Charline Ratcliff's Blog - Posts Tagged "charline-ratcliff"

Welcome Christina, and thank you for agreeing to share some of your story with me, and my readers!

Jumping into it, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself? Who are you, and what is it that makes you…tick? (Pun intended.)

Hmm… What makes me tick? Well, I love to learn; sometimes to the point where I’m overwhelmed by how much I want to absorb. I’m a sponge so to speak: full of random trivia and knowledge, while constantly searching to fill any voids with more knowledge, more experiences, and more beauty.

I was recently watching “Rise of the Guardians,” and a question caught my attention. “What is your center?” I think I’ve been searching a long time for my center, but I feel my answer is a bit like the response provided in the movie by Santa: “My eyes are so big because they are full of wonder.”

I find that I am an idealist, and while I don’t look at the world through rose colored glasses (so not fashionable anyway,) I do see the potential, beauty, and good in everything, and everyone, around me. I attempt to focus on that in my life; to share that perception of the world with everyone, whether it be through creative mediums, or just in my actions. As with everything, I am a work in progress…

Christina, I understand that you have a sincere interest in the incredibly technical world of computer programming, designing, creating, et cetera. What was it about this field that initially piqued your interest? Was it a vision and desire to create? Or did you simply see something mediocre and think to yourself: “I could do that so much better?”

Honestly, I think it was the freedom to do something on my own, while still being bound to the confines of “structure.” Computer programming is a language that I find interesting. It’s dynamic and fluid; it changes, it grows, and it evolves. Just like people.

Plus, I wanted to be able to contribute something that says: “I did that. I’m useful.” I saw designing as my outlet to allow me to show expression, creativity, and uniqueness while also developing me as a person and artist.

However, I’m also grounded in the “structure” and the “matrix” of it all, so to speak. These things give me a sense of stability and security, while allowing me to flow and explore. I find that there is something uniquely beautiful about lines and geometry. To me, even the most “abstract” has structure.

With that said, my love of art, and wanting to create beauty, started at a young age. I would visit museums, see amazing works of art and think: “I wish I could do that.”

Then I discovered math — and the world of fractals. I saw how beautiful, and for the most part unnoticed, art was in nature. I was amazed to find that it could be recreated with the power of mathematical functions. This knowledge gave structure and harmony to the world in which I lived.

So, after you had dabbled in the tech side for a while Christina, what was the defining “aha” moment where you knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this was a field you wanted to immerse yourself in for the long haul?

I think it actually started in college — as a math major. I also worked in the CS (Computer Science) laboratories, teaching Calculus programs to students. Then I got one of my dream jobs: internship at NASA Ames Research Center in the Neuro-Engineering laboratory! It was the most eye opening two years of my life. I was completely embedded (pun intended!) in programming, learning to write analysis scripts, and I found it challenging yet extremely satisfying.

Christina, as your skills grow, where do you hope to go? What do you hope to achieve with your creative tech side?

Well, I would like to be working full-time designing websites and graphic logos, as well as pursuing my drawing and photography interests. I aspire to share my creative vision with the world that loves technology and is always looking for the “next big thing.”

On the flip side though, I don’t know that I want to be the “next big thing,” as that involves eventually getting passed by. I want to find myself always on the cutting edge, pushing that envelope, and breaking the mold. :)

Last question Christina… You seem to have an innate sense of how things work in this usually intimidating field. Some might call it a gift…or just good genetics. How do you view it? If it is a gift, do you feel that there’s a higher calling out there somewhere for you?

That’s an interesting question, and I think it’s a little bit of both…

I catch onto things quickly, so in that aspect I would say it’s a “gift.” I would also give it up to “genetics” or “experience,” since I was immersed in a world of technology as a child. My grandfather is a laser physicist, and he always brought home new gadgets to show my brother and me.

In addition, our household had PC, and Apple, systems so that we could learn how each one worked. By the time computers were being brought into my classrooms, I already knew how to navigate one, how to play around, and…how to get myself into trouble. *chuckle*

In college, I expanded my knowledge by building my own computer from the ground up. I felt it was important for me to understand the hardware, software and accessories needed to build a computer that worked properly.

That’s all we have time for today Christina, but thank you so much for sharing! I know I have learned a lot today – and not just about technology!

Today I’m interviewing Linda Barnett-Johnson, a professional editor and virtual assistant. After you read her interview you can find out more about Linda, and her services, by visiting either Linda's blog, or Linda's website.


Hi Linda, I've reviewed your website and I have to say that I appreciate how informative you are about yourself, the things that matter to you, helping others, etc.

In your bio you mentioned that you worked in the business world for forty years and now you’re in Montana. What, if you don’t mind me asking, was your “day” job while you lived in Southern California? How did you come to enter the world of editing and being a virtual assistant for authors?

That’s a good question and the first time I've been asked. Right after high school, I entered the secretarial field. My two-year typing course in high school, prepared me for setting up letters and business forms. I worked at a hospital in several areas. I learned to do payroll, AR/AP, time cards, receptionist, dictation (in long hand), sales, etc. I loved working with people, and the applicable experience each job brought me. I loved working for an agency where you went to different businesses and learned another job. I became well-rounded in the secretarial field.

Denise Cassino and I started Long Story Short e-zine, where we could help new writers get published. That was in 2003. I learned a lot from reading and giving feedback. We did what we could to help many writers achieve their writing goals. In 2005, we opened Long Story Short School of Writing to further help new and advanced writers. We have a wonderful group of instructors, and the fees are very reasonable.

In 2001, I opened up my own writing and poetry forums that are private. I used to write a short story each month and then receive feedback from my other members. I would give them feedback, too. I have helped many writers achieve their publishing goals. It’s a satisfying feeling for me personally. I have also been published with short fiction and poetry. Now I do more reading than writing.

Being a virtual assistant for authors, I enjoy telling others about new books and authors. More and more people know me from Long Story Short and I was good at advertising and marketing, so it all went hand-in-hand for me. I actually enjoy this as much, if not more, than editing. I have a lady client that sent me her book to edit and after that I did marketing for her. She has now sent me another book, which I edited and is now marketing it. I have met so many wonderful people through this all. I can’t imagine doing anything else.



What do you love most about editing? What do you like least?

I love reading new stories, for one. I love the process. Is there a good opening hook? Does the story flow? Are the characters well-defined? Is there good build-up of tension and a reasonable resolution? What changes should be made to make the story stronger? How about the dialogue? Does it sound realistic? What about the tag lines? Too many “He said – She said?” How about the punctuation and grammar? All this needs to be taken into consideration when editing a story.

I guess the time factor would be the part I like the least. It’s hard to find extra time when you are doing all these jobs and making everyone happy. My motto is: Your goals are my goals. I want them to succeed.



Linda, in the writing world, I’m sure there are those who feel that they can handle everything, (writing, editing, marketing, social media), by themselves. While I’m sure they can, how would your services make their life easier?

What my clients want is their time to write and not worry about the marketing aspect of the business. That’s where I come in. I free up their time and worries so they can just do what they love, and that’s to write. I give them …their freedom to write, while I am finding interviews, book reviewers and putting out blurbs about their book(s) daily.



Listing yourself as a “Virtual Assistant for Authors,” do you ever feel people shy away; thinking that your services will be too expensive for them to afford? What are the prices for your editing/assistant services?

My prices are very reasonable. Here’s a breakdown:

I charge $30.00 per hour.

That may sound a lot to some, but you have to figure your time put into this. I usually do more time than I charge, that’s just the way I am. I am a giver. I am willing to do financing, like ½ and ½. What is your writing worth to you? What is it worth to not worry about doing marketing on top of writing?

CHARGES PER HOUR:

$100.00 per mo. = 4 hours

$200.00 per mo. = 7 hours

$300.00 per mo. = 10 hours

$400.00 per mo. = 12 hours

$500.00 per mo. = 17 hours



Last question Linda; do you have any nuggets of wisdom that you would like to share with my readers?

I do have a couple of quotes that I wrote:

“Write what you feel; Feel what you write.”

“If you don’t toot your own horn, who will?”

Everyone has a story. I hear people tell me that they couldn't write. Well, I’m here to tell you that you can. I like to encourage people to achieve their goals and reach for the stars. You can do anything you put your mind to. If you want to be a couch potato, you’ll be a couch potato. If you believe you can write a children’s book, then you’ll write a children’s book. If you’re a story teller to your kids or grandkids, then you’ll be a story teller to all of us.

I want to take the opportunity to thank you for doing this well-defined interview. I appreciate your work ethic.

Linda Barnett-Johnson

www.lindabarnett-johnson.com

http://lindabarnett-johnson.blogspot....

Welcome Catherine, and thank you for agreeing to be interviewed. I know my, and no doubt your, readers will enjoy learning more about you.

I've been to your website and I appreciate how informative it is. In perusing the website, you mentioned, very eloquently I might add, that your library card was your passport, and the books you read were your adventures. How old were you when you started reading so voraciously? What was is that prompted your keen interest in books?


I started reading in the first grade, and by the fourth grade I had read every Nancy Drew I could find in the library. My mother had been a school teacher, so TV, which was in its infancy, was forbidden during the week. In the evenings, books were my adventures, and I usually read several each week. I fancied myself after Pippi Longstocking! To this day, I am an avid reader, choosing to read over watching TV.

(*chuckle* I, too, was a Nancy Drew, and Pippi Longstocking fan).


Catherine, after college, you state that you took your love of books to the classroom. How did that come about? What did you teach? In your twenty-five years of working with students, I imagine there were many memorable moments. Do you have a favorite?

My majors in were English and Communication Arts. I decided to pick up a teaching credential so I could find a job, which I did. I started teaching second grade, and fell in love with opening up the world of books to hungry students. I earned my Masters Degree in Education, and became a Reading Specialist.

I taught elementary school for fifteen years, and college level English for ten. My favorite grade was third. The students still love their teachers, and they still love school. My favorite time of the day was DEAR: drop everything and read. We would all read for fifteen minutes after lunch. I found it relaxing and I used this time as a role model for my students. I had discovered that many of my students lived in homes where there were no books and their parents didn't read. One of my favorite experiences was putting on the Christmas play with my first graders—complete with costumes!


With your intense love of books Catherine, when was it that you actually sat down and began writing your own?

After I left the school district and went to the college level, I found I had more time. I completed The Artist Way program and my first book, “Reaching the Summit,” came out of it. I created a studio off my bedroom and developed the practice of writing. (Around my own children’s sports schedules).


Catherine, you have a new book out: “The Divorce Ranch.” From what I've read, it seems to have the makings of a very fun story. What was it that inspired this specific book?

I read an article in the paper several years ago about the divorce ranches and started researching. I discovered that I live up the mountain from where two of the most famous ones once were. I picked the thirties because the social conditions were similar to what we have now: recession/depression, war abroad, economic hard times, etc.

Women were discovering their voices. Gambling was beginning in this state, and Nevada figured out a way to weather the Great Depression by creating the divorce culture. They shortened the length of time to six weeks and one did not have to prove cause. You just had to stay here for six weeks, have someone verify that you were indeed here for six weeks, and promise to make Nevada your home. (Most people had their return tickets in their suitcases). Thus, people came from all over the world to divorce their partner. Divorce gave Nevada a unique identity, a cosmopolitan glamour, a splash of sin, and the whiff of celebrity.


This has been a great Q & A Catherine, and I guess my final question would simply be: do you have any words of wisdom for the author who is just beginning his/her own writing journey?

First, one must be an avid reader. Reading opens up so many worlds. One must see the words “dance across the page.”
Then one must develop the self-discipline to actually write—sitting down at your desk and writing. I feel the writing process is important, and when I taught college English I always instructed my students in this process.

First, you must have your “shitty” first draft. (Anne Lamott) The first draft is the frame of the story. When I finish the first draft, I put it away for awhile, then I take it out and then I re-read it, take notes, etc.

The second step is to re-write it. This is where people get hung up. Re-writing is not revision. It’s not using Word to “move” words around. It’s re-writing. I print out the pages and delete it off my computer so I’m not tempted.

Next is Revision. (Make it better). Proofing, then Publication. I also think you need a fair reader, and avoid critics who just want to rip you apart because they are too scared to even try.

Also, it’s important to remember that writing is a journey, and I have found it’s a journey to my own truth.

Catherine MacDonald
http://www.supernovel.com/

Hello and welcome, Don. Thank you for taking the time to interview with me. So, let’s get started!

I’ve been doing my research about you/your books prior to this interview, but sadly there isn’t a lot out there about you. Why don’t we start with a bit of your history. I do know you’re a North Carolina native…as a child, where in the state was home?

I was born in Piedmont Hospital in downtown Greensboro. It was a very small hospital located directly above a drug store. Not long after my birth, they tore it down and built the police station. Some of my friends, who know I was born there, say that the chain of events was no accident. I have a great aunt who told me she was at that hospital in childbirth during the WWII era, when Greensboro was rocked by an explosion at the military supply depot on English street to the east side of town. The blast blew in the windows of her hospital room. I have not confirmed her story. I think it's great as it is. I missed the excitement by twenty years!
My Dad worked for a large steel company that had an office in downtown Greensboro in the Jefferson building. My mother took care of me and my sister. Even as a child I realized how fortunate I was to have good parents who spent time with me; ones who cared about not only my physical needs, but that I would be a good person as well. I also had two sets of very good grandparents.
We moved out of Greensboro after the city widened our street and took part of our yard. I was about thirteen. My Dad said they took half of his yard and then sent him a bill for improvements. He had to pay for the curb and guttering that they had put in at the edge of the road. I do not know what the number was, but he says that in comparison with that, I was a deal. (He still has the bill for my birth, $80.00).
We settled in Randolph County to the south. I was thrilled! Our new home was in a forest with neighbors far away. Every day was an adventure.


What was your childhood like? Siblings? What did you do for fun?

I had one sister. When we were young, she would make up games (cleverly crafted so that she would win) and we spent almost every minute together. Our days were spent in a small back yard with a shady corner where all of our "outside" things were. We played at all the childhood stuff. Lightning bugs were big!
I well remember how we would use the most colorful leaves in the fall as money between us. The green at the base, then lime green (extra valuable), fading into yellow with an orange to red tip.
My parents were very frugal, so a trip to Hanging Rock State Park for a swim, or an evening at a skate rink was tops! We watched lots of TV. 70’s TV. Lots of it. Lots…
When we moved out into the country, I had a ten speed bike which was relatively new technology then and I had a whole world of woods with trails, streams and ponds to explore. I bought a pair of knobby tread tires for my bike at Western Auto and may have built the first mountain/trail style bike ever. Back then, ten speed bikes only had slim racing tires. I was in paradise!
So, my childhood was full of simple things. No internet, video games, or game boys for us.


Don, I’ve found that most authors I interview developed a love of books during their younger years. When did your love affair with the written word begin? Parents reading to you at night after they tucked you into bed, or something else, no doubt just as magical?

My sister began school years before I did, and I would beg her to check books out of the school library that I might like. She would read them to me. (I am sure I made a pest of myself). My parents, particularly my father, were avid readers. Once I could read, we made often trips to the public library. I would take two trips sometimes just to get all my books to the car.
My Dad kept a subscription with the Readers Digest and the newspaper. Both were always very interesting to me. We also had old encyclopedias around. I read nearly every word in them. If you wanted twenty years’ worth of out-of-date cutting edge science, then I was your boy!
In those “pre-affordable VCR” days, the freedom to explore the world, to learn about what you wanted, when you wanted, only came with books. What I read always seemed to become very real to me, even if it was fiction. Also, I still find that I can read something several times and learn new things with each reading. My "Marriage Certificate" for example. (Just a joke I couldn't resist). I am very happily married to a more than great woman! We have had twenty-nine years together and I would do it all over again if I could.


Since you are a newer author, I’m presuming that you had a separate career prior to your writing? What was it?

I am only a part time author. Most of my "career" has involved the maintenance of machines. I even worked at a small amusement park for a while. For fifteen years I was a master technician; working on materials handling equipment like forklifts and aerial platforms with one of the largest equipment dealers in the world. Currently, I am a Corporate Service Manager; overseeing the service departments of four branches for a very well-run materials handling company based in North Carolina. I have been managing for several years now.


At what point in your life did you finally sit down and start putting pen to paper? If writing stories was something you did your entire life, what was it that prompted you to finally publish them?

I love a good story. I enjoy the adventure, the suspense, and the triumph! It seems today there are so many stories that have such clichéd plots, that I am out in front of what happens next and/or disappointed with the outcome. An example of what bugs me in a story would be a plot built around a misunderstanding. You know that eventually the wrong word, or deed, will be found out, yet you just have to endure the frustration until it ends. I felt that I could write something that was fresh; something with unforeseen twists and turns with imbedded mysteries that may, or may not, ever be understood. Something fun!
After all of our children left home, and with my high stress career running full force, I asked myself…if I were to choose an occupation that I would truly enjoy, what would it be? A “what will I do when I grow up?” kind of moment, had by a man of forty-seven. The answer came as quickly as the question. I realize that I may never be able to depend entirely on my writing for my income. However, it's still fulfilling.
I wrote “Tiny Mouse and the Big Spiders,” the first book of the series, three years ago. I sent a copy of the manuscript to a publisher and I received an offer to publish. They offered for me to give them everything along with more. So, I sat on the story for over two years before I finally found a way to move forward and have it published. When I published the second book, ”Tiny Mouse and the Seeds of Titan,” another well-known publisher sent me a letter asking me to send them a manuscript. I am too new at this to know exactly what that means. For all I know everybody who starts writing gets these. They do, don't they?


Why children’s books versus young adult or adult?

I like the innocence of children's stories. However, I do not think children's stories should insult their intelligence. It's a good thing if a child is interested enough in a book to find that ancient relic called a dictionary to understand the story better. It's also a good thing, from my point of view, if someone (young or old) has to meditate a little over a section of one of my books in order to really understand it. I have tried to write to a small little area of the mind that has a big impact on how we perceive things. That area is the part of our mind that finds the crawl space under a house both scary and alluring at the same time. You know nothing is really under there. Go ahead. Crawl in and take a look. (If you dare)! Common places, when unfamiliar, can be mysterious and powerful.
The entertainment scene today for young adults seems to be full of either demons or vampires, or moving into dating and "partying." Before all those strong heavy topics is a time that's much simpler. That time is not a comfortable place for children only. The adults that have read my "Tiny Mouse" adventures have also been carried away by them. I have found that many folks love to pick up a book or go to a movie and relax. They wish to truly able to enjoy the story without fear of being confronted by disturbing, overly graphic, images.
I realize that my approach is different. In my stories, bad things happen along with good. But there is no need to be overly graphic to get the excitement between the pages. Maybe that's where the appeal has been. Tiny has had over 16,000 reads so far, around the world. That's not a lot compared to a hit, but for a first time, unknown author, who has only been out there a few months, I am awed. There are plenty of other authors if something stronger is appealing to you.
With that mouth full written, I can't say that I will only write children's books. I get bored easily. I will however, be very choosy about any other types of things I write.


Don, you have begun writing the “Tiny Harrison Mouse” adventure series. From what I’ve read, this sounds like a very fun series. Can you tell us how you came up with the premise and the various characters?

All around us is this world of tiny things we hardly notice. The most incredible things are going on there. I have been fascinated by insects, frogs, lizards, and small living things all my life. All you have to do is watch them a while. They are smart, fierce, cunning, and brave. How does all the programming to walk, fly, find food, possibly hunt, mate, and survive fit inside the head of a gnat? The amazing world of tiny things seemed like the ideal place for adventure to me. We all know something about it, but never enough.
Just think about the last time you found a big spider in your home. What grace it moved with. You've seen one a thousand times. You had to take a close look though, didn't you? What instinctive horror you shuddered with! So familiar, and yet, so strange... Uncomfortable thoughts crept into your mind. You know they did. How long has this thing been stalking around my house? How close has it been to me without my seeing it? Has it been under my sofa? In my shoes? On my bed? On ME during the night? It has lots of eyes! Has it been watching me? Now you took an even closer look, didn't you? Then, you either brushed it outside with a broom or.......Squash! To conquer your fears! After the squash you took a creepy look at what you had done.......... Didn't you now?
As for Tiny…
Tiny is a courageous young man of a mouse. He is the reflection of every young person who finds themselves just beginning to find acceptance in the adult world. Their heart is full to the point of busting with the value they know that they can bring if someone would just listen! We have all been there. That is the feeling I am trying to help everyone find...again. I saw him (Tiny) in myself, and later in my sons and daughter. I see him in my grandfather's stories when I hear them re-told in my mind. A few weeks ago my last surviving grandparent told me a story from her childhood. There again was Tiny!
Tiny has a brother who is a loyal and gifted companion. His grandfather is like the grandfather we all wanted, and some got. He is an inventor and fun loving. Wise and daring. I believe Tiny wants to be a reflection of him. I write the books, and I still don't know what he's thinking sometimes.
In our home we have a large terrarium built into a wall. Over the years we have had “guests” living in there. Including, but not limited to: an iguana, a tarantula, a chameleon, another tarantula, another chameleon, and several lizards of various species. We once had a guest come for dinner who ran out of the house! Spiders weren't her thing. Or were they? The inspiration for “Tiny Mouse and the Big Spiders” is definitely somewhere in that terrarium. I look forward to developing the characters of the rest of Tiny's family in future books of the series.
“Tiny Mouse and the Seeds of Titan” must have been inspired by the countless hours of Star Trek I have watched. Tiny went Sci-Fi! However, the title does not lead at all where you would think. You will not see the plot coming in that one! When I explained the premise of the book to a close friend he thought I had lost my sanity. He read the manuscript and found it to be a very pleasant surprise. I hope everyone does. It's all about fun. Mostly…


Besides the “fun” concept of the individual books, are there any important messages within the pages for children to discover?

Any of us could find ourselves in incredible circumstances at any time. Do we have the strength of character needed to face whatever challenge we meet? A very small person can make a large difference. We all need to develop a noble side of ourselves. Tiny is searching for nobility.


Your newest book in this series is: “Hey! That’s My Fly!” Would you care to share the book’s “about.”

As a parent, I wanted to encourage conversation between parents and their preschoolers about sharing. My concept is a bedtime story about two young chameleons who stick the same fly with their tongues. Stubbornly refusing to give in, they learn a lesson.
The cover and all the internal illustrations are scans of hand-painted acrylic originals. I used to paint, a little way back as a young man, and I wanted to see if I could still do such things.
There are questions inside, beneath the actual story dialogue. Just some common sense questions from a father of three to help start things…
I miss my children very much. They were very good children and a lot of fun. All are grown now and have their own lives. That has a lot to do with why I wrote: "Hey! That's My Fly!" The book is just out. I hope to have my heart warmed by future reports of families making good use of "Hey! That's My Fly!" for bedtime story time.


And lastly Don, what’s next from here? A different children’s series? Adult reads? Or something else?

The third Tiny Mouse Adventure will be written soon. However, there is another project in the works that is a departure from what I have done before. I have a dear friend and brother-in-law, David MacFarlane, who has led a very interesting life. Adventuresome actually... He was a commercial fisherman out of Rhode Island for years. I have listened to hours of his tales about what happened in the life of a typical commercial fisherman; from surfing the wake of a submarine to shipwreck.
David and I are writing the story of his life's adventure together. David is the uncle of the famous Seth MacFarlane, the creator of "Family Guy," and other popular animated shows. Seth even hosted the Oscars a while back. I have also seen David's brother on the red carpet in Hollywood too. Those MacFarlanes certainly know how to live a life of adventure!
And Tiny loves adventure…

Hello Dr. Kagan and thank you for being willing to share some of your story with us.

Before we get into the “nuts and bolts” of our interview, why don’t you share a little bit about yourself? What fun facts/tidbits would you like us to know about you? What do you do for fun or relaxation? Do you have any interesting hobbies?

I was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1931. I am the youngest of three brothers and the only one still alive. My youngest older brother, Norman, was killed by a car when he was about four years old while my mother was in the hospital delivering my second brother, Jack, who is two years my senior. Sadly, Jack died in 2011 at Temple University Hospital where he was a lab technician. And unfortunately, my father died when I was about six months old so my mother, bless her heart, had the strength to be able handle all that trauma and raise me and my brother.

I have been married for over fifty-five years, and have two grown children and two grandchildren. My son lives close to me while my daughter lives in Santa Cruz, California where she went to school and graduated with a degree in Environmental Science. My son is a CPA who owns his own business in Ventura, California. He is married to a Mexican woman and any family gatherings of ours result in a large mob… Us white folks are now accepted as part of the Mexican clan.

While I was in the army, stationed in Germany in 1955-56, I learned about photography and this has been a hobby of mine ever since. I once had my own darkroom in my garage and developed, and produced, Cibachrome prints. Now I am immersed in digital photography and I use it to take pictures of family gatherings, concerts we attend, graduations pictures of my own children and
Grandchildren, nature pictures, especially birds from when my wife, dogs and I go camping in the National forests. We have been doing this for the past forty years and only last year switched from tent camping to renting ranger stations turned into cabins for the public.

My wife and I both belong to the Audubon Societies in Ventura and Conejo Valley. My house is filled with pictures of all kind of birds that feed in our back and front yards along with the hawks that come to feed on them. My hobbies now include writing which began after I retired because I wanted to leave a legacy of information and personal experiences for my grandchildren when they have their own families. After my first book I now believe I also have something to offer to others about how we adapt to and cope with our natural and man-made worlds with the symbolic brain endowed to us by evolution.


Dr. Kagan, I would say that you chose a very…intense career for yourself. What was the defining “Aha” moment that started you down the path of helping others deal with various forms of trauma or abuse?

I don’t believe there was an “Aha” moment. My mother was certainly an inspiration, with realizing what she had to go through and how she landed on her feet. Add to that my experiences with my childhood friends, where I witnessed the results of parental abuse and how they left a lasting impression.

I grew up in a low socioeconomic neighborhood in New Jersey and, without a father; I depended on older kids, and my friends, for my masculine identity. I developed a strong sense of empathy, and a keen sense of what it takes to survive, at an early age.

Then my internship at the Reiss Davis Child Guidance Clinic in Los Angeles, my first job at a private psychiatric hospital after my internship, and my work with delinquent kids in the California Youth Authority made me realize the difficulty humans face; that trauma and abuse are major factors in producing disabling emotions, confused cognition, anti-social and self-destructive behavior. Once this realization set in, I then had to ask myself if I had the knowledge and capacity to help people recover from their abusive and traumatic experiences. I believed I did, and felt that if I could help, this would be uplifting to my sense of self and help me contribute to society. So off I went in a clinical direction…


Dr. Kagan, in reading through your very amazing bio, I appreciated learning that, for eighteen years, you also directed a support/treatment group for children/families experiencing sexual abuse. The sexual abuse prevention program for elementary schools you helped create is also an amazing thing. Words cannot adequately describe what a blessing that is, and will be, for those in need. What was the “why” that prompted these much needed programs?

The idea for these programs developed after I was working for the County Mental Health Department and interacted with my colleagues and other community agencies like the school system, the Police Department and Protective Social Services. I was in charge of the children’s program at the Simi Valley Mental Health Clinic and many sexually abused children were sent to us by the police and protective social services. The natural thing to do was collaborate with them about this ongoing problem.

Treatment for these children necessitated the inclusion of other family members, and continued interaction with both the police and protective social services since children were sometimes removed from their home and their family had specific plans to follow or the court issued “no contact” orders which the police then had to enforce.

Eventually interactive family programs were created in Los Angeles County and another northern California county, and I became part of the interactive therapists that met together and worked on program planning. This led to the treatment support group that I and a number of other therapists created in Ventura County. With support from some of the elementary school principals, a sexual abuse prevention program was developed and instituted.

The mental health staff was involved in training the school psychologists, teachers and nurses to carry out the program and police officers and protective social service workers lent a hand by getting to know the school staff involved in the program and setting up a supportive interaction to take calls, answer questions, and respond when the school staff needed a response.

We thought the program ran well for many years but the cost of providing psychologists, teachers, and nurses, and allowing time for the training took its toll, and many schools eventually dropped out.


Dr. Kagan, being that you are a trained psychologist, I would imagine that your life’s calling has ensured that you view the world from a very fact oriented viewpoint; yet you have written a book titled: “Faith, Supernatural Beliefs and Our Symbolic Brain.” From what I’ve seen of today’s world, it seems that “Science” and “Faith Based” beliefs don’t always mesh well, or easily. Did you experience any difficulty during the writing of “Faith, Supernatural Beliefs and Our Symbolic Brain” due to the “oil-and-water” nature of “Science” versus “Faith” probabilities or situations?

Your question brings out your observations of the rift between science and faith based beliefs--including supernatural beliefs--observations to which I agree. The scientific outlook usually considers beliefs that have no scientific foundation as based on ignorance, mythology, prejudice or sociopathic attempts to deceive the public for some personal gain and every attempt should be made to eliminate them.

Since I espouse the scientific outlook I had some difficulty trying to reconcile why faith based beliefs continue to be so entrenched. The difficulty vanished when I considered the possibility that human survival may have depended on these beliefs, and that natural selection may have had a hand in perpetuating these beliefs. I had no idea that this was an explanation to consider when I started writing “Faith, Supernatural Beliefs and Our Symbolic Brain,” so my eventual conclusions as to why supernatural and faith based beliefs persist even surprised me.


I guess my final question for you Dr. Kagan is simply: from this point in life, where do you plan to go? What do you still want to accomplish? Is there a figurative “torch” that you hope to pass on? If so, how can your readers help?

I sort of laughed when I read this question, because at my age I plan to stay as healthy as I can so
I can stay alive for some time. At eighty-two I’m not sure how much time I have left, but I would like to see my granddaughter, who is now a freshman, graduate high school.

I have another book in mind to write about “deception,” which I believe is an evolutionary survival tactic and I see it all around me. However, my daughter said I was too focused on the negative and strongly suggested I should also focus on “honesty.” I don’t know if it will ever come to pass, but I suggested she should write about the evolutionary significance of honesty and I should write about deception and we should collaborate.

If there is a torch I want to pass on, it would be to look at us humans as a unique animal but an animal, nevertheless, that took evolution three and a half billion years to create who interacts with each other and the world in symbolic terms, a very strange change from life interacting with each other and the world using signals and signs. Where in the hell is symbolism taking us? Readers can help out by looking at our innate nature and wondering why we have to fight against it so often and letting me in on the secret.


Dr. Kagan, I just want to say thank you very much for all the fun tidbits, personal facts, and insights you have shared with me/us. It was truly an honor being able to interview you, and I very much enjoyed all that I learned. I’m sure my heartfelt “thanks” is also echoed by all those whom you have touched and helped throughout your life – whether it was through personal/one-on-one sessions or via your outreach programs and shared ideas/visions with other mental health experts.

Hi Michael, thank you for being willing to share your story with us today. I’m sure your friends, family, and fans are interested to learn some of what makes you tick.

So, I see in your bio that you mention you share the same birth month/day as Leonardo Da Vinci. You also comment that you feel you “own a share of the creative spirit for which the renaissance master was known.” Your comments lead me to believe that you have a certain respect/awe for the man and his accomplishments, and if so when did that start, and why?


I’d say you’re very perceptive, Charline.
Da Vinci was the quintessential Renaissance man. He could, and did, do it all.
Few, regardless of their talents or medium, will ever be called “master.” Art itself is a mountain, virtually impossible to scale to its pinnacle. We will always be trying to be better at what we do, and we will never be perfect in our endeavors. That’s part of the philosophical beauty of the arts in general. Art is a way of life. It’s a mode of living toward continual self-improvement. But, Da Vinci, is hailed as a master, and after study, I’m comfortable saying that title is most likely true and fitting. Few others can say as much…
Prior to discovering our shared birthday, (now known as the American Tax Return deadline day,) I already had aspirations of being a Renaissance Man. I drew, I painted, and I sculpted. I wrote stories and poetry and songs. I philosophized; I had a craftsman’s background in construction, I enjoyed landscaping and architecture and I even played musical instruments a bit. So naturally, when I discovered that birthday connection, late in my tenure at the Art Institute of Seattle where I was working for a Bachelor’s in Animation and Applied Media Arts, it did become a sort of fixation. Da Vinci became a subject of intent study.
I felt proud to share such a celebrated artist’s birthday, and I found it interesting that two people separated by so much time and geography, could share such proclivity toward similar interests and abilities. Then, (no less curiously,) my own son, M.P.N.2., was due on my birthday as well. Unfortunately, he was induced two days early, on a Friday, the 13th.
Spooky…but true.


Michael, allow me to continue a moment longer in the Da Vinci theme to ask: do you feel that your acquired knowledge about Da Vinci helped open the “creative” side of the world for you?

Given that discovery came so late, some seven years after I had already taught myself to draw, had been writing for as many, and had sought schooling to further those abilities, it had less of an impact than it might have, had I discovered it in my earlier creative years.
I was already at the point where I knew I wanted to do everything. I wanted my creative control/director position, and I wanted to produce the stories I’d worked on for so many years prior.
However, in terms of focusing more on finer arts and expanding my abilities to include a wider variety of mediums and subjects when I should have been focusing on my animation studies, it certainly did have an impact. I began to see things differently, more mechanically, and from there my understanding of rendering complex three-dimensional subjects on paper took a dramatic leap. Not surprisingly, my animating skills improved as well. I literally began to set the grading curve in my respective 2-D traditional animation courses. Unfortunately, my desire and enthusiasm to draw frame after frame after frame, in what equates to endless hours of work for mere minutes and seconds of footage, took an opposite turn.
I decided then to simply write, and execute visual art by commission, (I’m always for hire,) and to compliment my storytelling. Art became a secondary passion. Writing remained dominant.
Many tell me that I should be composing Graphic Novels, given the multi-threat trait. I agree; I should be. However, one key element yet escapes me: page by page composition. It’s something I’ve always attempted, but never quite gotten the hang of. Perhaps one day I will commission a graphic novel artist to work with me on creating those types of books, as I hold a healthy respect for the graphic novelists and comic book artists/writers out there. They can do it all.


You know Michael; I was intrigued to read that you are a “sometime” musician. Does this mean you play an instrument and/or sing? If so, what instrument? I’m sure some of your readers/fans would also like to know if you have given up performing completely, or is there a possibility that they might see you out on a Karaoke night... *chuckle*

I was in boys’ choir in grade school, and I’m also told that I have a pleasant speaking voice. However, I do not sing anymore. Except in the car... Or sometimes randomly with my iPod when I’m really in the zone as I work on a painting.
In truth, the “sometime musician” means I used to play a fair amount of Bass. Unfortunately, there’s only so much time in a day, a week, or a lifetime. Between the time demands of writing and art/art school, I knew I had to put music aside. It was a third passion, dominated by two bigger brothers.
Music is one of those things I can do, and I enjoy it, but it just isn’t my passion. Nothing equates to simply disappearing for hours into the imagination as you write a story.


Michael, you’ve shared that you’re an artist, and that you studied at the Art Institute of Seattle. You also mentioned that while you were there, you were inspired to write your debut novel series: E.L.F. White Leaves, the first book of your fantasy series is now out, and I’m curious what it was about the Seattle locale and/or experiences that brought this book series to fruition?

It was a newspaper stand, actually. On the sidewalk, right outside the AIS campus in Belltown, Seattle was a headline that snared my attention. Being a longtime fantasy reader, there’s no way I could have missed it.
“ELF burns down housing complex,” the headline read, in big, bold, blue font.
At the time, I had no idea what ELF meant, but it wasn’t something one would expect to see on a REAL newspaper headline. I bought the paper, read the article and discovered ELF: the Earth Liberation Front.
Based primarily the Pacific Northwest, the Earth Liberation Front is a hierarchy-lacking extremist-activist organization. They’re Eco terrorists, and not many people are familiar with such a concept. I know I certainly wasn’t.
These activists are in favor of defending nature, but in the long run their methods are misguided. They firebomb resource companies and housing developments and the like. They actually do more harm than good.
However, to me it was a story. My initial question that struck me upon reading that headline was: “What if it WAS real elves that had burned down that housing complex? How would it play out? Why would they do such a thing? And how had no one ever seen one before?”
After stewing on the idea for a while, I then attended a PNWA, (Pacific Northwest Writers Association,) conference in Seattle where I pitched the raw, unwritten idea to urban fantasy author, Richelle Mead, during an urban fantasy seminar she was co-teaching. Frankly, I owe Richelle a huge thank you. I didn’t even write urban fantasy. No one in the entire seminar wanted to speak up about their stories when she and her co-host opened the floor to pitches; so I stepped up with nothing to lose and spilled my raw but coveted concept. She said something to the effect of: “If you can write it, you’ve probably got a sale on your hands there.” That was all the encouragement I needed. I at last decided to write it. So thanks, Richelle!
I sat down, and the story literally almost wrote itself. I just did the pen-work. The rough draft, (135k words/29 chapters,) took me exactly 30 days. It just poured out, and just in time for the original version to take a place in my schooling, which at the time was the only way I was getting any writing done at all. Art school is no joke. The workload is staggering. So, I completed it for a screenwriting class under tutelage of Seattle’s well known, John Keister, (the 206 & Almost Live - sketch comedy shows,) who was teaching at the AIS at the time. He liked it enough that I decided I’d make it a book one day.
One day has come and gone. And so it is.


Michael, as a writer, why did you choose the fantasy genre?

There are several reasons, really. The funny reason; I’m an escapist writer, so for me its therapy.
I love to daydream, and fantasy reading/writing affords me that. I love immersing myself in other worlds. I think it keeps the mind sharp and helps with problem solving/thinking outside the box.
Mostly, though, I write fantasy because I’ve always been a fantasy guy. I initially started reading for personal enjoyment as a child, but only about animals. I had checked out every non-fiction book there was on dinosaurs, sharks, snakes and all the creepy crawly things little boys find fascinating, and I knew all the facts about all those animals. I was a sponge. But then that blasted, (but holy,) Book Mobile came to school early in the 4th grade. The first fantasy I ever read was one I bought there with my own coin.
The cover art sucked me in. It was Terry Brooks’ “The Talismans of Shannara” which is book four in his second Shannara series. I didn’t know that, and didn’t care. The image struck me enough that I had to know who the one armed man was and why he battled against an excellent rendering of the grim reaper who rode a unique, particularly vicious, looking lizard/cat sort of steed.
I razed that book to the ground, I read it so fast. I got to the scene that the cover art depicted, and I never looked back. The following year, I’d read every single Shannara book there was.
Why Fantasy? It captures me. It really does.
However, I have many stories I will prepare throughout the years to come, and not all are fantasy.
I also plan to write my mother’s memoir/biography with her. She’s led a…particularly brave life, and despite lifelong hardship, her kindness, generosity, patience, and understanding still know no equal in my eyes.


I did note Michael, that “White Leaves” has a rather stunning cover. It definitely attracts the appropriate attention for the fantasy genre. As an artist, did you design/draw the cover yourself, or did you come up with the concept and allow someone else to put your graphic vision to paper?

See, now you’ve totally touched on a topic I can really blab about for far too long. I’ll try to restrain myself. Firstly, I’m proud of it. I did indeed do the artwork, and I’m glad you like it. So far the response to the imagery as a cover has been wholly positive.
The cover started as a quick scene-sketch intended to help my creative juices by giving me a visual rendering of the awful “Powers” called: Traemin and Gane. I’d tinkered with various concepts for the cover art: a simple silhouette of a modified Seattle skyline to include a gargantuan tree, a simple, stylized, bold, flourish-styled tree in silver on black, as well as a few other ideas. However, after having created the current cover image, I couldn’t imagine anything else ever being the cover.
Personally, I am a fan of “scene” covers. I think this style provides a better idea of the story, especially since you’re looking right into one of the moments in the book as soon as you see the cover.
Artistically, I like to render photorealism with pencil/pen, but when it comes to digital and book covers especially, I really enjoy that roughly hewn, concept-art, sketch-quality painting that you see in the White Leaves cover. It just seems to feel more alive than a picture perfect rendering. So, I will most likely continue that trend; at least for the E.L.F. series, as I also like uniformity in series covers.
Image style and selection really get quite interesting when you take a look at the studies of why, and how, that loose style actually affects the imagination of a viewer/reader, as opposed to using photographs, like a romance novel might. Covers are all about establishing a connection with the internal individual. The more realistic something is, the more external, objective, or “out there” the subject is to your viewer. The more simplistic, vague, or stylized something is…the more a viewer can see of themselves within it, or of it within themselves. This is why Comics and Anime and Manga-novels and Cartoons are all so effective. Simplification and stylization…
The best example is a smiley face, because you cannot NOT see a smile when you see two dots and a curved line put together. There are many who may even have a difficult time NOT seeing a face in their car’s headlights, bumper or grill arrangement. Take the Volkswagen Beetle. Did you ever see such a smiley, happy, friendly looking car? No. Why is that? The designers in old Germany wanted to build an affordable vehicle that every commoner could own and love. Their vision worked flawlessly.
This concept also works with sports cars. How many of them just look plain old beastly, aggressive, and mean? There’s a reason for that beyond simply being aerodynamic. It’s a style choice, made specifically to appeal to a type of person who has a set standard of pre-existing interests.
This study was something I learned during my AIS tenure. You can find more about it in a brilliant book, “Understanding Comics,” by graphic novelist/comic artist and writer, Scott McCloud. It’s a comic book about making comic books. Some of his concepts are quite enlightening, and I highly recommend it, even if you aren’t an artist, but especially if you’re thinking about creating graphic novels.
But I digress…to continue with the matter of connection.
As an artist, I like to show works in progress. I’m not shy about it, and I don’t secret away my upcoming book covers to do special-event cover-reveals. I like others to be part of that creative process. And in my opinion, if they get glimpses as I go, they can get more excited about it. I like to think others become more connected that way. As again, it’s all about establishing that connection. And that doesn’t only apply to the visual. We writers pour a great deal of ourselves into our words, and I like to know that others know I’m in total creative control, and that you readers are getting the purest look at me and my vision of my tales as you possibly can.
Case and point, let’s connect a moment. I’m actually in the process of creating the cover art for “Blighted Leaves;” book two of E.L.F., lately. I take a certain measure of delight in revealing the fact that the sequel and its cover-art were both inspired by…chocolate chip cookies. Yes, chocolate chip cookies.
But that’s crazy talk! You might exclaim. The title is “Blighted Leaves,” and it’s darker than the first book by far. How could it be inspired by something so sweet and decadent and frankly harmless as freshly under-baked chocolate chip cookies?
To which I can say…because, E.L.F. was originally just going to be a stand-alone story. I wrote it in school. It had a single direction and a single dimension at first. However, one day I saw an image on a plate of chocolate smears left behind by fresh chocolate chip cookies. I sketched it because I though it looked a little like a monster, and I thought I could improve upon that happy chaotic accidental image. Sometime later, that sketch triggered a connection with White Leaves, and E.L.F. literally came to life as a whole world of stories.
The point, all triggered by your connection/reaction to the original cover art, Charline, is this… Everything about my books is done by me. As I said before, I like that unrestricted creative control. I believe an artist‘s vision is best when pure. So, with the exception of my wonderful Editor, Maryanne Torgerson, (who may actually be available for hire to other Indie authors,) the book’s entire coming to fruition has been done by my own two hands.


In closing Michael, what would you say is next for you once the E.L.F. series is finished? Another fantasy book/series? Or focusing on turning your books into blockbuster movies?

Well, Hollywood might be a little way off yet. One needs some renown and credibility, not to mention inclusion in the Screenwriter’s Guild, before seriously tackling that mountain. So, for now, I simply plan to write books. But I would very much like to see my stories on screen. That’s why I write them. I see them. And that’s how I write them.
They’re literally written to be seen. Whether that comes by imagination or by film is merely a matter of timing, and perhaps a little luck.
I’m a very visual and linear writer. The visual aspect definitely comes from the artist part of me, and the linear is exciting because I never know how a story is going to unfold. I get to discover it just as much as a reader might. I think it creates a visceral experience in the reading, much like how the rough-hewn imagery of the cover creates a more living feel.
At any rate, E.L.F. wasn’t the first story I ever wanted to tell, and it won’t be the last. It’s just the first one to make it to the chopping block.
I have a much…larger higher-fantasy saga to tell under the working title of “The Winds of Arillus,” the first book of which will be called “Pheinixfall” for reasons which will eventually become apparent. But that won’t be until after I release a few of the E.L.F. tales. And there are a number of unique standalones, or potential other series that I’d like to delve into. For now though, it’s straight-ahead, full-steam with E.L.F.
Aside from that I’m also in cahoots with a small contingency of other Indie authors, creating a network around our personas rather than our writing genres. The publishing industry as a whole is like a newborn all over again. The environment we are coming up in is radical and fresh, and authors all over the world have to rethink outside the box, just how best to appeal to the right readers to make their careers. So, we considered this and decided to approach it from a new perspective.
We decided to appeal to people and readers with similar interests as our own, as opposed to people who specifically read fantasy, or thrillers, or sci-fi-noir-gothic-grind-house-multi-genre-fusions. Since our interests are part of ourselves, and thus come out in our stories, we believe a fantasy story can appeal to someone who happens to like the same music as the author, even if that reader wasn’t into fantasy prior to finding our work. We’d like to think this is a radical and fresh way to approach our own collective marketing. It may well be crazy enough to change the dynamic; given time…if you consider that it’s the ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world that actually end up doing so.
Our take…? The authoring world doesn’t have much, if any, in the form of rock stars. As unconventional individuals with interests in some really cool things out there in the variety of mediums that entertainment takes, we collectively agree and suppose a new breed of young author is rising, and fast.
We aren’t your stereotypical authors. We’re people with interests just like the readers out there. We’re into the edgier side of life, and that comes out in our work. So we’re building a network geared toward the hard and fast, full-throttle, and unique type of stories we tell in a variety of genre fictions.
I’d like to mention and suggest readers also take a gander my fellows in this venture. Thriller Bestseller, Charlie Flowers, whose “Hard Kill” has rocketed to chart topping, and Fantasy Author, J.L. Hickey whose “Secret Seekers Society” series is climbing the sales charts quickly, are on board -just to name a few. But there are more, many more, and I think there’s a large a number of us out there worthy organizing our efforts. Naturally, we’ll have more information on that when it gets a little more developed.
Pardon the name, but we’re a little unapologetic about our personas, and we’ll be operating under #BadassAuthors soon.
So, on that final note, I would also encourage other Indie authors who might be a little bit badass in their personal life and interest, and who aren’t afraid to show it, to get hold of me. We have the perfect place for you!
Thank you, so much, Charline!

Welcome Susan. Thank you for taking the time to share some information about yourself with our readers. Let’s get started, shall we?

I’ve been perusing the various websites and web-pages of yours and I have to say that you have lived an extraordinary life. If you don’t mind though, I’d like to start this interview a bit further back by asking you about your childhood. Who were you as a child? (Were you the shy, demure child, or did you always have that adventurous spirit)?

Shy? Never. I was more of a tomboy type. Always adventurous, I had a wild imagination. I was the second child born into a family of eight children. My father became a Pentecostal preacher months after I was born (was I to blame?) and my family moved from LA to OK, TX, CO, and then to AZ. Most of my childhood was spent in Tucson. I used to sit out on a hot rock in the desert with my dog and wait for the space ship to pick us up. I was convinced they had left me with the wrong family.


You mention that you were born in Los Angeles, but then you moved to Tucson, Arizona. Having myself lived in Phoenix, Arizona for many years, and knowing what a sleepy little town Tucson has been until only recently, that move must have been a huge transition? Were you old enough to notice/recognize the difference between the two cities/cultures?

Tucson was sleepy compared to LA, but because of the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base it had lots of activity happening. Because I was so young when we moved from LA, I didn't really know LA as a kid. But when my family would pile into our nine-passenger station wagon and drive from Tucson to LA, to visit my aunt who lived there, it was very exciting. So many miles of cars and people scurrying about... I knew then that I wanted to return and live in LA someday. As my father used to say: “When you're old enough to tell yourself what to do.”


What was life like growing up in Tucson? What did you do for fun? Is this where your love of books and possibly the notions for your photography/artist career began?

My creative juices were definitely stirred by the wide open spaces of nature surrounding me in the desert around Tucson. We lived out of town, near Sabino Canyon. We didn't have a television. My father thought TV was evil and a waste of time. Imagine that! But we had a bookcase filled with books and a set of encyclopedias. Once a week we visited the public library and were allowed to check out as many books as we could carry. My father also read two daily newspapers and encouraged us to get beyond the comics. We all played a musical instrument and loved singing. At a young age, I wrote stories and songs.


At age twenty you left the United States, intent on exploring this big world of ours for one short year. How did that timeline work out for you? *chuckle* What was it you discovered that kept you from returning like you originally thought that you would?

I found myself wanting to stay a bit longer in every country. To explore more. When I needed money, I found a job and stayed on. So months of travel became years of travel. The more I traveled, the more I discovered. I was so young and naïve when I left the States, I often chuckled about the simple discoveries in life that changed me forever. Travel is the best education for anyone. The world is a great classroom. You learn volumes about yourself and others.


Even though I’ve familiarized myself with the countries you have visited/lived in, would you please share them again here for our readers?

I visited numerous countries during my years abroad—Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Italy, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Austria, India, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Australia, New Zealand. Lots of different countries mainly in the Middle East and Europe, and now South America.
I've lived in Israel, Germany twice, Switzerland, Cyprus, Greece, England, Belgium, Mexico, and now live in Uruguay.


Susan, what were your favorite countries? Do you have any “not so” favorite countries?

They were all favorites at the time. Exciting to explore and to learn about different cultures and their unique history. Cyprus was probably my favorite, until there was trouble in paradise—the coup and war in 1974. I also loved living in Germany. Its central Europe location made it a great home base for traveling around Europe.


While I’m not going to list your age, simple mathematics makes me wonder what it was like being an American woman traveling, and living, in some of these tumultuous countries during the time periods that you did? How often (if at all) did you worry for your safety?

I don't mind people knowing my age. It was probably safer to travel then, than now. Especially in the Middle East. I usually traveled with friends and felt a bit envious that Paul Theroux (a man) could travel alone anywhere and never be bothered. I was in my 20s-40s when I lived in the Middle East and Europe, and I can only remember being worried about my safety once in the souk in the old city of Jerusalem. I was admiring some large colorful pieces of fabric when someone covered my head with one and started moving me toward the back of the tent. Sensing danger, I started screaming. My husband, at the time, realized I had vanished and started asking questions of others nearby. After a struggle with the man, I broke free and ran out. The man laughed and pretended it was a joke, and offered my husband a few prized camels in exchange for a blonde, blue eyed young woman... I knew it wasn't a joke, was not amused, and felt grateful to be rescued.


What was it that started you writing? Was it you wanting to share your various world-life experiences, or did the writing itch start at a much earlier age?

I enjoyed making up songs and stories at a young age, but my language skills needed help. I had dyslexia and when I spoke I got my words all mixed up. People often laughed at me. My nickname was 'Dutch' because it sounded like I was trying to speak a foreign language. My mom played word puzzle games to help me. By the time I was in the fourth grade, I was reading, writing and telling stories that others understood. I wrote a short story about my dog Brownie and his bad liver breath, and how I loved him in spite of his bad breath. The story won first place in a competition, giving me confidence to keep writing.


Susan, You have a new book coming out: “The Lullaby Illusion – A Journey of Awakening.” What prompted you to write this “travel memoir” of yours? What do you hope that readers will take away from it?

The idea came as I struggled to find answers to questions about mysterious events that happened in my life. My life was shattered by the coup in Cyprus on 15 July 1974, followed five days later by the Turkish invasion on 20 July 1974. Thousands of lives were drastically changed forever by the atrocities, including foreigners who lived there. Of which I was one. Bewildered at how a place—which seemed like paradise— could simply disappear and how my own perfect life could unravel as a result pushed me to find the missing pieces of the puzzle. As I started putting my life back together, scattered fragments of news clippings, letters from friends, dream and travel journals, poems, notebooks filled with tidbits of thoughts fell into place and I started writing my story.
I always expect a book to encourage and inspire me. So I hope my work does exactly that.


How have your dreams, and that little voice of “intuition,” shaped you into the woman you are today?

Like spirit guides, my dreams and intuition have directed me to find my own unique path in life and my place in the universe. Because I believe and trust in these, I have lived a most extraordinary lucid, aware life. Being aware is key.


And finally… If you could tell every single person in the world just one important “something,” what would that “something” be?

Believe in yourself and trust your own still small voice. It speaks your truth.


Thank you again, so much, for sharing your story Susan. It has truly been a pleasure learning about you, your experiences, your books, and what makes you…well…YOU!

Welcome Nathalie, and thank you for taking the time to interview with me. I’m sure readers everywhere will enjoy getting to know you better.

Now, I know that you have written, and published a book, but before we get to that, why don’t you tell us a little something about yourself. What do you like to do when you’re not working, writing and/or researching?

I go out to eat and I listen to music.


What kind of fun hobbies do you have? Are there any favorite travel locales?

Traveling. No favorite travel locales.


Nathalie, I have found that many writers start off at an early age with a love of books. As a child, were you an avid reader?

No. I was only reading children books as a child.


Who would you say that your favorite authors are, both past and present? What would you say is your favorite reading genre?

Stephen King and James Patterson. My favorite reading genre is drama.


Moving on to your own writing, when you first began, what was it that got you started? Was there one specific thing, or was writing something you just kind of “fell” into?

Something I fell into.


So, you’ve just recently published the book: “Every Day Quotes.” What was is that prompted this compilation?

I wanted to write with a purpose and to know history in a quotable way.


Nathalie, how long would you say it took you to find, and put together, all of the quotes that you used in your book?

It took me about two days to put together the quotes and write the book.


Was “Every Day Quotes” a fun project for you?

Yes. I learned a lot about history in a quotable direction from famous names.


What would you say was your favorite part of the book writing/publishing process? And of course, I must also ask what your least favorite aspect was?

Putting together the quotes was my favorite part and my least part was finding the right cover for the book.


I think it’s fair to say that “Every Day Quotes” is not your average book, so who are the readers that will benefit from it the most? (What is the book’s main purpose? College student text material, or…)?

The books main purpose is to understand history in a quotable way. All readers will benefit from this book.


Lastly, are there any “pearls of wisdom” that you would like to share with aspiring writers?

Yes. Always write with thought and integrity.


Again, thank you for sharing Nathalie. I wish you the best with any, and all, future endeavors (writing or otherwise).

J B, I’ve carefully perused your public bio as well as the synopsis/information for each of your books and I must say you have been, (and probably still are), a busy man. Of course, I always like to delve a bit deeper than what’s “commonly” known when I interview someone, so I guess my first question to you is: where do you originate from? Were you born in one location/state and lived there your whole life, or did you move around while growing up?

Before we begin I’d like to thank you for offering this opportunity for my readers and I to connect.

In answer to your first question I was born on the 13th day of March, 1938 in Streator, Ill. My Dad was a structural steel worker and so six weeks after my birth we moved on to another job in another city. We stayed for short periods of time in many different locations throughout the Midwest and western portions of the U.S. and finally settled for good in Southern California in 1945. I grew up in Compton, CA and lived there until my marriage in 1959.


I noticed you have had quite a few career paths. While I’m presuming they were at different times, it also seems to me like there could have been some overlap. How many jobs did you wind up juggling at the same time? And which one, (other than the writing), has been your favorite?
I was always restless, curious, and when I felt I had mastered one job, liked to move on to something new. I was a wild and reckless teenager, never finishing high school and having spurned education in the conventional sense, I juggled bank employee, liquor store clerk, drive-in movie usher and door-to-door salesman to name a few. My first good paying job was as a roustabout for the Tidewater Oil Company. With that connection I talked my way into an interview for a truck-driving job. From that I moved up to a better paying driving job with Texaco. A year after that, I was accepted for employment by the Compton City Fire Department where I was injured on the job. Through a Vocational Rehabilitation Program I attended the Don Martin School of Radio and Television Arts and Sciences in Hollywood. I rode a Japanese motorcycle from our home in North Long Beach to Hollywood each day for school. After a couple of months, I landed a part-time job with ABC Television as a page and that was the career path I fell in love with and wanted to pursue, but due to many circumstances too convoluted to go into here, it wasn't to be.


You also mentioned that you were a Guest Relations Department Supervisor for a major television network. Am I allowed to ask which one? And if so, what did your duties include, other than ensuring that people were happy/satisfied?

I mentioned The American Broadcasting Company in the last question, but I can elaborate here a bit. After graduation from Don Martin I had my First Phone Operators License which allowed me to pursue a career as a technician in film or television. Because of my age and maturity by this time, I rose from page to other jobs in the Guest Relations Department. My responsibilities were involved in lot and stage security, supervision of a page staff, and as you guessed, making our visitors, in the form of studio audiences, feel welcome, safe and able to enjoy the experience of seeing a television show produced live. I provided security for two Academy Award shows during my time there, an exciting experience.


Wow, three times/tries to successfully retire… *smile* Obviously that didn’t work out so well for you with the first two attempts. What happened?

I retired the first time at age sixty. I fumbled and bumbled my way through various writing attempts over the years and I thought I could learn to write by doing. I soon tired of rejection and decided to go back to work as a courier. After three years of that, and writing on the side, I retired again and got bored again. I went back to courier work, but my Dad died at ninety-four and after that my eighty-eight year old Mom deteriorated quickly into senility and mild Alzheimer’s disease. I retired for the third and last time to manage my parent’s affairs and take care of my mother.


You finally managed to retire, and you “escaped” to South Carolina. Why did you, and your wife, choose that particular state; versus somewhere like…Hawaii?

Yes, escaped is a good word. I hated living in California even before my adult life began. I disliked the disrespectful way people treated each other, the traffic, smog, overcrowding everywhere we went, I could go on and on. I was forced to seek a professional care facility for my Mom, eventually putting her into a nursing home, not far from our home in Concord, CA. I visited several times a week, but she was now in a vegetative state. My visits consisted of talking to her as she sat, slumped in her wheelchair, semi-comatose. In 2006 we sold our home in Concord and left California for North Carolina. From there we searched Florida where two of our daughters live, but found nothing we liked. On the way home, after a Christmas visit; we decided to look at a place called Aiken, South Carolina that sounded promising. It was more than promising and that's where we bought a lot and began construction of our new home in May of 2007. In the winter of the same year I received word my Mother had passed in her sleep, she was ninety-six.


You have mentioned that once you settled in South Carolina you then began a serious study of the art of creative writing. Why at this time period? Had you kicked around the idea of writing your whole life, but never found the time? Or was writing the surprise desire that showed up once the hectic pace of your career life had finally vanished?

I played at writing from the age of seventeen. I had hundreds of ideas for stories based on some of my experiences and on things my Dad told me, later in his life. He described what it’s like to grow in the depression with twelve brothers and sisters. His life on the bum and things he did to survive as a kid and young man. I attended all the writing schools I could find as long as they provided Internet classes. I studied with the Long Ridge Writers Group, Gotham City Writers Workshop, several college courses in creative writing and slowly over the years from 2004 through 2011 my writing developed into something I could publish and better yet, sell. I hear a lot of writers say they write because they have, too. Personally, I think that's something they say because they've heard that's the thing to say. Perhaps they think that reason defines a writer. In my opinion, nothing defines a writer like his or her writing. The more unique and imaginative your phrasing and story structure, the more noticed you'll eventually become. I write not because I have to, but because I love to write. Because I love to write, I never submit something I haven't had scrutinized by people with critical eyes several times over.


Moving on to your books… I see you have written a trilogy, (Hyde’s Corner), as well as two other/separate books: Doors to Perdition, and Screwing the Pooch; each a compilation of short stories. Did you find writing the shorter stories a challenge?

Short stories are a wonderful way for writers to learn structure, plot, theme and character. But there is a trick to writing short stories and that is to learn to put all the elements of a novel into a capsule of 3000 words or less. Granted some of my shorts run over that limit, but those are stories that actually come from novels I'm working on. Pooch is a good example. All those short stories are from novels I'm either working on or considering for development. In Doors, some of those stories are common to what I just discussed and others are expanded flash fiction pieces I did for Zoetrope and several other ezines earlier in my writing development.


Tell me about your trilogy: Hyde’s Corner. What was it that prompted this literary series? I’m also curious if your experiences as a trucker played any part in the locale/storyline? I’m presuming you saw a lot of the countryside during your travels – no doubt it could have been fodder for your writing. (And yes, pun intended).

Hyde's Corner began for me in or around 1997 with one phrase running around in my head: You can't stop a pack of fools from doing foolish things. That phrase begot a two-page character development piece which in turn begot a five-page short story which over the years turned into a novel. I finished the first draft in 2004 and finally considered trying to publish a monster of 159K words and almost 500 pages in 2011. I had the manuscript professionally edited twice and was advised both times to cut it drastically. Luckily, a very good cyber-friend of mine who is also a terrific novelist and short story writer suggested I break it up and the Trilogy idea came to pass. I have D J Swykert to thank for that idea. I picked the Oklahoma panhandle because of Edna Ferber whose novel and film "Cimarron" fueled my imagination.


What about Screwing the Pooch, or Doors to Perdition? Were there any real life experiences that prompted the various tales?

In Pooch I simply set out to create a compilation of stories unique in design and flavor. I'd never seen, or heard, of a compilation based on a mix of genres, i.e., drama, mystery, thriller, horror, coming of age, romance and suspense. I searched through my glut of story starts and ideas and came up with shorts that fit the bill. I had to write a horror story; I'd never tried one in my life. The Puppy Murders is based on a true event that happened to me as I grew up. Stories that deal with alcoholism are snatches of experiences I've had personally with the disease. All are dramatized to the nth degree, but I can write those with some authority. In Doors all are excerpts of novels in progress with the exception of Odorless and The Wake.


And finally J B, what writing projects do you have in the works for the future?

At present, I have nine novels in progress with a few barely fleshed out. Book III of the Hyde's Corner Trilogy is now under construction. I have the story plotted out in my head, but the progression of the personality of the main character Tom Burks is still a mystery to me. How does a man do a complete 180 in his attitudes and his basic character? How does a man assume the persona of another without losing his own identity? These and other dilemmas I won't bore you with here are questions that have to be reconciled, but off I go until That Man Upstairs decides He's had enough of me.

Welcome J; and thanks for sitting down with me today. I’m looking forward to learning more about you, so let’s get started!

I’ve attempted to do as much research as possible (prior to this interview), but there isn’t a whole lot of “about you” out there. With that said, why don’t you tell us something about yourself? Like, where did you grow up?

I'm from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. It was strange because so many people who pass through there are military families, but mine wasn't. I actually lived there from birth until college whereas most people only stay there for a few years before they’re transferred elsewhere. At that time, there wasn't much in the area aside from military bases and Virginia Beach; however things are very different now. There are actual bars! And not just in strip malls! Don’t worry though; there are still plenty of bars in strip malls, if that's your thing. There are even nice restaurants that aren't chain restaurants and more than one art house theater. I hardly recognize the place anymore…


I know you started writing (if I may quote you) “terrible science fiction” novels at age fourteen, but what was your childhood like prior to then?

It was on the water, so there was a lot of fishing and seasickness in my childhood. For about eight years, my mother was also a single mother which meant I had to learn how to entertain myself when she dragged me on multi-hour shopping trips.

I was an only child, and a lot of people write about how only children experience solitude rather than loneliness. I think that was very true in my case. I had a lot of time to myself. That’s probably why I still have such an overactive imagination. I would always try to make up new games for my friends to play, which usually just involved overelaborate tweaks to freeze tag or flashlight tag.

I read a lot, like…every novel written by John Bellairs (at the time), Fred Saberhagen's Swords books, Lord of the Rings, and a lot of Marvel comics. I also did a lot of drawing, a talent I have well, and thoroughly, lost in adulthood.

I was an awkward kid, and sometimes I had a lot of discipline problems at school because I thought drawing comic book and video game characters was much more interesting than math class. The one thing I didn't do was play D&D, which I actually regret. I also had a handful of like-minded friends who I'd chew things over with as we spent too much time playing aforementioned overelaborate versions of flashlight tag at night and tons of Nintendo during the day.


What about after the age of fourteen? What did you do for fun? (Besides penning stories to paper and/or floppies).

I spent a lot of time with music. It started with piano lessons when I was about twelve. Then I turned into a band geek and spent quite a bit of time playing the saxophone. I even kept that up throughout college, including my long and still ongoing flirtation with being a bad guitar player. I was even in a few short-lived jazz bands in college that were a lot of fun. I definitely went full into being more of a music nerd back then. I owned mountains of tapes, then mountains of CDs.

I'm still a bit of a music hoarder to this day, but since most of it is digital, it doesn't cause the astounding amount of clutter that it used to. I was the guy in high school who listened to a bunch of bands no one had heard of, but I knew better than to be the snob. We all know teenagers take their music very seriously, and I was coming into my music fanaticism during peak grunge and then the heyday of Tupac, Biggie, and Wu-Tang. I only tried to drink it all in, the popular and the obscure, and I still try to. It's hard nowadays, though, with so many sub-genres and the disintegration of radio into something that only plays the same ten songs over and over again. Thank god for something like Spotify. I can be a parasite on my friends and expose myself to everything they're enjoying. I discover most new music nowadays that way. College was often a drunken haze of arguments about whether the loud frat party music was terrible or genius.


J, Based on your book’s genres, I’m presuming that somewhere along the way, between infancy to fourteen, you became enamored of Science Fiction. How did that come about?

It all started with watching the Star Trek animated series on Nickelodeon of all places. That was probably my first exposure to sci-fi. Then there was Star Wars, naturally, and more Star Trek. I even read a lot of the novels. I was that kind of obsessive. Mix in the Star Wars and all the fantasy books I read and it was always going on in the background of my mind.

A lot of my early writing and drawing were all about imitating those influences; trying to fuse them together. I would invent my own characters and universes, but there were always echoes of these other stories, narratives, worlds, and characters. I also went to a few writing camps when I was an early teenager, and those also helped me hone my interest and abilities. Later, I discovered stuff with a lot more nuance and slippery morality, which is still a subject that interests me to this day, but that early stuff got me hooked through my childhood and then teenage years.


J, in doing my research, I also noticed that you are rather… fond of Immanuel Kant. *smile* How does one bridge the gap from Science Fiction to a man who is, for all intents and purposes, considered to be the central figure of modern philosophy?

Kant was a philosopher who I was obsessed with in college, among others. Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault were also a huge influence on me. I was a double-major in political theory and econ, and Kant was something that resonated with me. I got into a lot of drunken arguments with some people about him, most of which I had forgotten about until I saw that Russian news story about the people who started shooting at each other over an argument in a bar about Kant. Gave me a lot of flashbacks, definitely.

Kant held, and I'm paraphrasing a lot here, that what we perceive is partially a result of things that our minds impose on the world. What we know, and see, is not the full picture of objective reality. There may be many aspects of the world and the universe that we cannot comprehend or perceive. That is obviously rich territory for both science fiction and/or fantasy, as there may be areas of science or technology beyond our understanding. Or, of course, magic might exist outside our normal perception.

Kant originally intended to stop the endless squabbling among philosophers in trying to “prove” the existence of God as that's clearly a realm outside human perception, but it had much stronger implications than that. There are things that we understand, that we can predict, but we never quite have the whole picture. Again, that's a dramatic oversimplification, but it's an important takeaway from Kant's philosophy.


Moving from childhood into adulthood, what career path did you choose for yourself outside of the writing arena?

I had a misbegotten urge to take up public service. That started with a college internship I had with the Navy. I studied a lot more in college taking classes in public finance, government, and political philosophy and went to graduate school in public administration. During that time I had an internship with the City of Syracuse and got a close look at the problems the “Rust Belt” in the northeast is facing.

The local officials were fighting a losing war against a city with a shrinking tax base and a shrinking population, but with growing problems in all sorts of areas like crime, abandoned housing, and unemployment. They were dedicated and smart people, but they were facing questions that had no good answers. It was sobering, but when I graduated in 2003 the only things available were public sector jobs at the federal level here in DC. That's how I ended up in the DC area, and I've worked for several different agencies as a fed and as a contractor since then. I'd like to one day work for local government, or write full-time, but both of those are not the easiest situations to pull off.


Let’s talk about your debut novel: “Hand of Chaos.” What inspired that manuscript?

A few different things… A lot of it was very spur of the moment. I had decided that I would do National Novel Writing Month in 2007 and I had a few different ideas kicking around in my head. I wanted to do a dark fantasy story set in present day for quite a while, and I had a few different scenes and characters in mind, so I decided to just do it. I also had recurring nightmares about zombies in my high-rise apartment building, and that was just a gift from my subconscious. I couldn't NOT write about that.

One thing “Hand of Chaos” was very inspired by was the BBC show “Spooks” (“MI-5” here). That show had a lot of things shows like 24 and The Shield did, where the protagonists have to morally compromise themselves in order to stop the greater evil, but the pacing and the characters were so much richer and the villains and antagonists evil, but relatable on some level. Especially interesting in that series was the impact their jobs had on their lives, the fact that they lived in deception and couldn't have an authentic personal life. That's obviously something that has influenced me, not in terms of straight-up anti-heroes, but more like people who constantly have to live in a world of moral flexibility where truth and certainty are illusive.

They do good, they do evil, and they have personal problems. They struggle for the right answer and get it wrong sometimes and they accept that “it is what it is” when that happens. I thought it would be interesting to build my heroes out of a worldview like that, one where both pure good and pure evil are the problem. Both can be equally oppressive in certain ways. The Grays, as my characters are referred to by others, seek to balance them. They keep either side from truly winning and try to protect ordinary people from all of these hidden agendas. I took the ideas of demons, angels, and these other mystical forces and sort of have them stand in for terrorists, ideologies, and geopolitics.

Aside from all that pretentious talk, I also wanted to write a fantasy novel where the magic was something deeply unnatural and disturbing. I wanted the moments of magic use to be surreal and unsettling, even when the protagonists use it. Sometimes the way magic is treated in fantasy is frustrating to me, so I wanted to do it the way I wanted to see it.


J, what were your favorite aspects of writing “Hand of Chaos?”

Aside from the adrenaline-fueled experience of churning out the first 50K during NaNoWriMo, I took to reading some weird things for inspiration. Things like medieval witch-hunter handbooks (malleus mallificarum), the Goetia with its demon-drawings by Aleister Crowley, lots of folklore, apocrypha, and Gnostic bibles. That gave me a lot of interesting alternative viewpoints and historical perspectives on Christianity that I could use to shape out this world.

I adapted it to the modern context and tried to understand how these concepts and ideas could fit in with not only a contemporary setting but to the world of espionage and counter-terrorism. Solving those puzzles and finding the interesting pieces to put together was fun and a challenge. There's also watching the characters come to life. They popped in “Hand of Chaos,” feeding off each other and growing better than I expected. It's exhilarating when you have a “cast” that gels together like that.


What were your least favorite aspects?

Editing. I've gotten a lot better at it over time, but it was tough with this one. One of the early pieces of feedback I got from a lot of my beta readers was that they wanted more explanation and description. In subsequent drafts I took that way too far and ended up with these exposition dumps all over the place. My manuscript went from the original, hefty length of 130K to a 190K word monster. Obviously that was unreadable, so I ultimately decided to eviscerate it. I got it down to around 115K at the end, which was like cutting a Great Gatsby and then some out of my novel.

It was painful, and I lost a lot of interesting “flavor” moments and dialogue between the characters, as well as a lot of stuff shaping out the main villain, but in the end the manuscript became a lot more focused and most appreciate the slim version more than the bloated one. It was a difficult and painful process to cut so much, though. It's a painstaking process for any author to put so much of their own writing in the trash. It did make me more economical as a writer overall, though. The fact that I can actually write flash fiction, which is something that I thought myself incapable of before, is a good measure of that.


So, “Hand of Chaos” has been published, and you have moved on to “Scarred Earth,” a Tumblr novel where you share new content weekly. What started this compilation? Is this a story that will ever come out in book format, or do you prefer it to remain on Tumblr and forever free to all?

It began with NaNoWriMo! Sorry, it's a recurring theme. I find it important to me as a writer. It forces me to get bolder and take more risks in my writing, and usually the leftovers from it help me develop something better either in subsequent drafts or repurpose into something else. That's sort of what happened with “Scarred Earth.” I had a problem with writing chapters and scenes that were far too long. I didn't let the negative space, the hidden transcript between the text, speak for itself.

“Scarred Earth” was a challenge I undertook to write extremely short chapters. I had long had a lot of ideas and had written some manuscripts and stories for a fictional universe that involved an alien invasion and the aftermath of that, and “Scarred Earth” was when I finally decided to tell that story. The multitude of perspectives and characters lets me examine things from a lot of different angles and even in forms that don't match traditional fictional narratives.

As far as whether I will put it out in book format, I'm not sure. If anything, I would probably release it in e-book format and maybe put some extra chapters and material in to justify releasing it separately, but I certainly don't ever plan to take the Tumblr version down; barring significant changes in the platform. A lot of writers put free stories up to promote their work and get things out to readers and I've decided “Scarred Earth” was a great method for that, especially as it is a novel and an anthology wrapped in one.


Last question… What’s your plan/vision from here? Any political satire books to write/share? *chuckle*

Political reality satirizes itself nowadays. That said, I am moving forward with the sequel to “Hand of Chaos.” I've written most of the first draft and it does have a lot more acidic things to say about politics, as does a lot of “Scarred Earth.” A lot of my experience has made me pretty cynical, but it's been a long transformation. In my past I actually did things like lit dropping and political canvassing, but it's tough to look at the landscape nowadays and think happy thoughts. If anything, I do tend to have faith in people, but not so much in institutions. Certainly not so much of our civilization's leadership, either.