How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your
book?
At the
start of writing this book, I was reading a lot of espionage books. James Bond was big in the theaters. This was back in 1979. I also had a huge interest in politics. Cable was just starting out, meaning being
offered to consumers. C-Span was
something I’d tune into and watch with great intrigue. The debates were much more interesting then.
The politicians were negotiating and it didn’t seem as spiteful as it does
today. Don’t get me wrong; there were
volatile issues and very powerful congressmen who were directing their messages
to the press. In the end though, I
believe there was a genuine consensus of working together for the greater good.
It was early in the cable industry and the 24 hour news cycle was just
beginning to gain traction.
I was
reading the Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum and found it intriguing. I read that book and couldn’t put it down,
anxiously awaiting the showdown between the Jackal and Jason Bourne. The showdown happened and the Jackal
escaped. I decided to give Ludlum one
more chance. I picked up the next book
in the series, and while at the library, I noticed that there were more in the
series. “Certainly this whole series
isn’t about capturing or killing the Jackal?”
I thought to myself. Ludlum has
terrific skill at building to the final showdown in each book that didn’t end
up being the final showdown. I threw the
book against the wall, having lived through several showdowns only for the
Jackal to escape. It was at that moment
that I decided that I was going to write this novel. I started it the following weekend. At that time, the ANWR debate was heating up
and I decided, unlike the Bourne Series, that my novel and assassin would be
centered within the political world unfolding before me.
Why did you choose to write in your particular field or
genre? If you write more than one, how do you balance them?
I’ve
written in many genres but never published. I did send a script to Star Trek: The Next
Generation. It was rejected, but had I
any sense when I was younger, I would have determine that Eric Stillwell was
actually trying to help me. Along with
the rejection came all the information I needed to try again, including a
couple pages of agent names, some even circled suggesting I contact them. I read his note and tucked it away in a
bookcase at that time. I got it out
about a year ago and hit my head against the wall when I realized what I should
have done back then. <laughing; then
shrugging shoulders>
I chose
this genre to start because I wanted to publish the novel I’d been working on
all these years. It’s where I started
and I wanted to see it in print. It
deserved to see the light of publishing.
I’m currently writing the sequel to Blind Influence called Love is
Blind. JRR Tolkien has inspired me to
create my own fantasy series called Tales of Reginnis. I like working on these two vastly different
genres. When I get blocked or tired of
one series, I write the other series. I
also enjoy oil painting and I am a fine art artist. For me, balance is variety. I wake up and ask “What will I create today?” I let what I feel like doing direct where I
am spending my creative energy. I have to be doing something and don’t like
being bored. Each creative outlet has
its challenges and that is what keeps me interested. I’m all about doing this my way and not
letting others dictate a set of things that I have to be doing. It’s about the creating for me, being in the
zone creating worlds that others can join in and enjoy with me.
Where did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing/etc. come from?
It has
always been a part of me ever since I was a little kid. My neighborhood friends were so creative and
we were always doing something creative.
We wrote stories, made up plays, spoofed popular movies; we were just so
creative. I had some very creative cousins that I looked up to and admired. I
have over sixty first cousins and I’m at the young end of that line, so I had a
number of cousins who were exploring during the sixties and seventies. They
left a huge impression on me. During high school, my best friend and I would
write and tell stories, passing notes as we passed in the hallway. It is what got us through high school! After high school I obtained a job working for
a consumer products company. From the
time I was 18 until my 30’s I had to live in what others call the “real
world”. The creative spirit that thrived
when I was a kid wasn’t exactly accepted at work and all the expectations laid
on one who works in Corporate America—well, let’s just say it isn’t conducive
to the arts. That is when I started
writing on weekends and any time I could steal away from the demands of that
other world. If something creative
wasn’t pouring from me, I would get cranky and depressed. It took a long time to get back here, but I’m
glad I did.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been
writing since I was a kid, so let’s say forty some year <winks>. I would watch a TV show, like Mod Squad, and
then I would head upstairs to my room and write a script for the show. I was like nine years old when that show was
on TV I think. In my teens I started
writing spoofs on different movies. At
that time my friends and I were into Science Fiction and Fantasy. We spoofed Star Wars, Flash Gordon and Star
Trek. Then came the VHS recorder and we
started to record our spoofs—acting them out.
In one spoof we had all the villains from Star Wars and Flash Gordon
pitted against the good guys. Luke
Skywalker, Prince Baron, Obi-Wan and Flash fighting the Emperor, Ming, and
Darth Vader; it was pretty hilarious at least we kids thought so and it kept us
out of trouble. Our parents just thought
we were crazy, but then whose parents don’t think their kids are crazy?
What kind(s) of writing do you do?
I’ve
written all kinds of things. I’ve
written scripts, blogs, business plans, reports, spoofs, short stories, and
novels. The list is endless really. The thing is when you love to create or
write, you just do it because it is a part of you. I can’t turn my brain off to
the voices of my characters. There is
always a scene going on in my head. As
disturbing as that sounds, it is so necessary to what I do that I constantly
keep tuned into it. Most folks don’t
even know it is going on because I’m so use to it.
What cultural value do you see in writing/reading/storytelling/etc.?
That is
an interesting question. I grew up in a
time when banning books was discussed in earnest. My parents grew up during WWII and Hitler
ordered books to be burned. It is no
wonder that my generation reacted so strongly to the proposition of banning books. When we inhibit the creative voice, we are
closing ourselves off to the wonderful learning experiences they present. It is good that questions are asked and
discussions based on knowledge and fact, are a result of that creativity. There is a huge difference in knowledgeably
questioning authority and just being an obstructionist because of being fearfully
blind. To me,
writing/reading/storytelling is the cornerstone, the very foundation of
creating a culture of co-existence.
How does your book relate to your spiritual practice or other life path?
This book
hasn’t progressed yet to relate to my spiritual practice. Nicole will go through a bit of a change in
the next book. Right now, I would say
Nicole and religion don’t get along. <laughs>. Over
the years, she lost her belief in the traditional churches. That doesn’t mean that she is an atheist. She
has yet to discover that she can manifest intentions. She is still living in the expectation
world. Love is Blind, she’ll get a bit
of a wake-up call. Tales of Reginnis is
probably closer to my spiritual practice.
I’m a Reiki Master and do a lot of mediation.
Blind
Influence was written at a time in my life when I lost faith in the traditional
religion on which I was raised. The
church was changing and a number of circumstances happened that left a very bad
taste in my mouth regarding organized religions. I can remember sitting in a movie theater
watching Empire Strike Back. Yoda is
explaining the Force and I was like—“yeah—yeah—what he said.” That started me on a spiritual quest. I wanted to know about energy and how to set
intentions and manifest them. I’ve met
some pretty incredible people in this quest.
I could go on for hours about obtaining authentic power versus
non-authentic power; how you lose your power/energy to non-authentic people and
how to retain it when faced with non-authentic people. So in a roundabout way, those things I’ve
discovered, Nicole is on the way to discover.
But no worries, <laughing> I promise Nicole won’t wig out and join
some cult or something weird like that.
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you
achieved them?
Another
great question and a bit hard to answer, but I’ll try. Looking back at 1979 and the early 1980s, I
really think that politics started on this slippery slope downward. That’s not to say that it wasn’t as
dysfunctional then as it is now, we just didn’t get 24/7 reporting on it.
<laughs> But I think back to the
1970s and 1980s there was a distinct turn that started. Kennedy’s assassination brought Camelot, that
mythical place where everything was flawless or innocent, to a shattering
halt. When I talked to my parents about
that time, they genuinely believed that politics/government was honest, but the
day that Kennedy was shot, the path grew darker with each administration. Through research, you could probably
determine that politics has always had a dirty side to it, we just didn’t see
it; or perhaps we chose not to see it or believe it. Kennedy’s assassination, Watergate,
Iran-Contra, Whitewater—the list goes on and on—each one sending us further
down the negativity spiral. So, with
Blind Influence, I wanted to create a parallel universe, if you will. At the end of Blind Influence, Senator Robert
Jenkins has a powerful secret. What he does with the secret will either send
the government further down that negative spiral, or he has a chance to create
a positive change and give the power back to the American people. Will he do it? I’ll never tell until Love is
Blind is published.
Each day,
we, as individuals, have the opportunity to make decisions that change our path
and can impact the path of many others.
So part of Blind Influence was to show how decisions, of others or their
own, impact the environment in which we live.
I don’t necessarily mean our physical environment. Each of the characters in the book needs to
find themselves in order to make the necessary decisions to take their
authentic power back. Do I think I
achieved that? I think the series will
achieve that and when I have, I’ll consider the series complete.
Can you share some stories about people you met while researching this book?
When I
first started researching the book, the internet was not available like it is
today. So I spent a lot of time in the
library in the beginning. One of the
things I needed to do was define Sean, the MI6 agent. Who was he? What shaped his life? Just what qualities does MI6 look for in
agents? When doing the research, I found
an application guidebook for the CIA.
That guidebook was fascinating and opened a whole new world of what
being a field agent is like. Believe me,
it isn’t what James Bond is. The
guidebook had a copy of the test they were giving at the time. The test asked questions about different
drugs and you had to say whether you had ever taken them and if so, how
incapacitated you were when you were on them. You rated yourself on a scale of
one to ten. They were clearly looking for people who had a high tolerance to
all drugs. It made me think about how
expendable the field agents really are.
Sad really.
The
internet has opened all sorts of research opportunities. I think the funny
stories will be sometime in the future.
With all the searches I’ve done lately, I keep wondering if I’m on the
radar now. <laughs> One of my friends who read the book asked my
husband if he worries at night when he is sleeping. Tom, my husband, asked her why she was
asking. She couldn’t believe that I came up with the Serpent’s calling card.
She wondered what other sinister things I could come up with and wondered if
Tom was thinking the same thing. That
part of the book has surprised a lot of folks.
<insert devious smile here.>
What are some of the references that you used while researching this book?
I can’t
really recall the names of the research, hard copy that I used back in
1979/1980. I know there was a CIA
handbook and guidebook that I found. A
lot of research occurred during the last year.
I used a number of internet references, mainly just to make sure my
handwritten notes from the research I did back in 1979 was true. There was a lot of research done on IRA,
terrorist activities in the 1960s, 1970s, ANWR, politics, Vietnam War, the list
goes on and on.
One of
the most interesting pieces I discovered recently while writing the prequel
novella, Blind Intention. This novella
was written to provide a little more back story on the three main characters. Nicole is a lawyer and went to school at
Harvard Law. Working back through the
timeline, it would have been 1964. Well,
I wasn’t sure that Harvard was accepting female law students in 1964. I know some of you out there may be saying—of
course they did. Well, the class of 1964 was the first year that Harvard Law
accepted females. So, Nicole’s class was
the first class. That lead me to a book
called “Pinstripes and Pearls” written by Judith Richards Hope, who was one of
the 22 females accepted into the class of 1964.
The book chronicles her fight to graduation. The short story about Nicole in Blind
Intention was strongly influenced by the courage and fight of these women in
the class of 1964. Just another quick
fact about the class of 1964: 22 women were accepted, 15 actually graduated and
one committed suicide. The total class
size of the class of 1964 was approximately 534. That gives you an idea of what these women
endured.
What do you think most characterizes your writing?
I always
think in scenes, so there is a lot said in dialog. One reader said that reading my book is like
watching a movie, which she loved. It
probably does read like a movie because I’m directing what is being captured in
the book and there is a lot more revealed in dialog. I think it reads more personally because
there is a focus on relationships.
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
Taking my
seven or more inches of handwritten scenes/notes and actually typing it up on
the computer. Then making decisions on
what stays and what goes. I can remember that for weeks I kept trying to figure
out how Nicole would react in regards to the Serpent. I don’t want to give too much away, but I was
stumped on this one particular scene.
Let’s just say I actually did to myself what happens in the book. I can attest firsthand that what she does
really does hurt and the effects last quite long. I accidently did it, by the way.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Anytime I
write, the most enjoyable stage is the free write stage. This is where I just write and not worry
about grammar, sentence structure, plot and so on. This is just to get the scene down. Then after many of these sessions, I sit down
and write an outline. That is the most fun I have writing. The rest becomes the hard work—trimming,
editing, and proofing are all hard. They
call it free writing for a reason!
