Pump Up Your Book Chats with Historical Coming of Age Author Valerie Stocking

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Valerie Stocking was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, and wrote her first short story when she was five. When she was eight, she won a short story contest in Jack and Jill Magazine. She wrote her first play at the age of ten. In 1966, when she was twelve, she and her mother moved to a small town in Florida where they lived for a year. During this time, Valerie experienced difficulties with the public school system, tried a Seventh Day Adventist school briefly, and then dropped out altogether. It was her experiences during this year that inspired The Promised Land. Later, she would finish high school, graduate from college and earn a Master’s degree in Cinema Studies from NYU.

For nearly 30 years, she wrote and edited in various capacities, including copywriting, newspaper articles, and short stories. She wrote nearly 20 full-length and one act plays over a ten year period, which have been performed throughout the U.S. and Canada. She edited books for audio, abridging over 100 novels in a 6-year period. In 2010, she published her first novel, A Touch of Murder, which is the first of what will become the Samantha Kern mystery series. It was nominated for a Global eBook Award in 2011 for Best Mystery.

Valerie lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her dog and cat, and is working on her next novel.

You can visit her website at www.valeriestocking.com.

About The Promised Land

It’s 1966, just two years after President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, and twelve-year-old Joy Bradford’s life is changing dramatically. Born and raised in the white suburbs of Connecticut, Joy is moving to Willets Point, Florida, to live with her mother Jessica because her parents are divorcing. Hoping it really is the Promised Land that her mother describes, she joins in Jessica’s enthusiasm only to find out how horribly wrong that vision is.

Unfortunately for Joy, the move does nothing to change her mother’s emotional and mental instability, resulting in a continuation of the physical and verbal abuse she is all too used to receiving. Her new school is years behind her old one, the kids dress and act differently, and on just the second day, Joy has a run-in with her geography teacher. Things are going from bad to worse until Clay Dooley, a mixed-race boy from that same geography class, offers his friendship. The two become close, sending shockwaves that dovetail with a growing sense of tension and unease in the community as a whole. Clay’s father Clytus, a well-educated black man, attempts to open his own clothing store in the white section of downtown Willets Point. This causes Jessica’s new lawyer cum boyfriend and leader of the local Klan chapter, Bill McKendrick, to join with other white citizens in using great force to block Clytus’ dreams. Tempers flare and emotions run high when Clytus refuses the Klan’s subsequent demand that he and his family move out of the white neighborhood they live in, setting off an explosive confrontation that will change them all forever.

An absorbing and suspenseful coming of age story set against the tumultuous backdrop of racial tensions in mid-1960’s America, Stocking’s blend of historical fact and fiction is as relevant today as it was during the explosive Civil Rights era. Probing the human psyche for the deep-seated fears that fuel the fires of racism and bigotry, she expertly builds characters who feel their very lives are at stake by the changing times. Full of insight and intensity, The Promised Land is a spellbinding journey you won’t want to miss.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Valerie! Can you tell us why you wrote your book?

When I was 12, my parents split up and I moved with my mother from Connecticut to a small town in Florida. This was in 1966. I thought what happened to me during that year might make an interesting story, especially if I added some fictitious elements and characters and subplots. So that’s what I did. The story is part fact, part fiction.

Q: Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?

I’d like to think that “The Promised Land” teaches tolerance and non-discrimination based on race, creed, or color. Nobody’s born bigoted. We learn prejudice at an early age, and it can color our whole lives, as well as the lives of others. If, instead, a person learns compassion and understanding early in life – well, I think it’d be a different world, if we all did that.

Q: Do you remember when the writing bug hit?

Very vividly. I was five years old, and I wanted to write my first short story, but I wasn’t sure of the grammar or how to spell all the words. So I dictated it to my father. He seemed to become engrossed in the story, and urged me to finish it, so I did. That was when I learned about the power of storytelling.

Q: Besides books, what else do you write? Do you write for publications?

I don’t write for publications, but for 7 years I wrote plays, both full-length and shorter ones. For some reason, I stopped and started writing books instead. Maybe I just burned out on playwrighting.

Q: Do you have a writing tip you’d like to share?

Apply your behind to the seat of a chair and go. Just go. Don’t stop for anything. And never, ever give up!

Q: Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

I have an office, but it has a northern exposure so it’s kind of cold and dark in there, even on sunny days. So I moved my laptop out to the dining room table, and that’s where I work now. Lots of light, and wide-open space. It’s great!

Q: What do you do to get away from it all?

Take a long walk with my dog.

Q: What was the first thing you did as far as promoting your book?

Signing up for a blog tour. Then sending out review copies.

Q: Are you familiar with the social networks and do you actively participate?

I try to stay active on Facebook and Twitter. I am on LinkedIn but don’t really use it.

Q: How do you think book promotion has changed over the years?

Years ago, books publicists who worked for the major publishers set everything up for authors. Authors had to go on book tours, where they’d sit in bookstores and sign their books. Now, bookstores are dwindling, and there are more authors than ever before. Even those who are traditionally published are required to self-promote. The author has to become a PR person for herself, a kind of entrepreneur. For those of us who are introverts, who would rather leave the promotion to others and just write, it’s a formidable role.

Q: What is the most frustrating part of being an author?

Sometimes rewrites can be difficult. Also, during the publishing process, going through the graphic design, which is the innards of the book. That’s when you see so many things you’d like to change! Not big things, but a word or phrase here and there. It drives me crazy!

Q: What is the most rewarding?

Holding a copy of my book in my hands for the first time.

Q: If you could be anywhere in the world other than where you are right now, where would that place be?

Hawaii. It’s winter here, and I’d love to be in paradise!

Q: Thank you so much for this interview, Valerie. Do you have any final words?

Yes! Readers can check out my website at http://www.valeriestocking.com. I have two different blogs that run once a week each. Mondays is a potpourri of topics, including paranormal experiences, 1960’s Memories, and writing, publishing and promoting “The Promised Land.” Thursdays is a serialized mystery called “Color Me Dead,” which is a lot of fun. If you haven’t kept up with the story, you can read it from the beginning on the blog site and become current quickly.

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How do you make sales happen for you?

A lot of hard work! I sponsor a lot of on line parties, festivals and contests. Book sales don’t magically happen, believe me. An author has to work hard to earn her readers. And then she has to work hard to keep them by giving them something they’ll enjoy reading. I try hard to make my books worth a reader’s time.

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