JORDAN - In any relationship common interests go a long way.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Dione and Owen Morrison, of Jordan, stand among the stacks of the Jordan Bramley Library. The couple are co-authors of the novel “Tanglewood Forest,” that will soon be available on Amazon.com.
Dione and Owen Morrison, of Jordan, stand among the stacks of the Jordan Bramley Library. The couple are co-authors of the novel “Tanglewood Forest,” that will soon be available on Amazon.com.
A fact Owen and Dione Morrison of Jordan know full well to be true.
Along with raising five children, the couple share many passions from fishing to taking care of their two dogs, which the couple joked can be a full-time job itself.
So for the Morrisons, it was only natural that Dione's interest in writing would become a part of Owen's life as well.
September will see the publication of the couple's first novel, “Tanglewood Forest,” which will be available on Amazon.com.
Dione, a Syracuse native, said that writing has been a life-long interest for her. Beginning at the age of 10, Dione went on to have several of her poems published in various literary magazines and earned recognition with several poetry awards.
Owen, a Southampton, England, native, admits that he never took a serious interest in writing, though he is a heavy reader and was encouraged throughout his schooling to pursue writing more actively.
“I ended up going to night school in England,” Owen said. “I read a lot; I can read two or three books a week. But in school, teachers always told me that I should write more, but just never really got around to it until now with Dione.”
The idea for “Tanglewood Forest” is one that predates Owen moving to the states to be with Dione.
The book, which straddles many genres, combining fantasy, magic, sci-fi and even a mild bit of horror, tells the story of two boys, who while on a camping trip with their family, become lost in an enchanted triangle of the Vermont woods, known as Tanglewood Forest. Along the way, they face the adversities presented by two witches from the Salem Witch Trials, who have captured others who have become lost in the forest, turning them into speaking creatures of the forest and insects.
The boys face many trials from the witches and the forest, from snow to burning sun, as they try to find their way back home.
Dione said that she was inspired by the idea when she was returning from a vacation in Salem.
She began the idea, writing about 30 pages on her word processor. This early work dates back about three years.
Owen said that after realizing how long the first few pages had been lying around, that it was time to do something with the idea and finish the genre bending novel.
“It is something different,” Owen said. “There is humor in there, a little bit of horror, fantasy, a little bit of time travel. I think it has something for everybody. We are trying to reach a whole audience from 8 to 80 with this. I think we have things in there that will give you that feeling of going to bed and pulling the covers over your head if you are a kiddie and at the same time, it has something that will get the grownup readers too.”
Just like everything else in their lives, the couple decided that this was going to be a combined effort.
While the idea originated with Dione, Owen had equal input in the project. The couple said that as inspiration struck they would sit down together at the computer and begin to write out their ideas.
“While one of us was typing, the other would be going on talking about their ideas,” Owen said. “And whenever the one typing got stuck, we'd trade off.”
As with any creative partnership, Owen admits there were the occasional heated discussions as both writers wanted to get their ideas across, but as with any good relationship there was always compromise.
“We did this side by side,” Owen said. “Sometimes I'd wake up, and she'd be typing away at two or three in the morning, and (sometimes) we'd sit together and write until two or three in the morning. We had a few heated discussions, but we always were able to compromise and get both of our ideas out there. I think that really adds something to the book. I don't think it would be half as good as it is if either one of us had done it alone. I think it is unique because we wrote it together.”
Once the couple got going, they said it took about six months to finish the work. And they are eager to see what comes of it when it becomes available next month.
Owen said that the work will be self published, but from sending out the manuscript, the Morrisons have gotten some strong interest and feedback from publishers and agents in the publishing world, which they hope will equate to the book getting picked up for larger distribution.
Currently they are working on a sequel, which Owen said they are about 20 pages into.
“Dione would like to write full time,” Owen said. “We're hoping that this will help her be able to do just that. We're proud of this book, and we think that once it is out it will find an audience, and we really hope readers will enjoy reading this book as much as we enjoyed writing it.”
On the Net
Visit authortree.com/alwaysdoves
Along with raising five children, the couple share many passions from fishing to taking care of their two dogs, which the couple joked can be a full-time job itself.
So for the Morrisons, it was only natural that Dione's interest in writing would become a part of Owen's life as well.
September will see the publication of the couple's first novel, “Tanglewood Forest,” which will be available on Amazon.com.
Dione, a Syracuse native, said that writing has been a life-long interest for her. Beginning at the age of 10, Dione went on to have several of her poems published in various literary magazines and earned recognition with several poetry awards.
Owen, a Southampton, England, native, admits that he never took a serious interest in writing, though he is a heavy reader and was encouraged throughout his schooling to pursue writing more actively.
“I ended up going to night school in England,” Owen said. “I read a lot; I can read two or three books a week. But in school, teachers always told me that I should write more, but just never really got around to it until now with Dione.”
The idea for “Tanglewood Forest” is one that predates Owen moving to the states to be with Dione.
The book, which straddles many genres, combining fantasy, magic, sci-fi and even a mild bit of horror, tells the story of two boys, who while on a camping trip with their family, become lost in an enchanted triangle of the Vermont woods, known as Tanglewood Forest. Along the way, they face the adversities presented by two witches from the Salem Witch Trials, who have captured others who have become lost in the forest, turning them into speaking creatures of the forest and insects.
The boys face many trials from the witches and the forest, from snow to burning sun, as they try to find their way back home.
Dione said that she was inspired by the idea when she was returning from a vacation in Salem.
She began the idea, writing about 30 pages on her word processor. This early work dates back about three years.
Owen said that after realizing how long the first few pages had been lying around, that it was time to do something with the idea and finish the genre bending novel.
“It is something different,” Owen said. “There is humor in there, a little bit of horror, fantasy, a little bit of time travel. I think it has something for everybody. We are trying to reach a whole audience from 8 to 80 with this. I think we have things in there that will give you that feeling of going to bed and pulling the covers over your head if you are a kiddie and at the same time, it has something that will get the grownup readers too.”
Just like everything else in their lives, the couple decided that this was going to be a combined effort.
While the idea originated with Dione, Owen had equal input in the project. The couple said that as inspiration struck they would sit down together at the computer and begin to write out their ideas.
“While one of us was typing, the other would be going on talking about their ideas,” Owen said. “And whenever the one typing got stuck, we'd trade off.”
As with any creative partnership, Owen admits there were the occasional heated discussions as both writers wanted to get their ideas across, but as with any good relationship there was always compromise.
“We did this side by side,” Owen said. “Sometimes I'd wake up, and she'd be typing away at two or three in the morning, and (sometimes) we'd sit together and write until two or three in the morning. We had a few heated discussions, but we always were able to compromise and get both of our ideas out there. I think that really adds something to the book. I don't think it would be half as good as it is if either one of us had done it alone. I think it is unique because we wrote it together.”
Once the couple got going, they said it took about six months to finish the work. And they are eager to see what comes of it when it becomes available next month.
Owen said that the work will be self published, but from sending out the manuscript, the Morrisons have gotten some strong interest and feedback from publishers and agents in the publishing world, which they hope will equate to the book getting picked up for larger distribution.
Currently they are working on a sequel, which Owen said they are about 20 pages into.
“Dione would like to write full time,” Owen said. “We're hoping that this will help her be able to do just that. We're proud of this book, and we think that once it is out it will find an audience, and we really hope readers will enjoy reading this book as much as we enjoyed writing it.”
On the Net
Visit authortree.com/alwaysdoves
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