Interview with main character from novel The Flesh Statue
Welcome to my blog. In my previous blog I spoke a lot about my novel The Flesh Statue. But someone felt neglected by how I wrote that blog. Bert. Bert is not just a main character in The Flesh Statue but he’s also a good friend of mine. So with that being said I agreed to have a little question and answer with Bert. But first a little background.
Bert does auto bodywork. It’s how he makes a living, but not too long ago business wasn’t doing so well. He had to damage cars himself just to get them into his shop.
So I got a chance to sit down with Bert and this is how that conversation went.
Me: So how are you?
Bert: Depends.
Me: Good to hear. How’s Marie?
Bert: My girlfriend? About to be my wife.
Me: Wow. Nobody’s perfect.
Bert: What?
Me: So let’s talk about how you helped your business.
Bert: Of course. That’s what I’m here for. Free advertisement, right?
Me: Right.
Bert: It’s pretty simple. Society is really built on supply and demand, at least around here. What I did was, I created the demand. If I want to fix cars then I needed to make more cars to fix.
Me: So exactly what did you do?
Bert: Well, this is what I did. I found a nice neighborhood and then waited till they were asleep and I spray-painted on their cars or dinged their car doors, kicked out a light or something. Something they could get fixed real quick. I didn’t want to stop them from going to work. If they stopped going to work then I couldn’t get paid.
Me: How did that work out for you?
Bert: Business got pretty good. I hired some help.
Me: You do a lot of poetry.
Bert: Not so much anymore.
Me: What was your inspiration when you were doing it?
Bert: People. Things that were going on in my life. I wanted to be the voice of my community, on some level.
Me: And what was that voice saying?
Bert: The city is ours.
Me: Like it’s mine and yours or…
Bert: Don’t even start. You sound like Marie.
Me: You going to do a little poem for us?
Bert: No. (Here is a link to some of Bert's poetry http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/5...)
Me: I thought you were.
Bert: Moving on.
Me: You’re going to be shy during an interview?
Bert: Moving on.
Me: Do I dare bring up the other subject.
Bert: What’s the other one?
Me: How are you doing with the alcohol?
Bert: (A deep breath here) I’m doing good, I think. I wouldn’t call myself an addict but I can’t drink.
Me: And why is that?
Bert: Because I love Marie. In a nutshell that’s it. I know you want to put me on the spot but that’s it. I love my girl. Period.
Me: Well said, good friend.
Bert: Thank you.
Me: At some point you met Langley Jackson. He grew up a lot since you first met him. Could you tell us a little about him?
Bert: I inspired him I think. He changed so much from the time we first met him. He’s a good kid. I wish him all the luck.
Me: Well with friends like you who needs…
Bert: Whoa whoa whoa.
Me: You have to remember that time at the poetry reading. What you did to him.
Bert: Yeah, that was special.
Me: Want to tell the audience?
Bert: No, but I will anyway. Myself, Cinci and Langley used to go to this poetry reading every here and there. When you were popular enough the audience had sort of a chant they did when you came to the stage. For instance, mine was Beeee Beeee Beeee. They said it like that until I got started. Fun stuff. So I told Langley to call himself Boo because nobody knew who he was yet. He was like a ghost, I told him. So for the longest time he got booed off the stage. It went right to his mental, I think. Messed him all up. Good times.
Me: Would he think so?
Bert: No, but that’s just a matter of opinion.
Me: Good to rap with you Bert.
Bert: That’s it?
Me: That’s it. Any last words?
Bert: As a matter of fact… Always be having a revolution.
Me: That’s new.
Bert: Have a revolution. Whatever you’re doing, do it so well that they have to change the rules. Be the example and then turn it on its head, whatever it is. Always be in the process of revolutionizing.
Me: I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for your time.
Bert: Thanks for having me.
If you want to learn more about Bert feel free to connect as friends with me. Or dare I say it, you can order the book.
http://ulharper.com/
Bert does auto bodywork. It’s how he makes a living, but not too long ago business wasn’t doing so well. He had to damage cars himself just to get them into his shop.
So I got a chance to sit down with Bert and this is how that conversation went.
Me: So how are you?
Bert: Depends.
Me: Good to hear. How’s Marie?
Bert: My girlfriend? About to be my wife.
Me: Wow. Nobody’s perfect.
Bert: What?
Me: So let’s talk about how you helped your business.
Bert: Of course. That’s what I’m here for. Free advertisement, right?
Me: Right.
Bert: It’s pretty simple. Society is really built on supply and demand, at least around here. What I did was, I created the demand. If I want to fix cars then I needed to make more cars to fix.
Me: So exactly what did you do?
Bert: Well, this is what I did. I found a nice neighborhood and then waited till they were asleep and I spray-painted on their cars or dinged their car doors, kicked out a light or something. Something they could get fixed real quick. I didn’t want to stop them from going to work. If they stopped going to work then I couldn’t get paid.
Me: How did that work out for you?
Bert: Business got pretty good. I hired some help.
Me: You do a lot of poetry.
Bert: Not so much anymore.
Me: What was your inspiration when you were doing it?
Bert: People. Things that were going on in my life. I wanted to be the voice of my community, on some level.
Me: And what was that voice saying?
Bert: The city is ours.
Me: Like it’s mine and yours or…
Bert: Don’t even start. You sound like Marie.
Me: You going to do a little poem for us?
Bert: No. (Here is a link to some of Bert's poetry http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/5...)
Me: I thought you were.
Bert: Moving on.
Me: You’re going to be shy during an interview?
Bert: Moving on.
Me: Do I dare bring up the other subject.
Bert: What’s the other one?
Me: How are you doing with the alcohol?
Bert: (A deep breath here) I’m doing good, I think. I wouldn’t call myself an addict but I can’t drink.
Me: And why is that?
Bert: Because I love Marie. In a nutshell that’s it. I know you want to put me on the spot but that’s it. I love my girl. Period.
Me: Well said, good friend.
Bert: Thank you.
Me: At some point you met Langley Jackson. He grew up a lot since you first met him. Could you tell us a little about him?
Bert: I inspired him I think. He changed so much from the time we first met him. He’s a good kid. I wish him all the luck.
Me: Well with friends like you who needs…
Bert: Whoa whoa whoa.
Me: You have to remember that time at the poetry reading. What you did to him.
Bert: Yeah, that was special.
Me: Want to tell the audience?
Bert: No, but I will anyway. Myself, Cinci and Langley used to go to this poetry reading every here and there. When you were popular enough the audience had sort of a chant they did when you came to the stage. For instance, mine was Beeee Beeee Beeee. They said it like that until I got started. Fun stuff. So I told Langley to call himself Boo because nobody knew who he was yet. He was like a ghost, I told him. So for the longest time he got booed off the stage. It went right to his mental, I think. Messed him all up. Good times.
Me: Would he think so?
Bert: No, but that’s just a matter of opinion.
Me: Good to rap with you Bert.
Bert: That’s it?
Me: That’s it. Any last words?
Bert: As a matter of fact… Always be having a revolution.
Me: That’s new.
Bert: Have a revolution. Whatever you’re doing, do it so well that they have to change the rules. Be the example and then turn it on its head, whatever it is. Always be in the process of revolutionizing.
Me: I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for your time.
Bert: Thanks for having me.
If you want to learn more about Bert feel free to connect as friends with me. Or dare I say it, you can order the book.
http://ulharper.com/
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Renee
(new)
Jan 16, 2010 05:15AM
I like this, funny and I am intrigued by Bert. What a great way to introduce readers to your book and it's characters. I may steal this idea, with my own characters of course. Not yours, I don't know them well enough to interview them.
reply
|
flag
U.L. I enjoyed your interview with Bert. I did a similar thing when it was taking so long getting my book out. I brought Mr. Bradley in for an interview. Someone else picked up the idea and that's a good thing. Keeps the waiting for your book to drop from dragging. Keep writing, new friend.
