Bru Interviews...Dianne Salerni!

Hi everyone!

I am really excited about my guest today: amazing writer, inspiring teacher, and all-around phenomenal person, Dianne Salerni! She is someone I have truly admired for a long time, so I am thrilled to chat with her here about all the wonderful things going on in her life and writing career right now.

Welcome, Dianne!

FG: First of all, congratulations are in order on so many fronts! In addition to all of your writing achievements, the short film THE SPIRIT GAME, based upon your book WE HEAR THE DEAD, has just gone to CANNES! That is SO HUGE! How does it feel???

DS: It feels very far away and a little surreal. I’ve seen the film short, and it is stunning. Now, it’s not exactly like my book. I based my book on historical events. Then my book inspired the concept for this movie, and a screenwriter wrote a 10 minute script based on what the director and producer wanted. Actors came along and interpreted their parts – and the director pulled the whole thing together. So my part is only a fraction of the whole … but still! I had a part in making a movie! (Starring Charles Shaughnessy, Gale Harold, Liberty Ross, Katherine Isabelle, and Katie Boland.)

The producer wants to pitch the film as the premise for a television series, so if THE SPIRIT GAME is well-received at Cannes, maybe a studio will take an interest!
You can see a sneak peek at the film HERE.

FG: That is incredible, congratulations again. Now, please tell me about your newest release, THE CAGED GRAVES.

DS: THE CAGED GRAVES is a historical mystery inspired by two real caged graves I saw in an abandoned cemetery in Catawissa, Pennsylvania. Even the local historical society doesn’t know why the graves of these two women – sisters-in-law who died a couple days apart in 1852 – were enclosed in cages.

DS: I built my story around a 17 year old girl, Verity Boone, who returns to her hometown after fifteen years to take part in an arranged marriage. But her homecoming is a disappointment. Her father is aloof and distant, her fiancé is not as charming as she hoped, and worst of all she learns that some kind of scandal surrounds her mother’s death. Her mother and an aunt she never knew are buried outside the church grounds, their graves enclosed in cages, and no one will tell her why. When Verity discovers her mother’s diaries in the attic, she delves into the mystery on her own.

FG: That sounds intriguing! I am looking forward to reading it as soon as I can. You are also working on a book series that has a premise so clever, when I heard it I had one of those moments when I thought, "I wish I'd thought of that!" Tell everyone a little about THE EIGHTH DAY and when we can expect to see it on store shelves!

DS: THE EIGHTH DAY is the first book in a Middle Grade fantasy series. Jax Aubrey is a seventh grader who discovers an extra day hidden between Wednesday and Thursday, as well as a mysterious girl in the house next door who exists only on that secret day. Jax tries to entice her out and befriend her, just because he’s curious, but his carelessness leads dangerous people to her door – people who know this girl is the key to destroying seven days of the week.

THE EIGHTH DAY is expected to release in Summer 2014. Just this week, I got a sneak peek at the cover. I can’t share (sorry), but it is amazing! Possibly even my favorite cover yet.

FG: That is fantastic, I can't wait until it's released! 

Finally, what is the best advice you would offer to a writer who is trying to find their voice and struggling?

DS: Keep writing and keep revising. I usually don’t discover my main character’s voice until the first draft of the book is almost done. Then I have to go back and change the rest of the book to match. Often, the voice continues to develop over successive drafts.

You can’t be afraid to cut and change your words. (Although you should keep a copy of every draft.) Good writing is forged in fire and sweat. It’s not supposed to be easy!

FG: So true!!! Thanks so much Dianne for visiting today!

You can all find out more about Dianne and her writing by visiting her blog. It is not to be missed! From there you can also find her on Facebook and such. Hurry on over!

~bru

This Life Is Being Refurbished For My Future Enjoyment

On my recent, spur of the moment (and if I'm honest, pretty much manically driven) solo trip to Florida, I had an unsettling experience that I am now only beginning to really appreciate.

For the first time in my life (and I have been going to WDW since I was pre-verbal) I saw active construction crews at work in the Magic Kingdom.

They were breaking ground, those big metal vehicles everywhere (which put me in mind of Arthur Dent: I kept thinking one word, "Yellow,") complete with beeping noises as they backed up, crunching and grinding and tearing away at the old to make room for the new. All of that sort of thing.

Right in the middle of New Fantasyland.

Now, I knew construction was ongoing in Fantasyland before I went. But there was something about seeing that real-world work, the heavy lifting usually kept behind the scenes as much as possible in WDW right in the middle of the Magic Kingdom that really bugged me at first. It was the proverbial slap in the face of reality...in the middle of the magic. How do you focus on the majesty of the new Beast's Castle in the background (in the pouring rain no less) when there is a backhoe screeching at you, rising into plain sight behind a barrier too short to disguise it?

I couldn't fathom it. For the first time in my entire life, I didn't know where anything was anymore. Me! Asking directions in Fantasyland! Preposterous!

Yet, I did.

And after I rode the new Voyage of the Little Mermaid and looked at the gift shops and all, I rode my little scooter on to other 'lands' unaffected by the construction and tried to focus on how impressive the additions so far to Fantasyland really are (had lunch inside Beast's Castle at Be Our Guest and it was beautiful beyond description...and the lemon cupcake was to DIE for...) But the sight of that frigging backhoe tearing up what I considered to be sacred ground from my childhood stayed with me.

It was only after I got home that I realized that the construction in the middle of Fantasyland is a perfect metaphor for my life right now-- and that is probably why it bothered me so much.

There are some parts of my life that may appear sparkly on the outside to others, but are really just akin to magical-looking facades in front of normal, everyday office buildings.

Like the Magic Kingdom, in my life below the surface there is a whole city of activity going on...some good some bad. Despite all I write about on this blog and elsewhere to try to raise awareness on certain issues and about conditions that are a part of my life, I try to keep the worst of it to myself. Just like you never see a truck hauling garbage out of The Happiest Place On Earth, because it all happens behind the scenes.

So too, have I been keeping to myself the heavy lifting I've been doing behind the scenes as far as life, and my writing life, goes. I haven't been talking, but believe you me there has been a flurry of construction and renovation going on-- mostly challenging the limitations that I have set upon myself up until now (Mom's voice in my head, much, telling me I'll fail? Yeah, time to finally tell that voice where to go.) and pushing my boundaries beyond my comfort zone to see what can happen.

I can't talk about all of it yet but I am hoping VERY soon.

For now, it's just like that thin wooden barrier between New Fantasyland and the construction zone: This life is being refurbished for my future enjoyment.

Refurbished, and reimagined.

All you can see right now is the tops of those construction vehicles and hear the infernal beeping that drowns out the sound of the carousel. But the end result is, with any luck at all, going to be pretty cool.

There are things I can't change in life that I desperately wish I could.

But I turn 42 this weekend: it's time to try to see what I can do with what's left in life beyond those things I cannot change.

Watch this space...

~bru

Motherhood Lost

It was about this time of day one year ago when I got the phone call that would change my life forever.

The phone call in which my daughter informed me that she had gotten baptized and now identified herself as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

She then further informed me, at the age of nearly seventeen, that she was cutting me out of her life unless and until I repented and did things “God’s way.”

I felt my knees go out from beneath me.

I cried. 

I screamed "No" and wailed as I have never heard my own voice sound before in my life. 

I know that I just completely and utterly lost it.

She said nothing more.

I lost it for many reasons, not the least of which was because of this announcement itself but also because she had promised me, on many occasions, that she would warn me first before she took this drastic step with her life (her father and stepmother’s doing).

She lied.

She told me many lies the two previous two years of her life, during which she had undergone this conversion or as I prefer to call it, brainwashing, at the hands of those determined to love bomb her into the submissive role of a ‘good young Christian woman’.

I lost my daughter that day, despite my pleas she think this through. That she remember the way that I raised her— with open mindedness, and acceptance of people of all walks of life and orientations. I begged her to remember her promises she could never do this to me. I begged her to think about the life and freedom she was throwing away.

I was raised in the same narrow, controlling environment that she was just entering, and I know what it cost me to get out— everything and my relationships with everyone I had ever loved up to the age of twenty-six. Five generations of my family in “The Truth” and I am the only one to escape and stay out.

Now it was costing me the one person that I fought hardest to get out for— my own, and only child. The one person I wanted to have the freedom that I never had was choosing to throw it all away.

Why do I write about this? Especially on a writer’s blog?

Because this is the reality of my life, the reality of far too many people who do not speak of this very real grief.

You need to know that I’m not alone.

There are thousands of childless mothers (and fathers) like me out here, who have had their children taken from them, not due to their own actions, but just because a religious organization that the child was influenced into subscribing to  (whatever it may be) decides that they are not fit to be associated with, indeed, are unfit to live.

My daughter believes I will (justifiably) die the day that Armageddon comes; when mighty Jehovah brings his wrath upon all those who refused stubbornly to submit to his will. 

If stoning were still legal, I have no doubt that she would stand in the public square, declare it God's will, and cast the first stone at me.

But the truth is, I am already dead.

My heart died the moment that my daughter told me that I was less than, just because I do not believe as she does.

The last year has been about physical survival; and never have I been less motivated to continue my own existence.

After a lot of counseling (and believe you me, counselors hardly know what to do with this, they don’t come across cases of extreme religious discrimination like this every day) I have come to the point where I am trying to start again— and that is what it feels like. I had another life for seventeen years— I was (redacted)’s mother.

Now I’m just a woman again, and one trying to find the things about herself that may be worth saving.

One day at a time, one foot in front of the other, I am still moving. At times I may be crawling, but I am still, somehow, here.

There’s nothing left the Watchtower Society can take from me, they have it all now.

Still, I stand. 

It may be upon shaking knees and with tears running down my face, but still, I stand.

I wrote this poem a few weeks ago— and I post it in honor of all the childless mothers and fathers as Mother’s Day approaches.

Farewell, farewell, farewell my love

Whose heart once beat below mine;

I wish you joy and happiness

And love all in your own time.

I’ll recall you as you were

With eyes alight and shining

Avert my own lest you see tears

I ever will be crying.

~February Grace

PS. Please consider comments closed on this post-- I would appreciate them but wouldn't have the heart to reply. <3 br="">

Bru Interviews...Melissa Kline and Diana Dolan of Anassa Publications, LLC

Hi everyone!

Not long ago, my short story The Wedding Shoes was released in Anassa Publications LLC's anthology Anything Prose...And Poetry, Too! It was wonderful to work with them, and I am happy to have the opportunity today to let you listen in as I ask them some questions about what Anassa is up to, and what these two wonderful ladies are up to on their own as well!

Without further ado...here we go.

Melissa Kline and Diana Dolan of Anassa Publications, LLC. Photo used with permission.

FG: Please tell me a little about yourself.

MK: I am an ever-optimistic super creative and visionary extraordinaire. Some of my titles include, Author, Publisher, Writing Coach, Miniaturist, and Super Mom! I love to support the success of others. My dream is to make a difference in the world by inspiring others with love and hope. When I’m not busy writing, coaching or editing my latest anthology for publication, you might find me volunteering my time to read to children at local schools, speaking at events or hosting workshops. 

DD: I’m a multi-faceted renaissance woman with many interests, hobbies and creative endeavors. Music, multiple art mediums, videography and writing have been a huge piece of my life since I was a small child. My parents instilled a strong love of learning new things in me and my siblings, and to this day, I LOVE learning.  I enjoy connecting with like-minded creative individuals by sharing what I have learned through hands on workshops and classes. I also have an extensive business and government background, which has been a great help in navigating through the business details.  On top of all that, I am an avid animal lover and have been involved in the rescue, placement, and rehab of animals for many years.

FG: How long have you been writing?

 MK: I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I wrote my first picture book at age 6 and began writing novels at age 13. Writing has always been a refuge for me. When I experienced moments of discord in my environment as a young person – at home or amongst peers – I turned to writing. My greatest passion is writing young adult novels. I also enjoy writing short stories and narrative non-fiction. No matter the genre, love is the central theme in my work.

DD: I have been writing creatively since grade school, but ultimately my first published pieces were for business:  User guides for software systems, RFP’s and RFQ’s, and protocol/media updates.  A very left-brained form of writing to say the least.  That being said, I keep my right-brain active and I love a good story that’s written well.  Being the daughter of one of the few remaining custom hand bookbinders in the world, I guess you could say that I’m a born bibliophile and have quite a collection of wonderful written works.  I am constantly striving to develop a style of creative writing for myself inspired by excellent writers.

FG: What inspired you to start Anassa Publications LLC?

MK: It all started with a desire to give the Rocky Mountain Women Writers the opportunity to become published in a compilation. I wanted to give back to the hard-working, dedicated writers who make an effort to help our fellow members and writing community. The idea to put together a collection for the RMWW had been brewing for years, I just wasn’t sure exactly how to piece it all together. After self-publishing a book for my son, I was inspired to go ahead and begin with the process of creating an anthology that would showcase the works of the Rocky Mountain Women Writers. I teamed up with my good friend, fellow author and RMWW member, Diana Dolan, and together we made it happen! Diana and I had a vision for a company that would help communities thrive and give writers an authentic publication experience - thus, Anassa Publications, LLC was born!

DD: After having been a member of the RMWW for quite some time, Melissa approached me with an idea to form a publishing company with the hopes of encouraging the RMWW members to take the next step with their writing.  I had been working as an editor for the past few years, and with my business background coupled with Melissa’s gift of promotion and social media, I was confident that our partnership would be a good one.  Before we knew it, Anassa Publications, LLC was born!

FG: What sets you apart from other publishers? What is it about Anassa Publications that you believe makes it so unique?

MK: Anassa Publications, LLC is passionate about bringing artistic and creative people together. We provide support, resources, individualized attention and a solid foundation for creatives. We recognize that the overall achievement of our vision and the success of our authors and artists are co-dependent; neither succeeds without the other. As publishers, we are continuously striving to energize the author/publisher relationship and revive the importance of credibility, value, quality, and mutual trust. Our belief is that the well-being of people and animals is extremely important for a thriving, prosperous society.  As such, we will be dedicating the proceeds of one publication at regular intervals to a previously defined charitable organization.  The charitable book will be of a topic related to the designated charitable organization. With a view toward helping communities thrive, we strive to foster long-term relationships with our authors. 

                                                                                                                                                    

DD: More than anything, we wanted to be unique in our approach.  We wanted to be able to give new authors a fair opportunity to progress with their writing instead of the impersonal and automatic rejections that so many publishing companies give to unknown and start-up writers.  It was, and still is, important to us that we not be perceived as a vanity press, but are recognized as a genuine resource for writers of all ages and genres.

FG: Please tell me about Anything Prose...and Poetry Too!

MK: Anything Prose…And Poetry, Too! is our first publication under Anassa Publications, LLC, and we are thrilled to finally share this book with the world! This project and the meaning behind it is very dear to my heart. To me, Anything Prose means being able to express yourself as a writer without any limitations or traditional guidelines. It's all about freedom of expression, free form and flow. And I love how it has a grassroots beginning with the Rocky Mountain Women Writers - the inspiration for the entire project itself. We've been receiving such wonderful reviews and feedback about this book. It's a very powerful collection with writings authored by 32 incredibly talented writers (including February!). I am so proud of this project and each and every one of our authors.

DD: Anything Prose… and Poetry, Too! was born of the idea to recognize the creative works of a local writing group in Golden, Colorado, The Rocky Mountain Women Writers. We wanted to give tribute to the experimentation and creative expanse that we have seen demonstrated week after week with this wonderful group. Once we began receiving submissions, and interest in the project started to spread, we were introduced to many other writers who were interested in participating. As a result, we decided to extend this opportunity to other new and up-and-coming writers. Many of the works do not follow traditional guidelines of grammar. Some have “invented words” to drive the context or punctuation. Some have chosen to take a more experimental and free-form approach, perceiving punctuation as undue influence on the reader. The result of these creative liberties gives the overall book a very unique feel! We wanted to give authors license to express their works in the manner that they chose. As the saying that influenced the title suggests, anything goes!

FG: What are your upcoming projects? Are you currently accepting submissions?

MK/DD: We have many projects currently in the works, including some exciting books from first time authors! We are currently accepting individual book submissions and short stories/poetry for our anthology titles. We are also seeking artists, doodlers and illustrators of all mediums and skill levels to create book cover designs for our upcoming collections. You can find a list of our current open submissions and guidelines on our website at www.AnassaPublications.com

FG: Do you have any personal projects aside from Anassa Publications LLC that you'd like to mention to our readers?

MK: I am super excited about my latest young adult novel entitled, Storm, which has just been chosen as a ForeWord Book of the Year Award Finalist! I have many YA novels in the works and also a New Adult romance line I hope to debut very soon!

DD: I have several short stories written than may turn into a compilation.  I am also writing and illustrating a children's book series, and working on a biography to honor a friend of mine who met an untimely end.  It is my hope that it may help his family with their loss as well. One of my artistic mediums is working with glass, and as an ever-learning glass artisan, I am experimenting with some new cutting edge techniques that I hope to both display and teach in the very near future. 

FG: Wow, I learned so much about each of you today, I am so glad we had the chance to chat! Thank you so much for stopping by, it was a pleasure to have you as my guests!

You can click the links within this interview to learn more about Melissa Kline, Diana Dolan, Anassa Publications LLC, and Anything Prose...and Poetry Too! Thank you again to my guests for visiting, I hope you all found this as informative as I did!

~bru

P.S. The links seem to be working on and off, no matter what I do with them, it must be a blogger issue. My apologies to my guests. Please visit Anassa Publications LLC online for more information about them!

That Small, Inextinguishable Spark

In April of 2012 I signed up for Script Frenzy, the sister event to NaNoWriMo (though SF is now discontinued, whaaa) and set out to write a play.

I'd written a screenplay before (during the 2010 Frenzy) but never tried a stage play.

I was surprised how intense the experience became, and how quickly.

The setting and plot of the play were both heavy-- it was not going to have a happy ending.

As in love with the idea (and the characters) as I was, I knew pretty quickly that the physically and emotionally healthy thing for me to do was to stop, right in the middle of Act 1, and not finish it.

I saved the files though-- tucked them away. Later, I showed one section of dialogue to a poetry group I was in at the time as poetry-- and it went over well.

That stayed in my mind for a long time.

So nearly a year later, when I finally went back to reread the play I'd started about a young, emotionally troubled poet called Farran Kean, I was shocked that I'd written it- it was so different from my other work. But in a good way. More of his dialog struck me as potential poetry, so I lovingly and gently harvested it. I took his words from the page and hoped to give them new life-- that small, inextinguishable spark of existence, by seeing them published. So I tried submitting them to The Rusty Nail.

Now, I am very sentimental about The Rusty Nail anyway because they (and Sweatshoppe Publications founder and editor Craig Hart) gave me my first shot-- he was the first to ever publish my work, back in March of 2012 (has it only been thirteen months?) I held my breath and sent off these poems, which were so different from any I'd ever submitted before (and which are written from a decidedly male perspective).

I'll be damned, they accepted them and published them.

They're out now, in the April 2013 issue, and I feel something more than just satisfaction at seeing them on the page; it's like a little piece of me that was lost has found life again; because the project I loved but could not continue will at least in one way, be read. In his words dear, romantic young Farran, still exists somehow.

To celebrate that, I share with you here (the first time I have shown this to anyone publicly) a small sample of  how the play began: a play that, who knows, maybe one day I will have strength enough to finish.

But if not, at least Farran's haunting echoes live on the page, out there in the world.

Thank you again, TRN.

My new painting, Speechless, contains text of two of the three poems taken from my unfinished play, FARRAN KEAN

ACT ONE, SCENE ONE

(a dark room, with a small desk in the middle. The only items on top of the desk are a glass of water, a stack of plain paper and an antique typewriter. Lights come up to reveal FARRAN seated at the desk, hands poised above the keys. FARRAN picks up a piece of paper and slowly winds it into the machine. He clicks a few keys, then stops. He pulls a pencil from behind his ear and begins scribbling on one of the blank sheets of paper, and we hear VO)

FARRAN

Would that I could stand the way it sounds, this machine so cold with its clattering arms. (a beat) That my heart would not break into pieces anew every time the keystroke struck paper, that I could remember instead the sound of her laughter and write purely by this inspired.

(a pause as he looks at the keys, brushes his fingers lightly over them, almost caressing them)

No earthly good could ever come of this.

FARRAN RISES FROM HIS SEAT AND ADDRESSES THE AUDIENCE DIRECTLY.

FARRAN CONTINUED

I am called by the name FARRAN KEAN, and poet is what I am. With a name such as that what else was I to be? Child though I am of two with such disparate views and alarmingly inartistic professions, it matters not. Poet I was born, and poet, I will perish. I will...

(his voice trails off for a moment as he looks down at his shoes)

...perish.

(FARRAN sits down at the keys once again, finally finishing the task of winding the paper in and placing his hands upon the keys. As he begins to type we continue to hear his thoughts in voice over.)

FARRAN

How she loves the sound of the clattering keys, so out of step with time and tide of modern convenience; not so smart as phone or tablet upon which people spend more time flinging raging animals across screens than writing words of ringing, lasting value. Or, so she often complains to me.

~F.G.

COPYWRITE 2012/2013 MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN WHOLE OR PART WITHOUT PRIOR CONSENT OF THE AUTHOR

Nathan Bransford Talks About Estrangement in the Era of Social Media ...

If you haven't read this post, run and read it, then click on the link and listen to the BBC interview (you can stream it right from their site, links are in the Bransford post).

I appreciated not only Bransford's openness and remarks but also those of Becca Bland, who spoke about her estrangement from her parents.

It really spoke in a lot of ways to how it is for me about my daughter. It's difficult to find a way to go on with your life when someone you love is out there living every day without you in theirs (in my daughter's case, at least happily enough because she believes by not talking to me she is following God's law and doing the Right Thing). I am grateful that I don't have to worry about crossing paths with her online, (she is not allowed to use FB or anything like it by her 'other' parents) but it is still difficult when people bring her up in everyday life. It happens all the time.

Explaining is not easy. I have got it down to a few sentences and never try to sugarcoat the truth: she did not just move away to go to school in a different state, or to get to better weather.

She moved away with every intention of converting to the 'religion' her father practices and as soon as she had me believing that she was really moving away to go to school and live in a warmer state, BAM. The door slammed shut on me, and with her rapidly approaching 18 I was left with little recourse.

But if you've read here before, you likely know the story.

So.

Bottom line: the Bransford interview is brilliant. Listen to it.

Thank you to Mr. Bransford and everyone who participated in the program.

It does help to know that you're not alone in trying to forge forward to some kind of 'new normal', bizarre though it may be, past a very long list of haunting, painful memories.

Speaking from my own experience, I would say that sometimes the happiest memories hurt the most.

~bru