Author Interview: Frank L. Cole

Today I am privileged to interview Frank L. Cole, author of The Guardians of the Hidden Scepter (you can read my review here). 

I read on your blog that you come from a family of storytellers, can you tell us more about that? What was it like? Is that how you got started writing? 

My mom came from a backwoods Kentucky town and my Dad from Brooklyn, New York. Storytelling was the only means of communication. Every holiday was spent listening to my parents conjure up scary, or historical, or awe-inspiring stories. It was a great boost and definitely helped inspire me to write.

You also said on your blog that daydreaming is one of the most important things anyone can do. What do you daydream about? 

I think I usually daydream about new stories and ideas. My mind creates dialogue for characters all the time to the point I frequently talk out loud to myself. I just love magical possibilities and unexplained things which create mystery in the world, so I daydream about those sort of situations as well.

You do a lot of workshops at schools. What is the most important or interesting piece of advice you have for children or for any aspiring author? 

I think I've learned my best writing is yet to come so in order to reach that level I have to keep writing. So often we marry ourselves to our first novel or story and never let it go or move on. My advice is to move on… it gets better.

I loved the imagination displayed in your book, what do you do to nurture your own imagination? 

Reading books in my genre, watching movies, making up bedtime stories, brainstorming with people who I feel have super creative minds… It all helps.

Who or what encouraged (or still encourages) you in your writing? 

My wife and family are huge supporters of my writing. It's great to call upon them and run by ideas or read pages of manuscripts, or even wake them up in the middle of the night to share a scene I thought up while sleeping.

What challenges have you faced in your writing and how did you overcome them? 

Rejection. I've been rejected so many times and sadly, continue to face rejection with new ideas and stories. That's just part of the business, but it is difficult to cope with. Marketing my books has been almost as tough as writing a book. There is a lot of work that goes into any book to make it successful and I don't think I realized it prior to getting published.

What do you do when you are not writing? 

I'm ornery. I fidget a lot. I do play a little basketball, watch sports, play games with my kids.

How do you incorporate writing into your everyday life? How do you fuel your writing? 

I have to commit to write or it won't happen. I don't do it every night, but I need to see something advancing in the way of a story each week or I'm failing at my goals. Other authors' successes definitely fuel me to become better at what I do. Always staying hungry and searching for the next great story.

Do you have any special routines or rituals for writing? 

It has to be dark and quiet and the whole rest of the day has to be completely wide open (no appointments, no scheduled events, no work) or I struggle to write.

Humour seems to be a big part of your life and writing. Your earlier books (the Hashbrown Winters series - I am afraid that I haven't read them yet, but I have added them to my "to read" list) look like they are for a younger audience and are funnier than Guardians of the Hidden Sceptre. What prompted this change? 

I love humor and I enjoy making people laugh. I think I strayed from the Hashbrown style humor writing because I wanted to prove I could be versatile, but I will always incorporate humor into any story. That's just me.

Is there anything else you want to tell us about your book? 

(I answered this with the next question.)

What new projects are you working on or are excited about right now? 

There will be more books in the Guardians of the Hidden Scepter series. I'm working on the next in the series as we speak and I hope to have other books in the works soon.

Thank you so much for answering my questions.  To contact Frank or to find out more about his books, you can go to Frank's website, or Frank's blog.

Book Review: Guardians of the Hidden Scepter by Frank L. Cole

Book:  Guardians of the Hidden Scepter by Frank L. Cole, Cedar Fort, Inc., 2011, 288 pages.
Source:  EGalley from the publisher via NetGalley.

Summary (from Goodreads):
Amber never dreamed her archaeology class would turn into a top secret mission that would take her across the globe, but when her teacher goes missing, Amber realizes it's up to her to protect the Hidden Scepter or risk unleashing an ancient power too terrifying to imagine. This guaranteed page-turner from the bestselling author of the Hashbrown Winters series is perfect for the adventurer in your family.

My Thoughts:
This is a book that is full of adventure and page turning mystery right from the beginning.  Dorothy is a dynamic and interesting archaeology teacher at an exclusive boarding school.  However, when she goes missing, she leaves clues for her students to try and finish something that she has started.  Fourteen year old Amber is intent on figuring out the puzzle and finding her favourite teacher and she encourages her classmates  Joseph, Lisa and Trendon to help.   This leads the kids to mystries to solve, bad guys to avoid, and various other dangers.  There is also teamwork, friendship, betrayal and interesting plot twists.

I enjoyed the characters in this book, especially how smart and innovative they are.  They are a bit stereotypical, especially at the beginning, for example, Amber is smart, quiet, reserved, and good at school, while Trendon is a junk food eating computer and gaming expert.  However, they also show growth as they leave their comfort zones and learn to be confident in their abilities and work to figure out the puzzle.

I also liked how Frank Cole played with history and archaeology to create the mystery in the book.  I do not want to give anything away, so I won't say very much, but I found his use of historical speculation to be fun and Indiana Jones like.

One thing to note, I was a little surprised by the level of violence in the book, especially for this age group - there were guns, killing, and some scary situations - but it did fit into the book and didn't not feel gratuitous.

This is an interesting, exciting book, full of intense action and suspense that keeps you turning the pages to find out what will happen next, but is also clever and thoughtful.  I would have a hard time saying that this book would appeal to either boys or girls more because, even though it is told from Amber's point of view, both the female and male characters are very strong.   I would highly recommend this book to middle school kids who are looking for intelligent mystery, suspence, and adventure.

If you are intersted in this book, check back in a couple of days when I will post an interview with Frank Cole and he will offer a copy of Guardians of the Hidden Scepter in a giveaway.