Uvi Poznansky's Blog, page 228

Wonderful questions from authors-to-be

This is like no other interview I have done before, because the questions come from students, led by the marvelous Russian-inspired author Julia Gousseva. 

Having discussed my work in class, they came up with great observations, and posed these questions to me. You can see for yourself that their questions are truly thought-provoking. Their interest in the creative process tells you a lot about them!

Check out the interview:
A Chat with Uvi Poznansky 

Julia and her students

Julia Gousseva is the author of Moscow Dreams and other books, inspired by Russian culture and history. She is also a great teacher, always on the search of finding new ways to engage the minds of her students. I am so blessed that she chose excerpts from my books, and put them before her students. She gave them the following assignment:
Read the remaining materials posted under "Ideas and Story Plots" in Web Links. Then, follow the link below to read three short openings to three different stories by Uvi Poznansky. After you have done all your readings, return here and do the following three things:From each of the three excerpts by Uvi Poznansky. quote *brief* phrases or specific sentences that show the desire/yearning/longing of the main character. Explain *how* those sentences/phrases set plot into motion.Respond to at least one other student.Come up with 2-3 questions to ask Uvi Poznansky about her writing, her books, the way she comes with plots, etc. After I grade your discussions, I'll choose the most popular and/or the most interesting questions and ask Uvi to answer them on my website.Student responses:"There is a vibrant longing..." When one gets a physical feeling it usually produces movement or shut down, but Poznansky used the word vibrant, and I imagine a shift in the character." Finally decided to walk through the door..." This character is ready to face the unknown, her fears by walking through the door."Something has been taken from me." That feeling or situation would evoke action in most people - to get it back,retribution, etc.“He has lived, or rather, has confined himself within these walls for decades, for a reason unknown.” This sentence sets the plot into motion because it really opens up the readers mind to picture what the character has developed his life to, or actually decreased is life to. In just one sentence it says that he has “confined himself” and that in itself means that there are barriers that have been put up for whatever reason and that maybe the character is going to be facing some serious challenges.“Her longing for him.” When I read this short line it immediately made me think of a desperate girl waiting for what she thinks is her night and shining armor. This plot could be set up as a girl is waiting for a guy that maybe doesn’t even know that she exists to just give her a chance and see that she is just right for him.“My name? Identity? Who am I, then?” I think that this is a common couple of questions that not just characters, but people run into as well. This plot could be that the character is being tested on something and the outcome makes him question who he is and what he stands for.From Home by Uvi Poznansky:  " There is a vibrant longing in him for the adventures of his early days."  I believe this is the most important part of the paragraph because it not only gives you some insight on his current situation of his life but also the focal point of his story. The things he did while he was young is what what drove hime to be reclusive yet he wants to relive those days.From Twisted by Uvi Poznansky:  "Her longing for him." Although the shortest sentence in the paragraph I think it is the most important because early in the text it describes all of her journal entries falling out and fluttering everywhere and every single one of them deals with some unknown male. The importance lying in the fact that every thing mentioned so far by this protaganist is directly connected with him.From Twisted Uvi Poznansky:  "Lying still in a corner of the cave, I try my best not to rattle, not to betray my fear. I figure, as long as they think me unconscious, I am safe." I think this is important because it gives you some detail about the current predicament the protaginist is in. It lets you know that she is afraid to even move or speak, something at least to me seems like important information.From Home by Uvi Poznansky "He has lived, or rather, has confined himself within these walls for decades, for a reason unknown." I believe that this sentence sets the plot because it makes the reader question who the character is. I would want to know what his personality is and how his social life is. Based on this sentence I would think that he is a very independent, quiet person. Although, I would have to keep reading to find out.From Twisted by Uvi Poznansky "She closed the book, placed it on the table, and finally decided to walk through the door." I believe that this sentence sets the plot because it allows the reader to believe that the character may be on her way to a new adventure. Based on this sentence, I would believe that the character is a spontaneous girl and wants to live her life.From Twisted by Uvi Poznansky "At this moment I find myself overwhelmed, turned inside out by a sense of suspicion." I believe that this sentence sets the plot as well because some readers may relate to the position that the character is in right now. Everyone has had that feeling of being overwhelmed depending on the situation depends on how overwhelmed you are.“In this stagnant place all sounds are muffled, all images erased—but for one thing: his youth. There is a vibrant longing in him for the adventures of his early days.” These two sentences show that the main character, an older man, is yearning for the “adventures of his early days.” Poznansky sets the plot into motion by introducing what the main character wants right away. Her main character has confined himself in a room for decades, with only his thoughts of his youth to keep him company. Deep down, he wishes he could relive, or live adventures similar to the ones he had when he was a younger man. To me, this says that the plot may be flashbacks or one long flashback about this old man’s adventurous past.”…releasing letter after letter into the air, filling its darkness with white feathery pages, rustling, whispering what she had written such a long time ago, what had been clamped—until now—between the front and back covers, as if it were a flower meant for drying. Her longing for him.” Poznansky’s main character in these sentences has loved a man in the past. We know this (if my assumptions are correct) because of the description of her diary (the gold-lettered word, love, on the spine) and because of the sentence, “Her longing for him.” In the sentences above, the main character is imagining what would happen if she dropped her diary down an empty elevator shaft. It would open, and what she had written so long ago would be released. Not just the physical pages and words, but her feelings as well. She had closed them off when she shut her diary, but she had not completely gotten rid of her feelings. She had preserved them, as a flower is preserved when it is dried. Maybe she knows that if she opens the diary, her longing for this man will return.“I figure, as long as they think me unconscious, I am safe. I have jolted awake because of the voices, only to discover they are incoherent and muffled. In between the gusts of wind, I can hear them hissing. Each phrase plays out in some verbose foreign music, which I cannot decipher for the life of me…Something has been taken away from me…Who am I, then?” This main character has many desires: to be safe, to know who “the voices” are and what they are saying, to know what has been taken away from him/her, and to know who he/she is. This sets up the plot by providing questions to be answered, and putting the reader in the middle of the action/story.Questions from the students:
What inspires you to write? Where do you get your creative ideas from? What do you like to read?When did you realize you wanted to become a writer?How do you come up with your opening lines?What comes first to you, the character or the setting?What point of view do you prefer to write your stories in and why?How and when do you decide when your writings are complete?How do you market your stories?

I will answer these wonderful questions in my next post!

Want to know if you won? Come to the Grand Finale!

Starting tomorrow, Elaine Raco Chase, Stephanie Queen, James DiBenedetto, David Kudler, Mary Campisi, Author Ruth Cardello, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Becky L Barker, Charity Parkerson, Barbara Silkstone and Sherri Christian  will tell you about each one of the audiobooks we are offering for you to win. 

Have you joined us? If so, your raffle ticket is already in the big black hat… Interested in a particular audiobook? Tell us! Like it or leave a comment, so we’ll add an additional raffle ticket for you! 

Come to the Grand Finale, Sunday 11/17 at 3:00 PST! We will pull the winning tickets out of the hat, and announce them! 

 

I wish I could stay here forever

Yet for some reason, glancing around me, I commit to memory every aspect of this scene, every detail: The vivid pattern of the rug, spread across the dirt floor. The embroidered silk pillows, leaning against the woven headrest. The little blemish, barely visible in the corner of the blanket. The silver thread coming apart, at one point, at the bottom of the canvas. The jug of water, half hidden behind the curved leg of the bed.I can hear little noises: The occasional cry of a newborn baby, searching blindly for his mother’s breast. The light snores of the maidservants, some of whom are just starting to wake up, only to fall asleep again. The yawns of the shepherd boys, stretching their limbs lazily under the sheepskins in the neighboring tents. The unrest of the sheep, the lambs, the kids, the goats, all eager to go out there, to graze in the sun-flooded fields.  Meanwhile the needle flies back and forth, forth and back, over my shoulder, catching the light in its path. I am transfixed. I wish I could stay here forever. This place is so full of charms. This hour is so intimate; so sweet, and it is fast coming to its bitter conclusion. 
Yankle, in A Favorite Son 


This is my clay sculpture called Yawn
★★★★★"I can't praise the writing enough; the author has an incredible voice"Treat yourself to a giftA Favorite Son★ Audiobook ★ Ebook ★ Print ★

To kill a dragon

Still seething with disappointment over losing Merav, I go on to moan, “He hates me, and so does Michelle! For her, any price is too much, but what her father demands of me is simply ridiculous.”“Let me guess,” Joav narrows his eyes.”Are you to hunt a lion and tear it apart with your bare hands?”“No—”“Drag a leviathan to shore and cut open its belly?”“No—”“Slay a dragon?”“I wish!”“What, then?” Joav asks, but by the sly smile hiding under his mustache I suspect he already knows the answer.“You playing with me?” I say. “I am to come up with a hundred Philistine foreskins.”“Ha! Is that what a princess goes for these days?” I answer by asking, “Can you believe it?”Out of nowhere he pulls up a third knife, and without missing a beat throws it up. “Question is, how hard can it be to get it?”I shrug. “At the time I still entertained the hope of reaching out to the enemy, obtaining what I need by diplomatic means.”“Ha!” He catches the other two knives behind his back. “That doesn’t sound like fun to me, not at all.”“I tried, really, I tried to talk sense to those infidels.”“Let me guess: you told them all about the joys of converting to our faith.”“How did you know?”“Then you overstated the medical benefits of circumcision, and understated the pain.”“I did.”“No takers, ha?”“None. Naturally I had no choice but to resort to military means.”“By which you mean, slaughter.”“Yes.”Joav aims a knife at a target carved in the bark of the olive tree. “I hope,” he shoots, “that the princess would love you for it.”“She wouldn’t.”“Forgive me for saying so, but her father is entitled to drive a stiff bargain, especially when he’s dealing with a commoner like you.”I must admit, “Stiff it is.”  
From my upcoming book, The David Chronicles, Vol. I



This is a quick paper cutout of a dragon, which I made yesterday, and let loose in my library... Who knows how high it will soar!

Interested in biblically-inspired books?
Check these out:

A Favorite Son
★ Audiobook ★ Ebook ★ Print ★
Twisted
★ Audiobook ★ Ebook ★ Print ★

Seeing my home through a fish eye

When my father passed away, I went back home for the traditional Shiva-a, the seven days period of mourning. Perhaps the grief did something to change the way I viewed things, or else it was sitting in that space--my childhood home--in a spot I rarely sat before, discovering it from a new angle, observing how light penetrated the far reaches of this place, how the furniture signified relationships in the family. I drew what I saw on a napkin; wiped my tears with it, and later discarded it.


Coming back to the states, I recreated that sketch from memory. In my new drawing I used a fish-eye perspective. What does that mean? Like regular perspective, the horizontal lines converge into a vantage point in the distance. But here is the difference: the vertical lines are not straight, nor are they parallel. As you look up, vertical lines converge to a point up there, beyond the edge of the paper. You can call it Heaven. And as you look down, the vertical lines converge to a point below, call it Hell. Which makes the entire perspective embrace you, as if you are in the middle of a fish bowl, seeing the world curve around you.
And looking though such a perspective, what did I see? An earthquake, really, in the aftermath of my father's death. Books falling off the shelves; the lamp swinging like a pendulum; the little side table (in the front) overturned, so my father will never lay his pen upon it; and instead of the persian rugs that used to adorn this space once upon a time, I floated blank pages on the floor; pages he will never again use for writing.

In my next sketch I let the lamp swing even higher into the air. The place has completely tilted, and my father's armchair is ascending above the rest of the furniture. This is the sketch I used for an oil painting called My Father's Armchair, which later became the cover of my new book, coming out now: Home.

"HOME is an homage... poetry that's never been placed before the public until now"
Inspired by poetry? Download this profoundly moving, highly praised book

Never listened to audiobooks before? It's easier than you think!

Love the idea of listening to a story? My author friends and I hope you win one of our audiobooks! Now, if you have never listened to audiobooks before, perhaps you find yourself wondering, hmmm... What device do I need? As it turns out, you already have it:
You can listen to audiobooks on any device that is compatible with the mp3 audio format, including: Sony Walkman, Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod; mp3 players by Sony, Archos, Coby, Creative, SanDisk and many more; Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone 7 smartphones and tablets. Here's a good article about the use of your Smartphone for listening: How to Listen to Audio Books on Your Smartphone with AudibleYou can listen to audiobooks on your computer, using iTunes, Windows Media Player, or any other program that plays mp3 files.You can listen to audiobooks on your e-reader. Both the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook can play mp3 files. Here are two good articles about the use of e-readers for listening: How to Listen to Audiobooks on an Amazon Kindle or a Barnes and Noble Nook, and Listening to Audio Books on Kindle 1st Generation.If you spend a lot of time driving on long trips, or even sitting around the fireplace, you can imagine what a great companion audiobooks can be to spin away the hours. Great narrators make books come alive. Being so close to you, breathing words into your ear, they make the experience both intimate and heightened, with every nuance in the story becoming fully expressed.



Have you joined our Raffle?No? What are you waiting for?


If you win, the author will give you a FREE promo code with the following instructions: 
Visit http://www.audible.com/at/redeem Enter the download code into the "Redeem Your Promotional Code" field and click "Redeem". If you’re not an Audible customer you’ll need to create a new Audible.com account. Don’t worry, you can use your Amazon account to do this.Follow the instructions. You’ll have 1 credit applied to your account.Go to the listing of the audiobook you wonAdd it to your cart. When you check out you’ll see an option to apply the free credit.Audible will gladly help you--24 hours a day, 7 days a week--to download the audiobook to your preferred device. It is quick and painless... Here is their help line: 1-888-283-5051 (US & Canada) or 1-973-820-0400 (international.)

One word to define her: "Wordsmith

John A. Miller is the author of Author of Gladstone, You’ll be Sorry! and Friends and Strangers. He is also a truck driver, which makes his point of view a unique one. I am thrilled that he posted this review, having listened to the audio edition of Twisted:

5.0 out of 5 stars More deep thoughts and storys., November 6, 2013By John A. miller (tennessee,usa) - See all my reviewsThis review is from: Twisted [LegacyTitleID: 46274513] Once again I had the pleasure of listening to another audible book by Uvi Poznansky. This time I enjoyed "Twisted" on CD. The one word to define Uvi would be "Wordsmith." The way she uses verses in her books are remarkable. The accounts to detail and the way she expresses to the reader or in this case the listener is works of art. My favorite again from "Twisted" was called "The one who wouldn't leave." I won't tell you what it's about, but trust me it was a good story and I enjoyed every minute of it. So, In closing I must say that I recommend this book if you want to sit back and enjoy some of her deep thoughts again and I did find some slight humor there also. I give it 5 stars and looking forward to more of her work in the future. One final note, the narrator on the audio book was terrific. I enjoyed Heather Jane Hogan doing the different voices to the character's and her voice was a pleasure to listen to

Let me introduce you to my author friends

My author friends have joined forces with me!We bring you amazing stories, narrated by great voice actors. Click the profile image of each one of us to learn about our work
Then join the Raffle to win!

Elaine Raco Chase
Uvi Poznansky
Stephanie Queen
James DiBenedetto
David Kudler
Marie Campisi
Sheryl Lynn Christian
Charity Parkerson
Becky Barker
Libby Fischer Hellmann
Ruth Cardello

Raffle Extravaganza!!! Win Your Audiobook!

Dont miss this opportunity!

Click this link to join:
Win!!! Raffle Extravaganza

Here's your chance to win! A select group of authors have joined forces with me, to bring you amazing stories, narrated by great voice actors. Take a listen to voice clips from the audiobooks, and join for a chance to win one of them!
Elaine Raco Chase Dare the DevilLady Be Bad
Video VixenOne Way or Another Uvi Poznansky A Favorite SonTwisted
Apart from LoveHome Stephanie Queen The Hot Shots: Scotland Yard Exchange Program, Book 2The Throwbacks: The Scotland Yard Exchange Program J. J. DiBenedetto Dream StudentDream Doctor David Kudler A Man and His God: A Sacred Band TaleLong Gone Daddies Mary Campisi Paradise Found: That Second Chance, Book 4Pulling Home Ruth Cardello Maid for the Billionaire: Book 1 of the Legacy Collection
Libby Fischer Hellmann Set the Night on FireAn Eye for Murder: An Ellie Foreman Mystery
A Bitter VeilHavana Lost Becky Barker Sassy LadyChey's Cowboy Charity Parkerson Wicked Sinners: The Sinners, Book 2The Society of Sinners, Volume 2 Sheryl Lynn Christian Twelve Steps to Inner Peace: With Empowering Spiritual Tools