Interview with Stacey Danson, author of 'Empty Chairs'.

Today I have the privilege of interviewing Stacey Danson about her forthcoming biography ‘Empty Chairs,’ an intense account of an extremely horrific childhood. The book will be published soon by Night Publishing.

The 'Empty Chairs' blog is: http://staceydansonemptychairs.blogspot.com

Please tell us more about your novel.

More? Your sentence, “an intense account of an extremely horrific childhood.” I guess covers a tiny amount of ground. You see I don’t want people reading this book thinking that is all it is. I hope to hell it’s more than that.

Yes … it was in anybody’s language … horrific.

It was also a journey that opened my eyes to so many other things. Living on the streets as I did from age eleven…I learned so much. I learned how to be invisible by being obvious.

I learned about betrayal…and what can cause a human to do that to another human.

I came to understand the demons that drive us…and the strengths we either develop or don’t. It became an obsession with me to watch people…it was my ‘early warning system’.

Observing the way a person smoked a cigarette for instance…short furious pulls told me step back…this one is either very angry…or very sad. The way they stubbed it out defined which of those it was. Watching body language saved my ass in quite a few situations.

I wrote about the disgust I felt with myself. I witnessed a gang murder..and had to remain hidden..because my own life would have been worthless if I’d gone to the police.

I wrote about the constant fear of the woman who gave birth to me finding where I was. She was capable of having me disappear permanently. I couldn’t seek help, medical or otherwise…because I had that fear of reprisal sitting on my shoulder screaming be aware.

I wrote about street people, and an amazing, crazy, fucked-up group of kids, that clung together right or wrong. I wrote of how some of us survived.

Obviously, it is based on your life. What gave you the courage to write about it in such detail?

Funny, that word keeps surfacing…’courage’! Okay…granted, it took courage to live it.

I’m not all that certain that courage is what it took to finally write it. The main propellant in me writing it at all…was the suicide death of a lady. A true lady in every sense of the word. Jenny was eight-almost-nine when we intercepted each others lives. I was eleven.

She and I remained friends for 40 years. I promised her I would write it…all of it. I’m keeping that promise. Too late for Jenny to know I have written it. She took a gun and ended her life one year ago today.

She didn’t believe in an afterlife. So I can only feel guilty that I had somehow let her down. And angry at myself for waiting so damned long.

Why is it called ‘Empty Chairs’?

Couple of reasons, a song plays itself in my head like an anthem; Don McLean wrote and sang a song about “Empty Chairs” it’s more about lovers leaving your life and draping their clothes on chairs they will never sit on again.

Yet ultimately it’s about people in our lives that we lose.

We lose them because we didn’t listen to the warnings they tried to give us.

Everyone has an ‘empty chair’ or two in their lives. Sometimes the removalist is death. Most times the removalist is indifference.

How did you actually write it? Did you make a detailed plan, or just sit down and let it all pour out?

Plan? No plan. I came home from Jenny’s funeral and stayed drunk for a week. Then I sat down and tried to do this thing chronologically. Didn’t happen. So I played some music; the above song included, and just let the words come. I stopped hours later…exhausted. I read what I had written. Threw up…and wrote some more.

Did you write ‘Empty Chairs’ in a specific room or place? If so, was it hard to keep going into that room or place?

I have a room in my condo, a bright sunlit room, I have a view out over the lake on one side and a view of the ocean in the near distance on the other. I wrote ‘Empty chairs” and everything else I write there.

I couldn’t and wouldn’t seek someplace special to write this book. That would have given it too much significance. I had to try and put this cancerous thing in some sort of perspective. Not the smartest thing I’ve ever done…but it was the only measure of control I had. My emotions were like a runaway train. I at the very least had to be able to determine the station the train started out from. Does that make sense?

Did you ‘de-stress’ between writing sessions? How?

I don’t cry. It takes a monumental event for me to allow myself the luxury of tears. So I de-stressed by going outside night or day…couple of glasses of JD, cigarettes till I couldn’t smoke anymore, then I would sit and write my off the wall comedy stuff, or some horror stuff for a bit of light relief.

What would you say to people who say ‘I don’t read books like that, they’re too gruesome’? Or those who say: ‘oh, just another person trying to get a few minutes of fame’?

For people who say ”I don’t read books like that, they’re too gruesome”? I say fine by me…and don’t listen to the news, play the radio, or log on to the internet. If you need to hide from the harsh realities, then yes…that I understand. Some people simply can’t deal. That simple.

For the person that says, “Oh just another person trying to get a few minutes of fame.” I would say “Fuck you!”

And then I would offer to show them the scars of cigarette burns on my vagina.

What advice would you give to people who think a child is being abused?

This is so very important. Witch hunt, is not what this is about. Something would have alerted the person a nd raised their suspicions.

Bruises on a childs face or torso than can’t be easily explained away. A child losing their appetite, suddenly wetting the bed. Having nightmares. Not talking to anyone…or showing inappropriate levels of touch and affection to an adult of either sex. Inexplicable and sudden spurts of violence. So many possible signs. These can also be signs of other things of course. Dare you take the chance?

If you think a child is being abused…act. Contact the child abuse prevention unit at your local hospital. Contact the police…most stations have interactive child welfare agencies attached or on call. Phone the nearest Hotline in your telephone book.

Before you do any of these things and this is so very critical…try to ensure that the child is in a location away from the suspected perpetrator.

This is not always possible.

You have to trust that these people you call are trained. It’s not necessary to have gung-ho raids on peoples homes…unless the suspected abuse extends to children that haven’t been seen or heard for some time.

Be aware…that there are going to be times when people are wrongly accused. That is a tragedy.

The greater tragedy is not doing anything at all. I know first hand what it’s like to stop screaming.. because I knew no one would help me. People were too afraid of becoming involved to respond.

Do you think abuse is more openly talked about these days? Are people more aware and there are more places to turn for help?

More openly talked about? Yes most definitely.

Are people more aware? Not nearly aware enough. It’s a big thing to take on the knowledge that this horror exists.

Many folks have said “Well, yes it happens, of course. But not in my street/church/school/town…news Flash folks. My abuse took place in one of the wealthiest suburbs, and well thought of environments in that suburb.

Child abuse has no social boundaries.

How have you kept faith in humanity?

Have I? Kept my faith in humanity I mean. No…Catherine, I’m afraid that disappeared around 1960.

What I do have faith in is the resilience of the human spirit. Bouncing back again and again despite the odds.

That’s not faith in humanity per se. But I have a never ending belief in the ability to overcome boundaries imposed by others.

What has kept you going where other abused souls have been too damaged to continue?

I always wanted more. I needed to explore all the places I had never been, and then find more to explore.

I simply didn’t have time in my life to give in to the damage.

I don’t support the death penalty, but its hard not to in the case of child abusers. What is your position on punishment of child abusers?

Rule 303.

(Rule 303 is the defence used by Lieutenant Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant in the Boer War, which is also a film ‘Breaker Morant’.)

Thinking of the future. What will you do when you become a celebrated author and expert witness on how to recognise if a child is being abused? Because you know recognition will happen, and well deserved…

If by some quirk of fate, I am permitted to speak to a large audience about the signs and symptoms of child abuse, then that is what I will do.

Mind you…If anyone around me starts singing a song of “ poor, poor pitiful me!” I will kick them up the ass so hard it’ll pop their teeth out. Those of us that have lived beyond child abuse simply do NOT have time for the people that use the fact that they were abused as an excuse to achieve nothing. That is total bull shit. If you lived beyond abuse…you can achieve any damned thing.

Thank you very much for allowing me to interview you. You are a very brave and inspirational lady, and best of luck with the book and your life.

Catherine, can we lose the brave and inspirational thing, I wrote a book. It happens to be on a tough subject. That doesn’t make me brave, and I don’t aspire to inspirational. I wrote a book. End of story.

I meant brave and inspirational to have got through your experiences alive. We’ll have to disagree on that, Stacey.

Interview with L. Anne Carrington, author of 'The Cruiserweight'

Today, I’m delighted to interview L. Anne Carrington, author of ‘The Cruiserweight’. Her book is due to be published by Night Publishing in late 2010/early 2011, and published in electronic and ebook media in Autumn 2010.

Please tell us more about ‘The Cruiserweight’.

‘The Cruiserweight’ is a somewhat quirky blend of wrestling and romance.On one side, there’s the male protagonist, Brett Kerrigan, who’s all of five foot eight and under two hundred pounds—not the hulking type of wrestler many of us envision. He’s even smaller than the average cruiserweight, which is around 220 pounds. Though the world sees the confident and sometimes cocky Brett, away from the spotlight, he’s very kind-hearted, a little shy, deals with his anxiety issues by smoking marijuana (a chagrin to his employers, even though he has an order for it), and has no idea why people find him appealing. Before he’s released from his talent contract in a round of roster cuts, Brett struggles with his position in that company, dealing with everything from being taken seriously as a wrestler to backstabbing co-workers and power-hungry management.

The female protagonist, Karen Montgomery, is a plus sized woman and a sports journalist whose focus is on wrestling. She’s been a fan of Brett’s for years and even wrote an award-winning feature about him and his career which spanned from his earliest days in independent wrestling promotions to the present.

The pair meet a year after Karen’s feature is printed, become friends, and then their relationship blossoms into a romance. In between, readers learn of the ups and downs in each of Brett’s and Karen’s respective careers and personal lives.

What inspired you to write ‘The Cruiserweight’- real events, personal history, pure imagination?

Part personal experience, part imagination. Basically, I took what experiences I had going to wrestling shows, added in a little fiction, and a story was born.


What made you become interested in wrestling and why?

It happened by accident, really. I was eighteen and my former sister-in-law had a big interest in wrestling, and she knew a lot of key people—even dated a couple at one point before she married my brother. We got into a few shows free because of her connections. What amazed me at the time was how two guys who almost killed each other in the ring were drinking and joking around together in a bar two hours later. Over the years, I went to several live shows and met a few stars in the business. Most are very nice people, and I have great respect for what they do.


Have you done any wrestling yourself? To give you the insider’s view?

Good lord, no. I did sit in on a wrestling school class when I was doing a feature for a column I wrote, then there were all the shows I attended,and of course, people I’ve met and talked with during the course of developing the book. Some have become both colleagues and personal friends.

Is there any of yourself in the character of Karen, as you are a journalist?

Perhaps some. We’re around the same age, from Western Pennsylvania, and come from basically the same social class. My work’s never been syndicated, though, which Karen’s eventually becomes.

Karen is significantly older than Brett. Did you intend to explore the ‘older woman/ younger man’ idea or did your characters simply happen that way?

A combination of both. Some people are uneasy with the younger man/older woman concept, yet don’t blink twice when things are the other way around. Why is that? Women are waiting longer these days to find a partner, and studies show they live longer than men. Why can’t a successful woman snare a younger guy? Needless to say, Karen isn’t a fame monger or gold digger,which makes Brett drawn to her even more.

As many authors do, you posted parts of ‘The Cruiserweight’ on some author community websites. Have you had any sensible negative comments and if so,about what aspect of the story- characters, plot etc?

There’s been a few constructive ones which helped me tremendously in the editing process and rewriting some chapters. Those I appreciate more than words can express. I’m always open to good, honest feedback. Of course,there’s always one or two biased naysayers who are going to put down everything I do, but it’s best to see those comments for what they really are and not to take them seriously.

Who do you anticipate will be the biggest fans of your story? People who like sports? People who like stories about relationships? Or do you anticipate it will appeal to a wider range of readers?

No doubt the wrestling fans will like ‘The Cruiserweight’ for its action scenes and what shenanigans Brett and his longtime best friend and former tag partner, Patrick Sanchez-Garcia, get into next. Women will like the romantic aspect, though some who are familiar with wrestling may enjoy that aspect of the book too. Some may tag it a ‘niche’ novel, but we’ll see when the book is released. Be warned, though; there are quite a few erotic scenes in this book!

How long did it take you to write your novel? Did anything change much during editing?

I’ve been working on this book off and on since July 2008. So many changes have been done on ‘The Cruiserweight’ that I look at the first draft and wonder “What in the world was I thinking?” I had a hang up on the show vs. tell issue, but once I ironed out that situation, the rest just began to flow. Finding an unbiased group of readers helped craft the book into what it is today, and I can’t wait until it’s completed, which should be in the next couple of weeks.

Do you start with an incident or a character when you write, or some other idea? Do you find that your characters sometimes take the lead with deciding where the plot should go, or do you make a tightly structured plot and fit them in to that?

You’ll get a chuckle out of this: I keep little tablets around, especially by my bed. Sometimes when a story idea pops in my head, and I’m not near a computer, I’ll jot down some notes. Everything from what I want the characters to look like to the story’s time period and location setting,to how they meet. Sometimes, I’ll just do ‘free writing’ and save those notes for when I need another story idea.

You have worked very hard to promote your book (and those of others)- do you think being proactive helped you get published and why exactly?

Being proactive may have helped. I honestly think publishers tend to see who’s willing to put themselves out there on a regular basis to stir up the buzz on their own work. Many new writers tend to have the misguided impression that an agent or publisher is going to do everything once the author is signed, and that isn’t the case. It’s a fifty-fifty thing. It all goes back to the saying “You get out of it what you put into it.”

Do you feel like one of a small band of female writers in what could be seen as the male world of sports writing? Is sports writing dominated by men?

For the most part, sports is still a man’s world, but the trend is turning as more women journalists are getting into sports and sports reporting. Jacqueline Moore captured the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in 2004. Who’s to say there won’t be a Super Bowl-winning female quarterback in the future? Anything is possible.


Thank you for the interview and best of luck with 'The Cruiserweight'.

Thank you for the interview. More about me can be found on my website at www.lannecarrington.com. Updates on ‘The Cruiserweight’ can be followed on Twitter at twitter.com/TheCWNovel, and I can be followed at twitter.com/lacarrington1 (those are the only Twitter accounts I have. Any others that may be out there are fake).

The Poison of a Smile by Steven Jensen

Steven Jensen's book, reviewed by Jennifer Wylie:

http://jlwylie.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/interview-with-steven-jensen/

It is too long for me to quote, so go and take a look yourself ;-)

The Wedding Gift by Kathleen McKenna

Review from Busy Moms Who Like To Read:

Full article at: http://busymomswholovetoread.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-guest-article-wedding-gift-by.html

HERE'S WHAT I THINK:
First off I have to give a heads up that the "voice" of this book takes some getting used to. The book is written from the point of view of the main character, Leann, and it is ask if she is just sitting next to you telling your a story with all her Southern charm. Secondly, I think McKenna has created an all new genre of Comedic Murder/Mystery. This story literally makes you laugh and gasp in horror all in the same paragraph. It does take a little bit to really get going, but once it is moving you better hold one. I tell you what, I totally thought I had it figured out but I was so far off the mark I almost couldn't believe it as I was reading the words. McKenna created this completely plausible scenario and then writes with such fluidity that you can practically see it as a motion picture in your mind's eye. If you like a good ol' ghost story, this is it!!

Another Review of Descending!

Bam! They're coming in too fast! (a Star Wars quote)

I've got a review from All Review, a new site:

http://www.all-review.co.uk/book-reviews

Neil at All Review was very pleased to read Descending, he said 'if I write a sequel, could I show it to them?' Of course I was able to tell him one was already on its way!

I also read about a man on LinkedIn, Steve Shea, who is in a company which writes books for teenagers with a low reading age. I thought that would be a good avenue for me to look into, with my endless years of experience teaching/ supporting dyslexic pupils, and my short months of experience as a writer! Would have to use a pen name though....

Another interview about Descending!

I just got an email from Stuart Aken, super blogger! And he's put my interview up on his site:

http://stuartaken.blogspot.com/

I think the answers I gave make me sound a bit of a selfish cow! But I suppose I am, LOL!

I am very grateful for the interview though, I'm amazed at how dedicated people are to reviewing books and their blogs. A round of applause to them!

The Mummy Returns

Its that time of the summer holidays again. After a month's holiday, Daddy has gone back to work and its now Mummy's turn to Be In Charge. I've planned a full week of events for our daughter, luckily there are some other mummies at a loose end so we are uniting in the need to find Something To Do Over The Holidays, which doesn't cost too much. Then there is just the next three weeks to plan.

Today we went to a children's theatre production by Treehouse Theatre, an excellent company. There were dragons, knights, princesses,dancing,dressing up, battles, tears and laughter and all the children loved it. And! Were tired afterwards :-D

So there will be a distinct lack of book promoting by myself in the next month, I'm afraid fellow authors. I shall be AWOL.

Simon's Choice, by Charlotte Castle

No news of my own, so here is news of another FAFA (Friend And Fellow Author)

Review from http://rhodesreview.com/?p=1598

Simon's Choice, by Charlotte Castle

Synopsis:

What would you do if your child were dying. Would you let the child know? When you discussed it what would you do if the child asked you to go with her? These are some of the questions face by Simon. Finding the answers takes him on his own spiritual journey.

Review:

This was a very touching book. The characters could be almost anyone in any family. Parents all over the world every day face the possibility of their child dying. How do they handle it? The characters were realistically depicted. Each person had their own way of dealing with their grief. Like in real life, this grief can sometimes be a wedge between people.

The question of whether to tell Sarah hangs over the head of Robert and Melissa. In one of the most touching scenes of the book there is a conversation about dying between Robert and Sarah. This conversation sets up the plot for the rest of the book, and I genuninely felt Roberts fears and indecision in what to say/not to say. Through the repercussions coming out of this Simon manages to cling to his faith. Sometimes that’s all that keeps a person from totally shattering.

The author being British used some terms that might be hard to understand at first for those of us in the U.S. However, after a while, I was in the flow of the story, and didn’t notice.

This book is a quick read. There are a few areas where the language and content might not be suitable for all ags, so I’d give it a PG-13 and say that anyone out there who likes a tear jerker would probably enjoy this book.

Catherine's opinion:

Highly recommended, but very, very sad of course.

Press Release Revisited

Finally got round to writing my press release, after a busy day on a holiday excursion to a local castle- lots of stairs and tourists LOL!

Here is the link, I hope it works:

http://www.free-press-release.com/news-why-i-had-an-affair-with-my-student-by-emily-walker-1281709172.html

See what happens now!

Press Releases

I saw a site for free press releases on Ryan Spier, my 'Friend and Fellow Writer's** Facebook page, so I might try writing my own press release, haha. I can't help but find this funny, imagine me writing a press release.

I imagine a press release is like a telegram:

Catherine Chisnall published Descending STOP Controversial, contemporary story STOP Will appeal to those who like debating about scandalous topics STOP.

heeheehee, got the giggles now...

**Decided to abbreviate this to FAFW, because I say it so often! Ryan, Sooz, Genevieve, Lindy, my FAFWs Hahahaha!

Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife by Lilian Kendrick

Finally got my hands on Lilian Kendrick's excellent book 'Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife.' I ordered it ages ago and its finally arrived. A landmark story for women everywhere- who are we without these roles? It seems we aren't allowed to be just 'women', we have to be described in a role :-/

I could write an essay on this subject, but I'll try to be brief. I am a big fan of 'Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife', it seems to sum up life as a woman in modern times. Or perhaps life as a woman since time began?

Men just aren't described as 'Brother, Son, Father, Husband.' They are: 'director of'; 'head of'; 'manager of' etc. They are always described with relation to their job- I mean their job out of the home.

Women are still seen as home workers, family orientated, not really 'proper' people. There is nothing wrong with being family orientated, but we women are people in our own right too.

It is changing slowly of course. When I started work in a bank 20 years ago, we weren't allowed to wear trousers. I can't imagine any manager daring to say that to women in 2010.

So anyway, Lilian Kendrick has summed it up. When do women get to be the star? Have their turn instead of looking after others?

I haven't read the whole of her book yet, just what was posted on Authonomy. I'll see what her conclusion is....

Amazon UK beckons!

I noticed yesterday, or was it the day before, that the Kindle version of Descending is now at Amazon UK! So this hopefully means that the paperback version is close behind.

I've already got a long line of my friends promising to buy it, I wonder if they will? It will be the icing on the cake if they do, I already think I'm living in a dream world having my book snapped up by a publisher and praise heaped upon my head, its fab- u- lous!

But I'm still determined to do the Freelance and Feature writing course at London School of Journalism, and try and make some sort of money writing non fiction articles. I am going to work really hard and make a go of it :-D

Night Publishing

Night Publishing is my publisher, they are going from strength to strength. Run by Tim Roux and Bruce Essar, this is their philosophy:

.... to get as many authors together as possible helping each other so that in time we can take on the major publishing houses and redress the balance back towards good writing. We will publish as many good books as we can and let the market decide whether it likes them.... Lots of good writers get their books into print even if they don't get rich in the process.

I think it is a very good philosophy. Tim says that the publishing industry today is like the music industry of the 1960s. The mainstream is samey, bland, safe, whereas underground there is an explosion of brave, offbeat, adventurous, indie writing which is far more interesting. The underground movement is on the verge of taking off, so I hope Night Publishing will be at the forefront of the revolution.

The way to join in is at Night Reading. Click here to see what I mean.

My interview!

Hooray! My interview is up now:

http://no-tree-bookclub.blogspot.com/

Thanks to Suzannah and LA for taking the trouble to interview me, I can now start making star demands and have a dressing room LOL!

Drum roll please...

My friends and fellow authors have told me that the interview will be posted tomorrow, so I'm quite excited!

I've run out of steam for my newest novel though. I'm waiting for my mojo to return, but I know it will, it always does... usually :-O

I saw that we had a new member commenting on Controversial Novels at Good Reads- yay!

Waiting

Having a break from self promoting, I'm waiting for these interviews I've been promised to appear.

We went to the independent bookshop yesterday to see if they'd like to order Descending. The manager was away, they couldn't make a decision without him. The shop is 20 miles away, not an easy drive, I'll see if I am able to go there when he gets back.

Its all gone quiet everywhere, is this the calm before or after the storm hahaha?

An interview

I am apparently going to be interviewed on the No Tree Book Club site fairly soon. My friend Suzannah Burke, the writer, is going to send me some questions to answer. Yikes!