Sandcastles, Sharks, Swords and Sceptres - Devorah Fox is...around the Cauldron!

Devorah Fox, a New York born, now Texas based writer, appeared on the Cauldron last year and the interview was one of the surprise hits of that period - indeed, any period! #

Personable, funny, exceptionally professional, when I found out Devorah was planning to release her latest work "The King's Redress", I wasted no time in picking up the Wizphone to ask her to come back on the show. 

I caught up with her at the beach as she practiced her sand castle sculpting. 

Here's what she had to say...

My sand sculpting instructor (who is also an imaginitive and evocative writer and an actor as well) is a big fan of my writing and through our friendship we pass the creative spark back and forth.

For Devorah's Original Stint around the Cauldron, click HERE

Tell new Wizardwatchers briefly about yourself, Devorah.
I’m a writer. I write all day long, practically every day. If I’m not writing I’m thinking about writing. I wake up with sentences forming 

I write fiction and nonfiction, instructional material and novels, blog posts, magazine articles and a newspaper column but it’s all about telling a story. And there are so many stories to tell.


You wear many career hats – which is the one which best defines you, and which is the one that takes the most time.
“Writer” is what I am and “publisher” is what I do. Publishing and promoting takes more time than writing. 

My late husband and I started a publishing company in 1988; we were self-publishers before self-publishing was cool. 

Running a publishing company is a full-time job. It’s challenging and rewarding in its own right but it's a lot of work.

How has the world of writing treated you this past year? Has it been productive?
I’ve been busy, that’ s for sure. I launched Book Two in the King Bewilliam series, The King’s Ransom, completed Naked Came the Sharks which officially launched the first weekend of January, 2014, and had several magazine articles syndicated. 

During the November 2013 National Novel Writing Month marathon I started The King’s Redress. 

Tell us about your latest work
 January 2014 saw the launch of Naked Came the Sharks, a contemporary thriller of murder and mayhem in the Texas Coastal Bend. The next time you have a cold, dreary day, dive into Sharks. It’s set during the summer and comes complete with characters sipping margaritas in ninety-degree heat.

The first weekend of July 2014 marked the official launch of The King’s Redress, Book Three of The Bewildering Adventures of King Bewilliam, a literary fantasy series. I’m thrilled to have finished it and seen it released but I already miss spending time with King Bewilliam and his knights, so I may have to write another one.

Can you share an extract with us?
Here’s part of a scene that I really like from the middle of The King’s Redress, with Robin, King Bewilliam, and his youngest knight, Maxwell. 

Meeyoo is Robin’s loyal and heroic cat.

“Your father said you were polishing your tracking skills. May we ask what your quarry is?”Sir Maxwell beamed. “Some time ago I said that there was something that I wanted to show to Your Majesty. If fortune smiles on us, I will be able to show that to you now. I’m trying to spot him. Do you see him, Sire?”“See who?” Robin squinted, trying to bring the details of the glade up ahead into focus. Light filtered down through the lacy canopy of bare trees and shadows dappled the ground below. The shapes of dark and light shifted as the wind moved the tree limbs. “Not ‘who,’ Sire, ‘what’.” Maxwell craned his neck forward and then looked up. “The gryphon. Can you spot him? He can hide, I’ll give him that.”Gryphon? Robin recalled their conversation the night of the vespers tourney when Sir Maxwell had explained the changes he made to his blazon. Apparently Maxwell was not only convinced a gryphon existed, but that one inhabited Bell Castle’s grounds, had mated with Meeyoo, and sired her kitten, Meeyowyow. Surely there would be no mistaking a gryphon if one prowled the woods ahead. Something with the body of a lion? They didn’t have lions in the Chalklands, but Robin had certainly seen enough representations of them to imagine what one should look like. And with the head of an eagle, and wings? They would have to be enormous wings to lift such a big animal.“He should be somewhere around here, Sire,” Maxwell said. “He wouldn’t stray far from this spot where he can keep Bell Castle in sight. It’s because of Meeyoo. Gryphons mate for life you know. He wants to be close to Meeyoo. When she was ill and it looked like she would die, he acted as if he was in mourning. He didn’t hunt, he didn’t eat. He slept a lot and when he was awake, he just lay here, gazing at the castle, sighing.”Maxwell had truly seen the beast and on more than one occasion? Had gotten close enough to a gryphon to hear it sigh? What would the sigh of a gryphon sound like? It would be loud, Robin imagined. Doleful. “When Your Majesty took her to the healer in Dulcimer, it was as if he knew she was no longer at Bell Castle. He left his post here in the glade. I did not see him again until after Your Majesty returned.”Because the gryphon trailed us to Dulcimer and back? There was no question that a large airborne creature kept them ever in sight. Had it been the gryphon? Robin recalled their overnight encampment and the unearthly roar that had not only startled him and his soldiers, but had also scared off a pack of hungry wolves. Had that been the gryphon, protecting Meeyoo?

What's the soundtrack to your work?
I am still pretty much listening to the same Pandora jazz fusion station that you asked about the first time I visited, but I have added a new artist that heads up the list: Billy McLaughlin. If The King's Redress had a soundtrack, it would be his "Candleman."

McLaughlin's personal story is quite moving. He had an acute condition that made it unable for him to play and he had to teach himself to play all over again using his other hand. It makes me wonder what I would do if I lost any of the abilities that make it possible for me to write..

As for Naked Came the Sharks, I was thrilled to have permission to use Kelly Brown's "Song of the Ocean" as a soundtrack for the trailer. 

Book Trailer for NCTS - Click HERE!

You had an innovative way of marketing your book, Devorah. Can you share that with us? 
Oh, you must mean the ArtAbout. 

Every fall, the Port Aransas Art Center organizes an art walk. Art lovers go on a self-guided tour of galleries and studios, each one offering special exhibits and refreshments for the event. 

Devorah signing her books at Art About

My books are all available at the Art Center and I wanted to participate in some way. Instead of hoping that the tour would lead people to my books, I decided to take my books to the people. Some faithful (and possibly half-crazy) fans and I got dressed in medieval costumes and took the tour. 

Devorah Fox fans

The itinerary is a bit spread out and we needed a conveyance. So there we were riding around in golf carts, knights in chain mail and helmets and ladies in gowns and tiaras when shorts and Hawaiian shirts are the more typical attire. 

The sand sculpture of Bell Castle was the creation of Chip Cooper, the gentleman receiving the accolade and standing at far left in the group photo. (the other knights are Ian Ridout and Alan White).

We were a sight. We finished at a local café where we posed for photos beside a sand sculpture of one of the castles in the book, and we had an accolade for one of the knights.

Did you enjoy it? Would you do it again for the next book? 
We had a blast but I’m not sure I want to make it an annual event. I am considering participating in the Ingleside Renaissance Festival. 

I know, that’s a somewhat later period but what’s a few hundred years between friends? 

You're not kidding! It's about 350 years out, Devorah, and takes place in  another country completely ha ha ha

Ha ha. As I say, what's a few hundred years! And for some time I’ve been dreaming of hosting a madrigal dinner, perhaps in cooperation with the local community theater.

Princess Devorah knights one of her trusted fans

Have you always been interested in medieval matters? Have you travelled to the UK or France? If not, do you plan to?
Honestly, I’ve never been much of history buff and history was far from my best subject in school. However, “once upon a time” was how the King Bewilliam series wanted to be told so now I find myself doing extensive research into the Middle Ages. 

"I was fortunate to be able to visit the UK two years ago. I loved my tour of Windsor Castle, St. Albans and Verulamium". 

I was so grateful to get to see Stonehenge, even though it was cold and rainy that day, and I had a beer in what was touted as the oldest pub in continuous operation.

Them there Southerners are always trying to skank our heritage, Devorah. Here's the oldest pub in England...Nottingham's Trip To Jerusalem (1189)

One of the Wizard's old locals in pre-writing days, just below the south side of Nottingham Castle.

I'll take your word for it, Wiz!

hahahahahah. There are at least fifteen pubs dotted about the place all making the same claim! So, what was the last a) book you read  b) CD you listened to and C) film you watched
I recently finished Along the Watchtower by David Litwack. 

I really enjoyed it and not just because it had princes and castles and touched on themes similar to those in my King Bewilliam series. 

As for films, I’m not much of a movie-goer. Every now and then I’ll catch one on TV. Lately I have been riveted to the small screen by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and now I plan to watch all over again the ITV series Foyle’s War. 

Both are period dramas so maybe I’m becoming a history buff after all. I've also been listening, as I said, Pandora jazz!

And what does 2015 have in store for fans of Devorah Fox?
I plan to launch the book I’m working on now, Deadline, in January. That’s a contemporary thriller that revolves around a specific 1993 event so it’s something of a period piece. 

That’s only twenty-one years ago but it’s still requiring quite a bit of research. Plus, it has a subplot that harkens back to the 1930s and 1940s, even further in the past. 

Then l plan to start a new novel during National Novel Writing Month this November for release in the summer of 2015.

Devorah, it's been an absolute pleasure to see you again, and - forsooth! - I wish you all the best with your present books and the books to come!
Thank you so much, Wiz. I really appreciate it and the best of luck to you too...

Contact Devorah

King's Redress

amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Kings-Redress-Bewildering-Adventures-Bewilliam/dp/0977824551

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LDZ0XY4

and of course, also on 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Kings-Redress-Bewildering-Adventures/dp/0977824551

YouTube trailer: http://youtu.be/H5IW8oVJCnQ

Espresso Book Machine:  http://net.ondemandbooks.com/odb/selfespress/9780977824557

Barnes&Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/the-king-s-redress?store=book&keyword=the+king%27s+redress

Naked Came The Sharks

amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Came-Sharks-Murder-Coastal/dp/0977824543Kindle:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HFFBOW6

amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=naked%20came%20the%20sharks

hardcover: 

http://www.lulu.com/content/hardcover-book/naked-came-the-sharks/14431368

smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/390731

Connect with Devorah:

email: devorahfox@aol.com

blog: http://devorahfox.com

Twitter: @devorah_fox

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DevorahFoxAuthor

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DevorahFox

amazon.com  author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B006L9BJAO

smashwords.com profile page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mbapub

LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/devorahfox/

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/devorahfox

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2751371.Devorah_Fox

It all begins to go wrong in Medievalworld : Classic "Black Knight" scene from

"Westworld" (1973)

Scarcely credible sandcastle sculpture

Another "alleged" oldest pub in England from somewhere not in
Nottingham where the original oldest pub in England comes from, like.

Texas Fantasist Devorah Fox brings a Pair of Kings...around the Cauldron

Texas. Tejas. East of Arizona, Southwest of Oklahoma. The Lone Star State. 

More of a process than a State, Texas inspires images that are easy to evoke and even harder to shift from the mind's eye. 

Cobalt skies which extend across the horizon and into infinity. The sparkling swell of the Gulf in August, lapping against oaken pier struts entrenched in Galveston Harbour. Steaks the size of car doors. West Texas derricks as tall as skyscrapers. Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss and Jack "Treetops" Strauss. Mad-eyed priests in Waco temples.  Pump-action shotguns, whirring machine pistols and smoking 45's. Lone Star Park. Bill Hicks, one of the funniest men who ever lived. 1979 classic album "Deguello", the best album ever produced in Texas.

Buddy Holly. Desi Arnez Junior gaining the rights to "I Love Lucy" in the steakhouse at Dallas Fort Worth. JR Ewing. Houston's decadent Montrose district on one side, the Menil collection on the other. The never ending struggle of America's team, the Dallas Cowboys, fated, doomed from the very first kick of every season. Burning sands surrounding the long dead Cowboy towns around Claremont. "Bad Company" by Bad Company in the ether. Cheeseburgers, accompanied by jacket potatoes the size of boulders. Horses, mustangs and palomino ponies. 
Ten gallon hats. 

And writers. 

Texas, it seems, cannot help but produce writers and, even though she's from New York originally, Devorah Fox is no different. 

Winner of the 2010 NaNoWriMo Award, Devorah has written two fantasy novels which she was more than happy to discuss with the Wizard. I got on the Wizphone and contacted her on her ranch just north of Interstate 35,where, as she spoke, she sat under the shade of a bougainvillea to tell us all about her writing ... and other matters. 

Devorah Fox - triumphant in the infamous American marathon
NaNoWrMo contest in 2010

Tell us about yourself, Devorah.  You seem to have a fascinating background.

Me, fascinating? (she says, adjusting the brim of her fedora) Here is my bio!!

Winner of four National Novel Writing Month marathons, Devorah Fox has written for television, radio, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet. Publisher and editor of the BUMPERTOBUMPER® books for commercial motor vehicle drivers, she is also developer of the Easy CDL apps for the iPhone and iPad. She has written test preparation guides for Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. and edited books for Techni-Com, a Canadian publisher, as well as several novels. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she has lived in Port Aransas, Texas, since 2005. 

Secretary of the Rockport Writers Group, Fox writes the "Dee-Scoveries" blog at http://devorahfox.com and column of the same name for The Island Moon newspaper and contributes to TexasNOW magazine and the Eagle Ford Shale blog. She wrote her first novel in the third grade and has written several more since. The Lost King, a literary fantasy, is her first published work of fiction and its sequel, The King’s Ransom, is her most recent.

What is your latest release?  In which genre does it fit?



The King’s Ransom was released in June, 2013. It’s Book Two of The Bewildering Adventures of King Bewilliam, the sequel to The Lost King. Ah, genre? Good question. It’s hard to categorize. It’s literary fantasy which I’ve seen defined as stories where “depictions of magic are subtle and treated as not exceptional but part of normal reality; the tale takes place in a more real ‘real world’ with somewhat less strangeness to absorb and keep track of, and there is subtext or intelligent plotting.” 

That’s a long walk around the block but it describes the books perfectly. I wanted to tell a very contemporary tale but cloak it in a bit of fantasy which serves to 

“separate readers even more from reality, allowing them to understand in a different and perhaps deeper way the themes of the works.” 

I’m quoting Sarah Smith of http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org here. 

Your name is unusual and alluring. Where does it originate?

In my family it's traditional to give a child not just the name that goes on the birth certificate, but also a Hebrew name to honor a dead relative... or let's say an ancestor, that sounds a little less creepy. So "Devorah" is a transliteration of my traditional Hebrew name in tribute to a long-passed aunt. Early on I decided that I needed a pen name and chose that. I found that my pen name suited me better than what was on my birth certificate so I made it my official name.

I hear you are from New York. How does living in Texas differ, if at all? 

I’ve discovered that you can take the girl out of the city but you can’t take the city out of the girl. I’ve lived in Texas nearly as long as I lived in New York but I’m still an urbanite and a Yankee. I just don’t get football, guns or hunting. Rooms decorated with mounted trophies freak me out and smoked meat gives me acid reflux.

Here you go, Devorah....a taste of home in New York!

Does the never ending Texas sky atop its sweeping plains inspire your work? 

I’d have to say “no.” I take my inspiration not so much from the landscape as I do from the people who live here.  I write best on overcast days with low gray skies. We don’t have too many of those for which the Convention and Visitors Bureau is grateful.

I see you are a prodigious blogger. Is blogging important for a writer? Or should we just forget it.

Wow, that’s a tough question. I’d have to say “define ‘important.’” I started blogging because I had a newspaper column and wanted to share my stories with people who didn’t get the paper which at the time didn’t have an online edition. I have writer friends who blog for a similar reason, that is, to share their writing. Is blogging important for commercial reasons? I haven’t made a good enough analysis to comment on that aspect.

You are also the Chair of a writer’s group. Should all writers join a group?  If so, why?

Absolutely! I have learned so much about how to be a better writer from other members. The feedback of read-and-critique is invaluable. The poets in my groups inspire me to reach for that one perfect word or image and to write better prose. Plus, there are times when it’s simply comforting to be in the company of others who live the writing life and don’t consider it to be the least bit strange. 

Fight Club (1997) The most famous novel ever to emerge from
a kitchen sink writer's group. By Chuck Palahniuk.

I’m also told by my Goblins that you are into jazz fusion? The Wizard is well into this. Who are your favourite artists?

The Wizard's research goblins

I love Pat Metheny. Also Mike Stern, John Scofield, Keiko Matsui, Jean Luc Ponty, Brad Mehldau, Chris Botti, Omar Lopez, Peter White, the Rippingtons, Bernie Williams … there ya go, that’ s my Pandora station right there.

While walking along the street, you are mistaken for your favourite cartoon character, glamorous reporter Brenda Starr, and subsequently kidnapped by disenfranchised anarchists with big moustaches desperate for publicity.  Abandoned in a prospector’s shack somewhere west of Waco, you discover a battered packing crate underneath the floorboards. Inside, are three books, two CDs and a DVD. You could be there for a while – what would you like them to be?

The lovely Jill St John, who played
Brenda Starr in the sixties

Books: something by John Lescroart 

and something by Dan Brown. 

For the third book may I substitute paper and a writing instrument so I can write my own? Being left undisturbed in a shack sounds iike a writer’s retreat to me. 

One of the best books ever written
about the process of writing and WHAT
we choose to write on - I have been obsessed
with blue notebooks ever since. Try this, Devorah.

For CDs, Pat Metheny’s Turn Left

Steve Winwood's Back in the High Life 

For the DVD: Starman  

Starman (1984) is inspired by the glam classic

of the same name by David Bowie and Mick Ronson

...

....

...and the brilliant sixties DC comic of the
same name,

I learn something about storytelling every time I watch either of those.

Invite three people to dinner at your pad (plus me, as long as there is nothing green or yellow).  Who would they be and what would you cook for us?

I’d invite my parents and my late husband. All of them urged me to become a novelist but none of them lived long enough to delight in my finally doing it. 

My favorite menu is grilled butterflied leg of lamb; fresh spinach tossed with Greek dressing, goat cheese and toasted pecans; homemade potato chips; champagne, and a cream pie from a local café. (No point in trying to outdo Miss Kay when it comes to desserts.) You can pass up the spinach.

Thanks for that! You can have mine! What do fans of Devorah Fox have to look forward to in 2013?

I have a work in progress that I hope to release before the year is out. Naked Came the Sharks is a contemporary thriller set in the Texas Coastal Bend, developers vs. NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard). It’s humorous but with a bite. 

It’s a departure from the King Bewilliam series. 

I’ll return to that series as my National Novel Writing Month project in November. This will be my fifth month-long writing marathon. I’m aiming to release that work in July, 2014.

Devorah, its been a pleasure and I've thoroughly enjoyed meeting you. Wizardwatchers wish you the best of luck in 2014. 

Wiz, it's been fun. I've heard that author interviews don't have much impact: I know yours is different. Thanks for having me.

Book Trailer

Contact Devorah here.

Sales:

amazon.com: http://amzn.to/15EheJq

smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/344311

Espresso Book Machine: http://net.ondemandbooks.com/odb/selfespress/9780977824533

Social Networks:

email: devorahfox@aol.com

Website: http://devorahfox.com

Twitter: @devorah_fox 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DevorahFoxAuthor

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115373271462004436975

amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B006L9BJAO

smashwords profile page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mbapub

LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/devorahfox/

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/devorahfox

Goodreads: tp://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2751371.Devorah_Fox