INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FROM MY EDITOR (March 18, 2018):
Describe yourself in one sentence.
I am an empathetic human being who resides in my imagination almost as much as I do in the real world.
What is the one writing rule that you live by?
A bit of humor sprinkled in can make even the most boring prose tolerable. (If that’s not an actual rule, it should be.)
What inspired you to writer?
After shaking my family tree, a few interesting characters fell out who wanted me to tell their stories.
Do you share any characteristics with one of your fictional characters? What are they?
I believe I do. Claire Brenner, from the Mari Mort Theater Trilogy is a bit of a wise-ass, but also a loyal friend.
Which book do you wish you had written (and why)?
Gone with the Wind…because it’s a sweeping tale that exposes all the flaws, as well as the goodness, in humanity. Our choices — not our history, religion, ethnicity, etc. are what separate us. (Also, I’d be rich from the sale of the movie rights, character dolls, and book royalties.)
Finish shopping for your family, and 75 of your closest friends and colleagues, making sure you stay under that $200 limit you set for yourself this year;
Bake 500 dozen cookies that are so special no one has ever eaten them before;
Decorate at least three trees of varying size for inside your house with different themes, one of which must be woodland creatures;
Check batteries on all those “safe” candles you now own, so the cats and dogs, and babies don’t set themselves on fire;
Add one more string of lights outside, so TV station satellites can pick out the glow of your home from space;
Cook every kind of meat that exists so everyone (including that Uncle we all have) enjoys Christmas dinner;
Cook every vegan dish you can think of so the two people you know who are vegan don’t starve;
Watch all twenty gazillion Christmas movies in one weekend while you . . .sing along to every Carol that was ever written;
Send out at least two thousand Christmas/holiday cards to remind everyone you’ve ever met in your life that you are still alive;
And, most importantly — make sure the liquor cabinet is well-stocked, so you can accomplish all of the above!
Enjoy the holidays . . . and try not to hurt anyone.
From our castle to yours … MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The kind of day where the last of the dry, dead leaves are ripped from the trees and are tossed high in the air, and tumbled over and over before they come to rest on the brown, crisp, dying lawns of the suburbs.
Raking occupied the last three weekends. Too soon.
But—the current windy day (one of the last of its kind this autumn) has decided to conduct one more performance by rustling the uppermost leafy branches of its arboreal orchestra.
The sky provides a bright blue curtain behind the pine, maple, oak, and dogwood musicians.
I watch and listen again to the wind as it takes its last gasp of warmth before winter.
For some reason, I always hear a balalaika playing “Lara’s Theme” from Doctor Zhivago.
My book, “Bosses and Blackjacks: A Tale of the ‘Bloody Fifth’ in Philadelphia” takes place at the beginning of the last century, and includes references to and the whistling of, tunes from that era.
Would you like to spend a little time in the misty nostalgia of the early nineteen hundreds?—No problem! I’ve created a playlist for you of the following songs mentioned in the book:
1. Meet Me In St. Louis — 1904, Singer: Billy Murray
2. School Days (When We Were a Couple of Kids) — 1907, Singer: Bryan G. Harlan (Recorded in Philadelphia.)
3. I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside — 1909, Singer, Mark Sheridan
4. Give My Regards to Broadway — 1905, Singer, George M. Cohan
5. Rigoletto — 1908, Singer: Enrico Caruso
6. Hark The Herald Angels Sing — Sung by Children’s Choir
7. Let Me Call You Sweetheart — 1910-1911, Sung by: The Peerless Quartet
8. I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now — 1909, Singer: Manuel Romain
9. It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary — 1914, Singer: John McCormick
10. Danny Boy — 1913, Singer, 1917 Ernestine Schumann-Heink
11. For Me and My Gal — 1917, Singer: M.J. O’Connell
12. The Star-Spangled Banner — 1814, Written by Francis Scott Key (GVES News Broadcast)
13. Jingle Bells —1857, Singer: Tom Roush
14. I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles —1919, Sung by: Irving Barr and Albert Campbell
15. Over There — 1917, First recorded by: Nora Bayes, Pictured on the sheet music.
16. K-K-K-Katy —1917, Singer: Billy Murray in 1918
17. Hail! Hail! The Gang’s All Here — 1917, Sung by Shannon Quartet Feel free to sing or whistle along! And then, return here and tell us in COMMENTS —Which tune is your favorite?
Stern Words 