Classic Interviews: Alice in Wonderland

Happy Summer (almost), everybody! This time, I'm really pleased to be talking with the legendary Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. She is the heroine of one of the first modern "fantasy" novels. Actually, her journey is a little like Eric's in my book, The Deliverers: Sharky and the Jewel. She finds a way into a different world by following a white rabbit, while Eric follows a white owl. Hmmm, you know, I never realized that until now! Of course, Alice's adventure was, in my opinion, much stranger than Eric's.

Anyway, let's get the show on the road. Here's Alice. 

Greg:  Welcome, Alice! Alice, that's a lovely name, but, uh, I don't know your full name, what exactly is it?

Alice:  Some people say that my full name is Alice Liddell, a young friend of Mr. Carroll's. Personally, I prefer to be called Alice. Just Alice. As for my true last name...I'm not telling!

Greg:  Oh, well, okay, Alice it is, then. How old are you, Alice?

Alice:  I'm seven and a half, if you please, but many people are surprised by that. They always think I'm older, although I can't understand why. 

Greg:  Yes, well, if I may say so, you seem very grown up for one so young. As I mentioned in the introduction, your first adventure began when you chased a little white rabbit down a hole. What about the rabbit attracted your attention, and why did you chase him down a hole? 

Alice:  First of all, I would like to make it perfectly plain that I was in no way looking to cause anyone any problems. in spite of what the Queen of Hearts might say. My growth spurt had nothing to do with the stolen tarts. It was also not my intention to knock over the jury box. Besides, not allowing people to grow a mile tall is such a silly law. I'll admit that it is out of the ordinary, but certainly nothing to lose one's head over. 

Greg:  I heartily agree with that, my dear, but you didn't really answer the question.

Alice:  Question? What question?

Greg:  What made you chase the rabbit down the hole?

Alice:  Rabbit? Oh, yes of course, the rabbit. As I recall, it was a dreadfully boring summer day. There was nothing to do except laze by the river. When the White Rabbit ran past, it was impossible not to notice him. For one thing, I was bored, for another, who wouldn't notice a rabbit dressed in a smart suit of clothes, looking at his pocket watch? It's just not the sort of thing one sees every day, or at least it wasn't then. so of course I had to follow him.

Greg:  When you put it that way, how could you not? Following the rabbit got you started on what would be a long, strange trip, so to speak. What stands out as the strangest encounter on your journey?

---

Alice:  Oh dear, how can I choose just one? So many strange things happened on my adventure. I suppose that if I had to pick just one, I should say the Hatter was truly a unique character. It was impossible to know if he meant what he said, or if he said what he meant.

Greg:  I beg your pardon? I don't think I quite followed that.

Alice:  Exactly. I tried to follow him, but I couldn't. Try as I might I could not follow him, although he was following me the whole time. That's not all. Every time I thought I had found him, he would open up his mouth and lose me again.

His poetry was simply hideous. It made no sense at all. And his riddles...I mean, really. Why is a raven like a writing desk? He didn't even have an answer. How backward! I don't think he knew what he was talking about at all.

It was very frustrating, and the March Hare was absolutely no help whatsoever. He was mad, completely loopy. All he wanted to do was to pour out the tea. There now, that's enough about that. it aggravates me no end just thinking about the entire affair!

Greg:  Fair enough. I can't say that I blame you. What can you tell me about the Queen of Hearts?

Alice:  Oh, she was another one. Completely unreasonable. I don't care if she is a queen, she'd no right to treat people the way that she did--accusing the Knave of Hearts of stealing her tarts, using flamingos as croquet mallets, and making silly laws. She's nothing but a bully. If I hear off with their head one more time, I shall simply scream!

Greg: Well, I guess you've made yourself perfectly clear on that score. I see the White Rabbit signaling me that our time is up. Thank you so much for spending some time to chat with us, Alice. It was a pleasure.

Alice:  You're perfectly welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going. The Cheshire Cat's grin has misplaced the Cheshire Cat, and I promised that I would help him find himself. I'm late enough as it is!

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.