Today we’d like to introduce you to Margaret Coel.
Hi Margaret, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am a writer. An author. In my study, there are a couple shelves of books with my name on the spines. When I look at them, a host of thoughts wash over me: Wow! What a lot of work! What a big part of my life! What a lucky lady I am!
I managed to combine my love of history, particularly the history of the American West, with my love of writing. I became interested in the Arapahos, a Plains Indian tribe that had once lived in Colorado, my home state. That led to my first book, Chief Left Hand, a biography of a great Arapaho leader in the turbulent mid 1800s. I went on to write four other history books, but I kept coming back to the Arapahos. While researching Chief Left Hand, I had gotten to know many Arapahos on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. I decided to venture out and write a novel set on the reservation. A crime novel, like Tony Hillerman was then writing on the Navajos. A big gamble for me and my career because a publisher was waiting to publish my next history book. I had no idea if any publisher would want my novel. But one did. And that first novel, The Eagle Catcher, led to a series of twenty-two novels.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The writer’s road is never smooth. If you decide to try your hand at writing, you have to accept the fact you are starting down a bumpy road. Rejections will come your way–and many came my way. Sometimes it was hard to keep going with letters from publishers saying my article–story–book wasn’t for them. Keep going I did. And I kept trying to improve my craft and become a better writer. I analyzed novels I had loved reading in order to understand how the author had made the stories great. Eventually the eureka I GET IT moment came. I could see how to make my own stories more compelling, my characters more memorable, my plots more gripping. I believe that persistence is the key to surviving and thriving as a writer. You have to keep going, keep working to become a better writer, and keep believing in yourself. What I found is that other people will start believing in you, too.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I became known for writing history of the American West and particularly for writing about the Arapahos. After years of doing research on both subjects, I developed an expertise on the history and culture of this Plains Indian tribe. In short, I fell in love, and that love continues to motivate me. I am proud that through my books I have been able to introduce a rich and fascinating culture to readers around the world who possibly had never heard of the Arapahos. I hear from readers all the time, thanking me for taking them into another world.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
As Oscar Wilde is reported to have said, the harder I work, the luckier I get. I have found that to be true. Every time that luck seemed to intervene, I was prepared and ready to take advantage of what had come my way, By the time I ran into an author who offered to introduce me to her agent, I had written a book. I had something to show the agent. I was ready. And the agent agreed to represent me. There were many times when I happened to be in the right place at the right time to make valuable contacts, such as when I ran into a film producer at a conference who offered to film a trailer for my novel Killing Custer. You could call it luck. I call it being ready. I had written the book. It was about to be published. The trailer fit right into my–and my publisher’s–promotion plans. I have found that people are willing to help, but you have to do the work first. I’ve had many hopeful writers ask me for advice on getting a novel published. Have you written the novel? I always ask. No, they have not, it often turns out. Well, I tell them, I can’t advise you until you’ve done the work.
Contact Info:
- Website: margaretcoel.com
- Facebook: margaret coel
Image Credits
left to right: Rick Waters and Margaret Coel David Weiden, Rick Waters, Margaret Coel, Craig Johnson Harvey Spoonhunter Margaret Coel
