My Favorite Things Featuring Dorothy Drulman

I have to admit that I felt very close to Dorothy when I read her favorite things article. I too, love the thing she enjoys and for the exact same reason.
-Susan

My Favorite Things
by Dorothy Drulman

One of my favorite coffee mugs! (Susan)

I just love coffee mugs. I like for them to say the city they came from. When I have coffee in the morning with San Francisco on the cup, for instance, I spend some time there again with my coffee and some very special moments. One was a chance meeting with a recent widow, as was I.  So it was not the Sequoia, but our tears together that were special.  I have a mug that says, "Watch the Gap."  It is from the London Airport, and I can't look at that cup without  watching the gap again as I had gotten on the subway and had wondered if I would ever be found again. I have a coffee mug with the pink twisted ribbon for cancer survivors, and I know very well the person gave it to me because of my own cancer but hers as well.  You want to make my day? Select a cup for me like you would a greeting card. You will be always on my mind.

Meet the Author Dorothy Drulman

By: Susan Elliott

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
It never occurred to me that I had a talent for writing. I taught mostly twelfth grade in the public schools,and it seemed I never had time to write because I was always marking essays. When I retired, I took a camping trip to Colorado with my first husband (deceased). I kept a journal for my elderly mother about our trips. Her remarks about my ability to describe made me think I might be able to write a story.

How long does it take you to write a book?
It took two years to write Wago because it was a new thing for me. It took about three months to write Norman. I knew the subject very well and the background for that story was my childhood playground. The Bankhead National Forest.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
I write best when I am in woods, sitting on pine needles or a log, floating in a canoe, or just looking out the RV window. I am retired so my conflict is my social life. It really does get in the way sometimes.

Do you have an interesting writing quirk?
All I have to do to write is sit down, put the keypad in my lap, and the words roll all over the page. Sometimes I am surprised at what I have written when I read it. Sometimes that is good; other times a bit of editing is required.

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
I state my objective at the beginning and then the story just rolls. I have found the notebook thing to be very helpful. When I get to a snag, I just pull that little book out and look at the ideas I have jotted down on the way to Walmart or wherever and see what's going to propel the story forward.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?
I like to travel, anywhere, but I am mostly interested in people. Third World Countries are a great source for gaining such insight. It makes me realize how very much alike we all are and how similar poor people anywhere are very much like the people I grew up around who were poor but didn't know it.

What would you tell other Christian woman who want to write?
Everybody has a story. Write on it everyday until you are finished. No excuses.

How may books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I have written three books: Wago, Norman, and Creagh. Norman is my favorite because it is more personal than the other two. I had different goals for each book. In Wago, I spend a little time teaching about nature. In Norman, I wanted to explore the adventure that can be had in a forest. In Creagh,I wanted to have a heroine that could equal the strength of a hero in character and resolve.

Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Everybody is different. My suggestion is similar to teaching one to learn. I always told my students that they had to search for how they learn best if they wanted to be an outstanding student. For, example, I learn best by repetition, chewing small bits of information over a long period of time. That bores some people to distraction. The same is true for writing, you have to for a self evaluation. If the drive is there, you will find it.

What do you like to read?
I like the older classics and biographies. I still go back to my favorites now and then and reread them. There is always something new to be discovered, similar to reading and rereading the Bible. I don't think there is a better odyssey than Rudyard Kipling's Kim.  I know the original The Odyssey and Mark Twain's trip down the The Odyssey are favored by the masses, but if you find such a love in a book, you have arrived!

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
There were few options when I grew up. The choices were being a nurse, a teacher, or a secretary. I was terrible at transcribing letters. I didn't like sticking needles in people, so I became a teacher.

Fun Fact.
I like to write journals about observations I make of situations. I like to keep photo albums of my nine grandchildren. I have made three for each so that makes 27. I try retire them when they are age 16. I like to take trips to places I haven't been before. 

Wago by Dorothy Drulman

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Wago:

"Ben lives a charmed life in the various National Forests where his father works. He meets Wago in Homochitto National Forest in southern Mississipppi. He is awe struck with the friendly and intelligent, but shy, dog. When Ben and his buddies stumble upon trespassers on a neighbor's property, they learn why Wago is so strange. Ben carelessly puts himself in harm's way before the case is solved." (Amazon)

From the Author: 

According to Dorothy, her books "are set in national forests and my hero lives in a travel trailer with his parents because his father is a surveyor for the forest service. He has adventures in various forests and learns lessons of life.  I got the inspiration for WAGO, the first one, in Mississippi.  I saw the prototype for the dog there."

On November 7, 2015 Dorothy will be at the Winnsboro, TX  Arts museum. So, if you're in the area stop by and check out all her books!