Wordless Wednesday: Sophia

Interview with author Gregory G. Allen

If you could travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future?

I love time travel books and movies so I would have to go back in time. Check out those periods before technology over took our worlds (he says writing on a computer).

If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would you choose?

Augusten Burroughs

Hilary Clinton

Barbra Streisand

Anderson Cooper

Anne Rice

 
If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?

Potatoes - my favorite food

iPad - with a loaded kindle app

A bar a soap - I like to be clean, what can I say?

What is one book everyone should read?

Such a loaded question because we all have different taste. I love the book Bid Time Return…but most know it as the movie Somewhere in Time

If you were a superhero what would your name be?

Over-Achiever Man

If you could meet one person who has died who would you choose?

Abraham Lincoln

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

Cereal. And I'm not picky about the kind: just love the stuff!

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

I write about real people, the way they really speak, and allow readers to discover things about themselves in the process.

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects? 

I have a few other adult novels I'm working on, but also marketing my children's book right now.

What inspired you to want to become a writer?

I first wrote for the stage. But after reading Running With Scissors - I knew I wanted to tackle stories off the stage.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.

The fact that readers can reach you directly and let you know how your work made them feel or touched them. Nothing gets better than that.

 
What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?

There are rules…and there are times to bend them. Stay true to who you are.

What is your favorite Quote?

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that counts. It's the life in your years." - Abe Lincoln

How did you know you should become an author?

I was a story teller as an actor, director, producer, stage writer … I knew I needed to get these stories out of my head and share them.

Who are your favorite authors of all time?

At the risk of offending many female writers that I love - John Irving, Augusten Burroughs, Richard Matheson, Armistead Maupin, Tennessee Williams

To learn more about this author please visit his website Gregory G. Allen.  You can also connect with him on Twitter.

You know, it wasn’t meant as a compliment…

I am not at all a good speller. As a matter of fact, if you took a ‘spell check’ to this blog, you will most certainly find many spelling mistakes. So, please don’t do that!

What can I say, a genius I am not. I never won a spelling bee in school, heck; I was usually the first kid out.

The other night I was really struggling with a word. I spelled is so badly, that no spell check would help me with the correct spelling, not even a pocket dictionary was useful.

Now that is bad!

Winterlyn was in her bedroom with the door closed. I knew exactly what she was doing; pretending to be a famous rock star in front of the mirror. She had the music blasting, and I could hear her dancing around the room, and singing.

Julian was in his room making his toys battle each other, while Jacob was next to me reading.
I asked Jacob if he could help me spell the word ‘walrus’, but he had no idea.

After he, and I tried different variations, spell check kept telling us it was wrong, with no suggestions.
Frustrated, Jacob said, “Why don’t you just use another word in place of it, like Sea Lion?”

“No, I have to use this word. It is the only word that will do!”

I have a picture of myself eating french fries, that the kids took, and by gosh, I look like a darn Walrus.

To me this is hysterical! 

I mean Sea Lion could work, but it is just not the same. Sea Lion just not as funny as Walrus, and Sea Lion hardly has the same zest.

See?   

I explained this to Jacob with such passion and determination. After what seemed like a long time, he finally said, “And…. what exactly are you doing, Mommy?”

“Working on a scrapbook page...”

With the most dumbfounded look on his face, he said,  “Mommy, sometimes you look and act just like Winterlyn”

Shocked by this statement, I said, “I do?”

“Yeah, you get all animated, and goofy about the most stupid things!” Surely, he was expressing his annoyance with me.

Hey, he is a teenager, everyone annoys him (especially me!), and he is not shy about saying so.

Did I mention that raising a teenager is not for the weak?

I ran into Winterlyn’s room, where I found her in my heels, and the most interesting outfit I have ever seen in my entire life!

She was in front of the mirror with an old nude Barbie doll, which she was using as a microphone. Poor Barbie was butt up, with a very serious case of “bad hair”, because once upon a time, Winterlyn tried to wash her hair with soap.

Ignoring the scene, I said, “Guess what Jacob said?”

“What?”

“He said that I look and act just like you! How awesome is that?”

“That is awesome!” she said, with a big wide grin.

She threw the ‘Barbiephone’ at me, which I caught.  I immediately went into my own rendition of a middle-aged (and still darn cute) super rock star.

I got mad skills, people.

From the living room Jacob yelled “You know, it wasn’t meant as a compliment”

{Guest Post} What Makes a Family by Gregory G. Allen

Families come in all shapes and sizes. I happen to have one of those that share everything – nothing being off limits. I have friends that say they have a complete 'surface' family and never discuss anything of importance. (They even freak out a little by how open I am with my own family.) But they are the people that will be there for you through it all...whenever you need them.

As close as I am to my own, I'm still not close in miles. I moved from Texas to New York in the late 80s at 18 years old and had to form a family unit away from home. And I did. I can still recall several people from my college who had grown up in Texas all getting together for that first Thanksgiving away and going out to Dallas BBQ to find some sort of southern roots. We had created a pseudo-family and gosh-darn it: we were going to enjoy the holiday together.

But not everyone knows those 'roots'. People who are adopted or grow up in the foster care system may not have a direct link to the past and therefore need to create that unit. That's what I worked through in my novel PATCHWORK OF ME. Sara Butler is in her 30s with no parents. No blood family to speak of. No ties to anyone. That lack of family has shaped who she is as an adult and she has spent years attempting to find a connection. (And trust me; she goes through many bad relationships and choices in her attempt.) So (in time) she creates that bond with her closest friends and has to discover how to let her walls down and let people in. She has spent a lifetime of building walls and her demolition skills are not great when it comes to breaking through them.

Families have been something I enjoy writing on. All kinds. I think relationships are what makes books interesting. How people choose to interact (or not in some cases). It says so much about who the character is much as a mirror does to reality. How we treat those 'family' members in our lives speak volumes on who we are as people. That’s what draws me to the phenomenon of what really makes up a family. I especially love to create those very different from my own. I know that world and I find great comfort in it. But to create a completely foreign one to my own excites me as an author (as well as a reader) and allows my characters to go on a journey that a reader can travel along. And just maybe, the reader will see something they identify with and might cause them to ask a question. If my writing can assist in something like that: then welcome to my family!

Tutorial ~ Bird Seed Wreath

I am a big backyard bird watcher, and I am always searching the internet to find new ways to attract song birds to my yard.  Look what I found from, The Mother Huddle!  This bird seed wreath is so pretty, and very easy to make.  I plan on making a few with my children.  Check it out!

Wordless Wednesday: Dirty laundry

l

Nail Polish Rings? Yes, and so easy!

Guess what?  These DIY rings are made out of nail polish!  Can you believe it?  I know I can't, but WOW am I soo making one, or a few thousand! 

 I really love the look of a big juicy statement ring, the more funky the better.  I found this very detailed tutorial at Ice Forest Beauty Diary.