Ebook Tour: Welcome to CK Volnek, author of Ghost Dog of Roanoke Island

My kind of book! Well with a dog-oriented blog, a "ghost dog" book is a perfect fit! The true-life history makes for a fascinating background for this book.

Today I welcome CK Volnek, author of the new eBook, Ghost Dog of Roanoke Island.

About the Book:
In 1587, 121 colonists disappeared from Roanoke Island, NC, never to be seen again.

Something evil is haunting Roanoke Island and it’s up to 12-year-old Jack Dahlgren to unravel the mystery of the lost colony and stop the hateful campaign of revenge. But can Jack solve the puzzle in time to destroy the beast, before it destroys him?

Interview with CK Volnek:

How'd you start writing?

Hi Chris. Thanks for letting me visit your blog today.

I have always loved telling stories. I remember sitting at the campfire when I was a kid and my cousins would all turn to me to spin the scary tale that would keep them up all night. I couldn’t help but oblige.:-) I also loved to read and after reading Black Beauty, I decided I wanted to be the next Anna Sewell.

My passion has always been to write for children. I love their imagination and thirst for stories. I never want to grow up and lose that.

What inspires you to write? What inspired this book?

I have a very fickle muse. She loves to spin a story and will whisper into my ear with ideas for stories on just about any news article I see. GHOST DOG OF ROANOKE ISLAND was inspired after reading a news piece about the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island. To be honest, I don’t remember studying the Lost Colony in school so the story truly intrigued me. I was fascinated by the mystery of what happened to the missing 117 colonists and my muse went wild coming up with a story of what she believes happened to them.

When I'm not writing, I'm....

I have to grin at this question. I dabble in so many other things than writing…spending time with my family, flower gardening, jewelry making, hiking, teaching 5th grade CCD (Sunday School)…but one of the main things I am known for around town is being the ‘dog woman.’

I have not two, not three, but four Papillon pups. I spend a lot of time with them and have trained them to do an array of tricks from the usual sit, down, stay to roll over and play dead, crawl like a marine, wave hello and good-bye and take a bow. Noah, my biggest trickster of the bunch, is quite a ham-bone and is actually a certified therapy dog. We have visited nursing homes, outdoor events, as well as being a regular at my CCD classes. But he goes to my classes with a lesson, such as unconditional love, patience and obedience.

How does your writing influences your life - and how does our life influence your writing?

One major way writing has influenced my life has had to do with the marketing of my books. At a workshop I attended, a speaker said that marketing with Twitter, Facebook and the like is about 80 percent promoting others and 20 percent promoting yourself. To accomplish this, you have to put yourself out there, reach outside your comfort zone and meet people. I’ve always been rather introverted so this was a challenge for me. But because of it, I began connecting with people and creating such an abundance of friends, I feel I have a whole new extended family. I’m so much happier and confident for having stepped outside my comfort zone.

How much of 'you' is in your books, and what?

I heard someone say once that an author writes for the genre that affected them the most. And so I write middle-grade/tween. The emotions evoked within my stories can be raw and cutting as well as positive and uplifting; the gamut of emotions every tween experiences. I may have grown up poor and in a small-town, but it created a world of emotions I think many kids can identify with.

What do you want people to take away from this book?
I hope my readers will retain the valuable lesson of tolerance and the power of forgiveness after reading GHOST DOG OF ROANOKE ISLAND. Though I did not intend to write a story with such a prominent lesson, my muse deemed it important to bring about. As the book unfolded for me, it created this story of acceptance and tolerance in hopes to stop the eternal flame of hatred and revenge.

Thanks Chris, for allowing me to join you today!
C.K. Volnek

About the author: CK Volnek has an associate's degree in art, thinking she'd write and illustrate children's books. Instead she focused on raising her family and continues to do computer graphics and layout to help pay the bills. She's excited to now focus on her writing and happy to come home after work to her small town in Nebraska where all she has to deal with are three stoplights and an occasional tractor.

* Visit her blog.

* Check out the book trailer.


** NEXT on YA Ebook Tour: Sue Perkins, "Spirit Stealer"


*BUY:

MuseItUp Bookstore or see Amazon link below.