C.W. Schutter's Blog
June 25, 2014
The Ohana wins an award!
My historical romance family saga won 1st place for fiction book of the year in Atlanta at an AWSA conference. AWSA stands for Advanced Writers & Speakers Ass. and is comprised of 480 writers and speakers some of whom are best selling authors and international speakers. I was so honored. Jerry Jenkins of the Left Behind series was there getting a lifetime achievement award. His production company is opening the new Left Behind movie starring Nicholas Cage this fall.
March 28, 2014
Kindle Countdown School of Shadows Last day!
Last day for School of Shadows Kindle Countdown deal @ $1.99, get your copy now! http://www.amazon.com/School-Shadows-...
March 22, 2014
Kindle Countdown School of Shadows
Kindle Countdown started today for School of Shadows! $.99 until March 12AM March 26th then goes to $1.99! Buy your copy at this discounted price now! Promotion to announce Book Two of School of Shadows, Dragon Downs
March 6, 2014
Dragon Downs/Book 2 School of Shadows
Dragon Downs, Book Two of School of Shadows out March 7! Check Amazon In the meantime, please vote for School of Shadows nominated for Reader's Choice in paranormal romance. You need to write in your email or sign in with FB - they want to avoid multiple votes by the same person. Thanks
February 26, 2014
BigAl's Books and Pals 2014 Readers' Choice Awards
School of Shadows was nominated for this award in the Paranormal Romance category! Please consider voting for it from March 2, 10 AM EST - March 12th.
Here’s the link to the voting page : http://booksandpals.blogspot.com/2014.... Remember, this link won’t go live until 10:00a.m. Eastern Time on March 2nd. Thank you! Carole
Here’s the link to the voting page : http://booksandpals.blogspot.com/2014.... Remember, this link won’t go live until 10:00a.m. Eastern Time on March 2nd. Thank you! Carole
January 15, 2014
Kindle Countdown The Ohana
The Ohana .99 on Kindle Countdown starting tomorrow 1/16-1/19. Get it at these fantastic discounts!
January 3, 2014
School of Shadows Free on Kindle
Paranormal romance pre-apocalypse
Like the supernatural? Interested in end of the world theories? Get your Free Kindle version of School of Shadows, a YA/NA paranormal romance w/apocalyptic themes.
Jan 4-5, Sat.-Sun. http://www.amazon.com/School-Shadows-...
Like the supernatural? Interested in end of the world theories? Get your Free Kindle version of School of Shadows, a YA/NA paranormal romance w/apocalyptic themes.
Jan 4-5, Sat.-Sun. http://www.amazon.com/School-Shadows-...
November 15, 2013
The Ohana free on Kindle
Free Kindle download of my historical family saga, The Ohana, on Friday, Dec. 15th to Saturday, Dec. 16th. The Ohana means family in Hawaiian. This is the synopsis and the link to download a free copy.
A child is dying. Her life depends on an explosive secret her grandmother has kept from their Ohana (family). As Mary Han wrestles with the toxic revelations, she must finally face the past she fought so hard to forget.
A riveting retrospective of Hawaiian history told through a historical family saga spanning three unforgettable generations. Chaul Roong flees from Korea after killing Japanese invaders who kidnap his sister and force her into prostitution. Japanese aristocrat Kazuko abandons her life of wealth and privilege to live in poverty with the servant she loves. Patrick O'Malley, a refugee from the Irish famine and the Boston gangs sails to Hawaii after the bloody Civil War. They meet in the brutal cane fields of Kohala where a savage, unthinkable crime and a failed strike draw the three families together in an uneasy alliance.
Now the families must put aside a lifetime of prejudice and grudges to save a young girl. Will their Ohanas survive the startling truth behind the lies?
http://www.amazon.com/Ohana-CW-Schutt...
A child is dying. Her life depends on an explosive secret her grandmother has kept from their Ohana (family). As Mary Han wrestles with the toxic revelations, she must finally face the past she fought so hard to forget.
A riveting retrospective of Hawaiian history told through a historical family saga spanning three unforgettable generations. Chaul Roong flees from Korea after killing Japanese invaders who kidnap his sister and force her into prostitution. Japanese aristocrat Kazuko abandons her life of wealth and privilege to live in poverty with the servant she loves. Patrick O'Malley, a refugee from the Irish famine and the Boston gangs sails to Hawaii after the bloody Civil War. They meet in the brutal cane fields of Kohala where a savage, unthinkable crime and a failed strike draw the three families together in an uneasy alliance.
Now the families must put aside a lifetime of prejudice and grudges to save a young girl. Will their Ohanas survive the startling truth behind the lies?
http://www.amazon.com/Ohana-CW-Schutt...
September 21, 2013
Birth of School of Shadows
Mike Love of the Beach Boys first told me about astral projection. Mike claimed he could travel in the spirit. Despite my own supernatural experiences, I didn't believe him and promptly forgot about it.
Years later, I met a strange woman in Anaheim, California at a convention who told me she used to live in my hometown. It turned out we had mutual acquaintances.
A few nights after I returned home, I woke up with a start around 3 AM. Someone was in my bedroom.
The Anaheim woman stood at the foot of my bed. Now, I've seen ghosts before. When I saw the movie, "The Sixth Sense," I was stunned because like the little boy, I often saw or felt the presence of people who died violent deaths in houses where a murder or a suicide once occurred—even if no one told me about it. This apparition was different. For one thing, this woman was alive. Dead spirits look different, they are white and you can see through them. I remembered my conversation with Mike Love. This woman had invaded my privacy by projecting herself into my bedroom. Though terribly shaken, I had learned years ago how to banish unwanted spirits after being pestered with spirits since I was five-years-old.
I got rid of her and commanded her spirit never to return.
After so many supernatural experiences, it's only natural for me to write paranormal novels. While deciding what to write about first, I began wondering if some imaginary playmates could possibly be real children who somehow learned to travel in the spirit? What if two playmates, one who possessed this unusual ability, met in the flesh years later and fell in love? Worst, what if one of them was forced to fatally betray the other?
School of Shadows was officially born.
Years later, I met a strange woman in Anaheim, California at a convention who told me she used to live in my hometown. It turned out we had mutual acquaintances.
A few nights after I returned home, I woke up with a start around 3 AM. Someone was in my bedroom.
The Anaheim woman stood at the foot of my bed. Now, I've seen ghosts before. When I saw the movie, "The Sixth Sense," I was stunned because like the little boy, I often saw or felt the presence of people who died violent deaths in houses where a murder or a suicide once occurred—even if no one told me about it. This apparition was different. For one thing, this woman was alive. Dead spirits look different, they are white and you can see through them. I remembered my conversation with Mike Love. This woman had invaded my privacy by projecting herself into my bedroom. Though terribly shaken, I had learned years ago how to banish unwanted spirits after being pestered with spirits since I was five-years-old.
I got rid of her and commanded her spirit never to return.
After so many supernatural experiences, it's only natural for me to write paranormal novels. While deciding what to write about first, I began wondering if some imaginary playmates could possibly be real children who somehow learned to travel in the spirit? What if two playmates, one who possessed this unusual ability, met in the flesh years later and fell in love? Worst, what if one of them was forced to fatally betray the other?
School of Shadows was officially born.
Historical vs. historical romance novel
Just read a blog trying to define historical vs. historical romance and this is my take on it having written a novel that just went live on Amazon, "The Ohana," family in Hawaiian.
My novel fits both genres. Although not specifically a romance novel, romance exists, but as an integral part of the major story.
To be more specific, The Ohana is a historical family saga of three immigrant families to Hawaii - the Japanese, the Koreans, and the Irish. The story doesn't focus on one event but on all the major events impacting the lives of the immigrants - the Civil War, the Japanese occupation of Korea, WWII and the Vietnam War.
I also included life-changing social movements - Civil Rights, Women's Rights, as part of the convulsions Hawaii went through to cast off its racism to become truly multi-ethnic. In writing Historical, a writer must consider the entire fabric of the nation or world during that time period. Since The Ohana spans 3 generations, there are bittersweet love stories because of the racial and societal divisions that existed back then, as well as caste discrepancies carried over from Asia. The love stories became an organic part of the bigger story of immigrants trying to find their place in American society.
Being a history nut and historical novel fan of all genres, I've found that some historical romance novels, though set in the past, take very little or no interest in historical events. Sometimes events are written as faded backdrops to the romance. In The Ohana, world events move the story. How could it not? For instance, WWII was the impetus that forever changed the dynamics of race and class in Hawaii.
Like Author Andrew Greenfield so eloquently commented, "This is historical fiction and historical romance tied together, inseparable and insurmountable." I couldn't have said it better.
My novel fits both genres. Although not specifically a romance novel, romance exists, but as an integral part of the major story.
To be more specific, The Ohana is a historical family saga of three immigrant families to Hawaii - the Japanese, the Koreans, and the Irish. The story doesn't focus on one event but on all the major events impacting the lives of the immigrants - the Civil War, the Japanese occupation of Korea, WWII and the Vietnam War.
I also included life-changing social movements - Civil Rights, Women's Rights, as part of the convulsions Hawaii went through to cast off its racism to become truly multi-ethnic. In writing Historical, a writer must consider the entire fabric of the nation or world during that time period. Since The Ohana spans 3 generations, there are bittersweet love stories because of the racial and societal divisions that existed back then, as well as caste discrepancies carried over from Asia. The love stories became an organic part of the bigger story of immigrants trying to find their place in American society.
Being a history nut and historical novel fan of all genres, I've found that some historical romance novels, though set in the past, take very little or no interest in historical events. Sometimes events are written as faded backdrops to the romance. In The Ohana, world events move the story. How could it not? For instance, WWII was the impetus that forever changed the dynamics of race and class in Hawaii.
Like Author Andrew Greenfield so eloquently commented, "This is historical fiction and historical romance tied together, inseparable and insurmountable." I couldn't have said it better.
