I'm hoping that inserting this note, my blog will start showing text for interviews again. I respect that many of my followers are used to finding the monthly author interviews on this site. You have every right to expect consistency. I am going to continue trying to get this to work. The image below is a sample image and not related to any of the interviews posted here.

INTERVIEW WITH C. K. VOLNEK

Interview with C. K. Volnek

This month's interview is with Charlotte Volnek otherwise known as C. K. Volnek, a Nebraska author and Nebraska Writer's Guild Member. We lovingly call her Charlie for short. She's written and markets a goodly amount of books mostly directed for the tween and teen readers. Some of her titles are

Ghost Dog of Roanoke Island: A ghost story. Young Jack must solve the age-old mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island to stop the horrible evil haunting his island home.

A Horse Called Trouble: A young girl passed from one foster home to another is placed in a program of horse therapy. There she meets A Horse Called Trouble and must overcome her abusive past to save the horse that teaches her to love and trust again.

Secret of the Stones: Young Alex finds himself in the middle of a fantastic fix when he is gifted a box, complete with the secrets to Merlin's Magic. Through a number of comic mix-ups, Alex struggles to discover how to control the magic while solving the mysterious prophecy surrounding it.

Charlie, there is no way I have touched on the huge list of works you have published. One thing I noticed with the three stories I've mentioned is that you entertain through genres that have long fascinated children and adults alike. You take these genres and add yourself into the mix. I can't help but wish I could wear your shoes for a day and have the fun of finding these ideas and putting the characters and stories together. Can you give us a hint at how you come up with the ideas?

Thanks for having me visit with you today, Glenda. So where do I get my ideas? I have to laugh. My muse is always on the alert for a strange and new story. Articles, news stories, magazines, even listening to others talk. She’s mulling over the latest news story of a man who lost his memory after falling in a ravine. For 17 days he wandered, hitch-hiking and doing odd jobs for food before meeting someone named Emma in McDonalds. The name sparked his memory as it was the name of his grand-daughter. After all this time, the family fearing he was dead, they were all re-united in a happy ending. There’s definitely a book in there don’t you think?

Ghost Dog of Roanoke Island came alive after reading an article on the Lost Colony. My muse wouldn’t let go of the mystery of how 121 colonists simply vanished, never to be heard from again. She decided she had to come up with her own version of what happened. Of course she had to throw in a dog, a ghastly monster and some Native American folklore to complete the story.

A Horse Called Trouble is a special book to me. The story came to me after I visited a horse therapy program for tweens. It was an awesome experience and I could see how the students benefited from working with the horses. They are such majestic creatures. I also grew up with horses and have a fondness for horse stories, so it seemed a natural fit for my muse. I also struggled as a child, being shy and insecure, so I drew on many of those feelings to create a character kids can connect with. I believe most kids struggle with some kind of personal issue, whether it’s feeling unpopular, lack of confidence, or being bullied. Hopefully, they will be able to identify with Tara and learn how to cope with some of these fears along with her.

The Secret of the Stones actually fermented within my muse for many years. As my children grew up, one of their favorite movies was The Sword and the Stone. The magic of Merlin has always intrigued me and I wanted to find a new way for it to come alive to kids of today. This is a much lighter story, adding a few funny mishaps with Alex changing places his sister’s guinea pig as well as his school teacher’s spoiled parrot. But it also has a lot of mystery as Alex must discover how the magic works while also solving the riddles of the prophecy surrounding it.

Your biography reveals that part of your reason of writing for the tween to teen ages is because you had a son who hated to read. My son almost had to be hogtied to get a book into his hands. What kind of satisfaction and feedback do you get from parents and teachers of hesitant readers?

I know some kids have trouble connecting with books. They’d rather be ‘doing’ rather than ‘reading.’ (That was my middle son. Still is.) So I try to create stories tweens and teens can live along with, learning unusual bits of history and folklore, solving mysteries, and maybe even discovering a little bit about themselves as they relate with the characters.

It is just a joy hearing from students who have read my books. And luckily it’s all been great reviews so far. When attending an event at a local bookstore, I was honored and humbled by one of the students making a poster for A Horse Called Trouble and saying it was her favorite book. I didn’t need a hot air balloon to feel as high as the clouds that day. J I only hope my books can continue to be introduced to more and more teens and tweens, to offer up characters they might be able to identify with.

We've been discussing your work so far, but now for some fun. I had to laugh at your 24 item list of facts about yourself. You mention you’re the youngest of five children. Do you feel that you are still a child at heart? Do you still torment your older siblings?

 Have to chuckle at this. I don’t know if I’ve ever really grown up. I still love kid’s movies and am still one of the biggest Harry Potter fans. Age is only a number…though the knees don’t react as kindly as they once did. Ha.

As for my siblings…there is a rather large number of years between me and my siblings so I never really was the one to torment them. And unfortunately I lost my two oldest brothers at rather young ages. My first brother drowned when I was in high school and even though he was 11 years older than me, he was one of my biggest fans and a great support. He believed in me, even when I didn’t. Though it took me longer than planned to be a published author, (three small beings called children seemed to dominate my time and thoughts for some years) I hope and pray he is smiling down with pride at me for finally accomplishing my dreams.

  

I've read a lot of books that seem to try to be children's stories. Many writer's want to be Mark Twain, or Robert Louis Stevenson. We can none of us become the other author. We must read them and we can learn from them.  If we try to be them, we fall far short. I've tried and fallen flat on my face.

Charlie speaks a lot about her muse. Many writers do. To me, a muse is that file in the very center of your brain that opens your heart to a new chapter or idea. I hope that makes sense. I know the word confounded even me for a long time. Oh, I knew the definition, but how to tap it I didn't know. All I had to do was let go.

Charlie (C.K.Volnek) doesn't try to be anyone but who she is. She is that child at heart who loves it all, is curious about it all and who lets her muse guide her. Children between 8 to 19 may be the focus group for her books. (I made up those numbers, I'm not sure she said other that tweens and teens.) I can tell you, they aren't the only ones who love her books. I used to get to relive Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella,  orTreasure Island by reading them to my children. Now I don't feel the need for an excuse. I just read what I want.

To all you authors and yet to be authors, I learn much from the people I interview and the works I read. Television is getting boring, videogames too demanding, the answer I find, and I encourage is read, if you get an idea then write it. See what happens.

C. K. Volnek did just that and look at the satisfaction she has today of the little girl who drew the poster for A Horse Called Trouble. Charlie, I'm sure your brother is looking down and saying "Write on Sis, Write on."

G. K. Fralin

Short Read Newletter

July 31, 2012

Dear friends and family,

This is actually the July and possibly August newsletter. I don't have an interview for you this month.

 I hope that's not a hooray I hear.

As much as I know, many of you enjoy the interviews and upcoming news, this past month I was very ill and in hospital. Therefore, I will give a sort of memoir, or filled in story of what I've experience. I hope to make the words creative for your interest, but I will keep it true to events.

On Wednesday July something or other (the 12th I think.) I went to the doctor for an ear infection. She put me on antibiotics. Of course, that's dull enough, but that night I started to run a fever, at least so Joe pointed out. We asked our oldest grandson, Delsin, to come and stay so Joe could go ahead to work.

Delsin, my trooper that day, stayed inside and watched over me. It wasn't long and I started coughing up the red stuff. I thought it was from a raw throat, but it kept coming up. It wasn't copious, but enough for alarm so I called the doctor again and she ordered a chest x-ray.

I don't know if I vaguely remember or if I am remembering because it's what Joe told me, but I managed to call Joe home from work to take me to the hospital for the x-ray.

Is this getting boring? I'll step it up a bit.

When Joe got home, I barely knew what was going on. He couldn't get me in the van, 911 came, and took me to the Beatrice Community Hospital ER. Things seemed to happen very fast as a host of doctors and nurses swarmed around me.

An x-ray revealed a bowel blockage (yuk), and my left lung full of pneumonia.

They kept me in the ICU overnight and the next day they sent me by ambulance to St. Elizabeth's hospital in Lincoln, Ne.

What a ride. Those ambulances are very bumpy, but thank God, for them and the EMTs who watched over me on the ride.

The first few days are very blurry, but I remember the first time they allowed me to have a meal. That was the best clear liquid meal I'd ever had. The hospital Jell-O was delicious. Within a few days, I was up to the chair and walking the halls with Physical Therapy. Day by day, I improved. Finally, they allowed me a full diet, and never has dry chicken tasted yummier.

By Monday July 23rd, I was back in Beatrice on swing bed to regain my strength and build my immunities back up.

I'm home and Joe is back at work. The daily routine is such a blessing now. One has no idea how much just getting to the restroom or a chair can become a mountain until we can't do it.

God said the faith of a mustard seed is all we need.

I had many prayer warriors on my side using their mustard seeds to ask for my healing. I am so thankful to them and God for that gift.

I'll be around for a while yet it seems. I hope a bit smarter and less likely to poo poo a problem.

In other news, I've finished the first edit of my first interview for what I am currently calling Living, Successful Nebraska Authors. We all know of Willa Cather and many of our former greats, but its time the world knows Nebraska has culture. I hope someday to do something similar about my home state of Kansas.

I hope to get a chapbook of Six Short if Weird Tales out soon, less than a dollar, less even than the $0.99.

Well, that's my current story and I can't change much of it, as I blissfully don't remember it all. They did have me on small doses of morphine in the beginning, thus some of the amnesia.

Take care and God Bless you all.

Glenda

Glenda K. Fralin

aka G. K. Fralin

author The Search: Lunis Flower of Hidden

Interview with Dawn Garcia

Interview with Dawn Garcia

Dawn’s writing career to date includes freelance writing and journalism. Many of her articles and stories trace the history of places with unique significance. In each of the pieces I read, she included the human elements that make the stories. Dawn's diligent research, like many writers, makes her work special. It is that thing behind the story done without fanfare, and often without appreciation by those who haven't dug under the trees to expose the roots. She digs up the history that will remain relevant for years ahead for new researchers.

Glenda: Dawn; please give us a peek inside your upcoming novel.

Dawn: A young girl abandoned. A father living life at the bottom of a longneck bottle. An unexpected reunion.

What He Left Behind is a story about 35-year-old Kyla Richmond and the search for her absent father. It isn’t until she volunteers at the local homeless shelter that she discovers the man who purposely walked out of her life when she was nine. The man she discovers isn’t the man she dreamed she would one day find. Instead, he is a man who lives under a bridge, slowly and painfully drinking his life away.

Filled with abandonment, homelessness, and alcoholism, this novel will put Kyla to the ultimate test of forgiveness through the discovery of unconditional love.

Writing a story based on events in one’s own life takes bravery in the best of circumstances. Dawn, however has gone beyond bravery to a level of faith few people possess.

Glenda: I’ve read your biography on your website. It’s amazing that you have the time to accomplish the things you do with your volunteer work, children, web design business, freelance writing and writing your novel. Then you sent me five articles you’ve written. There is no doubt in my mind that you did a lot of research for those stories. They are full of history, tracing the linear and familial chronicles of their significance. I can only imagine that you must organize your time to fit it all together. How would you describe the development of your writing career?

Dawn: I have been writing since grade school and in high school, I started a teen novel but never finished it. I earned a degree in English at the University of Iowa and a few years after graduation, I began my journalism career. My main love of writing had been in the children’s market but I only dabbled in it to the point of it never leaving my computer screen. A year after I learned of my biological dad’s passing and the life he lived before he died, I was inspired to write that first novel, What He Left Behind.

As for organizing my time, I am fortunate to have three great kids who help and are just as involved as I am. They are compassionate about the volunteer work and they “get to go” (not have to go) to off-site work meetings with me. Since infancy, each of them has understood that I work from home and because of that, they have a great opportunity to do fun and interesting things.

Glenda: Somehow, you’ve managed to take the circumstances of your biological father’s life and turn them into a life of volunteer work with the homeless. What would possess you to be so bold as to walk up to a dirt-covered, elderly, homeless man with no more than a sign “Anything Will Help” and give him a gift?

Dawn: I thank God every day for what I have. I have so many blessings and I want to share what God has given me. When I see homelessness, I want to help. I think about how my father sat on a street corner doing the same thing as this man. I have no idea why the man was begging for money but it doesn’t matter. All it takes is one bad choice or one disaster and it could be any one of us. There is so much more I want to do but I have to tell myself that little things matter in the whole scheme of things. I can reach out to one person, one child at a time and grow from there.

Glenda: In your book, Kyla involves her family in her quest for her biological father. They are a strong support system, which is something we all need in our lives. The circumstances of Kyla’s life draw from your own. How close does the family in your book resemble your own family?

 Dawn: I have a good support system. I am close to my parents, even my stepfather who adopted my two younger brothers and I after my biological father disappeared from our lives.

 Glenda: Finally, what would you tell other writers are your most important tool, or practice in writing?

Dawn: A lot of Prayer, Time, and patience

Writers, like Dawn, know to draw from their own experience and that of others to design a story or article. The feel of a story for the reader often comes from that bit of reality that sets the story. We revise and change the events and sequences. We research deeper into the smallest factoid. Then we stretch that reality into a slim thread within the fiction.

Thus, Dawn engineers her writing career through her keyboard into freelance, special interest, journalism, to writing a full-length novel. However, that is not all that Dawn is.

Dawn is a giver in life. I doubt she realizes how much giving she does. She volunteers a good portion of her time visiting shelters and nursing homes, volunteering with church, cub scouts, and other community events bringing that spark of hope to everyone with whom she interacts. That hope includes me. I'm not homeless, penniless, or hungry. I am human and in that, we all need hope in some way.

Interview with Nancy Wagner aka N.L.Sharp

Interview with Nancy Wagner aka N. L. Sharp

Nancy’s outgoing, never-throw-out-an-idea personality charmed me when we worked together at the 2011 Beatrice Business Expo. She’s willing to take the lead, but does not insist on it.

When you visit her web page at www.nlsharp.com the first thing you notice is her mantra “A teacher who writes, A writer who teaches.”

Nancy writes children’s books. She visits schools to talk to children about writing, and she holds workshops for teachers about writing with children.

Nancy lives in Fremont, Nebraska. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Nebraska Lincoln in the area of Language Arts (with an emphasis in Writing) and an endorsement in Educational Library Media from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. http://nlsharp.com/Author_Profile.html


Q. Nancy, I have your book EFFIE’S IMAGE that imparts an interesting way of dealing with self-image. It is a charming story of a little girl who helps an 82-year-old woman regain her sense of self worth. Please tell us where you got the idea for EFFIE’S IMAGE.

A. I got that idea when I was teaching first grade in Fremont, Nebraska. I had a volunteer from the foster grandparent organization helping in my classroom every day. She was not a teacher and had never been a teacher. However, when her son and his family moved to another state and her husband passed away, she knew that she needed to find a reason to continue to get up each morning. I was so grateful that she found that reason in my classroom with my students. My students loved Hazel and she loved my students, and I knew that was a story I needed to tell.

Q. I had the pleasure of listening to you talk about your flip over book THE RING BEAR/THE FLOWER GIRL. You have found a special market for this precious book. Can you explain how your market for this book got started and how it developed and changed?

A. Several years ago, I overheard a conversation between two mothers who were talking about weddings. One of the mothers said that when her son was asked to be the ring bearer in a wedding, he thought he was going to get to be a bear and dress up in a bear suit. They laughed (and I laughed) but I thought, "That would be a great idea for a story." I took out my notebook and made a note to myself: Boy thinks he's a bear in a wedding. Later, at home, I rediscovered that note and wrote a book called The Ring Bear.

Of course, I just thought it was a funny story, but other folks thought it was the perfect gift for the ring bearer in a wedding. Many people who bought the book also wanted a flower girl book. Therefore, when we had almost sold through the printing of the original Ring Bear book, we discussed whether to reprint it or let it go out of print. We decided that it did not make sense to reprint the book unless we also created a Flower Girl Book. Therefore, I wrote The Flower Girl, with the idea that it would be the ideal gift for a flower girl in a wedding, just as we believe The Ring Bear is the ideal gift for a ring bearer.

Then, a bookstore owner suggested that these two might be fun "back-to-back" stories. In other words, since they are about two kids in the same wedding and their stories are parallel stories, it might be fun to place both stories in one book, and the reader would read one story, and then flip the book over to read the other story. That is exactly what we did, creating two gifts in one book!

Q. Your presentation in Beatrice explored types of publishing and the affect on the author’s choice. You also explained some of the pitfalls. Would you be willing to share a brief outline of your experience with publishing?

A. Absolutely, I’m blessed to have worked with a variety of different types of publishers, and all of my books have won recognition of some type, regardless of the way they were published. A traditional royalty publisher (Boyds Mills Press) published my first book. Today I’m Going Fishing with My Dad. It was accepted in 2001, was released in the fall of 2003, and named a Nebraska Golden Sower nominee in 2005-2006. That book was very popular (I guess lots of folks relate to fishing!) and Boyds Mills Press kept it in print (in some form) until 2011. This was a run of 18 years, which is great for any type of book! Actually, they have not "officially" taken it out of print yet, but it is listed as "out of stock indefinitely" for anyone who tries to order it. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, it is now out of print.

My second book, The Ring Bear, I published with a partnership publisher out of Crete, Nebraska. I define a partnership publisher as any publisher that requires some sort of financial commitment from the author, before that publisher will publish the book. In order for The Ring Bear to be published, there were some things I paid for (illustration, printing) and some things the publisher paid for (distribution, award contests, publicity). This book had just been selected as the winner in the Children's Category from the Nebraska Center for the Book Awards Contest when that publisher declared bankruptcy.

With a basement full of books and a third book (Effie's Image) almost completed, my husband and I decided we would create our own publishing company. We created Prairieland Press, to distribute The Ring Bear and to self-publish Effie's Image (which was named a Teacher's Choice Award winner by Learning Magazine in 2006, and a Nebraska Golden Sower nominee in 2007-2008). And after we sold through the original printing of The Ring Bear, we republished that story along with my flower girl story in the book: The Flower Girl, The Ring Bear: A Flip-Over Book.

Recently, I have just been offered (and have accepted) a new opportunity in the publishing world. A Christian royalty publisher has contacted me and offered to republish my two self-published books (Effie's Image and The Flower Girl, The Ring Bear: A Flip-Over Book) in both softcover and ebook format. So these books will be re-released under their imprint, probably in 2013.



Q. I’m going to take a different direction now and ask about your school programs. What kind of reaction do you generally get from the children when you talk to them about writing?

A. Because I am an elementary teacher with more than twenty years' experience in the classroom, and because I love to write and talk about writing, I am well versed in what types of presentations work best with the various age groups. With the younger students, I usually read my books and talk to them about ideas for stories, and they usually have a great time listening to my stories and then sharing their own ideas. With the older students, I usually do not read my books (since they are geared for primary students). Instead, with these students, I share what I consider the four truths of writing (writers write, writers read, writers share their writing with other writers, and writers keep a notebook of some kind) AND then I share with them examples of my various writers' notebooks--and how those notebooks contain the seedlings for my assorted writing projects. Students are always fascinated to see my notebooks and get at peek into my own personal writing process.


Q. Working with children is only a part of your writing program with elementary age students. You also work with teachers. With teachers complaining of time crunch to get the mass of material, they teach into a relatively short time; how receptive are teachers to your workshops?


A. Because Nebraska has a state writing test that all 4th grade, 8th grade, and 11th grade students must take, and because I am trained in this assessment model, my staff development workshops are designed to help teachers feel more comfortable with the process of teaching writing and preparing their students for this writing assessment. In fact, many times I am invited to present in a district because a classroom teacher has seen me present somewhere else (the state reading conference, the state kindergarten conference, a class for Wayne State College, etc) and that teacher, in turn, convinces his or her administrator to invite me to their building. So I would say that teachers are not only open to my presentations, they are my biggest advocates!


As it states on my website, I do believe that we learn to write by teaching, and that writing is a craft that anyone, of any age, can learn, as long as we adhere to the four truths of writing: writers write, writers read, writers share their writing with other writers, and writers keep a notebook of some kind.

***

It’s not often I have the chance to spend a day with one of the writers I will interview. My day with Nancy at the Beatrice Business Expo gave me a personal edge with developing this interview. Nancy is one of the prolific Nebraska Authors who is dedicated to education and writing. I’m not sure whether to describe Nancy as an educator that writes or a writer who educates. Thankfully, Nancy answers that question in her motto “A teacher who writes, A writer who teaches.”

Visit Nancy’s web site at www.nlsharp.com

Interview with Author Jack Loscutoff

Interview of Jack Loscutoff
www.jackloscutoff.com


This month I introduce Jack Loscutoff who refers to himself as “sage in bloom, author and poet.” Born in San Francisco of what he refers to as humble Russian peasant stock, Jack alludes to his Grandparents immigration as a factor by geography and politics that affects his view of life.

Jack’s pursuit of education moved him by increments from San Francisco to our beloved Nebraska. He earned a PhD focusing on English and American Literature. Jack worked as an instructor, critic, and at 58 realized his love of words could become a new kind of career. Jack started writing.

Jack’s multi-faceted character enchanted me. I leave it to Jack to charm you.


Q. Jack, when I read your biography, on your web site, one thing that struck me immediately was that your Russian heritage does affect your unique writing style.

Would you give us some insight into that influence?

A. Any Russian influence on my writing came from having read the works of a few of the great Russian writers. Since I don't read the language and have relied on translations, what I've gotten is what any reader and writer, with or without a Russian ancestry, could. Here is some of it.

Checkhov said something like this about short story writing. "If at the beginning there is a rifle hanging over the fireplace, it must be fired before the story ends." He meant that there must be no unnecessary information in a short story. Everything must contribute to its point.

Dostoyevsky wrote a novel, The Brothers Karamasov, in which Jesus returns to earth. Most people do not recognize him. The "authorities" regard him, at best as a nuisance, at worst as a criminal. I guess the lesson there is don't try to write about Jesus.

Tolstoy wrote, at over a thousand pages, War and Peace. Many critics believe it is the greatest lo-o-ong novel ever written in any language. What I've learned from reading it is to keep mine as short as possible.

End of lecture.


Q. I’ve read some of your poetry and prose. To me you have a unique style. Case in point is your short story No Cross for Jesus. Some may say its science fiction, or some could say it’s philosophical. I see both. Your novel THE CLOUD OF DOOM is listed as science fiction, but you told me it crosses other genres. It is hard to decide a single genre to list a book. What would sell your book and stories to philosophers, adventurers, or any interest?

A. The last time I was at Barnes and Noble (and I hope they're still there), they had a section of books labeled "Fantasy/Science Fiction." Those books could also be called "speculative fiction." One reason why "speculative" can be applied to sci-fi is that most SF writers "speculate" about the future. Because no one has experienced the future and thus cannot know it, we can only speculate, or imagine, what it might be like. When I wrote my book I wanted the emphasis to be heavy on the "science" and light on the "fiction". In it you won't find dragons, eight-legged humanoids or a setting two thousand years in the future. My novel is set in 2035. Every animal, plant or machine in it exists in the present or is accepted as a possibility among the scientific community of today.

Even though the plot is rational, there is plenty of adventure. Among others, a trip to the planet Jupiter's moon Europa. There, in an ocean under the ice, my characters encounter strange animals and barely escape with their lives.

Philosophy? The reason the scientists go to Europa is the hope of finding a way of increasing Earth's food production. In 2035 more and more people on our planet are malnourished and starving because of food shortages brought on by over-population and global warming. I believe the dangers of those two trends are things some of us are waking up to, but too late to prevent their catastrophic results.

Q. What authors influence you most?

A. That's a tough one. It's really a question for a critic. As I suspect it is with most writers, I lack the objectivity to answer it. But here are a few possibilities.

Some critic has said that in order to be considered a top poet you must be skilled at writing about death. I have done that. "Alas and Alack," below, is on that subject. Here are some others who may have influenced me in that regard.

Emily Dickinson. "Because I could not stop for Death,/ He kindly stopped for me."

Shakespeare. "This (old age and the impending death of the speaker) thou perceiv'est that makes thy love more strong/ To love that well which thou must leave ere long."

W. B. Yeats. "An aged man is but a paltry thing,/ A tattered coat upon a stick/ Unless soul clap its hands and sing/ and louder sing/ For every tatter in its mortal dress." (again, old age as a prelude to death.)

Note that both Dickinson's poem and mine choose to laugh at death rather than cry.

Among novelists, I would choose Vladimir Nabokov as one who taught me a lot about the uses of "point of view." POV for writers does not mean "opinion." It means who is telling the story and how he or she is telling it. In Nabokov's novel Lolita, the narrator, a character in the book, speaks in the first person ("I" rather than "he" or "she".) That choice by the novelist means that a reader must take the word of Humbert Humbert, the child molester, that his victim, the teenager Lolita, is a willing participant in her own abuse. Although that idea sounds absurd when put the way I just have, it works in Nabokov's novel. The reason it works is that for three fourths of the book, the POV is Humbert's. As a result the reader begins to see and think about the abuse as Humbert does, that it is one big, delightful sexual adventure, especially if the reader is a man. This technique is called "unreliable narrator." Many others besides Nabokov have used it. I often employ it for ironic or humorous effect in my poetry.


Q. Jack, I know you have a funny bone, or at least like to tickle our funny bones. I said before you are a multi-faceted author.

Humor is essential in writing. However, it is not easy to achieve. How would you advise me, for example, to develop humor in a piece? Are there particular authors or publications you would recommend? If you don’t mind, I will include an example of one of your humorous poems.


Alas and Alack!

You are old, Father Jack,
and under sneak attack
by a junta of contagious diseases.

So you give folks your back,
hunch and hiss like a cat
whenever somebody sneezes.

You should not do that.
You should keep it flat
till you die or till hell over-freezes.

Though to you it makes sense,
Annie's correspondents*
may, perchance, take offense
at your shunning their germ-laden breezes.

So your choice is a cinch:
be a snarling old grinch
or the cool, smiling corpse
whom your loverly last widow greevez.


*"Annie's Mail Box" is a social advice column in an Omaha newspaper.



A. I guess the main requirement for "develop(ing) humor in a piece" is for the potential for humor to be already present. To make that happen is quite complex. It begins with the question of audience. Who are you writing for? Children will not laugh at adult humor, and vice-versa. Some of us old geezers may still laugh at jokes about women drivers, but most women, no matter their age, wouldn't. I could go on and on, but we don't have the space.


Q. You’ve written plays that have been performed in Nebraska. My Heart’s in the Highlands is a one-act play that won honorable mention in Writer’s Digest. That is quite an accomplishment. For myself, and I’m sure the Nebraska Writer’s Guild, I’m interested in letting the rest of the world know about Nebraska’s fine arts culture. Theater is one of those areas, like film often unheralded for our state.

Do you have an opinion as to how we in Nebraska can bring more attention to the literary accomplishments of our authors and thespians?

A. I'm sorry. I don't.


Q. I’m going to make one final pull to find “Who is Jack?” You said in your biography that it was at age 58 you realized you should be writing instead of teaching others how to write and working as a literary critic. In one of our email exchanges, you mentioned there were other times when your interest in writing accelerated.

What do you attribute your love of literature and writing?


A. I have always been fascinated by language. Before I started kindergarten, I would spread the Sunday comics page on the floor and puzzle out the words. In the second grade, I memorized "The Ride of Paul Revere." My high school English teacher told me I was the only student of hers who understood Shakespeare. As a teenager I read all of Joseph Conrad's sea-going short stories.

I've heard that to be a poet, you must be in love with words. That is certainly true of me. Most of my growth as a playwright, writer and poet was gradual. However, there were a couple of periods in my life when it accelerated.

The three years when I earned a Master of Arts degree in English and American literature was the first period. The main set of skills I acquired in that time were those of a critic. I read the works of most of the great, as well as a few of the not-so-great writers in the English language from the beginnings of our tongue up to about the middle of the twentieth century. In addition to earning the degree, I emerged from my studies at San Francisco State College with a new set of skills. I could compare writers working in a particular genre and rate them against each other. That was a way of predicting whose works would continue to be printed and read and whose would not. In general, I could not only tell you which work was better and which was worse but also why.

The second period of acceleration was more drawn out. It has covered the last twenty-three years of my life. On my fifty-eighth birthday I complained to my daughter that I was tired of "being a bridesmaid and never a bride." That is, tired of reading the works of the great playwrights, writers and poets and wishing I could do the same. She loaned me a book entitled "Writing the Natural Way." It was a beginning writing course between two covers, a "how to" package that got me started learning the skills of a playwright, writer and poet. Over the years since then, I've continued to develop those skills.

I'm still no Shakespeare, Nabokov or Yeats. However, my cluttered writing office is my "Holy of holies." On one of the walls is a list of "the immortals," my heros and heroines, the great playwrights, writers and poets. Above their names are the words "In the company of the immortals." I no longer feel in impossible competition with them. Instead, they are my encouraging friends and mentors.

***


Jack invited us, figuratively, into his office and what develops from his mind within his ‘holy of holies’. Do I know Jack, no not really, but I know more about Jack. Like any author he has his own reasons for writing, personal to him. They are reflected by most of the rest of us. As authors we do love words and how they compliment each other. However, as unique as Jack’s reasons and process is to him, so are the reasons for writing personal for all writers.

Jack’s charm eminates from his unique lust for life, learning and legitimate search for meaning in what he does. www.jackloscutoff.com



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Interview with Author David Kubicek

David Kubicek Interview

He slipped off his right shoe and held it like a mallet. One quick slap, and the beetle was a grease spot on the shining metal. He put his shoe on and looked away.
The numbers continued to increase, painfully slow. After the eleventh floor bell jinged, the elevator shuddered, jerked, then clanked. His stomach seemed to be in free fall. An empty, drawn-out clattering deep in the elevator shaft.
“Oh, no…” he whispered. Then louder: “No!”
All movement had stopped. Outside his tiny enclosure something creaked. Every time he rode the elevator he had this nightmare. Now it was real—he was stuck between floors.
He dropped his briefcase and hammered on the door.
“Help!”
Silence, crushing him.

The above is an excerpt from David Kubicek’s ELEVATOR

David’s writing finds it’s way into the gut of fear in his short story ELEVATOR. In his book THE MOANING ROCKS, one story makes any parent cringe and run to make sure their children are still watching cartoons. However, take a trip to his web site and find a family story “Runt of the Litter.”

David’s diverse writing style echoes in his career. Nominated in 1989 for the Pushcart Prize Best of the Small Press, hundreds of freelance articles, and work as writer and photographer for MJB enterprises business journals make a small dent in his resume. Add Kubicek and Associates he has published and edited trade paperbacks including his latest Novel IN HUMAN FORM.



Q. David, I am a huge fan of the thriller, horror genre. I’ve found myself relating to the fears come to life for your introspective characters. Then I read a warm family story ‘Runt of the Litter’ on your web site. I enjoyed it just as much. Give me a peek inside the vivid mind of David Kubicek. How do you decide on a premise?
A. My family and friends might say that peeking inside my mind would be scary. I don’t so much decide on a premise as the premise decides on me. Usually the ideas just come to me as the result of something I read or saw on TV or witnessed first hand or heard about from someone else; my short story collection The Moaning Rocks and Other Stories contains 14 of my stories with commentary on how each came to be written. Because of my lifelong interest in science fiction and horror, my mind tends to gravitate toward the offbeat, but my writing--like my reading--covers a broad range of genres, styles, and moods. My main writing mentors are Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, and John Steinbeck, so my writing style and the subjects I write about are similar to those guys (but especially to Bradbury).

Q. You told me recently that you have a new story coming out ‘A Friend of the Family.’ Can you give us a quick look into the story? Please!

A. “A Friend of the Family” is a novelette, a dystopian story set in a society--long after World War III has destroyed much of civilization--in which Doctors have been outlawed and replaced by Healers who use all of the tried and true witch doctor methods such as bleeding patients and chanting incantations over them. The story focuses on a doctor named Hank who is afraid to give up the practice of medicine entirely (so he can treat his family) but is also afraid to join the Underground, a loose network of medical people, that tries to help people who have lost faith in the Healers. As is usual with my fiction, I focus on the characters rather than the society as a whole. The story revolves around Hank, who risks his freedom and the comfortable life he and his wife have managed to eek out in this bleak society, when he is pressured into treating the brother of a Healer. If the man--who is Head of the Family--recovers, Hank has nothing to fear. But the fellow is very sick, and if he dies, his sister the Healer will be Head of the Family, and Hank and his wife will lose their savings, their home, and their freedom. “A Friend of the Family” was originally published in 1987 in Space and Time magazine. I’ve started the story earlier, revised and polished it (I’m a much better craftsman than I was in 1986, when the story was written). It will come out as an e-book in February 2012 and as a paperback about the same time. The original, published version of “A Friend of the Family” appears in my collection The Moaning Rocks and Other Stories.

Q. You own a publishing business, Kubicek and Associates. Please give us an overview of your business. What makes it work?

A. Kubicek & Associates was the first incarnation of my business, from 1987 to 1990. I published five trade paperback books, two of which I edited: The Pelican in the Desert and Other Stories of the Family Farm (1988), and October Dreams: A Harvest of Horror (which I edited with Jeff Mason) (1989). Two stories from Pelican were nominated for the Pushcart Prize (my own “Ball of Fire” and Marjorie Saiser’s “Settling In”), and a story from October Dreams (“Mr. Sandman,” by Scott D. Yost) was reprinted in Karl Edward Wagner’s anthology The Year’s Best Horror Stories XVIII (DAW Books, 1990). I liked publishing a little bit too much and spent so much time working on the business that I neglected my own writing. During those four years I completed only one short story, “Ball of Fire,” because I needed one of my own stories for Pelican. I shut down the company in 1990 to focus on my own writing. Today I publish only my own work and try to strike a balance between the writing and the business end.

Q. From the biography you sent me, I can tell you are a devoted family man. I want David Kubicek to reveal his deep sense of family to my readers. Please take all the room you wish.

A. My wife and I will celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary this year. We met at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Cheryl worked as a custodian and I was a temp employee trying to make a little extra cash. I was teamed up with her to ensure the extra work was completed. She was very good at her job and made me feel at ease almost immediately. As we continued to work together we got to know each other, and it didn't take long before I realized that I couldn't wait to get to work to see her. She had an infectious laugh and liked to pull pranks on the other co-workers whenever she could. But mostly what I liked was that we could talk about anything. Within a couple of months we started dating, and one year later we were married. Then in 1994 Cheryl became pregnant with our only child, Sean. When he was born my life changed completely. Every day while they were in the hospital I went to see them as soon as I got up, and every day I arrived earlier than the day before. Although family has always been important to me--which I think comes across in my writing dating back into the 1970s--my marriage and having a child deepened my family bonds. Before Cheryl and Sean, everything I wrote was for a generic audience that was “out there somewhere.” After Cheryl and Sean, everything I wrote was for them. With few exceptions, Cheryl has lots of influence over when I consider a story finished or whether I publish it at all. I cut two stories from The Moaning Rocks because she didn’t like them, and I postponed a short collection of horror fiction because of problems she found with two of the stories. Sometimes after Cheryl reads one of my manuscripts, she says four words that are at the same time encouraging and a thumbs down for the story: “You can do better.” But it’s only a temporary thumbs down, because she expects me to go back to work on the story and “do better.” Sean also was thrilled when I dedicated The Moaning Rocks to him and Cheryl. I dedicated my novel In Human Form to Cheryl because she has always been enthusiastic about it and rescued it when I was going to chuck it into file thirteen, never again to be seen by human eyes. Sean even did a book report on In Human Form for his English class. Today our family also includes an 8-year-old blue-eyed Tom cat named Whiskers (who thinks he owns the place). We have a 12-year-old black Lab mix named Kabella (who is top dog and knows it), and the baby, 4-year-old Scooter, half Lab and half hound dog and subject of my blog post Runt of the Litter (and who is certainly not a runt anymore).

Q. This question is for your wife Cheryl. My husband is often baffled by my attachment to the computer and what comes out of it. How does David’s work, including his business, affect you as a wife, mother, and woman?

A. David is a perfectionist when it comes to his writing. He checks the details to ensure they are precise to give the reader the best read possible. Because we come from different backgrounds, he will ask me to read his stories and give feedback. The feedback can be little things to improve on or suggestions to the characters that can make them more likeable or undesirable. As a wife and a woman, I read all of David's stories. There have been a few occasions when he has asked me to read the entire story several times as he has changed some of the dialog. I have given him the look of "really, again?" As a mother I encourage our son to look to his dad when it comes to finding a book to read. Sean is a sophomore in high school and is required to read one book per quarter and write a book report. David has such a vast knowledge of books that it is easy for him to find one that will pique Sean's interest. Sean is currently reading a series of books that David introduced to him.

Q. David you have one last chance to speak to others writers or people interested in writing. What is the most important characteristic you feel an author needs?

A. Persistence. There’s only one way to fail at anything, and that is to give up. Whether you are self-publishing or seeking an agent and publisher, learn your craft, and never stop learning. I still learn from every book I read, and I’ve been writing for more than 40 years. Never stop trying to find your audience. When marketing your writing, if something isn’t working, try a different approach, and if that doesn’t work, try something else. Thomas Edison tried 10,000 different procedures before he succeeded in inventing the electric light bulb. A reporter once asked him how it felt to fail 9,999 times. He drew himself up in his chair, eyed the reporter with irritation and said: “Young man, I did not fail 9,999 times. I successfully found 9,999 ways that do not work.”


As I read through David’s answers to the questions I posed, I was surprised at how tame he seemingly is as a family man. Sometimes, as David stated, a story or character decides on the author. The Kubicek family seems to have adopted a support system around David’s writing that I believe to be very rare. David is the author, but Cheryl’s critiques, and his son’s involvement as student must make a well-bonded family. I look forward to reading more of David Kubicek’s stories. His upcoming release A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY promises to be intriguing indeed. Who but David Kubicek could make the Physician we seem to hero worship into a post apocalyptic outlaw? If you haven’t yet read David’s work, I suggest moving quickly to Smashwords.com and buying THE MOANING ROCKS, IN HUMAN FORM, and/or ELEVATOR. I have read David’s work and enjoyed each story as it built to a climax and some sort of resolution.