Gregory G. Allen's Blog, page 47

Perspective

Have you noticed that people ask "where were you when X?" Elvis died. The Royal Wedding occurred. Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. And when we start to tell a story, we give what we were doing at the moment. It happened today when the earthquake hit in Virginia and much of the East coast felt the shock from it. We all needed to turn and share our own story of what we were doing/feeling at that exact moment. Even though many people are experiencing it - we only know how it affected us at that time. Stop and think about 9/11 and while you'll envision images we've seen of that horrible day, you'll also think about what exactly you were doing at that precise time. (I was on a train heading towards Hoboken, NJ.)
The idea of our perspectives came crashing into my mind from how flooded twitter and facebook became today after the earthquake. And the next thing I thought about was how writers have to do this with their characters all the time. Perspective is so important to the thrust of a story...which person we are choosing to tell a particular point of the story arc. What does that character see in the situation? How does it make them feel? Are their feelings different from the other characters or society in general? These are important aspects to think about because just like life - the way a character feels about a situation or perceives it tells us so much about that person. 
That's my writing "ah-ha" moment for today...now back to reading my twitter feed to see how those I follow are giving their unique spin on the earthquake aftermath.  

Like Buttah!

I cannot put my finger on why Ms. Streisand has always meant so much to me. The cliche of being gay is just to easy...and while gay men have flocked to the gawky woman who found a way to fit into the world for decades, there is so much more to her. Tuesday she has a new CD coming out which if sales take off could mean she enters her 6th decade of having a number one album/CD on the charts (he types on the weekend as his other half just downloaded a Streisand song from iTunes). 
For me - she has been the soundtrack for my life. From the moment my mother had me sit and watch Funny Girl through being a kid in the 70s listening to Streisand (and Manilow) on my FM portable radio, through her powerful songs of the 80s and 90s...she has always spoken to me through her voice and lyrics she chooses to sing. So many of those songs have been the words of Alan & Marilyn Bergman who know how to to cut to the emotion of what they are speaking of - and Barbra can deliver that emotion like no one else. (It is actually their songs on her new CD he says with a giddy excitement.) 
She also knows what she wants and goes after that - and this control freak LOVES that aspect. People have called her all sorts of things while working with her or interviewing or, but being a person who likes to have her hand in all aspects of her art isn't such a bad thing. It means she cares and she only wants what is best for her fans. Years ago when I ran into her in Central Park and got up the nerve to actually speak to her - I kept telling myself that it was possible she could have swatted me down quickly and yelled at me for intruding on her pleasant day out in the park. But she was as nice to a young fan as she could be...and that truly is a person who understands how to maintain that 'star' for many decades. I was lucky to have seen her in Madison Square Garden years after that and so glad she is still going strong now. 
Welcome back to my iPod, Babs!           

A Simple Choice Can Change it All

I just returned from a very relaxing vacation in beautiful Boothbay Harbor, Maine. There is a reason that place is known as 'vacationland' – because you can feel your body relax and let go. I was there 22 summers ago – but not for vacation. I worked there doing summer stock theater back when I was a performer. Sometimes vacation gives us time to take stock of our lives. The last 22 years flashed in front of me and I noticed all those choices made that would send me down a different path. I can pinpoint the moment I made a decision to turn down an international tour of a show and I often wondered if that one choice was what eventually led me to leaving that business or would my life had been different. Not that I'm not completely happy with where my life has gone in those years. I took more twists and turns on my road through corporate America to other creative endeavors, wonderful friendships and relationships I've made along the way to where I am now having just celebrated 11 years with my other-half last week. Those are the big choices we look at in life. But there are small ones we make daily as well. Ever hear of someone who does the exact same thing every morning, but one day decides to make a change and it averts them from an accident they would have been involved in? Or a person who doesn't get on a plane and then reads of its crash in the paper? What daily choices are you making that are affecting you or are you simply going through life? I hope to think I'm making the right ones. I realize there is room for stumbling and sometimes failure – but I think I have to make the choice to give it a try. As my favorite Lincoln quote says: "In the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."  

Happy Birthday, Blog!

I can't believe its been a year on 8.10 that I took to the blogosphere. My first blog was about a poem of mine being published in an anthology and a year later, I'm happy to be blogging about other publishing accomplishments as well as a slew of other topics. Everything from Broadway show reviews, to things that get me riled up in the news, to equality - blogging has changed me as a writer. A friend of mine (who has read every single thing I've ever written) said to me she thought I found 'my voice' when I started blogging. I think in a way it has helped to hone that voice and create a better author in the long run. Not to mention the great people I've met from across the country (and in other countries) who have visited my blog, shared comments, and used the internet as a way to connect. It really is an amazing tool to reach beyond our insular worlds and not only share views with others; but hear different points of views as well.
So thank you to all that have come out and read and told me when you do (and don't) enjoy my topics! You made my first year a success and I hope I can continue to share more thoughts as they pop into my head.

Tilting Right & Left

I wonder if I'll ever see the day that our political landscape in the US is not divided by parties. Watching how our government fights across the aisle only encourages the rest of the country to follow their lead. (And I type this knowing I'm just as guilty of it.) It seems we are more divided than ever in so many different areas. Perhaps I notice it more because of my own life and like many…where we 'sit' can dictate how we feel on a situation. It bothers me when one side feels they have full ownership over a particular religion. Like those of us who share certain beliefs of faith must be wrong if other areas of our lives do not line up with exactly what others believe to be 'right'. If you draw a long line from conservative to liberal – each will quote "pursuit of happiness" – but who gets to define happiness? Both sides feel their happiness must deny the other side their own. Right wings believe the left has a hidden agenda that is pushing everything from gay marriage to bestiality. Liberals feel the right is trying to flood the country with propaganda about the country's history and starve the poor so they will just die off. Both views seem so extreme and yet in some ways we are forced to take a side because of a few glimmers of commonality we feel with a particular group.
I find it exhausting.    
Will there ever be a person that will be able to bring these sides together? To show that diversity in our country goes beyond color of skin, who and how we worship, and the amount of zeros you may see on your paycheck?
I'm not sure of the answer. I want us to be able to have different beliefs and not live in a Stepford Village-type country; but I also want the noise of blame, the pissing contests, and the intolerance to cease. 

Connecting with Readers

          The moment I found goodreads.com, it was as if I had stumbled upon some giant book club and suddenly I was a card-carrying-member - like Costco for readers or Oprah's book club blown up on internet steroids. Finding like minds (or unlike in some cases) of which you can share reviews, recommend a book, or discuss your thoughts on a particular author or story can be such a rarity in the vast world of the internet. But here is a place different from other social media sites because we all share a common love of the written word. 
          Authors can directly connect with their readers and even host discussions or book giveaways or a variety of other events. Readers can give honest opinions on something they read and link to people who enjoy those same unique stories where the heroine is a cross-stitching, bungee-jumping, collector of antique teacups and civil war memorabilia (or whatever type of protagonist you enjoy reading about). 
          Seeing as how much I love to read, I'm so glad I found this place - almost a year ago (my goodreads anniversary is in September). As I was getting ready for work this morning, I looked at the bookshelf of all the books I've read that I never entered onto goodreads. I know I need to spend some time and update my "read" virtual shelf with those that hold a place on the real shelf in my home. 
           That way, my new online-reading buddies can share their thoughts on my eclectic mix of escapism. And I really love that disappearing act into an author's made-up world.  

Preview a Novel

There is something sort of exciting when an author friend of mine passes a manuscript my way to get some feedback on what they have done before other eyes get a chance to read it. I love being 'in on it' (so to speak). A book's journey to publication is a very long road as it makes its way past all the edits, design and layout and into the hands of reviewers prior to a release date.


Well I'm allowing my Facebook friends to be among those that will get a copy of Well With My Soul before it is released. All the information is on a note on my Facebook page - but let's just say it has a little something to do with writing up a review of the book I currently have out in eBook and then you'll be entered into a random drawing being done on August 15th. Time is ticking - so head over and LIKE my Facebook page, pick up the .99 cent copy of Proud Pants, and check out the full set of rules here. Gregory Allen Facebook Author Page 

Life as Art

It is amazing how real life can translate into a work of art. I don't only mean non-fiction books and movies such as memoirs and biographies (The Blind Side, Milk, Marley and Me), but how seasoned authors and filmmakers can take a real life event and tell a story. When Albert and David Maysles decided to create a documentary on the Bouvier family in the seventies, they had no idea what they would be getting with the mother/daughter team of Edith Bouvier Beale. (Big Edie and Little Edie) The documentary of the reclusive pair living in a dilapidated house called Grey Gardens in the Hamptons became a cult classic and both a musical and HBO film were made just the past five years. I got to catch the final performance Sunday of a production of the musical and really loved how the creative team took this true-life story and created an arc of a story (that was different from the one created in the movie). My heart ached for the woman who never left her mother's house for all of those years and I marveled how this tale could bring audiences to tears. 

I suppose that is what affects us when reading a good novel. It is those fictitious characters in books (or movies) that are so well drawn out or portrayed that can move an audience as well. Good writing - creation of art - is really on point for me when they can move you and cause you to feel something. Either as true-life dramas or characters pulled from the head of an author like another favorite of mine: Owen Meany. That character was so layered, so intriguing - that I felt for him through the entire story.
Many times writers will take an event that happened and then "loosely base" a fiction work around that event. (The Virgin Suicides, In the Country of Men, Room)  
So I suppose the saying is true that at times life is stranger than fiction. If it weren't - why would so many artists be drawn to these events to tell their stories?

The Book is Published...And?

Authors wait forever to get their books out there for others to read. After so much blood sweat and tears have poured into a project, they have to switch gears and put on a marketing hat. No matter how many authors I speak with (from those that have a big NY publisher to those doing it on their own), each say it's up to the author to do their promoting. We may think "my book is on Amazon, shouldn't people be reading it?" But it doesn't work that way. That book is up there along side thousands of others, all vying for the attention of readers. What sets you apart? Why should people read the book?
If you are not a famous author with a following and a huge marketing budget, you must rely on word of mouth from friends and strangers to help tell about your book. (And in my first week out of the gate - my friends have been amazing.) And how do you get yourself out there to those strangers? Social networking. So much time can be spent on twitter, facebook, linkedIn, goodreads.com - all places to connect to others and just perhaps one of them will click on that link that takes them to your book.
Reviews are very important. Getting those that read your book to post a review on review websites such as Amazon, BN, Goodreads is so key to getting the word out. Many readers will scroll through to see what someone is saying before making a purchase - especially with an unknown author. Also working the internet for bloggers/reviewers/ interviews is such an important way to get your name/book out to people that do not know you. (And what author does not want to be introduced to new readers?)
I know the next few months will be busy as my current novelette being out leads up to the release of my novel Well With My Soul in October, so attempting to get blog tours, readings, signings all set for fall takes much planning as well. But all of it is exciting! 
One thing I recommend to authors is to not check those Amazon rankings as God only knows what algorithm they use to come up with that (but if I were an honest Abe - I'd have to admit my internet browser seems to find its way over there to check it out). Perhaps I'll slow down on my need to know how my book is selling...perhaps.