Elgon Williams's Blog, page 36
April 4, 2014
Multi-Talented Artist, Alisse Lee Goldenberg
Recently I had the chance to ask Alisse Lee Goldenberg some questions about her writing, acting and painting. Alisse is an author of Horror and Young Adult fantasy fiction. Her book Sitnalta (that’s Atlantis spelled backwards) was published last fall through Pandamoon Publishing. She has her Bachelors of Education and a Fine Arts degree, and has studied fantasy and folklore since she was a child. Alisse lives in Toronto with her husband Brian, their triplets Joseph, Phillip, and Hailey, and their rambunctious Goldendoodle Sebastian.
Q: Imagine for a moment that you’re a famous, bestselling author. They’re making a movie out of your last book. What do you do next to top what you’re already achieved?
A: First of all, that would be awesome! As for what I’d do next, I don’t know anything could top that! But I’d definitely keep writing and at the very least try to match it. Maybe write a screenplay?
Q: Creative people tend to be spontaneous. In particular, most people think that writers are at least a little crazy. Tell us the most unusual thing you have done in your real life that doesn’t directly relate to writing.
A: It’s a little hard to choose! If I were looking for the most adventurous thing, that would be cliff jumping. That entails literally jumping off a cliff into a body of water. I would say that the most unusual thing I’ve done had to have been when I was asked to play the role of Jack in a production of Into the Woods. I don’t think many women have ever gotten that opportunity. The costume was uncomfortable for many reasons (mainly to do with breathing!)
Q: Creativity comes in many ways – for example, painting, photography, sculpture, music and theater. What other things do you do or have you done that are examples of using your imagination or other artistic talents?
A: I do quite a bit of painting, mostly in acrylics, and I act on stage and on screen. I actually find that the acting helps my writing in that it allows me to get into the skin of other characters, and I get to meet so many fantastic people! As for my painting, I wish I had more time for it, but right now, the writing and my family takes up more of my time.
Q: Family and relationships are important in peoples’ lives and so, it is little surprise that there are relationships between characters in books. How closely do the interactions in your books mirror your real life?
A: Considering that there are a few dysfunctional families in my books, I hope not a lot! However, there are also some amazing and powerful friendships, and those are definitely reflective of the wonderful support groups I have around me.
Q: When writing I’m sure you hit snags where characters aren’t behaving or the plot just isn’t working. When that happens to me I play video solitaire. What do you do?
A: It happens quite a bit! And for a plotter like myself, I find it especially irksome. When that happens to me, I pour myself a glass of wine, complain to anyone I can get a hold of, and watch The Avengers pretending that the Hulk is smashing the characters that have gone on a tangent.
Q: There is a point in every professional writer’s life when it stops being a hobby and starts being a vocation. When did that happen for you and why did you choose to pursue this career?
A: I think it’s always been a vocation. I’ve wanted to do this since the day I learned the squiggles in my books were words and told stories. I feel that I’d be doing this even if I didn’t make a single cent from my stories. My head and my heart are full of them, and I need to put them out into the world. I just hope people like to read them!
Alisse Lee Goldenberg in print:
The Strings of the Violin is a fantasy adventure interweaving Eastern European folklore with modern characters.
Seventeen-year-old Carrie is lying in her backyard ignoring all the looming responsibilities in her life, when a fox makes a mad dash across the grass in front of her. After she manages to keep her dog from attacking the frightened animal, the fox turns to Carrie and seems to bow in gratitude before he disappears into the bushes. All Carrie knows in that moment is that something has unexpectedly changed in her life.
Carrie has been best friends with Lindsay Smith and Rebecca Campbell for years. During a summer when they should focus on choosing colleges, the girls suddenly find themselves swept away on the adventure of their lives. The fox reappears three days later and reveals to Carrie that he is Adom, emissary to the king of Hadariah. With his land of music and magic in peril, Adom has been sent to seek help from Carrie and her friends. In the blink of an eye, the three teenage girls go from living an average suburban life to being the champions of a world where they must contend with giants, witches, and magical beings. Will they ever make it home once more?
Sitnalta: Everyone in the land loves Princess Sitnalta of Colonodona. Everyone except her father, the monstrous King Supmylo, whose thirst for revenge and hideous cravings, have nearly destroyed the once peaceful kingdom. He cares only for power—the more the better—and he despises Sitnalta because she wasn’t born a boy. He wanted an heir, a prince, to grow his kingdom and fulfill his own father’s legacy. But now, his only choice is to join with a neighboring kingdom, and at the tender age of 15, Sitnalta is to be married to another king who is at least as old as her own father.
But Sitnalta has other ideas. Before her father can come for her, she sneaks out of her bedroom window, scales the castle walls, and enters the magical forest that surrounds her kingdom. There she meets Najort, a kind-hearted troll, who was tasked by a wizard decades earlier to protect a valuable secret—with his life, if necessary.
But King Supmylo has vowed that nothing will stop him from returning his daughter to Colonodona, and forcing her to go through with the royal wedding. With the help of friends from both kingdoms, Sitnalta and Najort flee ahead of the rabid king. For if they are captured, Supmylo will become so invincible, no one could stand against him.
Bath Salts: The time is now, and a mysterious virus has infected much of the world's population, turning them into flesh-craving zombies. As people die from what the media call "drug-fuelled Bath Salts attacks" one young mother sees what is truly happening beneath the lies, and with her good friends An and Olivia, takes matters into her own hands to keep her family safe.
Day by day, Bath Salts tells of their escape to the arctic tundra, and their desperate attempt to survive the elements, zombie attacks, and armed bandits with their humanity intact.
Visit Alisse on the web at www.alisseleegoldenberg.com
Q: Imagine for a moment that you’re a famous, bestselling author. They’re making a movie out of your last book. What do you do next to top what you’re already achieved?
A: First of all, that would be awesome! As for what I’d do next, I don’t know anything could top that! But I’d definitely keep writing and at the very least try to match it. Maybe write a screenplay?
Q: Creative people tend to be spontaneous. In particular, most people think that writers are at least a little crazy. Tell us the most unusual thing you have done in your real life that doesn’t directly relate to writing.
A: It’s a little hard to choose! If I were looking for the most adventurous thing, that would be cliff jumping. That entails literally jumping off a cliff into a body of water. I would say that the most unusual thing I’ve done had to have been when I was asked to play the role of Jack in a production of Into the Woods. I don’t think many women have ever gotten that opportunity. The costume was uncomfortable for many reasons (mainly to do with breathing!)
Q: Creativity comes in many ways – for example, painting, photography, sculpture, music and theater. What other things do you do or have you done that are examples of using your imagination or other artistic talents?
A: I do quite a bit of painting, mostly in acrylics, and I act on stage and on screen. I actually find that the acting helps my writing in that it allows me to get into the skin of other characters, and I get to meet so many fantastic people! As for my painting, I wish I had more time for it, but right now, the writing and my family takes up more of my time.
Q: Family and relationships are important in peoples’ lives and so, it is little surprise that there are relationships between characters in books. How closely do the interactions in your books mirror your real life?
A: Considering that there are a few dysfunctional families in my books, I hope not a lot! However, there are also some amazing and powerful friendships, and those are definitely reflective of the wonderful support groups I have around me.
Q: When writing I’m sure you hit snags where characters aren’t behaving or the plot just isn’t working. When that happens to me I play video solitaire. What do you do?
A: It happens quite a bit! And for a plotter like myself, I find it especially irksome. When that happens to me, I pour myself a glass of wine, complain to anyone I can get a hold of, and watch The Avengers pretending that the Hulk is smashing the characters that have gone on a tangent.
Q: There is a point in every professional writer’s life when it stops being a hobby and starts being a vocation. When did that happen for you and why did you choose to pursue this career?
A: I think it’s always been a vocation. I’ve wanted to do this since the day I learned the squiggles in my books were words and told stories. I feel that I’d be doing this even if I didn’t make a single cent from my stories. My head and my heart are full of them, and I need to put them out into the world. I just hope people like to read them!
Alisse Lee Goldenberg in print:
The Strings of the Violin is a fantasy adventure interweaving Eastern European folklore with modern characters.
Seventeen-year-old Carrie is lying in her backyard ignoring all the looming responsibilities in her life, when a fox makes a mad dash across the grass in front of her. After she manages to keep her dog from attacking the frightened animal, the fox turns to Carrie and seems to bow in gratitude before he disappears into the bushes. All Carrie knows in that moment is that something has unexpectedly changed in her life.
Carrie has been best friends with Lindsay Smith and Rebecca Campbell for years. During a summer when they should focus on choosing colleges, the girls suddenly find themselves swept away on the adventure of their lives. The fox reappears three days later and reveals to Carrie that he is Adom, emissary to the king of Hadariah. With his land of music and magic in peril, Adom has been sent to seek help from Carrie and her friends. In the blink of an eye, the three teenage girls go from living an average suburban life to being the champions of a world where they must contend with giants, witches, and magical beings. Will they ever make it home once more?
Sitnalta: Everyone in the land loves Princess Sitnalta of Colonodona. Everyone except her father, the monstrous King Supmylo, whose thirst for revenge and hideous cravings, have nearly destroyed the once peaceful kingdom. He cares only for power—the more the better—and he despises Sitnalta because she wasn’t born a boy. He wanted an heir, a prince, to grow his kingdom and fulfill his own father’s legacy. But now, his only choice is to join with a neighboring kingdom, and at the tender age of 15, Sitnalta is to be married to another king who is at least as old as her own father.
But Sitnalta has other ideas. Before her father can come for her, she sneaks out of her bedroom window, scales the castle walls, and enters the magical forest that surrounds her kingdom. There she meets Najort, a kind-hearted troll, who was tasked by a wizard decades earlier to protect a valuable secret—with his life, if necessary.
But King Supmylo has vowed that nothing will stop him from returning his daughter to Colonodona, and forcing her to go through with the royal wedding. With the help of friends from both kingdoms, Sitnalta and Najort flee ahead of the rabid king. For if they are captured, Supmylo will become so invincible, no one could stand against him.
Bath Salts: The time is now, and a mysterious virus has infected much of the world's population, turning them into flesh-craving zombies. As people die from what the media call "drug-fuelled Bath Salts attacks" one young mother sees what is truly happening beneath the lies, and with her good friends An and Olivia, takes matters into her own hands to keep her family safe.
Day by day, Bath Salts tells of their escape to the arctic tundra, and their desperate attempt to survive the elements, zombie attacks, and armed bandits with their humanity intact.
Visit Alisse on the web at www.alisseleegoldenberg.com
Am I An Expert At Anything? You Decide
Having been around for over half a century, somewhere along the line, I probably gained some insight and knowledge. I'm not comfortable calling what I know expertise, but most of the things I know, I seem to know pretty well. The reason I'm mentioning this is that I asked other authors I represent as a publicist to send me a list of things like hobbies, interests, causes, charities and such. This morning I am compiling my own list. I call it 'Things I Know':
Computers. Can build them and usually I can figure out what's wrong with them when they don't work. I'm a technician. I use Mac OS now but I was an expert on Windows up into Windows 7 - mainly from having to fix things when they went haywire with my computer or those I had built for my kids. Also have used some flavors of Linux. I used to rep for several computer hardware and software vendors and did training for sales people and computer user groups. Expert? Yeah, close enough.
Gardening. I love plants, especially trees. I'm also good with flowers, too - except for orchids. Orchids tend to die soon after they are exposed to me. Some people are allergic to plants, well orchids are allergic to me just glad it's not the other way around. I love how they look, but, if I touch them it means certain death for them. Sorry.
I managed the garden center of a major home improvements retailer for a number of years. Seasonalities in both Florida and Connecticut, where I worked, is what I know best. With tropical plants I probably know about as much as anyone and I got to the point where I didn't consider perennials weeds, although many do resemble weeds, don't they? Lawn and garden chemicals as well as fertilizers were my forte and since I grew up on a farm I know agricultural crops. Expert? Pretty darned close.
Home Improvements. While I worked for that aforementioned major home improvements retailer, I managed every department and, so, I have more than working knowledge with every aspect of home improvement from electrical, plumbing, paint, hardware, millwork, lumber, flooring and wall covering. I've hung ceiling fans, installed lights, switches and outlets. I've installed sprinkler systems and outdoor lighting. Replacing garbage disposals, replacing the guts of a toilet and designed a deck are also on my list of accomplishments. When I was a kid I helped my dad's cousins build our house. Granted most of what I did was banging nails with a hammer - fortunately most often it was the right nail and not the one on my thumb. Expert? Let's say that I am, and just forget what my ex might have to say about some of the home repairs that were learning experiences for every one involved.
Chinese language, culture and pretty much anything Asian. I know more about Asia as anyone born in the US who is not of Asian descent. I lived in Korea for a couple of years, my ex is Korean. I'm beyond competent in the proper use of chopsticks. Chinese Mandarin was something I studied in California and I can still get by speaking it, though I have an accent and probably my command of it is that of a six-year-old. Asian language and culture are something that fascinates me and I respect the people I have known and met over the course of my life. Having said that, Americans, especially our politicians, are pretty naive about Asians in our foreign policy. Also Asians consider Americans weak negotiators because we like to horse-trade, the give and take process. Asians bargain in an entirely different way. Am I an expert? Yeah, I'm close enough for government work.
Another thing I'm kind of expert on is maybe the only thing other than writing, my family and animals (not necessarily in that order) that I am truly passionate about is veteran affairs. I served. If you didn't don't tell me you know because, well, you just don't. And those who served in times or places where there was no shooting going on around them, they don't really know everything either. The country owes a tremendous debt to those who served, and those whose loved ones served and are now disabled or deceased as a result of their sacrifices. There is a contract between those who serve and those who asked them to serve. If our government doesn't intend to honor that contract then, I have a solution. It's pretty simple. Don't go to war. There, problem solved. But for those of us who did serve, that debt is still owed. It isn't being paid all that well. Don't throw about veteran's applications of benefits just because the system is overloaded and under budget. Personally I doubt anything about our government is ever under budget and if it is then it's because the money that was allocated for veteran affairs has been stolen to fund some other 'priorty' project intended to get someone re-elected. My advice to the government is don't renege on your promises to the veterans. They paid the price and now so should you.
There are a number of other things I have learned about and probably have some level of expertise. I like history and so I know a lot of things that happened in the past. I seem to have this uncanny knack for remembering the odes facts. that come in handy when one writes. I have degrees in marketing and mass communication. But am I an expert? I know as much as the next so call expert on subjects that change almost by the hour.
I'll end this as yet incomplete list with a line from one of my books that has yet to be published. I think it kind of sums up the whole issue of being an expert pretty well. "The difference between a sage and a fool is often a matter of having proper credentials."
Computers. Can build them and usually I can figure out what's wrong with them when they don't work. I'm a technician. I use Mac OS now but I was an expert on Windows up into Windows 7 - mainly from having to fix things when they went haywire with my computer or those I had built for my kids. Also have used some flavors of Linux. I used to rep for several computer hardware and software vendors and did training for sales people and computer user groups. Expert? Yeah, close enough.
Gardening. I love plants, especially trees. I'm also good with flowers, too - except for orchids. Orchids tend to die soon after they are exposed to me. Some people are allergic to plants, well orchids are allergic to me just glad it's not the other way around. I love how they look, but, if I touch them it means certain death for them. Sorry.
I managed the garden center of a major home improvements retailer for a number of years. Seasonalities in both Florida and Connecticut, where I worked, is what I know best. With tropical plants I probably know about as much as anyone and I got to the point where I didn't consider perennials weeds, although many do resemble weeds, don't they? Lawn and garden chemicals as well as fertilizers were my forte and since I grew up on a farm I know agricultural crops. Expert? Pretty darned close.
Home Improvements. While I worked for that aforementioned major home improvements retailer, I managed every department and, so, I have more than working knowledge with every aspect of home improvement from electrical, plumbing, paint, hardware, millwork, lumber, flooring and wall covering. I've hung ceiling fans, installed lights, switches and outlets. I've installed sprinkler systems and outdoor lighting. Replacing garbage disposals, replacing the guts of a toilet and designed a deck are also on my list of accomplishments. When I was a kid I helped my dad's cousins build our house. Granted most of what I did was banging nails with a hammer - fortunately most often it was the right nail and not the one on my thumb. Expert? Let's say that I am, and just forget what my ex might have to say about some of the home repairs that were learning experiences for every one involved.
Chinese language, culture and pretty much anything Asian. I know more about Asia as anyone born in the US who is not of Asian descent. I lived in Korea for a couple of years, my ex is Korean. I'm beyond competent in the proper use of chopsticks. Chinese Mandarin was something I studied in California and I can still get by speaking it, though I have an accent and probably my command of it is that of a six-year-old. Asian language and culture are something that fascinates me and I respect the people I have known and met over the course of my life. Having said that, Americans, especially our politicians, are pretty naive about Asians in our foreign policy. Also Asians consider Americans weak negotiators because we like to horse-trade, the give and take process. Asians bargain in an entirely different way. Am I an expert? Yeah, I'm close enough for government work.
Another thing I'm kind of expert on is maybe the only thing other than writing, my family and animals (not necessarily in that order) that I am truly passionate about is veteran affairs. I served. If you didn't don't tell me you know because, well, you just don't. And those who served in times or places where there was no shooting going on around them, they don't really know everything either. The country owes a tremendous debt to those who served, and those whose loved ones served and are now disabled or deceased as a result of their sacrifices. There is a contract between those who serve and those who asked them to serve. If our government doesn't intend to honor that contract then, I have a solution. It's pretty simple. Don't go to war. There, problem solved. But for those of us who did serve, that debt is still owed. It isn't being paid all that well. Don't throw about veteran's applications of benefits just because the system is overloaded and under budget. Personally I doubt anything about our government is ever under budget and if it is then it's because the money that was allocated for veteran affairs has been stolen to fund some other 'priorty' project intended to get someone re-elected. My advice to the government is don't renege on your promises to the veterans. They paid the price and now so should you.
There are a number of other things I have learned about and probably have some level of expertise. I like history and so I know a lot of things that happened in the past. I seem to have this uncanny knack for remembering the odes facts. that come in handy when one writes. I have degrees in marketing and mass communication. But am I an expert? I know as much as the next so call expert on subjects that change almost by the hour.
I'll end this as yet incomplete list with a line from one of my books that has yet to be published. I think it kind of sums up the whole issue of being an expert pretty well. "The difference between a sage and a fool is often a matter of having proper credentials."
I'm An Artist. So, What Do I Know?
What have I been doing all day - or all night for that matter? It looks like a lot of nothing to others, doesn't it? I'm not writing so much lately. What I do is work on building a brand and fan base. It is a unpaid job for now and I do it for several hours each day, investing time and effort in the future, my dreams.
I'm building a fan base for other authors as well in my role as a publicist. Since none of my activities is paying a dividend at this point, I'm also looking for a job. I devote a good portion of each day looking for something I can do to make money. That is the same trap it has always been in my past. The lure of practical necessity, having to choose between surviving and living, is what each of us faces. It's the way of the world.
What we do when we chase dreams is come into direct conflict with the practical side of the world. Only a few make it because its easy to become discouraged and listen to the naysayers and critics. They call us dreamers and misfits. To them we are nuts. They need to validate their own life choices urging us to give up and buy into the commonly held belief. They tell us the world is of limited resources and wealth and surviving is the constant struggle to seek your share of the wealth. Those who subscribe to that notion lack the vision necessary to overcome the struggle as well as the misery and suffering around them. And so they succumb too it. They trade in their dreams for practicality's sake. Instead of focusing on their aspirations with greater resolve and determination, the let the weight of the world crush them into submission. The end result is that most people fail because they don't have faith that they will intimately succeed if only they persevere.
There is a way if you want to find it and never give up.
No one says it's easy to make it as an artist or a writer or anything else that involves using your creativity. How crazy are you to actually believe you can conjure something form nothing as if it were magic? Yet, some people do exactly that. They're different than the norm, though, aren't they?
Within each of us is a spark that has survived for however long we have lived. It continues until it expires. It is life. And through that we connect to the source and origin that is also our essence. Those around us who seem dull, lifeless and defeated have not lost their spark but have, instead, lost their way. The connection is concealed. It is clouded over with doubt and despair borne of defeat and the criticism of others we have accepted.
What is different about an artist is that the source is more readily accessible. It is clear to everyone of us who retain the 'gift' from when we were five-years-old and everything about the world was shiny and new, filled with hope and potential. Artists never learn how to become completely and totally adult-minded. We refuse to submit to the routine. At some point in each of our pasts we decided that being an adult is part of the problem that prevents us from achieving our dreams. We are expected to substitute the goals of others in lieu of our potentially greater ambitions of self-actualization.
Artists don't deal with the adult world in the same way that others do. Although we have friends, family and others around us who constantly remind us of our responsibilities and our places in the world, we selectively filter out what does not strike us as pertinent to reaching our personal goal and vision. Yet, like everyone else we are expected to become mindless automatons. We are cajoled and sometimes coerced into playing the game the way our masters desire, according to the rules they have conceived. They are the wolves who want us to live as good sheep in the herd or are faithful dogs tending to the sheep that they exploit and harvest.
Artists are misfit to the prevalent system because we aren't good at following arbitrary rules. Like a child, we question everything. Constantly we ask why? We may have acquired the gift of biting our tongues so that we can hold down a job, but the very reason we are artistic means we don't fit in with the masses in larger, collectively accepted delusion that the world is an imperfect place.
So, for several hours each day I fill out job applications to serve roles that are functionally necessary for my basic survival. Yet, I don't want to return to the shuffling madness that used to be my frustrated, self-destructive life. I've played that song and danced that jig but never truly benefitted from the experience save for graining some perspective on the way things work and how others endure the depression of their existences.
Something more than the mind numbing entertainment of the media is what I desire from life. What happens to the Kardashians or who won the big game last night could not interest me less. I'll see something about those things on the Web, I suppose, provided I care to waste my time reading about it. The world does not hang in the balance of something as trivial as the scripted make-believe or surrogate reality of television. By the way, who write that nonsense? Hmmm?
A couple of years ago I set out on a journey to write of alternatives and possibilities in a world of dreams and fantasies that exist beneath the veils of grand deception and mass hysteria that we have collectively decided is real. I've never given up and I don't care to do so now when I am closer to the goal than I was two years ago. I'm not convinced the practical side of the world was ever worthy of my undivided attention. But I continue to play the game as necessary. I can be a good sheep or a good dog same as anyone else. But in the background, the dream continues. It's always the same.
Then, again, I'm an artist, so what do I know?
I'm building a fan base for other authors as well in my role as a publicist. Since none of my activities is paying a dividend at this point, I'm also looking for a job. I devote a good portion of each day looking for something I can do to make money. That is the same trap it has always been in my past. The lure of practical necessity, having to choose between surviving and living, is what each of us faces. It's the way of the world.
What we do when we chase dreams is come into direct conflict with the practical side of the world. Only a few make it because its easy to become discouraged and listen to the naysayers and critics. They call us dreamers and misfits. To them we are nuts. They need to validate their own life choices urging us to give up and buy into the commonly held belief. They tell us the world is of limited resources and wealth and surviving is the constant struggle to seek your share of the wealth. Those who subscribe to that notion lack the vision necessary to overcome the struggle as well as the misery and suffering around them. And so they succumb too it. They trade in their dreams for practicality's sake. Instead of focusing on their aspirations with greater resolve and determination, the let the weight of the world crush them into submission. The end result is that most people fail because they don't have faith that they will intimately succeed if only they persevere.
There is a way if you want to find it and never give up.
No one says it's easy to make it as an artist or a writer or anything else that involves using your creativity. How crazy are you to actually believe you can conjure something form nothing as if it were magic? Yet, some people do exactly that. They're different than the norm, though, aren't they?
Within each of us is a spark that has survived for however long we have lived. It continues until it expires. It is life. And through that we connect to the source and origin that is also our essence. Those around us who seem dull, lifeless and defeated have not lost their spark but have, instead, lost their way. The connection is concealed. It is clouded over with doubt and despair borne of defeat and the criticism of others we have accepted.
What is different about an artist is that the source is more readily accessible. It is clear to everyone of us who retain the 'gift' from when we were five-years-old and everything about the world was shiny and new, filled with hope and potential. Artists never learn how to become completely and totally adult-minded. We refuse to submit to the routine. At some point in each of our pasts we decided that being an adult is part of the problem that prevents us from achieving our dreams. We are expected to substitute the goals of others in lieu of our potentially greater ambitions of self-actualization.
Artists don't deal with the adult world in the same way that others do. Although we have friends, family and others around us who constantly remind us of our responsibilities and our places in the world, we selectively filter out what does not strike us as pertinent to reaching our personal goal and vision. Yet, like everyone else we are expected to become mindless automatons. We are cajoled and sometimes coerced into playing the game the way our masters desire, according to the rules they have conceived. They are the wolves who want us to live as good sheep in the herd or are faithful dogs tending to the sheep that they exploit and harvest.
Artists are misfit to the prevalent system because we aren't good at following arbitrary rules. Like a child, we question everything. Constantly we ask why? We may have acquired the gift of biting our tongues so that we can hold down a job, but the very reason we are artistic means we don't fit in with the masses in larger, collectively accepted delusion that the world is an imperfect place.
So, for several hours each day I fill out job applications to serve roles that are functionally necessary for my basic survival. Yet, I don't want to return to the shuffling madness that used to be my frustrated, self-destructive life. I've played that song and danced that jig but never truly benefitted from the experience save for graining some perspective on the way things work and how others endure the depression of their existences.
Something more than the mind numbing entertainment of the media is what I desire from life. What happens to the Kardashians or who won the big game last night could not interest me less. I'll see something about those things on the Web, I suppose, provided I care to waste my time reading about it. The world does not hang in the balance of something as trivial as the scripted make-believe or surrogate reality of television. By the way, who write that nonsense? Hmmm?
A couple of years ago I set out on a journey to write of alternatives and possibilities in a world of dreams and fantasies that exist beneath the veils of grand deception and mass hysteria that we have collectively decided is real. I've never given up and I don't care to do so now when I am closer to the goal than I was two years ago. I'm not convinced the practical side of the world was ever worthy of my undivided attention. But I continue to play the game as necessary. I can be a good sheep or a good dog same as anyone else. But in the background, the dream continues. It's always the same.
Then, again, I'm an artist, so what do I know?
Michelle Bellon Balances Busy Life With Writing
What amazes me is how creativity affects different people in similar ways. Even though it may seem to manifest in strange and unusual ways, for writers, at least, it’s been my experience that we’re a lot more alike in our uniqueness than different. One of the many things that is a similarly is the obsessive compulsion to tell stories. Another is the way a story will insist on being told despite how busy we are at doing other things.
Recently I got the chance to ask some question of Michelle Bellon, author of Rogue Alliance and several other books. She’s always a busy lady but she finds the time to help others; it’s in her nature. She’s a nurse, a mother and a wife – not necessarily in that order – but also she loves writing and respects the process and others who write as well. Personally, I wonder about people like her, having no idea how she juggles all the spinning plates of her life on those spindly, wobbly poles and still find the time to write. That is, until I think about all the things that every author I know does to feed the compulsion – if not obsession – to write stories. It goes toward proving my point, though, that a story needs to be told and it will always find a way of getting onto paper or into a digital file on some writer’s computer. I guess as writers all we need to be is receptive to that creative impulse and capture the idea.
Michelle’s most recent novel, Rogue Alliance, the first of a series. It is a genre stretching tale that held my interest from start to finish and turned me into a fan.
Trying to escape a horrific past, Shyla has immersed herself in life as a tough cop in the bustle of LA. When the case of a lifetime takes her back to her hometown of Redding, she is thrown into a world of organized crime, deceit, and bitter reminders of her childhood.
As Shyla’s path crosses that of Brennan, a troubled sidekick to the ringleader she’s intent on taking down, she discovers he has a past even darker than hers and she is forced to re-evaluate everything she believes about herself, her job, and what she knows about right and wrong.
Can she face the demons of her upbringing and learn to trust again? Her life will depend on it.
Q: You wake up only to realize you don’t remember your name or what you’re doing in Des Moines, Iowa. What’s the story?
A: I’m terrible with geography. Is Iowa cold? I don’t like cold. Can we make this story start in Hawaii? I want to live there…in a hut…and live off shellfish…getting down with nature. But I don’t want to go all Tom Hanks in Cast Away, that’s a bit much. Did I answer the question correctly?
Q: Yes, it's cold there. I think I like the setting for your story better than mine. Anyway, let’s talk about when you were a kid. In school were you a troublemaker, an instigator or the teacher’s pet? Explain
A: Oh, I believe I was all of those at one time or another. In second grade I had the best teacher ever, Mrs. Rogers, and I was surely teacher’s pet. I loved learning, craved it.
I found myself causing a bit of trouble in fifth and sixth grades but that was only because I have a cousin that had special needs and I wound up in a few too many fights defending him. I became known as a fighter about that time.
Then somewhere along the lines, around seventh grade or so, I just kind of got confused. Hormones kicked in and my brain cells ceased to function properly. I look back and it seems as if I were walking around in a fog all the time. I remember wandering around school, just kind of bumping around going, “What’s going on? Where am I supposed to be?”
That lack of brainpower only increased throughout the beginning of high school when I became absolutely boy crazy. Fortunately, I still managed to get decent grades. I was always friendly to everyone but maintained friendships with only a few close girl friends. I’ve always been careful about choosing friends. It’s sacred to me. It’s for life. My best friends are girls I’ve known my entire life. They’ve got my back, and I’ve got theirs. Forever.
Q: The next one is a fantasy type question: Imagine for a moment that you’re a famous, bestselling author. They’re making a movie out of your last book. What do you do next to top that you’re already achieved?
A: That is a huge accomplishment and one that many of us dream of achieving. I would be over the moon with excitement if one of my books made it to the big screen.
My next goal would be to write my next book. That’s it. I just want to keep making stories. It feels amazing to create something: a story, characters, another reality - that would have otherwise never existed.
Q: Many writers say that being creative becomes an integral part of their daily lives and part of their routine. How do you balance your responsibilities to others around your need to create?
A: This is something I constantly struggle with. My family, my husband and children, are my first priority. Then there’s the responsibility of maintaining our home and fulfilling the needs of my day job as a registered nurse. My creative side, which for me is writing, comes at the end of all that, though I feel it is important.
There is another component here. After I became a published author, I learned that there is a huge responsibility to market your work. Once you dig into that and learn what it takes to promote your finished product, you find yourself consumed with that aspect of the industry and the actual writing takes a huge back seat.
Right now I’m at a huge turning point, where I’ve let all of that get out of balance to the point that I’m no longer writing. I just don’t have the time and then when I do find a small chunk of time and sit down at the laptop, I have nothing to give, because all of my creative energies have been leeched out by the marketing aspect of writing. It can be very destructive if you let it. And I did let it.
But I recently decided to re-prioritize and get back to what I love - writing. Here’s why - I’ve learned that there are things that feed you and things that starve you. Marketing and promoting, if let get out of balance, will starve you, creatively. When you write and tap into that creative energy where things come to life, it feeds you. I’m determined to get back to that. Writers must write.
Q: Every writer has that one story that clicked, inspiring him or her to pursue writing as a career. What was the story and what was there about it that made it influential?
A: As for any one book that I read and it inspired me to write, there’s not just a single story. They all did. I simply love to read. I love to jump inside of other people’s fictional lives and fall in love with characters. It’s so magical.
What inspired me to actually write my own book was the desire to tell my own stories and entertain an audience of my own. The moment that it all clicked into place was when I began to write my first novel, Embracing You, Embracing Me. It’s a coming of age young adult novel that deals with young love, tragedy, and self-realization. Though fiction, it’s loosely based on my own experiences and dedicated to someone special in my life that passed at much too young of an age. Readers respond strongly to that story and that moves me. My intention is for everyone who reads it to remember that we must tell the ones we love that we love them today. You never know if you’ll have tomorrow. It’s a bit of a tear-jerker, or so I’ve heard.
Q: Creativity comes in many ways – for example, painting, photography, sculpture, music and theater. What other things do you do or have you done that are examples of using your imagination or other artistic talents?
A: Actually, I don’t consider myself creative. Before I started writing I honestly believed that I was lacking a creative gene. I can’t paint. Every picture I take is blurry and off center. I can’t act and I don’t like to speak in front of crowds. I’m logical and detail oriented with strong OCD tendencies. Those traits often kill creativity.
It still surprises me that I have been able to write novels. Sometimes I pick up one of my books and stare it, thinking, “Holy crap! I wrote this!”
Even then, I don’t feel creative because it doesn’t feel like I’m the creator of these stories. When a book idea comes to me it’s not because I sit and brainstorm. The storyline and characters often just pop into my head, like a little gift from the universe, or sometimes I’ll dream them. At that point, it’s up to me to simply write it down and fill in all the details.
Q: Where do you see yourself at this moment in your life had you never decided to write a book?
A: I’d be doing mostly the same things; working as a nurse, taking care of my children, loving on my husband. But I’d still be convinced that I lacked any fraction of creativity, and that’s a sad thought. Writing opened up a whole new world for me with possibilities that I would have never imagined before. Most importantly, it’s taught me a lot about myself and what I can accomplish through hard work, dedication, perseverance, and passion. I had no idea that I had all of this inside of me.
Q: Family and relationships are important in peoples’ lives and so, it is little surprise that there are relationships between characters in books. How closely do the interactions in your books mirror your real life?
A: Very closely. For me, the crux of every story is the character arc, their internal and external struggle as they learn to overcome whatever difficult journey I’ve put them on. In each book I write, though most are radically different than my real life, I definitely incorporate my own life lessons and relationship trials into the fictional story I’m writing at the time. By forcing my characters to face their personal demons and reconcile challenging relationship dynamics, I’m essentially creating an outlet for self-realization, self-healing. My character learns and evolves, therefore so do I. It’s very cathartic.
Q: When writing I’m sure you hit snags where characters aren’t behaving or the plot just isn’t working. When that happens to be I play video solitaire. What do you do?
Omg! That is exactly what I do! When I get stuck, I stop what I’m doing, minimize my screen, and pull up solitaire. I like to play Free Cell. I have a 99% winning average. Is that a talent?
Q: It may be. I never mastered Free Cell. Okay here’s a touch one: When friends, family and even people you barely know at work find out you are publishing a book they expect a gratis copy. It could be a touchy situation. How do handle it?
A: Oh, man, this is a touchy subject. I can’t even begin to tell you how many people ask, and even expect, a free book. And I’ve given out far too many. I just have the hardest time telling them no.
However, I’ve reached a point where, when asked this question, I have to kindly evade the part where I offer a free book. I have to start respecting my work by making a decision to earn something for my hard work. I feel that it’s so sad that the industry has “evolved” to a point where talented, hard-working authors are giving away their books for free. It baffles me when I hear a reader say that they only buy books if they are 99 cents or free. It makes me want to ask them if they’d like to work on a project for a year or more, pour their heart and soul into it, accept a hundred rejections before they finally find an outlet to showcase their work and then at the end of the day, they get a check for 99 cents? Yeah, somehow I don’t think they’d be down with that.
Michelle has published other books, look for them online at Amazon.com
Michelle Bellon lives in the Pacific Northwest with her four beautiful children. She earned her Associates Degree in Nursing and fills her moments of free time with her love for writing. She writes in multiple genres, including, YA, romance suspense, women's fiction, and general fiction.
Find Michelle Bellon Online:
http://www.michellebellon.com/
https://www.facebook.com/michelle.aut...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michel...
https://twitter.com/MichelleBellon
Recently I got the chance to ask some question of Michelle Bellon, author of Rogue Alliance and several other books. She’s always a busy lady but she finds the time to help others; it’s in her nature. She’s a nurse, a mother and a wife – not necessarily in that order – but also she loves writing and respects the process and others who write as well. Personally, I wonder about people like her, having no idea how she juggles all the spinning plates of her life on those spindly, wobbly poles and still find the time to write. That is, until I think about all the things that every author I know does to feed the compulsion – if not obsession – to write stories. It goes toward proving my point, though, that a story needs to be told and it will always find a way of getting onto paper or into a digital file on some writer’s computer. I guess as writers all we need to be is receptive to that creative impulse and capture the idea.
Michelle’s most recent novel, Rogue Alliance, the first of a series. It is a genre stretching tale that held my interest from start to finish and turned me into a fan.
Trying to escape a horrific past, Shyla has immersed herself in life as a tough cop in the bustle of LA. When the case of a lifetime takes her back to her hometown of Redding, she is thrown into a world of organized crime, deceit, and bitter reminders of her childhood.
As Shyla’s path crosses that of Brennan, a troubled sidekick to the ringleader she’s intent on taking down, she discovers he has a past even darker than hers and she is forced to re-evaluate everything she believes about herself, her job, and what she knows about right and wrong.
Can she face the demons of her upbringing and learn to trust again? Her life will depend on it.
Q: You wake up only to realize you don’t remember your name or what you’re doing in Des Moines, Iowa. What’s the story?
A: I’m terrible with geography. Is Iowa cold? I don’t like cold. Can we make this story start in Hawaii? I want to live there…in a hut…and live off shellfish…getting down with nature. But I don’t want to go all Tom Hanks in Cast Away, that’s a bit much. Did I answer the question correctly?
Q: Yes, it's cold there. I think I like the setting for your story better than mine. Anyway, let’s talk about when you were a kid. In school were you a troublemaker, an instigator or the teacher’s pet? Explain
A: Oh, I believe I was all of those at one time or another. In second grade I had the best teacher ever, Mrs. Rogers, and I was surely teacher’s pet. I loved learning, craved it.
I found myself causing a bit of trouble in fifth and sixth grades but that was only because I have a cousin that had special needs and I wound up in a few too many fights defending him. I became known as a fighter about that time.
Then somewhere along the lines, around seventh grade or so, I just kind of got confused. Hormones kicked in and my brain cells ceased to function properly. I look back and it seems as if I were walking around in a fog all the time. I remember wandering around school, just kind of bumping around going, “What’s going on? Where am I supposed to be?”
That lack of brainpower only increased throughout the beginning of high school when I became absolutely boy crazy. Fortunately, I still managed to get decent grades. I was always friendly to everyone but maintained friendships with only a few close girl friends. I’ve always been careful about choosing friends. It’s sacred to me. It’s for life. My best friends are girls I’ve known my entire life. They’ve got my back, and I’ve got theirs. Forever.
Q: The next one is a fantasy type question: Imagine for a moment that you’re a famous, bestselling author. They’re making a movie out of your last book. What do you do next to top that you’re already achieved?
A: That is a huge accomplishment and one that many of us dream of achieving. I would be over the moon with excitement if one of my books made it to the big screen.
My next goal would be to write my next book. That’s it. I just want to keep making stories. It feels amazing to create something: a story, characters, another reality - that would have otherwise never existed.
Q: Many writers say that being creative becomes an integral part of their daily lives and part of their routine. How do you balance your responsibilities to others around your need to create?
A: This is something I constantly struggle with. My family, my husband and children, are my first priority. Then there’s the responsibility of maintaining our home and fulfilling the needs of my day job as a registered nurse. My creative side, which for me is writing, comes at the end of all that, though I feel it is important.
There is another component here. After I became a published author, I learned that there is a huge responsibility to market your work. Once you dig into that and learn what it takes to promote your finished product, you find yourself consumed with that aspect of the industry and the actual writing takes a huge back seat.
Right now I’m at a huge turning point, where I’ve let all of that get out of balance to the point that I’m no longer writing. I just don’t have the time and then when I do find a small chunk of time and sit down at the laptop, I have nothing to give, because all of my creative energies have been leeched out by the marketing aspect of writing. It can be very destructive if you let it. And I did let it.
But I recently decided to re-prioritize and get back to what I love - writing. Here’s why - I’ve learned that there are things that feed you and things that starve you. Marketing and promoting, if let get out of balance, will starve you, creatively. When you write and tap into that creative energy where things come to life, it feeds you. I’m determined to get back to that. Writers must write.
Q: Every writer has that one story that clicked, inspiring him or her to pursue writing as a career. What was the story and what was there about it that made it influential?
A: As for any one book that I read and it inspired me to write, there’s not just a single story. They all did. I simply love to read. I love to jump inside of other people’s fictional lives and fall in love with characters. It’s so magical.
What inspired me to actually write my own book was the desire to tell my own stories and entertain an audience of my own. The moment that it all clicked into place was when I began to write my first novel, Embracing You, Embracing Me. It’s a coming of age young adult novel that deals with young love, tragedy, and self-realization. Though fiction, it’s loosely based on my own experiences and dedicated to someone special in my life that passed at much too young of an age. Readers respond strongly to that story and that moves me. My intention is for everyone who reads it to remember that we must tell the ones we love that we love them today. You never know if you’ll have tomorrow. It’s a bit of a tear-jerker, or so I’ve heard.
Q: Creativity comes in many ways – for example, painting, photography, sculpture, music and theater. What other things do you do or have you done that are examples of using your imagination or other artistic talents?
A: Actually, I don’t consider myself creative. Before I started writing I honestly believed that I was lacking a creative gene. I can’t paint. Every picture I take is blurry and off center. I can’t act and I don’t like to speak in front of crowds. I’m logical and detail oriented with strong OCD tendencies. Those traits often kill creativity.
It still surprises me that I have been able to write novels. Sometimes I pick up one of my books and stare it, thinking, “Holy crap! I wrote this!”
Even then, I don’t feel creative because it doesn’t feel like I’m the creator of these stories. When a book idea comes to me it’s not because I sit and brainstorm. The storyline and characters often just pop into my head, like a little gift from the universe, or sometimes I’ll dream them. At that point, it’s up to me to simply write it down and fill in all the details.
Q: Where do you see yourself at this moment in your life had you never decided to write a book?
A: I’d be doing mostly the same things; working as a nurse, taking care of my children, loving on my husband. But I’d still be convinced that I lacked any fraction of creativity, and that’s a sad thought. Writing opened up a whole new world for me with possibilities that I would have never imagined before. Most importantly, it’s taught me a lot about myself and what I can accomplish through hard work, dedication, perseverance, and passion. I had no idea that I had all of this inside of me.
Q: Family and relationships are important in peoples’ lives and so, it is little surprise that there are relationships between characters in books. How closely do the interactions in your books mirror your real life?
A: Very closely. For me, the crux of every story is the character arc, their internal and external struggle as they learn to overcome whatever difficult journey I’ve put them on. In each book I write, though most are radically different than my real life, I definitely incorporate my own life lessons and relationship trials into the fictional story I’m writing at the time. By forcing my characters to face their personal demons and reconcile challenging relationship dynamics, I’m essentially creating an outlet for self-realization, self-healing. My character learns and evolves, therefore so do I. It’s very cathartic.
Q: When writing I’m sure you hit snags where characters aren’t behaving or the plot just isn’t working. When that happens to be I play video solitaire. What do you do?
Omg! That is exactly what I do! When I get stuck, I stop what I’m doing, minimize my screen, and pull up solitaire. I like to play Free Cell. I have a 99% winning average. Is that a talent?
Q: It may be. I never mastered Free Cell. Okay here’s a touch one: When friends, family and even people you barely know at work find out you are publishing a book they expect a gratis copy. It could be a touchy situation. How do handle it?
A: Oh, man, this is a touchy subject. I can’t even begin to tell you how many people ask, and even expect, a free book. And I’ve given out far too many. I just have the hardest time telling them no.
However, I’ve reached a point where, when asked this question, I have to kindly evade the part where I offer a free book. I have to start respecting my work by making a decision to earn something for my hard work. I feel that it’s so sad that the industry has “evolved” to a point where talented, hard-working authors are giving away their books for free. It baffles me when I hear a reader say that they only buy books if they are 99 cents or free. It makes me want to ask them if they’d like to work on a project for a year or more, pour their heart and soul into it, accept a hundred rejections before they finally find an outlet to showcase their work and then at the end of the day, they get a check for 99 cents? Yeah, somehow I don’t think they’d be down with that.
Michelle has published other books, look for them online at Amazon.com
Michelle Bellon lives in the Pacific Northwest with her four beautiful children. She earned her Associates Degree in Nursing and fills her moments of free time with her love for writing. She writes in multiple genres, including, YA, romance suspense, women's fiction, and general fiction.
Find Michelle Bellon Online:
http://www.michellebellon.com/
https://www.facebook.com/michelle.aut...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michel...
https://twitter.com/MichelleBellon
Incomplete Chapters
One thing I have learned over the course of writing several manuscripts is that if you take a break in the middle of a chapter, you'll usually wind up rewriting the whole thing.
The reason you feel compelled to take a break is that something is not working. Why do I say that? Well, if the writer is bored, then what will happen when someone else reads it? Makes you think, doesn't it?
A perfect chapter doesn't necessarily continue the action from the previous chapter, but it must build on the story line, otherwise it is unnecessary. If there are several threads to the plot, it must connect with one of them somewhere. Early in the novel chapters may establish a character or two - perhaps an important relationship hinting of a conflict later on. However, when a writer is composing any chapter he or she may not necessarily know where the story is headed at that point. Characters tend to tell their own tale. If they didn't present you, the author, with details and background it wouldn't be much of a novel. Also, you could tell the entire story as a brief synopsis.
What works for me is using an outline after the fact of writing a draft. That is not to say that from the outset I don't have a vague idea where the story is headed. Occasionally the outcome that seemed inevitable to me as I began to write turns out to be a red herring or at least a wrong assumption. It is important to allow the characters to tell their stories in their own ways and not force them into a corner or shackle them with your expectations. Although some of the characters may use your logic and generally do what you might do in an given situation, the best characters are those who do the unexpected and are the antithesis of the author, or at least a fabrication of his per her darker side.
Which brings me back on point. If you leave a chapters incomplete to take a break in the middle, whenever you return, go back to the beginning of the chapter and read the story. Fix whatever caused the trouble and then move on. Very often your characters will show you what the problem was. Their dialogue may have been strained or their actions inconsistent with their character profile. Something is amiss. Fix that and the flow and interest will be restored.
The reason you feel compelled to take a break is that something is not working. Why do I say that? Well, if the writer is bored, then what will happen when someone else reads it? Makes you think, doesn't it?
A perfect chapter doesn't necessarily continue the action from the previous chapter, but it must build on the story line, otherwise it is unnecessary. If there are several threads to the plot, it must connect with one of them somewhere. Early in the novel chapters may establish a character or two - perhaps an important relationship hinting of a conflict later on. However, when a writer is composing any chapter he or she may not necessarily know where the story is headed at that point. Characters tend to tell their own tale. If they didn't present you, the author, with details and background it wouldn't be much of a novel. Also, you could tell the entire story as a brief synopsis.
What works for me is using an outline after the fact of writing a draft. That is not to say that from the outset I don't have a vague idea where the story is headed. Occasionally the outcome that seemed inevitable to me as I began to write turns out to be a red herring or at least a wrong assumption. It is important to allow the characters to tell their stories in their own ways and not force them into a corner or shackle them with your expectations. Although some of the characters may use your logic and generally do what you might do in an given situation, the best characters are those who do the unexpected and are the antithesis of the author, or at least a fabrication of his per her darker side.
Which brings me back on point. If you leave a chapters incomplete to take a break in the middle, whenever you return, go back to the beginning of the chapter and read the story. Fix whatever caused the trouble and then move on. Very often your characters will show you what the problem was. Their dialogue may have been strained or their actions inconsistent with their character profile. Something is amiss. Fix that and the flow and interest will be restored.
About My Monday
Monday was full of strangeness, and very busy. As I continue looking for a job - my interview last week didn't solve my immediate need and I did not fill their requirements, go figure - I continue doing what started out being a fun side line to writing. That has come to occupy more and more of my time, but it's the sort of diversion I needed.
A couple of months ago I was working on a couple of new projects and they stalled out somewhere in the process. That happens. Occasionally the book to be that has been forced to the back burner dies but with me, usually, it is resurrected in a different form or I just get around to finishing what I started. No reason to panic; it's the way I write. Whenever that happens, I pull out some other unfinished thing or I revise something that I have worked on several times without really feeling it was finished. This time I took the latter course.
I have a series of books collectively called The Wolfcat Chronicles that some of you have read in part or in entirety. A few of you are writers who are or were members of FanStory when I posted the entire ten book series over the course of several months - usually two chapters at a time. It was a labor of love when I wrote the series in my spare time from the summer of 2000 to around 2005. You see, when you work a full time job in retail spending 60 or so hours a week at work and still have kids at home and you fancy yourself a writer, you write whenever you can. On my days off I was trying to sell my first two books, so it wasn't like I was wiring more on my days off than I was on my schedule work days. Anyway, I have found that if I write four to six hours a day that is enough to quiet whichever muse is inspiring me at the time.
So, as part of my process of seeking positive diversion I revised the first two of the Wolfcat books and submitted them to my publisher. I also allowed a friend to beta read them in her spare time. Yesterday, I heard back from my friend. She finished reading them and wants to read the next one. So at some point int he next few weeks or months I need to go back and read through the third book. And so I will revisit the Wolfcat books again. I take it as a good sign that people want to continue reading a story line.
The rest of the day, yesterday, I was being publicist, answering emails, sending out press releases for a new book launch, and preparing for a conference call in the evening. Busy, busy, busy. Some Monday's are like that. I have already begun receiving emails from the editor who is working on Fried Windows. So the real fun has just begun in the process that culminates with the launch of a book, an event that is now less than two months away.
A couple of months ago I was working on a couple of new projects and they stalled out somewhere in the process. That happens. Occasionally the book to be that has been forced to the back burner dies but with me, usually, it is resurrected in a different form or I just get around to finishing what I started. No reason to panic; it's the way I write. Whenever that happens, I pull out some other unfinished thing or I revise something that I have worked on several times without really feeling it was finished. This time I took the latter course.
I have a series of books collectively called The Wolfcat Chronicles that some of you have read in part or in entirety. A few of you are writers who are or were members of FanStory when I posted the entire ten book series over the course of several months - usually two chapters at a time. It was a labor of love when I wrote the series in my spare time from the summer of 2000 to around 2005. You see, when you work a full time job in retail spending 60 or so hours a week at work and still have kids at home and you fancy yourself a writer, you write whenever you can. On my days off I was trying to sell my first two books, so it wasn't like I was wiring more on my days off than I was on my schedule work days. Anyway, I have found that if I write four to six hours a day that is enough to quiet whichever muse is inspiring me at the time.
So, as part of my process of seeking positive diversion I revised the first two of the Wolfcat books and submitted them to my publisher. I also allowed a friend to beta read them in her spare time. Yesterday, I heard back from my friend. She finished reading them and wants to read the next one. So at some point int he next few weeks or months I need to go back and read through the third book. And so I will revisit the Wolfcat books again. I take it as a good sign that people want to continue reading a story line.
The rest of the day, yesterday, I was being publicist, answering emails, sending out press releases for a new book launch, and preparing for a conference call in the evening. Busy, busy, busy. Some Monday's are like that. I have already begun receiving emails from the editor who is working on Fried Windows. So the real fun has just begun in the process that culminates with the launch of a book, an event that is now less than two months away.
Interview with Author Of Literary Suspense, Jackson Paul Baer
Jackson Paul Baer is an author of literary suspense whose most recent release, The Earth Bleeds Red launched late last October from Pandamoon publishing and is available in both eBook and paperback from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other online book sites. Originally from Woodstock, Ga (north of Atlanta) he’s a huge Braves and Georgia Tech fan. However, he lived in Oregon for the over five years and only recently moved back to North Georgia. Over the past twelve years he had been all over the country. He loves the Trailblazers as well as Oregon State, where he will soon graduate with a B.A. in English in June 2014. He has been married for eleven years and has four beautiful children, ages 4-9.
He graduated from a Bible college in 2003; that’s where he met his wife. He spent seven years as a youth & teaching pastor, but has not been a pastor for the past three years now. “I’m not very religious though you will find spiritual themes within my writing due to it being such a large part of the majority of my life. My characters, much like myself, struggle with faith, doubt, and love as a part of their everyday lives.” The Earth Bleeds Red is by no means a Christian novel, however, with language you’d find in real life, as well as situations not suited for a church service.
Jackson’s favorite author is Joyce Carol Oates and he also loves Junot Diaz and Sherman Alexie, among many others. “Their novels have influenced me the most and I’d like to think my writing style resembles their amazing books. Them by Joyce Carol Oates is the best book I’ve ever read. If you’ve never read it, stop what you’re doing right now and read it. Seriously, do it now.”
Jackson’s latest book is The Earth Bleeds Red:
Scott Miller has everything he’s ever hoped for. He has a successful marriage to Jessie, a stunningly beautiful, creative woman. His seventeen-year-old daughter, Ashley, is both gorgeous and intelligent, and has just been accepted to the University of Notre Dame, where Scott received his PhD. He has a comforting home in the woods, and a fulfilling career as a college professor at Oregon State University in Corvallis. He’s blissful, and at peace, until it all comes shattering down.
Ashley is kidnapped. The scene of the abduction is horrific and bloody, and the police are convinced she couldn’t have survived. They accuse her boyfriend, Brandon, of Ashley’s murder. He declares his innocence, and claims that a masked man who entered his house and overwhelmed them both took Ashley. No one believes Brandon.
Then the bodies of three other missing girls are discovered, all bearing the mark of a known serial killer the FBI has been hunting for years. Evidence mounts. As Special Agent James Duncan tracks the Hail Mary Killer, Scott and Jessie try to move on with their lives. But they can’t shake the feeling that Ashley may still be alive, and that the time for saving their only daughter is quickly running out.
In the best tradition of literature and suspense, Jackson Paul Baer has weaved a heartfelt tale of one family’s struggle to survive after a despicable evil wrenches them apart.
Jackson is current working on a literary psychological thriller titled The Lights Will Never Fade.
He gave me the chance to ask a few questions and learn more about his fascinating life and his writing:
Q: How much research do you do before starting a novel? Does the research help develop the plot or do you use it for all background details?
A: I researched a lot for The Earth Bleeds Red. I went and took pictures in the city of Corvallis, or that I pictured as I was writing the book. I wanted my writing to accurately reflect the city. I also had to do a good deal of research with regards to police procedure, crime scenes, what happens to a person after death etc… With my write-in-progress, I emailed people who live in the town I set the book in to verify the types of trees, flowers, close rivers, and other things like that.
Q: Creative people tend to be spontaneous. In particular, most people think that writers are at least a little crazy. Tell us the most unusual thing you have done in your real life that doesn’t directly relate to writing.
A: I’m a fairly spontaneous person. I travel a lot, playing cards, and have been known to take a road trip on a whim. I don’t do this as much anymore as I’ve gotten older and my kids have gotten bigger, but I’ve driven ten hours before, only an hour or so after deciding to go.
Q: Every writer has that one story that clicked, inspiring him or her to pursue writing as a career. What was the story and what was there about it that made it influential?
A: The story line in “Them,” by Joyce Carol Oates has to be one of the biggest influences on me as a writer. The characters were so flawed and imperfect. I actually heard her speak at Oregon State and after that, I went out and bought that novel. I read it and fell in love with her writing.
Q: Creativity comes in many ways – for example, painting, photography, sculpture, music and theater. What other things do you do or have you done that are examples of using your imagination or other artistic talents?
A: I’ve actually written a handful of songs and even recorded four or five of them several years back. It was more for fun than trying to make a career out of it, but I do enjoy music. I play guitar and bass and songwriting is really where I got my start in writing.
Q: When writing I’m sure you hit snags where characters aren’t behaving or the plot just isn’t working. When that happens to me I play video solitaire. What do you do?
A: I usually take a break and read. I think that any good writer is an avid reader, as time allows. With work, school, and a family, my time for reading has been limited. I am almost done with school and will be able to devote regular time to reading and writing again. I miss them dearly.
Q: There is usually someone in a writer’s past that is to credit or to blame. In your life, who was that, when and what happened?
A: I had a professor at Oregon State who spoke to me. He was real and down to earth. To be honest, it started at the community college I went to prior, but this professor’s class was the first actual writing class that I took. I began to write short stories for the class and realized how much I loved creating this world that wouldn’t otherwise exist.
Check out Jackson Paul Baer online at:
http://jacksonpaulbaer.com
www.facebook.com/JacksonPaulBaer
https://twitter.com/JacksonPaulBaer
And Jackson's Previous writing:
Jackson Book Cover Old
He graduated from a Bible college in 2003; that’s where he met his wife. He spent seven years as a youth & teaching pastor, but has not been a pastor for the past three years now. “I’m not very religious though you will find spiritual themes within my writing due to it being such a large part of the majority of my life. My characters, much like myself, struggle with faith, doubt, and love as a part of their everyday lives.” The Earth Bleeds Red is by no means a Christian novel, however, with language you’d find in real life, as well as situations not suited for a church service.
Jackson’s favorite author is Joyce Carol Oates and he also loves Junot Diaz and Sherman Alexie, among many others. “Their novels have influenced me the most and I’d like to think my writing style resembles their amazing books. Them by Joyce Carol Oates is the best book I’ve ever read. If you’ve never read it, stop what you’re doing right now and read it. Seriously, do it now.”
Jackson’s latest book is The Earth Bleeds Red:
Scott Miller has everything he’s ever hoped for. He has a successful marriage to Jessie, a stunningly beautiful, creative woman. His seventeen-year-old daughter, Ashley, is both gorgeous and intelligent, and has just been accepted to the University of Notre Dame, where Scott received his PhD. He has a comforting home in the woods, and a fulfilling career as a college professor at Oregon State University in Corvallis. He’s blissful, and at peace, until it all comes shattering down.
Ashley is kidnapped. The scene of the abduction is horrific and bloody, and the police are convinced she couldn’t have survived. They accuse her boyfriend, Brandon, of Ashley’s murder. He declares his innocence, and claims that a masked man who entered his house and overwhelmed them both took Ashley. No one believes Brandon.
Then the bodies of three other missing girls are discovered, all bearing the mark of a known serial killer the FBI has been hunting for years. Evidence mounts. As Special Agent James Duncan tracks the Hail Mary Killer, Scott and Jessie try to move on with their lives. But they can’t shake the feeling that Ashley may still be alive, and that the time for saving their only daughter is quickly running out.
In the best tradition of literature and suspense, Jackson Paul Baer has weaved a heartfelt tale of one family’s struggle to survive after a despicable evil wrenches them apart.
Jackson is current working on a literary psychological thriller titled The Lights Will Never Fade.
He gave me the chance to ask a few questions and learn more about his fascinating life and his writing:
Q: How much research do you do before starting a novel? Does the research help develop the plot or do you use it for all background details?
A: I researched a lot for The Earth Bleeds Red. I went and took pictures in the city of Corvallis, or that I pictured as I was writing the book. I wanted my writing to accurately reflect the city. I also had to do a good deal of research with regards to police procedure, crime scenes, what happens to a person after death etc… With my write-in-progress, I emailed people who live in the town I set the book in to verify the types of trees, flowers, close rivers, and other things like that.
Q: Creative people tend to be spontaneous. In particular, most people think that writers are at least a little crazy. Tell us the most unusual thing you have done in your real life that doesn’t directly relate to writing.
A: I’m a fairly spontaneous person. I travel a lot, playing cards, and have been known to take a road trip on a whim. I don’t do this as much anymore as I’ve gotten older and my kids have gotten bigger, but I’ve driven ten hours before, only an hour or so after deciding to go.
Q: Every writer has that one story that clicked, inspiring him or her to pursue writing as a career. What was the story and what was there about it that made it influential?
A: The story line in “Them,” by Joyce Carol Oates has to be one of the biggest influences on me as a writer. The characters were so flawed and imperfect. I actually heard her speak at Oregon State and after that, I went out and bought that novel. I read it and fell in love with her writing.
Q: Creativity comes in many ways – for example, painting, photography, sculpture, music and theater. What other things do you do or have you done that are examples of using your imagination or other artistic talents?
A: I’ve actually written a handful of songs and even recorded four or five of them several years back. It was more for fun than trying to make a career out of it, but I do enjoy music. I play guitar and bass and songwriting is really where I got my start in writing.
Q: When writing I’m sure you hit snags where characters aren’t behaving or the plot just isn’t working. When that happens to me I play video solitaire. What do you do?
A: I usually take a break and read. I think that any good writer is an avid reader, as time allows. With work, school, and a family, my time for reading has been limited. I am almost done with school and will be able to devote regular time to reading and writing again. I miss them dearly.
Q: There is usually someone in a writer’s past that is to credit or to blame. In your life, who was that, when and what happened?
A: I had a professor at Oregon State who spoke to me. He was real and down to earth. To be honest, it started at the community college I went to prior, but this professor’s class was the first actual writing class that I took. I began to write short stories for the class and realized how much I loved creating this world that wouldn’t otherwise exist.
Check out Jackson Paul Baer online at:
http://jacksonpaulbaer.com
www.facebook.com/JacksonPaulBaer
https://twitter.com/JacksonPaulBaer
And Jackson's Previous writing:
Jackson Book Cover Old
Chasing Fame
It's a time when the definition of fame has been turned over and wedged sideways into our minds. What does it mean anymore when Realty TV stars (let's not go into the inherent oxymoron due the obviously scripted and over-acted, self-indulgent performances) proliferate the airwaves for apparently no other reason that filling time in a programming schedule. Are they famous, yes. Why? Don't ask me.
I guess being famous meant something back when the famous had some personal standards, codes of ethics, or restrain on public social behavior. Now it appears to be 'cool' to be caught in the act of being stupid drunk or stoned in public. It's all publicity, isn't it. And we have all heard that any publicity is good publicity. Well, that is until the public becomes disgusted and moved on to tracking the next big thing. And thanks to the PR machines there is always a a new and briefly exciting next big thing.
America has always a land of opportunity but also there are contrasts, extremes and excesses evident to anyone who cares to pay attention. We elect people to govern us because they look good not because they have the credentials to pass the job interview. But one thing has never changed. America has a good heart filled with average people who do their routine things to make everything work. The buy things, including the CDs of downloads of their favorites musicians, watch the shows on TV, and buy all the products advertised. The buy the latest book from their favorite authors whether they stand in line at a book store or download it from an online source. And, thanks to the condition of the world we live in, their attention spans last about as long as the smell of a popcorn fart.
Fame has always been fleeting but perhaps never so much as it is today, with everyone vying for the publics attention. A lot of people want to be more than a flash-in-a-pan, overnight sensation serving a role as he or she fills 15 minutes of air time. In the shuffling madness of the greatest all time losers, the endless parade of pretty people pushing and shove for a moment in the spotlight, there are people like me who prefer to watch from the background. I'm content on the sideline watching the game, close enough to feel the action and smell the sweat but not about to jump into the game and possibly get hurt. It's that fear of being overly exposed or too greatly scrutinized that prevents us from being the stars that perhaps we were born to be.
There is a downside to fame. Unless you are made of stone it will burn you. Even then, it will blacken and scorch you. Still, you say you want to be famous. You think you can handle it? Recently I watched an interview with someone famous who probably said it just about right. All you can be is the best you can be at what you really want to do and if you're good enough at it you won't need a lot of the hype and nonsense because if you're good at what you do people will know. But you have to get out there and let your star shine.
I guess being famous meant something back when the famous had some personal standards, codes of ethics, or restrain on public social behavior. Now it appears to be 'cool' to be caught in the act of being stupid drunk or stoned in public. It's all publicity, isn't it. And we have all heard that any publicity is good publicity. Well, that is until the public becomes disgusted and moved on to tracking the next big thing. And thanks to the PR machines there is always a a new and briefly exciting next big thing.
America has always a land of opportunity but also there are contrasts, extremes and excesses evident to anyone who cares to pay attention. We elect people to govern us because they look good not because they have the credentials to pass the job interview. But one thing has never changed. America has a good heart filled with average people who do their routine things to make everything work. The buy things, including the CDs of downloads of their favorites musicians, watch the shows on TV, and buy all the products advertised. The buy the latest book from their favorite authors whether they stand in line at a book store or download it from an online source. And, thanks to the condition of the world we live in, their attention spans last about as long as the smell of a popcorn fart.
Fame has always been fleeting but perhaps never so much as it is today, with everyone vying for the publics attention. A lot of people want to be more than a flash-in-a-pan, overnight sensation serving a role as he or she fills 15 minutes of air time. In the shuffling madness of the greatest all time losers, the endless parade of pretty people pushing and shove for a moment in the spotlight, there are people like me who prefer to watch from the background. I'm content on the sideline watching the game, close enough to feel the action and smell the sweat but not about to jump into the game and possibly get hurt. It's that fear of being overly exposed or too greatly scrutinized that prevents us from being the stars that perhaps we were born to be.
There is a downside to fame. Unless you are made of stone it will burn you. Even then, it will blacken and scorch you. Still, you say you want to be famous. You think you can handle it? Recently I watched an interview with someone famous who probably said it just about right. All you can be is the best you can be at what you really want to do and if you're good enough at it you won't need a lot of the hype and nonsense because if you're good at what you do people will know. But you have to get out there and let your star shine.
March 10, 2014
Update on Fried Windows
It's official, the release date for Fried Windows (In A Light White Sauce) is set for May 30, 2014. As the excitement builds I have been toying with the idea of a prequel as well as a sequel. As some of my fans know, I have a number of books and several of them include Brent Woods, the main character in Fried Windows.
Brent is an alter ego for me in many ways, the guy I wasn't but could have been - not sure I would have wanted to be him, though. Like me, Brent grew up in west central Ohio, on a farm near South Charleston. He went away to college first in Indiana and then in Texas. Although there is a great deal of deviation from my actual life, there are parallels up to that point, at least... and some similarities. Like me Brent joins the Air Force and worked in military intelligence. Unlike me, a super secret government agency recruits Brent during college to enter a elite force of spies known as The Program.
How Brent connects into many of my other books is through his teenage friendship with a musician, Lee Anders Johnston. Lee first appears in One Over X. He marries Caroline Henderson, heir to Joseph Henderson's industrial empire and sister of Andrew L. Hunter, her adopted brother. Anyway, that is how Brent knows both Lee and Andy. Although Brent appears in One Over X, he is not a major character. However his role in the overall storyline of my fan sty worlds is significant.
Brent is a straddler. He is a hybrid humanoid who can exist in two worlds, one outside the veils of reality and one inside. Straddlers have dual existences and usually, early on in their lives, their connections tow both worlds is severed as each part of his or her internal nature becomes resolved and distinct.
Each part of a straddlers being is a different persona. In Brent's case, in the inside, or Inworld, he is Carlos, Lord of Bartoul. In the outside, or Outworld, he is Brent. In Fried Windows, Brent is a middle aged computer technician working for a retailer.
As the story begins he is delivering a computer system to an elderly lady named Mrs. Fields, who is not exactly who or what she seems to be. The confusion begins when Brent meets Lucy who claims to know him well and calls him Carlos, then seems disappointed that he doesn't remember her at all.
In the course of editing Fried Windows and working on a sequel it became clear to me that there is a lot of meat left on the bones of Brent's back story. And so I have decided to feather in a details of Brent's past relationship with Lucy, as Carlos of Bartoul, in the inside while also telling the story of Brent's early life as a seven and eight year old farm boy who originally went by his first name, Elliot.
For all the readers in the world, the telling of Brent's story will begin with Fried Windows, due out in a couple of months.
In other news, my second novel with Pandamoon Publishing, Becoming Thuperman, has a target release date of April 30, 2015. BT has only eh most tangential connection to the entire Brent saga. The idea came from one of my other manuscripts about Brent's first semester at college, when Brent claims to have been a cape less crusader who talks with a lisp. The only other connection with the rest of Brent's fantasy universe is the main BT character's mother who grew up with one of the subordinate characters in One Over X and The Wolfcat Chronicles, Terry Harper.
Becoming Thuperman is about a couple of eight year old kids, a boy named Will and a girl named Sandra, who are best friends spending a summer together in Normal, Illinois. It is also about a supposedly haunted house on their street where an old maid (presumed witch) and her brother live. The house is guarded by a vicious dog. And the story has a lot to do about making the local little league. In the course of the story Will and Sandra begin to discover their supper hero powers that help them not only in playing baseball but also in some very unexpected ways.
Brent is an alter ego for me in many ways, the guy I wasn't but could have been - not sure I would have wanted to be him, though. Like me, Brent grew up in west central Ohio, on a farm near South Charleston. He went away to college first in Indiana and then in Texas. Although there is a great deal of deviation from my actual life, there are parallels up to that point, at least... and some similarities. Like me Brent joins the Air Force and worked in military intelligence. Unlike me, a super secret government agency recruits Brent during college to enter a elite force of spies known as The Program.
How Brent connects into many of my other books is through his teenage friendship with a musician, Lee Anders Johnston. Lee first appears in One Over X. He marries Caroline Henderson, heir to Joseph Henderson's industrial empire and sister of Andrew L. Hunter, her adopted brother. Anyway, that is how Brent knows both Lee and Andy. Although Brent appears in One Over X, he is not a major character. However his role in the overall storyline of my fan sty worlds is significant.
Brent is a straddler. He is a hybrid humanoid who can exist in two worlds, one outside the veils of reality and one inside. Straddlers have dual existences and usually, early on in their lives, their connections tow both worlds is severed as each part of his or her internal nature becomes resolved and distinct.
Each part of a straddlers being is a different persona. In Brent's case, in the inside, or Inworld, he is Carlos, Lord of Bartoul. In the outside, or Outworld, he is Brent. In Fried Windows, Brent is a middle aged computer technician working for a retailer.
As the story begins he is delivering a computer system to an elderly lady named Mrs. Fields, who is not exactly who or what she seems to be. The confusion begins when Brent meets Lucy who claims to know him well and calls him Carlos, then seems disappointed that he doesn't remember her at all.
In the course of editing Fried Windows and working on a sequel it became clear to me that there is a lot of meat left on the bones of Brent's back story. And so I have decided to feather in a details of Brent's past relationship with Lucy, as Carlos of Bartoul, in the inside while also telling the story of Brent's early life as a seven and eight year old farm boy who originally went by his first name, Elliot.
For all the readers in the world, the telling of Brent's story will begin with Fried Windows, due out in a couple of months.
In other news, my second novel with Pandamoon Publishing, Becoming Thuperman, has a target release date of April 30, 2015. BT has only eh most tangential connection to the entire Brent saga. The idea came from one of my other manuscripts about Brent's first semester at college, when Brent claims to have been a cape less crusader who talks with a lisp. The only other connection with the rest of Brent's fantasy universe is the main BT character's mother who grew up with one of the subordinate characters in One Over X and The Wolfcat Chronicles, Terry Harper.
Becoming Thuperman is about a couple of eight year old kids, a boy named Will and a girl named Sandra, who are best friends spending a summer together in Normal, Illinois. It is also about a supposedly haunted house on their street where an old maid (presumed witch) and her brother live. The house is guarded by a vicious dog. And the story has a lot to do about making the local little league. In the course of the story Will and Sandra begin to discover their supper hero powers that help them not only in playing baseball but also in some very unexpected ways.
August 20, 2013
The Sick Uncle
When I was first learning Spanish in high school, Mr. Llanos was my teacher. He was an animated, 5'4" Cuban immigrant that bounced on the balls of his feet as he walked. The overall effect of him pacing back and forth across the front of the classroom reminded me of a little of a Jack Russell Terrier attempting to gain attention.
Mr. Llanos might have actually been 5'2" but he always combed his sparsely populated hairdo straight up from his balding crown, creating the illusion of an inch or two of additional height. Apparently that extra inch or two made all the difference for his ego. Despite his foibles he was one of the most positive, cheerful teachers I have ever had and it was a joy to be his student.
My sister, Genette had loved him as teacher when she had taken his course four years earlier. He was often entertaining and I enjoyed being in his classroom. He cared a lot about each of his students which is always an earmark of a good teacher.
That is not to say that everything about the course was perfect, though. There was at least one thing that he did that annoyed me a lot. He expected me to be as great at acquiring a foreign language as my sister had been. I was there in the house at night when Genette was taking his course. She was no linguistic prodigy. I witnessed first hand what she had to do to learn Spanish. She memorized vocabulary lists. She struggled, went back and started all over again until she had it right. It was perseverance more so than talent. She even asked me to quiz her, which required that I had to learn how to pronounce the words using Spanish phonetics, and this was my first experience with anything that was not English. Considering the troubles I had reading English it was amazing that I could even handle another language.
Still, in the process, I had learned a number of Spanish words a full 4 years prior to ever officially studying the language. As beneficial as that might seem, regrettably I did nothing with the gift of time. As I previously alluded to, when I was in the fifth grade I had enough trouble even coping with English. I really did not want to learn Spanish at all and sometimes found knowing some words a little bothersome, especially when the spelling of the words with common roots and origins was similar enough that I would forget which was correct for English.
Regardless, Mr. Llanos used to call of me because my sister was one of his best students ever and he expected me to have the very same genes that produced the excellent student that he had found in her. He was forever asking me to use a ‘palabra’ in a sentence, ‘en espanol.’
A few weeks into the course, I had exhausted the list of easy but acceptable statements and questions, such as: Yo escribo mi nombre en la papel; Quien Sabes?; No lo se; Tengo muy hambre; or Nosotros Somos Dios which I had acquired from a book title - The last one I’ll admit he had a few issues with.
After a few weeks I had used things I knew from quizzing my sister a few years before. He called upon me and I had to come up with something fast, something out of my essence and something out of my very limited knowledge of Spanish grammar.
What I am about to convey to you is what I came up with, and although I could say it fluently, he had obvious and major issues with it, as anyone fluent in the language might imagine. I believed innocently that I was saying something else about my Uncle being sick, but this is how it came out:
Mi tio es inferno pero el camino is verde.
Now that I know a little more Spanish, I consider what I came up with not only a piece of nonsense but also a bizarre work of art. Note that somehow in Spanish it looks a lot more sensible than the English translation that is, in part at least amusing.
My uncle is hell but the road is green.
Mr. Llanos might have actually been 5'2" but he always combed his sparsely populated hairdo straight up from his balding crown, creating the illusion of an inch or two of additional height. Apparently that extra inch or two made all the difference for his ego. Despite his foibles he was one of the most positive, cheerful teachers I have ever had and it was a joy to be his student.
My sister, Genette had loved him as teacher when she had taken his course four years earlier. He was often entertaining and I enjoyed being in his classroom. He cared a lot about each of his students which is always an earmark of a good teacher.
That is not to say that everything about the course was perfect, though. There was at least one thing that he did that annoyed me a lot. He expected me to be as great at acquiring a foreign language as my sister had been. I was there in the house at night when Genette was taking his course. She was no linguistic prodigy. I witnessed first hand what she had to do to learn Spanish. She memorized vocabulary lists. She struggled, went back and started all over again until she had it right. It was perseverance more so than talent. She even asked me to quiz her, which required that I had to learn how to pronounce the words using Spanish phonetics, and this was my first experience with anything that was not English. Considering the troubles I had reading English it was amazing that I could even handle another language.
Still, in the process, I had learned a number of Spanish words a full 4 years prior to ever officially studying the language. As beneficial as that might seem, regrettably I did nothing with the gift of time. As I previously alluded to, when I was in the fifth grade I had enough trouble even coping with English. I really did not want to learn Spanish at all and sometimes found knowing some words a little bothersome, especially when the spelling of the words with common roots and origins was similar enough that I would forget which was correct for English.
Regardless, Mr. Llanos used to call of me because my sister was one of his best students ever and he expected me to have the very same genes that produced the excellent student that he had found in her. He was forever asking me to use a ‘palabra’ in a sentence, ‘en espanol.’
A few weeks into the course, I had exhausted the list of easy but acceptable statements and questions, such as: Yo escribo mi nombre en la papel; Quien Sabes?; No lo se; Tengo muy hambre; or Nosotros Somos Dios which I had acquired from a book title - The last one I’ll admit he had a few issues with.
After a few weeks I had used things I knew from quizzing my sister a few years before. He called upon me and I had to come up with something fast, something out of my essence and something out of my very limited knowledge of Spanish grammar.
What I am about to convey to you is what I came up with, and although I could say it fluently, he had obvious and major issues with it, as anyone fluent in the language might imagine. I believed innocently that I was saying something else about my Uncle being sick, but this is how it came out:
Mi tio es inferno pero el camino is verde.
Now that I know a little more Spanish, I consider what I came up with not only a piece of nonsense but also a bizarre work of art. Note that somehow in Spanish it looks a lot more sensible than the English translation that is, in part at least amusing.
My uncle is hell but the road is green.
