Historical fiction, young adult fiction
Date Published: October 27, 2020
Publisher: Empire Studies Press
An Egyptian girl fights amid intrigue and corruption for the completion of the world’s greatest man-made waterway.
Recent events have placed the Suez Canal in the global spotlight. One of the world’s most vital waterways, the Canal was originally hailed as a link between civilizations, between Western science and Eastern mystery. This adventure is set against the epic creation of the Canal.
Heroes coming of age... and changing history.
"Tom Durwood is the real thing."
-- Joe Weber, Honorable Enemies, Rules of Engagement
Is There a
Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?
Yes,
for sure – the short answer is this: history is both global and multi-cultural.
Historians
more and more see national histories as linked. In addition, the full story includes
all classes -- maids and blacksmiths as well as generals and politicians walking
the halls of power. I am enjoying telling these colossal stories through teen
characters who are clerks, grunts, students, apprentices, shipwrights.
As a
teacher in the front lines, I have seen how little our students know about
history, and how much they enjoy learning about it – that might be the answer
to the larger question of my book’s message. The mission here, as in my Lit classes, is to connect the stories
we tell to underlying social and economic dynamics.
Is there
anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Oh, yeah …
Authentic characters.
Every writer needs characters who think
and feel and act independently of the plot. Without that, everything is
pointless.
Once I feel that I have a decent emotional
arc and credible interactions among the characters, I can lay that structure
into my historical setting. All of the historical
detail and themes need to come through the human story naturally. If you try to force facts or your own clever
observations into the narrative, you end up with big blocks of exposition that no
one (but the author) likes.
Here is my favorite passage from a TBD
review so far:
“The Illustrated Boatman’s
Daughter is made even more enjoyable
by how Salima relates to and deals with the other characters in the book,
especially her friend Emilie … Durwood does a fine job of capturing authentic
moments—both funny and not—while tackling difficult and important subjects
like slave labor.”
-- Chika
Anene
How many
books have you written and which is your favorite?
Eleven books and seven lesson-plan
booklets (I’m an English teacher).
The most fully realized book is “The Illustrated
Boatman’s Daughter.” It is the one I have no urge to revise or add to.
If You had
the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would
you pick and why?
That’s a great question, I
have not thought about that. Honestly, if you were to make a cable series of “The
Boatman’s Daughter,” I think you would want to pluck all the actors from obscurity.
Start with all-new players, like David Lean did with Peter O’Toole in “Lawrence
of Arabia.” In my case, you would want actors
who bring a high degree of personal charm, since my stories tend to be challenging,
dense-ish, and event-heavy.
When did
you begin writing?
I was editor of my high school
newspaper, so I was engaged in writing and editing in my teens. As for fiction
– my junior year of college was my first story.
How long
did it take to complete your first book?
Maybe a year, but it was
a terrible book (manuscript, that is). Just awful. In general, I am a ridiculously
slow writer, so I tend to ruminate and write early drafts over a span of a
decade or more. If I am persistent, the third or fourth draft might be
readable.
Did you
have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
Well, I am drawn to natural
storytellers like Conan Doyle, Robert E, Howard, Louis L’Amour, and Tom Clancy.
As to being inspired to write,
it has been more like a compulsion to write. I think I am driven to carve out
these stories in order to make my world look right. It’s like building a scale model of the
Hoover Dam, or something you can’t know until it is fully designed and constructed.
What is
your favorite part of the writing process?
Turning those late-night flashes into a sturdy,
workable story. I also really enjoy the elliptic language of the
natural-history paragraphs that set the stage for my far-fetched adventures.
Describe your
latest book in 4 words.
Nile girl saves Egypt
Can you
share a little bit about your current work
or what is
in the future for your writing?
Yes, happy to do so –
Now that I am beginning to understand
these stories, I feel I am on a mission to bring crucial moments in history to
young readers.
When I taught at Valley Forge Military
College, I found that the cadets would undertake any writing challenge if I
could just present it simply and clearly. I feel the same about these challenging
historical events – if I can create honest characters with authentic problems,
my readers will follow them
anywhere they go.
Also, I really enjoy working with the
illustrators to bring a visual dimension to the adventures. I hope I can continue to do so, but the sticker
price may prove prohibitive to readers.
Having tackled the Suez Canal, the
American Revolution, Ulysses S. Grant in China, the Benin Wars of Succession, the
first farmer, the collapse of the High Maya, and the Dutch Rebellion, I am
ready for a collection of stories set in the theatres of World War II. Then Teddy
Roosevelt.
###
About the Author
TOM DURWOOD is editor of Empire Studies Magazine, an open-access journal posting over fifty scholarly features. He taught most recently at Valley Forge Military College, where he won five Teacher of the Year awards.
He is the author of Teddy’s Tantrum: John D. Weaver and the Exoneration of the 25th Infantry. His book Kid Lit: An Introduction to Literary Theory has earned favorable early reviews. “My favorite nonfiction book of the year,” writes The Literary Apothecary (Goodreads).
Foreword Author’s Bio
Fatima Sharafeddine is a writer and translator for children and young adults, winner of several awards and honor lists, among which the Etisalat Award for the best YA book of the year 2017 for “Cappuccino”, (Al-Saqi publishers), and the Bologna Ragazzi New Horizons Award for her book “Tongue Twisters” (Kalimat publishers). Her YA novel “Mila’s Pear” was 3shortlisted for the Etisalat Award 2019, and she was nominated 5 times for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the last nomination being in 2020. She has written over 140 books.
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