Ask the Author: Madeline Martin
Answered Questions (43)
Madeline Martin
Hi Sharon - thank you so much! :) I do have questions and they are coming to my website soon. I'll post on my social media, newsletter, and here when they are up. However, if you need them sooner, please feel free to reach out to me either here or on my website and I can send them to you.
Additionally, I love to do zoom chats with book clubs, so if you want to see if I'm free to join you all for a chat, you can submit your date/request here: https://madelinemartin.com/book-clubs/
Additionally, I love to do zoom chats with book clubs, so if you want to see if I'm free to join you all for a chat, you can submit your date/request here: https://madelinemartin.com/book-clubs/
Madeline Martin
I think the most important thing is to educate yourself on the craft of writing. On Writing by Stephen King, Story Genius by Lisa Cron, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott are great resources to start with. If you're interested in taking online courses about various craft elements, I highly recommend Margie Lawson - she does a lot with romance, but the elements can be applied to all genres and there are new classes listed every month: https://www.margielawson.com.
I've been writing for over 20 years and am always looking for new books on craft. I also work with book coaches one-on-one for ways to strengthen my writing and am getting my MFA in Creative Writing right now.
You can never learn too much about writing and the more you learn, the stronger your writing will continue to be.
Best of luck with the book! :)
I've been writing for over 20 years and am always looking for new books on craft. I also work with book coaches one-on-one for ways to strengthen my writing and am getting my MFA in Creative Writing right now.
You can never learn too much about writing and the more you learn, the stronger your writing will continue to be.
Best of luck with the book! :)
Madeline Martin
Hi, Samantha - great question! I was writing historical romance and really wanted to break into historical fiction, but it was difficult to make time for the necessary research a historical fiction requires. I was working full time as a business analyst and writing 6-8 romances a year - it was a lot to keep up with! Too much to maintain while trying to stretch into a new genre. In February 2020 (right before the pandemic), I was laid off from my job I'd been with for 16 years in a slew of job cuts. This gave me the opportunity to write full time and really apply myself into my historical research. It was then I learned that I'm not only a history nerd, but also a research nerd ;) I love writing historical fiction and am grateful that I had the incredible gift of time to explore something I have always been passionate about.
Madeline Martin
Hi, Rita - all book club questions can be found on my website. I also love to meet with book clubs via zoom. So feel free to also fill out the form if you'd like me to pop in and join you if I'm available. :) Here's the link with the form and all the PDFs of my book club reader's guides: https://madelinemartin.com/book-clubs/
Madeline Martin
Hi, Molly - thank you so much!! :) I still have the book theme in my next release, coming September 25th, but it's set in the Victorian time period and is called The Secret Book Society - you can find a little more about it and add it to your 'Want to Read' here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
My next one is tentatively called A Time of Witches and is set in the 1600s England during the witch trials, but it's all still in the early planning stages :)
Thank you for asking :)
My next one is tentatively called A Time of Witches and is set in the 1600s England during the witch trials, but it's all still in the early planning stages :)
Thank you for asking :)
Madeline Martin
I'm so glad you enjoyed The Last Bookshop in London - thank you :) My other historical fictions are all absent profanity and sexual content as well (The Librarian Spy and The Keeper of Hidden Books) as is my next book, The Booklover's Library (that miiiight have a cameo from The Last Bookshop in London ;) )
I hope you enjoy them as much! Thank you
I hope you enjoy them as much! Thank you
Madeline Martin
Hi, Lauren :) Thank you so much! Yes - I actually have a reader's guide on my website for The Keeper of Hidden Books that lists all the books read by the Bandit Bookclub - you can find it here: https://madelinemartin.com/book-clubs/
On a totally related note, I've recently fallen in love with the Literary Book Club subscription box - they do quarterly boxes with a beautifully bound classic and 'presents' to open when you reach certain pages and a chapter-by-chapter discussion on an app called Fable. I don't get a kickback or anything, so this is really just a gushy recommendation from one book lover to another for a fun way to check out the classics :) Here's their website: https://www.theliterarybookclub.com
Enjoy the classic reads!! <3 :) They're so wonderful!
On a totally related note, I've recently fallen in love with the Literary Book Club subscription box - they do quarterly boxes with a beautifully bound classic and 'presents' to open when you reach certain pages and a chapter-by-chapter discussion on an app called Fable. I don't get a kickback or anything, so this is really just a gushy recommendation from one book lover to another for a fun way to check out the classics :) Here's their website: https://www.theliterarybookclub.com
Enjoy the classic reads!! <3 :) They're so wonderful!
Madeline Martin
Hi, Kayla :) I apologize for my delay in replying.
I'm so glad you enjoyed The Keeper of Hidden Books :) (and for what it's worth, I cried when I wrote it!)
Congratulations on writing your own story!! :) Regarding character descriptions, a couple of things help: put together a back story for EVERY character that has more than a couple of speaking parts, you want to know their hopes and dreams, their flaws, their trauma, their fears, their childhood, etc. It will help out with having fleshed out characters. Regarding how to describe them, try to use their actions and the things they say to describe more about them than just their physical appearance, or incorporate their personality/history into their physical appearance description (a scar with a history that might come up later, a smile always hovering at the ready, a hard set to their jaw, shoulders that hunch forward, that kind of thing).
Also, check out YouTube! There are tons of videos on about every aspect of writing you can think of :)
Best of luck with it!! :)
I'm so glad you enjoyed The Keeper of Hidden Books :) (and for what it's worth, I cried when I wrote it!)
Congratulations on writing your own story!! :) Regarding character descriptions, a couple of things help: put together a back story for EVERY character that has more than a couple of speaking parts, you want to know their hopes and dreams, their flaws, their trauma, their fears, their childhood, etc. It will help out with having fleshed out characters. Regarding how to describe them, try to use their actions and the things they say to describe more about them than just their physical appearance, or incorporate their personality/history into their physical appearance description (a scar with a history that might come up later, a smile always hovering at the ready, a hard set to their jaw, shoulders that hunch forward, that kind of thing).
Also, check out YouTube! There are tons of videos on about every aspect of writing you can think of :)
Best of luck with it!! :)
Madeline Martin
Thank you so much, Madelyn (hey, nice name, BTW ;) ) Congratulations on writing a book!! Starting a book off in the right place can be tricky and a lot of times it goes off of 'gut instinct'. If you're at a place that doesn't require too much backstory detailed out and does jump into action pretty quickly without leaving someone confused as to how all that action began, that's usually a pretty good spot.
Also, different genres will have different starting points. Romance = the "meet cute", historical fiction = the big change that is coming happens after a brief showing of 'normal life', thrillers = body (or some crime) shows up, etc.
There is a lot of great content on Youtube and a lot of great blogs out there. It might be helpful to search the genre you're writing to see what authors in that genre recommend for the starting point.
I hope that helps. Best of luck to you with your book! :)
Hugs,
Madeline
Also, different genres will have different starting points. Romance = the "meet cute", historical fiction = the big change that is coming happens after a brief showing of 'normal life', thrillers = body (or some crime) shows up, etc.
There is a lot of great content on Youtube and a lot of great blogs out there. It might be helpful to search the genre you're writing to see what authors in that genre recommend for the starting point.
I hope that helps. Best of luck to you with your book! :)
Hugs,
Madeline
Madeline Martin
HI, Anna :) First of all, congratulations on writing your first book! Being a mom and an author is difficult time and energy-wise (especially with a day job if you have one). I've been writing for over fifteen years, but have only been writing full time for four years and my girls are teens. The struggle is real, and I TOTALLY get it.
I think the most important thing is to try to carve out a time that you can work when everyone else is asleep when your mind is sharpest - either early morning, or late evening. Or if you're at home, maybe while your children are at school. Don't feel like you need to write huge blocks of text at once (unless you're on a roll, then go for it!) - writing 100 words a day (basically a paragraph) every day will add up faster than you realize and you can do more as the words are feeling like they're coming.
Regarding research, if you don't have the time to read dozens of books, that's totally OK. How much research is done is dependent on the author, the book, etc. Try to find maybe four or so books that are very helpful and read them - sometimes swapping 'want-to-read' novels with 'have-to-read' non-fiction (and hopefully you find it fun still, otherwise cut back on the books you're using for research).
The most important thing is to remember that the dream of publication is NOT impossible just because time is limited and because you're a mom. You absolutely can attain this dream. You've got this! Best of luck to you xoxo
I think the most important thing is to try to carve out a time that you can work when everyone else is asleep when your mind is sharpest - either early morning, or late evening. Or if you're at home, maybe while your children are at school. Don't feel like you need to write huge blocks of text at once (unless you're on a roll, then go for it!) - writing 100 words a day (basically a paragraph) every day will add up faster than you realize and you can do more as the words are feeling like they're coming.
Regarding research, if you don't have the time to read dozens of books, that's totally OK. How much research is done is dependent on the author, the book, etc. Try to find maybe four or so books that are very helpful and read them - sometimes swapping 'want-to-read' novels with 'have-to-read' non-fiction (and hopefully you find it fun still, otherwise cut back on the books you're using for research).
The most important thing is to remember that the dream of publication is NOT impossible just because time is limited and because you're a mom. You absolutely can attain this dream. You've got this! Best of luck to you xoxo
Madeline Martin
Hi, Cathy :) Thank you so much for choosing The Keeper of Hidden Books for your book club. Sorry for the reader's guide missing - I am working on it now and will hopefully have it up sooner than later. Also, just an FYI that I love to do zoom chats with book clubs so long as I have the availability :) Just fill out the form on my website if you're interested: https://madelinemartin.com/book-clubs/
Here are the discussion questions:
- Which character do you connect with the most and why?
- Do you think you could have been part of the Warsaw Uprising?
- What books that were read in the Bandit Book Club have you read? Are there any new ones you’d like to read?
- In the story, Zofia doesn’t like one of the books they read in the Bandit Book Club, but when she reads it again at a later point in her life, she finds incredible poignance in the story. What is a book you read once that you didn’t much care for, but then found significance and power in the second reading later in your life?
- What was something interesting you learned about Warsaw during WWII that you didn’t know before reading this book?
- Do you think you’d be part of a secret book club if it was offered to you?
- If your education was cut short by the closing of schools, would you risk your life to finish your education? Especially when doing so yielded only a ticket under the promise that it would translate to a proper certificate once the war was over.
- This is a difficult question - Hiding Jewish people was an incredibly brave thing to do, and also was incredibly dangerous. Doing so put the lives of family members and even fellow apartment dwellers at risk. Do you think you could have helped hide those who were Jewish despite the risk?
- This could be controversial, so only add if you are comfortable doing so: Book banning sadly still continues today with our public schools and libraries. Why do you think these books are being banned? What problems do you think can come of it? Have you read any books that were banned and how do you feel about why it was banned?
I hope you have a fabulous book club :)
Here are the discussion questions:
- Which character do you connect with the most and why?
- Do you think you could have been part of the Warsaw Uprising?
- What books that were read in the Bandit Book Club have you read? Are there any new ones you’d like to read?
- In the story, Zofia doesn’t like one of the books they read in the Bandit Book Club, but when she reads it again at a later point in her life, she finds incredible poignance in the story. What is a book you read once that you didn’t much care for, but then found significance and power in the second reading later in your life?
- What was something interesting you learned about Warsaw during WWII that you didn’t know before reading this book?
- Do you think you’d be part of a secret book club if it was offered to you?
- If your education was cut short by the closing of schools, would you risk your life to finish your education? Especially when doing so yielded only a ticket under the promise that it would translate to a proper certificate once the war was over.
- This is a difficult question - Hiding Jewish people was an incredibly brave thing to do, and also was incredibly dangerous. Doing so put the lives of family members and even fellow apartment dwellers at risk. Do you think you could have helped hide those who were Jewish despite the risk?
- This could be controversial, so only add if you are comfortable doing so: Book banning sadly still continues today with our public schools and libraries. Why do you think these books are being banned? What problems do you think can come of it? Have you read any books that were banned and how do you feel about why it was banned?
I hope you have a fabulous book club :)
Madeline Martin
Thank you for reading The Last Bookshop in London :) I hope you enjoyed it. And I think you'll definitely find Five Chimneys to be an unforgettable read that is both powerful and heartbreaking. I think everyone should read that book.
Madeline Martin
Hi, Queen of Cats! I love your name!! :) I am SO sorry for my delay in replying - I missed your question when it first posted!
I think if you want to pursue a career in writing, I would definitely recommend educating yourself on the craft. It's something I put a major focus on every year, personally. A great place to start is margielawson.com - her classes were integral in creating a foundational knowledge when I first started and I still take her classes. I cannot recommend them enough. Also, check out Steven King's book On Writing (about writing as well as his path to publication) - it's inspiring and educational.
Best of luck!! :)
I think if you want to pursue a career in writing, I would definitely recommend educating yourself on the craft. It's something I put a major focus on every year, personally. A great place to start is margielawson.com - her classes were integral in creating a foundational knowledge when I first started and I still take her classes. I cannot recommend them enough. Also, check out Steven King's book On Writing (about writing as well as his path to publication) - it's inspiring and educational.
Best of luck!! :)
Madeline Martin
Hi, Daniel - thank you so much for asking and no worries on the question mark LOL :)
What specifically are you looking for with your next WWII book suggestions? If it's holocaust, I highly recommend Five Chimneys as it's one of the most powerful books I've read (based on the author's experience at Auschwitz). If you'd like some more recs, feel free to send me a message from my website madelinemartin.com
What specifically are you looking for with your next WWII book suggestions? If it's holocaust, I highly recommend Five Chimneys as it's one of the most powerful books I've read (based on the author's experience at Auschwitz). If you'd like some more recs, feel free to send me a message from my website madelinemartin.com
Madeline Martin
Hi, Neela - I'm so sorry for my delay in replying!!! I don't have a book club guide yet, but hope to get that done this month. Just an FYI, I love to meet with book clubs and can do a zoom chat with all of you if you let me know the date/time you're meeting. You can submit a book club request here: https://madelinemartin.com/book-clubs/
Madeline Martin
It's so hard to answer which are my favorite places I've been because I have loved every place for one reason or another. :) I do love traveling. I was an Army brat growing up and we spent three tours in Germany. My parents were active travelers and took us all over Europe. I think that's when the travel bug bit me and I've been at its mercy ever since. :) I love that you enjoyed Little House on the Prairie too! :)
Madeline Martin
Hi, Kellie - thank you for your question! I'm so glad you're enjoying my books! My love of historical fiction started as a little girl with reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder - I was hooked on historical fiction ever since! As far as writing goes, I've always written books and random chapters here and there, but I really started my first official book after reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I'm a huge reader, so the list of authors who have inspired me is really endless. :)
Madeline Martin
Thank you so much for asking :) I recently released The Librarian Spy, which is set during WWII and have another book coming out in August 2023 called The Keeper of Hidden Books and am working on another now. I'm so glad you enjoyed The Last Bookshop in London!
Madeline Martin
Hi Mindy :) Thank you so much for reaching out and I apologize for my delay in replying. I made some minor adjustments, but they are more small editing details rather than adding anything new to the story.
Thank you so much for reading so many of my books! :)
Thank you so much for reading so many of my books! :)
Madeline Martin
I'm so glad they're helpful!! Have fun!! :)
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