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The Port Moody Public Library White Pines Local Author collection highlights local authors, poets, and illustrators in our community. Every month, we will interview and feature one of the authors from the collection on the Library website.
The featured author of this month is W.L. Hawkin.
Author of the Month: W.L. Hawkin
Books by W.L. Hawkin
A Hollystone Mystery Book 1: To Charm a Killer
When another witch vanishes from Vancouver, the witches of Hollystone coven spin a charm to catch the killer. Seventeen-year-old Maggie is caught up in the charm, and high priest, Estrada, travels to Ireland to save her. Who is the killer? Why is he killing witches? And who will stop him?
A Hollystone Mystery Book 2: To Sleep with Stones
When a renegade archaeologist discovers an ancient Egyptian artifact in Scotland, Dylan McBride's world turns upside down. Imprisoned for murder, he summons his friend, Estrada, to solve the crime and set him free. Meanwhile, feeling abandoned in Canada, Michael Stryker discovers that playing vampire can suck the life out of you.
A Hollystone Mystery Book 3: To Render a Raven
When Lucy is stolen from her crib on the eve of her first birthday, the Hollystone witches converge. That same night, a woman is murdered and another abducted.
Cool facts about the books
Every location visited in the books by W.L.'s characters is a place that she has been. She does extensive research for all of her books, including travelling overseas to places such as Ireland and Scotland. By setting foot in these areas and soaking up the energy of the space, she is able to better picture her characters in the same places.
Was writing something that W. L. always wanted to do?
W.L. started writing poetry and song lyrics when she was a teenager. It wasn't until she was going through a transitional period that she wrote her first full novel. She looks at these first novels as therapeutic writings to help her work through the changes in her life. To Charm a Killer was her first non-therapeutic novel.
What kind of research does W.L. do for her books?
W.L. "lives the research". She goes to museums and connects with experts from the places that she writes about. Her research will often come about during the writing when she realizes she needs more information on what her characters are doing or where they are.
In preparation for her books, she always travels, visiting all the places her characters go. She found this especially important when writing To Sleep with Stones. She travelled to Kilmartin Glen in Argyll, Scotland and spent time amongst the standing stones that play such a strong role in her characters' journeys.
Did publishing her first book change W.L.'s writing process?
No, but making the decision to start using her own name did. When W.L. first started writing, she was a teacher, and decided to write under a pen name to stay under the radar.
Today, she proudly writes under her own name. "This is my work, this is who I am."
What are the hardest scenes for W.L. to write?
The reveal scene at the end of To Charm a Killer was a particularly difficult one to write. She had to fit in all the physical action; an explanation of why the killer did what they did; the killer's emotions; and how Estrada was going to respond to everything.
W.L. finds it difficult to write the physicality in scenes. She will often get help from her daughter, who has experience with CrossFit and martial arts, to act things out so she can see how people move through space.
What are the highlights for W.L. in writing the Hollystone Mysteries?
"That the writing wouldn’t stop!"
"I love hearing feedback from the readers about how they couldn’t put the book down, or love the characters and stayed up all night finishing the book."
What is W.L. working on now?
Book 4 of the Hollystone Mysteries. W.L. has changed her process this time around, spending less time typing things out on her laptop and more time thinking about her characters and writing scenes by hand in a notebook. She's already 2/3 of the way through!
What books or authors have most influenced W.L.'s own writing?
- The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Chris Vogler and The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell for inspiration and guidance during her writing process.
- The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon for her sheer bravado and proving that "it can be done".
- Kelley Armstrong who writes in the same genre.
What advice does W.L. have for new authors?
"Write your passions and go deep. Don't be afraid of what people are going to think about you."
W.L. also recommends taking your work to several professionals to read – and actually listen to what they have to say. "Don't get critical about it. Don't defend it – actually listen!" W.L. says that if she didn't listen to what her first agent had suggested, the Hollystone Mysteries never would have happened.
About the White Pines Local Author Collection
The Port Moody Public Library created the White Pines Local Author Collection to highlight and support local authors, poets, and illustrators from our community. We launched the collection in May 2019 with 12 inaugural authors. Learn more about this collection and how you can become a White Pines Local Author.
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