Interview with Charlie - the - mystery - writer Vogel

Interview with Charlie Vogel

Charlie Vogel is a veteran of the Navy who served during the Vietnam War. He’s a retired Coast Guard Reserve Petty Officer.  Additionally, Charlie retired from a career as an Omaha, Nebraska police officer as well as from Omaha Public Schools. He and his wife reside in Omaha, Nebraska. He draws on his vast and varied experience to feed his mysteries.

 Charlie Vogel started writing in high school, but it was after retirement that he became serious about it as a career often referring to himself as Charlie-the-mystery-writer. As a member of the Nebraska Writer’s Guild, Fiction Works, and Nebraska Writer’s Workshop, Charlie studies his craft and credits individuals from those entities for recognizing his talent, encouragement and advice.

Glenda: Charlie I’d like to thank you for agreeing to this interview. You’ve left encouraging comments on some of my past interviews. I enjoy comments on posts good or bad as they help me grow as an interviewer. That said, I hope this will be one of my best interviews to date, so here we go with question numero uno.

I noticed when I read into your Bob Norris trilogy, you didn’t start him out as any sort of detective or tough guy type at all. Not in the way most people consider tough men. You started Norris out as an art teacher, with a wealthy wife. The two have rebelled against her disapproving father and built their own lives. Then she’s murdered and he switches from art teacher to crime solver.

With your history in military and as a police officer, one would expect you to make your protagonist some tough Hammer type. What made you decide to write Bob in as an art teacher initially?

Charlie: Bob Norris popped into my mind about thirty years ago.  I have a hidden ego as being an art teacher.  I attended classes at the Chicago Art Institute during my high school days, and I sold five oil paintings during that time.  Being a police officer, I noticed a lot of Bob Norris’ characters trying to solve crimes themselves, which gave me the idea of using this character.  Most victims in crimes (in true life) are not really the tough guy.

Glenda: That brings another question to mind. You’ve talked about writing and art being a part of your life since high school. Can you give us more history of your interest in the arts?

Charlie:  I graduated from high school in Rochelle, Illinois in 1961.  I attended summer courses at the Chicago Art Institute during 1958, 59, 60, and 61.  I wrote a little while on active duty in the Navy from 1962 through 1969, but spent most of my leisure sketching.  I attended Metro College in Omaha, majoring in Photography from 1976 through 1980.  I started taking writing courses from Metro and Sally Walker from 1990 through the present.  I have never entered any writing courses, nor have I won any awards for writing.  I view writing not as a job, but one of the visual arts I enjoy doing, and to create something is to exercise the mind. 

Glenda: I like what you said about seeing writing as “one of the visual arts.” It’s hard to get that recognition for the art of writing. It is sort of like painting a series of pictures in words. To get more specific about your published work, I found your Bob Norris trilogy enticing and bold. It’s something that I imagine is very hard to do. To be able to carry the continuity of the stories as well as the traits of character is something I haven’t attempted yet.

After doing a trilogy of novels following one character, do you see yourself doing more serial books?

Charlie: No, I really don’t like doing serial books.  The process takes me too long to hold an interest in the same character.  Once I do one book, everyone knows who the character is, and it gets boring to keep building this guy up.  I’ve got a lot of interesting characters in my head, and I want to use them.  I do insist in the last chapter of my books, I like to give a hint of a possible sequel to tease the reader.  I learned this from my favorite author, Lawrence Block, but he’s a master in creating a serial.

Glenda: You’ve had a history of careers that required action, intellect, bravery, and problem solving. Now that you’ve retired do you miss that or is your writing enough intrigue after such a long career?

Charlie: I miss being involved with a crisis.  The only way I find to solve a crisis is to make one up.  Since high school, I’ve written a ton of short stories with the possibility of “What if?”  Over the years I enjoyed sitting at airports, train stations, and bus stops to study the characterization of the people I see.  Many of these people are in my novels.

Glenda: Finally, as a writer myself, I know that each of us uses a process of some sort for building a story. That process includes developing character, environment, personalities and so much more. What is your favorite part of your writing process?

Charlie:  Something to cause controversy.  In the Bob Norris series, I made the hero to fall in love with a very young woman (30 year difference in ages), and Norris being rich and a CEO, this girl is a street prostitute.  A manuscript I’ve been working on for the past several months involves a secret organization of German-American Aryans, which did exist in real life shorty after WW2.  The characters I used in this story are children (7-9 years old), who in their innocent wisdom solves a series of murders in a small town of northern Illinois.  The year this takes place is in 1950.  I have a lot of research to do for this time period, but I enjoy doing it.    

Charlie-the-mystery-writer, like many of us turned out to be an adrenaline junky. Not in the sense of obsession, but that thrill that comes from action and upheaval, the kind that builds a thrilling mystery that I try to outsmart and solve before the end. I don’t often manage to do so, because writers like Charlie keep the reader guessing.

It’s exciting to see a writer develop and produce what they love. Charlie, you are blessed with multiple artistic gifts and a grand sense of adventure. I think I speak for many readers when I say we are all looking forward to that next book by Charlie-the-mystery-writer.

“What money?" I didn’t spend one dime for any of this.  It’s all Eileen’s (Bob’s wife).  And what the hell is time?  Time isn’t something I value.  Time is such an abstraction in life.”  I leaned forward, my elbows on my knees, my hands clenched.  “Look—How can I explain this?  Eileen was all I had.  Now that she’s gone, I have only one thing, one purpose.  I will have the man who killed her.”  I clenched my jaw.  “Since time has no importance, I can hunt for him quietly.” (Bob Norris to brother Donald in To Find a Killer) by Charlie Vogel

Find Charlie’s books at the following sites

 www.amazon.com

www.fictionworks.com

WAVE OF DEATH

FIND THE SECRETS

TO FIND A KILLER

SEARCHING FOR HARPIES

THE DOCTOR IS DEAD

Charlie’s third book in the Bob Norris series will be published this year. 

Interview with International Author and Educator Robert Sheppard

Interview with International Author and Educator  Robert Sheppard

It is difficult for me to describe Robert as one man. He is so multi-faceted that description takes on a new meaning. Dr. Robert Sheppard literally took on the world with his latest achievement; Spiritus Mundi. The novel, in two parts, spans political, philosophical, and cultural differences throughout the world. Through it the reader travels deep into the not so touristy elements of countries such as the U.S., Britain, China and Israel. Spiritus Mundi is currently slotted for a film version.

I’ve known Robert as an author for many years. He’s mentored me through poetry, and some short stories. We’ve not always agreed, but that’s a lot of the fun and learning process. If anything, Robert has encouraged me and found a way to help me develop as a writer even when we have not shared a forum.

Robert’s expertise spans international law, literature, multiple languages, and much more. In other words, Robert may hold no punches, but he does know from where his opinions come and how to promote them. He’s an activist for change in the United Nations, pushing for a parliamentary style of leadership and exchange patterned after the European Parliament.

Dr. Sheppard lives between California and China. In China, through an exchange program, Robert teaches International Law and Literature. His expertise in international law, civil rights and the world’s political systems allow him to work with government leaders of China to build important international relationships.

There is much about Robert, but this is an interview of him; not a dialogue about him.

Glenda: Robert, you realize you are making my day in a good way, sorry for goofy rhyme and cliché. You are a surprise for me. When I asked for the interview, I only knew you as Robert my literary friend who wrote an impressive novel, confused me with his particular style of poetry over the years, and has a great sense of humor about it. Now, I have a good deal more understanding how this Kansas/Nebraska farm kid wouldn’t understand your world expressed in poetry.  I looked at your credentials and Spiritus Mundi and must say I’m glad I knew you before. I write in awe of my dear friend Robert an international ambassador of education and change.

My first question now is how and from whom did you become interested in such a demanding but fascinating mission?

Robert: Thank you so much for inviting me to interview with you, Glenda, and it is my honor and pleasure to be here with you. Thanks also for your warm friendship over the years. In terms of “missions,” yes, you could say that Spiritus Mundi, in addition to aspiring to constitute a rich and enjoyable work of literature in and of itself, takes on at least two special “missions.” The first is the promotion of the concept of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly for global democracy, and the second the promotion of the concept of “World Literature” as an emerging cultural institution in the age of the Global Village transcending the national literatures which it has outgrown.

     In terms of my personal background, both missions grew out of my professional life as well as personal interests as they developed over the years. I studied and practiced law and then taught International Law at Peking University and also worked for UNIDO, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in China, during which time I wrote some influential papers around the year 2000 for the civil society component of the Millennium Forum of the United Nations, focused on the evolution of the United Nations in the new century. These papers were rooted in the successful development of the European Parliament, the first democratic international institution, and essentially proposed the extension of that proven concept from the European Union to a global scale as a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. In the next decade I discovered that many others were working in the same direction, and joined with them in the Committee for a Democratic United Nations and the Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, headquartered in Germany, and whose most visible leader has been former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

     At the same time, I had long had a “double” profession, in addition to having studied law, having also studied Comparative Literature in the Ph.D. program at the University of California, Berkeley. You could say that while I enjoyed law, literature was always the “first love of my life.” I had always felt that writing as an author was the “first calling” of my life, and that in a sense the other involvements were a preparation and support for that calling. I had written poetry and short stories all my life, but about three or four years ago I felt it was time to move to a higher plane and write a full-length novel. Out of these disparate interests grew Spiritus Mundi, which was designed to challenge my writing skills and capacity to a higher level, along with the tangential goals of promoting the concept of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly along with the emerging cultural institution of World Literature, which grew out of my prior work in Comparative Literature.  

Glenda: Spiritus Mundi is a novel encompassing the life of your main character Robert Sartorius that takes on much of your own background and mission. In Part 2 The Romance, Robert’s son Jack goes to Israel to work on organizing the fundraising telethon to support his father’s mission with the U.N. I think of authors who try to bring their mission into fiction and end up over stating to the point of losing their story. How did you avoid such pitfalls?

Robert:  I’m keeping my fingers crossed on that one! Knock on wood! A work of art treads a fine line when it becomes involved in a social mission or crusade for a particular political or religious undertaking. A work of fiction must create a living world with living characters within it, and if it degenerates into a mere tract of “propaganda,” even for admirable purposes, it runs the danger of being de-natured as a work of art. Oscar Wilde and the Parnassians are remembered for “l’art pour l’art” or “art for art’s sake,” and I would concur that art must have its own intrinsic integrity and not be prostituted for mere didactic or narrowly political ends to live as art. But on the other hand, I have always rejected this point of view when taken to an extreme, as whatever art is it is also a part of life and the human world, and therefore cannot and should not avoid a dimension of “social engagement.” I feel that writers and artists have a social responsibility of some element of leadership in shaping the values and worldviews of the wider community, with the proviso, as mentioned before that their work must retain its integrity as art while doing so. Writers and artists, as Shelly observed, can serve as the “unacknowledged legislators” of humanity, but not in the sense of advocating specific political programs, but rather in shaping the underlying vision and values by which humanity comprehends itself at particular points in time and history.

     The way in which I attempted to avoid the pitfall of falling into didacticism or propaganda was to try to let the characters within the novel live for themselves, and to let their world live for itself. Sartorius, one of the principal characters, semi-autobiographical, is written as a relatively weak character, not imposing his will on the world and the other characters, but relatively afloat and adrift within it. In this I learned from the work of Scott in the Waverly novels.  Waverly in Scott’s novels is a relatively weak and passive young man, a character adrift, rather than a Napoleon imposing his will on history. But this is actually a strength in a historical novel, in that a weak character adrift can serve as a marker for the larger historical currents that sweep him along, and his drift can thus paint a larger portrait of the society and historical forces at work around him. Sartorius is a rather weak and ineffective intellectual, verging on failure and contemplating suicide as he turns fifty, but as such he is ripe to be “swept away” by the hurricane of forces of our modern world, including globalization of every aspect of human existence, and by being so, chart, as a “weather balloon” adrift, the dominant currents of our globalized social atmospherics. As such a “balloon” he also undergoes the constraints and contradictions of Henry James’ “balloon of experience.”  in negotiating the transitions from realism to the realm of the freer imagination, embodied in Book II, “Spiritus Mundi: The Romance,” romance in the Hawthornian sense, that is.

Glenda: I’m a writer who loves to research. However; such an undertaking as Spiritus Mundi makes my head spin thinking about searching out parliaments and cultures so as to maintain factual integrity. For instance, your main character determines to promote an English style Parliament. You must have done an immense amount of research on such a style of governance. The main character’s goal is to bring such a style of governance and encourage democracy in the United Nations.

Can you give us an outline of your research methods for so such complex entities? Did you get to set in on sessions of Parliament?

Robert:  Well, in terms of models, the closer model for the concept of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly would be that of the European Parliament of the European Union, rather than the British Parliament, though the British parliament has long been perceived as the mother of all modern legislatures and parliaments. Working as a professor of International Law in Beijing and also with UNIDO, I naturally had to do an immense amount of research and reading on the working of both the United Nations and the European Union. I also studied at the University of Heidelberg in Germany for two years and during that time learned a great deal about the European Union. So you could say that I was already a “Good European” by the time I approached the wider problem of Globalization in my work in International Law in China. The European Parliament has in turn inspired many regional incarnations, such as the Pan-African Parliament of the African Union, the Parlatino, or Latin-American Parliament and the Arab Parliament of the Arab League. These are already working realities in the various regions of the world, so it was only a matter of time before more and more people would recognize the logic of extending the concept of representative democracy to the global level of the United Nations system as a whole.

So, yes, an immense amount of research would be necessary to embrace this dimension of Spiritus Mundi, but I had done it in my professional life as a Professor of International Law a decade before writing the novel. An equal, or greater amount of research was required for the World Literature dimension of Spiritus Mundi, but luckily I inherited a great deal of this from my Ph.D. studies in Comparative Literature at U.C. Berkeley and its follow-on.

But in the practical sense of the novelist writing a novel, I can tell you that it takes an immense amount of very concrete research to bring to life the concrete details of the world in which the characters must live and move. I had to do a great deal of research on things like the streets, building, parks and milieu of the dozens of cities and nations across the world in which the action of Spiritus Mundi takes place, from Beijing to New York, to London, Moscow, Africa, Jerusalem, Iran---the novel is rooted in a tenacious realism, though it later blossoms beyond it. In that I can say I have become a child of our age in harnessing the power of the Internet to craft the concrete details and dimensions of environments around the world. “Googling” and the Wikipedia have been invaluable in being comprehensive and instantaneously available as I composed on my laptop, so I think the modern writer has resources for practical research available that would awe the most erudite of our forbearers. True, the Internet has the defect of perhaps being “a million miles wide and an inch thick” at its surface, but it also has developed far deeper resources if you learn how to find them and have a good education going into it.

Glenda: I cannot leave out that Spiritus Mundi carries a romantic and even sexual component. You related to me in one conversation that the romance is a natural, human component of your story. There is also a conflict with Sartorius’ son Jack. For other writers, can you relate the importance you found in presenting this side of your main character into the mix of political and international intrigue?

Robert: Well, I grew up as a writer very much in the tradition of D.H. Lawrence and James Joyce, both of whom embraced the central importance of sexuality in human consciousness and existence in their works and worldviews. We are all living intellectually in the wake of the Freudian and Darwinian revolutions, and the “sexual revolution” in popular culture since the Sixties. Our sexuality is the life blood of our lives and of our consciousness, not to mention our unconsciousness, collective or individual. In my view of sexuality, common with D. H. Lawrence and C.G. Jung, sexuality is intimately connected with the spiritual dimension of human existence as well---sexuality can alternatively lead to dehumanization and animalization of our beings but sexuality can also lead just as naturally in the direction of the humanization of our natural and biological impulses, their civilizing, and even to their spiritualization, as Jung observed.

     In regards to sexuality I take as a starting point that it is a natural part of our lives and should be positively embraced in all dimensions of our existence---that it is a necessary and wholesome part of our individual and collective mental health. That is not to deny that it has its chaotic, selfish, destructive and socially disruptive side as well, which society has difficulty managing, which it always must, but it is important that it should not be irrationally repressed in the individual or the society at large, as Freud and Jung have taught us.

     Thus, as the saying goes, “War is too important to be left to the Generals,” we can also observe that sexuality is too important to be left to doctors, psychologists, biologists or “sexologists.” It is the living root of our individual selves and of our spirituality as well. As such the sexual lives of the characters in fiction are a vital dimension of their beings, and a vital dimension for judging the viability, mental health and value of the worldviews of their authors. Hollywood and Washington have long judged their projects asking the question “Will it play in Peoria?” and writers similarly have tested their worldviews by asking “Will it play between the sheets?” In Spiritus Mundi sexuality is linked to the spiritual lives of the characters, but also to the “life force” which drives human evolution and the collective unconscious of the human race, necessary to its survival. The progressive humanization, civilization and spiritualization of our most primal sexual animal impulses in the forms of love, family, community and communion is the story of the progress of our individual lives in microcosm and of our civilizational lives in macrocosm.

 Glenda: Finally, can you give us a look inside the man Robert Sheppard?

 Robert:  Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!---as I recall one your fellow Kansans once sagely remarked on a certain occasion.  Or I can have my doctor send you my latest X-ray if you like! ……I don’t know how to answer such a question exactly----“the man Robert Sheppard” continues to be, like his writing “a work in progress” with many contradictions, frustrations, inadequacies, irrationalities and inscrutable impulses coexisting with and ever evolving beside and within the socially and literarily observable persona. The ancient Greeks had to cut into stone in their temples the admonition “Know Thyself” precisely because it was so hard, perhaps impossible to accomplish---we knowing ourselves ever “but in a glass darkly.” Perhaps sometime in the future I will meet and get to know that man behind the curtain, “the man Robert Sheppard”-----it is likely we may become friends-----it would be natural-----after all we have a lot in common, and I may even learn a lot from him if we can somehow learn to rub along and tolerate each other---- we may even, at the end of our little dramatic offering, ascend in a homeward-bound balloon together, or as in the ending another film, as in Bogie’s Cassablanca stroll off into the mist-filled night arm-in-arm together, with one or the other observing “You know, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!”

Oh, how I wish that I could have had this interview on a public stage with Robert, shaking hands with my dear friend and getting to know him “through the glass (a bit less) darkly.”  That is one of the downfalls of written interviews, I ask the question, he answers the questions I ask, and I would love to ask so much more about the answers. This is true of all authors I interview, but it also leaves my readers with a chance to desire more knowledge of the interviewee. Reading Spiritus Mundi by Robert Sheppard reveals the intricate workings of a very philosophical mind. As he said there is a fine line that an author must walk when writing fiction with a mission in the story. I’m reminded of Plato’s dialogues which are today left for us often to understand through someone else interpretation. The thing is that Plato did write dialogues which today we might call short stories. That does not mean that we cannot come to some understanding of Plato’s way of reasoning. Perhaps he didn’t think he knew himself any better than Robert or me for that matter.

This form allows me to introduce Robert Sheppard, his book Spiritus Mundi, and a glimpse of his passions. I hope you enjoyed reading this ‘dialogue’. Then you can come to your conclusions by reading Robert’s book Spiritus Mundi.  

Please find links to Robert’s website and to his book below.

Spiritus Mundi Book I, The Novel:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/303856

Spiritus Mundi Book II: The Romance: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/303798

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/robertsheppard

                    http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CGSDN5I

Spiritus Mundi Book I: The Novel on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CIGJFGO
Spiritus Mundi Book II: The Romance on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGM8BZG

Interview With Romance Author Connie Crow

http://www.conniecrow.com/

Interview with Romance Author Connie Crow

This month’s featured Nebraska author is Connie Crow. Connie is author of six romance novels: Moonlight Fire, Daughter of the Dragon, No Place for a Lady, Little Secrets, Dark Side of Paradise and the soon to be released; All She Ever Wanted.  Connie paved a path for many of us by publishing in e-book format since 1996. All of Connie’s books are still available in e-book and print for purchase through her publisher Awe-Struck Publishing, Amazon and other retailers.

Connie served four years as secretary of the Nebraska Writer’s Guild and is currently a member.  She is the current treasurer of Romance Authors of the Heartland. She also belongs to Romance Writers of America, and of EPIC (the Electronically Publisher Internet Coalition.)

http://www.awe-struck.net/books/no_place_for_a_lady.html

 http://www.amazon.com/Connie-Crow/e/B006HTR13M/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1366156427&sr=8-1

Glenda: Connie, it’s so nice of you to agree to this interview. You are a trailblazer for electronic publishing. You published Little Secrets as an e-book in 1996 before I ever even heard of electronic publishing. I think many of us are thankful to you and other brave writers like you.

Why did you decide to go with electronic publishing in its infancy when so many were saying it would never catch on?

Connie: I've always been fascinated by technology and an early adaptor. When I was told my first novel was a non-traditional romance and would not sell in New York, I decided to look for a non-traditional publisher. I found an ad in a free-lance writer newsletter from a new publisher, looking for authors who would be willing to be published electronically. I contacted him, sent him the manuscript, and went up in the first six novels he electronically published in April of 1996. It's been an interesting journey, ever since. I had no doubt we were starting a revolution in communication. I said it would get ugly as the publishing industry adjusted to all the changes. I'm sure we're not done.

Glenda: Many writers believe to be successful they must write daily and publish frequently. I noticed that you publish a new book every few years and they continue to sell. What is your philosophy about writing practices?

Connie: I measure success differently than most. I write because my characters and stories insist on getting out of my head and onto the paper. I'm delighted that other people enjoy reading them but I write on my schedule. I've struggled with health issues over the years so I write when I'm able. Having five surgeries in four years slows down everything else one does. I keep lots of notes and binders full of ideas so when I feel up to writing, a story is always waiting for me.

Glenda: In 2004 your book Daughter of the Dragon was a finalist in EPIC’s international competition.  I must say, I could see why from the beginning of the book. It has history (set in the late 19^th century), an international element through a global shipping merchant, a daughter running from an overzealous father, and many facets that you manage to weave together into this story that crosses the US and Canadian borders. How do you keep from getting bogging down in your characters histories, the time period and so many nuances to deal with to write a book like Daughter of the Dragon?

Connie: My critique partners try to keep me reined in. I do have a most complex mind, I guess. I keep spread sheets of plot lines and character arcs through chapters, to keep everything straight. I usually don't have any trouble keeping track. Although with my current work in progress, 600 Feet to Hell, I found myself getting a little confused. I stopped and created a character chart. I had 37 characters in the first chapter; shame on me.  That was too many, even for me. It's a bigger book than my other work, but still, I stopped and hacked characters out of the story. Even for a disaster-thriller, that’s too many for a reader to absorb.  

Glenda: What would you tell other aspiring romance writers?

Connie: Believe in yourself. Don't be afraid of the new technology. Your world is going to change even more than mine. Go with it and have fun. Read. Read books that draw you in and won't let you put them down. Then study them to see why they are that powerful.  That's the kind of writing you want to do. 

Connie’s interview seems to be as much an exposure of how to overcome life’s difficulties as it is about her writing. Connie is an inspiration for that reason. Connie related to me that her health has never been good and she’s had many surgeries. Many would give up, or set in a corner and pout instead of moving forward and even taking up the sword that paves the way.

Connie related the following to me after this interview. “I have a great life and an agent from a conference wants to see more of my new work in progress so I'm a happy camper.”

So this writer is going to follow the lead of people like Connie who ‘write on’, and take her advice. Connie if my family loses me, I’ll likely be in a corner reading what thrills me. I look forward to your new book 600 Feet to Hell.

Find links to Connie's books at her site http://www.conniecrow.com

Interview: Lisa  Kovanda Novelist, Screenwriter, Leader.

This month Lisa Kovanda reveals helpful advice not only for writers, but for parents and teachers of children who display interests in the arts. Lisa is the current President of the Nebraska Writer’s Guild. In the very first question I asked Lisa, she reveals her unique history. Throughout this interview, Lisa is teaching in some way about life, writing and leadership. I’ve never been more thrilled to introduce an author on my page than Lisa Kovanda.

Glenda: Lisa, every interview I do has a unique quality and I learn to appreciate each writer’s life experience. As writers we bind together by the common thread of a love for writing. Having support in our ability and to help us pursue our love for the art of words is a lifelong need.

In your biography on your web site at   http://lisakovanda.com/  you mentioned writing your first book at thirteen and you grandmother bound it. You grandmother must have been a great ally. Please give us some family background as it pertains to writing and support.

Lisa: I was actually much, much younger than 13.  I am thinking possibly as early as age 4. I don't think I was in school yet.  Most of the earliest books were my drawings, with her helping me write the words. They evolved into actual story books as my writing and language skills developed.  I was born in Tehran, Iran, to an American mother, and Iranian father, but adopted and raised in Nebraska. My adoptive family did a great job of allowing me to maintain a cultural identity, even though there weren't many Persians in Southeast Nebraska. My grandmother was a wonderful Czech woman, and a superb storyteller. She really was the most influential person in my youth, the person who instilled in me the sense that there was nothing I couldn't accomplish if I put my mind to it.  My family also allowed me to pursue gymnastics, and fostered an interest in art, music, and theatre. 

Glenda: As you’ve developed your talent since childhood, how would you advise parents, teachers and other influences to help children grow their interests/talents?

Lisa: The thing I recall most about those early influences was that sense of not having boundaries where art was concerned. You want to paint? Do it.  Write? Here's a typewriter and some paper. Children are taught to fail. I love the saying, "Dance like no one is watching." If we instill that sense in kids in any of their endeavors, we would be overwhelmed with what talent comes out. 

Glenda: We are usually told by instructors and mentors to write from what you know. Personally, I have some problem with that, but I love research. You've set some of your dark mysteries and romances in places like Seattle, and West Virginia. What is the draw for you to write using varied locations as backdrops for your stories?

Lisa: When I was a gymnast, and even just riding the school bus, I always had a book to keep me company and whisk me away to places I'd never been before. It was a great way to experience the world vicariously through characters on a page. I read anything and everything I could get my hands on. The local library made an exception for me as to how many books they'd let a patron check out at one time, I read so much. But, I spent about a year in Washington State in 1980 (when Mt. St. Helen's erupted, no less) and loved the area, so I've revisited the Pacific Northwest for a couple of my works. Both in "Cedar in Seattle," and my feature script, "Til Death Do Us Part."  I've only passed through West Virginia, but when I was working on "The Hunt," which is set in a fictional Appalachian community, I was honestly thinking of a setting where things would be almost foreign to a minister used to a more progressive urban environment.  Culturally and physically isolated, and almost like stepping back in time a bit. The great thing about the age of the Internet, is that you can research potential settings easily, so it becomes what you know.  I used Google Earth to take a virtual stroll around streets and byways to replicate in my fictional communities. I've set stories in different eras, and in one (still unedited) book, I went from Nebraska, to Chicago, to the Pine Ridge Reservation, and the Hopi Nation. All places I have been, but I certainly did a lot of research to flesh out my memories.

Glenda: You’re a graduate of Lew Hunter’s Screenwriting Colony and have written a couple of screenplays.  Can you give us some short samples from a novel and a screenplay and describe how you change hats between the genres?

Lisa: I've completed seven screenplays, and have actively collaborated on scripts, including the Feature Movie script, "Remission," that is currently in production in Lincoln. Two of my script projects are also going to have novel adaptations. It really is a different thought process between the two mediums. Scripts are succinct. The Point of View is basically the camera.  What you see or hear is all you can put on the page. No motivation or lush sensory detail. I start the process the same, meaning I start with a story paradigm, look at what I want my major plot points to be, then expand that to a 30-45 step outline. I have found writing the script first gives me a great 100-120 page outline to complete a novel.  I make a lot of side notes when I'm doing a script for what I want to flesh out more in the book version. Then I use the script as a detailed outline to fill in the gaps for the book. I'll give an example from my upcoming book, "Modified Flight Plan," co-written with Brian Thomas, who is the main character in this true story of overcoming all odds to pursue your dreams.

  Excerpt from “Modified Flight Plan” screenplay:

EXT. YANKTON AIRPORT – DAY

Brian lands the Cessna at Chan Gurney Municipal Airport, a

small paved airfield, and taxis to near the fuel pumps.

He gets out and looks around. Two FAA Inspectors in dark

suits and ties stand by another plane.

One of the men, RILEY WALLINGFORD (55) a Native American with

a long gray ponytail, sees Brian. He nudges DAN GILBERT

(45), a more standard-issue Caucasian, and the pair walk

toward Brian.

BRIAN

(under his breath)

Shit.

Wallingford pulls his ID badge from inside his jacket.

WALLINGFORD

Inspector Wallingford, FAA. This

your plane?

BRIAN

My Dad’s.

WALLINGFORD

Got a license to fly it?

BRIAN

Student certificate, sir.

WALLINGFORD

Can I see it? And your log book?

Brian pulls his log book from his flight bag inside the plane

and hands it to him.

Wallingford looks through it as Gilbert walks around the

plane.

GILBERT

You wouldn’t be giving rides, now

would you, son?

BRIAN

No sir. Students can’t take

passengers.

Gilbert stands up from near the wheel.

GILBERT

Looks like someone lost their lunch

over here on the passenger side.

Brian flinches.

BRIAN

Damn school tacos. Happened during

pre-flight.

Gilbert grunts and glares at him.

Wallingford writes on a notebook.

WALLINGFORD

Wouldn’t know anything about a

plane taking off from a field near

here, would you?

BRIAN

Wasn’t me.

WALLINGFORD

Uh huh.

TATE BALOUN (35) a wiry flight instructor, joins them, his

flight bag slung over his shoulder.

TATE

Touch and go’s today?

WALLINGFORD

One of your students?

TATE

One of my best students.

Tate gives Brian a hard stare.

Brian grins.

TATE (CONT’D)

(to Brian)

Do your pre-flight.

Tate and the two inspectors walk a few yards away and talk.

Brian eyes them as he readies the plane to fly.

INT. CESSNA - DAY

Tate climbs into the copilot seat. He smacks Brian upside

the head.

TATE

You can’t lie to the FAA.

2.

BRIAN

I didn’t lie. He asked if I took

off from a field.

TATE

We both know that was you.

BRIAN

I took off from the highway, not

the field.

Tate shakes his head and laughs.

3.

Excerpt from “Modified Flight Plan” Novel

In a matter of minutes, he traversed the distance between Tabor and Yankton passing over the Missouri River where boats made an intricate design of white wakes on the rippled surface. He landed the plane at Chan Gurney Municipal Airport, a fairly large, paved airfield for a town of 14,000 people. He taxied to the fuel pumps, shut down the airplane, and hopped out to wait for his instructor.

He noticed two men in black suits and ties near another plane. One of the men was tall, with a gray ponytail half-way down his back. The other seemed like a more standard issue 'man in black.' "Shit." Brian muttered the word half-under his breath. It had to be Federal Aviation Inspectors of some sort. And that couldn't be good.

As if to bring that point home, the man with the ponytail nudged the other suited guy, and pointed in Brian's direction. The pair walked toward him. Just play it cool. He tried to make his face appear calm.

The guy with the ponytail, now apparent as a Native American, pulled a badge out from his breast pocket and showed it to him. "Inspector Riley Wallingford, FAA. My partner, Inspector Dan Gilbert. This your plane son?"

"It's my dad's."

Wallingford's gaze bore into him. "Got a license to fly it?"

Brian swallowed, even though his mouth was suddenly so dry he didn't know if he could answer. "Student certificate, sir."

"Can I see it? And your log book?"

Brian's hands shook as he pulled his flight bag out of the baggage compartment, fished out the log book, and handed it to the inspector. He tried to look nonchalant as he watched the man thumb through it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the other man--Gilbert, he thought that's what Wallingford called him--walk around the plane.

Gilbert crouched near the co-pilot's door. "You wouldn't be giving rides, would you, son?"

Brian swallowed hard. "No sir, students can't give rides."

Gilbert stood up from near the wheel. He pulled his sunglasses off his face and pointed at the airplane. "Looks like someone lost their lunch over here on the passenger side."

Brian tried to cover his flinch with a quick thump to his chest. "Damn school tacos. That happened while I was doing my pre-flight."

Gilbert grunted. His face remained as blank as ever. Brian wondered if they had special classes where they taught them how to make their expressions so unreadable. Maybe a bit like those guards at the Palace in London who never flinch?

He focused his attention on Wallingford, as he jotted in a small notebook. The Native American man didn't even lift his eyes from his work as he spoke. "You wouldn't know anything about a blue and silver airplane taking off from a field near here, now would you?"

That one he could answer. "It wasn't me."

Wallingford dipped his chin so his eyes looked over the top of his sunglasses his steely stare appraised him. "Uhh huhh."

It was all he could do to not break under the intensity of the man's gaze. Luckily, his flight instructor, Tate Baloun, stepped out of the terminal and headed toward them. In fact, he thought the wiry man's gait quickened when he noticed the two men in black suits talking to him.

When Tate reached them, he shifted his flight bag from one shoulder to the other so he could shake hands with the two men. He gave Brian a pointed look. "How about we do some touch and go's today."

Wallingford turned his attention to Tate. "One of your students?"

Tate gave Brian a hard stare. "One of my best students."

Brian couldn't help it. He grinned. To cover, he turned his head. Tate walked near him. "Do your pre-flight."

Tate guided the two inspectors a few yards away on the taxiway. Brian couldn't hear what they were talking about, but there was no doubt in his mind it was him. Wallingford's eyes met his.

They were definitely talking about him.

Once he finished the inspection, he climbed into the pilot's seat and strapped himself in. He debated turning on his CD player, but thought better of it. No need to piss the FAA off even more by looking disrespectful. Instead he pulled his practical flight exam book out and pretended to study the questions.

Before long, Tate climbed into the co-pilot's seat. As he did, he reached out and slapped Brian upside the head. "What are you thinking? You can't lie to the FAA!"

Brian shook his head. "I didn't lie to them. He asked if I took off from a field."

Tate snorted. "We both know that was you. You fly the only blue striped on polished aluminum Cessna 150 in the Midwest."

Brian smiled. “Well, the blue is faded with plenty of yellow primer showing, and it has chipped white stripes.” He tried to put his most innocent look on his face. "Besides I didn't take off from a field. I took off from the highway."

Tate shook his head and even though it was obvious he was fighting it, a smile cracked the corners of his mouth. "We need to get your training done, and soon. Before we get both of our asses kicked."

Brian grinned. He leaned out the door. "Clear." The plane roared to life.

Glenda: This past year, you took on the role of President of the Nebraska Writer’s Guild. It’s not a lot of people who can take on such a leadership role. I am so grateful to those of you who do take the leadership roles and offices. What would you say to others to encourage more leadership in the writing community?

Lisa: When I was first approached about assuming the helm of the Guild, my first reaction was that I did not have enough writing credentials to lead. I look at the membership roster--both past and present--and I am still an awe-struck fan. But, that's not what it takes to be a leader. I've run a small hospital as a nurse. I'm a retail manager. I'm also the Municipal Liaison for the Nebraska: Other, and Nebraska: Lincoln regions for National Novel Writing Month. (and have also successfully completed the 50,000 word challenge every year I've participated) I understand how to make things happen, and hopefully, get other people to want to come along for the ride. What I try to do is put on events I want to go to. What to say to encourage others to take a leadership role... well, I've had to appoint a few people to the Board since I took office in 2011. Only occasionally have I needed to resort to brute-force. I will say for all of the headaches, stress, and general mayhem, I have gained far more than I have put in. If your writing career isn't going anywhere--or not headed in the direction you want it to be headed--I would encourage you to get involved in writing groups like the Nebraska Writers Guild.  Not just belong, get involved. When you're invested in yourself as an author and writer, amazing things happen!   

I find myself wanting to grill Lisa to glean more from her vast experience and knowledge. If I could I would pester these authors until they were so sick of me, they’d call the cops to pull me away. Since I cannot be so brazen, I will continue doing interviews, reading their blogs and what books I can.

As Lisa quotes “Dance as if nobody is watching.” Parents, husbands, children, friends, teachers, encourage any interest you find in a child. Grab a pencil and paper and write whatever comes to your own mind. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing for a child to look at your endeavors and think I can do that?