Joely Sue Burkhart interview: The Final Chapter. :)

My Novels

Where to get your copy!

Library Thing

Jan

12

Joely Sue Burkhart interview: The Final Chapter. :)

Category: interviews | Leave a Comment

The Holidays slowed this project down, but now we’re back with some wonderful answers. I asked Joely a little bit about her writing past and about her plans for the future:

<!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>

I wrote a few poems in high school (required for class) but I never really thought they were “good” or original. I do much better to mimic other styles, like a Shakespearean sonnet. Actually, I really enjoy writing parodies of poems–playing on the words and rhythms of known poems, or even Bible passages. Yeah, sounds ridiculous, but one of the pieces I’ve written that I love the most is “Story Genesis” which follows the creation story structure from the Bible.

As for Charon’s story, I’m not really sure of any details yet, other than he’s basically crazy and so damaged that it’ll be one of my hardest redemptions yet. I like to pick “casts” for my characters, and Charon is played by Vin Diesel as Riddick from Pitch Black. Riddick is definitely my favorite antihero from movies, and Charon gets a lot of inspiration in that regard. He’s not exactly one of the “good guys” if you know what I mean, but he has motivations for everything he does. One doesn’t free a caged drakon lightly, and now that he’s free, after suffering so cruelly, he’d rather die than be chained again.

I also asked her about that dreaded curse, Writer’s Block.

<!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>

Writer’s Block…Well. That’s a hard subject. I’ve definitely been in a “bad place” where I couldn’t finish anything, I felt disenchanted with writing, and knew that what I was writing was slop and unsalvageable. The whole year of 2005 I didn’t finish a single novel or novella, and I threw out most of what I was working on. However, I think the key for me, at least, was to keep writing, a little every day, even when I knew it sucked. I felt rather like the guy in Shawshank, tunneling out of the prison with a tiny rock hammer for twenty years, chiseling away a little pebble from the Mountain every day, but finally, the tide turned, and my little depression (literally) I’d managed to carve out tumbled everything into place. Right after that is when I finished the first draft of Beautiful Death. That’s why a lot of the subtext and metaphors speak so strongly to me–it really was a personal battle on my part to write that story and see it through.

The Mountain has always been a powerful metaphor for me and the writing journey. It’s a long grueling climb. One minute I’m climbing through a beautiful alpine valley full of flowers, and the next, I slip into a glacier crevasse and may never see the light of day again. But oh, there’s nothing like the view at the top, is there? And that’s why I keep climbing. The hope of that view, those small moments of pure magic where words become castles, and a little accidental element becomes something so much more. The trick is watching for those little glimmers and capturing them into the framework of story. I write for those little moments of magic.

And that’s it! I want to thank Joely…and you…for being patient.