Interview with Crystal Smith-Connelly
1. Tell us something about yourself that is *not* in your bio?
My favorite author is Linwood Barclay, my favorite playwright is Steve Martin, my favorite TV show is Arrested Development, my favorite movie is Cannibal!: The Musical, and my favorite band is Flight of the Conchords. : )
2. Did you always plan on writing?
Yes. I’ve loved writing since I was a kid, and I used to want to be a singer-songwriter…but then I wrote my first play and realized that I had the ability to make people laugh, so I took some playwriting classes in college and loved writing plays so much that I wanted to do it for a living.
3. What type of food is your favorite? Does it ever make an appearance in your writing?
Greek food is my favorite, but it’s never made an appearance in my writing…you’d think it would’ve since I’ve written a bunch of plays about Greek mythology.
4. What book has most influenced you as a whole person, not as a writer?
This is a hard one…I could tell you without even thinking which books have influenced me as a writer (Lamb by Christopher Moore and Naked Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart, to name a few), but I really had to think about this one. I guess the best answer would be Me of Little Faith by Lewis Black…I can’t think of any book that I’ve related to as much as that one, and anyone who has read my sacrilegious plays probably wouldn’t be surprised by that.
5. Do you prefer noise when you write, such as music or activity, or do you prefer to write in silence?
I usually write in front of the TV while something funny is on.
6. How does your family feel about your writing?
The family members who have read my writing like it, and most of my family bought For I Am Zeus, my first book, pretty soon after it was published. My relatives who go to church probably wouldn’t like my second book too much. ; )
7. Do you do any traveling for your writing?
I traveled to Maryland to see my ten-minute play, “Never Trust an Angel,” performed at Cecil College, and I went to Los Angeles to see my one-act play “Godly Acres” at the Edgemar Center for the Arts. I’m going to the UFO Festival in Roswell, New Mexico next month, and even though it’s just part of my vacation, I’m hoping it will inspire me to write a new play.
8. What is your favorite piece that you have ever written?
“Godly Acres”…it’s a play about Greek gods in group therapy, and it was so much fun to write! After I saw it performed in L.A., I wrote a sequel with the goddesses, and I had fun writing that too.
9. Do you stick to one genre when you write, or several? What genre(s)?
Just one: humor. I want to spend my life making people laugh.
10. Do you have a favorite character in your most recent release? Who is it?
Satan is my favorite character in Never Trust an Angel and Other Plays…in the book, he’s not the evil guy that most people think of when they picture the devil. The worst thing he’s ever done is lead a revolt against God because he was fed up with the way God treated him; Satan is a man who loves his family, cares about education (he’s the head of Hell University and hopes that his overachieving son will want to get his college education there), and has just found out that his wife has been keeping a huge secret from him. And like most people, Satan really hates Hitler…but unfortunately he can’t avoid him as much as he’d like since they both live in Hell.
11. Are you working on anything now?
I’m rewriting Satan!: The Musical. I wrote it in college, and then a few years later, I wrote a non-musical version of it where I changed a few of the characters…so now I’m working on merging the two versions of the play and making the songs longer.
12. Any advice for aspiring writers and fellow authors before you go?
Never play it safe. Write what you want to write, and don’t worry about who might be offended by it. (What other advice would you expect from the woman who wrote a musical about Satan?). ; )
~*~
Extras About Crystal Smith-Connelly
"I'm a playwright from Charleston, SC and the author of For I Am Zeus: A Collection of Plays About Greek Mythology (which was voted Best Comedy Book of 2012 in the Turning the Pages Book of the Year contest) and Never Trust an Angel and Other Plays. Never Trust an Angel and Other Plays is dedicated to Catherine Hicks and Tasha Lucia, two wonderful women who were taken from us too soon, and one dollar from every copy of the book sold will be donated to the SC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in their honor." - Crystal Smith-Connelly
~*~
Find Crystal Smith-Connelly
WebsiteAmazonFacebookTwitter
~*~
Tweet About It
RT Playwright Crystal Smith-Connelly @playwrightcms stopped by for an interview with @AuthorSAJones! Check it out at: http://ow.ly/milop
My favorite author is Linwood Barclay, my favorite playwright is Steve Martin, my favorite TV show is Arrested Development, my favorite movie is Cannibal!: The Musical, and my favorite band is Flight of the Conchords. : )
2. Did you always plan on writing?
Yes. I’ve loved writing since I was a kid, and I used to want to be a singer-songwriter…but then I wrote my first play and realized that I had the ability to make people laugh, so I took some playwriting classes in college and loved writing plays so much that I wanted to do it for a living.
3. What type of food is your favorite? Does it ever make an appearance in your writing?
Greek food is my favorite, but it’s never made an appearance in my writing…you’d think it would’ve since I’ve written a bunch of plays about Greek mythology.
4. What book has most influenced you as a whole person, not as a writer?
This is a hard one…I could tell you without even thinking which books have influenced me as a writer (Lamb by Christopher Moore and Naked Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart, to name a few), but I really had to think about this one. I guess the best answer would be Me of Little Faith by Lewis Black…I can’t think of any book that I’ve related to as much as that one, and anyone who has read my sacrilegious plays probably wouldn’t be surprised by that.
5. Do you prefer noise when you write, such as music or activity, or do you prefer to write in silence?
I usually write in front of the TV while something funny is on.
6. How does your family feel about your writing?
The family members who have read my writing like it, and most of my family bought For I Am Zeus, my first book, pretty soon after it was published. My relatives who go to church probably wouldn’t like my second book too much. ; )
7. Do you do any traveling for your writing?
I traveled to Maryland to see my ten-minute play, “Never Trust an Angel,” performed at Cecil College, and I went to Los Angeles to see my one-act play “Godly Acres” at the Edgemar Center for the Arts. I’m going to the UFO Festival in Roswell, New Mexico next month, and even though it’s just part of my vacation, I’m hoping it will inspire me to write a new play.
8. What is your favorite piece that you have ever written?
“Godly Acres”…it’s a play about Greek gods in group therapy, and it was so much fun to write! After I saw it performed in L.A., I wrote a sequel with the goddesses, and I had fun writing that too.
9. Do you stick to one genre when you write, or several? What genre(s)?
Just one: humor. I want to spend my life making people laugh.
10. Do you have a favorite character in your most recent release? Who is it?
Satan is my favorite character in Never Trust an Angel and Other Plays…in the book, he’s not the evil guy that most people think of when they picture the devil. The worst thing he’s ever done is lead a revolt against God because he was fed up with the way God treated him; Satan is a man who loves his family, cares about education (he’s the head of Hell University and hopes that his overachieving son will want to get his college education there), and has just found out that his wife has been keeping a huge secret from him. And like most people, Satan really hates Hitler…but unfortunately he can’t avoid him as much as he’d like since they both live in Hell.
11. Are you working on anything now?
I’m rewriting Satan!: The Musical. I wrote it in college, and then a few years later, I wrote a non-musical version of it where I changed a few of the characters…so now I’m working on merging the two versions of the play and making the songs longer.
12. Any advice for aspiring writers and fellow authors before you go?
Never play it safe. Write what you want to write, and don’t worry about who might be offended by it. (What other advice would you expect from the woman who wrote a musical about Satan?). ; )
~*~
Extras About Crystal Smith-Connelly
"I'm a playwright from Charleston, SC and the author of For I Am Zeus: A Collection of Plays About Greek Mythology (which was voted Best Comedy Book of 2012 in the Turning the Pages Book of the Year contest) and Never Trust an Angel and Other Plays. Never Trust an Angel and Other Plays is dedicated to Catherine Hicks and Tasha Lucia, two wonderful women who were taken from us too soon, and one dollar from every copy of the book sold will be donated to the SC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in their honor." - Crystal Smith-Connelly
~*~
Find Crystal Smith-Connelly
WebsiteAmazonFacebookTwitter
~*~
Tweet About It
RT Playwright Crystal Smith-Connelly @playwrightcms stopped by for an interview with @AuthorSAJones! Check it out at: http://ow.ly/milop
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