Has
writing always been a passion for you or did you discover it years later?
I started
writing songs and poetry when I was a teenager. Music and songwriting remained
my main passion for the better part of my young life, but I always had a desire
to write stories. I wanted to say things that couldn’t be squeezed into a
simple verse/chorus, verse/chorus song structure. I even had a few false starts
over the years, but lacked the self-confidence and discipline to write anything
I felt was worth reading. Finally, the right time and circumstance presented
itself and I wrote the novel, After and
Again in a furious four month period.
Can you
focus on writing for more than five hours a day?
Five
hours is probably about my limit if we’re talking a non-stop session. I can do
more in a day if I have some lengthy breaks in-between.
Do you
have a pen name?
(Laugh)
No. Just being me is full time work.
Are you a
self-published author or do you have an agent?
I
self-published my first two novels, and Sweet Candy Press, a small but very
capable publisher out of Olympia Washington released my latest, In the
Shadow of the Hanging Tree.
Is this
your first book? What number is it?
This is
number three.
What can
you tell us about your book? What genre is it? When did you start to write it? What’s
the story behind the story?
For loss
of a more diverse and well-defined set of genres, we’ll call it historical
fiction, and I wrote it over a period of seven months in 2016/2017. It’s really
a book about racism, oppression of women, greed, and men’s proclivity for
hatred and violence.
I’ve sort
of been on a lifelong quest to understand why people, most particularly men, do
the things they do. Human beings capacity for evil is astounding, perplexing,
and horrifying. The mid to late 19th century has always been of special interest
to me; partially due to having some Native American ancestry, but also because
it was a particularly volatile period. Even more, I think, than the average
American knows. Definitely more than we’re exposed to in our public schools
system. The history books have whitewashed and sugar-coated a great deal of
what transpired during this time.
Thankfully,
my life experiences, my research, and my writing, I’ve also discovered so many
acts of individual courage and selflessness that I still hold hope for the future
of humanity. Hopefully, with In the
Shadow of the Hanging Tree, I’ve successfully highlighted the existence of light in very dark times.
Has your
family supported and encouraged you to write? What do they think about this
book?
My family
has been incredibly supportive.
How do
you take negative feedback? Are you ready for it?
It is
what it is, and all criticism is not created equal. That’s how I feel now,
anyway. I’ve gotten to the point where I can examine it and either learn from
it or ignore it. This wasn’t the case when I started out. I was devastated by
my first negative review; sick to my stomach, the whole bit. It wasn’t until
much later I realized that everything the reviewer said was true, and that it
really wasn’t a negative review at all. He even wrote that he thought I showed
real promise as an author. Unfortunately little nuggets like this were lost to
me at the time underneath his more harsh, but valid critiques On the flip side,
the subjective stuff: this character
annoyed me, etc...is easy to brush off because it’s a simple fact that not
everyone is going to like what you write.
Can you
tell us why do you write? Is it a dream, an ambition, a sort of test?
Ha ha, I
don’t know why I do it. For me, writing a novel is extremely difficult, often
stressful, sometimes un-gratifying, and so far, at least, not very lucrative.
What are you currently working on?
I’m working in a contemporary novel about a
twelve-year-old boy named Sean whose parents both die tragically, just three
years apart. Sean is put into the California foster care system but soon runs-away and attempts to travel cross-country
to locate his estranged grandfather. He meets a transient alcoholic named Suzie
at a homeless encampment who agrees to help him on his journey.
Moment of truth, what secret are you hiding?
I live with chronic illness. This is the first time
I’ve spoken about it publically. I have a particularly obscure and nasty form
of Dysautonomia and some associated issues. It’s made my life challenging, but
I’ve refused to be its slave.
Are you present on any social network as an author? Do you have an author website?
I’m pretty active on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9802085.Michael_A_McLellan
michaelamclellan.com
The readers would like to buy your book. Where can they find it?
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Hanging-Tree-Michael-McLellan-ebook/dp/B071YMXDQL/
Barnes and Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-shadow-of-the-hanging-tree-michael-a-mclellan/1126313682?type=eBook
Sweet Candy Press:
https://www.sweetcandydistro.com/sweet-candy-press-books.html
In the Shadow of the
Hanging Tree
By Michael McLellan
Genre: Historical Fiction
Henry was born into slavery; his young life spent working in
tobacco drying sheds on Missouri plantations. Freed at the onset of the Civil
War, he’s alone, starving, and on the run from Confederate militiamen.
Five years later, Clara Hanfield,
the daughter of a powerful New York shipping magnate, escapes her tyrannical
father and travels west in pursuit of John Elliot, the man she
loves. John, a U.S. Army lieutenant, was sent to the Dakota Territory
where he discovers a government conspiracy to incite an all-out war with the
Indians; a war meant to finally
eliminate them as an obstacle to the westward expansion.
Henry finds himself caught in the middle.
Aided by Clara, John, and his native ally, Standing Elk,
Henry must battle hatred, greed, and the ghosts of his past during this
turbulent and troubling time in American history.
About the Author
Michael’s love of books began with Beverly Cleary’s The Mouse
and the Motorcycle when he was seven-years-old. Later influenced by the
works of John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, Stephen King, and Cormac McCarthy, Michael
developed his style of storytelling. A self-proclaimed blue-collar writer, he
draws on his experiences and observations to bring relevant and compelling
topics to life.
Michael lives in Northern California, and when he’s not writing, he can usually be found wandering around the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges.
His body of work includes the 2014 novel After and Again, the 2015 novel American
Flowers, and the shorts Joe Price
and Anywhere But Here.
Author’s Website: http://michaelamclellan.com/
On Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9802085.Michael_A_McLellan
On Amazon: http://amzn.to/2qbjDYa
Publisher: Sweet Candy
Press http://www.sweetcandydistro.com/sweet-candy-press-books.html
Excerpt:
“Of course it’s murder, you pampered little pup,” Picton hissed, his face only inches from John’s. “You’re even more naive than I first thought you to be. Did you really believe the seventy of us were going to roam the countryside engaging Indian war parties? Frank Picton’s seventy defeats five thousand bloodthirsty braves! How poetic. You are right about one thing: we’re not fighting a war, we are inciting one. Tell me something; do you have the slightest notion of how many Washington fortunes are invested in the western expansion?
In railroads and gold mines, and telegraphs, and cattle, and other ventures beyond counting?…No? Of course you don’t. We are going to finish what Colonel Chivington so ungracefully began. After we resupply we’re riding north into Sioux country to inflame the filthy savages even further. Then, soon, perhaps by this fall, when the heathens have lashed out sufficiently against more innocents, the public outrage will be such that they will be unable to decry the army for finally crushing the red vermin once and for all.”
He sighed and released John’s arm.
“The Indian and the white man will never be able to coexist. It’s been proven, time and again. Treaties fail and only delay the inevitable outcome. This land is ours now. It was ordained by God. Mark my words, John, ten years from now the Indian warrior will be nothing more than a fireside story told to frighten disobedient children.”
Praise for In the Shadow of the Hanging Tree:
“The book uniquely conveys a
story about the time in history; and at the same time, it feels like it is of
the time in history. Imbued with plain, straightforward language, the writing
cuts to the bones of the plot. It is a pleasure to read clean prose such as
McLellan’s.”
- Sarah Margolis Pearce, author of The
Promise of Fate
“The author sends out a strong reminder of our past.” – Chitra Iyer
the whole bit. It wasn’t until much later I
realized that everything the reviewer said was true, and that it really wasn’t
a negative review at all. He even wrote that he thought I showed real promise
as an author. Unfortunately little nuggets like this were lost to me at the
time underneath his more harsh, but valid critiques On the flip side, the
subjective stuff: this character annoyed
me, etc...is easy to brush off because it’s a simple fact that not everyone
is going to like what you write.
The author is offering a $25 gift voucher.
Click on the link to enter: http://www.rafflecopter.
Click on the link to enter: http://www.rafflecopter.
No comments