INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR OF "BEATITUDE", LARRY CLOSS

Thank you Larry for allowing us to interview you. I have to say, you are a mysterious man. I looked at your bio on your site and there was only one sentence about you so I hope I can get a bit more from this interview. Now, in that one sentence I was able to form my first question. Where have you traveled in your lifetime and tell us some of the things you've seen and done.
My travels began right after college, when I drove cross-country with a couple of friends and camped every night along the way for six weeks. I hadn’t read On the Road by Jack Kerouac at that point, but, in retrospect, it was a very On the Road experience—“all that road going, and all the people dreaming in the immensity of it”—and inspired a desire to see the world.

Since then, my travels have been divided, in a manner of speaking, between cities and mountains, and nearly always in other countries. There are few experiences I find more exhilarating than waking up in a place that is completely foreign in every respect—culture, customs, food, transportation, architecture, language, landscape, electrical outlets. To that end, I’ve traveled in Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Nepal.

Spain is a favorite in the “cities” column, for the art, the food, the pace of life and the company I keep when I go there. The Costa del Sol, the Alhambra, the Albayzin of Granada and Gaudi plus fresh chocolate croissants, café con leche and Choco Clack ice cream bars—it doesn’t get any better than that.

Cambodia and Nepal are “mountain” favorites. I spent a week exploring the ruined, breathtaking temples of Angkor Wat, including the rarely visited Beng Mealea, which is several hours from the main complex, way out in the jungle. A friend and I were the only two there at the time, avoiding snakes and “Danger: Mines” signs while imagining ourselves as the first-ever explorers to stumble upon the magnificent remains of a lost civilization.

Nepal holds a special place in my heart. I’ve been there three times and spent several months trekking in the Himalaya through Langtang, Gosainkunda and Helambu as well as the Annapurna Circuit. I’ve also visited Nepal’s most remote region, Humla, which is accessible only by foot or by plane. I went there to shoot photos and videos for Next Generation Nepal, a nonprofit that reconnects trafficked children with their families, where I serve as Director of Communications.

When I’m not traveling, I’m in New York, which is as close as you can get to experiencing what it’s like to be on the road even when you’re not.

As for my professional background, I have been a national writer, editor, photographer and videographer for nearly 20 years at News Corporation, TimeWarner, Hearst and Viacom. At Gesso, a communication design studio I co-founded, I worked with clients that included Sony, Estee Lauder, Smithsonian Institution, USAID, National Cancer Institute and the NBA. I’ve also produced digital shorts for the Travel Channel and co-produced two mobile apps.

Tell us about your novel, what was your inspiration for "Beatitude" and how did you come to write the story?

Beatitude began as a story about two young men, Harry and Jay, who become fast friends over their shared fascination for the unfettered lives of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and the Beat Generation. The book was inspired by own love of the Beats and the coincidental spike in their popularity in the mid-90s, when Beatitude is set. As the book evolved, so did Harry and Jay, and their relationship. Jay’s girlfriend, Zahra, took on a larger, surprising role. When the parallels between the entanglements of the Beats and Beatitude’s main characters became apparent, the Beats themselves entered the picture and became characters in their own right.

I live in New York City and I was lucky to be able to set Beatitude there. New York is instantly familiar to nearly everyone on the planet and instantly epic at the same time. Nearly every book, movie or television show that’s set in New York has an air of verisimilitude, which is something I wanted to convey. I’ve always loved books that blend fact and fiction, especially in New York, to create a sort of hyper-reality—Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin, Forever by Pete Hamill. You want to believe that they really happened, or could have happened, and that makes the story and the characters more identifiable.

Who are some of your inspirations in the literary world?

Beatitude might lead you to believe that the Beats are a major influence, and while I’ve read just about everything they’ve written—as well as most of what’s been written about them—in the end, they inspired me not to write like them but to write, period. That said, my inspirations and interests vary widely. I love modern fiction, creative nonfiction and adventure. I recently read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson—incredibly compelling biographies brought to life by years of intense research. I could imagine just how much work went into each based on the amount of research I did about the Beats for Beatitude.

A modern novel that continues to resonate is Life of Pi by Yann Martel, which I read a few years ago. In the book, Pi, the young narrator, tells two versions of the same story, one fantastic, the other dull. When asked which is true, he replies, “Which is the better story?” With Beatitude, I set out to write a book that discovered truths in everyday life, but I discovered that everyday life can always be improved upon and Pi’s message really guided me—tell the better story.

Have you begun to write on a new project and if so what is it about?

There’s a file on my laptop but that’s all I will say. I don’t like to talk about writing projects until I at least have a first draft. For me, writing is a process of exploration and I don’t always know which path I will take or where a path will lead until I follow it. When I do, I may discover that I need to go back and take another path—“the one less traveled by.” It may take me several drafts of a manuscript before I even know what it’s about, or what it could be about, and I want to know that before I show it to anyone else.

Tell us a bit about the cover art for "Beatitude" and what was the inspiration for that.

Every author imagines what the cover of his or her book might look like. In most cases, it’s the first visual representation of all the purely conceptual work that went into writing the book. I’m not an illustrator or a designer, but I co-owned a design studio for several years and have a design sensibility. To get ideas for the cover of Beatitude, I studied thousand of covers on websites like Book Cover Archive. I also visited bookstores, stared at walls and tables of books and noted which ones caught my eye. I wasn’t trying to come up with a design, just an approach.

A friend put me in touch with Anthony Freda, an incredible artist and illustrator whose work has appeared in Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Esquire, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, Playboy and many others. Anthony read Beatitude, liked it and agreed to do the cover. He asked me if I had anything in particular in mind. I said only that I preferred covers that were simple, iconic and graphic. We talked about some of the book’s key elements and images. Anthony latched onto the cat and the subway token and combined them with a distressed-paper background and grungy typography to create an intriguing, eye-popping cover that is simultaneously classic and contemporary.

Another amazing designer, John Barrow, created the equally important spine and back cover, which features a reverse image of the cat on the front cover—the yin to the yang that figuratively reflects Beatitude’s two main characters, Harry and Jay. John also pointed out just how perfect the image of the cat and the subway token are: Short of a Buddha, nothing but a contented cat could better represent a state of beatitude. And nothing conjures New York City—and the journey that Harry and Jay undertake—like a subway token.

I am thrilled with the cover and eternally grateful to Anthony and John for illuminating the intangible and making it look magnificent.

What is your all time favorite book, if you had to choose just one?

Like everyone, I have many favorites and the list changes with every new book I read. I’m not sure I could pick just one but, in line with Beatitude, I would say that one of my all-time favorites continues to be On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Certain elements are dated and what was once provocative—an experimental attitude toward drugs, sex, relationships and religion, as well as a rejection of materialism and middle-class conformity—might now seem much less so. But the joy of seeing the world for the first time and the sheer elation of experience for experience sake continues to captivate.

Do you have any wisdom you'd like to share with other authors?

The best advice I can give, besides “Don’t give up,” is “Don’t get too attached.” Ask for feedback from those whose opinions you value and trust—and listen to them. An editor friend suggested cuts to Beatitude that I ignored for far too long because I was too attached to certain sentences, sections and paragraphs. “But that’s some of my best work!” I protested. When I finally did agree to the cuts, scenes that crawled suddenly took off, dialogue buried in too much exposition suddenly snapped and the barely interesting became intriguing. A tough lesson to learn and one that I will definitely never forget.

Give us your links, let us know where to find your book.

My site—www.larrycloss.com—is the best place for everything you’d like to know about Beatitude: News, reviews, readings, the book trailer, my Instagram photos. You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram (@larrycloss). Beatitude is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Rebel Satori Press,and multiple independent and international booksellers through AbeBooks..

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INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR OF "THE KURE", JAYE FRANCES

Hello Jaye, thank you again for the opportunity to interview you. My first question has to do with your work at the NUSA SUN Magazine. You are a featured columnist there, what do you cover in your articles?

I’ve been contributing to the NUSA SUN magazine since it was launched nearly 2-1/2 years ago. The magazine is published monthly in Florida and distributed internationally, partnering with other publications in the UK. It’s been a rewarding experience, allowing me to share inspiring stories based on real-life experiences of people I’ve known and met.

A half-dozen of my articles from the NUSA SUN can be found on my website (www.jayefrances.com), and I’ll be releasing a collection of my favorite stories from the magazine in the near future, tentatively titled, “Straight From The Heart.”


You have a book which is the first in a series called "The Kure" can you tell us a bit more about this series and if you have an idea already of how many books you plan to do?

The Kure began life as a novella, originally to be included in a collection of similar genre short stories. But as I began to combine characters, setting, and circumstances, the story became much more compelling, giving birth to The Kure series.

There are currently three books planned, however the main characters, John and Sarah, have been grumbling about a fourth . . . they are quite a persistent pair.


From reading your bio it sounds as though you have always had your own opinions and have been rather independent. How do you think being open-minded has helped you in your chosen profession?

Since my life’s destination has been the result of rebellion, I often wonder what might have become of me if I had been raised in a hippie commune, surrounded by free spirits and wandering gypsies. Perhaps instead of paranormal/occult fiction and romance, I’d be writing annual reports for a Fortune 500 company.

I’m fortunate to be blessed with an over-dose of indulgent curiosity that’s directly hard-wired to an obsessive imagination. I find a story in nearly everything: I’ll watch a flock of birds take roost on an overhead telephone line, and wonder if they’re drones from some backwoods military offshoot, or perhaps the watchful eyes from a mothership looming behind a lightning-fired thunderhead; I’ll sift through clothing at the local Goodwill, imagining I’ll find a secret note or letter tucked in a pocket of designer jeans, a hand-written litany of love that will never be expressed or shared, perhaps breaking a heart or ending a life; I pick up a tomato at the local farmer’s market, and wonder if it’s been tainted with alien spores, it’s seeds ready to impregnate me with a cuddly six-eyed beast that I’ll wind up raising in my basement. By imagining a single situation—a scene that is touching, scary, or humorous—I ask myself what might happen next. And what happened before? In this way, my stories evolve in a more-or-less natural way—both forward and back.


You also enjoy cooking, do you have a favorite recipe you'd like to share with our readers perhaps?

One of my passions is cooking, and there’s nothing more enjoyable than looking through my cabinets and pantry to gather an assortment of items from which to create the perfect meal. Rather than following a specific recipe or precisely measuring each ingredient, I prefer to “feel” my way through an entree or dish, personalizing it with a little creativity and imagination. I’m told I come by this trait honestly, inheriting it from the previous three generations of women in my family.

I have many favorite recipes, but the one that I absolutely love preparing (and eating!) also happens to be my husband’s most requested dish—Pasta. So here it is—feel free to tailor it to your own tastes, keeping in mind that the next time I make it, I’ll be doing the same.

Pick your favorite type of pasta noodle (linguini, angel hair, rigatoni, ziti) and boil in a pan of water with a tablespoon (give or take) of virgin olive oil. My favorite is penne, but I also have a special place in my heart for good old-fashioned thin spaghetti.

Cut up some fresh veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, onion, whatever’s lurking in your fresh storage bin) and sauté with chopped garlic in virgin olive oil until heated through but still a little crisp. Add a little oregano or basil while cooking.

If you want to include protein, you can add some chicken or shrimp. Cut into small pieces and, in a separate pan, sauté in fresh garlic with virgin olive oil, adding spices at will.

I usually prepare a white cheese sauce with some, or all, or the following ingredients:

Slice or shave some romano, parmesan, mozzarella, provolone, ricotta cheese—combine in a blender and grind until you have small/fine pieces. In a medium size pan, heat milk or cream, adding butter, olive oil and salt, and stir in the cheeses until you have a creamy consistency. Add spices (oregano, basil, rosemary, pepper) and water or more milk until you have the consistency you prefer. (Sorry I can’t be more specific with quantities, but it all depends on what’s in the fridge and how it develops . . . )

Okay, time to throw it together! Drain and rinse the pasta. Put a serving on the plates and pour a little bit of sauce on top. Mix the veggies with the meat or fish, and spoon a good portion on the noodles. Add more sauce, and sprinkle with some grated mozzarella (or parmesan, whichever is your favorite). Then serve with a piece of toasty garlic bread and a smile!

(Hint: I always make enough for leftovers. Combine ingredients as above and put in a freezer-proof container. And yes, it always tastes better the second time . . . )

When you travel to tropical environments, which ones are your favorites and where are some places you have been?

The majority of my vacations over the last twenty years have been to the Caribbean, and although I didn’t realize it at the time, I was looking for my favorite island. I found it in St. Martin. Although the scenery, beaches, and weather are second to none, it’s the people who won me over. The island is half-Dutch and half-French, and the residents are some of the friendliest on the planet. For me there’s no better place to rest and recharge. In fact, a large part of The Kure was written there. My favorite spots on the island are Baie Rouge beach and Orient Bay, both on the French side.


It seems you are quite a shoe shopper, do you think this is really only a female trait or do you think that men can be just as bad when it comes to shoes?

I’d have to speculate that it’s most likely a singularly female trait—no doubt the result of some quirky twist in our DNA. My husband had long given up trying to understand the relationship between shoes and female chromosomes, until one day I explained the compulsion as part of an inseparable trifecta—a love for shoes, an insatiable desire for chocolate, and the ability to flawlessly apply make-up while driving. He’s never asked me about it since.

I love the fact that your series is set in the 1860's, being a great lover of history it's always makes me happy to see authors take that leap and go back in time rather than forward. What was the inspiration for writing your series around this time period?

One of the most frequent questions I’ve been asked to date is how I developed the concept for The Kure series. First, I wanted to write a love story that fit into the paranormal romance genre—but with a twist. Rather than immediately plunging the reader into an unnatural world populated with the genre-requisite vampires, werewolves, and other genetic misfits, I wanted the setting and characters to be of more conventional origins, and based on some degree of historical accuracy—in other words, a story that could have actually happened.

Setting the story in 1868 Kentucky gave me the opportunity to draw from a large documented undercurrent of sorcery and witchcraft, which in turn, offered a glimpse into the mindset of an alternative minority— the same group of people who would have believed in demonic-based healing. This provided a fertile backdrop to discretely introduce the influence of druidic warlocks and the practice of red magic, a theme that will have an expanded impact on the characters and their actions in the next book in the series, The Karetakers.

Do you allow your spouse to critique your work?

I’m extremely lucky (and grateful) to have a talented and resourceful husband who not only supports my career, but also plays a very active part in its success. I value and trust his objective and honest opinions. And equally important, he calms me back to sleep when I wake up screaming from nightmares after spending the day working on a particularly frightening or gruesome scene.

I know you can't tell us exactly what 'The Kure' is in your books but if you had to use just one word as a hint what would it be?

Before I answer this one, I hope you’ll indulge me in unveiling some background. Although it was my intent to keep the specifics of the Kure a secret, I’m afraid the cat is out of the bag. This was one of those most-often-asked questions from so many readers who wanted to know more about the inspiration, influences, and origin of the ancient manuscript of healing—the Kure—and the ritual taken from its pages.

From the beginning, my goal in writing The Kure was to open a long-locked door, hoping to provide a revealing look inside a huge room filled with superstition and ignorance. I wanted the ritual and the spells associated with curing John’s malady to be portrayed as accurately as possible. Bottom line, the ritual’s source and relevance—albeit a dark one—has a very real place in history, with derivations contained in satanic texts used by practitioners of the occult.

So, just one word? Hmmmm . . .I’d probably say sinister, or evil. No wait, what I meant to say was dark-hearted. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

Is there any advice you'd like to share with other authors, and please leave us your links so we can find out more about you and keep up with what you're writing next!

Allow your imagination to take you to places that are uncomfortable, unsettling, or rarely visited. It is from those unexplored and often disturbing realms that the most incredible tales are born . . . and they’re just waiting to be written.

Thank you, Kitty, for the thought-provoking questions! The following links have lots more information, including updates on new releases, and excerpts from The Kure and my upcoming books, The Possibilities of Amy, a novella about a high school senior’s love-at-first-sight experience, and Journeys From Above and Below the Belt, a collection of adult fiction novellas and short stories.

Links to:

Website:http://www.jayefrances.com

Blog:http://blog.jayefrances.com

Goodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12718447-the-kure

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/jayefrancesauthor

Amazon:
Paperback:
http://www.amazon.com/Kure-Jaye-Frances/....17073140&sr=1-1

Kindle eBook:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Kure-ebook/dp/....28373312&sr=1-1

BN
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/the-kure....ces&store=ebook


Here’s a brief synopsis of The Kure:

John Tyler, a young man in his early twenties, awakens to find a ghastly affliction taking over his body. When the village doctor offers the conventional, and potentially disfiguring, treatment as the only cure, John tenaciously convinces the doctor to reveal an alternative remedy—a forbidden ritual contained within an ancient manuscript called the Kure.

Although initially rejecting the vile and sinister rite, John realizes, too late, that the ritual is more than a faded promise scrawled on a page of crumbling paper. And as cure quickly becomes curse, the demonic text unleashes a dark power that drives him to consider the unthinkable—a depraved and wicked act requiring the corruption of an innocent soul.

Ultimately, John must choose between his desperate need to arrest the plague that is destroying his body, and the virtue of the woman he loves, knowing the wrong decision could cost him his life.

* * * *

In the following excerpt, one of the main characters, John Tyler, has made his way to the office of the village doctor. After a thorough examination results in a life-threatening diagnosis, John is reluctant to proceed with the doctor’s prescribed treatment—a painful and potentially damaging leeching. With too many unanswered questions, John procrastinates, remaining unconvinced that a bleeding is the only option.


An excerpt from The Kure:

A knife-edged spasm ripped through John’s torso like an axe through brittle timber. Sucking back a labored breath, he grabbed at the treatment table and leaned hard, praying it would remain level under his weight. As he hunched over the cold surface, he felt his legs turn weak and useless.

“You see, John, the symptoms are worsening. We need to begin right away.” The doctor spoke without sympathy.

“I just need a minute,” John wheezed.

“Don’t you remember what I told you, and what will happen if we don’t act quickly?”

Unable to answer, John stared at the floor. His skin covered in clammy sweat, he tried to focus on the planks beneath his feet—anything to take his mind off the constant ache. Concentrating on the gaps between the boards, he tried to pretend the dark intersecting lines flowing through the wood were tiny roadways leading away from the doctor’s office, to somewhere safe and unthreatening. But as he lifted his gaze to the front of the room, he could see the lines in the floor ran back to where he was standing. Back to where it would be done.

John labored to get it out. “What . . . about . . . the scarring?”

“That shouldn’t concern you,” the doctor said. “It’s not an area of your body normally seen by others.”

John ran his hand over the dimpled leather surface, curious if anyone had tried to comfort the animal in the same way when it was alive, before turning it into upholstery.

“Lie back on the table,” Harwell ordered, “and I’ll begin the preparations. The sooner we get started, the sooner you can return home.”

John struggled with how to say it, how to tell the doctor he needed more time.

The symptoms had come on rapidly and without warning, the first burning wave jarring him from a sound slumber. But when the piercing spasms abruptly subsided, he dismissed them as simple irritation, or even the imagined sensations of sleep. It wasn’t until several hours later, when the pain returned with agonizing intensity, that he knew it was no dream.

Throwing off the covers, he struck a match and lit the oil lamp. Afraid he would find the sheets stained with blood, he scanned the bed linens. They were clean.

Sitting back on the bed, he brought the lamp close. At first, it was difficult to tell. The pinpoint patterns cast by specks of soot from the glass chimney mottled his midsection with a flickering, spotty mask. But as he moved the light back and forth, he could see the damage was real.

Large red pustules covered his abdomen. Some were as large as a tack-head, with many of the white-tipped eruptions raised on two layers. Just underneath the skin were more blisters, sprouting like angry seeds, pushing toward the surface. He waved the lamp, moving the shadows, hoping the malady had gone no further. But even in the tainted glow, he could see the center of the outbreak was lower, concentrated in the worst possible area. He touched himself with a fingertip, then jerked back his hand, concerned he might have accidentally transferred the disease to a different part of his body.

He had spent the rest of the night on his feet, worried that returning to his bed might force the infection higher into his chest, affecting his breathing or slowing his heart.

“What are you waiting for? I need you to lie back on the table.” The doctor was becoming visibly annoyed with John’s hesitation.

John stared at the floor, ignoring the question as he slid his boot across the deep hollows of wear surrounding the treatment table. He noticed the wood underneath was stained, and unlike the rest of the floor, dotted with what looked like small medallions of dry red clay.

Probably street mud, left from dirty boots. It’s odd, almost arranged in a definite pattern, as if each clump had been purposely dropped from the very edge of the table.

In spite of the discomfort, John bent down, almost thankful for the distraction. Not caring the doctor could see, he poked at one of the reddish-gray mounds. It was surprisingly hard and stuck firmly to the floor. Pressing on it with his thumbnail, he applied more pressure, finally cracking the brittle surface.

That’s strange. Little rings of light and dark. And the texture is different on the inside, with tiny cavities that look like they could have held--

John groaned as his arm flew back in a contracted spasm. He prayed it was something else—a dried clump from an old poultice or a scrap from a dirty plaster cast. But the deep red streaks radiating from the center of the mound left little doubt.

Leeches.

Pulled from previous patients, they had been thrown to the floor and squeezed under the heels of the doctor, their exploded bodies left to dry into hard crusty lumps.

He tried to stand, but a wave of nausea held him like a vise. In dizzy blindness, he reached out, desperate for support. Finding the tall cabinet located to the left of the treatment table, his fingers skated across the ornately carved doorframe until he found the cold smoothness of the stopped-in glass. Lowering his chin, he forced his throat closed, fighting the acrid liquid pushing up from his stomach. There was nothing else he could do but hold on, suspended between the cabinet and table, waiting for the queasy feeling to pass.

“Well, John? Are you ready?” The doctor was standing a few feet away, leather straps cascading from his hands.

Unable to find his voice, John managed to shake his head before surrendering to the cradle of his arm.

The doctor’s frustration was evident as he responded with a deep, labored sigh. “All right, I’ll show you.”

John heard the bindings drop to the desk.

Just a few hours, that’s all I need. To secure the house, feed and water the animals. Then tomorrow I’ll be ready.

Lifting his head, John tried to find something to focus on, to clear his mind and settle his stomach. Scanning the interior of the cabinet that supported him, he looked at the shelves with forced scrutiny. Most were empty, revealing only the dusty outline of missing instruments and odd-shaped containers. The top shelf, however, still held medical supplies: cloth wrappings, stranded cotton, several small boxes of Jesuit’s bark and ground chalk. In the back, he could see a half-empty bottle of alcohol and a tarnished metal tray holding six scalpels, their tapered wooden handles coated with the blood of previous patients.



“Resolve To Read”
For a limited time, read The Kure for only $.99 (kindle version)

One of my resolutions for 2012 is to read more new authors – especially those whose books normally fall outside my favorite genres. As I began to search reviewer’s blogs for some ideas, I realized how many more people were reading books of all kinds, primarily due to increased availability and choice of low-cost ebooks for the kindle and nook. I often saw comments from readers who had decided to read a particular author’s work because it was ninety-nine cents, or in some cases, free. Realizing a lower price would motivate more people to read The Kure, I decided to temporarily lower the price. I’m calling it “Resolve To Read”, and it’s going on right now. The kindle version of The Kure can be purchased for ninety-nine cents on Amazon. So if you were planning on buying a kindle version anyway, why not take advantage of the “Resolve To Read” promotion and save two bucks?

Author Bio:

Jaye Frances is the author of the new paranormal/occult romance The Kure, the first novel in The Kure series. Her next release, scheduled for March 2012, is titled The Possibilities of Amy, a coming-of-age story about a young man forced to choose between alignment with his peer group and protecting his new love interest. She is also a featured columnist for the NUSA SUN magazine. Jaye was born in the Midwest and grew up surrounded by traditional values and conservative attitudes (which she quickly discarded). She readily admits that her life’s destination has been the result of an open mind and a curiosity about all things irreverent. When she’s not consumed by her writing, Jaye enjoys cooking, traveling to all places tropical and “beachy” and taking pictures—lots of pictures—many of which find their way to her website. Jaye lives on the central gulf coast of Florida, sharing her home with one husband, six computers, four cameras, and several hundred pairs of shoes.

Read more:http://www.greatmindsthinkaloud.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=interviews&thread=1181#ixzz1oGQQfEKV 

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR OF "THE VIRGIN JOURNALS" TRAVIS LAURENCE NAUGHT

Before answering any of the questions I would like to thank you for showing interest in my writing/upcoming book The Virgin Journals. It is an exciting process and humbling every time someone new takes notice of a piece of work that was not necessarily meant to even exist ... I will get into that a little more later.

Thank-you.

Travis Laurence Naught

Hello Travis, thank you so much for allowing us to interview you. I would like to mention first, being born with such a potentially dibilitating disease you have proven yourself a very strong individual and I wish to commend you on that. What is your mind-set, what keeps you going and staying strong and what kind of support have you had from family and friends?

I was raised in a very small town, Goldendale WA, of about 3000 people. The social structure was pretty much be somebody's friend or hate somebody ... I was a friendly guy. My core group of friends from kindergarten through high school consisted of the athletic sort and we were constantly doing active things. Even today I view my two options as stay active or rot away and that second one doesn't sound very good. My family & friends have always kept me as involved in life as possible and when it is recognized how much life has to offer a person can only want more out of it. I recognized very early that I wanted more out of it & we have kept me as healthy as possible including a spinal fusion surgery at age eight and multiple trips to the doctor for what should be harmless sicknesses but for me they could turn deadly. Circumstances change but they always present the same two options, fight or quit, I am a fighter.

I find you a very amazing person, after reading that you have a Bachelor's in Psychology and took Sports Psychology classes as well. What are some of the things you learned from those classes?

My college coursework really helped to drive home the fact that I am my own best advocate. Most of my classes were simple memorization & regurgitation on test days, but there are a couple of lessons that stand out. One of them is from an undergraduate course that I took in psychology ... the teacher asked for volunteers to step to the front of the class for a demonstration so I volunteered. She placed a piece of paper on the floor and asked me to try and pick it up. Of course, I could not pick-up the piece of paper but every effort that I made was broken down into action and denied. " I did not tell you to dangle your fingers over the paper, I said to try and pick it up ... or ... I did not tell you to run over the corner of the paper with your wheelchair, I said to try and pick it up ". It was a very visual learning experience that " there is no trying, only doing or not doing ". Another lesson came out of my graduate studies: just because you're good at school and passing classes does not mean you will get a degree or a job using that degree. I finished all the appropriate course work for my master's degree in sports psychology but did not have a sentence written towards my thesis. Recently my statute of limitations passed me by and it was a relief to know that no matter how many people want me to finish the degree, that is no longer an option. Finally I realized that regardless of whether or not I put forth the effort to write a thesis, I had taken everything I could out of my college experience. Other than the relatively small monetary debt I incurred, Eastern Washington University was great to me!

Tell us more about your book, "The Virgin Journals" and what your inspiration was for writing it.

The Virgin Journals is my response to me. 90 % or more of the pieces in the book were written between the hours of 10:00 p.m. & 2:00 a.m. as I was struggling with any number of life's scenarios. More often than not that included wishing I was not " alone " ... I put that in quotation marks because I'm rarely ever alone but almost always wanting for amour. That is one of the great desires in life and it is also the connecting factor to why I think people at large will be able to get something out of my book. Just because some physical circumstances are different does not mean that there are base differences in human thought processing. I created three very distinct and fairly equal length chapters in my book; Life, Love & World. The Life section is definitely a memoir style, almost autobiographical poetry. Readers will learn a lot about what makes me me, maybe more than they are prepared for! I was 22-28 the entire time these writings took place and working with college athletes the whole time ... the language and subject matter will not be for everybody. The Love section primarily focuses on want or fantasy. We all have wants/desires/fantasies and these poetry pieces do not pull any punches ... They cover completely innocent and heartfelt emotion all the way to raw and dirty. The World section contains a bunch of random writing. One of the six or seven people that I had read this work before deciding to pursue publication enjoyed the entire book but put this section above the other two because of its random nature; topics range from dead salmon to coffee to business ethics. I fully expect each reader to come away with their own favorite pieces from each section! Honesty drove every one of the pieces in all three sections ... honest with myself, sure, but I think that really comes through for each new reader.

Now the book is coming out this spring, do you already have other novels in mind and if so can you give us a little peek into what we might see from you next?

I have written since middle school and will definitely continue to write. Now that I have an actual book to point to as my own it stands to reason that I will want another one. September 2011-December 2011 was the most productive writing time in my life and I definitely have enough poetry written to make another compilation, maybe even one technically better than The Virgin Journals. For now I'm going to enjoy the process leading up to my book being released and continue submitting to literary magazines in hopes of getting my name out there a bit more. By the time September rolls around again I will know more about whether or not I want to release another poetry compilation or head in a new and exciting direction, what ever that might be.

Can you tell me how you got involved in ASD Publishing?

ASD Publishing was actually the first group I submitted The Virgin Journals to. I was excited about the fact they were a new company because I knew I would not get lost in the fray and I was also very excited by their byline " championing the spirit of independence ". Their website excited me a enough to send a query letter in and I got a response. After they reviewed my entire body of work, I was encouraged to continue looking for a publishing company that could offer an advance. This excited me about ASD Pub even more. It was an honest, objective look at my writing that was excited enough about it to make them believe I could get paid for it. We stayed in contact over a three month period and I finally decided it was the right fit after encountering a number of other companies that felt like all they wanted was my money. Feels like I am an important part of a family at ASD and I look forward to proving that worth.

Who are some of your favorite authors that have inspired you over the years and when you have time to read what are some of you all time favorite books?

I read a lot. It would be very difficult for me to remember all of the authors I have read since I have never re read a book. My top three books ever read are The Shining by Stephen King, Jurassic Park By Michael Crichton and Wicked by Gregory Maguire. All of them do a fantastic job of painting visual imagery across my imagination and drawing me into the characters enough to feel like part of the story. They are also all novels. My main poetry influences are Jack Kerouac & Jim Morrison. The entire beat generation intrigues me and their writing helped show me validity in the verse that was rattling around in my brain. It allowed me to see that short and succinct could be as equally powerful as long and drawn-out.

When did you decide to become an author, what was the turning point in your life that made you realize your talent?

September of 2011 is when I can point to and say " that is when I became an author ". I quit my volunteer position with the basketball team at Eastern Washington University with the direct purpose of pursuing writing full-time. I read somewhere that Stephen King said that if a person is to be an author, they need to treat it like work. Most of the writing in The Virgin Journals was done before I became an author, but none of it was to see the light of day. Once I decided to write full-time I figured it was best to sweep out my closets and see what came up. My book is what came up!

It says you work with the men's basketball team at Eastern Washington University, are you a coach?

My position with Eastern was volunteer. It actually started three months before I ever took a class on campus, working at one of their summer camps. For 10 years I advanced from manager, head manager, graduate assistant to administrative assistant. That meant for 10 years I would do whatever was needed to try and help the men's basketball team win games. Constantly I tried to support players and help them get better through verbal acknowledgement and by the end I was even allowed to make small recommendations among the coaching staff during halftime meetings. Basketball has always been part of my life and with the number of people I know in the game, it will always be part of my life. We even had a player from Eastern make it to the NBA in my time there ... Detroit Pistons starting guard Rodney Stuckey. That man was one of many I threw off the back of my wheelchair in a game the players and I would undertake during his time on campus.

Tell us about your writing process, what puts you in the mood to write and where do some of your inspirations come from.

I think in pretty concise thoughts. Sometimes they ramble, often times they are forgotten. If I am sitting in front of my computer and a thought goes through my head that yells to be let out, I let it out. If I'm sitting at my computer to write and nothing is screaming to be let out I will just start talking about nonsense and it helps to break the walls down. Dictation is my written form over the last few years because of increased disability of my right arm. Before that I would set up at a coffee shop with my notebook and a latte and see what came out ... I would often just start letting my pen move and some words would find their way to my paper. There is an overabundance of things to reminisce on in this world and an infinite amount of future possibilities to explore, I just have the time to go into them!

Do you have any advice you'd like to share with other aspiring authors? Please give us your links as well, so we can learn more about you and your works.

Write, write & write some more ... If you get blocked mentally, go out and listen to others who write, read something new and exciting or just start writing about nothing! Don't expect it to be easy or comfortable. Be honest. If it is not fun at least some of the time, maybe it is not for you! That is ok, at least you gave it a try.

My author page on facebook can be found at:www.facebook.com/TravisLaurenceNaughtand my twitter handle is @NaughtaPoet

Title:The Virgin Journals
ISBN:978-0-9836049-7-6
Author:Travis Laurence Naught
Release Date:March 6, 2012
Publisher:ASD Publishing
Price:$9.99
website:www.asdpublishing.com

Will be available online at Amazon, bn, ASD or where books are sold.


Thank you again Travis for this wonderful opportunity, I do hope we can do this again in the future!

I am very excited about this venture and hopefully there is an audience who will not only enjoy my writing, but get something out of it. Thank you for taking your time with me.

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INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR OF, "DOPPLEGANGER EXPERIMENT" MARGARET MILLMORE

Hello Margaret, thank you again for allowing us this interview. After looking over your bio I see that writing is truly in your blood so to speak. Being the grandniece of Irish author Benedict Kiely and second cousin of Irish author Sharon Owens. What do you think about their writing and how has it helped you develop your own style?

They’re both amazing writers, but their work is completely different than mine. Aside from being extremely proud to be related to them, their work didn’t really influence mine. However, my cousin Sharon has been an amazing friend, a wonderful sounding board and her drive and beautiful writing is simply inspiration on its own.

Are there other authors that are inspirations to you and if so who are they?

JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. But honestly, almost all authors that I read inspire me.

Like so many authors it seems your love of writing began with your addiction for reading. If you had to make a choice between the two which would you choose and why?

That’s a tough one, but would say reading would have to stay. I love writing, but without books to read, I would wither away…

You seem to enjoy various genres, what other genres have you thought about writing in and what plans do you have for your next work?

I really haven’t put much thought into writing in other genres. I don’t really have control over what my brain produces, so far it’s only spit out the fiction/science fiction realm. My next work is also fiction (probably more science fiction I think); I can’t say too much about it at this point as it’s really to new of a project. But it will again take place in San Francisco.

Being born and raised in California did you ever find yourself getting caught up in the glamour there or were you more interested in staying away from all that?

I’m afraid that’s my biggest complaint about CA, I find all the hoopla about celebrities to be rather annoying. They’re just people… with high profile jobs… I guess I would say that I’m more interested in staying away from all that. Although I will admit, it’s sort of fun seeing Joe Montana and his wife walking around downtown SF, go Niners!

You recently pulled the book for re-editing and a bit more work, can you tell us more about this and the process and how you feel now with the changes that have been made?

That was a humbling and rather embarrassing experience. Initially the reviews of DE were great, but after a few months, the reviews weren’t so great… I reviewed what these people were saying and they were right. It was hard to believe that all my hard work just wasn’t good enough, but it was even harder to realize I’d made so many mistakes, these are things I should have caught (and of course my editor probably should have caught them as well). But no one is to blame but me, so I asked my publisher to pull the book so we could go over it with a fine tooth comb. I’m a firm believer of personal responsibility and making it right. I think the 2nd Edition is much better and I hope we’ve addressed all the concerns.

Tell us about some things you've done, places you've been and things you've seen over the years that have inspired your writing process.

My husband and I really enjoy traveling, and we seem to keep going back to the same places year after year (the Hawaiian Islands, Ireland and England). I really can’t say if those places have had a direct impact on my writing, but I do get a lot of work done on those long plane flights… I find that the oddest things inspire my writing, and they usually happen in my day-to-day life.

What are some of your all time favorite books?

The Chronicles of Narnia, The Dark Tower series by S. King, the Odd Thomas series by K. Koontz and almost everything Ray Bradbury has ever written.

Having what seems to be such a heavy Irish background have you ever wanted to move there or perhaps have plans to live there someday?

I’m first generation American and the majority of my paternal side of the family is in IR. I would love to live there for a year or maybe longer. However my husband is an Anglophile and wants to live outside of London, compromise: it’s just a short and inexpensive flight from Heathrow to Dublin and I would be able to have the best of both worlds… England will probably win out in the end...

Do you have any advice you'd like to share with other aspiring authors? Please give us your links as well, so we can learn more about you and your works.

Writing is hard work, finding an agent and/or publisher is even harder. But don’t give up! My recent experience regarding DE has also taught me to slow down; I think many of the mistakes that I made with DE are a result of not having taken the time to have others read my work first. I think as authors we sometimes can’t see the forest through the trees, we’re so used to our story that we don’t see a lot of the mistakes we’re making. I’ve learned a great deal from the experience and I hope it makes me a better writer.

www.margaretmillmore.com
http://www.margaretmillmore.com/featured_authors
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002915649470
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/margaret-millmore/4/a6b/6a9
Twitter:Mmillmore
http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com/margaretmillmore.htm

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