About the Author
Are you related to authors Raymond, Damien, or Helena Macalino?
Why, yes! Children's author Raymond Macalino is my husband and authors Damien and Helena Macalino are our two overly-ambitious children. They have since retired from publishing, but you can find their books on this site..
I love Maya Lilova's art! How do I find out more about her?
Maya, the amazing illustrator of my children's books, plus the designer of this website is a super neat lady. You can see more of her art and learn about her other projects at http://mayalilova.com/ You can also read an interview with her on my blog.
Do you ever come out to talk to book groups / schools / writer's groups?
That I do and several times a year. I've chatted about everything from writing to history to research. If you want to discuss having me out to visit, you can reach me at tonya@tonyamacalino.com.
How did you get started writing?
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who sat down to watch a lovely afternoon cartoon about a little mermaid. Except it was the original story, you know, the one by Hans Christian Andersen where the little mermaid dies in the end to spare the confused but quite married-to-someone-else prince’s life. That little girl was utterly disgusted by this ending and vowed to rewrite it immediately!
She never did.
Actually, my first book was a Sesame Street masterpiece of construction paper and crayon dedicated to my one true kindergarten love: the little red-haired boy—co-authored by my grandmother over a weekend visit. Some days it doesn’t feel like the publication process has changed all that much over the years!
Where do you get your ideas?
Images from daydreams, leftover moments from the realm of the Sandman, impressions of what places must once have been. Ironically, the scene which inspired the book generally becomes the most wooden and awkward of the whole piece. Things that look beautiful as mental paintings don’t tend to flow all that well when populated by beings that are expected to behave believably.
Which authors do you admire and why?
I don’t have authors I like. I have authors I hate. I hate them because they can make me laugh or cry so hard, because they immerse me so completely that I snarl at my children for having the audacity to imply that I should put the book down and cook dinner for them. Those are the authors that I hate.
Do you have any tips for new writers?
Yes, though it is bound to fall on deaf ears: Writing a book is not, at its core, a mystical undertaking. It is a straightforward set of skills that must be practiced and mastered. Once you understand how to build the shape of a story from scene to chapter to the megalith novel itself, then you can get all woo-woo and fill in the fine details with magic. But it’s kind of like blowing your first real job out of cocky pride, it seems like everybody has to fall on their face (and years worth of work) a few times before they get that figured out. Yes, some people pull it off the first time, but they are a handful out of millions—certainly not me.
If you, too, have had enough of malfunctioning mysticism and are ready to give something else a try, I recommend STORY ENGINEERING: Mastering the Six Core Competencies of Successful Writing by Larry Brooks. I have a bachelor’s in creative writing and Mr. Brooks’ work was still my first real moment of understanding when it came to novel architecture.
Are the legends and bits of folk-history in your books real?
I TRY to be as true to the original as possible when I weave these moments of culture and history into my work. Note however, that the fictional worlds have their own oral traditions that are, well, entirely fictional. Hopefully, the difference between one and the other will be relatively clear?
Have more questions? Please feel free to post them to my Facebook author page and you may find the answers appearing here!
Why, yes! Children's author Raymond Macalino is my husband and authors Damien and Helena Macalino are our two overly-ambitious children. They have since retired from publishing, but you can find their books on this site..
I love Maya Lilova's art! How do I find out more about her?
Maya, the amazing illustrator of my children's books, plus the designer of this website is a super neat lady. You can see more of her art and learn about her other projects at http://mayalilova.com/ You can also read an interview with her on my blog.
Do you ever come out to talk to book groups / schools / writer's groups?
That I do and several times a year. I've chatted about everything from writing to history to research. If you want to discuss having me out to visit, you can reach me at tonya@tonyamacalino.com.
How did you get started writing?
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who sat down to watch a lovely afternoon cartoon about a little mermaid. Except it was the original story, you know, the one by Hans Christian Andersen where the little mermaid dies in the end to spare the confused but quite married-to-someone-else prince’s life. That little girl was utterly disgusted by this ending and vowed to rewrite it immediately!
She never did.
Actually, my first book was a Sesame Street masterpiece of construction paper and crayon dedicated to my one true kindergarten love: the little red-haired boy—co-authored by my grandmother over a weekend visit. Some days it doesn’t feel like the publication process has changed all that much over the years!
Where do you get your ideas?
Images from daydreams, leftover moments from the realm of the Sandman, impressions of what places must once have been. Ironically, the scene which inspired the book generally becomes the most wooden and awkward of the whole piece. Things that look beautiful as mental paintings don’t tend to flow all that well when populated by beings that are expected to behave believably.
Which authors do you admire and why?
I don’t have authors I like. I have authors I hate. I hate them because they can make me laugh or cry so hard, because they immerse me so completely that I snarl at my children for having the audacity to imply that I should put the book down and cook dinner for them. Those are the authors that I hate.
Do you have any tips for new writers?
Yes, though it is bound to fall on deaf ears: Writing a book is not, at its core, a mystical undertaking. It is a straightforward set of skills that must be practiced and mastered. Once you understand how to build the shape of a story from scene to chapter to the megalith novel itself, then you can get all woo-woo and fill in the fine details with magic. But it’s kind of like blowing your first real job out of cocky pride, it seems like everybody has to fall on their face (and years worth of work) a few times before they get that figured out. Yes, some people pull it off the first time, but they are a handful out of millions—certainly not me.
If you, too, have had enough of malfunctioning mysticism and are ready to give something else a try, I recommend STORY ENGINEERING: Mastering the Six Core Competencies of Successful Writing by Larry Brooks. I have a bachelor’s in creative writing and Mr. Brooks’ work was still my first real moment of understanding when it came to novel architecture.
Are the legends and bits of folk-history in your books real?
I TRY to be as true to the original as possible when I weave these moments of culture and history into my work. Note however, that the fictional worlds have their own oral traditions that are, well, entirely fictional. Hopefully, the difference between one and the other will be relatively clear?
Have more questions? Please feel free to post them to my Facebook author page and you may find the answers appearing here!