Brian’s Comments (group member since Jan 30, 2014)

Brian’s comments from the Q&A with Brian Lageose group.

Hi, Gabriel. Yes, it has been a bit lonely, but that's how it goes sometimes with these things.

As for Dickens, I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't read much of his work since my teen years. It's not that I have avoided his books, it's just the way things played out over time.

Slightly-amusing little anecdote: I read "Great Expectations" while riding on the back of my Dad's motorcycle during a lengthy, multi-state trip one summer. I would prop the book on his back, gripping it tightly to keep the wind from wreaking havoc on the pages. It was great being able to read a very interesting passage, and then reflect on the words as I enjoyed the scenery of Colorado and New Mexico and other states, all in the open air.

Sadly, the wind finally triumphed over the battered paperback, and I never got to read the end of the story because the binding suddenly split and the last chunk of the book went flying off to parts unknown. I'm sure some stranger behind us was gifted with a surprise present on their windshield. Oops...

And I'll kick things off with this:

"The Witching Hour" - Anne Rice

This is Anne at the peak of her creativity. The story is so richly layered, and crammed with detail, that I find new things every time I read it. A fascinating story, a house with many secrets, and New Orleans. What more could you want?

Name a book that you have re-read many times over the years. Add a short blurb about why (if you feel inspired to do so) or not (if you don't want the NSA recording your interests and then stalking you at a book-signing event).

And the book is now available on Amazon. (Yay!) Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Unexpected-Wetn...

Well, I guess it would help things out if I actually included a link to the book. (Sometimes the small but important things just whip right by me...):

Screaming in Paris

Hi Tiffany,

Well, as clichéd as it sounds, I’ve always known that I wanted to be a writer, ever since I had a vague grasp of what that might mean. When I was in elementary school, I would take an existing book and rewrite the parts that I didn’t really care for, making it my own. (So I guess I also wanted to be an editor when I grew up.) When I was 12, I wrote my first “book”, something that was probably terrible (I no longer have a copy of it) but I was very earnest about the process. I had a fan base that consisted solely of my Aunt Monica, with the rest of the family being content that I was staying busy and out of their way.

In junior high, I had the double epiphanies of working for the school newspaper and having an English teacher, Myrna Campbell, who seriously championed my writing. Both of these experiences cemented my vocational aspirations and gave me the confidence to pursue them. At the age of 16, I wrote another book, a maudlin and naïve “coming of age” story that served as therapy for the typical teenage angst I was experiencing at the time. The original of this book has also departed the earth, after a startling incident involving a vindictive roommate in my early Twenties. (I lost nearly everything I had written up to that point, something that still cuts at me, but you have to move on.)

During the glory days of college, where I was thrilled on a daily basis to be taking classes with other people who wanted to be writers (just like me!), I wrote constantly, every day, all the time. I was convinced that I would soon be living life as a published author (possibly in Paris!), it was only a matter of time.

But time had other plans in mind. Despite reveling in the creative environment of college, I was very unhappy on a personal level. (Translation: I was in the closet. In Oklahoma. In 1985.) So despite my full understanding that I should stay persistent with my goals, I left school and fled to Dallas to “find myself”, and I never found my way back to getting a degree or a job that I really wanted. Instead I took a mundane job, because there are bills to pay, and I kept working at that job, because you become complacent with a steady income, a reality that has happened to so many people who stumble in their educational pursuits.

Years passed. I would scribble something out from time to time, and my job transitioned to a training capacity where I produced my own materials, so at least I did have a minimal outlet for my urge to wordsmith. And I even wrote another book, around 1992 or so, but I gave up on that one after a single rejection letter. I was so busy with work, struggling to move ahead in a career that I didn’t even want. Part of me was dormant for a very long time.

Then in 2008, a very good friend pulled me aside and said. “You aren’t doing what you want to do. You should write a blog.”

And here we are…

"Bonnywood Manor" is the collective name of all the writing, blogging and social-media efforts that I have been working on over the years. (It's also the name of the tiny publishing company, employee count of 1, that I created for business purposes.) In the coming days, I will be posting separate topics about each of these efforts, so you can peruse them and see if something catches your eye...

"The Sound and the Fury" is the original site where I took my first baby steps in the world of blogging. It has been my main blog for many years, but I have been ignoring lately as I work on other projects. Still, there are hundreds of posts still available for your viewing pleasure.

Here's the link: http://lageose.blogspot.com/

This is where you can ask questions about my newest book, "Unexpected Wetness",which is on the verge of release. (Stay tuned!) I'm fairly certain what the first question will be, but I'll let some questioning soul ask it before I launch into an explanation...

Here is where you can ask all of your burning questions about my first book, "Screaming in Paris". Who is screaming? Why are they screaming? Why don't they go some place where they wouldn't be compelled to scream? Did anybody get to drink any good wine during all the screaming?

Thanks for dropping by. As you can probably surmise, this is a new group and things are a bit dusty and under construction, but feel free to poke around and get a feel for things. And ask questions. Lots of them. Otherwise, this group stops being a Q&A and just becomes my diary... ;)