BRoP interview with Jessica Khoury

This week's guest is Jessica Khoury.  A young lady with a lot of talent.  This is someone you want to watch in the years to come.  So Welcome to the Blog Ring of Power.

Jessica Khoury is 22 years old and was born and raised in Georgia. She attended public school followed by homeschooling, and earned her bachelor's degree in English from Toccoa Falls College. She lives in Toccoa, Georgia with her husband Benjamin, two terrible dogs, and an abundance of books, shoes, and sweet tea. When not writing, she's usually directing stageplays or coaching soccer. Origin is her first novel.

        How long have you been writing?

 Since I was four years old. So… that’s 18 years.

       When and why did you begin writing?

Well, if you don’t count my four-year-old Syd Hoff fanfic, I began seriously writing at age 13, when I wrote my first novel. Before that, I would act out my stories with my friends, but one caught hold of me and just stuck in my head, driving me crazy. I thought I was too young to write, or that surely I’d never finish anything. But my mom got sick of me wandering around in perpetual distraction, and finally told me—in tones of exasperation—to just go write it down. She literally made me sit at the computer and start writing. And I did. I wrote my first novel and was hooked on the craft from then on. Thank you, Mama!

       Tell us about your early works—what was the first thing you ever wrote?

Again, if you don’t count my Syd Hoff fanfic (an illustrated sequel to Danny and the Dinosaur), my first novel was called Tirel. It was high fantasy, 600 pages long, and absolutely terrible, but of course, I didn’t know that at the time. I thought I was the next Tolkien. Now I wouldn’t show that manuscript to you even if you offered me money!

       When did you first consider yourself a professional writer?

When I sold Origin. Up until then, I’d had a few short stories and poems published, but not in any major venues.

       What books have most influenced your life?

 Oh gosh. Where do I start? The ones that drove me to start writing—and whose stories shaped much of my writing—are Brian Jacques, Lloyd Alexander, Susan Cooper, C. S. Lewis, and I could go on and on. But these are the highlights.

       What genre do you write?

Young adult. My past novels were all high fantasy, and Origin is kind of unclassifiable. It’s a romance-adventure-science fiction blend.

       What is your favorite theme/genre to write about?

I really love high fantasy, and I’d be thrilled if I got to return to it in the future, but I also love exploring new genres or blending them in novel ways, as I did with Origin. There’s something terrifying and liberating about treading new literary waters. I want to write the books that aren’t like any other book out there.

       If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?

I’d definitely be a marine biologist and work with orcas. I’m kind of nuts about orcas. I can quote the entire movie of Free Willy if you like.

Please let us know where your readers can stalk you: 
Website: www.jessicakhoury.com
Blog:
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Khoury/343602012334568
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5625945.Jessica_Khoury
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/jkbibliophile
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Origin-Jessica-Khoury/dp/1595145958/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331147202&sr=8-1
Smashwords:
Other:

What format is your book(s) available in (print, e-book, audio book, etc.)?

It is available for pre-order for hardcover and Kindle at the moment.

See more of Jessica's Interview in the days ahead:

Wednesday, April 18^th Part II – Terri

Thursday, April 19^th Part III – Teresa

Friday, April 20^th Part IV – Em

Monday, April 23^rd Part V – Sandra

Keep On Keeping On

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."

"It is always darkest just before dawn."

"Prosperity is just around the corner."

"Failure is not an option."

"A diamond is a piece of coal that has been under pressure."

Some of those are cliche, others are direct quotes.  They all say about the same thing, you got to keep on keeping on.

Last week I talked about how life throws curve balls at you, you get derailed.  You then have a choice.  Give up, or pick up the pieces.  Success is about getting up each time you fall. Here is a real life example of a major set back.  One I remember, and followed with great interest...

April 11, 1970:

42 years ago yesterday NASA's Apollo 13 lifted off.  America's third maned moon landing mission headed into space.  Beautiful launch, but after the spacecraft was underway  there was an explosion.

"The Apollo 13 malfunction was caused by an explosion and rupture of oxygen tank no. 2 in the service module. The explosion ruptured a line or damaged a valve in the no. 1 oxygen tank, causing it to lose oxygen rapidly. The service module bay no.4 cover was blown off. All oxygen stores were lost within about 3 hours, along with loss of water, electrical power, and use of the propulsion system." (See NASA web site for technical details if interested)

In one of the biggest understatement ever, James A Lovell Jr. radioed Mission Control in Houston and said, "Hey, We've got a problem here."

Mission control, in ever their professional unflappable manner replied, "This is Houston, say again please?"

"Houston, we have a problem."

The problem changed the whole flight from lunar exploration to one of survival in space.  In the movie that depicted the real life drama came one of my most favorite quotes, "Failure is not an option."

That attitude got those three astronauts safely around the moon and back home again.  Courage and determination won them through.  While we are not astronauts, or test pilots, we do have our own individual courage and determination.  We have our own goals, our own dreams, and our own challenges.  Life wouldn't be life with out challenges.

Set backs and challenges make us better.  We've got to dig in and keep going.  Years ago I worked with a contractor building a home.  We had all sorts of set backs, but we kept saying, "Failure is not an option."  We would work through whatever showed up.  We got the house built, on time and on budget.  

I came across this poem many years ago.  It has helped me to stick to my tasks.  I share it now with you.

The Race

Part 1:

“Quit! Give up! You’re beaten!”
They shout out and plead.
“There’s just too much against you now,
This time you can’t succeed!”

And as I start to hang my head
In front of failure’s face,
My downward fall is broken by
The memory of a race.

And hope refills my weakened will
As I recall that scene;
For just the thought of that short race
Rejuvenates by being.

Part 2:

A children’s race – young boys, young men
How I remember well.
Excitement, sure, but also fear;
It wasn’t’ hard to tell.

They all lined up so full of hope;
Each thought to win the race,
Or tie for first, or if not that,
At least take second place.

And fathers watched from off the side,
Each cheering for his son,
And each boy hoped to show his dad
That he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they went,
Young hearts and hopes afire!
To win, to be the hero there,
Was each young boy’s desire.

And one boy in particular
Whose dad was in the crowd,
Was running near the lead and thought
“My dad will be so proud!”

But as he sped down the field
Across a shallow dip,
The little boy who thought to win,
Lost his step and slipped.

Trying hard to catch himself
His hands flew out to brace,
And mid the laughter of the crowd,
He fell flat on is face.

But as he fell, his dad stoop up
And showed his anxious face,
Which to the boy so clearly said,
“Get up and win the race!”

He quickly rose, no damage done,
Behind a bit, that’s all –
And ran with all his mind and might
To make up for his fall.

So anxious to restore himself
To catch up and to win,
His mind went faster than he legs;
He slipped and fell again!

He wished that he had quit before
With only one disgrace.
“I’m hopeless as a runner now;
I shouldn’t try to race.”

But in the laughing crowd he searched
And found his father’s face,
That steady look which said again,
“Get up and win the race!”

So he jumped up to try again,
Ten yards behind the last –
“If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought,
“I’ve got to move real fast.”

Exerting everything he had
He gained eight or ten,
But trying so hard to catch the lead,
He slipped and fell again!

Defeat! He lay there silently
A tear dropped from his eye
“There’s no sense running anymore;
Three strikes, I’m out, why try?”

The will to try had disappeared
All hope had fled away;
So far behind, so error prone,
A loser all the way.

“I’ve lost; so what’s the use,” he thought.
“I’ll live with my disgrace.”
But then he thought about his dad
Whom soon he’d have to face.

“Get up!” an echo sounded low.
“Get up and take your place.
You were not meant for failure here.
Get up and win the race!”

With borrowed will, “Get up,” it said,
“You haven’t lost at all.
For winning is not more than this –
To rise each time you fall.”

So up he rose to win once more,
And with new commit,
He resolved that win or lose,
At least he wouldn’t quit.

So far behind the others now
The most he’d ever been
Still he gave it all he had
And ran as though to win.

Three times he’d fallen stumbling,
Three times he’d rose again,
Too far behind to hope to win
He still ran to the end.

They cheered the winning runner
As he crossed first place,
Head high, proud and happy,
No falling, no disgrace.

But when the fallen youngster
Crossed the line, last place,
The crowd gave him the greater cheer
For finishing the race.

And even though he came in last
With head bowed low, un-proud,
You would have thought he won the race
Just listening to the crowd.

And to his dad he sadly said,
“I didn’t do so well.”
“To me you won,” his father said.

“You rose each time you fell!”

Part 3

And now when things seem dark and bleak 

And difficult to face,
The memory of that little boy 

Helps me in my own race.

For all of life is like that race, 

With ups and downs and all.
And all you have to do to win 

Is rise each time you fall.

And when depression and despair 

Shout loudly in my face,
Another voice within me says, 

"Get up and win that race!"

by D. H. Groberg


So pick your self up, dust your self off and set your course to overcome whatever challenges are flying in your face.

Get up and win your race!

BRoP Interview with Alma Alexander Part V

Alma Alexander

Today Alma Alexander wraps up her five part interview with the Blog Ring of Power.  You can read the first four parts by following these links:

Part 1: About Alma -  @ Terri
Part 2: The Writing Life -  @ Teresa
Part 3: The creative process -  @ Emily
Part 4: About Alma's current work -  @ Sandra. 


Alma has been such a wonderful guest, and I'm very pleased to wrap up her interview here, on The Write Time.  She was born in Yugoslavia, grew up in Africa, and went to school in Wales. She has lived in several countries on four continents, and is quite comfortable in the new continent of cyberspace. She was living in New Zealand when she met a man on an Internet bulletin board for writers, married him and moved to America.

She now lives with her husband and two cats in the Pacific Northwest, in the city of Bellingham (directions to her home include the phrase "Aim for Canada and just before you get there, turn right").  Her office looks out onto cedar woods, and she has frequently been known to babysit young deer left just outside her door while their mothers vanish off on some urgent deer errand.

So Alma, I'm ready to ask you for some words of wisdom, are you ready to share with us?  She has been such a delight and I love the answers she gives to all our questions!

1. Tell us about your route to success –you’ve been traditionally published, you’ve self-published, and you’ve been published by an indie/small press. In each instance, how did you make the decision that was the route you wanted to go? And in each instance, how did you find the entity you ended up working with (i.e. how did you land your agent, how did you end up working with Dark Quest books, etc.)?

2012: Midnight at Spanish Gardens

 (This isn’t one question, this is an entire blog’s worth of questions right here! [grin])

I have followed the paths set before me, for the most part. With traditional publishing, I had an agent who was instrumental in putting my work before the editors of the bigger houses, and who also garnered a plethora of foreign sales for me – this is something that is difficult, if not impossible today, for an author to achieve on his or her own. Where a book was less easy to categorize and the traditional publishers scratched their heads about what they could possibly do with a book like “2012: Midnight at Spanish Gardens”, I went with a smaller press which had more courage and more leeway in their publishing endeavors – the tradeoff was, of course, distribution, because the big boys have a much better handle on that by virtue of having an established system in place. But it was a good choice for this particular book, vivid and unusual and the kind of strange neither-fish-nor-fowl beast which the NY publishers, so firmly wedded to their marketing categories, failed to be able to pigeon hole to their satisfaction. Sometimes a smaller press is just a better way to go, particularly with a book that the author strongly believes in but which may not be easily dealt with in the traditional sphere.

Things are changing rapidly in the publishing world today, to the point that everyone’s heads – the publishers, the authors, everybody involved in the game – are spinning vertiginously. In that world, it is essential to be able to take new opportunities as they present themselves, and in a world where the trend seemed to be towards conglomeration and bigger and bigger corporate publishing behemoths, it is now refreshing to see so many new young enterprises springing up in the barrens which these juggernauts have left in their wake. As for self-publishing, this is a topic that probably deserves an entire blog post all of its own and indeed has got a lot of them from many different writers. To do, or not to do, to misquote the good Hamlet. Many writers are taking advantage of the current somewhat chaotic situation to exploit the loopholes in their older contracts and self-publish their own backlist when it falls out of print – or even produce new things JUST for the new market, trying to gather in new fans and new audiences. 

My own venture in those waters have been the Alexander Triads, themed mini-anthologies of three stories per collection. So far I have five out – “Once upon a fairy tale” ( a collection of three Oscar Wilde-ian fairy tales – don’t come here looking for sweet happy endings…), “Cat Tales” (three stories featuring felines), “Haunted” (ghost stories), “Weight of Worlds” (a collection of three stories all of which appeared in their time in the webzine “Edge of Propinquity”) and “Plaisir d’Amour” (love stories). 

More are planned – a science fiction collection, for example, and other groups and themes. Dark Quest came about through quite a different set of circumstances – I had this idea for an anthology that had been simmering softly in the back of my mind for some time. I kind of encapsulated it when I was invited to write a guest essay for a commemorative webzine on the occasion of the centennial of Mark Twain’s death – you can read my contribution here: http://efanzines.com/SPG/StPetersburgGazette.pdf (scroll down to page 8 for the beginning of my piece…) 

Dark Quest publisher Neal Levin heard about this anthology and expressed an interest in backing it – and thus, “River” was born (more about that at http://www.darkquestbooks.com/store/product-info.php?pid109.html ). In the future, I intend to continue finding a balance on the shifting tectonic plates of the state of publishing today, and pursue opportunities where they present themselves, be they in the big-name trad arena, smaller presses, or going it alone.

2. What are the most important elements of good writing?

Many people spend a lot of time and money going to writing courses which purport to teach just this – but here’s my take on such things. You can be taught the elements of basic craft – you can learn grammar, and spelling, and even plotting and pacing to a point – but all of it is completely wasted if one single and vitally important thing is missing, and this is something that cannot be taught, that HAS to come from within – you have to have a story to tell. Without a story that haunts you, that taunts you, that begs and pleads and bullies and whimpers and cries out to be told, you are at best no more than a brilliant stylist. And, indeed, you may be read for that reason alone – there are plenty of writers who create a certain identity by doing just that. 

But a brilliant stylist is still just a brilliant stylist, and this very well might make you incomprehensible to ordinary readers, impossible to understand or to feel any sympathy with, or for. But there have been many writers out there whose writing style is quite possibly no more than mediocre – but who have such cracking good stories to tell that you wind up not caring that the prose is pedestrian or that you trip over clichés far too often or that sometimes the words are downright awkward and trip all over each other on the page. It’s the story that carries the reader, and YOU, the writer, you carry the story. If you have a story to tell, that alone will take you far. This is not to say that just because you lucked into a magical tale you can simply ride roughshod over everything else. Being at least nominally in command of your language is kind of important, and if you cannot achieve this yourself you’d better get yourself a fierce critic for a beta reader and/or a fabulous editor who is willing to take the time to iron out your infelicities. But your story – your ideas – your voice – this is what defines you and carries you as a writer. And no, this does not mean that you are stuck with repeating and rehashing the same idea for each of your next twenty books. As I’ve already said before, ideas are cheap and plentiful if you know where to look. No, the gift that you bring to the table is the interpretation of that idea, your voice, the filter through which you see your world, and if you have the right filters every idea becomes that story that you need to tell, and that only you CAN tell.

Having said that, the other truth is that you simply cannot take shortcuts in this game, and you really DO need to write your thousands upon thousands words of absolute drivel before you find yourself able to write the real true thing – and, more importantly, to recognize it when it comes calling for you. The building blocks of good writing? Passion, perseverance, patience, practice.

3. What tools are must-haves for writers?

Cats. They keep you humble. Also, if possible, marry money if you intend to try and make a living at this lark – because so few, so very few, succeed. Okay, though, all facetiousness aside – owning a computer, or having access to one, is vital these days, and so is access to and ease with the Internet because you WILL be expected to take a hand in your own publicity and promotion even if you are published with a six-figure advance from the big houses in New York. Carry something to write in and something to write with at all times – you never know when that absolutely fabulous evanescent idea will come calling. As far as more intangible items are concerned, let me just say that NO education is ever wasted, and the more you know about your world the better the worlds you end up writing about. Oh, and it’s important to have, and to know how to keep, good friends. When this writing game gets to be too much for you – and it does, at some time, for everybody – it is invaluable to have somebody to whom you can go to vent your frustrations and your fears.

4. Do you have any advice for other writers?

Read. Read. Read. Write. Write some more. Get a cat to keep you humble, get a dog to be adored, have good friends, find a good and understanding partner, take your successes where you can and celebrate them. And (to borrow from a famous and fabulous movie) at least TRY to never give up, and never surrender. This is more difficult than it looks.

5. What do you feel is the key to your success?

Unflinching support from the people who love me. The conviction that this is what I was born to do. The inability (with occasional lapses) to conceive of a world where I could do or be anything else other than what I am – a writer. And coffee. Lots of coffee.

6. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Thank you for coming with me on my journeys. The train is always about ready to depart, and it’s waiting at YOUR station. The price of a ride… is a book. Without readers, a writer is a voice crying out into the void – without you, my stories are unheard, and unloved. So thank you, one and all, to those who have consented to meet my characters and to love them or to hate them or to grieve for them; to those who have recognized my landscapes as part of your own heart; to those who have understood and shared the laughter or the pain whose seeds I leave between the pages of my books. Welcome to my worlds.

Contact Information:

Email: angharakirhama@gmail.com

More places you can find Alma on the web, or get her books.

Website: www.AlmaAlexander.com

Blog: http://anghara.livejournal.com

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/alma.alexander (Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alma-Alexander/67938071280 )

Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/36343.Alma_Alexander

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlmaAlexander

Amazon: http://amzn.to/p0ikzy (Kindle store) or http://amzn.to/mQrHkc (Alma Alexander Books)

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/anghara

Other: 30^th of every month: www.StorytellersUnplugged.com

What format is your book(s) available in (print, e-book, audio book, etc.)?

Yes {grin]  As in, yes, most of the above. E-books are available both on Smashwords and on Amazon (and on B&N, for that matter, some of them); print books are available via Amazon or through ordering them via your friendly local indie bookstore. Contact me directly  if you want a signed bookplate for your copy of anything, or you want to buy a signed copy of some of the out-of-print first edition hardcovers of a selection of books, some of which I still have on hand.

“Life is what happens while you are making other plans.”

We have discussed scheduling, planning, goals, and things that help make you go. 

However, life sometimes throws curve balls at us.  Life is not fair.  Life is hard.  Dealing with those curves is the challenge. 

I’ll illustrate from personal experience, not to garner sympathy, but because I can show how I’ve had to deal with life’s challenges and in so doing perhaps help motivate someone else.

Fourteen years ago, I was driving with my family on a wet interstate highway.  I went to change lanes and in an instant found a car in my blind spot.  I swerved back into my lane of traffic, and avoided a collision.  However, the rear end of my front wheel drive minivan began to fishtail. I corrected, but then things went from bad to worse.  I fought to regain control of the van, to no avail.  We went off the road into the medium.  The van rolled.  The rear hatch flew open and my then four year old son was catapulted out of the back of the van, and flew across two lanes of oncoming traffic and landed on his head, causing a sever skull fracture.  While he was airborne the van rolled down the guardrail on the other side of the medium.  My door was ripped open and I was turned sideways in my seat.  The seat belt holding me in place as the family vehicle continued to roll.  The van landed on its side, pinning my legs in the door cavity.  It was bowed outwards and the door couldn’t close tight, but the van was on its side, and my legs were outside the van, pinning me inside.  My wife climbed out of the van, saw our son lying on the side of the road just as an 18-wheeler drove by.  The rear tires ran over my son’s foot.  Medically it is called a traumatic amputation; the tire severed four of his toes.

Emergency crews came, life flight landed.  The freeway was closed and traffic diverted.  An hour later, I was in the emergency room.  I had a fractured pelvis and a broken tailbone.  My son was in critical condition in the PICU. 

It took months to recover.  My oldest son took my injured son outside with his walker and taught him not to be afraid to kick a soccer ball.  We had wheelchair races.  Slowly we recovered.  I missed a month of work. 

We survived, we recovered.  It wasn’t easy.  There was a lot of pain, heartbreak, and such.  I did not like the time I spent in the wheelchair and on crutches.  Once I could walk again I vowed to enjoy taking a walk.

The day of the accident we had plans to go to a friend’s house for a barbeque.  We never made it.  I remember lying in my hospital bed, my wife sitting in a chair against the wall and we just looked at each other across the room.  Our son was fighting for his life on the floor above us.  Our other children were at my sister’s home.  It was now 3 AM and things had finally settled down from surgeries, meeting doctors, figuring out what would happen next.  Exhausted in the wee early hours of the morning I discovered that things could have been worse.  I looked at my wife and said, “We are all alive.”

She nodded.

“It has been a bad day, but as far as bad days go, it wasn’t too bad was it?”  

She thought a moment and nodded agreement.  We were all alive, my son and I were the only two injured, my wife and two other sons walked away from the accident.  We were blessed.

A lot of little things went right while a big thing was going wrong.  My son kept his big toe, his arch and his heal.  The doctors took a muscle out of his back and wrapped it around what was left of his foot, took a skin graft off his legs and wrapped it around the muscle.  They rebuilt his foot.  None of the remaining bones were broken on growth plates, so his foot would grow normally.   I didn’t suffer a “traumatic amputation” of my legs because the door was jammed in such a way as to hold the weight of the van off my legs. 

Needless to say all the plans we had for the summer were cancelled.  Recovery and discovering what the new normal was changed all of that.

Now, not all life interruptions are as dramatic as a car rollover, or other accidents, but life does send things at us that we are not expecting. 

I received a phone call at 1 AM Monday morning.  One AM phone calls are never good.  I rolled over and picked up the receiver and after a groggy “Hello?” I heard my assistant manager’s shaking voice.

“Mr. Dean, I’ve been robbed.”

That declaration set in motion a whole chain of events that have derailed my well-planned week.  The whole routine has been shattered.  

So yes, things go wrong.  You can’t plan on things going wrong, but expect them to.  Have contingency plans, have emergency plans.  Take time to think of what if this happened….  Then come up with plans to deal with those things. 

That is one reason to buy life insurance.  We know we will die at some future point.  Having funds set aside to deal with that is a good thing. 

We cannot control everything that life throws at us.  We can, however, deal with how we react to those things.

What are some of your contingency plans?  How have you dealt with some of life’s setbacks?