INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR OF "CHRONICLES OF IDIOT" ERIN BERRY
Hi Erin! It is wonderful to have the opportunity to interview you, thank you so much for sharing some time with us. I would love to know more about your professional 'Igor' experience!Hi Kitty! Thank you so much for this my first interview, and for GMTA, it is such a wonderful service for independent authors like myself. You guys rock!
OK, the short answer for being a professional 'Igor' is I used to assist scientists in doing genetic research. No, I do not have a hump or an accent, but I did do some interesting work re-animating life. Just kidding. It was mostly work with fruit flies and genetic engineering. Fruit flies are fun and they don't bite!
Now you also have a degree in Zoology and a master's in genetics. I have to say you sound like an extremely intelligent young woman. Tell us about your desire to pursue these avenues and have you ever thought about working at a zoo?
My desire to pursue those educational avenues led me to become the “professional Igor”, which was interesting. But I do not consider myself incredibly intelligent, just stubborn. And I would say that everyone is a genius at something and an idiot at something else. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.
Here in Tucson, we do have the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Reid Park Zoo and I would love to work for either organization. But since I haven't worked for a zoo, there is the double edge sword of not having enough experience for the job but the only way to get experience is to have the job. I could volunteer, but that would not leave a lot of time for writing.
What got you into writing and when did you decide you had a penchant for it?
It was August 2008 and the Beijing Olympics had just had their opening ceremonies. This was also the time when two Georgian hunters claimed they had killed a “Bigfoot” and had it stashed in their freezer.
I read an online statistic that more people were interested (clicking on stories) about the Bigfoot than the Olympics. That got me thinking that people want these urban legends to be true, and why not have a government agency to distract them with this sort of nonsense. That led me to write “The Chronicles of IDIOT”. I am still trying to decided if I have a penchant for writing, I certainly like writing satire.
Tell us about your book "Chronicles of IDIOT" and if you plan more with this or if you have other books you are thinking for writing and what genres they are.
The Chronicles of IDIOT is about a secret Government bureau that is entirely devoted to distracting the American public from what the Government may or may not be doing. What do they use to distract the public? Well what distracts you? Reality TV, sensational news, traffic jams, spam, even UFO's, IDIOT uses anything and everything that works to distract people! I have ideas for continuing “The Chronicles of IDIOT” including a prequel.
Right now I am working on an action/adventure with a bit of satire. I am hoping it will be my first novel, but that is hard to say right now. It is set in the southwest and I am still in the ideas stage.
Out of all the jobs you have, part-time writer, full-time mom, and the possibility of going into one of your intellectual fields following a degree which would you choose over all and why?
Well, being a Mom is a lifetime position if everything goes well. So, that is what I choose over everything else. I have also thought of going into Nursing, but that would mean going back to school. Just thinking about going back to school (the expense, homework, etc) gives me a headache. I am not really sure where my life will take me, but I am enjoying writing right now.
If you had to choose one major inspiration in your life as far as your writing is concerned what would it be?
Honestly, I do not know if I could name one major inspiration. I would credit my parents with being avid readers, which led me to become an avid reader. I read all types of genres: historical fiction, sci-fi, chick lit, classics, action/adventure, and suspense. I only hope that our influence will help our kids to become avid readers as well. I think that becoming an avid reader helps you not just in learning to write, but is just adds to your life in so many other ways. From there, my father also is a published author, although his work is Architecture technical manuals and he is on a much different road than I am.
Off the mark question, here it comes. Tell us about one of your most embarrassing moments in your life.
When I was around six years old, I won a coloring contest at McDonalds that let me go on a the “Wallace and Ladmo Show”. This was a kids morning show in Phoenix and I was really excited. When I got there and was sat down with other kids, they told me that the camera would be shooting when the red light on top of it lit up. When I saw that red light I froze. Ladmo tried to ask me my name, I couldn't say anything. Talk about performance anxiety! I was not on the show but I did get a Ladmo bag full of goodies. There many are other embarrassing moments in my life, but I have conveniently forgotten them on a daily basis.
Who are some of your major literary inspirations?
Any successful writer is an inspiration in some respect, but here are some of mine specifically: Terry Pratchett, Mark Twain, J.K. Rowling, P.G. Wodehouse, Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, and J.A. Jance. Wow, I guess I like initials! But I could not do that – E.E. Berry sounds too much like e.e. cummings.
Do you ever let your family critique your writing? Why or why not?
Yes, I let my family critique my work all the time. My mom (bless her) was my first editor. My uncle is convinced that some of my sentences are run-on sentences but I tell him that people in science do this all the time and for me it is just a artifact from my previous career. It is great to have so many people in my family interested in my writing.
Do you have any advice you'd care to share with other authors?
Please leave us your links so we can get to know more about you and your works!
I guess the best advice, is one that I try to follow. Keep at it, keep writing. Don't get discouraged. Even if it is just for you, or you reach one person, then it is worth it!
Here is my sometimes snarky, sometimes opinionated, blog link:
chroniclesofidiocy.blogspot.com
I can also be found at Facebook:
facebook.com/ErinGuthrieBerry and @ErinBethBerry is my handle on twitter.
Thank you again Erin for taking the time to allow us this interview.
THANK YOU for the interview Kitty! This was fun!
Read more: http://www.greatmindsthinkaloud.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=interviews&thread=1273#ixzz1r6mIYfDE
Hi Erin! It is wonderful to have the opportunity to interview you, thank you so much for sharing some time with us. I would love to know more about your professional 'Igor' experience!Hi Kitty! Thank you so much for this my first interview, and for GMTA, it is such a wonderful service for independent authors like myself. You guys rock!
OK, the short answer for being a professional 'Igor' is I used to assist scientists in doing genetic research. No, I do not have a hump or an accent, but I did do some interesting work re-animating life. Just kidding. It was mostly work with fruit flies and genetic engineering. Fruit flies are fun and they don't bite!
Now you also have a degree in Zoology and a master's in genetics. I have to say you sound like an extremely intelligent young woman. Tell us about your desire to pursue these avenues and have you ever thought about working at a zoo?
My desire to pursue those educational avenues led me to become the “professional Igor”, which was interesting. But I do not consider myself incredibly intelligent, just stubborn. And I would say that everyone is a genius at something and an idiot at something else. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.
Here in Tucson, we do have the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Reid Park Zoo and I would love to work for either organization. But since I haven't worked for a zoo, there is the double edge sword of not having enough experience for the job but the only way to get experience is to have the job. I could volunteer, but that would not leave a lot of time for writing.
What got you into writing and when did you decide you had a penchant for it?
It was August 2008 and the Beijing Olympics had just had their opening ceremonies. This was also the time when two Georgian hunters claimed they had killed a “Bigfoot” and had it stashed in their freezer.
I read an online statistic that more people were interested (clicking on stories) about the Bigfoot than the Olympics. That got me thinking that people want these urban legends to be true, and why not have a government agency to distract them with this sort of nonsense. That led me to write “The Chronicles of IDIOT”. I am still trying to decided if I have a penchant for writing, I certainly like writing satire.
Tell us about your book "Chronicles of IDIOT" and if you plan more with this or if you have other books you are thinking for writing and what genres they are.
The Chronicles of IDIOT is about a secret Government bureau that is entirely devoted to distracting the American public from what the Government may or may not be doing. What do they use to distract the public? Well what distracts you? Reality TV, sensational news, traffic jams, spam, even UFO's, IDIOT uses anything and everything that works to distract people! I have ideas for continuing “The Chronicles of IDIOT” including a prequel.
Right now I am working on an action/adventure with a bit of satire. I am hoping it will be my first novel, but that is hard to say right now. It is set in the southwest and I am still in the ideas stage.
Out of all the jobs you have, part-time writer, full-time mom, and the possibility of going into one of your intellectual fields following a degree which would you choose over all and why?
Well, being a Mom is a lifetime position if everything goes well. So, that is what I choose over everything else. I have also thought of going into Nursing, but that would mean going back to school. Just thinking about going back to school (the expense, homework, etc) gives me a headache. I am not really sure where my life will take me, but I am enjoying writing right now.
If you had to choose one major inspiration in your life as far as your writing is concerned what would it be?
Honestly, I do not know if I could name one major inspiration. I would credit my parents with being avid readers, which led me to become an avid reader. I read all types of genres: historical fiction, sci-fi, chick lit, classics, action/adventure, and suspense. I only hope that our influence will help our kids to become avid readers as well. I think that becoming an avid reader helps you not just in learning to write, but is just adds to your life in so many other ways. From there, my father also is a published author, although his work is Architecture technical manuals and he is on a much different road than I am.
Off the mark question, here it comes. Tell us about one of your most embarrassing moments in your life.
When I was around six years old, I won a coloring contest at McDonalds that let me go on a the “Wallace and Ladmo Show”. This was a kids morning show in Phoenix and I was really excited. When I got there and was sat down with other kids, they told me that the camera would be shooting when the red light on top of it lit up. When I saw that red light I froze. Ladmo tried to ask me my name, I couldn't say anything. Talk about performance anxiety! I was not on the show but I did get a Ladmo bag full of goodies. There many are other embarrassing moments in my life, but I have conveniently forgotten them on a daily basis.
Who are some of your major literary inspirations?
Any successful writer is an inspiration in some respect, but here are some of mine specifically: Terry Pratchett, Mark Twain, J.K. Rowling, P.G. Wodehouse, Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, and J.A. Jance. Wow, I guess I like initials! But I could not do that – E.E. Berry sounds too much like e.e. cummings.
Do you ever let your family critique your writing? Why or why not?
Yes, I let my family critique my work all the time. My mom (bless her) was my first editor. My uncle is convinced that some of my sentences are run-on sentences but I tell him that people in science do this all the time and for me it is just a artifact from my previous career. It is great to have so many people in my family interested in my writing.
Do you have any advice you'd care to share with other authors?
Please leave us your links so we can get to know more about you and your works!
I guess the best advice, is one that I try to follow. Keep at it, keep writing. Don't get discouraged. Even if it is just for you, or you reach one person, then it is worth it!
Here is my sometimes snarky, sometimes opinionated, blog link:
chroniclesofidiocy.blogspot.com
I can also be found at Facebook:
facebook.com/ErinGuthrieBerry and @ErinBethBerry is my handle on twitter.
Thank you again Erin for taking the time to allow us this interview.
THANK YOU for the interview Kitty! This was fun!
Read more: http://www.greatmindsthinkaloud.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=interviews&thread=1273#ixzz1r6mIYfDE
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