OCAI: We thought we'd start the school year off with a BANG, so we'd like to introduce you to one of the most adventurous men you'll ever meet--Richard Trout. Richard is an Associate Professor of Biology at Oklahoma Christian University and lives in OKC with his beautiful wife, a fourth-grade teacher at Will Rogers Elementary in the Putnam City District. He is the author of the MacGregor Family Adventure Series which is a series of young adult action-adventure novels, and lucky for his fans, there's more on the way! Richard, can you tell us about some of the interesting and unusual places your books and research has led you? What have you gotten to see or do there?
Richard: Native Masai and Kukuyu from Kenya are some of the kindest and sweetest people I have ever met. Their rich heritage is amazing and they are full of pride and courage. I enjoyed the people of the Caribbean, the mix of cultures from the last 300 years to the modern day. I am looking forward to experiencing this in Rwanda in the next two years. One of my closest friends is Dr. Louise Wolmarans, a native South African who owns a wild game farm on the border with Zimbabwe. My wife, Mavis, and I will be traveling there to write another YA adventure. Louise and her family live in New Zealand and will host us for our New Zealand/Australian adventure for two more novels. My favorite city in the world isLondon, home of the world's attic, The British Museum. Extensive research there enabled me to write two novels. My favorite diving spot is the U.S. Virgin Islands. Pristine unpolluted waters with beautiful reefs and marine life. OCAI: How do you decide where your next book will take place? And which do you enjoy most--the research or the actual writing? Richard:It's hard to decide which book to write next. I have a list of places where adventures will take place. I try to use a global logic so the MacGregor family will hop from place to place without backtracking. But sometimes it changes because I can't make it to the next location in time to write the novel. I also find news articles which tip me off to a particular environmental problem so I change the location of the next book. I was reading an Australian newspaper online and picked up on a debate about gold mine pollution in Papua New Guinea. I researched it and discovered it to be timely and important and inserted Papua New Guinea as the next novel. Since I am a biologist and a SCUBA diver, I already new the basics of diving in the South Pacific pearl diving industry and simply had to invent the story-line. That novel becameDevil's Breath Volcanoand now outsells all the others! It was great fun to incorporate 40 years of diving into the novel as I had in book one,Cayman Gold, including my experience with sharks. OCAI: Since you travel all over the world, we've got to ask--have you ever eaten anything totally, um, weird?
Richard:Eating weird food is not my specialty. Since I have to be involved in an adventure on land or sea, I try to eat a pretty bland diet. Once we were caught in a terrible storm at sea in a 60 foot boat and for nearly four hours everyone was tied to the side rails of the deck losing their lunch. We were dressed in our diving wet suits to stay warm while being pounded by the cold salty sea. We took turns driving the boat and had a special bucket next to us for convenience. Then we would dump the bucket for the next guy to drive and make his/her deposit and go back and using our utility belts buckle back up to the rail. It was a rough day and the when we finally anchored, the 68 degree water of the Alaskan current felt good and calmed us all down despite that we were greeted by a three sizable Blue Sharks. It's a name not a color. We really didn't care because at one time we were so sick we were afraid we weren't going to die! Never been sea sick before or since, thank goodness. So to answer your question, I try not to be too brave even though I have eaten fried insects and worm larvae. I couldn't bite into the spiders or scorpions. I know what's inside them.
OCAI:Can you tell us when your next MacGregor Family Adventure Series book will be released and what type of exciting setting and action can your readers expect?
Richard: January, 2011, is the release date for novel number 7 in the series,Eclipse of the Jaguar. The adventure for this novel occurred many years ago when my wife and I traveled the Mayan region of the Yucatan peninsula when the average person could crawl around the Mayan temples and watch the archaeologists clean the beautiful murals inside the temples. Now that is not permitted and visitors have to stay on a designated path and can't climb down inside the ruins. We also spent two weeks in Mexico City soaking in the knowledge from the Museo de Anthropologia. When I was in London, I found corroborating research at the British Museum. So this novel is the culmination of many years of experiences rather than one trip to an exotic local. I was also able to incorporate diving again as I have in two other novels. Kids love the ocean and all its mysteries. The story involves the search for the "lost treasure of the Mayan kings," something I discovered in my extensive research of the writings of archaeologists who have studied the Mayans for the last 200 years. It was fun and difficult learning to read the Mayan hieroglyphs just enough to create a mystery for the novel. I was able to do the same for my Egyptian adventure, Falcon of Abydos. OCAI: We've focused mainly on your research and settings, but with the raving reviews your books are receiving, such as "well-crafted adventure with meticulous attention to accuracy in detail" and "a tale for young people the way it should be written", you're obviously spending much time in not only writing and research but also perfecting your craft. Can you share with us how you go about the writing and editorial process to garner such great reviews and faithful fans all over the world? Richard: I love the writing process as much as the research. I learned a basic formula from the late Jack Bickham of the University of Oklahoma in 1987 and it has served me well. Jack taught creative writing in the journalism department and was famous for The Apple Dumpling Gang and 60 other novels. When I write I view the story in my head as a movie and it flows smoothly from one event to the next. I use the "discovery method" which reveals new twists and turns and new characters as events evolve. When I begin a novel, I know the ending so it is a matter of piecing it all together in between. I don't use outlines because it would conflict with the "20 chapter formula." After months of research and travel, I sit down and write the rough draft in about six weeks totaling about 60,000 words. My contracts usually have a length requirement which sometimes causes me to omit something from the novel. After I do the first draft, I go through a grammar and syntax second draft looking for errors. My third draft is called the "counting the bullets" draft looking for obvious errors of the 18 year old Chris MacGregor firing a six shot pistol at an Alaskan grizzly seven times! It happens when the excitement is intense and moving. Also I have to be consistent in clothing that is worn in scene after scene, time zones, time of day. When I wroteCzar of Alaska, I had to check temperatures in November across Alaska and length of daylight since the major characters were in three different aircraft moving from cold to warm climates and back. So on the fourth draft of that novel, all I did was check the time of day and location in Alaska to be it was correct. My fifth edit is done by Dr. Neal Coates of Abilene Christian University. Neal has a J.D. and a Ph.D. and is a political scientist with writing and editing skills. I learned years ago that successful novelists always use an independent editor and Neal is that for me. I ask him to read it and tear it apart. Then on my sixth draft I make suggested corrections and send it to Nina Kooij, Senior Editor for Pelican Publishing. I don't touch it again after that. However, sometimes I get to debate over any changes that Pelican wants to do. I once had an editor from Pennsylvania who didn't get the Texas vernacular that the MacGregor family uses and we had to work together to make the edit work. The novels are never perfect but pretty close. I don't like to read the finished book because I see things I want to change and that can't be done. I use the philosophy of George Lucas. "When it's over, it's over!" OCAI: Thanks for sharing with us today, Richard. We really appreciate you and your wonderful series and look forward to more exciting adventures! We'd like to let viewers know that Richard is available for author visits not only in Oklahoma but all over the U.S. So be sure to click on his biography page (above) for more details and contact information! Thanks, Richard!
Bill Wallace --Mark your calenders to attend the opening ceremony at Encyclo-Media on Oct. 7 because you're in for a special treat.Bill Wallace will be discussing two important 30th anniversaries-- Encyclo-Media's AND his novel, A Dog Called Kitty.Don't miss out!
Bill Wallace 30 years encyclomedia
Twenty Schools Will Win $500,000 in Nationwide Kohl's Contest
If your school could use an extra $500,000 cash, then why not take the chance on this nationwide contest? To win, you must write about what your school could do with the money, whether it's starting an art program or adding a computer lab, or etc. Be creative and think BIG! The $$ for this contest comes from the net profit from plush toys and books sold at Kohls. Good luck--and when you win, be sure to invite your favorite OKLAHOMA author or illustrator to your school! To enter, visit www.facebook.com/kohls. Hurry, deadline is Sept. 3rd, 2010.
KOHL'S CARES CONTEST: Vote for your school & share ideas for spending $500K here:
Help OCAI celebrate our first year anniversary . . .
Drop us a "birthday greeting" and let us know how we're doing. Do you have any suggestions of what we can do to make this site more teacher/librarian friendly? More student friendly? Anything you think we should add that's not on the site? We'll be working on OCAI this summer and will have a whole new line up of interesting videos/ exclusive interviews this coming fall.
In the meantime, Chris Nick, will be our featured illustrator for July, so check back with us to see his video and exclusive interview about his new book, D-Day.
One Year Anniversary for OCAI!
Welcome to Oklahoma Children's Book Authors & Illustrators (OCAI).
Here you'll find information about some of the most talented people in Oklahoma. Each month we feature an "Author/Illustrator of the Month" video with an exclusive interview so you'll get to meet our OCAI authors and illustrators up-close and personal. Each video and interview is archived for easy reference. We also provide links to biography pages, contact information, "fun facts", brochures, lesson plans, updates, and to each author's and illustrator's own personal web site.
Need a grant? Check out our grant listing and be sure to send us grants that you know of. If we post it, we'll send you a free autographed book. We also have a "Question of the Month" which gives you another opportunity to win free autographed books. We have so much to offer, so please make yourself at home and take a look around. We'd love to hear from you and we hope you'll invite an Oklahoma author/illustrator to your next event!
Just find a 'Feedback Form' on our homepage and submit your answer. Be sure to include your email address so we can contact you for shipping information. If you're a student, be sure to tell us what grade you are in. If you're a teacher or library media specialist, be sure to include what grades you work with so we'll send you an age-appropriate book AND send us a photo so we can proudly show you off!
June/July's Question:
Which author read these things when he or she was growing up: cereal boxes, telephone books, and even encyclopedias?
June/July Updates from OCAI:
Richard Trout has been promoted to Associate Professor of Biology at Oklahoma Christian University, effective August of 2010. His responsibility will be zoology, botany, and anatomy and physiology I and II. He will also teach a marine biology course at Cozumel, Mexico on Palancar Reef in the Carribean for one week with students.Look at Richard Trout's new pictures on his Biography Page!
Darleen Bailey Beard's chapter book, Annie Glover is NOT a Tree Lover, which has been nominated for the Horned Toad Tales Book Award in Houston has also been chosen as a "100 Books to Read" by the Cypress, TX, school district. Annie Glover is also going to be on the Recommended Reading list on the Green Earth Book Award website. Way to go Annie!
Gwendolyn Hooksreports that she has FOUR new easy-to-read books coming out THIS July by Stone Arch Books. These four are the debut to her new Pet Club series. She has written FOUR more which will be coming out in 2011. Her first four titles are:
The Best Trick
Find the Cat!
Pets at the Party
The Noisy Night
Gwendolyn also reports that she has sold TWO more easy-reader books to Red Chair Press. She's stacking up book sales like pancakes. Pass the syrup!
"Raving Reviews" is your responses and viewpoints of the OCAI website.
"Meet the Authors/Illustrators" provides a photo montage, a one-page bio, and photos of each author's and illustrator's book covers (all photos can be enlarged for easy viewing). You'll also find a link to each author's and illustrator's personal website, as well as a printable brochure.
"Young Adult Authors" is basically the same as Meet the Authors/Illustrators page but its exclusively designed for those authors that specialize in books aimed toward the Young Adult readers.
"Upcoming Books" provides a quick reference of who has a new book coming out, the title (if known) and the release date.
"Available for Speaking" lists the authors and illustrators who would be happy to visit your school or special event.
"Tips for Planning a Visit" shares easy tips to help you plan, prepare, and promote an author/illustrator visit or event.
"Need Grants or Funding?" is a great place to find the funds you need for your next speaker visit.
"Post a Question" is a bulletin board for you to ask our authors and illustrators questions. We'll send them your questions and then post their answers.
"In the News" has the latest book news. "Book Technology News" is for the high-tech savy viewers.
"Website Links of Interest" provides a listing of publishers, bookstores, schools, and more.
"Teacher Zone" is a great resource for teachers and a fun area for interaction between teachers. "School Listing" is a list of schools in Oklahoma.
"Kid Zone" provides a starting point for kids and young adults who are writing reports on Oklahoma authors and illustrators. They can also find scavenger hunts, puzzles, and links to other places of interest. "Games" is a fun page for kids to learn more about reading, writing, Oklahoma authors and illustrators through fun games.
"Put Yourself on this Site" is a great way for you, your organization, or company to be represented here at Oklahoma Children's Authors and Illustrators. Simply follow the easy directions on this page.
"Contact Us" is where you can provide OCAI feedback on anything from how much you love our site to how much you'd love to improve our site. We really do appreciate all of your comments and suggestions!
Be our guest -- OCAI is a brand new resource for anyone wishing to find information about Oklahoma children's authors and illustrators. Because we are so new, we'd love to hear your thoughts, comments, and suggestions -- so please sign our guestbook!
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