Carey Parrish's Blog, page 6
February 16, 2012
Spotlight Interview with Novelist Allison Burnett
For the past several years, I've been acquainted with the multi-talented Allison Burnett. Novelist, essayist, poet, and screenwriter, Allison is a man who can do it all. His film credits include Autumn in New York, Feast of Love, Resurrecting the Champ, and Gone; his novels are Christopher, The House Beautiful, and Undiscovered Gyrl. Now Allison is back on the publishing scene with his newest novel Death By Sunshine. I and his other fans could not be more delighted.
In Death By Sunshine, Allison brings back his ever-popular protagonist B.K. Troop. B.K. first appeared in Christopher and then featured in The House Beautiful. In the third entry in the Troop series, Allison gives us his great creation in a new story that is as thrilling, hilarious, and satisfying as its predecessors. It's one of the best books I've read in the last year.
As soon as I put it down, I knew immediately that I wanted to interview him again. This is our third session together and he always makes me feel very much at ease and utterly enthralled. His talents leave me in awe. I am pleased to host him again.
CP: Welcome back, Allison. It's been a while since we chatted.
AB: Yes, I really must try to publish more novels.
CP: You've got a new book out, Death By Sunshine. Tell me about it.
AB: My favorite hero B.K. Troop -- a tall, fat, balding, erudite, witty, chemically imbalanced, gay, alcoholic novelist -- comes to Los Angeles to seal a movie deal. When all does not go as planned, he is ready to hightail it back to Manhattan. Before he can, he stumbles across a mystery that he believes only he can solve. He stays and plays detective.
CP: What led you back to the character of B.K. Troop?
AB: I simply adore him. He is alive to me. I have written two novels without B.K., but when he reappears in my imagination I have no choice but to start typing.
CP: Why do you think B.K. is so popular with readers?
AB: Because he is funny, revolting, brilliant, ridiculous, and poignant all at once. In a world of tedious, navel-gazing fiction that feels more like homework than a delight, he is a bigger-than-life hero.
CP: What was your inspiration for this story?
AB: I have lived in Los Angeles for twenty years now. For a long time, I had wanted to write a Hollywood novel, but I wanted to approach the subject from the outside. Well, no one is more outside the glamour and romance of Hollywood than poor B.K. with his dirty tweeds, failing body, and duffel bag full of cheap wine. It seems like a natural fit that he should be my fish out of water.
CP: Have you been getting a lot of feedback on Death By Sunshine?
AB: From friends and acquaintances, the feedback has been incredible. The book has only been reviewed once, by the Los Angeles Review of Books, and I doubt I will ever get a better review in my lifetime. http://lareviewofbooks.org/post/17152843218/at-home-and-abroad
CP: Will B.K. Troop be back in another tale?
AB: Not sure yet. Sometimes when I am falling asleep at night, he comes to me -- very old, near death, wearing starchy blue jeans and a brand-new cowboy hat. While vacationing in rural New Mexico, he discovers a baby left on his doorstep.
CP: Your last book, Undiscovered Gyrl was popular as well. While reading it, I kept thinking what a great movie it would make. Any chance of that?
AB: You must be psychic. I have adapted the book for myself to direct -- something I haven't done since I wrote and directed an indie film called Red Meat back in the late 90s. Just as exciting, I have found the actress to play my 17-year-old blogging heroine, Katie Kampenfelt. I can't reveal who it is yet, because we are only in the early stages of getting the movie on its feet. But I will say this: there is no one more perfect for the role.
Click to PurchaseCP: Are you working on a new book right now? And if so what can you share about it?
AB: I have finished a new novel called The Escape of Malcolm Poe. It's about a middle-aged man who has been planning for ten years to leave his wife the instant after they deliver their youngest daughter to college. The novel is his diary in the nine months leading up to her first day of school. It's John Cheever as told by Nathanael West.
CP: And on the screenwriting front, what's going on there these days?
AB: Underworld Awakening just opened, which was exciting for me. It was my first experience working on a huge movie that is a success around the world. Soon another movie, Gone, opens, which is from an original screenplay of mine. They shot it word for word and cast the gorgeous and talented Amanda Seyfried. The director is a brilliant Brazilian named Heitor Dhalia, who made a terrific film called Adrift. Meanwhile, I am working on another original thriller.
CP: What have you been doing in your "Allison" time lately?
AB: My wife is screenwriter Chloe King. Sadly, Chloe's father, the writer-director Zalman King, passed away on February 3. In the months leading up to his death we were with him all the time. We are just now, in the wake of this heartbreak, getting back to our routines. Chloe and I have two boys, 3 and 5. They take up almost every moment of our time away from our desks. But in my few spare hours I like to go to flea markets (I collect Hollywood and literary ephemera) and watch Cleveland sports teams.
CP: What are you reading right now?
AB: It's tragic how little time I have to read. I am halfway through a wonderful book called 1948, about that year in politics. CP: Seen any good movies lately?
AB: Yes, I have been watching really good art documentaries on Netflix. I watched films about Keith Haring, J.M. Basquiat, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Alice Neel.
CP: What music are you listening to?
AB: I have been addicted to a Mel Torme mix tape. Yes, that's right, a cassette tape made for me by a friend in 1986. It still plays fine and luckily my car has a tape player. For my money, no one sings the standards better than Mel.
CP: Are you enjoying winter in L.A.?
AB: Winter in LA is pure heaven. Blue skies, warm days, chilly nights. Like a perfect early spring or late fall in the Midwest where I was raised. I particularly love Christmas here because there are far fewer cars. I imagine it's a taste of what it must have been like to live here in the 1930s.
CP: What advice or wisdom can you pass along here?
AB: If you are young and want to be a writer, set aside trivial nonsense and devote yourself only to great art -- in all its forms. At the same time, write for a set amount of time, six days a week. If you have talent, you ought to start writing well in about ten years.
CP: What are you most proud of these days?
AB: Two things. My strong relationship with Chloe and our wonderful boys. And my longevity as a professional writer.
Allison's Website: http://allisonburnett.com/
Carey Parrish
February 12, 2012
"...And if somebody loves you..."
Like so many people around the world, the news last night that Whitney Houston has died at 48 was a phenomenal blow. For those my age, she burst onto the international stage when we were in our late teens and her music became a major part of the soundtrack of the mid to late eighties. Beginning with You Give Good Love, this girl proved from the very start of her career that she was going to be around for the long haul. Her gift was inspirational and sensational.
Having admired Whitney Houston for years, I was moved to tears when the news first broke that she had left us. I'm at an age where a lot of my show business heroes are passing away, but for the most part these have been the older stars. Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, and now Whitney are among a subset of the brightest celebrities of the last quarter century who are dimming into history far too soon. It's a reminder of my own mortality in a way, and it can be extremely uncomfortable when one thinks about it.
For me, probably the most enduring image of Whitney Houston I have is the memory of her dancing and singing her way through the video for How Will I Know. One of the most infectious songs of 1985, it was the third release from her debut album. I never could be still whenever that song came on the radio, and I still can't. My toes start tapping, my head starts bobbing, I get to humming along, and it reminds me of my youth when I was just beginning my adult life.
After the first decade of her career, a time of major accomplishments that ensconced her as one of the biggest star in the last years of the 20th Century, Whitney Houston's life became the fodder of tabloid journalists and gossip columnists. Fueled by her tumultuous marriage to bad boy Bobby Brown, followed by highly publicized reports of her battle with drug addiction, Whitney made a series of shocking appearances where she was obviously under the influence of powers that were not in her best interests. I remember her performance at Divas '99 when she sang three of her biggest hits while sweating so profusely that her face glistened with perspiration under the house lights. This was a show which was opened by Tina Turner, Cher, and Elton John, and none of them stayed to take the stage with Whitney during the finale. That spoke volumes to me. And then there was that infamous interview she gave Diane Sawyer – "crack is whack" – that left few doubts for her fans about her addictions.
It has always been difficult for me to understand why people let addiction into their lives. I know it's easy to be judgmental from the sidelines, and being judgmental is something I've always striven to avoid, but I have a hard time finding sympathy for those who become addicted to alcohol and drugs. This is because they do it to themselves and the power of substance abuse leads them to prefer their crutch over anything and anyone else. They don't care how it makes their loved ones feel when they dive into that bottle or suck something up their nose. All they can focus on is the high they crave from their drug of choice. No, I can't bring myself to empathize with that. But I can look past it in a lot of cases and find the real person underneath the addiction.
I largely stopped following Whitney once her personal issues became so much a part of who she was. I didn't like her anymore. Her art suffered and the public's ridicule of her was uncomfortable for me. It also seemed to me that during the late nineties she spent too much time trying to be Diana Ross when she should have just been Whitney Houston. Her behavior implied that she considered herself above societal expectations and I found it all very distasteful. I didn't get interested in Whitney again until three or four years ago, when it seemed that she was trying to overcome her problems and reclaim her status as one of the most preeminent vocalists of all time. When she began acting like Whitney again, my feelings for her returned and my adoration of who she was and what she meant to an entire generation returned as well.
Whitney Houston fought back against her problems and she emerged more than once in seeming triumph from them. She divorced Bobby Brown. She was evidently a loving mother to her daughter. Her bond with her own mother didn't appear to weaken over time. She climbed back to the top of her game, making stumbles here and there, but always thrilling fans whenever she let herself go. Hers was a talent that didn't need a lot of help to be expressed and the adoration of a global audience followed her everywhere she went.
With her death, I am again brought to the realization that no matter what a person achieves or where their life might take them, the reality of being mortal cannot be escaped. Death is always waiting at the end, sometimes it's just right around the corner, and it is never easy to confront. Comfortingly, for most people it is their life that comes to define them. Death is generally a footnote on their resume. But for the most famous death can easily become as large in their legacy as anything else they accomplished. I find it sad when this is the case because death isn't meant to convey the whole of a person's life.
In my mind, Whitney Houston will always remain that beautiful girl who I remember so fondly dancing and singing her way through How Will I Know. She will continue to be that figure in repose standing on a tarmac waiting for Kevin Costner to come running to embrace her at the end of The Bodyguard. Her smile as she rides off on a motorcycle with her lover at the end of the video for I'm Your Baby Tonight will always capture the zest of what it must have been like to be her. And I am reminded of a line from the chorus of one of her biggest hits… "And if somebody loves you, will they always love you..."
Yes, I believe they will.
Whitney Houston1963 – 2012
Having admired Whitney Houston for years, I was moved to tears when the news first broke that she had left us. I'm at an age where a lot of my show business heroes are passing away, but for the most part these have been the older stars. Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, and now Whitney are among a subset of the brightest celebrities of the last quarter century who are dimming into history far too soon. It's a reminder of my own mortality in a way, and it can be extremely uncomfortable when one thinks about it.
For me, probably the most enduring image of Whitney Houston I have is the memory of her dancing and singing her way through the video for How Will I Know. One of the most infectious songs of 1985, it was the third release from her debut album. I never could be still whenever that song came on the radio, and I still can't. My toes start tapping, my head starts bobbing, I get to humming along, and it reminds me of my youth when I was just beginning my adult life.
After the first decade of her career, a time of major accomplishments that ensconced her as one of the biggest star in the last years of the 20th Century, Whitney Houston's life became the fodder of tabloid journalists and gossip columnists. Fueled by her tumultuous marriage to bad boy Bobby Brown, followed by highly publicized reports of her battle with drug addiction, Whitney made a series of shocking appearances where she was obviously under the influence of powers that were not in her best interests. I remember her performance at Divas '99 when she sang three of her biggest hits while sweating so profusely that her face glistened with perspiration under the house lights. This was a show which was opened by Tina Turner, Cher, and Elton John, and none of them stayed to take the stage with Whitney during the finale. That spoke volumes to me. And then there was that infamous interview she gave Diane Sawyer – "crack is whack" – that left few doubts for her fans about her addictions.
It has always been difficult for me to understand why people let addiction into their lives. I know it's easy to be judgmental from the sidelines, and being judgmental is something I've always striven to avoid, but I have a hard time finding sympathy for those who become addicted to alcohol and drugs. This is because they do it to themselves and the power of substance abuse leads them to prefer their crutch over anything and anyone else. They don't care how it makes their loved ones feel when they dive into that bottle or suck something up their nose. All they can focus on is the high they crave from their drug of choice. No, I can't bring myself to empathize with that. But I can look past it in a lot of cases and find the real person underneath the addiction.
I largely stopped following Whitney once her personal issues became so much a part of who she was. I didn't like her anymore. Her art suffered and the public's ridicule of her was uncomfortable for me. It also seemed to me that during the late nineties she spent too much time trying to be Diana Ross when she should have just been Whitney Houston. Her behavior implied that she considered herself above societal expectations and I found it all very distasteful. I didn't get interested in Whitney again until three or four years ago, when it seemed that she was trying to overcome her problems and reclaim her status as one of the most preeminent vocalists of all time. When she began acting like Whitney again, my feelings for her returned and my adoration of who she was and what she meant to an entire generation returned as well.
Whitney Houston fought back against her problems and she emerged more than once in seeming triumph from them. She divorced Bobby Brown. She was evidently a loving mother to her daughter. Her bond with her own mother didn't appear to weaken over time. She climbed back to the top of her game, making stumbles here and there, but always thrilling fans whenever she let herself go. Hers was a talent that didn't need a lot of help to be expressed and the adoration of a global audience followed her everywhere she went.
With her death, I am again brought to the realization that no matter what a person achieves or where their life might take them, the reality of being mortal cannot be escaped. Death is always waiting at the end, sometimes it's just right around the corner, and it is never easy to confront. Comfortingly, for most people it is their life that comes to define them. Death is generally a footnote on their resume. But for the most famous death can easily become as large in their legacy as anything else they accomplished. I find it sad when this is the case because death isn't meant to convey the whole of a person's life.
In my mind, Whitney Houston will always remain that beautiful girl who I remember so fondly dancing and singing her way through How Will I Know. She will continue to be that figure in repose standing on a tarmac waiting for Kevin Costner to come running to embrace her at the end of The Bodyguard. Her smile as she rides off on a motorcycle with her lover at the end of the video for I'm Your Baby Tonight will always capture the zest of what it must have been like to be her. And I am reminded of a line from the chorus of one of her biggest hits… "And if somebody loves you, will they always love you..."
Yes, I believe they will.
Whitney Houston1963 – 2012
February 11, 2012
I Dreamed...
I dreamed I was dreaming.
And the life of my dream shone brightly.
The love I felt was radiant
and the sky blue like ocean.
A light pierced the brilliance.
With flowing glory it streamed down.
And I was wearing gold when I entered that kingdom.
The land of my imagination.
A place of gossamer foundlings.
Desire abounded.
Lushly girded.
Naught sparse in grandeur.
A bird flew overhead.
Its flight unbound.
I spread my golden wings
and took to the air alongside.
The earth was small below.
A green and blue landscape of my whims.
Sunshine poured itself upon my imagining.
I drank it in and spread it over
the beauty of my mind.
And flew higher.
And higher still.
I never thought of gliding downward.
Only a spiral exhaling to infinity.
Waiting for nothing.
In my gold glimmer I wore into that kingdom.
Never wanting.
And never waking.
Noblesse oblige.
Aloft and eternal.
Simply.
Perfectly.
A vision in my mind's eye.
When I dreamed I was dreaming.
Carey Parrish
February 2012
And the life of my dream shone brightly.
The love I felt was radiant
and the sky blue like ocean.
A light pierced the brilliance.
With flowing glory it streamed down.
And I was wearing gold when I entered that kingdom.
The land of my imagination.
A place of gossamer foundlings.
Desire abounded.
Lushly girded.
Naught sparse in grandeur.
A bird flew overhead.
Its flight unbound.
I spread my golden wings
and took to the air alongside.
The earth was small below.
A green and blue landscape of my whims.
Sunshine poured itself upon my imagining.
I drank it in and spread it over
the beauty of my mind.
And flew higher.
And higher still.
I never thought of gliding downward.
Only a spiral exhaling to infinity.
Waiting for nothing.
In my gold glimmer I wore into that kingdom.
Never wanting.
And never waking.
Noblesse oblige.
Aloft and eternal.
Simply.
Perfectly.
A vision in my mind's eye.
When I dreamed I was dreaming.
Carey Parrish
February 2012
February 7, 2012
Spotlight Interview with Novelist Kergan Edwards - Stout
Just this past year, I met a fellow writer named Kergan Edwards-Stout. We met, of course, through the miracle of the internet, through mutual friends, and once I began chatting with Kergan I read his book Songs for The New Depression, and it is easily one of the top ten books I've enjoyed in the past decade.
Written with a raw yet controlled hand, this novel moved me on many different levels. The story of a gay man dealing with a life threatening illness, Songs tells his story as he confronts the reality of a past that he tried desperately to make into something he wished it had been, but ultimately has to accept and be at peace with just as it is. The mirror image this book creates by contrasting a fictional character with the life we all in some akin manner experience, I couldn't get over how powerful this story is and how much it moved me with its message.
I immediately knew I had to interview Kergan. He graciously accepted the offer of a spotlight interview and the main things I wanted to uncover through the session - the inspiration for such a profound book and the secret to his innovative storytelling – he eagerly imparted. Kergan is a warm, sharing person and I'm very proud to present him here.
CP: Welcome, Kergan, and thanks for visiting with me.KES: Thank you so much, Carey. I appreciate the opportunity.CP: You've been enjoying a big success with your novel Songs for The New Depression. How do you relate to that kind of attention?KES: Well, you are very kind. Having worked on this novel for twelve years, on and off, I'm extremely grateful for both the positive reviews it has received, as well as the notes I've gotten from readers. It is gratifying to know that something you've worked so hard on seems to resonate with others. CP: Give us a bit of background on how the book came about.
KES: My first real "adult" love was my partner, Shane Sawick, who died in 1995. The act of being both partner and caregiver created monumental changes within me. As it was such a pivotal moment, I wanted to find a way to honor it. One day a line popped into my head. At the time, I didn't know who was speaking it or where it would take me, but it became clear to me that the voice was Shane's. Channeling his voice, I kept writing and eventually that turned into this novel.CP: Is it completely a work of fiction or are there some biographical elements involved?
KES: There is some of both.The story itself is largely fictional, though real elements find their way in, but there is quite a bit of both my sensibility and Shane's in the voice of the lead character.CP: A common theme among your readers is the intensity of the emotions you stirred in people. How do you reach that level in your writing?KES: I really just try to tell the story as truthfully as I can. The more real you are on the page, the more the reader will experience as a result. CP: Do you think this is why the book appeals to such a broad audience?
KES: I hope so. While the lead character is a gay man, many women have commented on how much they relate to him and his struggle. He's just trying to find his way in the world, and his hopes and dreams are much like those of others.CP: What does it take to get you into "author" mode
KES: Well, we have kids, so the first order of business in getting into my mode is finding quiet. Which is hard and why it took so long to write the book!CP: Can you describe your writing process?KES: I tend to work best writing longhand on legal pads, as the words seem to come much more readily that way. If I try to write on my computer, I find myself editing more than actually writing. I don't work off of an outline or such. I just know in my head where the story is going, and let it lead me. And, of course, while tedious, editing is essential to ensuring you've told the best story possible.
Click here to purchase.CP: Which writers influence, or have influenced, you?KES: I wish I could say Tolstoy or some other noted figure, but the writers who speak to me the most are people like Armistead Maupin and Maeve Binchey. I like straight forward, interesting tales with sharply drawn characters. Much of what others call quality fiction I find to be over-written and hard to read. I want to be drawn into a book and transported into its world…CP: Are you working on another book now? And if so what can you share about it?
KES: My next book is a memoir, Never Turn Your Back on the Tide. It tells of a specific event in my life which made me question everything I believed in, including my own sanity. But at the rate I'm going, it'll be another 12 years before this one comes out!CP: Okay…A few nosy things for the fans: Married/Single/Divorced/Involved?
KES: My partner Russ and I have been together for almost 10 years now.
CP: Do you have any children?
KES: We have two boys, Mason and Marcus, both of whom are adopted. They're really terrific kids.
CP: What are you reading right now?
KES: (Laughing) Actually, Carey, I'm reading your Big Business, which I'm really enjoying.
CP: (Blushing!) What kind of music do you enjoy?
KES: My tastes are all over the place. Being gay, of course I love musical theater, so Sondheim is an idol. I love everything from Mary Chapin Carpenter to Brandi Carlile, Erasure, Bobby Short, Julie London, Shawn Colvin, atmospheric stuff--very eclectic!
CP: Favorite food?
KES: Anything with sugar.
CP: Favorite movie?
KES: Men Don't Leave, with Jessica Lange, Chris O'Donnell, Joan Cusack and Kathy Bates.
CP: Personal preference: Long sleeves or barefoot weather?
KES: Long sleeves. I was born for four seasons, but live in California, where we have two: summer and rain.
CP: What advice or wisdom can you share here?
KES: Every writer has their own distinct voice. When I was younger, I never thought I'd be a writer. But with age came life experience, and now I find that I do have something unique and specific to say. It's all about listening to what is in your core. And for those who are not writers, my advice is to try to live as honestly and authentically as you can.CP: And what are you most proud of?
KES: My kids--Definitely. Hands down, the best thing I've ever done.
Kergan's Website & Blog: www.kerganedwards-stout.com
Carey Parrish
January 29, 2012
Book Review - Arthur Wooten's Shorts by Arthur Wooten
Arthur Wooten, the bestselling author of Birthday Pie, On Picking Fruit and Fruit Cocktail, has produced yet another instant classic. Arthur Wooten's Shorts is a delightful book that includes a short story, Stroke of Luck, and the famous Dear Henry Letters from his tenure with London based reFRESH magazine. Arthur is one of those writers whose next release I always await with zeal, so when he asked me to give this new gem a pre-release read, I couldn't contain my enthusiasm.
Stroke of Luck is the tale of celebrity chef Chip Lowell. Chip is utterly confident with himself, not to mention sought after because of his looks as well as his talent. He's on the brink of unveiling a new TV cooking show when a life changing event causes him to do some introspective work... which includes giving scrutiny to every detail in his life, and every person therein as well.
The Dear Henry Letters are the culmination of Arthur's two year writing stint for reFRESH. Inside their text you will find a delightful mixture of emotions and side splitting humor as he writes to a fictional lover, Henry, about just why they need to part company. And while parting may be such sweet sorrow, you won't want this one to end.
Arthur Wooten's Shorts, inside and out, is a dynamic entry in this multi talented scribe's bibliography of hits. An immediate success, readers won't be disappointed in the least and Mr. Wooten's ever growing fan base is in for a treat. It's that good. 5 Stars.
Amazon.com Link: http://www.amazon.com/Arthur-Wootens-Shorts-Stroke-Letters/dp/0983563195/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1327885535&sr=8-10
Arthur's Website: http://www.arthurwooten.com/
Carey Parrish
Spotlight Interview with Novelist Mike Wells
One of the most rewarding aspects of being a writer, for me, remains the opportunities it affords me to meet other writers. Whenever I meet someone with a talent that I find genuine, I feel that I must find out more about the person. Such was the case after I'd become acquainted with novelist Mike Wells. We met through the miracle of social media and the rapport we developed was easy, comfortable. Talking with Mike I got the sense that his talent comes from deep within himself and like any true gift it must be expressed.
The author of bestsellers like Wild Child, Baby Talk, and Lust, Money, & Murder, Mike has built a following for himself that is both loyal and devoted. A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Mike is married and currently resides in England, where he teaches creative writing at Oxford. He is someone who shares of himself and his work eagerly. His relationship with his fans and with other writers sets him apart from many in the pack because he truly cares about people and what they think. His books feature either teens or adults, depending on the story, and they appeal to a broad audience of readers.
Mike's work is riveting. Having read several of his books, which are available on the Amazon Kindle, iPad, and the Barnes and Noble Nook, I began planning to interview him almost a month before I actually asked him for the session. I just had to know what inspires him, what motivates him, and how he feels about his success. As I suspected, he didn't disappoint me with his answers. I'm pleased to present Mike in this forum.
CP: Welcome, Mike, and thanks for visiting with me.MW: Thank you, Carey! I appreciate the opportunity to be interviewed by you.CP: Tell me a bit about your writing process. What do you need to get into "author" mode?
MW: Getting into mode can be hard for me. I can't write well until a particular story "grabs" me and starts pulling me forward, rather than me pushing it. Usually at the beginning, the story requires a lot of pushing. What I've found is that each novel requires a slightly different "voice," or style of telling the story—attitude, etc. Sometimes it takes a while to find that voice and that's when I stay in "push" mode. Once I find the right voice the story pulls me to the computer each morning and the whole process becomes fun and relatively easy.
CP: You've had some very popular titles and a great deal of success. To what do you attribute the positive reception your work has garnered?
MW: Well, I suppose it's simply the result of a lot of hard work, taking what little talent I have and developing the hell out of it. I spent a lot of time learning the craft, something that I think every writer should do—taking classes, reading books, getting feedback from experts (writing teachers and coaches). I think another element is that I started out a as a screenwriter, and many of today's readers seem to like fast-paced stories that are not too heavily-laden with description, which is my writing style.
CP: You write both adult novels and books for young adults, and your YA titles are usually as popular with adults as they are with teens. Why do you think the appeal is often broad in this manner?
MW: This is probably because I don't ever think about who my books are "for" in terms of the age of the reader--I just write the best story I can and then let it find its audience. When I first started out, agents would say, "Who is this book for?" and I would say, "It's for people who like reading." "Yes, but which readers?" they would say. They would eventually classify Wild Child or The Mysterious Disappearance of Kurt Kramer as Young Adult. Why? Simply because the main characters in these books are in their late teens. Agents and publishers are so interested in this because retailers need to know which shelf to put the book on. But this is artificial, something that's placed on top of a story, so to speak. I don't think this kind of categorization comes from writers very often. At least not from me.
CP: Let's talk about inspiration. Where do you find the "muse" for your work, so to speak
MW: That's a hard question, Carey, and as a fiction writer, I think you well know it! For me, I'd have to say it comes from a feeling of wanting to improve upon the story I wrote last time, a deep desire to master the art and craft of fiction writing. But of course art is not something anyone can ever master, you can simply improve—true perfection can never be achieved.
Click Here To PurchaseCP: When you wrote Wild Child, what was the goal you had in mind for the reader?MW: My goal is always to entertain readers and hopefully move them in an emotional and perhaps intellectual way. But I actually don't think much about the final or overall impact on the reader—I think that's unconscious and something I can't really control.CP: When Wild Child became a #1 e-book, were you surprised at that level of success?
MW: I was flabbergasted. I was not prepared for those thousands of downloads!
CP: How do you go back and forth between the adult and young adult genres with such ease?
MW: Again, I think it's because "genres" do not really enter my mind while I'm writing. I never visualized only young people reading Wild Child, or only women reading Secrets of the Elusive Lover.
CP: When you do a project like Baby Talk, are you aiming for the jugular with your plot or do you let the story take you where you want to go?
MW: I would say that that's a combination of both. In purely creative mode, I let the story take me where it wants to go, but then when I'm done with a draft I put on my Editor hat and shape the story a bit, like pruning a tree, to give it a smooth form.
CP: You teach creative writing at Oxford. What led you to England? And do you see yourself remaining there or would you like to return to the US at some point?
MW: I've been living all over Europe for the past 15 years. I don't think I'll ever move back to the USA full time—I like being close to so many different cultures, it's very stimulating for my writing.
CP: You and I have talked about how we both admired the late bestselling author Sidney Sheldon. Do you feel his influence when you're writing?
MW: Sidney Sheldon is very interesting to me. In some ways I would say his writing influenced me, but the fact is, our styles were similar to begin with. I didn't read any of his work until I had written some screenplays and a few novels. After a few pages, I remember saying to my wife, "Hey, this guy writes a lot like I do!" Then when I read his bio and found out he had first been a screenwriter and then switched to novel-writing, I realized at least part of the reason why. Readers often notice this, particularly about Lust, Money & Murder, due to the genre and the fact that I feature a young woman as a hero.
CP: Share a bit about what you're currently working on.
MW: I'm working on sequels to Lust, Money & Murder and Wild Child (#3), and also a new international thriller that's similar in some ways to Lust, Money & Murder. Some of these books I just think about a lot and others I'm actually writing. I work on a lot of things at the same time.
Click Here To PurchaseCP: Okay…A few nosy things for the fans: What do you enjoy most about living in England?MW: The thing I enjoy most about living in England is the history and culture, everything is so old compared to the US. Last year we lived in a 500 year old farmhouse that still had most of its original furniture. It's pretty amazing when you think about it--that house was built only a few years after Columbus sailed to America! In the USA, such a house would be a national museum. You would have to pay to get inside with its rooms cordoned off, you wouldn't be allowed to touch anything. Yet we were living in this house and using all the furniture. There are places like this everywhere in England, it's all very interesting.CP: And conversely what do you like least about it?
MW: Easy. The weather.
CP: What are you reading right now?
MW: Right now I'm not reading much of anything, I don't have time. I went through a period in my 30's where I read voluminous amounts of literature, all the classics, tons of popular fiction, but now I just don't have any time for it. Between writing my own books and promoting them, and teaching classes, there's just no time left.
CP: Favorite food?
MW: Italian. I mean real Italian, as in going to Italy, which we do often. That's another great thing about England—you're so close to the rest of Europe. With the low budget airlines, you can be in Italy or Spain or France in two hours, for a hundred bucks. It's fantastic.
CP: Favorite movie?
MW: The Wizard of Oz. Probably it was one of the first movies I saw, at age three or something. It's the first movie I remember watching and I watched it every year when they showed it on TV until I was in my teens.
CP: What music do you enjoy?
MW: I enjoy all kinds of music and play some guitar myself, I come from a musical family and grew up in Nashville. When I'm writing I sometimes listen to really hard rock or jazz or pop, depending on my mood. I like to listen to classical when I'm in deep thought, plotting a book in my head. My wife took me to a Bach concert last night at the Sheldonian Theatre here in Oxford. When we came out, she said, "So, how did you like it?" I said, "It was great. I finished plotting Chapter Five."
CP: Personal preference: Long sleeves or barefoot weather?
MW: I'm definitely a beach bum. I have spent more time than I care to mention hanging on beaches in Aruba, Cyprus and the Canary Islands. I do my best writing there, too.
CP: What advice or wisdom can you pass along here?
MW: Follow your dreams. Life becomes dull otherwise.
CP: And what are you most proud of?
MW: I would say I'm most proud of my persistence, of not letting myself become too discouraged by all the naysayers in the world, all those agents and editors who told me there was no market for my work or that my writing was not any good. I'm sure they meant well, but they were wrong, and I'm glad I didn't listen to them.
Mike's Blog: http://www.thegreenwater.com/
Lust, Money, & Murder Website: http://www.lustmoneymurder.blogspot.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MikeWellsAuthor
Twiiter: www.twitter.com/MikeWellsAuthor
Carey Parrish
January 28, 2012
Book Review - Simple Treasures by Alan Chin
Having read all of Alan Chin's books, I can honestly say that Simple Treasures is perhaps my favorite. Alan Chin always tells a story with a unique perspective, usually gleaned from a personal reference, and his characters are never the norm. Rather they are fully dimensional individuals who function within their stories as if it's not a narrative but a reality within a book that one is reading.
With Simple Treasures, Mr. Chin takes us on a catharsis of sorts, introducing us to Simple, a Shoshone Indian who has just been released from an institution. Simple goes to work for a hard edged old man named Emmett, who's dying from cancer after a lifetime of drinking and rough living. Simple's job is to care for Emmett in his final days. Only Simple finds that Emmett's world is shared by a grandson named Jude. Jude is a gay young man who sloughs around in Goth attire and generally doesn't have a lot to do with his grandfather, and the sentiment is not one sided either.
As Simple gets to know Emmett and Jude, he finds his feelings for both of them begin to evolve in ways he didn't think possible. While he plans to help Emmett set his spirit free through an ancient Indian ritual he also cannot deny that he and Jude are growing closer, physically as well as emotionally. As Simple strives to give both of his companions the closure and the freedom they each crave, he learns to give himself the same latitude.
Simple Treasures was a delight to read and the message it imparts does not end along with the book. As with Alan's other works, this one has a lesson that will remain with its readers long after the story is told. Well done. 5 Stars.
Buy on Kindle
Alan's Website: http://alanchin.net/
Carey Parrish
Book Review - Lust, Money, & Murder by Mike Wells
Really irresistible page turner by novelist Mike Wells, Lust, Money, and Murder is the story of a woman out for revenge against the man who ruined her father and her vow to see him pay takes her on a journey around the world that is neither predictable nor dull in the slightest.
The heroine's name is Elaine Brogan. She watches in horror as her father is arrested for passing counterfeit money and the man she holds responsible becomes the catalyst for a dive into the world of a Secret Service agent, the grueling treatment Elaine must endure to become one, and then the time she must bide until her quest really begins.
As Elaine sets out to bring her father's nemesis to justice she goes on a wild ride through Bulgaria, Russia, and eventually Italy that gives the reader enough thrills to keep the pages turning as the climax, which is anything but what you might expect, comes into view. Add in the ingredients of romance and suspense and the result is a novel you won't want to end a page too soon.
Author Wells has written a real delight in Lust, Money, and Murder. It reads like something Sidney Sheldon might have written at the height of his literary career but the overall effect is a thoroughly enthralling story told by a writer who quite indelibly has a style all his own. 5 Stars.
Buy on Kindle
Mike's Website: http://www.lustmoneymurder.blogspot.com/
Carey Parrish
January 18, 2012
Book Review - The Value of Rain by Brandon Shire
Having read several excellently written books lately, I am pleased to now add The Value of Rain to my list of must-reads. Author Brandon Shire has taken a hotly debated topic in today's society and spun a mesmerizing tale of hurt, betrayal, revenge, and ultimately peace around it. The book crackles with the tension of human emotions, injustice, and family drama. In other words, readers won't be able to stop once they begin this journey.
At the book's outset, Charles is a young man of fourteen whose relationship with another boy becomes sexual, but he's caught and is committed to an institution for "treatment" to eradicate his "condition." For the next decade Charles goes through real torture, mental and physical, as he struggles to find a way out of the hell he's enduring. Once released, he is bent on revenge against those responsible for his ordeal; chiefly his mother.
Almost every emotion that a person can experience is written in vivid detail here. The author has a clever and gifted approach to his writing and is fearless when it comes to crafting scenes that need to be told in a certain manner. As horrific as some of the things Charles goes through are, the reader will at last find relief from his pain as he finds peace for himself.
This is a book that should be read. Brandon Shire gives us a story that no one will forget... and a new perspective on just what exactly rain can do. Well done indeed. 5 Stars. Author's Website: http://brandonshire.com/
Amazon.com Link: http://www.amazon.com/Value-Rain-Brandon-Shire/dp/1467990248/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Kindle Edition: http://www.amazon.com/The-Value-Of-Rain-ebook/dp/B005KBQC0Q/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Barnes and Noble Link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-value-of-rain-brandon-shire/1032311950?ean=9781467990240&itm=1&usri=brandon+shire
Carey Parrish
January 17, 2012
On The Matter Of Equality
Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. day here in the United States. The one day of the year set aside to honor perhaps the greatest advocate and activist for civil rights there has ever been, we close our banks and no mail is delivered and all the schools are closed to commemorate the birthday of this man. Not everyone takes the day off from work but the Federal and state governments observe the occasion annually in order to show respect for someone who fought hard for what he believed in and who gave his life for the cause he loved.
I do not have a prejudiced bone in my body. This has set me apart from some of the people I've known over the years because here in the South there remains a pervasive feeling that those who are not white are somehow beneath the people who are. Despite all the progress that has been made in the last fifty years, here where I live I am sad to say that there are indeed those who do not appreciate the fact that everyone is indeed created equal. It pretty much goes unspoken because the law is such that bigotry in public will not be tolerated. Yet it is there. Believe me, it is there.
Why do I feel differently from so many of the people who hail from my corner of the country? I'll tell you why.
When I was a child, nine or ten, we lived in a subdivision in the south end of Whitfield County called Wood Park Estates. We had a lot of neighbors who were black and for the most part everyone got along well together. Two of the ladies who lived near us were Mrs. Sybil Nelson and Mrs. Bobbie Stidmon. They were black ladies who became great successes in their lives. Mrs. Nelson taught elementary school and Mrs. Stidmon was a supervisor for General Telephone. They were very sweet people who befriended me at my young age because of my love of reading. I cherish the memories of these two women because they taught me a lot about education, reinforcing what my own parents fostered in me about its importance, and setting examples by their lives that I really could be anything I wanted to be in life.
Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Stidmon went for a walk every evening during the warm weather. Our subdivision was at the end of a four mile loop that included some industrialized areas as well as a rural road that met back up with the one that led to our neighborhood. One evening I asked the ladies if I could go walking with them. They said yes and my mother said it was okay as well. So off we set. I kept up with them with no trouble and the three of us talked and talked while we strolled along. We discussed books mostly; I remember that. During the last leg of our walk, we hit the rural road I mentioned, called Five Springs Road, and were heading home when a car drove past us and someone inside it put his head out the window and shouted: "Nigger!"
Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Stidmon both went very quiet and I remember feeling total shock at what had just happened. They eventually started chatting again but the mood had been dampened to a degree that could not be rectified in the short distance back to Wood Park Estates.
After this incident, I thought a lot about what happened and I felt that it was a complete injustice that these two lovely ladies had been made to feel mortified by some fool disrespecting them because of the color of their skin. There was nothing right about it at all. The more I thought about it the more determined I became that I would never be guilty of doing such a cruel, stupid thing to another human being for as long as I lived. People can't help being what they are; I realized that even as a child. Nobody asks to be white, black, red, yellow, or any color at all. You are what you are because of the people you come from. Just because your skin is a certain color doesn't make you any better or any less than anybody else. Of this I have always been certain and this is one thing of which I have become more convicted still as I've grown older.
You don't hear of many incidents like that nowadays, and for this I am glad, but as I previously stated the feelings of bigotry and prejudice remains in our world, and not just here in the South either. I became acutely aware of this after Barack Obama was elected to the presidency in 2008. The vitriol and vehement dislike of him by most conservatives I feel sure is rooted to a great extent in bigotry. I think this because even though a lot of people didn't like Bill Clinton I didn't hear or witness the type of insolence and downright disrespect as I've seen since Mr. Obama took office. It's something he must have expected but I don't think even he realized it would be as bad as it is. He's been slandered on almost every front and some people still insist that he wasn't born in the US even though he proved he was with his birth certificate. This type of thing has become a nonstop assault on him and his family.
In the past twenty years I've witnessed the bounds of prejudice extend to the Hispanic population and the LGBT segment of our nation. I'll admit that I felt jaded toward the Mexican people who first started moving to my area in the nineties because it was such a fast growing phenomenon. I remember going to town and hearing more Spanish in the store aisles than English. Yet, being me, I did some research and I became aware that the conditions in Mexico were so bad for these people that were escaping their homeland for the idea of a better life here in the US. These people were living three and four families to a house in some places because all they could find was work in the carpet mills and that didn't always pay very well at all. I also found out that most of them were sending a big portion of their paychecks to their family members who remained in Mexico to help out as much as they could there. My feelings changed toward the Hispanics here once I knew why they had left Mexico. I've never felt that I needed to escape my home and I think it is a crying shame that so many people in this world do.
The LGBT population suffers for who they are just because of who they are. They are denied the right to marry whomever they love in most states. They don't have the same protection under our tax laws as their heterosexual neighbors do. Many of them still feel that they have to hide who they are because they're afraid of being physically harmed if they don't. How is this right? It's not. Like any other race or minority the LGBT community is what it is because they are what they are and they didn't ask to be gay; they just are. It's not a psychological condition. It's not a case of nature versus nurture. Everyone is different. Different but equal. Our own Constitution says so. So why are they having to fight for rights that should already be theirs? It's a terrible injustice that can't be tolerated for much longer.
One hundred and fifty years ago the United States was embroiled in a war between the states that we now call The Civil War. It was a war that was fought over the right to freedom for everyone, black and white, in this country. Slavery may have been abolished because of it but it took over a century longer for black people in the US to begin enjoying the same level of freedom that their white counterparts took for granted. And in some ways they remain unequal in the eyes of their fellow Americans because so many people still look down on them, just as they look down on the Hispanics, the Indians, the Muslims, the LGBT, and anyone else who looks or acts different to what a majority of his country still think is the norm. And we tolerate it. And we shouldn't.
Last week at the Wal-Mart there was an older woman driving around looking for a parking spot near the store. When she saw one another car beat her to it and a man who she thought was Hispanic was the one who got the spot. She jumped out of her car and began berating this man for getting to the parking space before she did and she concluded her furious oration with the question: "Why aren't you in Mexico?" The man gave her an amused look and said, in a flat American voice without a hint of an accent: "Lady, my parents came from Cuba and I was born in Dallas, Texas. So you can just kiss my ass!"
Think about that and then lets talk about what real equality should be.
And I will never put down another human being who looks different from me. The memory of Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Stidmon on Five Springs Road over thirty years ago, silenced by someone's prejudice, will always stay with me and it will always remind me that everyone really is created equal.
Peace.
Carey
I do not have a prejudiced bone in my body. This has set me apart from some of the people I've known over the years because here in the South there remains a pervasive feeling that those who are not white are somehow beneath the people who are. Despite all the progress that has been made in the last fifty years, here where I live I am sad to say that there are indeed those who do not appreciate the fact that everyone is indeed created equal. It pretty much goes unspoken because the law is such that bigotry in public will not be tolerated. Yet it is there. Believe me, it is there.
Why do I feel differently from so many of the people who hail from my corner of the country? I'll tell you why.
When I was a child, nine or ten, we lived in a subdivision in the south end of Whitfield County called Wood Park Estates. We had a lot of neighbors who were black and for the most part everyone got along well together. Two of the ladies who lived near us were Mrs. Sybil Nelson and Mrs. Bobbie Stidmon. They were black ladies who became great successes in their lives. Mrs. Nelson taught elementary school and Mrs. Stidmon was a supervisor for General Telephone. They were very sweet people who befriended me at my young age because of my love of reading. I cherish the memories of these two women because they taught me a lot about education, reinforcing what my own parents fostered in me about its importance, and setting examples by their lives that I really could be anything I wanted to be in life.
Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Stidmon went for a walk every evening during the warm weather. Our subdivision was at the end of a four mile loop that included some industrialized areas as well as a rural road that met back up with the one that led to our neighborhood. One evening I asked the ladies if I could go walking with them. They said yes and my mother said it was okay as well. So off we set. I kept up with them with no trouble and the three of us talked and talked while we strolled along. We discussed books mostly; I remember that. During the last leg of our walk, we hit the rural road I mentioned, called Five Springs Road, and were heading home when a car drove past us and someone inside it put his head out the window and shouted: "Nigger!"
Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Stidmon both went very quiet and I remember feeling total shock at what had just happened. They eventually started chatting again but the mood had been dampened to a degree that could not be rectified in the short distance back to Wood Park Estates.
After this incident, I thought a lot about what happened and I felt that it was a complete injustice that these two lovely ladies had been made to feel mortified by some fool disrespecting them because of the color of their skin. There was nothing right about it at all. The more I thought about it the more determined I became that I would never be guilty of doing such a cruel, stupid thing to another human being for as long as I lived. People can't help being what they are; I realized that even as a child. Nobody asks to be white, black, red, yellow, or any color at all. You are what you are because of the people you come from. Just because your skin is a certain color doesn't make you any better or any less than anybody else. Of this I have always been certain and this is one thing of which I have become more convicted still as I've grown older.
You don't hear of many incidents like that nowadays, and for this I am glad, but as I previously stated the feelings of bigotry and prejudice remains in our world, and not just here in the South either. I became acutely aware of this after Barack Obama was elected to the presidency in 2008. The vitriol and vehement dislike of him by most conservatives I feel sure is rooted to a great extent in bigotry. I think this because even though a lot of people didn't like Bill Clinton I didn't hear or witness the type of insolence and downright disrespect as I've seen since Mr. Obama took office. It's something he must have expected but I don't think even he realized it would be as bad as it is. He's been slandered on almost every front and some people still insist that he wasn't born in the US even though he proved he was with his birth certificate. This type of thing has become a nonstop assault on him and his family.
In the past twenty years I've witnessed the bounds of prejudice extend to the Hispanic population and the LGBT segment of our nation. I'll admit that I felt jaded toward the Mexican people who first started moving to my area in the nineties because it was such a fast growing phenomenon. I remember going to town and hearing more Spanish in the store aisles than English. Yet, being me, I did some research and I became aware that the conditions in Mexico were so bad for these people that were escaping their homeland for the idea of a better life here in the US. These people were living three and four families to a house in some places because all they could find was work in the carpet mills and that didn't always pay very well at all. I also found out that most of them were sending a big portion of their paychecks to their family members who remained in Mexico to help out as much as they could there. My feelings changed toward the Hispanics here once I knew why they had left Mexico. I've never felt that I needed to escape my home and I think it is a crying shame that so many people in this world do.
The LGBT population suffers for who they are just because of who they are. They are denied the right to marry whomever they love in most states. They don't have the same protection under our tax laws as their heterosexual neighbors do. Many of them still feel that they have to hide who they are because they're afraid of being physically harmed if they don't. How is this right? It's not. Like any other race or minority the LGBT community is what it is because they are what they are and they didn't ask to be gay; they just are. It's not a psychological condition. It's not a case of nature versus nurture. Everyone is different. Different but equal. Our own Constitution says so. So why are they having to fight for rights that should already be theirs? It's a terrible injustice that can't be tolerated for much longer.
One hundred and fifty years ago the United States was embroiled in a war between the states that we now call The Civil War. It was a war that was fought over the right to freedom for everyone, black and white, in this country. Slavery may have been abolished because of it but it took over a century longer for black people in the US to begin enjoying the same level of freedom that their white counterparts took for granted. And in some ways they remain unequal in the eyes of their fellow Americans because so many people still look down on them, just as they look down on the Hispanics, the Indians, the Muslims, the LGBT, and anyone else who looks or acts different to what a majority of his country still think is the norm. And we tolerate it. And we shouldn't.
Last week at the Wal-Mart there was an older woman driving around looking for a parking spot near the store. When she saw one another car beat her to it and a man who she thought was Hispanic was the one who got the spot. She jumped out of her car and began berating this man for getting to the parking space before she did and she concluded her furious oration with the question: "Why aren't you in Mexico?" The man gave her an amused look and said, in a flat American voice without a hint of an accent: "Lady, my parents came from Cuba and I was born in Dallas, Texas. So you can just kiss my ass!"
Think about that and then lets talk about what real equality should be.
And I will never put down another human being who looks different from me. The memory of Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Stidmon on Five Springs Road over thirty years ago, silenced by someone's prejudice, will always stay with me and it will always remind me that everyone really is created equal.
Peace.
Carey
