and stop allowing bigotry and bias to rule.

Carol: Have you found you are treated differently now that you are a known published author?

Charlee: No, because I am the same person I've always been with the same faults and expectations. I seriously doubt I"d ever change should I win a Pultizer for literature because my parents raised me with a very ground attitude. I've seen too many primadonnas in this business to KNOW that is not how I would like a reader to classify me. I am as down to earth as you can get; I answer each and every one of my fan letters personally; and I put my drawers on one leg hold at the time.

Carol: Do you work out of the house at a job as well as caring for your family and writing? Or is writing your main full time job? Since as we all know caring for your family is also a full time job.

Charlee: I have been our church's secretary for going on four years now as well as Father's administrative assistant. It is a forty hour a week, Monday through Friday 8-5 job although for some odd reason 80% of the church thinks it's part time!

Carol: Has life become any different for you then it was prior to your writing?

Charlee: It has become more hectic while I try to find time to write. I write at night after work and all day on the weekend, stopping only to go to church on Sunday. My house isn't as spotless as it used to be because there just aren't enough hours in the day to do what I know should be done. Thankfully, BB and our youngest son help out or I'd be in big trouble. I don't get to experiment with different foods either...I used to cook something new every week. I miss that because the cooking was a way to relax.

Carol: What is your favorite food?

Charlee: Salad would be warm Southern potato salad with onions, sweet picklers and celery with lots of mustard and a healthy dollop of Mayo...not yucky Miracle Whip for this girl!. Main course would be baked ham...nice and stringy...a combination of collard and turnip greens cooked with a couple of tablespoons of bacon grease and smothered with hot pepper sauce and for bread: lace bread...white cornmeal, salt and water mixed then fried on a griddle until the edges look like lace. Add to that meal a ice cold glass of REAL sweetened Southern tea and for dessert, pear salad: half a pair with a dollop of Mayo, grated cheddar and a Maraschino cheery on top. Yummy! Heart-stopping food with just enough cholestrol to cause death!

Carol: What gives you the creeps?

Charlee: I am terrified of snakes. I loathe the poor creatures. I wouldn't harm one unless it was trying to harm me or one of mine, but I do my best not to be in a position to be in their path.

Carol: What scares you?

Charlee: Really bad electrical storms. If I'm in bed with Buddha Belly, I'll do my best to crawl under him. He's a retired military weatherman and thrills to such bad weather but I have always been frightened of the bright flashes and horrific rumbling. If you'll note, many of my female characters have the same trait. My sweet BB holds me until the weather passes, talking softly to me and squeezing tightly when the crashing begins. He knows just when to reach for me.

Carol: As our final question is there anything you would like to tell your readers that I haven't addressed already? Or is there something that I haven't mentioned you would like them to know?

Charlee: I am always accessible to my readers. I will answer every email and every letter I receive. I love hearing from people who have read my work and hearing what they have to say about the plot and the characters. I am here if fellow writers would like to ask a question or if they need a pat on the back. I am always willing to share what I have learned in the hopes I can keep other writers from having to go through the heartaches and disappointments I've had. If they would like to write me, they can either drop a line at my email: windwriter@usa.net or snail mail at:

Charlee Compo
P.O Box 745
Grinnell, IA 50112