Interview with Author Margaret Turley

Donna: Why do you write?

Margaret: I must. I am compelled to put my thoughts down in paper.

Donna: Boy, do understand that sentiment! So, what genre are your books and who is your target audience?

Margaret: I wrote my book as a fiction novel. I felt that I would reach a larger audience that way. I am aiming for Parents, Grandparents, Law Makers, attorneys in Family and Health Law, and Healthcare givers.

Donna: Sounds ambitious. Was there a particular person or event that inspired you to write this story?

Margaret: In 2003 I heard about the Parker Jensen case in Utah. I felt great sympathy for the parents. I have followed that case and others since then and started my project to write a book about parents rights to choose their children’s healthcare at that time.

Donna: Tell us about the hero / and or Heroine in your book/s. Margaret: Nancy and Robert Johnson are the parents of Sharon Johnson – an eight year old girl who is diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Nancy is vehemently opposed to chemotherapy, considers it poison. Robert is a law student and asks his professor for help with their case when CPS comes in and removes custody away from them and gives it to the state.

Donna: So who is the villain? the CPS worker, or the state?

Margaret: The villain here is cancer a vicious disease. The Johnsons are also opposed by the doctors and by the law.

Donna: How do you discover the characteristics of your characters? Please elaborate on one or two of those. Margaret: I relied upon many of my own personal experiences and observations of parents in similar circumstances of patients I’ve cared for over the years. I also interviewed several parents who had children who have had cancer. I used the characteristics I observed and wove them into the characters in my book.

Donna: Do you write your book from beginning to end, or start with the end or in the middle? Why?

Margaret: I started writing my book from beginning to end. But I hit a major block, not being able to move forward when there were parts that needed to happen in the middle that I didn’t know how to orchestrate. After taking the Crafting the Character-Based Novel from Dr. Pamela Goodfellow I stopped trying to write in a linear plot based fashion and instead focused of fleshing out characters and creating scenes she taught us about in her uniquely designed Scaffold process. By doing that the story more or less took care of itself.

Donna: After you wrote the book, how long did it take you to get it published?

Margaret: I gave the manuscript files to my editor last year August. So it is a little more than a year later now that the book is published.

Donna: Who was the first person you told when you found out your book was being published?

Margaret: My daughter Serena. I was so excited and she shared my joy enthusiastically.

Donna: Where can we purchase a copy of your book?

Margaret: You can order the books from my website: Save the Child. (http://margaretturley.com) It will also be available through Amazon.com soon.

The launch for Save the child will be at the Goodfellow Book Celebration on Thursday evening, November 4^th, 2010 from 7:00pm until 10:00 pm. Our event will be held in the Wright House Reception Centre on 636 W. University Dr. Mesa, Arizona 85201. I am one of eight authors who will have books in this event. We have joined together with our book producer Dr. Pamela R. Goodfellow to form the group: Writers Unite to Fight Cancer. We are holding a silent auction during our event to help raise money for the American Association for Cancer Research.

Thank you for allowing me to share Save the Child and Writers Unite to Fight Cancer with you today. I hope you and your family will remain healthy and cancer free.

Margaret L. Turley RN

Donna: Thank you for being my guest. I hope your launch goes well and that you reach those seeking help.