The Witch of the Spring received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Tom Blanton.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
The Witch of the Spring; December 3, 2020.
What’s the book’s first line?
“The great city was in chaos.” (First sentence in the Prologue)
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
In this book, the second in a series, intrepid fourteen year-old sleuths, Arthur and Marya, are once again drawn into a mystery that will challenge their intelligence, courage, and trust in each other as they race to find an ancient book stolen from a bank vault in the small city of Coronado Springs, Texas. But as they dig deeper into their investigation, they discover that there is far more going on than the theft of a book; they have become part of an ancient conflict of mythological proportions and must find a way to overcome the terrifying supernatural powers of an Aztec witch if they are to survive.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
I have been a fan of mysteries my entire life. As a youngster, I grew up with the Hardy Boys before moving to Sherlock Holmes and other mystery writers. I think this book in many ways invokes the small town feel of the Hardy Boys as it features a couple of teen sleuths once again drawn into a mystery. Their exciting and suspenseful adventure tests their resourcefulness as never before and I think the book would be a very enjoyable read for anyone over ten, but especially for the teen reader.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
I think that the most distinctive thing about the main characters is their courage, intelligence, and trust. Although they are in many ways normal teenagers, they are special in that they have been chosen by unseen forces to participate in terrifying adventures involving evil supernatural creatures.
If they made your book into a movie, who would you like to see play the main character(s)?
I really have no ideas who would be good to play roles in a movie based on this book. They would be bright and resourceful and have a sense of humor, though. That’s for sure.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I suppose I have always enjoyed writing and, down through the years, started several novels but never completed them. It was not until my grandson was approaching his ninth birthday, in 2018, however, that I actually completed a book to be a birthday gift for him. The result was the first of the Arthur and Marya mysteries, The Message in the Painted Rock, which was subsequently published by Black Rose Writing.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I guess the answer to that would be “whatever I want.” After thirty-five years as lawyer/lobbyist, I am happily retired.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
When I am actually working on a book, and depending on the publication deadlines, I generally spend about three hours a day at the keyboard. Rewriting and editing, however, usually requires more time.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
That’s a tough one for me. I suppose the best part is the writing, immersing myself in the plot and the characters. This can become almost an obsession as deadlines approach, but thinking about what I’m doing and where it is taking me always yields new ideas to incorporate into the book. Like anyone else, I also kind of enjoy seeing my book for sale and realizing that somebody-somebody I don’t even know-actually read it.
The most difficult part, for me, aside from having to meet those pernicious deadlines, is the final delivery of the manuscript, when I have to face the reality that I will never be able to change it again. Very stressful.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
This one makes me a bit uncomfortable because at some level I feel that it would be presumptuous of me to offer advice, given my limited experience. Certainly there are many more qualified than I among IR’s ranks to offer advice.
That said, I discovered a couple of things that became important to me, whether or not they would be to anyone else. First, every word counts. Every word. While this might seem obvious and simplistic, I never really got it until I was deep in the edit/rewrite of my first book. What a reader sees on the pages of a book is but the very top of an ocean that is composed of the author’s ideas, experiences and style. Every word on the top of that ocean reflects those things and more, and each word is related to all the others by what lies below.
Second, I learned that nobody, absolutely nobody, cares as much about one’s book as the author. Not the author’s spouse, family, friends, or publisher, and certainly not the reading public. I found this helped me maintain perspective when I became utterly fixated on my book.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
My best guess here, and it’s only that, is that the writing itself is my motivation. Certainly not the prospect of fame or fortune. The experience of seeing all those ideas, and all that work come to fruition is reward enough for me.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
This is really difficult because there are so many and I really can’t narrow it down to one. I would say that the two who will always be near the top of my list would be William Faulkner, and Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
This one is pretty easy for me, though I will perforce name five, though four, together comprise one massive story. First, is Gravity’s Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon. Second is The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which is made up of four separate books.