Ask the Author: Debra Denker
Answered Questions (7)
Debra Denker
Ideas and characters and scenes just come to me. In some spiritual circles, one might call it a type of "channeling." There is a flow. The characters become so real that I feel like I know them. When I was at Findhorn last May, I had a sense of Tara and Xander entering the Sanctuary and sitting down on either side of me during a meditation. It takes a long time to develop the story of a novel, and an even longer time to somehow make the time to do the actual writing, have the courage to share with other writers and friends and get feedback, and then revise. Generally the structure of my novels remains intact and I just need to add nuances. My visit to Findhorn in May, during which I attended Experience Week, added richness and veracity to my descriptions of Findhorn Foundation in the novel. Sometimes I wish I could just sit and write everyday and escape the current reality that way, but at the same time I feel a responsibility to engage in Sacred Activism.
Debra Denker
Ugh, marketing. The most pleasurable part of it is writing blogs for my cli-fi blog on my website www.weathermenders.com. At the back of my mind, I'm thinking of writing a novel that would cover the experiences of the minor but important characters Harry and Dermot. Once they are aware of Time Travel, their world changes forever. What would their lives be like in the alternate reality where humans make life-enhancing instead of life-destroying decisions?
Debra Denker
Write. Make sure you do at least some writing, journaling, writing down your dreams, something, in longhand (cursive) writing. This makes your brain more flexible. Don't be dependent on computers entirely. Write your dreams, write your hopes, write your fears, but let the process of writing help you to transcend them. Journaling is important to get the writing juices flowing. Julia Cameron, in her seminal work, "The Artist's Way," suggests writing "morning pages" every day, even just a few short pages of whatever first comes to mind upon awakening. This can be used as a supplement to meditation, or as a sort of meditation in and of itself.
Debra Denker
I've been a writer since I learned to read and write. I suppose I like escaping reality by creating a different one. Like everyone in my generation, I grew up under the shadow of the atomic bomb, and the possibility of imminent destruction colored my dreams. Now we are facing a true planetary emergency, and I believe that collective consciousness can help create a different possible future by focusing our intentions on what we want to create rather than on our fears (though those must be honestly recognized and faced first). Let's change the dream together.
Debra Denker
I have never actually had writer's block, just too many distractions from daily life and various crises like family illnesses. The best way for me to write is to either shut off all phones and internet in my home and go on spiritual and writing retreat there, or to go away somewhere without distractions. I wrote the bulk of the first draft of Weather Menders at the charming Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport, Oregon, a literary hotel on a cliff overlooking the beach. The website says it's not for everyone, as they have no wi-fi and they do have at least one hotel cat.
Debra Denker
As soon as I started writing Weather Menders, Georgie the gray cat just "appeared" and started talking telepathically to Tara. I had no idea he would become such an important, in fact key, part of the story. I've felt a deep connection to felines all my life (and maybe lives, if one believes in reincarnation), and have been serving as an animal communicator for the past 10 or so years, so it was only natural that Georgie would communicate with my main character. As his personality developed, it became clear that he was very much like my eldest cat, Dorjee, a long-haired gray rescue cat. I figured Georgie would have to have short hair because of the extreme warming by 2050 (unless we successfully reverse it). The inside joke is that Georgie's name would have been Dorjee except that Leona as a little child misunderstood the unfamiliar name as "Georgie." A bit of magic occurred last Christmas Eve when a short-haired gray stray appeared outside my house. As no one could be tracked from his chip, and no one responded to my numerous posts about him, he ended up joining our family as Samadhi "Sammy" Timewalker. When I met him I realized I had to publish the novel as soon as possible. I'm still not sure he's not really Georgie from 2050. I love Georgie's sense of humor, and that he's a very brave little kitty.
Debra Denker
I asked the question, "how can we reverse climate change?" When I thought of time travel, I asked, "what time would we need to go back to in order to make sure things never got this bad?" I thought of rigged elections, and how to unrig them. The character of Tara grew out of my travels in the UK in 2013. She is originally from Taos, New Mexico, but her spirit just started traveling with me to Findhorn and other places.
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