Interview With An Author: Oliver Dahl

Hello once again, and welcome to My Miraculous Mind! This has been a great December hasn't it . . . well, I could do without the extreme cold, and the busyness, and the commercialism . . . but other than that, hey! great December people.
It has been especially great for My Miraculous Mind, ideas have been flowing in and I have not missed a week of posting, and a special shout out to the cast of "Scrooge A Christmas Carol" at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse for making my earlier post The Backstage Story my most viewed post on this blog ever.
So, people have interesting friends, some may be firefighters, some may be detectives, some may even have pilots who they know. But it seems appropriate that since I am an author, I have friends who are authors. I decided to interview an author friend of mine, those of you who have been reading this blog since the beginning will remember I mentioned him in my second post "It's Called . . . What?"
He is the one, the only, Oliver Dahl!
He and I met through our family actually. My mom and his mom went to high school together and about two years ago, Oliver's mother mentioned that Oliver himself had published a book and wanted to be an author, after that my mom replied that I wanted to be an author and was in the process of writing a few books. So, Mr. Dahl and I started emailing each other (mostly I would ask questions about publishing and he would answer them). We have known each other for about 2 years now and have never met each other face to face. Oliver resides in the wonderful state of Idaho and I still find it funny that we've never met because I go up to Idaho like once every 1 to 2 months to visit some family . . . go figure.
Anyway, I emailed Oliver a couple days ago and ask him some questions which he graciously answered, so here you go, my interview with the author: Oliver Dahl!

1. How many books have you written?

I have written five books. Two of them (soon to be 3!) have been published.

2. What was your favorite book to write?

Each book is fun in their own way to write. The Dreamers was a blast just because it came so entirely into my mind. Lies was great because I felt like I was writing poetry.

3. What is your favorite book or series that you've read?

I really love the "Pendragon" series by DJ Machale. Percy Jackson, the Underland Chronicles, Michael Vey, Fablehaven, and too many others to list are also great.

4. Are you working on writing any new books write (pun) now?

I'm currently working on sending "Lies" off to several editors. I'm also in the works of writing a book entitled "Beneath,"
 

5. If the answer to the question above is yes, could you give us a small synopsis or preview of your new story?
 

 "Beneath," is about a kid who wins a trip to Paris. While there, he sees something he shouldn't have and is kidnapped by a strange race of people that live under the catacombs of Paris. There, he discovers an evil plot and the wild world that resides under the city.

6. Do you belong to any writers circles or writing groups?

On Facebook, I really enjoy the "Go Teen Writers" group. Everyone there is so awesome. Besides that, I'm really not.

7. What sort of awards have you received for your books?

My first award was in October of 2011, when I was named one of Idaho's Top 50 Idaho Authors. Just this year, that was leveled up to the honorary mention of Top 10 Fiction books in Idaho.

8. How did the idea for the Dreamers Adventures come into your mind?

Funny enough--a dream! I got hurt in the dream, and when I woke up, I was based where I had been hurt in the dream. This got me thinking, "What if there were people who this happened to in their dreams?" And this kind of snowballed into what is now The Dreamers Adventures series.

9. Is there any advice or words of inspiration that you can give to aspiring authors both young and old that may be reading this post?

Keep writing! I say it every time, and there's a reason. You can't publish what you don't have written. You can't even edit what you don't have written. You can write horribly if you edit well. Get something down on paper first and then work on making it good later.

10. In a few of your blog posts, you have mentioned a series that you have been working on called "The Stone Chronicles" can you tell the readers anything about this series?

Haha, it's the series I started writing in like fourth or fifth grade! It snowballed, or maybe avalanched from a 100 page novella to over a one hundred thousand page epic novel by the time I was in seventh grade. I haven't had the heart to rewrite it for a third time. There's just SOO much that happens. And I love it SOOO much, I can't bare to let it be anything BUT perfect.

Thanks for having me!

 

Thank you Mr. Oliver Dahl for becoming the interviewee of my post and for everyone reading this, read his books, they are fun, good story line, and reasonably priced.
Christmas is a comin' and the goose is gettin' fat, and "The Dreamers Advenutres: A Story of Sam Kullen" is a great story for someone wanting to go to a futuristic city, or ice caves, or even floating islands!
Oliver has a blog titled "The Dreamers Adventures" link shown here. 
And recently he has opened a website www.oliverdahl.com. 
So, I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope that you will enjoy my future ones.
Thank you for reading!
If you have any questions, comments, book recommendations, or maybe even blog post ideas that you would like to see, email me at keatswinter@gmail.com!      

Without A Clue . . .

For about a month and a half now, I have been working on my newest book, titled: Without A Clue . . .
I am currently at around 21,000 words and 100 pages in. So, being this far in, I have decided that I will allow you to preview the prologue of it.
Here it is!

Prologue

It was a dark and stormy night . . .

That is probably the most famous opening to any mystery novel ever. And that is how I plan to open this one.

There seems to be something about dark and stormy nights that makes one want to commit a crime. What it is, I’m not sure. Could it be the eeriness in the air that gives an evil atmosphere? Could it be that since rain is relaxing, the thief is more steady?

Whatever the reason, it is a great opening.

So Ladies and Gentlemen . . . .

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night . . . .

So, there you have it. The prologue of "Without a Clue . . ."
It is a mystery novel and a humor novel that the whole family can read together.
I am planning on having it be about 350 to 400 pages. Here is a small synopsis: Without a Clue . . . is the story of two nitwit detectives who are hired to investigate the robbery of an expensive necklace, little do they know, the more they dig into the mansion, the more and more trouble they find.
Don't worry, I'm still working on "The Great Toy War!", It's being edited and the cover is in the process of being created.
So, thank you for reading and feel free to check out past posts including The Backstage Story, and the preview of "The Great Toy War"
If you have any questions, comments, book recommendations, or even blog post ideas that you would like to see here, email me at keatswinter@gmail.com
Thank You! 

The Backstage Story

I must admit that I do love Christmas! Who doesn't? Probably the most famous Christmas story is Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. At the Terrace Plaza Playhouse it is their Christmas tradition to do the musical Scrooge, A Christmas Carol every year. Last year happened to be their 20th anniversary of the show. Last year is actually when I started performing there.
It is a wonderful show with a wonderful cast. I highly recommend it!
Let me describe something for you . . .
You're sitting in your seat at the Playhouse, a program lies in your lap, open to the page of the cast list of Scrooge, A Christmas Carol. Soon, the lights dim, you get butterflies in your stomach, it's starting. A man in the sound booth up behind you at the top of the rows of seats says into a microphone, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Terrace Plaza Playhouse, please turn off your cell phones and enjoy this performance of Scrooge, A Christmas Carol!" you begin to applaud as the lights onstage begin to twinkle to life showing 1843 London, chimney sweeps begin to dance as the shops behind remain frozen, and as the sweeps leave, the little London townspeople and shops come to life and try to get people to buy "Hot Soup!" and "Toys for the Little Ones!" School boys and girls enter and line up to either side of the stage, two pickpockets get caught by a suspicious bobbie. Once again, they freeze and once the music starts, they sing. The opening number, one of the best. It is the number that can make or break a show. If it's good, then people can not help but love the rest of the show. If it's kind of unngh then it takes a lot to bring it back up. The opening number ends with all the people having their arms raised and them yelling "Merry Christmas!" and then exiting, soon people's attention will be directed to the upper stage where Scrooge himself is working with Bob Crachit and Fred's little speech about Christmas. What a Great Show!
But what people don't know, is what really goes into a show. All the time and effort people put into this. What people don't realize is that the actors, directors, and costume designers, along with stage crew are people who give up three months of their lives even more so for directors and costume designers.
Let me show you the Backstage Story of Scrooge, A Christmas Carol.
It all starts with the audition . . .
Actors look and see that the audition is coming up three months before December which happens to be the actual start of the show. They think of what song they are going to sing, practice, fill out the audition form, and on the day of the audition, go over to the Playhouse. They will sit on benches in the rehearsal hall with their stomach tingling and soon their name is called. The actors go in one at a time and are welcomed with open arms by the director and assistant directors, at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse, they truly do treat you like family.
About a week later (this year it was about 2 days) the cast list is up. The actors scan the list anxiously to see what part they were given if they were given one at all. I myself was given the part of Young Ebeneezer.
There are the first rehearsals, for practicing the opening number, costuming, blocking (setting up the scene), practicing, talking, acting, practicing, a little more blocking, and did I mention practicing?
As the time for the opening night approaches, the actors get Butterflies in their stomach, and soon, the doubts roll in: Will I forget my lines? What if I mess up and make a fool of myself? What if I do something wrong?
All of these thoughts are soon discarded as the actors go on stage, but we're not at that point yet in this post.
The dress and tech rehearsals are the last thing to to do before opening night, basically you run the entire show as it would be performed, only with no audience.
Soon, it is opening night, the actors wait backstage nervously speaking in whispers as the audience files into the arena and get ready for the show. The director gathers everyone into the rehearsal hall where it all started about two months previous and she gives a little pep talk, they practice the opening number one last time, and then they pray for courage and a good performance. And finally, they go to their positions on stage, where the actors, tired, worn, yet practiced and sharp, give you Scrooge, A Christmas Carol!
I hope that this gives you more respect for those actors who do this job, it is definitely more difficult than you could possibly imagine yet they do it well.
I encourage you to come and see this show at Beverly Olsen's Terrace Plaza Playhouse. It runs the following dates: Dec. 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 23. (By the way, if you want to see me as Young Eb. see the Ivy cast, Dec. 6, 9, 13, 16, 18, 20)
Like I said before, they treat you like family at that playhouse, the director and her husband (or as known to the audience as Christmas Past and Scrooge) are some of the best actors you could ask for (aside from myself and my family, yes, I guess that's kind of bragging, but if you don't believe me, come and see the show for yourself)!
Thank You for reading this post! And Thank You to the actors of Scrooge!
Until Next Time . . .
If you have any questions, comments, book recommendations, post ideas that you would like to see on My Miraculous Mind, email me at keatswinter@gmail.com!