Meet Writer RJ Keller!

Introduction

 

RJ Keller is one of the creative brains behind Inside the Writer's Studio.

 

(You may have read me mention this hilariawesome thing in yesterday's interview with Kristen Tsetsi. Here is the link again: http://www.youtube.com/user/PaperRats)

 

A coffee guzzling professional and an author to be reckoned with, you can find out more about her work here:

http://rjkeller.org/

 

I know her in cyberland to be warm, witty, smart and fun. I have her novel, "Waiting for Spring," next to my bed, which I just now realized is weirdly appropriate given how much I have been grumbling about my desire for winter's end. Spring cannot come soon enough to my Pennsyltuckian mountain. Maybe this interview will help usher it in sooner. If anyone can bring it, RJ Keller can! You go, girl!

 

Interview

 

 

Q. What’s the best/worst piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?

 

A. Best: Take your writing seriously, but not yourself. Books are important, but writers are only people like everyone else and nobody likes an arrogant ass. Also, don't skip your coffee break. It's the most important meal of the day.

 

Worst: The idea that I should keep on plugging away on a book that I'm not feeling and/or that isn't working. Sometimes that's good advice, but not always and I spent years working on and reworking a novel that I am completely blocked on. I've gotten to the point where I hate it. I'd punch it in the face if I could. Finally, about a month ago, I decided to put it away temporarlily to work instead on a book I started during last year's NANOWRIMO. The new book is pretty much writing itself. It's making me remember why I loved writing in the first place. After I'm done with this, I'll probably tear apart the other book and start from scratch and see what I can make of it.

 

Q. Alliteration or onomatopoeia?

 

A. Onomatopoeia, for sure. BAM! POP! SQUISH! How can you not love "squish"?

Q. Would you describe yourself as a writer who plans or a writer who explores?

 

A. Sort of both. I find I do best when I start a project with no concrete idea of where the story is going. It's fun to just create a character in my head, then give him or her a character to butt heads or other body parts with, and let the plot develop from there. Once the story starts to gel, I'll stop and make an outline, then keep going.

Q. Writing wardrobe?

A. My pajamas. I don't know what I'm gonna do if I have to get a job that requires me to actually get dressed and run a comb through my hair.

Q. What were you doing right before I started asking you a bunch of inane questions?

 

A. Looking under my armchair for a curtain rod bracket. My cat pulled the curtains out of the wall this morning and one of the brackets is still missing. Using Occam's razor, I've deduced that she must have eaten it.

Q. What’s on your desk right now?

 

A. A cup of coffee, a water bottle that I probably need to refill, a dirty coffee cup, my notebook and three pens. Also a broken ponytail holder. Where the hell did that come from? My hair hasn't been long enough for a ponytail for years...

Q. Favorite beverage of the moment?

 

A. Fireball cinnamon whiskey. And Country Time pink lemonade. But not at the same time.

Q. E-shopping or brick and mortar?

 

A. Both. I love, love, LOVE shopping at bookstores, especially those that are locally owned. (Shout out to Bull Moose in Bangor Maine!) I love everything about browsing through books on a shelf. However, e-shopping is not only convenient, but a real money saver when you live in a poor, rural area - like I do - where the nearest city is a forty-five minute drive, with gas prices being as high as they are. Brick and mortar stores that haven't opened themselves up to e-commerce already should really get on it.

Q. Argyle or plain white socks?

 

A. I like mixing argyle with stripes. It reminds them who's boss. (The boss is me.)

Q. If you could collaborate on a project with anyone living, dead or imaginary, who would you pick?

 

A. My Impossible Dream would be to work on a book with Australian writer/poet Luke Davies. I'd sit there quietly and fetch him coffee and fresh pens if that's all he needed me for. Also, it would be SO cool to snag John Green for a cameo in a Paper Rats video. And I would love it if Nathan Fillion would sit on my couch while I'm writing. I'll bet he smells really nice. He could fetch me coffee and fresh pens.

Q. Tell us about your current creative project/s.

 

A. I'm working on a novel that is tentatively entitled Winging It (the odds are good that this will change). It's about a single mother in her late thirties who is struggling with Empty Nest Syndrome after her only daughter moves to New York to pursue an acting career. It's filled with humor, sex, angst, and Wikipedia Article Envy.

 

 

(...sometime later)

 

UPDATE: The curtain rod bracket was lying on top of my sneaker.

Meet Writer Kristen Tsetsi!

Introduction

I first became aware of Kristen Tsetsi through the Paper Rats on youtube. She and RJ Keller do this absolutely hilarious thing called Inside the Writer's Studio. I stumbled across it when I really needed to laugh and to find a bit of empathy for the writing life. If you are a writer and you are reading this, you need to be aware of this hilariawesome thing.

http://www.youtube.com/user/paperrats

Seriously. Hilariawesome.

Of course this made me curious about her writing and as part of my b-day present to me this year I bought and read her book, Pretty Much True.

It is with crazy fangirl squee-glee that I present to you Kristen Tsetsi!

The Interview

Q. What’s the best/worst piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?

A. Best: "Write what you know." This is a controversial piece of advice, but it makes sense when you step away from it and don't apply it to every little written item ("I've never been in a spaceship! Does that mean I shouldn't write about spaceships!?"). What I think it means is, "If you've never experienced unrequited love/real panic/loss/longing/homesickness (homesickness for a town can be turned into homesickness for your planet as you wander through outer space), passionate love/battle, you won't be able to write about it believably, or with the emotional and psychological complexity the subject deserves."
Of course, the advice only applies if you're trying to tackle any one of those themes. If the story floats more on the surface of things, it won't matter as much.

Worst advice: When, how much, where, or why to write advice from any writer. Especially "why." One author writes"You must want to write so badly that it hurts not to. If you don’t write today, you ought to feel guilty. If you don’t feel guilty, you aren’t meant to write.”

Says you.

Technique advice, I'm all for. As for the rest, you do what works for you; I'll do what works for me. And don't presume to know what makes anyone but you a 'writer.' (More on this here.)

Q. Rhyming or free verse?

A. Your question tempts a little rhyme, but I'm at work and have no time. I like them both, I guess, but then - it really all comes down to when. Some poems beg for bouncing sound, and some don't, so much. Maybe the content itself isn't so "tidy" as to fit into a rhyme.

Q. Safety features or Safety Dance?

A. The dance sounds like more fun.

Q. Writing wardrobe?

A. Warm feet and loose pants, when possible. Cold feet are distracting, and legs move around a lot when you're sitting for hours at a desk.

Q. What were you doing right before I started asking you a bunch of inane questions?

A. Transcribing an interview I did with a woman who runs an animal sanctuary for an article I'm writing.

Q. What’s on your desk right now?

A. My phone, copies of interviews my editor wanted me to read for an upcoming series, a pen & highligher-holder coffee cup, my ever-present ice water, and animal sanctuary fact sheets and catalogs.

Q. Favorite food thing of the moment?

A. It is, has always been, and shall forever be pasta.

Q. Indoors or outdoors? Why?

A. Indoors. Don't get me wrong - I'm into flowers and trees and all the smells and birdsongs, but I love the coziness of inside. And that's where my cats are.
 

Q. First thought when confronted with waking up?

A. Confronted!? I love waking up! It excites me. Some nights I can't wait to go to bed just so I can get up for morning and coffee.

Q. If you could collaborate on a project with anyone living, dead or imaginary, who would you pick?

A. Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullen, Newlyweds, Nice Guy Johnny, etc.). 1. I love movies, enjoy screenwriting, and have always wanted to have the access necessary to have a screenplay produced, so he'd obviously be helpful in that capacity. 2. I love Burns' characters, the relationship tension he introduces, and the ease with which he with tenderly explores uncomfortable situations while simultaneously making fun of them. I'm a huge fan of uncomfortable situations, flawed characters, and maybe most of all, putting love under a fluorescent (rather than rose-colored) light. Getting to collaborate with him on the writing of a screenplay would be dreamy.

Q. Tell us about your current creative project/s.

A. Currently, my novel Pretty Much True... and my short fiction collection Carol's Aquarium are available for readers everywhere. I'm not working on anything creative at the moment because work-writing takes up too much of that energy. But I have high hopes for the future.

Categories Player Interview the Tenth: Sue Babcock

Introduction

I met Sue Babcock several years ago online through a network of fiction writers. We've critiqued each others work and found a home for it with the online magazine Liquid Imagination, a publication for which Sue is now the managing editor and publisher. She writes and generally rocks whatever she is doing. I was really excited when she said she was game for a Categories Interview because we get to visit The Realm of Writerly Awesomesauce.

Interview

Q. What’s the best/worst piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?

A. The best advice was to write ever day. My creative writing teacher emphasized this, which was the first time I heard it. Since then, just about ever craft book or blog I've read includes this advice, and I do find that if I am not writing every day, even for a few minutes, three things happen. First - no writing gets done (duh!). Second - the creative side of my brain atrophies. Third - my pet dragon that lives under my desk gets hungry and starts gnawing on my toes if I don't write.

The worst piece of advice - hmmm - write only what you know. If I stuck to that model, I'd never write anything (who wants to hear about concrete, for pete's sake), and my dragon would go hungry.

Most people don't believe me when I talk about my dragon, but I assure you he is as real as my writing. He's aqua blue with cobalt blue points that run all the way down his back to the tip of his tail. Last night, as he frolicked in the cavernous space under my desk, he poked his nose out and scared the heck out of my cat. Now my cat won't sit on my lap anymore, so I make Leumas (that's Samuel spelled backwards) keep my lap warm while I'm working at my computer. I do have to make him turn away from the desk when he sneezes. The flames are hard on my monitor and computer.



Q. Alliteration or onomatopoeia?

A. Definitely alliteration - in moderation! I tend to get taken out of a story with a "Grunt" or "Bang." Even more so with "she sells sea shells by the seashore."

Q. Fork, spoon or spork?

A. Fingers... Oh, wait. That wasn't one of the choices. But everything you can eat with a fork, you can eat with your fingers, and everything you can eat with a spoon, you can drink. So who needs utensils?

Q. Writing wardrobe?

A. I definitely have to have shoes on when I write so my dragon, Leumas, doesn't eat my toes. Beyond that, anything goes. Right now I have on military-style cargo pants and a warm fuzzy jacket.

Q. What were you doing right before I started asking you a bunch of inane questions?

A. Asking you a bunch of not so inane questions. I'm looking forward to hearing your narration of a story in Liquid Imagination. (www.liquid-imagination.com)

Q. What’s on your desk right now?

A. EVERYTHING, including my dragon. He came out from under my desk to see what the heck I was working on. It's not often that he sees me actually typing something, rather than staring at a blank piece of paper on my screen. His blue points shimmer in the light from my window, and his fiery breath just charred one of the stacks of stories submission I wanted to read.

Q. Favorite food thing of the moment?

A. Something fattening - hmmmm, like homemade gingerbread. I decided to lose a few pounds and am getting really tired of all those salads and chicken dinners. I made a luscious soft gingerbread cookie, redolent with molasses, ginger and cinnamon.

Q. Indoors or outdoors? Why?

A. Outdoors. If you've ever owned a pet dragon, you'd know why. Plus, the sun, the grass, the sky, the trees, the rain, the snow, the ice, the garden, the park... Who could not love being outdoors?

Q. Argyle or plain white socks?

A. Argyle, for both me and my dragon. My argyle socks keep my dragon from eating my toes, especially if they are argyle socks with blue dragons embroidered on them; then he thinks he's looking in a mirror. And when I put them on my dragon, he immediately settles down and goes to sleep - almost like magic.

Q. If you could collaborate on a project with anyone living, dead or imaginary, who would you pick?

A. Thomas Jefferson. He was a brilliant inventor, writer, and creative thinker.

Q. Tell us about your current creative project/s.

A. My biggest project right now is the development of the Silver Pen website (silverpen.org). The Silver Pen Writers' Association is a non-profit organization with the mission to assist writers of all ages in poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction to produce quality work and to help them develop successful writing careers. The website is still fairly new, and we continue to iron out the bugs as we expand its functionality.

I'm also the publisher of one of the Silver Pen magazines. Liquid Imagination (www.liquid-imagination.com) was started by John Miller, but when he became overwhelmed by life, I took it over and moved it under the auspices of Silver Pen. The staff on this magazine is great, and we continue to publish sci-fi, modern fantasy and dark stories, poems and flash about life.

Finally, I'm working on a novel. I'm hoping it will be a YA novel, but sometimes I wander into darkness where kids should not follow, so I'll have to wait and see how it comes out. It is set in the Middle Ages, in Europe, and follows the path of a peasant boy who is the keeper of an abusive lord's pigeons, as the boy grows to be a man who must be reckoned with.