A Writer's Week #153: Life...and All That Goes With It

 It has been a minute since I've posted here. I'm sorry for the gap, but there has been a lot going on and time kind of got away from me. First of all, work has been very busy and is fixing to get even busier in June.

Second, my daughter Abby graduated from the University of Georgia on May 8 and Stephanie, Christian and I drove down there to attend. We also spent a day in Charleston, SC exploring the street market on King Street and Rainbow Row before driving back up to Connecticut and moving Abby's stuff back. Soon she'll be off to the University of North Carolina as she pursues her Masters. Stephanie and I stopped off at Monticello in Virginia for a few hours. Truly an impressive place. Thomas Jefferson was amazing.

     

The day after graduation, Stephanie fell while running and broke her wrist, so we had to hustle down to urgent care for x-rays and a splint. Luckily, the day after we returned home, she was able to get an appointment with the orthopedist and the next day she had surgery. Thankfully, she is now in a soft cast and well on the way to recovery.

In spite of all this, I was able to get in a little bit of writing and selling. A couple of events were cancelled, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I set up shop at the bottom of my driveway. I live on a fairly busy state highway, and I'd been mulling over the idea for a couple of years, but did not have the nerve to give it a try. The move was a success. I sold 14 books and met some neighbors in town that I had never met. I will try it again soon.

On the writing front, book 2 of Dragon Island Legends (still untitled) is slowly taking shape. It currently sits at 6,200 words and I think I can write a bunch more and really move it forward if I could find a little chunk of time.

I have one event scheduled for June, and two more in the works, and I'll post those on my Appearances page when they're finalized. 

Peace

Classic Interview: Tarzan

Our latest interview is with everybody's favorite swinger, Tarzan the Ape Man. Due to his aversion to "civilization," we had to journey to darkest Africa to get some face time with the Lord of the Jungle.

 Greg:  Hello, thanks for inviting us, Tarzan. Nice jungle you've got here.

Tarzan:  Thank you. Sorry, we didn't have time to clean up much. We didn't expect you so soon. The vines need trimming and we haven't emptied Cheetah's litter box in a week. I'm so embarrassed. 

Greg:  No worries. We came by jet, much better than those long ocean voyages. Anyway, tell us a little bit about your childhood. 

Tarzan: Not much to tell. Can't remember very much. I was only a baby when my parents and I were marooned here. Mother died soon after. My father was killed by Kerchak, leader of the Mangani ape tribe. The tribe adopted me, or rather Kala, my ape mother did. 

Greg:  Fascinating. How did you, a human, manage to survive among the apes? 

Tarzan:  They took care of me. Kala raised me. I learned much, ape ways and ape speech. I learned to climb, swing from vines like an ape. I grew strong, fought many in the jungle. I learned to speak with apes, monkeys, elephants, lions, tigers, cheetahs, many animals in the jungle. 

Greg:  You're remarkably well spoken for someone raised by apes. 

Tarzan:  I learn man speech from humans who come to the jungle, and I've been to big man cities, to civilization. Many strange things I saw there, and many languages I learned. I did not like it. Smelly, dirty places. Crowded, polluted. All animals slaves there, and many people, too. 

I wanted to leave, but Jane wanted me to stay. It was her home. I wanted her to be happy, but I was not happy, and that made Jane unhappy. In civilization, no one is happy. Tarzan left, and Jane agreed to go, too. 

Greg:  How did you meet Jane?

Tarzan:  A group of humans was marooned on same spot as I was. What are the odds? Jane and her father were in that group. I met Jane, showed her the jungle. She liked the jungle, liked me, too, but her father wanted to go back, so she went.

I decided to leave, too, to find her. I loved Jane, did not want to let her go. I traveled up through Africa, into India. Met Mowgli--nice boy. There is a book about him and his life in the jungle--I forget the name. He got me on an English ship. Sailed to England. Good thing Jane did not go back to America, but went to England. Swim to America is long, they say.

I found Jane--looked her up in the phone book. Ha, ha, that's a joke. I made friends with the crew. They said to go to the Explorers Society, they probably went there. Guess what? They did! Lots of coincidences in my life!

After I found Jane, she and I lived in London, got married. I tried to live civilized to make Jane happy, but it didn't work out. Finally, Jane said that she wanted to go back to Africa, to my home. That made me happy, which made Jane happy. Everybody was happy.

Greg:  So, you didn't like civilization. Can't say that I blame you. How did Jane adjust to living in the wild?

Tarzan:  Jane did well. She's strong. She likes living in the trees and swinging on vines. I built a tree house for her. She keeps it clean, makes it a good home. I bring her things to cook, wildebeests, gazelle, and Jane's favorite--warthog.

Jane also likes to ride elephants, swim, climb, everything that I like to do. She's good fun. Our son likes to do these things, too.

Greg:  Is it true that you call him Boy?

Tarzan:  Ha, ha, that's funny. You're telling me a joke, right?

Greg:  Uh, no, in the films I've seen, you call your son Boy.

Tarzan:  That's not true! It's the silliest thing I've heard. My son is not named Boy, his name is Jack. He makes me proud. He's a good boy.

Greg:  Sorry, I guess you can't believe everything you hear. Well, thank you for taking the time to sit and talk with us a bit. Give my best to Jane and Boy, er, Jack.

Tarzan:  Sure thing. Come again soon. Next time, take a boat, and I'll be sure to kill you a water buffalo. We'll have a big party. Maybe Jack will come instead of staying out all night swinging with his ape buddies. Kids these days, everyone is getting so civilized.

A Writer's Week #152: Moving Right Along

Things have been chugging along since I last checked in. April got off to a great start with an appearance at the Deer Hill Thrift Shoppe in Danbury, CT. It's a wonderful store that is part of the First Congregational Church of Danbury. Periodically, they invite local artisans and authors to sell their products with no fee. 

I had a slot April 11, and it was a great time. I got to meet some great folks, talk a little bit about the craft of writing, and I even sold a few books to boot. All in all, a great experience.

I also had the tremendous honor of being interviewed by Jed Doherty for the Connecticut Book Festivals Podcast. I'd been interviewed by Jed a couple of times previously on his Reading With Your Kids podcast, but this was a feature length interview of about 24 minutes. It was really a fantastic experience, and we covered a lot of ground. Jed asks a lot of fantastic questions. We talked about Fire & Ice and what it was all about. We also delved into my writing process, and why I write for a primarily middle grade audience. I have posted a link to the podcast on the message bar to the right if you'd like to take a listen.

Meanwhile, I have been inching forward slowly on my WIP. The second book in the Dragon Island Legends series is starting to take shape. I know where I want to go, but I'm still a little hazy on how I get there. That is bound to slow me down--unless I have a sudden epiphany.

In any event, I am up to a little over 6,200 words and am starting chapter 14. I am right at the point where circumstances will dictate that Shadra will have to do something. What she decides to do could very well make or break this little story. Am I worried? Sure, a bit, but I've learned that more often than not, the characters point me in ways I didn't anticipate.

When that happens, I'll be sure to let you know.

Peace