In the past, I’ve hosted young adult, fantasy, and mystery
authors. So, I thought I would go in
another direction: Middle Grade. Add to
that the stunning factor that this author is local, and I vote we have a
winning mix. I am pleased to introduce
Dorothy Stacy! She is the author of the
Erie Canal Cousins.
Kissed by Literature:
Would you mind telling us about your book series?
Dorothy Stacy: Erie Canal Cousins is the story of a 13-year
old girl, Rose Stewart, traveling down the Erie Canal on a line boat in 1840
with a bunch of boisterous cousins she has never met before. She is traveling
to Utica, NY to help out her aunt who has just has her 4th child in
6 years. It is a time when the Erie Canal is alive with lights, colorful canal
boats, booming businesses, and interesting sights. It is where locks, low
bridges, mules, and towlines are a part of everyday life. (Integrates a lot of
canal history into the story)
Three Weeks in Utica- Book 2
talks about her adventures in Utica, which was a very prosperous town at that
time. (contains a lot of Utica history)
Albany Homecoming-Book 3
Rose returns to her home in Albany via the Canal (Albany history and one-room
school house history)
Canal Town Christmas-Book 4 tells how Thanksgiving and Christmas
were celebrated and became holidays in the US. (holiday history)
Stars Over Buffalo-Book
5 is about the other end of the canal from Utica to Buffalo. The group travels through
Rome, Syracuse, Montezuma Swamp, Rochester, Lockport, Niagara Falls, and
Buffalo.
All of the books are full of family life, humor, adventure,
and growing friendships for ages 9 through Adult. Yes, even adults like the
books.
KBL: Some readers
who aren’t from this area (Upstate New York) might not be familiar with the
Erie Canal. Would you mind giving us a
quick history lesson?
DS: The Erie
Canal is a 363 mile man-made waterway across New York State between Buffalo and Albany to provide for easier
transportation across the state. It was 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep when first
built and later was expanded. It consisted of many locks to get from one level
to another and bridges for farmers to get from one side of their property if
the canal went through it. The canal took 8 years to build and cost over 7
million dollars. It was all dug by hand with no modern tools to use.
Interest in it began in the early 1800s, digging started in
Rome, NY in 1817, and it was finished in 1825. A Wedding of the Waters Ceremony took place upon its completion. Then
people and goods were able to get from Albany to Buffalo in 10 days whereas the
land route took 2 to 3 weeks.
KBL: How long
have you been writing?
DS: I have been writing ever since I could hold a pencil.
When I was around 7 or 8, I would write a story called, “The Adventures of
Rosemary.” It was written in a 3” x 5” notebook with chapters 3 pages long.
This was patterned on my life events. If I went to visit my grandparents across
town, Rosemary went to see her grandparents.
When I was in grade school in a class of 54, I sat in the
last double seat in a row with a good friend of mine who also liked to write.
We received this honor because we were quiet and did not cause commotion. We
each had a special notebook that we would write SOAP OPERAS in. After we each wrote a chapter, we would exchange
notebooks on the space between us on the seat and read each other’s stories.
And…we never got caught. It was such
fun.
When I was married I wrote some and sent magazine articles
out to different companies. I often received great comments on the work but was
not able to get them published. However
I did write 2 articles for a religious magazine, which were purchased and paid
for but never appeared in print because the magazine ceased to exist before
they were published. That was very discouraging but I kept on writing because I
loved it. I also took a few courses on writing in the meantime.
KBL: Do you have
any tips for aspiring authors?
DS: 1. If you
love to write, NEVER GIVE UP! Keep on trying. It is much easier to get books
published these days and Indy Authors are gaining more and more respect and
acceptability. If you have a really great book and it keeps getting rejected,
you can open your own publishing company and do it yourself with a great
printing place. For example I did it and used Morris Publishing Co. They are
wonderful to work with.
2. Keep on writing even if it is just keeping a journal or
writing short stories. These actually are the first novels I have ever written.
3. You’ll need a day job until the bucks come rolling in
from your writing. LOL . A teaching
career is good preparation for writing. And you can try out your books on the
children.
4. Read lots of books, especially in the genre you want to
write in.
KBL: What is the
most valuable lesson you’ve learned from writing the Erie Canal Cousins series?
DS: Not to let
people push me around. I had my first book with a publisher for a year and a
half who kept telling me they were going to publish it and it was just waiting
for a final okay. I kept waiting and waiting , sending e-mails back and
forth, getting what I thought was positive
feedback, only to have the manuscript sent back after that. I would never
tolerate anything like that again. However at the time I was scared to death to
try to publish it myself. Now I am so
happy that I did and would not go the other route again.
Also Book Series are great because if people like the first
book, they will usually buy the rest of it.
KBL: Do you have
any ideas for future projects?
DS: Yes, I am
researching and writing another historical fiction series about the girl in the
first series’ children which will be located in the Sauquoit area in 1857. It
will be called, The Town of Paris Twins. The
first book will take place on Paris Hill which was called Paris, New York in
those days. The twins Annie and Charlie, age 11, will go to the Doolittle
School (now an operating one-room schoolhouse museum) where their father will
be the schoolmaster, etc. But wait…I don’t want to give too much away. I hope I
can get it out in 2013 for the 20th anniversary of the
reconstruction of the schoolhouse. This will probably be a 3 book series or
possibly more.
I have a website where anyone can check out the books:
www.dorothystscy.com and a Facebook page
for myself under: Dorothy Dmochowski Stacy-Author and one for my books at: Erie
Canal Cousins Series-The Books. Give us a look!
Now is your chance to join Dorothy Stacy on her trip along
the Erie Canal. She’s offered to send the
first Erie Canal Cousins book to one of you lucky blog readers. To be eligible, all you need to do is leave a
comment here with your name and email address so she can get in touch with
you. She’ll pick the winner in December,
so make sure to comment soon!
Thank you, Dorothy, for a wonderful interview!
