"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
― Albert Einstein
Thank you for the opportunity to introduce my first book Crosswinds, which was released on Aug. 29, 2014 by The Next Chapter Publishing. I’m N.R. White, and after 30 years of writing stories for the newspaper I finally listened to what others have been urging me to do for years by putting my talent as a storyteller into book form. Although the Crosswinds series is a work of fiction, the story is based on real events – and in some parts of the series – real people.
Writing fiction is a lot different than writing for a newspaper. For starters, 750 words is the average length of most newspaper stories. You learn to write tight and get the “who, what, where, when and how” in the first three paragraphs. There’s not a lot of opportunity to paint with a big brush. I found writing fiction extremely liberating insomuch as it provided a large canvass to paint in detail that you can’t do in newspapers due primarily to space limitations.
In the mid-1990s, I spent two years covering a story that not only sent my career rocketing in an upward trajectory, it changed my life. While covering the birth of the white buffalo in Janesville, Wis., I spent three to five days a week meeting people from all over the world fascinated with the Native American legend — and prophecy that foretold the white buffalo calf woman’s return. Among the hundreds of journalists that covered the story, Native American chiefs, spiritual leaders and elders allowed me to take part in many of the ceremonies that were held on the farm.
While my newspaper coverage was picked up by the wire service and published in papers around the world — and I received numerous awards for the work — I knew deep inside there was a bigger story that I was meant to tell. Primarily, how to explain in a meaningful way why the white buffalo calf prophecy is relevant to them. For nearly two decades I was haunted by this, but had no idea what I should do, or how. Then I encountered a crosswind in the form of a high school classmate I hadn’t spoken with in nearly 40 years. As I was writing Crosswinds, all the questions that had kept me from moving on this project were answered with each word as I typed.
Taking a fictional approach to telling the story allowed me to paint that big picture with lots of detail that brings the characters to life. And through the characters, allows the readers a better understanding how a legend that predates recorded history has a tremendous impact on the events that unfolding today across the world. I couldn’t have done that if I had a non-fiction, journalistic approach.
Crosswinds is the first in a three-book series. The second book, Wind Speaker, picks up four years later as Bobby is leaving the Navy. Wind Speaker is anticipated to be released in 2015.
To learn more about the series (as well as updates on the ongoing story line), follow my author’s page on Facebook at N. R. White as well as my author’s blog at nealwhite.blogspot.com. I always love visiting with readers and welcome your questions.
Thank you for taking the time to introduce me on your site and thank you very much for introducing Crosswinds to your readers. As a first-time author, I am greatly honored that you chose to feature Crosswinds. I hope we can do this again soon.
And now, let's find out more about Crosswinds...
http://www.thenextchapterpublishing.com/nr-white/
Get your copy: Amazon
Summary: Stranded in an airport during a storm, a random act of kindness and an unexpected encounter leads to a life-changing experience for a young sailor on his way to his first duty station overseas. When Bobby walked into the airports only smoking lounge and asked to bum a smoke, Jack knew there was a reason a crosswind had unexpectedly blown the sailor into his path. It wasn't until several hours later that Jack realized the exact purpose of their chance encounter.
About the Author:
Crosswinds author N.R. White is a U.S. Navy veteran and an award-winning newspaper journalists. Born in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, he and his family moved to Columbia, S.C. at the age of 10 when his father returned from a tour of duty in Vietnam — at the same time South Carolina was in the process of integrating its public school system. The son of a career soldier, he graduated high school in West Germany before attending the University of South Carolina where he majored in journalism.
Having covered assignments around the world, those experiences are captured in the characters and settings of his manuscripts.
Crosswinds is the first of a three-book series. He is currently working on the second novel in the series entitled Wind Speaker, which he anticipates being released in 2015. The inspiration for the series originated during the two years he covered the birth of the white buffalo in Janesville, Wisconsin in the mid-1990s, and the Native American prophecy that foretold not only the calf’s birth, but its significance to people of all races across the world.
Visit N.R. White on these pages:
Blog - http://nealwhite.blogspot.com/
Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/NR-White/587102578055574
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