How setting makes the difference ~ by Author, Kristin Wolfgang

For my blog post this month, I thought it would be fun to share a short snippet of Star of My Heart, a romance novella I published in 2015. 

It’s set in a school in Hawai’i and in this scene, KT, the strong, independent female principal is interviewing a new teacher, Buck.

I enjoyed writing this story in a familiar setting. I like to write stories that take me back to places I love— it’s a different way to visit.

Enjoy!

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Buck looked up, closed his portfolio, stood, and smiled. “Buck Pali. Pleased to meet you.” He extended his hand.

His rough calloused fingers surrounded her hand, enclosing it in a gentle warmth. A tremble ran up and down her body. She took a moment to regain her composure. 

“Let’s go into my office.” She turned and led him to her small office within the main office. As she walked, she tried to pull herself together.

She looked down at the resume and sucked in her breath.

Breathe, she said to herself, thankful that the rest of the interview team would show up soon. She felt warm and wondered if she was coming down with the flu.

“I’m so happy to have an interview with you, Ms. Tucker,” Buck said.

“I’m glad you applied, Buck. Please call me KT, everyone does. The interview team will join us in a few minutes. I like to meet with applicants alone first to get to know them better…on my own.” KT stumbled for the correct words, her stomach in knots.

Buck leaned back against his chair and KT noticed how good he looked in his dark pants, light blue shirt and striped tie. She could almost see his abs rippling under his shirt. She noticed with an amused smile that Miriam wrote BUCK in all caps with a purple sharpie on his visitor’s sticker. 

Oh, she caught herself again. What was wrong with her today? She just had to make it through a few more minutes until the team showed up.

“So, Buck, tell me about yourself.”

“OK,” Buck said, and looked down at his hands. “I went to Hilo High and UH Hilo. I wanted to be a dentist until I volunteered at Hilo Union Elementary School in tenth grade. I taught a group of boys about fractions. My teacher helped me with the lesson plan and I really dreaded it until I got there and met the kids.” He looked up at KT. 

She felt herself melt a little when his dark eyes widened and he smiled at her.

He continued. “To some people, it sounds strange, but teachers usually understand. At first, it was awkward, but when most of those boys understood how equivalent fractions work, and they were able to show me what they’d learned, I felt so accomplished. One of the boys still didn’t understand, so I spent some more time with him and showed him a different way. When he could finally do the class work, I felt as though we'd won a football game together. I couldn’t imagine how dentistry would be that fulfilling. I went home and told my parents I was going to be a teacher.”

She wondered how tall Buck was.

“Uh...Great.” She was strangely tongue-tied again. “Why do you want to work here?”

“I’ve been at Hilo Charter for a year and a half now and I love it, but the kids there are super bright and privileged. They do their homework, they listen, and they have their own computers and iPads. If they break rules, their parents get a phone call and they straighten up. If they don’t, they can get expelled and sent back to their home school.”

KT nodded, smiling.

“I don’t want to get comfortable and stay in that kind of environment for my whole career. I know a lot about your school, about how hard the teachers work to help the kids learn. I student taught at Manana Elementary and then they hired me and I worked there for my first six years. The kids there are a little like the kids here. I spent a lot of time with Dr. Meyer. I’m not idealistic; I know how hard it can be. I want to work here. So, when I saw the opening, I jumped at it.”

Someone knocked at her office door and a very relieved KT called, “Come in.” 

The interview team filed in and she introduced the special education teacher, Darlene, the literacy coach, Lora, and the fifth-grade teacher, Jackie as they took their seats. They used the standard interview protocol and asked him the same questions they asked at every interview. 

They all seemed to act normally, but KT felt as though a storm brewed inside her. Through most of the interview, she forced herself to stay in the room and not rush to the restroom. Her stomach rolled and her hands shook. What is wrong with me?

If you enjoyed this excerpt from Star of My Heart, visit Kristin Noelle Wolfgang's Amazon Author Page

You can also find Kristin here:

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Six Reasons Why Writing is Better with a Group ~ by Author Kristin Wolfgang

Darlene Javar and Jacquolyn McMurray writing

     Most people consider writing a solitary task. Thoughts travel through fingers to tap on a keyboard. The end goal is to share writing with readers, but not until it is complete: edited, revised and published.  That may be the stereotype, but it turns out: writing is better with friends.

Darlene Javar reading her published poetry to us 

     When people discover I’m a published writer, they want to know how I got started. I’ve always loved to write, but it wasn’t until I was invited to join a group that I started taking my writing seriously. 

     The six reasons why writing is better in a group are: motivation, learning about genres of writing, critiquing, exploring markets, writing retreats and friendship.

 

Novelist Jacquolyn McMurray

1: Motivation

When you know you’ll be meeting with your writing group every month, you are motivated to write! We bring drafts to group to share, give each other recommendations on improvements and bring back improved drafts the next month. Many Friday nights, I sit at my computer working on my writing so it will be ready to share the next day at group.

2: Genre Exploration 

For the first eight years, our group had four members. We were interested in different genres, but we all had the goal of becoming published authors. Several of us tried short stories, essays, and poetry. We did writing exercises together using Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones and prompts from other books. When we heard about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in 2009, two of us decided to spend extra time writing together in November and cranked out our first novels.

Beginning writers should try out a few genres to see which they like most. I went from essay to short story to poetry to songs to mystery novels to educational nonfiction to romance novels to children’s chapter books!

Writing goals- posted! 

3: Critique

      Beginning writers are easily intimidated when it comes to sharing their writing. It can feel like taking your first-born baby to the doctor. You know you need to have her checked, but you fear what the doctor might say about your perfect little darling. To protect our egos, our group has strict rules about how to critique. Everyone brings printed copies of their work so that each member has a copy. The writer reads their work aloud while the other members take notes on their copies. The writer often tells the group what they want from the critique.

      One of our members only writes poetry and she often wants to talk about specific words. She asks questions like: “What images come to mind and how do the words work with the other words in the poem?” A short story writer may want to discuss only one part of their story. The most important rule is to focus on the writing. Be careful not to attack. It is important to share what is good about the writing as well as what needs improvement. 

Poet Darlene Javar in California

4: Markets

        Our group also spends time sharing the writing technique books and magazines that we own. We share and investigate publishers, agents, and tools like Scrivener and querytracker.com. We critique query letters, synopses and book proposals. We share contests and upcoming events. We have attended several local writing conferences together.

5: Retreats

     In 2012, I moved to Texas. We vowed to have yearly retreats, so we’d write together for a week every year. Setting aside a whole week for just writing is a great idea. We set goals on the first night and planned to keep any extra outings to a minimum. We walk daily and keep a good supply of chocolate.  For the five years I was gone, we met in five different places and wrote.

  

     In 2017, I moved back to Hawai´i and we’re still meeting once a month with yearly four-day retreats.  This year, Jacquolyn and I are working on a Christmas novella duet (two shorter novels sold together) to self-publish in November 2019. We’re both working on our own projects—my chapter book series and her historical romance. Darlene still writes poetry and joins us when she can. We’re also working with new writers to help them get started and form their own writing groups.

 Novelists Jacquolyn McMurray and Joanne Jaytanie (visiting Hawai´i) and me

6: Friendship

     Besides the wealth of writing, critiquing and sharing we have done, my three writing partners have become lifelong friends. I can honestly say that without our writing group, I wouldn’t be writing today.  

     How can you find a writing group? Talk to people around you about writing. Go to local writing conferences. Look on the internet for groups in your area. 

     Author Kristin Wolfgang wrote 102 Reading Response Lessons and Star of My Heart, a sweet romance novella. She teaches 5th and 6th grade at Volcano School of Arts and Sciences and has four lovely children. She is working on a Christmas Romance duet with Jacquolyn McMurray and is writing her chapter book series (ages 6-12): Animal Saving Sisters. She’d love to hear from you! Send her your comments and questions at mskriswolf@gmail.com.  ALOHA!