Author Interview Series-Bruce Olav Solheim

Bruce Olav Solheim was born in Seattle, Washington, to Norwegian immigrant parents. Bruce was the first person in his family to go to college. He served for six years in the US Army as a jail guard and later as a warrant officer helicopter pilot, and is a disabled veteran. Bruce earned his Ph.D. in history from Bowling Green State University in 1993. Bruce is a distinguished professor of history at Citrus College in Glendora, California. He was a Fulbright Professor in 2003 at the University of Tromsø in northern Norway. Bruce has published eight books and has written ten plays, two of which have been produced. He is married to Ginger and has four children and a grandson. Bruce has just published his second paranormal book, Timeless Deja Vu: A Paranormal Personal History. Bruce’s mother was psychic and introduced him to the magical realm. His first paranormal experience took place in northern Norway in 1962 when he was four years old. Bruce took a parapsychology class while he was stationed in West Germany in 1979 and has wanted to write about his experiences ever since. He has continued to have paranormal experiences throughout his life and has developed advanced mediumship capabilities. It was only three years ago that Bruce had a spiritual awakening after a vision and communication with his departed close friend Gene that Bruce decided to publish his paranormal stories and overcome his fear of being rejected and ridiculed by his peers and the college administration. Bruce studies quantum theory and has developed a model that may help explain our quantum reality, ghosts, reincarnation, alien contact, and more. He is interested in all esoterica and oddities. Bruce teaches a Paranormal Personal History course at Citrus College and has his own radio program.​ He is also an associate member of the Parapsychological Association.

Marina Raydun: Your bibliography (and biography!) is most impressive. And you teach a course called Paranormal Personal History. Talk to us a little bit about writing about paranormal activity?

Bruce Olav Solheim: I always feel compelled to write something. This drive is usually based on some issue or problem in the world. I think that we are all paranormal beings. The paranormal is actually normal and the supernatural is actually natural. I want to help people realize their own power and not fear death. Fearing death causes us not to truly live. I have been fascinated by the paranormal since age four which was when I had my first experience.

MR: Are teaching and writing related for you? Does one inspire the other?

BOS: Yes. They are both forums for learning. Teachers learn as much as students. As artist Paul Klee once said, it is the teacher that should pay the tuition not the student. I love teaching and I love writing. I share my writing with my students and welcome their feedback.

MR: You also write plays. What compels you to write in this medium?

BOS: My first play was called the Bronze Star. It was based on a true story of my friend Carl who committed suicide in 2002. Every day, 22 American veterans commit suicide. That was the problem that need to be addressed and I did so through my friend Carl’s story. There was no other way to tell his story. I had a vision one day of Carl in Vietnam and that ended up being the opening of the play.

MR: Is there one topic you would never write about as an author?

BOS: I would never say never because you never know.

MR: How did growing up in an immigrant household affect your writing and your work ethic?

BOS: It is who I am. I am of divided heart. I love Norway and I love the United States. I appreciate the struggles that immigrants face because I know what my parents faced. They were hard workers. They came to America from Norway after WWII where they lived under Nazi occupation. They inspire and motivate me everyday even though they have both passed on from this world.

MR: You are a veteran and do a lot for fellow veterans. In fact, you co-founded Boots to Books program at Citrus College in California—a program for recently returned veterans. How central is writing and reading to this program?

BOS: Every day we should get up and do something to help alleviate suffering in the world. Veterans are suffering. Helping them transition was the right thing to do. I got veterans to be involved with my plays and they helped the other actors understand the issues of war and peace and what that really means. I encourage veterans to express themselves in any way that they can: writing, art, spoken word, community service. We all need a mission, and veterans especially so.

MR: What’s the best and worst book review you’ve ever received?

BOS: I have been lucky, no bad reviews. I have had people tell me that they can’t read my paranormal books because they are too scary. Some nice reviews have encouraged me to keep sharing my personal stories because they can relate to the issues that I have faced. To know that I have helped in some small way is a tremendous reward.

MR: If you could have drinks with any person, living or dead, who would it be?

BOS: Although I don’t drink, Mark Twain. He is fascinating to me.

MR: What do you think about when you’re alone driving in your car?

BOS: Everything, that is why I must be careful. I often miss my exit on the freeway or drive

somewhere by autopilot. My mind is rarely quiet or without imagery.

MR: What are you currently reading?

BOS: I usually read five or six books at a time:

Chosen by Yvonne Smith, The PK Man by Jeffrey Mishlove, Identified Flying

Objects by Michael Masters, The Will of a Wildflower by Pegi Robinson, Short

Stories by Red Elk.

How American Sign Language is Making Me a Better Writer

I began my ASL journey for a very personal reason—I wanted to learn this language for someone dear to me. It wasn’t meant to be something I was doing for myself but… Perhaps it’s a symptom of selfishness or some kind of egotism but somewhere along the way that’s exactly what this little exercise slowly morphed into. Two years worth of college classes have become a refuge of sorts of me. I’m a writer so there’s no surprise there, I guess: any chance I get to escape into another world, I’ll take it. This was not different: a college class with so many characters to study, a culture and a language so nuanced, it makes you reexamine all your word choices. What better exercise for an author?! And what a fabulous reminder of just how much I love learning, in general.

I’m no stranger to translation work but translating a verbal language to a visual one was not an easy transition for me. I spoke about this in my post a year ago, when I’d completed two semesters of ASL. The word “glossing” was thrown around a lot back then, going for the meaning and all that jazz, but it was a hard concept for me. It wasn’t until ASL 3 that I had my proverbial “lightbulb moment.” The way my professor put it, we aren’t looking for a verbatim translation because some concepts may not exist in ASL (or in any other language you’re interpreting). What you do is try to figure out what the meaning of the phrase is and then ask yourself how can you rephrase it in a way that you can actually communicate (as in sign). BOOM. This is what my rigid brain needed to hear.

Here are some examples from my ASL 3 and 4 finals to illustrate:

For my ASL 3 final, we got to interpret a dialogue from a film. Because I was surrounded with college-aged kids twice a week and the very fact had me reminiscing about my own college years, I picked a movie I associate so deeply with those late teens/early 20s—Bridget Jones’ Diary. Here is an excerpt from my “gloss”:

(Bridget) WAIT…MUST SAY SORRY...PAST D-A-N-I-E-L (point) SAY YOU SEDUCE HIS FIANCÉE…BROKENHEARTED  

(Mark) NO (nod-) OPPOSITE…PAST MY WIFE…MY HEART (soul)

(Bridget) SORRY (nod+)…NOW UNDERSTAND (nod+) HE (CL: 1) COME NEAR YOU ACT WEIRD++ BEAT HIM HARD… GOOD JOB (nod+)

Here is the original text for reference:

Bridget: Listen, uh…I owe you an apology about Daniel. He said that you ran off with his fiancee…and left him broken hearted, he said.

Marc: Ah. No, it was the other way around. It was my wife…my heart.

Bridget: Sorry. That's why you always acted so strangely around him...and beat him to a pulp, quite rightly. Well done.

As you can tell, everything is different: word order, the use of tenses, the little symbols meant to help another interpreter sign exactly the way you’d scripted it etc. I couldn’t literally sign “the other way around” because those words stringed together like that would make no sense in ASL. So I asked myself—what does that phrase mean in English and how can I sign that. Marc obviously wasn’t trying to point to “another way around” direction-wise. Voila—”OPPOSITE.” It sounds simple but let me tell you, it was not easy arriving at this “lightbulb moment.” It was no an easy step to go from “but it says ‘ran off with his fiancee’, why can’t I just say that?!” to "‘SEDUCE HIS FIANCEE is literally what that means and makes way more sense than literally signing "‘run.’”

Here is another example; this one from my ASL 4 final, where we had to interpret a song. I wanted to interpret a song by Noa and Mira Awad called, “There Must Be Another Way.” It’s a song with a wonderful and simple message of peace and coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. The song is in three language and I only know one of them so that was one additional layer of difficulty for me. What can I say, I love a challenge. My friend Mira (whom I interviewed last May) was kind enough to translate the Arabic and the Hebrew for me, and I interpreted from English to ASL. Here is an excerpt:

English:

And when I cry, I cry for both of us

My pain has no name

And when I cry, I cry to the merciless sky and say

There must be another way

There must be another way

ASL:

CRY   HEARTBREAK   UNITED

HEARTBREAK LABEL WHAT   NOTHING

CRY (role shift) REQUEST UNIVERSE

DO BETTER MUST

ACTIONS CHANGE MUST

Signing “there must be another way” literally would imply that a new geographical direction was sought. That’s not what the song is about. We’re talking about changing actions, doing better as people, so that’s what it is when translated to ASL. As for crying for “both of us,” what’s meant is that the two people are bound together by this conflict and that the tribulations the two suffer are heartbreaking no matter who is suffering physical pain at any one particular moment. ”HEARTBREAK LABEL WHAT NOTHING”—the pain has no name. This is me, delivering my final project for a grade (I got an A!): Marina’s ASL4 Final

These projects were so rewarding and educational for me. They pushed me beyond my comfort zone, made me think instead of blindingly delivering literal words, context be damned. Now that I am done with my coursework at my local college (only four levels are available here), I am glossing songs and monologues on my own for practice as I look for a place where I would be able to continue my studies. Let’s not kid ourselves—I am nowhere near fluent, especially receptively, but expressively I’ve grown so much by doing this. And the skill translates back into English, miraculously enough, making me a more thoughtful writer and speaker (or so I hope). Word choices are that much more careful now: I ask myself, always, what it is I am trying to say and what is the best way to actually say it. I am so excited to continue on this journey. I love learning new things (frankly, I love school!), and to feel tangible results is exhilarating. I don’t want to stop so expect more videos:)

Author Interview-Tosca Lee

Tosca Lee

About Tosca:

"Superior storytelling."
-Publishers Weekly

"One of the most gifted novelists writing today."
-Steven James, bestselling author 

THE LINE BETWEEN, Tosca's highly-anticipated new thriller, is out now! 

Tosca Lee is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of ten books, including the House of Bathory duology (THE PROGENY and FIRSTBORN—in development for TV at the CW network), ISCARIOT, THE LEGEND OF SHEBA, and the Books of Mortals series with New York Times bestseller Ted Dekker. A notorious night-owl, she loves watching TV, eating bacon, playing video games with her kids, and sending cheesy texts to her husband. You can find Tosca at www.ToscaLee.com, on social media, or hanging around the snack table.  

Look for A SINGLE LIGHT, the follow-up to THE LINE BETWEEN, September 2019.

Marina Raydun: Your work is fearless—you wrote a first person novel about Judas! Where does the inspiration come from? Is there one topic you would never write about as an author? Why?

Tosca Lee: Ha! Well, don't think for a moment that there aren’t times when I’m completely terrified, because there are. Including most of the days that I’m on deadline.

The ideas are sometimes suggestions (in the case of Judas Iscariot and Elizabeth Bathory) and just curiosities on my part (in the case of Eve, and Lucian, the fallen angel in Demon).

There are definitely topics I wouldn’t want to touch—or, rather, minds I wouldn’t want to explore. Pedophiles. Hitler. There are just some places I don’t want to go. And that I know my readers, at least, don’t want to, either. 

Meanwhile, it was very interesting to explore the life of someone like Judas Iscariot. To imagine him as a child and, as an adult, as a product of his day. Strangely frightening and then revelatory to realize halfway through the book that I could see myself in him, or that in some aspects, I was writing my own story of seeking redemption and of my own agendas for God.

MR: What literary pilgrimages have you gone on? 

TL: My very first one was to Tintagel, Wales, and all of the sites associated with King Arthur. (One of these days I’m going to write a story about that legend. It has been a life goal of mine for decades.) 

Probably my most meaningful one was to Israel, for Iscariot. My most recent one was to Hungary and Croatia to research the “Blood Countess” Elizabeth Bathory, and the Habsburg Empire, for The Progeny. 

MR: You hold a degree from Smith and you studied at Oxford. What is the first experience you had when you learned that language had power? 

TL: I think when I realized the emotional power that novels had over me. How I’d close the cover of a book and feel this intense longing to return to that world. It was almost a kind of pain, that wish that it was real, and that I could go back.

MR: Since so much of your work is deeply rooted in history, you must spend a lot of your time researching. Is that the most difficult part about your artistic process or is there something you find more challenging? 

TL: Research is definitely grueling. But probably the hardest part of my process is just outlining and writing that first draft. Before you do that, the concept of the story is shiny and perfect. When you start to write, it’s like pulling strings out from ten sweaters at once and trying to macramé them together. It’s a big mess. I have OCD. I don’t do well with messes. 

MR: How did publishing your first book change your writing process? 

TL: I think each part of the journey brings us a lesson to learn from. My first novel experienced a level of unexpected success. It was great. It was also very distracting and even daunting for me as I wrote my second novel. I kept thinking, “What if this one doesn’t measure up?” It’s the reason I so often advise aspiring writers to write their second—and third, and fourth—novels as they’re trying to publish their first.

MR: What’s the best and worst book review you’ve ever received?

TL: The best review is any review in which you can tell that the reader was deeply moved, very entertained, or just had to share their thoughts right then. Because that's what we read fiction for: to move and entertain us—whether it’s by scaring us, or making us cry, or laugh. We want to escape for a while. Sure, we might want to learn something along the way, but if that’s all we wanted, we’d all be reading nonfiction. So if the reader has felt transported, then I’m happy.  

The worst reviews are the vitriolic ones. The ones where a reader didn’t like the story, and they’re going to be nasty rather than constructive. I especially hate to see this happen to debut authors. Trust me, authors tear themselves down a thousand times an hour while they’re writing already. They don’t need more of that!

MR: If you could have drinks with any person, living or dead, who would it be? Why? 

TL: My mother’s mother. I never had the chance to meet her; she was killed before I was born.

And also Oprah. Because Oprah. 

MR: What is your favorite genre to read? 

TL: I really don’t have a favorite, though these days I read more suspense and thrillers because that’s what I’m writing. But I love historical fiction, and essays by authors like David Sedaris and Anne Lamott, suspense, romance, and fantasy and sci-fi.

MR: Is there a book that people might be surprised to learn you love?

TL: I dunno. My nickname growing up was “Weird Tosca,” so I’m not sure anything I do would surprise anyone. 

MR: What are you currently reading? 

TL: A World Lit Only By Fire by William Manchester.

More about A LINE BETWEEN:

In this frighteningly believable thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee, an extinct disease re-emerges from the melting Alaskan permafrost to cause madness in its victims. For recent apocalyptic cult escapee Wynter Roth, it’s the end she’d always been told was coming.

When Wynter Roth is turned out of New Earth, a self-contained doomsday cult on the American prairie, she emerges into a world poised on the brink of madness as a mysterious outbreak of rapid early onset dementia spreads across the nation.

As Wynter struggles to start over in a world she’s been taught to regard as evil, she finds herself face-to-face with the apocalypse she’s feared all her life—until the night her sister shows up at her doorstep with a set of medical samples. That night, Wynter learns there’s something far more sinister at play and that these samples are key to understanding the disease.

Now, as the power grid fails and the nation descends into chaos, Wynter must find a way to get the samples to a lab in Colorado. Uncertain who to trust, she takes up with former military man Chase Miller, who has his own reasons for wanting to get close to the samples in her possession, and to Wynter herself.

Filled with action, conspiracy, romance, and questions of whom—and what—to believe, The Line Between is a high-octane story of survival and love in a world on the brink of madness. 

“Everything you want in a thriller.” 

—Alex Kava, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Breaking Creed 

“Beautifully written and deeply unnerving!”

—Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of V-Wars

“Be prepared to lose sleep.”  

—Brenda Novak, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Face Off 

The Line Between is in development for television! Learn more here: https://deadline.com/2019/01/edward-burns-radar-developing-the-line-between-thriller-novel-for-television-1202538907/

 To learn more about Tosca Lee and her work, please visit https://toscalee.com

Author Interview Series-Miranda Oh

Miranda Oh

Miranda Oh is the author of the successful Chick Lit series, Chin Up Tits Out!

Author Miranda Oh, a girl of Metis tradition and descent is your typical girl: She loves the sunset, loves long walks on the beach, world travels, and when not playing the corporate part she can be found sipping wine and spending all her hard-earned money on nice shoes. Among her friends and family, Miranda Oh is known to be the storyteller of the group, always recapping crazy life stories and situations. Her personal experiences, emotions and fantasies are the inspiration for most of her books, so there is a little bit of her in every story.

Marina Raydun: I love the title of your series. Very gutsy! How did that come about?

Miranda Oh: Thank-you, I also love the title! It’s my life motto! My mom used to tell me versions of Chin Up Tits Out while growing up, when I needed a boost of confidence. Shoulders back, chin up, chest out, head up is meant as a power pose, to look confident, therefore feel confident.

MR: Hadley is a very raw, real character. What do you owe real life people upon whom you base your characters?

MO: Real life is what made my characters who they are. Life experience, and reality is sometimes is stranger than actual fiction. So I try and mix the best of both worlds.  

MR: Which book in the series was more difficult to write—book one or two?

MO: Book two was a lot more difficult to write than book one. It is because reliving everything that transpired in my personal life to prepare to write book 2 was like opening up Pandora’s box in the back of my mind. It let out a lot of really heavy, deep, intense topics that came out in the book.  Then in true Chin Up Tits Out fashion, I had to find a way to spin everything positive with a little twist of sarcastic humor. It was a challenge, and wine was a huge lifesaver during the creation of book 2.

Miranda Oh

MR: What’s the most difficult part about writing characters of opposite sex?

MO: As women, we understand and can appreciate (we should always appreciate) our minds, and how many millions of things can cross it in a split second. When writing from a male perspective, it is hard to shut off the female; million mile a minute brain, and just slow things down, and make them less complicated.

MR: How do you select names for your characters?

MO: I am legit the WORST at picking out names for my books. When I create a character that represents someone in my life, if their actual name starts with a ‘S’, for simplicity sake, I will turn their characters name into something that also starts with an ‘S’ – I know, it is the least creative thing about my writing. But I got to do what works for me, and that is what works for me. 

MR: If you could cast your characters in a Hollywood adaption of your book, who would play them?

MO: Hadley would for sure be Jennifer Lawrence, or Emma Stone. Both of those actresses are extremely talented, unique, and unapologetically themselves, and that is Hadley through in through.

MR: What literary character is most like you?

MO: Well since I wrote a little bit about my life, I would say Hadley, the main character is a lot like me, although more refined, and more tailored. I am not that graceful, or seemingly put together in reality.

MR: Who is your literary crush?

MO: Which women doesn’t have a crush on the typical Fabio looking character on the front of romance novels? I always gawk at them when I pass through a book store. As to a specific crush, I do not have one…that I know of yet.

MR: Is there an illicit book you had to sneak growing up?

MO:  I had a good laugh reading this question, the answer is not really. I didn’t have to sneak it per say. I was however snooping for whatever I was snooping for as a kid, and found my parents stash of illicit books. Once they realized I found them, they mysteriously found a new hiding place.

MR: What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview?

MO: Why did I share my story?

The answer to that, is because I want to connect us as humans, and by connecting, we share stories. When we share stories, we share feelings, and when someone can resonate with a feeling, no matter the circumstances, we can connect on a deeper level. I am a firm believer in the idea of “together we are better”. The only way I felt I could be better, was to share my story, and it lead me to selling copies of my novels around the world. I am really happy and really proud of that accomplishment, the more people who read it, the more we all become connected, and that is my overall goal.

 To learn more about Miranda, please visit: www.mirandaoh.com

To stay in touch with Miranda, please visit:

@ohmirandaoh – Twitter

@ohmirandaoh – IG

Miranda Oh – Chin Up Tits Out – Facebook

For your copy of Chin Up Tits Out, please visit: www.amazon.com/author/ohmirandaoh

Fiction

I was in high school when The Truman Show came out. My twenty-two year-old journalism teacher, Mr. V, highly recommended it, and he was the resident boy-genius at my inner city high school and would never steer me wrong so of course I dragged my BFF at the time to the movies one Saturday morning to see it for myself. I also had a vague crush on Jim Carrey growing up so we went to the movies often back in the ‘90s. That was years before our small, four-screen movie theater was closed to make room for one massive Walgreens.

Mr. V was right—the damn thing blew my sixteen-year-old mind! The sheer paranoia I felt as I crawled out of the darkened building reeking of old butter! Forever mind-numbingly sober, I wondered if that’s what it felt like being high. Was everything fake around us, I wondered as we crossed Coney Island Avenue, walking up Kings Highway back to my parents’ second American apartment. The sky—was it naturally blue or was it a set? Was someone behind all the green pedestrian lights? I drove my friend nuts all the thirteen street blocks up to my house but the whole euphoria of stumbling on something truly life-altering wore off by Monday. Having reported to my teacher that I saw and loved the movie, I was free to move on to whatever other obsession I was hyper-focused on at the time. It was either Spice Girls or Prince William, depending on the month. I don’t remember much about the specifics of the timing but eventually I must’ve decided that it was irrelevant to me if the sky was real or painted. Whether or not my environment was manipulated and/or manufactured, I still had to pretend to study for my SATs. If my sky was clear—it was worth it, regardless of whether or not there was a control booth involved. Growing up, my agnosticism decided there wasn’t, anyway.

Fast forward twenty years… whoa, I only now did the math… I need a minute…

Okay, ready.

So, fast forward twenty years. I am thirty-six. To escape reality if only for a week, I recently took a trip to a beautiful island in the Caribbean. I won’t name names for the sake of preserving some pretense of anonymity, but suffice it to say, it was warm, exclusive, and incredible. In fact, it was so incredible, that the many palm trees planted on the luscious grounds of this Vegas-like grandeur didn’t sway in the breeze. It was full on Truman Show again! I was sixteen again—back to Mr. V, back to Stan, my then-BFF. I swear to the deity of your choice, no matter the wind speed, those trees stayed put. Much can be discussed in rational and learned manner about manicured resorts in countries where cost of living for an average citizen leaves much to be desired and whether or not our going there helps by way of taxes and jobs or simply depletes the resources, but I must admit—I loved the picturesque sky and the perfectly still palm trees. I didn’t care if they were real. If any of it was. For a week, I felt safe and happy. It didn’t need to be real. In fact, I wanted there to be a control booth.

Is that what fiction is?

Edward Willett

Edward Willett is the award-winning author of more than sixty books of science fiction, fantasy, and non-fiction for readers of all ages. His latest fantasy/science fiction novel for DAW Books is Worldshaper; it’s the start of a new series, Worldshapers. Other recent novels include the stand-alone science fiction novel The Cityborn (DAW Books), the five-book Shards of Excalibur YA fantasy series for Coteau Books, the Masks of Aygrima fantasy trilogy (written as E.C. Blake for DAW), and the Peregrine Rising science fiction duology for Bundoran Press. Ed won the Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English for Marseguro (DAW) in 2009. His nonfiction runs the gamut from local history to science books for children and adults to biographies of people as diverse as Jimi Hendrix and the Ayatollah Khomeini. In addition to writing, he’s a professional actor and singer, who has performed in numerous plays, musicals, and operas, and hosts the new podcast The Worldshapers, featuring conversations with science fiction and fantasy authors about the creative process. He lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, with his wife, Margaret Anne Hodges, P.Eng., their teenaged daughter, Alice, and their black Siberian cat, Shadowpaw.

Marina Raydun: You are a very prolific author and write mostly in the fantasy and sci-fi genres. What is your favorite genre to read? 

Edward Willett: I read and enjoy science fiction and fantasy equally. Right now, my reading agenda is pretty much being set by my new podcast, The Worldshapers (www.theworldshapers.com), where I interview science fiction and fantasy authors about the creative process. Since I’m doing this radical thing where I actually read the book (or books) we’re talking about before I talk to the authors (something I know from experience not all interviewers do!), and I’m doing an episode every two weeks, I’m pretty much only reading work by my guests. However, my guests have all been (and will continue to be) amazing authors, so I’m enjoying it. 

When I’m not reading science fiction and fantasy, I read non-fiction on any topic that catches my interest. (Often, I read these books out loud to my wife—the kitchen is too small for us to work together on meals, so she cooks while I read.) Recent non-fiction books I’ve read have included biographies (most recently of Leonardo da Vinci), science books, history books, and a book about Icelandic volcanoes (because, why not?).

MR: What is your favorite underappreciated novel?

EW: I don’t know that it’s underappreciated—I think it was pretty successful—but one of the most fascinating fantasies I’ve ever read, and one I still think about even though it’s been almost ten years since it came out, is Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox, and its sequel, Dreamquake. The story is set in a world much like ours except for the existence of The Place, inaccessible to anyone except Dreamhunters, who can enter it and capture larger-than-life dreams which are then relayed to audiences in the magnificent Rainbow Palace. But the Place hides a terrifying secret which 15-year-old Laura is about to discover...

Highly recommended!

MR: Is there one topic you would never write about as an author? 

EW: I can imagine topics I would rather not write about, but no, not really: not as long as I thought I could write about it well and honestly. 

MR: Your background is in journalism. How does this color your fiction writing? Also, what is Weird Al like? 

EW: I think the main thing I brought from journalism to fiction was the ability to simply sit down and write. I’ve never suffered from what I would call writer’s block. I’ve suffered from writer’s laziness, which isn’t the same thing, and writer’s procrastination, which is endemic, but put me in front of a keyboard and I can write. The world of journalism is a world of deadlines: the newspaper comes out when it comes out, and you have to have your story ready in time to make it into print.

The other advantage, I think, is practice in organizing my thoughts before I start writing. That’s not to say I don’t revise my first drafts of stories and novels—but those first drafts are really pretty good. I think the years of writing for a newspaper helped with that. 

Weird Al, whom I interviewed for the Regina Leader Post when he was coming to town for a concert, was great! I really enjoyed talking to him. (He’s not really that weird...but he is very funny.) 

MR: As a fiction writer, what is the most difficult part about your artistic process?

EW: When I first have an idea for a story, it seems, in my mind, to be perfect and complete, a glistening globe of perfection like a Christmas ornament. The process of actually writing the story feels to me like taking that Christmas ornament, smashing it with a hammer, and then trying to glue it back together using words.

So, the difficult part is choosing the words and scenes and characters and dialogue that will convey to the reader the ideas I want to convey, to try to recreate in their mind that perfect image I had of the story before I began. Writing, though it feels solitary, is actually collaborative: you’re collaborating with your readers, and those readers are not you, so they bring to your work references and memories and connections that you don’t have. They reconstruct the story you think you’re telling in their mind, and it may not be at all the story you intended...and yet, their version of the story is every bit as “true” as your version.

The other challenging thing? To keep readers interested, for the hours it will take them to read a novel. My biggest fear is being boring! 

MR: What does literary success look like to you?

EW: I alternate between feeling very successful and a complete failure. Sometimes I feel successful because I’ve written more than sixty books (counting all the non-fiction), which have been published by multiple publishers; I’ve won awards; I’ve gotten some excellent reviews. Then I’ll feel a failure because my sales aren’t what I’d like, I’m not fabulously wealthy, no movies or TV shows have been made of my books, and most readers of science fiction and fantasy have never heard of me, even though I’m published by a major science fiction and fantasy publisher, DAW Books. But that’s just life. We’re never satisfied. Objectively, after twenty-five years of full-time freelancing and millions of published words, I haven’t done too badly in a notoriously iffy occupation! 

MR: What’s the best and worst book review you’ve ever received?

EW: Best? I’ve had two starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, one for Magebane (written as Lee Arthur Chane), and one for my newest novel, Worldshaper. Those always make me feel good. Worst would be the one by some hatchet-job reviewer on Goodreads (someone who has written dozens of one-star reviews, seemingly picking books to savage at random) for Masks, first book in my Masks of Aygrima trilogy, written as E.C. Blake, which begins, “This book is not so much fantasy as toilet paper...” But the same book had terrific reviews elsewhere. Go figure.

MR: What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer? 

EW: Hm. This depends on your definition of “friends.” I’m friendly with, as in able to say “Hi” to and chat a bit, with a LOT of writers, whom I’ve met at science fiction conventions: people like John Scalzi, Tad Williams, Seanan McGuire, Lee Modesitt Jr., Guy Gavriel Kay, Patrick Rothfuss, Joe Haldeman...and many others. 

I know a lot of Canadian writers a bit better, people like Tanya Huff and Julie Czerneda and Hayden Trenholm and Arthur Slade, and, again, many others. 

But topping the list would have to be Robert J. Sawyer. I’ve known him for more than twenty years now, and I can definitely say he helped me become a better writer, because twice he’s been my writing teacher, through the Writing with Style program at the Banff Centre. I went twice, both because I loved it and because the first time I had a non-fiction deadline and spent most of my time there writing a biography of the Ayatollah Khomeini instead of completely focusing on science fiction. 

The second time, in 2005, Rob came into the classroom one morning and told us to write the opening to a story, cold, no preparation: just...go!

I wrote: 

Emily streaked through the phosphorescent sea, her wake a comet-tail of pale green light, her close-cropped turquoise hair surrounded by a glowing pink aurora. The water racing through her gill-slits smelled of blood. 

My classmates thought it sounded interesting, so, as the week progressed, I turned that opening into a short story, “Sins of the Father.” However, I never submitted it anywhere. Before I got around to it, DAW picked up my novel Lost in Translation, originally published by Five Star, for a mass-market-paperback release, and Ethan Ellenberg agreed to be my agent. Needing something to propose to DAW for my next book, I took the seeds I had planted in “Sins of the Father” and let them sprout into the synopsis for what became Marseguro, my second novel published by DAW (and my first written for them), and winner of the 2009 Aurora Award (honoring Canadian science fiction and fantasy) for Best Long-Form Work in English. The sequel, Terra Insegura, followed. (The two were later published under one cover in an omnibus edition, The Helix War.)

So, that was 150,000 words of fiction and a major award, all of which began with one writing exercise set by my fellow writer and friend Robert J. Sawyer! 

MR: If you could have drinks with any person, living or dead, who would it be? Why?

EW: I’d love to sit down and talk to Jesus one-on-one and ask Him how accurately His life has been portrayed down through the centuries. It’d be cheap, too: I’d bring water, He could make wine. Also, there are a few minor ailments I wouldn’t mind having healed... 

MR: You have recently ventured into the world of podcasting. How does being a writer translate into broadcasting and interviewing? Asking for a friendJ

EW: My podcast, The Worldshapers, is very much focused on writing: in each episode, I chat with an author about the creative process. As of now, I’ve talked to Robert J. Sawyer, Tanya Huff, John Scalzi, Julie Czerneda, and Arthur Slade. Confirmed guests include Orson Scott Card, Joe Haldeman, Gareth L. Powell, Seanan McGuire, Kim Harrison, Tosca Lee, and David Brin...and several others.

I think the fact I am myself a multiply published author helps me with these interviews because all of us as authors are dealing with the same challenges as we move from idea to finished novel, shaping the setting, characters, plot, dialogue, and everything else, writing and revising and being edited.  

Interviewing is of course something I’ve done my whole career, since I started as a newspaper reporter and continue to freelance for magazines and other publications. And on the broadcasting side, I’ve done radio my whole career, too, both as a guest and as a host.

Since my new book is about people who shape worlds (which is why it’s called, duh, Worldshaper), this seemed like an auspicious time to launch something I’ve thought about doing for years. It seems to be going well, and I can’t wait to talk to the many great authors I’m lining up...and read their books!

Again, its website is www.theworldshapers.com, and it’s also widely available through many other podcast sources, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more. Please check it out!

To learn more about Edward Willett, please visit: www.edwardwillett.com

 Online bookstore:

www.edwardwillettshop.com

The Worldshapers podcast website:

www.theworldshapers.com 

Twitter:

@ewillett

@TWorldshapers

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/edward.willett

www.facebook.com/TheWorldshapers/

Amazon page:

www.amazon.com/edward-Willett/e/B001IR1LL6/

Write What You Know

Strictly speaking, if we all stuck to specifically what we know, we'd wind up with pretty limited fiction. If female authors couldn't write male characters and vice versa, if straying from your decade was frowned upon etc, there'd be no historical fiction, no thrillers, and certainly no sci-fi. But what do I know? I'm an immigrant who came here at the tender age of eleven, peaked in college, and graduated from law school to become a suburban mom. Should I stick to writing about the frustrations of learning another language while tweening? Or sticking out law school because frankly it is just too darn expensive to quit? Or maybe I should focus on wearing leggings and driving an SUV to PTA meetings? Maybe. But that would predictable, if not boring. I like to research, I like to put my sense of empathy to good use, I apparently like to take risks. Based on my life choices, who would've thought?!

And yet, sometimes I am drawn to writing exactly what I know. I was invited to be a guest blogger on a wonderful literary blog this month but, unfortunately, the head admin of the blog had to shut down the site temporarily due to personal issues. I was bummed. I already had a decent seven page draft of an essay on how my immigrant experience colors my writing. I abandoned the aforementioned draft when the gig was cancelled, but I will return to it. Eventually. The reason being is that my first year in America sucked. In no way am I claiming to be alone in the shitty immigrant experience, but my family's unique set of circumstances does set us apart. That year was a formative one and I desperately want to write about it. In this era of fear of immigrants, one would hope this work of non-fiction would find its reader. The reason why I've been putting it off (I have about three chapters, written roughly a decade ago, stored on my computer and backed up G-d knows where) is because I am afraid that my honesty would hurt (or at the very least upset) certain members of my family. I think we need some more distance between 1994 and the present. In the meantime, perhaps the middle ground lives in the form of fictionalized experiences. Which I suppose what all fiction is to begin with, but I digress.

This brings me to Keith Gessen's A Terrible Country. Which I loved, by the way! It's clearly a work of fiction but it's also very clearly a lived work of fiction. The author is obviously familiar with what became of my old country (or rather, its neighbor); the intimacy is apparent in the writing. Keith Gessen is a journalist and a writer who's been to the former Soviet Union countless times and he conveys the nuances of what it must be like to grow up in America to then suddenly find yourself in your birth country that has undergone tremendous transformation since you've last seen it. The loneliness, the isolation is written with such care, such precision. The gap in his Russian vocabulary, lack of that instinctive grasp of the current culture and politics. It's all highly relatable, even though the last time I visited the city that was my home between the ages of four and eleven was in 1995. Is it the author's experience, research, or imagination that produced such a delicate product? Perhaps a bit of each. On the other hand, the second theme of the book is the protagonist's relationship with his aging grandmother, who is slowly but undeniably falling into the abyss of Dementia. Does Mr. Gessen have personal experience with this too? I don't know. Whether he does or not, clearly his life experience and talent were enough to help him write one gut-wrenching account of what it must be like to be losing your loved one despite their physical presence and agility.

So what's the verdict? Write what you know?

Currently reading: This One Is Mine by Maria Semple

Six Months in Books

Summer is a busy time around my house. What used to be my writing hours are no longer mine at all. Summer is a competitive time for a writer (who doesn't want to be read at the beach?!), but if you're writer who's also a parent, summer is also a tough time on the production end. I'm working on my upcoming novel-Good Morning, Bellingham. It's about half way there. This will be a multiple POV psychological thriller and I'm unreasonably giddy about it. I like to push myself to experiment with different genres and can't wait to share it with the world, but it'll be a little while before I'll be able to announce a release date. Why? See above! Still, a stout believer in routine and maintaining muscle memory, I try to write something every day just to keep the muse happy. Sometimes, it's only a long-winded e-mail, but it's summer so it counts! Again, see above! Summer sucks! This Six Months in Books update is a writing exercise of sorts. Plus, everybody looks for book recommendations in the summer. Two birds? Here we go...

January through June 2018

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson

3-stars

This book fell into my lap (or rather, my car's Bluetooth) at the most opportune time-my father had just passed away after five and a half months of torture that is pancreatic cancer. Though we knew from day one that prognosis wasn't optimistic in the least, his actual death came fast: Tuesday, I am driving him to see his oncologist about canceling his treatment in favor of in-home hospice, and Saturday morning he is gone. Left behind was hospice equipment that had barely had the time to be delivered, a boatload of medications, and a lifetime (at least an American one) of acquired junk. Clothes and shoes never worn, countless loose post-its with unidentified phone numbers, and three sheds of cables and screws. Torn between grief and practicality, we cleaned fast. So needless to say, when I came across a title with the words Death and Cleaning in it, it caught my attention. 

I was expecting a how-to, which, luckily, this wasn't. Now that I think about it, how could Ms. Magnusson tell me what to get rid of and what to keep? She didn't try and I thank her. These decisions are tremendously personal. For me, this book served as a gentle kick in the butt to start downsizing now. Hopefully I'll have enough time to do a decent enough job of it before it's my time so as not to leave my mess for my loved ones to deal with. All in all, this was an interesting perspective to read and it did inspire a change in my life. Recommend!

Read more about my thoughts on the book here: https://www.marinaraydun.com/blog/2018/2/26/death-cleaning

Train Girl by Kristina Rienzi

4-stars

I received this short story free of charge as a token of thanks from the author for joining her mailing list. Which is a neat idea, I admit. I, too, must come up with a tangible reward for signing up for my mailing list. Somebody please remind me to do this!

I actually interviewed Kristina back in February of this year. You can read our interview here: https://www.marinaraydun.com/blog/2018/2/5/author-interview-series-kristina-rienzi. The story is incredibly short and is a real page turner. Which, of course, means I swallowed it in one sitting (yes, I read this one instead of listening to it!). It was suspenseful and engaging and the ending was a twist I was not expecting. Recommend!

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

5-stars

I could not, would not put this down (or turn it off). I got this recommendation on a facebook book group and it was so totally worth it. I listened every chance I got! Even if it meant five minutes at a time, I had to listen. Behind Closed Doors truly kept me on the edge of my seat. I was able to visualize everything so clearly, the writing is that crystal clear. Highly recommend! 

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

5-stars

Having loved Behind Closed Doors so much, I had to see what else B.A. Paris had to offer. The Breakdown did not disappoint.  Definitely recommend. I will be reading more B.A. Paris books in the near future, I'm sure!

The Girl Before by JP Delaney

4-stars

A sucker for anything British, I do have a bias for books set across the pond. Now that I listen to books, the fact that they are narrated with a British accent is an added bonus. I don't remember now how I came across this title but it was an engaging one. The suspense was executed well and the ending was a bit of a surprise. All in all, a fascinating read.

The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani

3-stars

I'm sorry to say, but this was a total disappointment for me. The book is a winner of a very prestigious award and I feel a bit like a jackass for finding it overrated. It goes for profound, grappling with some serious societal issues, but winds up stretched very thin and superficial. I just did not like it, although I read it very fast (and at the beach). I have a separate entry about this one. Read it here: https://www.marinaraydun.com/blog/2018/4/9/the-next-gone-girl

After Anna by Lisa Scottoline

5-stars

A reader at a street fair recommended this book to me. I won't lie-the whole thing did remind me of a quintessential Lifetime movie but it did hold my attention. The twist wasn't entirely unexpected, but the execution was entertaining. 

You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld

5-stars

Short stories are my jam! I find it such an intriguing and difficult genre. Putting out a compilation of short stories is on my bucket list. It's an ambitious dream. It's collections like this one that make it seem so intimidating because, oh my G-d, these stories right here are just sheer brilliance. So poignant and nuanced. So relatable. If you like short stories, please do yourself a favor and check out this book. One of my favorites!

The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy

5-stars

This was the one "the new Gone Girl" book that did not disappoint. Good suspense, yes, but it also delved into some real struggles that new mothers face. Highly recommend.

Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking

3.5-stars

There are many Little Books out there nowadays. I was afraid this one was going to be a preachy book about finding your happiness. I don't do those. I'm one of those rare few people out there who did not like Eat, Pray, Love. But no, this wound up reading like a funny scholarly paper with a bit of statistics and anthropology. It was fun. I now want to learn how to ride a bike and light some candles. 

Author Interview Series-Margaret Gurevich

Margaret Gurevich

Margaret Gurevich is the author of many books for kids, including Capstone’s Academy of Dance series, Gina’s Balance, and their award-winning Chloe by Design series. She has also written for National Geographic Kids and Penguin Young Readers. When she’s not writing and teaching, she likes exercising, spending time with her family and friends, reading, and watching movies.

Marina Raydun: You work within the MG genre.  What is it about that age group that makes you want to reach out to kids and young adults via fiction?

Margaret Gurevich: I love connecting with the MG age group. There are serious topics tackled but in a manner relatable to the tween. I remember that age, and knowing someone understood what I was going through was everything.

MR: What were some of your favorite books as a middle schooler?

MG: As a middle schooler, I gravitated to adult as well as children’s books. I loved Agatha Christie at that age, but I also enjoyed The Secret Garden, all books by S.E. Hinton, The Babysitters Club series, and more.

MR: Is there an illicit book you had to sneak growing up?

MG: My mom was very open to whatever I read. I was lucky that way.

MR: You were born in Belarus (where I lived between the ages of 3 and 11), but moved to the United States at a very young age. Are you bilingual?  Which language lends itself better to storytelling?

MG: I can speak Russian and English, but English comes easier. There are many Russian words I have forgotten as there is no one to practice speaking with.

MR: What affect do you feel growing up in family of immigrants had (and continues to have) on your writing?

MG: I like this question! I would say the biggest effect was being brought here to have the life my parents could not. We actually came here as refugees, not immigrants. Growing up, I was always told about the opportunities I could have. I took that to heart. Writing was always my dream, and I wanted to do everything possible to achieve it.

MR: What is the most difficult part about your artistic process?

MG: The self-doubt that creeps up is always an issue, but I push through it. 

MR: Is there a thing you’ve written that makes you cringe now?

MG: There’s a poem I wrote when I was seven that my mom still has. I rhymed twirl with chocolate swirl. I think that speaks for itself.

You can learn more about Margaret by visiting http://www.margiewrites.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/MargaretGurevich/

Author Interview Series-Mira Awad

Mira Awad

Mira Awad

Singer, songwriter and actress. Born 1975 in Rameh village in the Galilee (Israel) to a
Palestinian father and Bulgarian mother. As a relentless Artivista, Mira makes a point of promoting dialogue through all the art forms she practices. As actress she participated in numerous bi-lingual productions, as singer she has made the point of collaborating with artists from both sides of the conflict, to bring forth a model of co-existence. As writer she created TV formats promoting dialogue, and a TV drama series that deals with the Palestinian-Israeli identity. As composer, Mira developed a unique fusion of sounds, combining the East with the West, weaving the Arabic language and it's oriental ornaments with Western harmonies. She also composes music for film and theatre. 

Marina Raydun: I referred to you as a poet once and you corrected me, saying that you’ve
always thought of yourself as a songwriter, not a poet. What is the
relationship between lyrics and poetry?

Mira Awad: Well, I do have the habit of shying away from titles, but after giving your question some thought, I do think a song is some form of a poem after all. Once words are intentionally put together to describe a situation, or an emotion, they are poetry. And like in poetry, lyrics may come in many styles and rhythms, with or without rhymes, they may be strictly structured or freely flowing in an associative manner, this would necessarily affect the way they are put to music. 

MR: Is music in your family or did you fall into songwriting on your own?

MA: Yes, music is in my family, both my parents have musical hearing and beautiful singing voices. From my mother's side there are even musicians, in different levels of professionalism. However, as far as I know, I am the first composer. I started writing songs at a very early age, I cannot recall how I started scribbling words and why they became tunes, but nowadays I think maybe if there were existing songs in my language that portrayed the emotions that I had wanted to describe I would not have had the need to write new ones. I may be mistaken of course, and maybe the need to write songs is stronger than circumstance.
 

MR: What is the first experience you had when you learned that language had
power?

MA: I think I had that realization quite early in life. As I come from a multicultural family, I spoke three languages up to the age of 5, and could connect the different parts of my family together. Although I could not make that assessment as a child, that fact put me in the bridging position early in life.

 
MR: A couple of years ago you put a few poems by Mahmoud Darwish to music. 
What was your biggest challenge with this project? Having asked
that—biggest reward?

MA: The biggest challenge was that the poems were already put to music by a big Lebanese artist called Marcel Khalifeh, and his songs had a big popularity in the Arab world. I had been commissioned to write the music for a theatre play made of Darwish's poems, and felt that the original tunes could not serve the drama depicted on stage, and suggested to the director we re-compose them to serve the play. I did not know how this would be accepted by Palestinian crowds who know the original tunes, and I think opinions are divided regarding this: some appreciate the modern take on the very well known poems, and some feel it was presumptuous of me to even think I could do a better job than Khalifeh (which was never my intent). Regarding the reward, well, besides the actual rewards this project got (I received composer of the year in the theatre awards for that year, and also an award from Acum, the Israeli organization for composers), the biggest reward is when young Palestinians tell me I have revived Darwish for them, and even more, when Israelis , who were usually exposed to Darwish in a demonizing way, tell me I have introduced his poetry to them in a way they can connect to.

MR: You’re a true Renaissance woman—you’re a songwriter, a singer, an actress, 
a graphic artist, and a screenwriter. Does your creative method vary from
medium to medium?

MA: Calling it a "creative method" gives me a lot of undeserved credit, as if I have a planned process I go through in order to create. All the medias you mentioned are ways of expression, each one of them appeals to different senses, but all come from the same need to release what is within, whether in shapes, colors, words, melodies or stories. The process may vary, a creation may start from a private or a shared session of improvisation, or from an idea that then needs to take shape. Creativity is my therapy, that’s why I also developed workshops for creativity, to encourage others, who may not consider themselves artists, to uncover the creativity within them as well. I believe we are all born extremely creative, and I believe that when we release these creative energies, we are happier people.

MR: Your upcoming TV Series, Muna, is about a relationship between an Arab
Palestinian living in Tel Aviv and an Israeli Jew from Sderot and what
happens to their bond with the commencement of military operation
Protection Border in Gaza. You are a tireless advocate for peace and
coexistence. Is this project a part of that effort for you? What inspired you to
turn to screenwriting in particular?

 
MA: My TV drama Muna deals with the same story that I try to tell using all other medias: my identity, as a Palestinian living in Israel. Only this time I chose to bring it forth with a story, and not with a song. While songs may remain in the metaphoric realms, a scenario allowed me to treat the subject more directly, and go more in depth into the conflicts and the complexity. My only experience in scriptwriting comes from being an actress, acting out other people's scripts, and with the years I developed my own taste in what would be a good story or a good scene, and that's what lead me through the process. However, I did have scriptwriter Maya Hefner and director Ori Sivan working with me on Muna, so, although I came up with the story, the series is eventually a joint effort, and the process was yet another big lesson in collaboration.

MR: If you had to do something differently as a child or a teenager to become a
better writer as an adult, what would you do?

MA: I would have worked to release my creative energies more, to learn how to channel my thoughts more freely, something that had taken me years to develop.
That is why I also believe that education for creative thinking should be included in school curriculums.

MR: What, if anything, do you owe real life people who serve as an inspiration for
your characters, be it in a TV show, or perhaps a song?

MA: Everything is inspired by real life, by people I meet, and situations I encounter. Clearly these things get processed through my individual outlook on life, but nothing is created from nothingness.

MR: What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview?

MA:

Q: "In the eyes of the public, an artist only exists when they share their art. Is it frustrating that people sometimes ask why you disappeared?"

And the answer is: Yes. Sometimes I am frustrated that audiences don't consider the incubation time that I need as an artist, and if I'm not sharing a new song or new concert on my [facebook page], or if I'm not on some morning TV show, then it's as if I'm not doing anything. The truth is that the incubation time, the time that it takes to form a new project, is real life for me. When it is time to share it, it means the creative process has ended and the marketing phase had started, which is nothing about artistic expression and all about sales. I'm sure you can imagine that I would have preferred to remain a private individual in an ongoing creative process, but hey, we all need to make a living somehow.

To learn more about Mira Awad, please visit www.miraawad.co