I am thankful to welcome, Laura Brown to my blog today, as we chatted about Deaf Culture, being a Mum whilst pursuing a professional writing career, and the joy of writing Romance in fiction. As you may have already realised if you visited earlier in the week during my spotlight of her {New!} Cover Reveal for her début novel, I happily crossed paths with this Indie Author in the twitterverse! It was a true pleasure for me to get to know her a bit better, as we found as we conversed both through this Interview and outside it, that we share quite a bit in common with each other. It is always lovely I think when two people who serendipitously cross paths find a connection with each other to celebrate!
Synopsis of the story:
Never let your friends get involved
in your personal life.
Lila and Nate learn this the hard way. They are the star-crossed lovers of Glendale High. For three years the students have waited for the two to get together. They begged Nate to put his past relationship behind him, and cringed when Lila started dating Bryce. Just your typical teenage romance, except they’re the teachers.
Lila, a guidance counselor with a sweet demeanor, has an answer for every problem, every problem but her own. A visit from childhood friend Bryce thrusts her calm world into turmoil, as emotions buried deep inside are dragged to the surface. He soon realizes what only a friend can notice and a lover regret, that Lila, unbeknownst to herself, is in love with Nate.
Nate has seen better days. He is a history teacher stuck living in the past. Depression has kept his love for Lila unspoken, his ego frail after being cheated on.
Now Lila and Nate’s coworkers must unleash a scheme and uncover Lila’s true feelings. In a school this nosey what better way to get fast results than to involve the student population? The students are all too eager to get involved.
If everything goes as planned Lila will have to choose between two men. If her friends fail they might destroy these three and ruin their friendship. No wonder the scheme is called Project Torture.
Biography of the Author:
Laura Brown lives in Massachusetts with her quirky abnormal family. Laura and her three cats are “differently abled.” Laura is hard of hearing, her oldest cat is deaf and partially blind, and the other two cats have cerebellar hyplasia (they shake, and they don’t find it endearing). The “normal” members of her family include her husband, who has put up with her since high school, and her young son who enjoys “typing” on Mommy’s laptop and has agreed to take full blame for all spelling errors.
In your author’s biography you mentioned you have three unique cats of which are able-bodied in different ways from each other that others might consider disabled. Did you seek out to adopt cats with special needs (as they have a harder time to be placed) or did their medical ailments arise later? Can you share an antidote of how their love and joy has been a testament of hope and resilience in your life?
Brown responds: My cat adoption story began when we adopted a sweet kitten named Callie. She was my first pet that wasn’t a fish, and just the sweetest little cat you could find. Unfortunately she came down with FIP (a fatal feline disease) and died at 9 months old. A month after her death my husband and I went to the shelter, ready to open our hearts to another cat. There we met Oreo, a black and white tiny cat, labeled as “special needs.” Now, after caring for a cat that had chemicals filling her insides, “special needs” did not deter us at all. We asked, and they claimed she had OCD. We didn’t care that she was neurotic, only that she was healthy and made us laugh, which she did. The day I picked her up I was informed she was deaf. I have a hearing loss myself, and I watched as Oreo circled in her carrier, something they labeled OCD. I banged on the table and she stopped circling and looked up at me, feeling the vibrations. I informed the staff that she was circling to make sure she was safe. They had no idea. I’ve tried teaching her ASL, but she insists my hands are just scratching posts.
A few months after we adopted her, as we were starting to think of getting her a friend, the shelter contacted us, asking if we would foster three neurological kittens. We agreed and picked up these fluff balls, two gray, one brown. We looked at them and our first thought was “awww, no.” Famous last words! These kittens have cerebellar hypoplasia, essentially their mom was sick while they were in utero and they have an underdeveloped cerebellum. They were under weight and needed a place to go until they were ready for adopting. Over the weeks of having them with us they grew on us, with their shakes and poor coordination (the only signs of their disease). A friend of ours adopted the smallest, shakiest one and we were prepared to adopt one of the remaining two. The two left over were both the gray cats, almost identical. The guy, Gus had fallen in love with my husband, the girl, Pepper, with me. Since Oreo was more my cat, we decided to adopt Gus. Only when we went to the shelter it was over crowded and full-grown cats were in carriers due to the lack of room. We knew if we adopted both, another cat would get more space, and a home, so both Gus and Pepper came home with us! Gus, I’m convinced, took all the nutrients in utero, because he only shakes when you get him dizzy. Pepper, shakes when excited, or scared, or just being herself. Just don’t tease her, if you shake your head she very carefully and deliberately controls her shakes to stay still!
Whilst reading your story about Oreo and her unique way of trying to sort out for herself if she were safe in her environment made me remember another cat I featured on my blog when I had read Cats Are Part of His Kingdom Too. The video I shared was one of many heart-warming ones I had found on behalf of Oskar. I placed the video that introduced me to Oskar, a cat who was bourne blind but was not defined by his blindness on the Interview I gave with the author Cindy Vincent. Even before I ‘met’ him, I always believed that animals like humans are given such a curious strong will towards compensating and overcoming any physical or sense-driven hurdle that crosses their path. After all, I still smile when I think about the dog who has a ‘wheelchair’ as his hind legs which no longer can support him. He can out run other dogs quick as a fox!
I loved learning about your cats, especially how Gus and Pepper not only knitted themselves into your hearts before you realised they were staying forever in your home, but how they each have such unique personality traits! Cats are beyond quirky, and being a cat lover myself, I have a lot of stories I could share, but the main thread that we share in common is our compassion for cats who need forever homes. My family and I have always given a home to a cat in need; including helping a neighbourhood cat who lost his guardian.
I encourage everyone to click-over the links to Ms. Vincent’s showcase pages, as my love for cats shines through!
You have a unique background yourself – how did you come to realise you’re a writer and what drew you into knitting together Contemporary Romances in particular?As I know, your original entry was through fan fiction based on “Frasier” of the Niles & Daphne storyline whilst contemplating a career as an actress but preferred being behind the scenes.
Brown responds: I’ve always loved writing, but never took it seriously until college, when I began writing fan fiction for Frasier (very, very bad fan fiction, I’m embarrassed to admit!). I loved writing, though, and when I graduated from college I decided I wanted to try my hand at writing a novel. I took my favorite piece of fan fiction, one I knew was very much my own story with their characters, and revamped it to make it completely my own. I’ve always loved romances, in fact, it was the Niles/Daphne storyline that drew me to become a Frasier fan in the first place. To write about matters of the heart is natural for me.
As for the acting: that was a teenage ambition of mine. I did plays in high school and college, but I love having my hands on everything. Impossible as an actor, plausible as a director, but as a writer, especially a writer of novels, there is the utmost control.
I love how you realised your full potential as an artist was to seek out a way which gave you the most creative control over creating your own works of fiction. I can understand and sympathise with this, as I always loved the ability to soak into my own muse, seek out where my heart was leading me next to create a believable world and full-bodied characters; breathing life into that space and watching it develop. Although, I do have interest in live theatre, I’d like to explore acting on stage and perhaps even, directing, as directing was one aspect of production that always had a keen passion for me as I loved the fact you were in charge of running a very large collaborative team! The fact you were inspired by “Frasier” says so much because it was such a cleverly written series!
In a way, as a writer you are still living a creative thread of conscience an actress would internalise, as you take-on the roles of each character as you draw breath into their story. Do you find that having a keen interest in acting has given you a bit of an edge as to how to interact with your imagination as you write?
Brown responds: I do feel my acting past helps me with my writing. I envision scenes in my head, even act them out to a small degree. I get into my characters, try and feel them and see through their eyes. Any way a writer has to connect with a character can only strengthen the way the character is portrayed on the page.
There are times where I think writers have it even a bit harder than actors, as we have to create the entire base of the character based on how depth and far our imaginations can carry us forward into the essence of who the character is; whereas actors have the benefit of what is already written on their behalf in a script. Actors do breathe a lot of dimensional depth into who the character is once it has transitioned off the page and I think it is a cohesive relationship, as writers start the process of creating life of a character but the actor takes the character into life. As much as readers continue the process for the writer, whilst they read and absorb an author’s words of a story.
What were your early influences and wanderings in literature!? Which authors spoke to you as far as a style of story-telling endeared itself to you ahead of creating your own stories? Are there any titles you could share which are still brought forward to mind in fond affection?
Brown responds: So here is where I always feel I embarrass myself. I’ve always loved to read, loved to curl up with a good book, but in my late teen years through my twenties I struggled to find a book that matched what I wanted to read. I’m sure the book was out there, but after ten books in a row left me unsatisfied I stopped searching for a while. And when I started writing I purposely did not read, afraid I would steal from a writer. Now, any author worth their salt will tell you: read, read, read! And in the past year I have been and my writing has only improved for the reading.
Phillip Pullman was an author I loved when I was younger. I also devoured the Babysitter Club books faster than they could be written (aging myself much?). As a teenager I read some romances I’ve loved, but when I try and pick them up again I just can’t get back into them. The last book I remember devouring before I began writing was Pride and Prejudice. I had to read it for a college class, but I loved how I fell into the novel. When I think about reading a good book and why I always love that feeling, it’s remembering my reactions to Jane Austen as a young adult.
Hmm,… that doesn’t sound all that odd nor awkward! Considering that I’m a book blogger and a writer, who struggled not only with a 10 year writer’s block but within those same years experienced a massive reader’s rut! I cannot remember if I disclosed this previously or not, but the honest truth is that I was not able to focus on reading for the sake of reading. I still gathered a heap of novels, many of which have moved on to become series (point in case: Virgin River by Robyn Carr!), but I did not pick up a book until 2009 when a new library opened. Since I’ve had my book blog, I am absorbing literature in ways that I had not previously been able to, and I find that even when we think we are not accomplishing what we think we ought to be, we are still growing, still learning, and still developing an awareness as we walk through our lives. We just had an equally uneventual non-bookish period to traverse through!
If your aging yourself, I already did — I oft have mentioned The Babysitter’s Club on my blog! It is included under Children’s Lit in the top menu to reach the page I’m devoting to part of literature I am re-exploring and venturing back inside with gusto. I agree, I used to read the series so quickly the ink was barely dry on the pages! Laughs. Being that it is ‘Austen in August’ right now, I found it an incredible gift of serendipity that you credited your love of Romance to Jane Austen! Pride, by the way, is my personal favourite of hers and this month I get to explore new stories I have not yet read as I received such a wonderful gift from my parents on the birthday of Jorie Loves A Story! (6th August, 2014)
Your unique perspective gives a new light on relationships centered on school life from the point of view of the faculty. How did you originally decide to focus on this setting for your debut novel?
Brown responds: I started writing Lila’s Choice right out of college. I had graduated from Boston University with a degree in Deaf Studies from the School of Education. Teaching wasn’t my plan, but Deaf Studies was only offered in this department. So as part of the course requirement, I took some teaching classes as well as a student teaching experience. It made sense to me to use some of this knowledge when writing.
I love how you took practical training and turnt the experience into a unique point of view for a novel! The last time I came across an author who took this avenue in fiction was Michael Crichton, as he had found a dislike of medicine whilst in medical school; he wrote engrossing medical thrillers rather than take on the field of medicine as a doctor, you see! How wicked then that semester sparked such a keen start to your writing career!
You’re re-launching “Lila’s Choice” with a new cover art illustration, can you share a bit about how the original one was conceived and how the new one you feel resonates more with your vision of the story? What went into the process of exchanging one design for the other?
Brown responds: My husband is an artist and I always envisioned having him design my cover. This is exactly what happened for Lila’s Choice. I love his work and what he did for the novel. However marketing isn’t always about love, it’s about what will sell the novel best. And artwork is less and less in favor and less likely to attract readers. I went back to the drawing board, breaking my poor husband’s heart. In the end I still have an artwork cover, but one that is bolder and more modern.
Yes, I do understand about choices in marketing and promotion for novels, but I feel quite blessed that the copy of “Lila’s Choice” I am reading was your first choice whilst getting to see your husband’s artwork up close and personal! I can see how the new cover will spark new interest, but I must admit, with her hand in her hair and a wave of frustration hitting her in the original artwork, I sort of felt like I could connect to her state of mind. The fact that the two blokes are on either side of her, as if awaiting her ‘choice’ right then and there brought the story’s premise full circle. I think covers appeal to different readers in different ways, and I hope as you said the original one did not yield as much as you hoped, this new one will!
As “Lila’s Choice” is Book One within a series, are you going to continue to feature characters from each installment of the series from one book to another, or will each book stand on it’s own merits without the continual threads woven in? Each author I find approaches a series differently and I am always interested on their process.
Brown responds: For the Choice Series my goal is to have each book be a standalone, following the same characters on the next stage of their journey. I tried to focus on one couple at a time, but everyone wanted to play in the second novel, and I have three main plots circling around each other. The third novel will be tamer, with two major plots and one minor. But don’t hold me to that one, my characters have a tendency to shake things up when I write, and the third novel is still in concept form.
I love how you give equal time to your stories per each of the individual characters who have a story to share, as this is a special gift to the readers who appreciate knowing the ins/outs of each character that draws them further into a narrative! I think you have realised one key factor to being a writer: sometimes you have to forsake your plans for your stories if the character’s will is strong! I always find the writers I can relate to the most are the ones who write by heart and without too much empathsis on a pre-determined plan they do not want to circumvent or re-invent so to speak. I write like this myself, as I’ve always said I’m an organic writer, feeling where the story is being guided as I pen the words and fuse the story to the page.
As a segue from your Contemporary Romances, you have plans to write more intensive Romances. Would these be considered in or out of the traditional Romance genre? And, which do you prefer to write?
Brown responds: Lila’s Choice is more a romantic comedy and when I first starting writing, I didn’t imagine I would write a true Contemporary Romance. But as I grew as a writer, and a reader, and a human my desires changed and suddenly I have books with a lot more steam on my computer. These novels are very much what one thinks of within the genre, and as of right now, they are my favorite to write.
I think that is fantastic, that you’re self-aware enough to realise you’ve changed as far as how you want to develop your future stories and how you want those stories to differ from the Choice series! I personally write across genres, and I can appreciate hearing that you want to take your Romances a bit further into the tradition of the genre rather than always hold back a bit and keep them where the Choice series has gone. I never blush at a bit of steam! Laughs. I think I summarised where I stand under “My Bookish Life” quite well about this topic! Smiles. Always follow your heart, it will guide you well!
Is there another kind of story outside the scope of the Romance realms that you would be interested in exploring in the future? Any aspect of research that excites your spirit to pursue? Or a specific time setting that is not within the modern age?
Brown responds: I love romance, and will always turn back to romantic plots as my heart and soul, but I do have a Horror novel I’ve been working on for years. It’s mostly drafted, however my other novels seem to have dominance over my time at the moment. I do have a modern Fantasy love story in draft form as well. I love this novel and hope to one-day finish.
Horror, eh? A friend of mine is dipping into the genre a bit more than she used too (eh, Christine?), but I personally can only handle ‘Horror-Lite’ which is a category that has the tendency to be attached to either Southern Gothic, Gothic Literature, or Paranormal story-lines that I can handle and swallow without cringing or scaring the skin off my back! Laughs. I’ll have to wait and see where your story in the Horror genre reveals of its premise but the Fantasy love story intrigues me already as I adore Fantasy overall!
I admire how you’ve been able to integrate deaf characters into your fiction writing and how you’ve sorted out how to designate how each of their unique abilities can be read on the page. Do you find Deaf Culture is becoming more accepted in today’s climate for stories or is it limited to film?
Brown responds: I’ve recently met up with an author on Twitter who wrote a novel with a Deaf main character. I’ve chatted with her and am thrilled that she wrote a culturally Deaf boy. She took the time to care about the culture and write a realistic character. Most of the time when someone tells me about a novel that has a character with a hearing loss I cringe. Because so often the character is portrayed differently than I would prefer (as a person who embraces their hearing loss). So I honestly shy away from novels with characters with a hearing loss, because I don’t want to be disappointed. Currently there is a big push for more diversity in books, so hopefully we will start seeing more characters with a hearing loss. There will always be at least one my own work.
I can understand where your coming from, as there is a movement at the moment to re-declare how dyslexia happens, and I’ve read everything in the social commentary on the subject from it being neurological to the full gambit of being a birth defect. I personally cringe hearing the dialogue going on personally, as I do not feel jaded by being dyslexic (as apparently a lot do!) nor do I consider it a ‘disorder parallel to a disease’ or a defect of birth that should be side-stepped. Honestly, being dyslexic is a gift and I will never alter how I feel about it, but I respect that others who have it may not have had the support system I had growing up. I credit my parents and my family to always encouraging me to learn and to seek out alternative educational opportunities throughout my life. I too, celebrate when I see a pro-positive example of dyslexia ‘out and about’; the last of which I tweeted in favour of an episode of “When Calls the Heart” on Hallmark Channel, as Elizabeth Thatcher the teacher helped a student learn by creating special letters to help him connect words to letters. (personally I wish they had those in real-life!)
I had mentioned on Twitter that I want to become fluent in ASL as I find being dyslexic sign language is one language that I am able to pick up quite easily. Was it difficult to show deaf characters interacting with dialogue inside of a novel or was it easier to conceive their conversations over spoken dialogue? I was curious as I would imagine there would have be a distinction between the two? Dialogue for me was harder to sort out originally than the narrative passages.
Brown responds: I made the choice to write ASL in English grammar. If not the character might be perceived as talking poorly, and I don’t want the reader to get that impression. An example of why I write this: the sentence “I go to the store” would be said in ASL exact “I store go.” I didn’t want my character to look like they are talking in broken English. Whenever someone speaks in ASL I use italics to denote the language change. And I often sit back and sign the sentence, adding imagery to the words. I also describe the movements when needed to help further the scene or the plot. Regardless of the language used, the dialog flowed for me. It helps that when I think of English I sometimes throw signs in, and when I think of ASL I often times use English words. So in my head, the two languages are very much the same.
I love your dedication to presenting the deaf in a realistic way as to help bring their style of language into the medium of story-telling. I love how you thought about the best way to present how they talk as they sign and what goes into each sign to denote what they are trying to convey. I always felt sign language was a bit of a fluid dance of words. I love how signs interact with each other and how a person’s personality of character can add to how the words are seen and understood. It is such a unique way of communicating and it is clever how you approached this in the novel to be reflective of a language that is quite dear to you as well.
What are the positive steps forward you’ve seen Deaf Culture taken within the last 20 years that gives you hope that being deaf is not as limiting as it once was for people who wanted to live without limits?
Brown responds: Technology has been a big change to the Deaf Culture. Video chatting (not only Skype) has been an amazing game changer, allowing Deaf people to communicate in their language, rather than typed English. This also brings Interpreters into other settings, even remotely. Close captioning on the Television has improved as well. And general common understanding of hearing loss, light notifications in public places, has helped.
I think as we move forward, there will be more of a social change as well, to where signing in public will have more of a visual presence and those who can sign, will be able to help others too. I remember whilst I was in a bookshoppe I was able to sign a few things to help a clerk communicate with someone who was trying to check out. The person was deaf and although they did not expect someone to know how to sign, I overheard the clerk was in classes to learn but had not remembered how to say “Hallo, my name is” followed by lettering out their name. I was able to step in and provide that assistance and it was a moment I could not stop smiling over.
Do you travel to destinations that are reminiscent of locales or scenes that are inside your novel(s)? Or is most of your research condensed to what you can draw out of materials outside of travelling? I think it works both ways personally, as not everyone can travel to each country or city where their novel is set.
Brown responds: I’ve mostly stayed local for my settings. I know the vibe of my local area. I know how it works and how it interacts. I don’t have to worry about getting something wrong. Furthermore my local area has worked for most of my stories. The one exception was an idea that came to me while on vacation. I was on a cruise ship and the ship itself became the backdrop. I’m in a curious situation as I’ve been to half the Islands the characters have, but not all. So I’ve been doing research onto those locations. It’s not in the cards to visit myself, but I will be on the hunt to talk with people who have visited when I get back to working on this novel!
I love how you found inspiration whilst on the high seas — the last novel I read that involves a cruise was “Lemongrass Hope”, the story still stirs inside me as it is a story that stays with you long after you finish reading the last chapters. I love stories like that, as much as I love stories that take us somewhere new and someplace that even the writer might not have ventured to previously. I think it would be brilliant to speak to people who have travelled to the islands you did not get too. Did you ask your travel agent if anyone coming back from a recent trip would be willing to talk to you about their experiences, impressions, and observations?
What genres do you read outside of Romance on a regular basis? What draws your eye?
Brown responds: Right now, I am pretty much wrapped up in Romance. That being said I have been drawn into both Fantasy and Suspense novels. The draw is usually the romance, though it doesn’t have to be the main focus of the novel. The romance merely wets my appetite.
I feel the same way about Romance myself, as much as I *adore!* Historical fiction I have the tendency to seek out Romance within Historical settings and/or finding stories which have an element of romance within the character’s journey. I think we all have ‘go-to’ preferences when it comes to reading, and mine will always be Romance. Even my preferences within the realm of Inspirational fiction is anchored to Romance; as I love heart-warming novellas and novels that soak into a relationship built on the strength of their characters and the inspiring path they took to end up together. Of course that applies to mainstream stories too! Laughs. I just love strong characters, dedicated wordsmiths, and a story that enriches my heart as much as lifts my spirit.
Do you ever find balancing motherhood and a writing career at the same time to be difficult or do you have a support system to where you can take time for being a writer?
Brown responds: Considering I am typing this as my four-year-old watches videos on the iPad: yes I do find it difficult! More so because it’s rare I get a chance to write while my son is awake. And I feel torn and pulled between playing with him, getting writing done, or cleaning the house (the latter suffers the most, I am sad to admit). I also work four days a week. Most of my writing is done after my son goes to sleep. I’ve had to set up “date nights” with my husband, just to ensure I put down my laptop and interact with him. I’m the type of person that throws myself completely into my passions, so I struggle to find the balance where I can be a writer, mother, wife and not have one element of myself suffer.
I think this is an honest portrayal of an artist sorting through how to not only harness balance but to maintain balance whilst living. I have not yet launched into writing full-time myself, as I often mention ‘this is the season I am a book blogger’ but evenso, as a book blogger I can contend that even I struggle a bit with ‘balance’; especially as I have other things I want to do whilst blogging, but I have noticed even my knitting hours have decreased since I started blogging with regularity. I think we will both sort it out as we go along, but the fact that you’re cognisant of your time, and you’re devoted to your family as much as your writing, I know you will always make the best choices in the moment.
How has networking with other writers on Twitter and through the book blogosphere helped you on your path as a writer professionally as much as given you joy as a woman individually? Do you find writers (especially women) form sisterhood bonds when they come together in ways where camaraderie and advice flow freely?
Brown responds: Writing is such a solitary effort, and for years I was alone. It was amazing to reach out and interact with other writers. Different genres, different styles, different paths to publication, it doesn’t matter, writers truly are a supportive group. I have loved meeting other writers. Whether it be to have a fun conversation on Twitter, or meeting a new CP (critique partner), all interactions strengthen me. And we learn from each other. I’ve made wonderful connections. If it wasn’t for Twitter this interview wouldn’t be taking place!
Quite true, quite true — Twitter is how we found each other, and I am finding that several authors who are following me on Twitter have become authors I am showcasing on my blog! This is in part why I strive to interact with all my followers, especially those I believe are following me for either liking my feeds on Twitter itself, as I talk about books & bookish culture, but I also talk about films, tv series, and other topics that I find inter-relate to what I am blogging about. Soon I will be talking more about how this ‘bookish’ girl is going to explore her cookery delights by featuring cookbooks (for Gluten-Free & Sugar-Free), as much as start a new Feature about Foodie Fiction. I think what is most interesting is how we all have these multi-layers within us as writers, as readers, and as bloggers. Each part of us can in effect inspire a new connection to another person who shares the same interest and passion. It is a very beautiful circle and I’m thankful we crossed paths.
Do you like to write for a specific age group in mind when you sit down to write a story? Or do you approach each story with the intention of writing down the bones of it’s heart and seeing which readers are drawn into reading it?
Brown responds: I really do write what the story wants me to write. When I start a story I am not thinking about my audience, that is for later in editing. All my stories so far have been for adult audiences. I don’t know if that will stay the same or change. I recently read a story involving teenagers and I’m tempted, so we’ll see.
I think this is the best approach, as truly none of us really know the answer to this until the story starts to unfold and grace the page. Even as we brainstorm and start to curate the beginnings of a story, it is still in that genesis stage, and therefore, I think you have the best approach as the age or tone of all stories reveal themselves as they fill the empty spaces where the words had not previously lived.
Outside the realm of writing and creating art, what enriches your spirit the most? Where do you find your serenity?
Brown responds: I really do find my serenity in writing. I’m an artsy person, but my artistic talents are basic at best, and my artistic goals are grand! I’m into a holistic lifestyle and have learned about “primary food,” not food we eat, but what fuels the soul. For me, that is writing. I feel complete when writing is part of my life. I keep trying to get the same benefit out of exercising, but I am a lazy soul at best. Although I don’t mind reading a book while on the treadmill, if only I could learn how to edit while my body bounces up and down!
Your last sentence left me in stitches of laughter, but the whole of your sentiment here is what I believe as well: we all need to seek to strive what befits our soul inasmuch as our need for fuel. We each have a lot to give and it is in pursuing what our heart is driven to become passionate about we discover our truer self. Our gifts give us back a lot of joy and purpose, but part of being true to ourselves is nurturing our spirit and having a bit of fun along the way too! I do not believe you have to pursue everything on a professional level, I myself, love creating small mixed media art collages, as it gives me joy to get inky and creative on a small canvas. I also love to knit. Just by being a writer, your an artist as your palette is full of words which evoke worlds of thought and adventure. I loved your response as ‘writing is my serenity’ and that says more than anything ever could, I think!
Author Connections: Site | @AuthorLBrown | Facebook
Converse via: #LilasChoice
I want to thank Ms. Brown for giving such a wonderful response to my Questions, as it truly helped me get a better perspective of who she is as a writer and where her path in writing is leading her to go next. I have a special announcement to mention, as the novel “Lila’s Choice” arrived a few days ahead of this Interview going live and I have started to read Chapter One! What I found to be inspiring is that the deaf are speaking as they naturally would if we were meeting them in person, as their language is fully intact as it should be if they were signing (ASL) in front of us. I found the uniqueness of their speech easy to adapt to as Brown made sure her readers were ready for who was signing and who was speaking aloud. Her care and consideration is commendable and it is proving to being a novel I am motivated to read straight through to the end!
Reader Interactive Question:
If your a reader who appreciates diversity and equality in literature, have you come across other writers who like to write ASL into English, and carry their culturally deaf characters into their stories as real as if they were standing beside you? Which characters have you read previously that step outside the box, and are presented in such a way as to endear you to what makes them uniquely their own person?
Similar to blog tours, when I feature a showcase for an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog.
{SOURCES: Book Cover for “Lila’s Choice”, Author Photograph of Laura Brown, Book Synopsis & Author Biography were provided by Laura Brown and used with permission. Author Interview badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.
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