In Africa: Journalism, Adventure and Hope

I was recently granted the opportunity by The Beach Reporter, the paper I have been freelancing for over the past three years, to write a first-person account of two weeks in Benin, West Africa.

Alana with "House Mama" Catherine
who cares for six orphans
in Tanguieta, Benin, West Africa

As a reporter who leaves opinion and first-person pronouns out of my stories, it was both a challenge and an exciting opportunity. I traveled to Benin to visit a local nurse named Sarah Chapman who I met during an interview for the paper last year. She was in the process of raising money for her non-profit organization, Build a Better Benin, dedicated to improving the health and education of women and children in West Africa.

It is a worthy project, and she is a phenomenal woman, so we've been meeting weekly while she is in the L.A. area to talk about her story and translate her work and humor into book form. Her stories are not generic statistics; they are personal stories of love and struggle.

In November and December, it was time for me to travel halfway around the world to see what she does in person and meet the people in the story. I hope to finish the book and secure an agent and publisher within the year.

In the meantime, I'd love it if you read my account. It's brief, considering the timeline. Boiling two weeks of nonstop activity down to around 1300 words was difficult, to say the least, but it really speaks to a little bit of what I love about the people I met, the sense of wonder and adventure, and how I see my role as a journalist.

Here's a small tidbit from the article, Building Better Communities:

"The sky is alive in vibrant red and orange swatches of light, trickling into the deep red walls of mud huts and down to the terre rouge — the brownish maroon of the earth’s surface. The view is dotted with silhouettes of baobob trees and bobbing heads – large groups of children returning home from school, dressed alike in khaki public school uniforms. It is a vision of warmth and beauty, the browns and reds and oranges swirling together in perfect harmony.

The sounds of children laughing and goats bleeting punctuate the constant whir of motorcycle engines buzzing along dirt roads pocked with potholes. Dough sizzles in oiled pots along the side of the street, and clapping and song bounce off the walls.

This is dusk in Tanguieta, Benin in West Africa, on Thanksgiving night. I am surrounded by 11 children, 200 chickens, a dozen rabbits, goats, baby turkeys, a dog with pink-painted toenails, a nurse from Hermosa Beach, an uneducated “house mama” who cares for six orphans, and the pastor who has vowed to give them a better life. This is heaven on earth."

PS - For the article that served as the impetus for meeting Sarah, and to learn more about Benin, click here. To see current projects, visit the Build a Better Benin Facebook page.

Talking about the Five Stages of First Publication with Lynda R. Young

Hello writercizers!

Story Sprouts is visiting Lynda R. Young with .W.I.P. It: An Author's Journey today. We're talking about The Five Stages of First Publication, and how it feels the first time you put your name in print. 

(Yes, we made up the five stages, but sure you all can relate!) 

Head on over there to visit Lynda, my co-editor Nutschell Anne Windsor,  and me, and share your own stages of publication!

Thanks Lynda for hosting!

xoxo

Weekly Writercize Coming Soon: From Regular to Scarce to ... ?

Hello Writercizers!

It's been several full moons since my last post, and I felt like stopping into say hello.

As always, life has been a whirlwind of busy. Including a ton of time writing, which is always good! I still have a Chicken Soup giveaway to take care of, so watch for that in the coming days. I also have some writing news to share with all of you, and some blogging news to share as well!

Writing News first:

1 --- My writing group, Children's Book Writers of Los Angeles (or CBW-LA for short), is preparing to launch a new book! It will be fantastic for all writercizers out there - as well as English students, aspiring authors, published authors, teachers, writing groups and more! Late last year, we had a concept to create an anthology created out of a one-day writing workshop, complete with writing exercises. It would be a Writing Day Anthology. The idea was all of us have manuscripts we love, but ultimately want to publish as a stand-alone book, so by taking ideas sprouted in the moment, we could encourage our writers to exercise their minds, get published and have some fun.

It was a wonderful experience, and very successful! As the group's Publications Editor, I had the honor of compiling the pieces, doing some minor content edits to help the stories flow better, and writing the narrative around the anthology! The book includes ten writing prompts, photos, character types, all the hand-outs from the workshop on four short literary types - Picture Book Manuscript, Flash Fiction, Poetry and Essay - and descriptions and thoughts on the writing craft.

Our authors completed two published works each - one On Writing, and the other a fictional piece based on a photo prompt. There are some outstanding, creative brains in our midst and I am very excited to announce the Anthology, entitled STORY SPROUTS, will be released on October 29, 2013! I encourage you all to buy a copy when it comes out - available on Amazon in digital or print form - and I will keep you posted here with the link and a giveaway. In the meantime, follow our Facebook page for updates. 

We are patting ourselves on the back at the moment for a whole new approach to the anthology, so we'd appreciate some pats on the back from you as well. ;)

And, if you have not met Nutschell Anne Windsor yet, aka The Writing Nut, check out her blog! She is the co-editor of STORY SPROUTS, and she designed the exercises and the workshop. She is also the incredibly smart, talented, creative, resourceful founder of CBW-LA. It has been an honor to work with her on this very important project.


2 --- My creative nonfiction work about building an orphanage in Benin, West Africa is well underway and I hope to have the first draft completed by the New Year. In the meantime, I am planning a two-week research adventure in Africa the end of next month. Wahoo! This will be a FUNNY book, something we've coined the humorous humanitarian, and the critique group response was strong. 

Blogging News:

I have decided to attack this blog again in manageable spurts, so I would like to post a Weekly Writercize. I am not ready to re-launch the WeekendWritercize competition yet, but I am looking forward to a weekly interaction with the blogging world. 

So, what day should I post my Weekly Writercize? What's your preference? Shall we make it Wednesday for good alliteration? Over the weekend? First thing Monday morning? I'm up for any day but Tuesdays, so send me a shout-out with your preference.

10 Questions with Ian Doescher, Best-Selling Author of William Shakespeare's Star Wars

Ian Doescher, photo by Shan Applegate

Ten Question with Ian Doescher,  
Author of William Shakespeare's Star Wars


Today I am honored to host Ian Doescher, friend and New York Times Best-Selling Author (!) of William Shakespeare's Star Wars. My friendship with Ian pre-dates his writing career, and it has been quite the whirlwind adventure watching his burgeoning writing career! He still maintains a nine to five day job, but he and his family are enjoying quite the voyage around the country this summer to launch his book.

William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher

Please welcome Ian and feel free to leave a question or comment for him in the comments section! I'm sure he'd love to connect with fans and future readers, as well as all of you aspiring writers and authors who read this blog.







Here goes!

1. First things first, let's get something out of the way. My mom taught you in elementary school, I'm featuring you on my blog, you're married to my childhood best friend, and you now own my grandparents' house. Let's call a spade a spade. To me, this all means - my family is directly responsible for your genius. Thoughts?




ID: Definitely.  In fact, the idea didn't come to me until al of those events had happened, so it must be due to the perfect alignment of the Garrigues planets.(Ha! Thanks for indulging me.)

2. Kidding! Seriously, you were already a genius. I think. We just get the honor of knowing the man who married the literary titan of William Shakespeare with the film titan of George Lucas' Star Wars in person. Lucky us. :)... So, how the heck did you come up with the idea to marry the two? Did you just see potential dollar signs dancing in front of your eyes with the realization that you are taking the world's two most popular franchises and meshing them into one? This is like real-life literary Frankenstein.

ID: There was a lot of serendipity involved.  I watched the Star Wars trilogy with some friends from high school in April last year, then read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (published by Quirk Books), and right after that went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with my family.  It was this mix of things swirling around in my subconscious -- mashup-literature, Star Wars and Shakespeare -- that put the idea in my head.  And of course I knew I was picking two hugely popular cultural icons, so though I can't claim to have had visions of dollar signs, I will admit to thinking there was a good chance it would be successful.

3. Would you say that conjuring up Shakespeare and Han Solo was more inspirational or frightening? Big shoes to fill. Did you ever find yourself crying, "I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!"

ID: There were definitely moments when I thought to myself, "I'm having a hard enough time even getting this line into iambic pentameter, to say nothing of being clever or witty or metaphorical or whatever."  I really have no idea how Shakespeare did it.  And I knew I would be watched closely by every Star Wars fan everywhere for how I handled a few scenes.  So far, so good.  I haven't been accosted on the street.  Yet.

4. This is your first book. (Congrats!!) What surprised you about the publishing industry?

ID: First of all I have to admit to incredible luck in getting this book published.  I emailed Quirk Books with the idea, they responded and said they would read a sample, I wrote a sample, and they wrote back and said, essentially, "let's do it."  All just under a year ago today.  It's not supposed to happen like that, and I don't take my luck for granted.  The big surprises along the way are little things I've learned -- things like how complex a literary contract can be, how early a final manuscript is needed to hit a certain publication date, and just how many copies a book sells when it becomes a bestseller (fewer than you probably think).  I was surprised on all three of those, and others.

5. What advice would you have to unpublished writers?

ID: Keep trying.  Don't be afraid to email people out of the blue with your samples.  Find an agent.  Do it because it gives you joy, not because you think it will be a career.

6. What's your next project? Walt Whitman's Avatar? Herman Melville's Titanic? George Carlin's Simpsons? F. Scott Fitzgerald's ET?

ID: I love the idea of Herman Melville's Titanic -- wish I'd thought of that one.  It would have 400 pages of intense details about glacial formations, the Atlantic ocean and the ship itself, and then 25 pages of Kate and Leo's romance.  For my next project, I think it would be great fun to do the rest of the original Star Wars trilogy -- there's more I can do there, I think.  I'm developing a children's book with a friend of mine, too.  So we'll see!  I will say that for the last several months, knowing my first book was coming out, I have felt an intense pressure to figure out what the next one will be.

7. Who are your literary heroes? (Clearly, we already know one of them.)

ID: Alphabetically -- since I wouldn't dare rank them -- and ranging from long dead to still writing: Jane Austen, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, David James Duncan, Tana French, Theodor Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss), Alex Haley, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Herman Melville, Sena Jeter Naslund, William Shakespeare (indeed!), Zadie Smith.

8. Please share your bio in iambic pentameter.





ID:

Meet Ian Doescher, now age thirty-six,

Who all his life has loved the Star Wars flicks.

In eighth grade he discovered Startford's Bard,

And for that gentle poet he fell hard.

A Portland native, Ian travelled east,

And spent twelve years in higher ed (at least!).

Now back in Portland, he enjoys his life

With two great kids and world's most awesome wife.

This William Shakespeare's Star Wars, his first book,

Is something that he hopes you'll give a look!

9. Please tell me why everyone should buy your book in iambic pentameter.


ID:  
‘Tis said that William Shakespeare, all his days,
Hath written only thirty-seven plays.
‘Tis said, as well, George Lucas never slipp’d
To Stratford, so to write his famous script.
But what if those two souls had been as one,
Their works combin’d as not to be outdone?
What if, long time ago in days of yore,
The bard hath written Star Wars, Ep’sode Four?
What if A New Hope were young Shakespeare’s work?
Would not such an event be thought a quirk—
An accident of time and history,
And sign of a galactic mystery?
Good souls, to thee my news I do rehearse:
Of th’Star Wars story penn’d in Shakespeare’s verse.
Hast thou e’er wondered how Luke’s thoughts did run,
When he saw Tatooine’s great double sun?
Or hast thou heard the dirge that Leia sang
Once Alderaan hath gone out with a bang?
How did the knave Han Solo understand
His transformation unto hero grand?
Upon these answers thou shalt have thy looks
In William Shakespeare’s Star Wars from Quirk Books.
The book is at a bookstore near to thee,
And always, friends, the Force with you shall be.

10. Any last words for William Shakespeare, George Lucas or Quirk Books?

ID: Thank you, thank you, and thank you.  All three have have been huge and very kind to me (in different ways) throughout this process.

BONUS Question - This interview is coming out just after you learned your book debuted at #12 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction best selling list. WOW! Share your giddy joy with the world in a sentence.

ID: The news about the Times list has been unbelievable for me because I'm just a normal guy who had an idea; I am beyond honored to be on the list.  (I cheated and separated two sentences by a semicolon!)

Ian - Thanks for taking this interview. May The (Sales) Force Be With You!

And for all you writercizers out there, may this interview inspire a writercize! Pick an author and match it to a seemingly unrelated film, song or play. See what magic transpires! I always love to see your work, so please share as you are willing in the comments section!

Comments welcome directed at Ian or in response to the suggested writercize.

Author Bio - #AtoZChallenge 3.1

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Every writer or author needs a bio. An author may have multiple bios ranging in levels of personalization and professionalism for book covers, author websites, blogger profiles and query letters. Spend some time crafting your Author Bio today.

Need some great tips on what to include and what to edit? Read this how-to guide by Rachelle Gardner.

Personally, I would recommend something light-hearted for a blog, but drop the hobbies and the humor for anything else.

Click "read more" to see my (third person) author bio from my freelance website.