Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Born and raised in California, US. Still living there, just outside LA. I’ve done some traveling domestically and abroad, and lived in Oregon for a while, but home is home. Retiring to Lake Lugano in the alps could be nice.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Truthfully, books have always been challenging for me because of a vision problem. There were some books I fell in love with in high school. poetry, philosophy, short stories, and plays. Dramatic literature was where my love really grew. It stemmed from my love of making up adventures with neighborhood friends, building silly inventions, clubhouses and throwing ourselves off the roof of my family home acting out stories. Even my dog was a part of the fun. In high school, we used to sit around on the lawn discussing Dickinson, Nietzche, Bukowski, the Beat Generation. Then in college the likes of Federico Garcia Lorca, Brecht, and other poets affected by fascism and that sort of thing.
As I grew older reading books with my lovers, my mates, became a way to connect. All the while I was reading and performing the works of dramatists such as Mamet, Shakespeare, Pinter, Moliere, Tennessee Williams, Checkov and many more. Some were also short story writers and novelists. When I began to lose my sight, listening to audiobooks and reading the bible became entertainment for me. Dostoyevsky, Dickens, Tolstoy, Stephen King, Voltaire, John Milton, Gillian Flynn are just some whose work I explored, that come to mind. I had read some of their books before of course but the storytelling I had studied in high school and college really started to be influenced in a different way.
In my teens I entered poetry contests then along the way, in my early twenties, I had started writing screenplays, plays and short stories and, you know, some professor in university says “your a good writer” and people start telling you you should be a writer. I never really took writing a novel seriously. Frankly, I didn’t think I was smart enough. I remember I had this really strange experience with a psychic in Hollywood. She had read my cards and then told me I was going to do a lot of writing, stressing “a lot”, that I was a writer. Then, suddenly she looked as if she had a terrible shock. Like she caught a glimpse of something horrific and told me it was very important I come in for a blessing. I didn’t, and I still regret it because I had some far-out experiences not too long after. Finally, one day I thought, “Well, if it’s really meant that I should write a book, then I should be able to sit down and just write a book.” So I sat down to write nonstop and six months later I had written a book. I guess it isn’t the easiest thing to do. I had studied character development, story arch, different forms or story development nearly all my life. So it came together. Whether for the best, is a reader’s place to decide, but that’s been going well so far.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Well, I enjoy those classics. Maybe more because I am unconsciously studying them. Along with Voltaire, and Dickens I’ve read King and Clive Barker. Though I don’t think I’m really built for reading the dark horror work anymore.
My favorite genres are literary fiction and fantasy.
I am inspired most by issues with loved ones and social injustice. I’m involved with Amnesty International and have written letters to leaders of Iran as well as jailers in Alabama and many more. The stories of people struggling have really influenced every part of my life, including writing. Seeing the disparity of classes and races motivates me. And the “metoo” movement, the struggle for women’s rights to decide what to do with their bodies as well as find fair treatment. These issues have really shaken me to the core.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Evah & the Unscrupulous Thwargg touches on many issues. It’s a sci-fi story with elements of mystery, adventure, spirituality, and much more. It’s about a young girl who discovers her connection to a mystical tribe that was vanquished at the hands of the ruling technological race. There is a chance that the tribe may be reborn through her but she must navigate through their system of control.
In part, it was an experiment. I wanted to find out if an adventure novel featuring a black lead character and a woman learning to stand on her own, free of a system of control would spark any interest. I like fantasy, crime, mystery, and adventure but often they are deeply rooted in white experience and many fantasy novels are rooted in white European culture. I love Tolkein and Robin Hood and King Arthur. I just think it’s way past the time where we should be able to feature characters of color and females in ways that share some universal themes. This book “Evah” is about the departure from the male-centric world. But what happens to the main characters, the struggles, of Evah and Skenkin I feel have a universal quality. We are all looking for our tribe. We are all learning to be adults with self-defined ideologies that let us be the best we can be. That isn’t to say there isn’t a lot of male action in this book. There is. Military action on alien worlds. It’s just not a white man the action follows. And the plan for the book to come is to see a female character who happens to be black really kick some ass and do some magic that blows the mind. What’s wrong with that?