Sharon Krasny
Author Interview - Sharon Krasny
Author of Shroud of Ice
GUIDED ONLY BY THE STARS AND THE MEMORY OF MARA’S EYES, Ankwar’s village pariah Gaspare forges paths over desolate mountains and raging rapids to find his way back to his village. If he loses his focus or abandons his nerve, he will never know the freedom and power of being Ankwar’s destined redeemer. Yet if he succeeds, Gaspare risks losing forever his chance at happiness with the one whose eyes haunt him and lead him home.
Gaspare’s greatest fear becomes his looming reality as he claims his calling and risks losing
Mara once again.
Based on the real life of Ötzi the Iceman, murdered over 5,000 years ago, Shroud of Ice
searches for answers to the haunting echoes of will we ever be enough. Gaspare in the role of Ötzi is a call to stand one last time against the darkness because not all who are dead are silent.
Author Interview - Sharon Krasny
Author I draw inspiration from:
I pulled a lot of permission from Daphne Du Maurier and her story Rebecca, John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, and Flannery O'Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” All three books have an unnamed character that plays a pivotal role in the story. For Rebecca it is the role of the narrator and second wife. We never learned her name. In Of Mice and Men, Curley's wife is simply that, but she brings the whole dream to an end. In O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the character Grandmother is a main character but to make her universal, she is unnamed. In Iceman Awakens, my first book, I named his mother, but only used her name one time. I remember having a conversation with my friend if that number was acceptable. She said either no time or more but not only one or time. That pivoted the way I viewed character. She came to represent all mothers for me. The story I had originally tried to write and couldn't came through in this character. These authors, DuMaurier, Steinbeck, and O’Connor gave me permission to leave her unnamed. I'm thankful for that.
Author Interview - Sharon Krasny | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
I enjoy reading in my I Love You chair. My husband built a sunroom on the back of the house with ceiling to floor windows that look out over the gardens and vineyard. This sounds way bigger than it really is. Honestly, this is just my quiet refuge. I sit there every morning, watch the sun come up with a cup of tea. I try to remember to tell him that I love him as often as I can when I sit in that chair. The world he made available to my mornings is a place where everything makes sense.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Samwise Gamgee - He will stay with me till the bitter end and help me find the way home.
Author Interview - Sharon Krasny | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
This could be 4th grade English with Mr. Baccus or it could be 11th grade American Literature with Joan Fisher. Teachers throughout my life had a huge impact on my writing. They encouraged my voice and reinforced my identity as a writer. Maybe that is why after teaching Advanced Placement Literature in high school myself for so many years, I finally asked, "why not me?" I read all of those classics with my students. Those authors that broke barriers and were the first to try something new and different, whether it was Dickens bringing social awareness to poverty or Morrison rattling sabers of the depravity of one human soul enslaving another, I heard their rhythms of words and like Moana, it called me. I distinctly remember asking myself, "Why not me?"
Funny thing was the first few drafts didn't come out anything like those authors I had studied. Apparently writing is a lot harder than it looks. I worked off and on for ten years on a book about mothers. I was working through some things with my own mother who had died when I was 22. The harder I tried, the worse my writing got. I was too close.
To get out of my way. I started investigating this short frozen dead guy named Ötzi the Iceman. He was murdered over 5000 years ago. I could write a mystery novel and no one could tell me I was wrong. As the research and the story unfolded, I began recognizing myself in my character. I realized that Ötzi had shown me the way to my voice. That was the first book called Iceman Awakens, a coming of age story of Ötzi. Expert German forensics professionals determined that his was a crime of passion. They still see murders like his to this day. That meant someone knew him and hated him. Who loves to hate you more than your family that loves you? In Iceman Awakens, I felt I needed to establish the village and the family dynamics of jealousy and roles. This current book, Shroud of Ice, is the adult life of Ötzi. I had to get him up on that mountain to be murdered. Now I have three books, four if you count a children's book under my belt. I think I can call myself a writer. Like most writers I have more ideas than time, so I do hesitate to claim that title. I'm working on it - I'm a writer.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
I like the feel of paper. I also like a really good narrator in my ear telling me a story while I clean, garden, or go on road trips. If I could have someone record my audio book, it would either be Brad Pitt because he has a tatoo of Ötzi on his forearm and he is one of the reasons I got back into writing Ötzi's story or Liam Neeson because he has such a great voice that I can imagine Ötzi having. Actually, Jim Dale did an amazing job narrating one of my family's greatest road trip novels. So I do like audiobooks. For paper books, I think I am really too rough on hardback books. I am one of those bad readers who dog ear pages and sometimes have been known to highlight things. But the covers on hardback books are amazing! So, if I am buying a book in the bookstore, I will gravitate to the hard cover options if it is pretty and paperback if it is practical. Yes, I do judge books by their covers.
The last book I read:
Joan of Arc by Mark Twain - I especially liked reading this book on a train in France. Mark Twain's passion for this story was evident.
Author Interview - Sharon Krasny | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
When I wrote with my students, I always used pen and paper. I really like the organic feel of the thoughts flowing through the ink to take shape on the page. This, however, is not feasible for a book of 70K+ words. If there was a specific scene that needed depth, I would turn to paper and pen. The poetry that came out brought the story life that I would not have had if I had only used the laptop.
I tend to write in layers. I hear of authors who can write with only two or three drafts for edit. I am just not that person. Maybe that's why I write so slowly, but the reflective side of my personality takes over and I always look for a more precise way to add some seasoning to the scenes. The laptop hides all of those rewrites and edits. That is something I think I wish I knew - exactly how long before I finally declared a section good enough to then go to the editor and get even more surgery done.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Anne Shirley - she's a dreamer and seeker of adventure.
Author Interview - Sharon Krasny | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I'd love to be a chocolatier! A tea expert would be great, but to get that certification I would have to identify 65 different teas in a blind taste and identify where the tea came from. Or a rosarian - that just sounds so cool. So, I guess I would be a rosarian tea expert who specializes in making chocolate, if I wasn't a writer.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I love the Gibson girl fashion of the turn of the century. The styles of hats, gloves, lace, and parasols were so pretty, but I am sure quite uncomfortable. If fashion from the Victorian era to the 1930s were comfortable, Coco Chanel would never have needed to rebel against the fashion houses. I'm not sure exactly. I certainly wouldn't want the wool swimsuits that went with the era just mentioned.
Place I’d most like to travel:
This would be a toss up between Scotland, Iceland, and Norway. My husband and I were going to ride a motorcycle to Norway when we lived over there, but then I got pregnant and motorcycles and pregnant women do not mix. Scotland has puffins and lore and castles that seem fascinating. Iceland has puffins and volcanos and northern lights not to mention Vikings. Technically, I need to go to Iceland for research about Vikings and another book I'm writing. Any of those places would be a dream vacation for me. I just really admire puffins. They are such stout and brave little birds. They have to throw themselves off cliffs to catch enough of an updraft to help them fly. They are curious and incredibly cute. One of my favorite memories is sitting on a cliff in Newfoundland and having a puffin land four feet from me. I don't have to close my eyes to step into that dream. Did I mention Norway has puffins, too?
My signature drink:
hot tea - chai, floral, herbal, you name it. I love tea with milk and honey - British style.
Number one on my bucket list:
I've wanted to walk the spiritual journey called Camino de Santiago since my twenties. Next year I am supposed to go. It's 60 miles along the coast in Portugal and through Spain to follow in the steps of St. James and finish at his cathedral. I did a pilgrimage this past August and it was amazing. We walked from my hometown to Washington DC in four days. Time took on a different appearance. I found myself taking opportunities to enjoy and talk with the people around me. I didn't worry about needing to be anywhere because I was walking to where I needed to be and there were fascinating people walking with me. It was humbling and a great way to clear my mind from a lot of life's stress. I am really looking forward to doing this again next year in two countries that I have never been in.
Anything else you'd like to add:
I struggled with the ending of Shroud of Ice. When I received an excellence in education grant from my county, I knew I needed to use the funds to go and meet Ötzi. In Austria, I met my expert advisor, Dr. Walter Leitner. He is an archeologist who has worked extensively in the region Ötzi was discovered. He took me to the Ötzal Dorf, which is a primitive village based on findings of life during the Copper Era when Ötzi lived. Then he pointed me in the direction of Ötzi's mountain and the place of his murder. My husband and I began our climb on July 24, 2023. We needed to ascend almost 10K feet above sea level. We experienced rain off and on all day. At the fork in the path a decision needed to be made. Do we go directly to where Ötzi was murdered or do we go first to the hutte where we were staying the night. We chose to go to the hutte and that probably saved my life. The mountain decided to show us her fury by bringing heavy rains and strong winds down on us. What was left of the glacier became preferable to walk on than the rushing water at our feet. We could only go one blaze on the path at a time. When I looked behind me, there wasn't anyone in sight. It was just the two of us. I didn't have the freedom to say no. I didn't have the luxury to say I can't. I needed to take one step and then one more. Hyperthermia began setting in shortly before we reached the hutte. I had a very strong idea of what Ötzi faced when he climbed that mountain. As we left the next morning, we saw snow and more storms. The sun came out long enough for us to descend the other side to our hotel. When we reached the tree line, I felt the ending of the story I needed. I could see what I needed to do. I was walking where Ötzi had walked and I knew what the ending had to be.
When I met him in repose at his museum in Italy, I was affirmed in my mission as a writer. Ötzi has done so much to teach us about ourselves. He is an incredible archeological find of the twentieth century. Yet we do not even know his name. Ötzi is derived from the Ötzal region of mountains where he was found. Restoring dignity to this man who had been silenced 5000 years ago by murder felt right. When I write, I seek to find the beauty in the ugly truths. I look for ways to give voice to those silenced and dignity to those lost to time. That's my goal as a historical fiction writer.
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About Sharon Krasny:
Sharon Krasny
Sharon Krasny has worked as an educator for twenty-two years in Virginia and taught aboard in both Hungary and Czechia. Through teaching English as a second language, she discovered a love for oral history. Sharon listened as her students explained central European history and culture to her, and she saw how inextricably bound their past is with part of their identity. This began her fascination with people’s need to be known and heard.
Retired from teaching English and research in Virginia, she currently writes, grows lavender, and finds adventures for her and her husband to experience.
