Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The Old Cape Hollywood Secret
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://barbarastruna.blogspot.com/
CITY: Brewster
STATE: MA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
Moved to Brewster on Cape Cod with her husband Timothy, a professional artist, and their children. Together they established Struna Galleries–Brewster.
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married Timothy Struna (a professional artist); children: five.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author; cofounder, Struna Galleries–Brewster.
MEMBER:National League of American Pen Women, International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime (national, New England, and LA chapters), Cape Cod Writers Center (president).
AWARDS:First place award in historical fiction, Royal Dragonfly Awards, 2014, for The Old Cape House, and 2017, for The Old Cape Hollywood Secret.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Barbara Eppich Struna fulfilled her dream of becoming a novelist with the publication of her first book The Old Cape House in 2013. The story was based on a discovery she made on the grounds of her nineteenth-century home on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. “I always wanted to write a story about our old house and its history,” Struna explained in an interview with Eleanor Parker Sapia appearing on the Writing Life Blog. “I knew from my research that it held many secrets. When a connection finally sparked in my head between our house and the 18th century Cape Cod legend of Sam Bellamy, his lover Maria Hallett, and the pirate ship Whydah, I knew I had to write The Old Cape House.“
The connection Struna mentioned was a pattern of brickwork buried under ten inches of soil located behind an old barn on her property. The discovery got her thinking about the old New England legend of the young, wealthy pirate who was shipwrecked on his way to collect the girl he loved from her Massachusetts home. “A bit of old pottery on the beach triggered the idea for her second book, The Old Cape Teapot, connecting the Bellamy treasure further to the present,” declared Lee Roscoe in the Cape Cod Times. “At the Hyannis bus depot a man in a long black coat with a bad knee and a weathered look inspired the book’s villain. `I called my husband. I was so excited with my great new character.’ She imagined her newest, third book, The Old Cape Hollywood Secret, after her oldest son moved to a small apartment in Venice Beach and dug out an area for a patio.” “Her imagination took flight again when she discovered a turquoise 1940 Fiesta-ware cup buried in her Cape woods,” stated a PR Newswire contributor; “it ignited an idea for a story about the forties on Cape Cod and ‘Old Hollywood.'”
The Old Cape Hollywood Secret features sleuth Nancy Caldwell. The novel takes place in 1947 and in the present. Maggie Foster and her cousin Gertie leave Cape Cod for glamorous Hollywood, but when one of them disappears, Nancy is determined to discover why. “Struna is at her best,” said a Publishers Weekly reviewer, “when she focuses on endearing, self-aware Nancy and her intrepid sleuthing.” “All the characters are perfectly fleshed out and, hopefully, we get to read more about Nancy and Stephen’s new adventures,” concluded Oliva Dsouza on the Thriller Writers website. “Awesome work!”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Cape Cod Times, October 22, 2017, Lee Roscoe, ” Author Writes Historical Thrillers, Lives a Fairy Tale.”
Publishers Weekly, December 4, 2017, review of The Old Cape Hollywood Secret, p. 49.
ONLINE
PR Newswire, https://www.prnewswire.com/ (October 4, 2017), “Barbara Eppich Struna’s Acclaimed Suspenseful Historical Fiction ‘The Old Cape Hollywood Secret’ Now Available.”
Smashwords, https://www.smashwords.com/ (May 9, 2018), author profile.
Thriller Writers, http://thrillerwriters.org/ (October 5, 2017), Oliva Dsouza, review of The Old Cape Hollywood Secret.
Writing Life Blog, https://thewritinglifeeparker.wordpress.com/ (January 24, 2017), Eleanor Parker Sapia, “Author Interview: Barbara Eppich Struna.”
When the author and her husband Tim, a professional artist, turned forty in the late 1980s, they moved with their three teenagers from Ohio to Cape Cod into a sea captain's house, circa 1880. The Cape's history and brilliant natural light drew them in; this was a place where Tim would paint and Barbara could write.
A storyteller at heart, Barbara bases her tales on her own personal experiences. She has created a contemporary character, an amateur sleuth, who becomes the vehicle that moves her stories between time periods in alternating chapters. Aided by Barbara's imagination and her love of history, myth, and legend, she continues to create winning novels.
Her first suspenseful historical, The Old Cape House, won "First Place - Historical Fiction, Royal Dragonfly Awards 2014", that led to the second, The Old Cape Teapot and the third, The Old Cape Hollywood Secret, also awarded, "First Place Historical Fiction - Royal Dragonfly Awards 2017", "Hollywood Book Festival - Genre Based 2017", and "Finalist Fiction: Mystery/Suspense IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards 2017".
She is an International Best Selling Author, a Member in Letters of the National League of American Pen Women, International Thriller Writers, Panelist Thrillerfest 2016, IBPA, Sisters In Crime: National, New England, LA, and President of Cape Cod Writers Center. Always a journal writer, she is fascinated by history and writes a blog about the unique facts and myths of Cape Cod.
Author Interview: Barbara Eppich Struna
Welcome to The Writing Life blog! Today, we are celebrating our third blog anniversary, and to help us celebrate is Barbara Eppich Struna, who was my first guest author in 2015. That seems like eons ago, and I’m happy to say that the Tuesday Author Interview series is still going strong. We have a wonderful line up of talented authors for 2017, who will chat with me about books, writing, publishing, editing, marketing books, and publishing. I hope you’ll join us each Tuesday. Thank you for your support!
struna-author-photo
A storyteller at heart, Barbara Eppich Struna lives on Cape Cod with her family in an old 1880 house where her imagination is constantly inspired by the history that surrounds her. She is the published author of two historical novels, The Old Cape House – “First Place – Historical Fiction, Royal Dragonfly Awards 2014”, and The Old Cape Teapot.
Struna is an International Best Selling Author, a Member in Letters of the National League of American Pen Women, International Thriller Writers, Sisters In Crime, and President of Cape Cod Writers Center. Always a journal writer, she is fascinated by history and writes a blog about the unique facts and myths of Cape Cod.
Welcome back to The Writing Life, Barbara!
What is your book’s genre?
Suspenseful Historical Fiction
struna-cover
Barbara, please describe what The Old Cape House is about.
Nancy Caldwell relocates to an old sea captain’s house on Cape Cod with her husband and four children. When she discovers an abandoned root cellar in her backyard containing a baby’s skull and gold coins, she digs up evidence that links her land to the legendary tale of Maria Hallett and her pirate lover, Sam Bellamy. Using alternating chapters between the 18th and 21st centuries, The Old Cape House, a historical fiction, follows two women that are lifetimes apart, to uncover a mystery that has had the old salts of Cape Cod guessing for 300 years.
How did you come up with the title?
My husband and I, along with our children, live in an old 1880 house on Cape Cod similar to the house in the story. In fact, it is the house pictured on the book cover.
What inspired you to write this book?
I always wanted to write a story about our old house and its history. I knew from my research that it held many secrets. When a connection finally sparked in my head between our house and the 18th century Cape Cod legend of Sam Bellamy, his lover Maria Hallett, and the pirate ship Whydah, I knew I had to write The Old Cape House. Besides I’ve always maintained a philosophy in life of, ‘It could happen….” and “What if….”
Of course, I never found what my contemporary character discovered but I did uncover several surprises.
What is your favorite part of writing?
Crafting the plot, and if I discover any missing facts or holes in the history within the story, after months or years of research, that’s where I make it up and fictionalize. I love to tell a good story.
Does your main character resemble you? If so, in what ways?
My contemporary main character resembles my life and thoughts about 50% through the storyline. The character experiences some of my adventures and choices. She takes chances as often as I do.
For example:
Did I move across the country with my children into an old 1880 house at forty years old? Yes.
Was I a stay–at-home mother of five children? Yes.
Did my husband/artist support us through his artwork? Yes. I was the business manager/agent for his career.
Did I unearth a surprise in my backyard like my character? Yes, under 10 inches of dirt.
Barbara, what do you find is the most challenging aspect of writing?
Making sure the reader wants to turn the page.
I agree! What was the last book you read? What did you think of it?
To be honest, it’s been a while since I have had the time to finish reading someone else’s book. When I’m engrossed in writing, and I’m on Book #4, I’m too tired to read extra. Plus my research takes up a lot of time. But I do love the whole process of writing a book. In the new year of 2017, I plan to read more.
I find it difficult to read for pleasure when I’m writing, as well. Who are some of your favorite authors?
I enjoyed reading William Martin’s Cape Cod and Back Bay. I love the technique of alternating chapters between centuries, which he does so well.
What authors or person(s) have influenced you as a writer and why?
My mother always encouraged me to follow my dreams and my husband, a full time/self-supporting artist, who never gave up on his goals.
Do you have a favorite place to write? To read?
I write in the parlor of our old house in front of a large bay window and always listen to instrumental music, usually movie soundtracks. Because all of my children are grown and on their own and my husband works in his art studio, I can play my music without interruption. I have to set the timer on my phone to 45 minutes; otherwise I’d sit at the computer all day, lost in the story.
struna_beach
Tell us something personal about you people may be surprised to know?
Whenever I’m driving on the road and I see a garbage bag on the side, I always think there’s a dead body or treasure inside.
I’ll admit my mind goes there, as well. Did the writing process uncover surprises or learning experiences for you? What about the publishing process?
I knew there would be numerous drafts and editing but did not expect the lengthy time involved as the MS moved through editors, proofreaders, and beta readers.
What do you hope readers will gain from your book?
An appreciation for a good story that is simply told and the need to keep turning the page.
Looking back, Barbara, what did you do right that helped you write and market this book?
I think the best thing that happened to me was that a publisher picked up my book and guided me through the preparation and publishing of my first and second novel. I also paid attention and educated myself about the many confusing ins and outs of the process. My third book, coming in 2017, will be self-published because my publisher closed. It has turned out to be very challenging but with my background knowledge in place, I know it will be a success.
What didn’t work as well as you’d hoped?
Querying too early and thinking the MS was finished. I was rejected 55 times before I re–wrote the MS based on the comments in the rejections and finally received a contract.
Any advice or tips for writers looking to get published?
Edit, edit and edit. Find at least 10 beta readers that include, some family, friends, but mostly readers who are merely acquaintances.
Great advice. Website and social media links?
barbarastruna.blogspot.com Blog
https://www.facebook.com/strunabooks/ B.E.Struna Books
@GoodyStruna twitter
struna-cover
Where can we find your book?
Amazon
Barnes& Noble
Ibooks
www.Struna galleries.com
What’s next for you?
As I mentioned before, my third novel in The Old Cape Series will be out in June 2017, The Old Cape Hollywood Secret.
Currently I’m writing the fourth in the series.
Thanks for visiting us again at The Writing Life, Barbara. I wish you the very best with your series. Happy writing.
About Eleanor:
ellie
Puerto Rican-born Eleanor Parker Sapia is the author of the award-winning historical novel, A Decent Woman, published by Scarlet River Press. Her debut novel, set in turn of the century Ponce, Puerto Rico, garnered an Honorable Mention for Best Historical Fiction, English at the 2016 International Latino Book Awards with Latino Literacy Now, and was selected as a Book of the Month by Las Comadres and Friends National Latino Book Club in 2015. A writer, artist, and photographer, Eleanor is never without a pen and a notebook, and her passport and camera are always ready. Her awesome adult children are out in the world doing amazing things. Eleanor currently lives in Berkeley County, West Virginia, where she is working on her second novel, The Laments of Sister Maria Inmaculada, set in 1920 Puerto Rico.
Eleanor’s book: http://amzn.to/1X0qFvK
Please visit Eleanor at her website:
www.eleanorparkersapia.com
When the author and her husband Tim, a professional artist, turned forty in the late 1980s, they moved from Ohio with their family to an 1880 house in Brewster on Cape Cod. The Cape's history, culture, and brilliant natural light drew them in; this was a place where Tim could paint and Barbara would write. A storyteller at heart, Barbara's imagination took flight after she unearthed a mysterious pattern of red bricks under ten inches of soil behind her barn. She conjured up a connection to the Bellamy/Hallett legend, and her first novel was born. She is currently a Member in Letters of the National League of American Pen Women, The Cape Writers Center, two writing groups, and a contributor to Primetime Magazine. Always a journal writer, she is fascinated by history and writes a blog about the unique facts and myths of Cape Cod. barbarastruna.blogspot.com strunagalleries.com
Author Barbara Eppich Struna moved from Ohio in 1988 to Brewster on Cape Cod with her husband Timothy, a professional artist, and their children. Together they established Struna Galleries–Brewster. In 1998, their daughter, Heather Struna, opened Struna Galleries–Chatham and maintains a dominant presence on Chatham’s Main Street representing her father’s work.
In 2004, Barbara began writing her first novel. She joined two writers groups, and The Cape Cod Writers Center.
After many query letters, she was finally offered a contract in 2012 from Booktrope, a Seattle Small Press, for her historical fiction, The Old Cape House. It was a new tale about the 1717 Cape Cod pirate, Captain Sam Bellamy, his ship Whydah, and lover Maria Hallett. This first novel was awarded Best Historical Fiction in Royal Dragonfly Awards 2016.
Her second novel, The Old Cape Teapot was published in October 2014 by Booktrope. The story of Sam and Maria in 1720 continues as contemporary Nancy Caldwell follows the paths of two Whydah pirate survivors from Antigua to Cape Cod.
In April 2017, her third historical fiction, The Old Cape Hollywood Secret became available across all sales channels. This suspenseful novel takes place in 1947 and current day. Maggie Foster and her cousin Gertie leave Cape Cod for glamorous Hollywood, one returns home with a secret, the other disappears only to be found seventy years later by present day amateur sleuth Nancy Caldwell. In August 2017, The old Cape Hollywood Secret was awarded Honorable Mention at the Hollywood Book Festival 2017 and First Place - Historical Fiction - Royal Dragonfly Awards 2017.
Author Barbara Eppich Struna is fascinated by history and writes a blog about the unique facts and myths of Cape Cod. Besides being a storyteller at heart, she is currently a Member in Letters of the National League of American Pen Women, International Thriller Writers, Panelist Thrillerfest 2016, Sisters in Crime - National, New England and LA, President of Cape Cod Writers Center, and two writing groups.
Barbara Eppich Struna's Acclaimed Suspenseful Historical Fiction 'The Old Cape Hollywood Secret' Now Available
NEWS PROVIDED BY
Bestruna Books
Oct 04, 2017, 08:35 ET
SHARE THIS ARTICLE
BREWSTER, Mass., Oct. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Internationally bestselling Cape Cod author, Barbara Eppich Struna, pens her third suspenseful historical fiction, The Old Cape Hollywood Secret. The story begins in 1947. Maggie and her cousin, Gertie, travel from Cape Cod to Hollywood for fame and glamour. One returns home, the other disappears only to be found seventy years later by present day Cape Codder, Nancy Caldwell.
Author - Barbara Eppich Struna
Author - Barbara Eppich Struna
The Old Cape Hollywood Secret
The Old Cape Hollywood Secret
The Old Cape Hollywood Secret recently received an Honorable Mention at The Hollywood Book Festival 2017 and is now available across all sales channels and bookstores.
A storyteller at heart, Struna bases her tales on her own personal experiences. She created a contemporary character, amateur sleuth, Nancy Caldwell, the vehicle that moves the story between time periods in alternating chapters.
Struna's first two successful novels, The Old Cape House and The Old Cape Teapot, were pirate adventures based on the 1717 Cape legend of Maria Hallett and her pirate lover Sam Bellamy, captain of the wrecked ship Whydah. Her imagination took flight again when she discovered a turquoise 1940 Fiesta-ware cup buried in her Cape woods, it ignited an idea for a story about the forties on Cape Cod and 'Old Hollywood' and her third novel, The Old Cape Hollywood Secret, was born.
The Old Cape House – 2013, earned First Place-Historical Fiction-Royal Dragonfly Awards For Excellence in Literature-2014. The Old Cape House along with her second novel, The Old Cape Teapot-2014 garnered #1 Amazon Best Sellers List three times. Her first two books have combined sales, ebook and paperback, of over 38,000. With more than 1000 reviews and hundreds of followers, Struna keeps her readership anticipating the next Old Cape story, this time featuring Alaska and Provincetown in the late 1800s coming in 2019.
Struna is a member of International Thriller Writers, Panelist Thrillerfest 2016; Member in Letters, National League of American Pen Women; President of Cape Cod Writers Center; Sisters In Crime, National, New England, LA. and writes a blog about the unique facts and myths of Cape Cod.
Media Contact: Barbara E. Struna, 508 237 0045
177376@email4pr.com
barbarastruna.blogspot.com
SOURCE Bestruna Books
The Old Cape Hollywood Secret
Publishers Weekly. 264.49-50 (Dec. 4, 2017): p49.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Old Cape Hollywood Secret
Barbara Eppich Struna. Bestrunabooks, $ 16.95 trade paper (296p) ISBN 978-0-9976-5663-3
Struna's workmanlike third mystery starring treasure hunter Nancy Caldwell (after The Old Cape Teapot) alternates between Cape Cod and Los Angeles, both past and present. In the present, after Nancy's oldest son discovers the body of a young woman near his Venice Beach rental, she sets out to identify the victim and solve the crime. A happily married mother of five, she must discourage the romantic interest of a PI she befriends. Meanwhile, in 1947, Cape Cod cousins Maggie and Gertie travel to L. A. in the hopes that Gertie will become a film star. Their encounters with members of the Hollywood elite lead to tragedy for Gertie. Unfortunately, the villains are hyperbolic and hackneyed, clues come about rather too conveniently, and the story lingers on inconsequential interactions between characters. Struna is at her best when she focuses on endearing, self-aware Nancy and her intrepid sleuthing. Fans of her previous two Old Cape books will appreciate the way she captures the magnetic allure of Hollywood in the shadow of the Black Dahlia murder. CBookLife)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Old Cape Hollywood Secret." Publishers Weekly, 4 Dec. 2017, p. 49. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A518029497/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=9b4ad2b7. Accessed 12 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A518029497
ITW Author 11:27 pm on October 5, 2017
Author Struna wins 5 STAR Review for “The Old Cape Hollywood Secret”
“The Old Cape Hollywood Secret” by Barbara Eppich Struna is an edge of your seat thrilling murder mystery. Maggie Foster and her cousin, Gertie, leave their small town of Cape Cod to seek their fortune in Hollywoodland in 1947. One of the girls disappears, never to be heard from again until Jim, in the present day, happens to dig up a body that seems to have been buried for a long time. What happened to the young girls? How did they get mixed up in a rich man’s story of a precious ring and a pearl-studded pouch? Are old photographs and a few leads enough to unravel the ugly truth? Will Nancy, who is an amateur when it comes to dealing with criminals, be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together?
What an enthralling read! The Old Cape Hollywood Secret by Barbara Eppich Struna had me hanging onto every single word and page from start to finish. The shift between the past and the present day scenarios is swift, smooth, and helps the reader in connecting the dots without actually guessing the entire plot. The connections and loose ends are beautifully tied up towards the end. The story gives an insight into what greed, power, and control are all about. The story covers a period of over fifty plus years, and sends a message that no criminal can commit the perfect crime and the dead can rise again to tell their stories. All the characters are perfectly fleshed out and, hopefully, we get to read more about Nancy and Stephen’s new adventures. Awesome work!
Reviewed by Dr. Oliva Dsouza for Readers’ Favorite
Author writes historical thrillers, lives a fairy tale
Author Barbara Eppich Struna was inspired to write her first historical novel after uncovering bricks while digging by her family’s art gallery in Brewster. [CAPE COD TIMES FILE PHOTO]
Hide caption
Barbara Struna, left, wanders Main Street Chatham with former Cape Cod Times reporter Robin Lord, dressed in their roles as extras for the movie “Chatham,” which filmed in the town. {CAPE COD TIMES FILE]
Author Barbara Eppich Struna was inspired to write her first historical novel after uncovering bricks while digging by her family’s art gallery in Brewster. [CAPE COD TIMES FILE PHOTO]
Barbara Struna, left, wanders Main Street Chatham with former Cape Cod Times reporter Robin Lord, dressed in their roles as extras for the movie “Chatham,” which filmed in the town. {CAPE COD TIMES FILE]
By Lee Roscoe / Contributing writer
Posted Oct 22, 2017 at 3:00 AM
“I get so involved when I’m writing. One time my youngest son hovered over me. ‘Mum what’s for dinner?’ I said ‘Hold on a minute. I have to kill this guy off and then I’ll be right there.’”
Barbara Eppich Struna, author of the “Old Cape” series of novels, makes it a habit to look for the silver lining in any situation.
“If you have a bad situation, it’s how you face it that can change it – whether positively or negatively. You need to have an attitude of ‘never give up’,” she says.
She and her husband, Tim, have known each other since they were 15. In 1988, after Tim’s career “maxed out” as a teacher and artist in Ohio where they grew up, they moved to a 19th century Brewster house to dare to live by art.
The couple opened the Struna gallery, and one now owned by their daughter in Chatham., which support the family - - amazingly, Struna says, because only about one percent of artists make a living from their work.
Pirate’s booty
Struna’s first novel, “The Old Cape House” was inspired by a square of bricks she exposed when digging out some ivy in back of the barn that houses the gallery.
“I’d discovered the Whydah legend (about the pirate Sam Bellamy, the wreck of his treasure ship Whydah off the Lower Cape, and his beloved Maria Hallett, the so-called witch of Eastham). I started thinking ‘what if?’ there had been treasure under the bricks.”
Meet the author
Barbara Eppich Struna will talk and sign books from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Nov. 1 at the Hyannis Library, 401 Main St. (Win a raffle for your name to appear as a character in one of her books. Struna says she may bring some chocolate pieces of eight.)
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 18, Upper Cape Regional Craft Fair, 220 Sandwich Road, Bourne.
7 p.m. Dec. 11, with Hank Philippi Ryan, Jacob Sears Library, 23 Center St, Dennis.
Struna blogs at: barbarastruna.blogspot.com
She’d kept journals since age 11, taken a recent writing class and always made up bedtime stories for her children. “I knew I could write this book.”
Not only their home, but the couple’s five creative offspring, ranging in age from their 20s to 40s, and many grandchildren, provide fictionalized material. Tim is “Paul,” and Struna herself is more or less “Nancy Caldwell,” the amateur sleuth in her books. Combining elements of history and characters from the present with odd coincidences of fate, the series was born.
After 55 rejections and 10 years of writing and rewriting, she finally found a publisher for the first book. (During its writing, serendipitously, a piece of real treasure relating to Bellamy was found by a woman in Florida.)
Her novels have sold almost 40,000 copies, been Amazon best sellers, won various awards, and gained her a place in the National League of American Pen Writers.
She considers herself a storyteller. “My books are easy to read, relaxing. They’re not ‘literary’ works, but suspense thrillers.”
Many things inspire her. A bit of old pottery on the beach triggered the idea for her second book, “The Old Cape Teapot,” connecting the Bellamy treasure further to the present. At the Hyannis bus depot a man in a long black coat with a bad knee and a weathered look inspired the book’s villain. “I called my husband. I was so excited with my great new character.”
She imagined her newest, third book, “The Old Cape Hollywood Secret,” after her oldest son moved to a small apartment in Venice Beach and dug out an area for a patio. “He didn’t find a body, but I thought what if he had, and if it were a girl who’d come to Old Hollywood from Cape Cod. It’s a coming-of-age tale set in the 1940s,” full of clothes, gems and places from that era like the Georgian Hotel, the Pig and Whistle eatery.
Last January, visiting one of her sons and his family in Alaska to research her next book, her son noticed something odd on the flats of the bay and retrieved a leg bone attached to a pelvis and foot bone. Excited to be living one of Struna’s flights of fancy (she always thinks garbage bags by the highway contain bones and bodies) the family eventually realized it was too small for a human, likely a deer, but it sparked what she’s working on now.
Fairy tale at home
She and her husband try to walk three miles every day to preserve good health. Then she writes from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., taking a break every 45 minutes. She brings her work once a week to one or two writers’ groups to see if it makes sense. As the current president of the Cape Cod Writers Center, she’s helping set up new groups for poetry, nonfiction and fiction. She’s also worked to improve the center’s finances and website.
“I get so involved when I’m writing. One time my youngest son hovered over me. ‘Mum what’s for dinner?’ I said ‘Hold on a minute. I have to kill this guy off and then I’ll be right there.’”
“I usually have my beginning, middle and end. I know the story I want to tell. Then I create the characters to tell it, and do the research,” at libraries, attending walks and talks, and using the internet. She’ll ask police officers questions, bring a forensics expert to the writers center, take a short course to learn to fire a gun. Her husband and she even go through motions to make sure a stricken character is falling in the right direction.
Many things help focus her mind to write: weed-whacking new paths through her property, doing jigsaw puzzles and especially listening to movie music from “Batman” and “Superman.”
Music in the car as she drives lets her pretend she’s in a movie which helps her visualize story-lines -- and showering is great she says. “I go in with a problem in a plot line, come out with it solved.”
Walking through the house past a fireplace mantle Tim crafted from a maple tree on their land, to the gallery, through his delicate engravings and paintings which include cranberry bogs, houses, fishes and Struna’s book covers, on out to the sunny porch, Struna says, “I wish for my children to have the same fairy tale and romantic life my husband and I have. We hold hands when we walk, and we laugh and kiss each other every day.”
Asked if there’s really treasure on her grounds, she answers, “It depends on what you consider treasure.” Standing near a shelf of antlers, whale vertebra and shells, she points to a heart shaped hole in a nearby tree: “I always encourage my grandchildren to pay attention, to look for things in nature. Like that.”