MORE NOTABLE DEBUTS

REBECCA CANTRELL • WRITES FROM: Kailua Kona, Hawaii • DEBUT BOOK: A Trace of Smoke (Forge)

“A Trace of Smoke follows a crime reporter
through 1931 Berlin as she searches for
her brother’s killer, leading from the city’s
dark underbelly to the top ranks of the
rising Nazi party.” WRITING HABITS: “I
write in the morning at a local coffee shop,
bundled up in a jacket against the ultra air
conditioning. When I write scary stuff, I
get the corner table so my back is against the wall and I can see
all the doors. I edit in the afternoons on my lanai so I can distract
myself by feeding brown sugar to the geckoes.” HOW DID YOU
GET YOUR BREAK?
“My wonderful agent, Elizabeth Evans, read
a sample of my manuscript on the Maui Writers Conference’s
Manuscript Marketplace website.” TIME FRAME: “Five years ago
I sold my house, quit my job and moved to Hawaii to write about

a topic that had intrigued me for 20 years. That makes 20 years of thinking about it, two years of writing and three years to publication.” SECRET TO SUCCESS: “As soon as I started treating writing as seriously as any other ‘real’ job, things started to happen for me.” ADVICE: “Understand that writing is an endurance race and not a sprint. Set your expectations and train accordingly.” INFLUENCES: “I learned most from the Kona Ink writing group. I’m inspired by the incredible creativity of my son and the determination of my Ironman husband.” WEIRD HOBBIES: “Making sand snowmen, SCUBA and long-dead Nazis.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

“I just finished book two in the Hannah Vogel mystery series (due

May 2010).”

ROSOFSKY PHOTO © CHARUL KOTHARI; CANTRELL PHOTO © ANGELA MARKLEW; HAWK PHOTO © ARI MALDONADO ESPAY; HELIN PHOTO © J. ELAINE HOWE

RHODI HAWK • WRITES FROM: New York, N.Y. • DEBUT BOOK: A Twisted Ladder (Tor/Forge)

“New Orleans psychologist Madeleine
LeBlanc is caught between a murder
and her brother’s suicide, both of which
are wrapped in old superstitions. To find
answers, she looks to her family’s past on
a bayou sugar plantation, at a time when
the line between servant and master had
begun to fade, and river devils come to
life.” WRITING HABITS: “Wake up, swill coffee, go for a jog and
then write, write, write.” HOW DID YOU GET YOUR BREAK? “I
attended a lot of writing conferences and writing events.” TIME
FRAME:

“It’s taking about two years from signing on the ‘X’ to a

release on bookstore shelves.” SECRET TO SUCCESS: “Keep the focus on the writing and the story. All the advertising, marketing and promotion in the world are meaningless unless you’ve got a tale people want to read.” ADVICE: “After you hunker down in your cocoon and immerse yourself in that inner universe where your work comes to life, you have to break out and meet people.”

INFLUENCES:

“I think the turning point for me, when I realized

I needed to write books in addition to reading them, came when I read Anne Rice’s The Witching Hour.” WEIRD HOBBIES: “I pick banjo and make my own cosmetics.” WHAT’S NEXT? “I’m continuing with the Twisted Ladder series, but I’m also wrapping up a book called Tasty Poisons.”

DON HELIN • WRITES FROM: Harrisburg, Pa. • DEBUT BOOK: Thy Kingdom Come (Medallion Press)

“Colonel Sam Thorpe, a member of the
Pentagon’s Anti-Terrorist Task Force, goes
undercover to train a homegrown militia
in central Pennsylvania. Sam uncovers a
link to the French Separatist movement in
Quebec and discovers the two groups are
plotting to steal nuclear material to build
dirty bombs.” WRI TING HABI TS: “I’m a
morning person—it’s the time when I do my best work. I try to
return to the word processor in late afternoon.” HOW DID YOU
GET YOUR BREAK?
“Membership in writers’ groups helped me
learn the craft and business of writing.” TIME FRAME: “I started
writing fiction seriously in 2000. It took three novels and six-and-
a-half years before I got my publishing contract.” SECRET TO

SUCCESS:

“Perseverance, critique partners and writers’ conferences, where I made valuable contacts.” ADVICE: “Learn all you can. Get involved in writers’ groups and volunteer. Be persistent and don’t let turn-downs turn you off.” INFLUENCES: “Through the annual statewide Pennwriters Conferences, I met and learned from published writers and made friends to work with, and to help me face disappointments. I owe a great deal to my wife, who gave my writing ‘tough love.’ ” WEIRD HOBBIES: “Boogie boarding at the shore. Most of my mates are little kids, but that’s okay, I got a late start.”

WHAT’S NEXT:

“I’m working on the second novel in the Sam Thorpe series.”