At the 2017 Royal Palm Literary Award Banquet, author Pamela Wendell won First Place for her unpublished Young Adult fiction, The Reluctant Wiccan. Each year at the RPLA Banquet, authors experience the joy of earning accolades for all the hard work that is often done in the privacy of the home with little to no recognition. We’re showcasing the best of the best with our First Place winners spotlight. Not only does RPLA recognize extraordinary talent, but we’re giving readers an opportunity to sample excerpts from the winning stories.
Unpublished Young Adult Fiction: The Reluctant Wiccan
The Reluctant Wiccan. The coming-of-age novel of a seventeen-year-old girl with phobias who, unknowingly, becomes involved with a wiccan coven in New Hampshire. Danger and love evolve. Book 1, Trilogy.
Pamela Wendell is an experienced businesswoman who craves and enjoys writing and art. This is her second book. She has also written a short story and magazine article. Currently living in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
Pamela Wendell
Click here to read an excerpt from The Reluctant Wiccan.
An interview with Pamela Wendell:
Q: Where do you get your story ideas?
A: My inspirations come from my reading, my family, or my extensive travels and living abroad. The Reluctant Wiccan, in particular, was inspired by Harry Potter and Twilight, and by my grandchildren.
Q: Anything in particular about your award-winning RPLA entry that you’d like to share?
A: The Reluctant Wiccan was initially written as a coming-of-age novel for my grandchildren who were entering their teen years. It shows the protagonist growing from her safe, family and school-oriented environment into the grown-up world, and how she must now handle life’s situations on her own. Since winning this award, and its publication, so many grown-ups have read it too, that I now call it a book for all ages. It is written to be a trilogy and I am now in the process of writing the second book.
Q: Who do you credit with inspiring your writing?
A: I look for stories that impress me; ones with strong characters, and enough substance that I feel they must be written about. Of course, I was impressed by Harry Potter and the creativity in the books. And, in Twilight, the imagination it took to bring about something new and different. In this instance, I wanted to write something fun, yet meaningful for my grandchildren, and something which would inspire them to want to read. I also get inspired by real life events, and have written a book about a true story in the 1800’s which had a truly impressive protagonist which I felt I had to write about. Sometimes it is hard to find such stories, but when I do, I must sit and write. I also credit my husband for his support and encouragement, and the many people I’ve met at the Florida Writer’s Association, other Associations, and book clubs, for keeping me inspired.
Q: Any tips for new writers?
A: People ask me frequently how I write, how often I write, and is there a process. I tell them if they have a story in their head that stays with them, they should write down everything they can think of about it. A lot of times my ideas come early in the morning before I rise. I have a pad of paper and pen next to my bed to jot down ideas which I don’t want to lose. Then, you just have to make it a priority to sit and put those thoughts into some kind of organized form until you’re happy with the results. This may take a long time, but if you stick with it, you may just end up with a personal treasure and something you feel proud to have achieved.
Since winning the RPLA prize, The Reluctant Wiccan has been published and is available on Amazon.com.
A message about supporting literacy in Florida:
If every member of FWA went to Smile.Amazon.com, chose Florida Writers Foundation, Inc. as their charity and, instead of logging into Amazon.com, logged into Smile.Amazon.com, FWF would receive 0.5% of the purchase funds. Every time.
We could significantly fund the literacy efforts of our organization. No money out of your pockets…just some invested time to set this up.
How easy for us to make a difference. To see all of our work, please read the pages of our website www.floridawritersfoundation.com. You’ll be proud.
Melody Dean Dimick,
President, FWF
