The last two weeks has been plentiful for the EA: Creatively Creative blog. To quickly recap, my interview with DeLisa Brown last Thursday became my first blog to reach 100 and 200 views! Then on Monday, my interview with Elvira Guzman became my second blog to reach 100 views, and is on its way to becoming my third blog to reach 200 views.
This past Thursday, my interview with Lisa Bailey Bastian has exceeded even my expectations. It became my third blog to reach 100 views, my second to reach 200, and my first to reach over 300 and 400 views, and is on it's way to 500! To kick off this week, the author spotlight shines on author Jacqueline Rainey.
EA: What is the concept behind 30: The Dragonfly Catcher?
JR: I wanted to show the connection between the human heart and fragility of the mind. As humans when we fall in love, we do things that we would never do, and the same applies when our hearts are broken, the difference is that when our hearts are broken the things we do are out of anger and revenge.
While writing 30: The Dragonfly Catcher from the very beginning, I knew that I wanted all the focus to be on the main character CaSandra. The other characters are nothing more than props, background scenery, things that she uses to both escape reality and hold on to it.
She’s a narcissist waving a flag of pride, hence her ritual of getting dressed up and standing in front of the mirror just to admire her handy work of what she has transformed herself into. In its simplest form, this would just be a story about a woman with a broken heart, but when I write and create characters the word "simple" doesn’t exist to me.
From the very beginning, CaSandra is struggling with alter personalities: the little girl, the woman CaSandra and the third personality The Dragonfly Catcher that emerged after she realized that she had wasted many years of her life loving a man and waiting to be with him only for him to choose his wife over her, and that’s when her entire world and her existence is turned upside down.
EA: What inspired you to write it?
JR: Anger, revenge, a broken heart, and the end of a very long-term relationship with a man who I still believe to this day wasted my time. My first three books were all written using my own personal life experiences. 30 The Dragonfly Catcher has bits and pieces of the real me sprinkled all throughout the entire story. When people read my current published books, they are reading my Autobiography spread out over four books and different stories. The creation of CaSandra the main character and the center of attention was therapeutic for me. It helped me move past a lot of the hurt I was feeling. I have learned to take a five-minute life experience and turn it into a book.
EA: What goes through your mind during the process of creating a novel?
JR: I had to stop and think about this question because when I start writing, it’s almost as if I’m in a trance and nothing around me exist, unless I’m listening to a specific type of music to help guide my emotions so that I can get the words and the tone of the story exactly the way it came to me. With my first book, I couldn’t even hang on to or remember one line that came to me long enough to write it down. I tried everything, then suddenly out of the blue that changed. Now I spend a lot of time writing in my head and can retain it until I sit down in front of my computer.
EA: Do you have any upcoming projects?
JR: As a matter of fact, yes, I do. I’m currently working on a manuscript entitled Small Town Arlington, which will be released along with Dirty Blue, Black Roses, Purple Haze Poetry, and Strange Fruit: Short Odd Tales hopefully by the end of 2017. Unfortunately, all I’m willing to share about my new upcoming releases are the titles and that they are multi-genre.
I am very excited about all four of them and having so much fun writing them! I began work on three screenplays, but had to put them on the back burner until after the release of my four new books. You can also visit my Author website for information about my new works in progress, reviews of my current published books and purchase links. My website is BlueHarmonie.com, also follow me on Twitter @BlueHarmonie where I occasionally end up in the Trending Topics under my Alter Ego Hashtag #TheLandOfBlueHarmonie.
EA: Overall, what do you set out to accomplish as an author/writer?
JR: To make the readers believe that my characters are real, living, breathing humans with real emotions, real heartache, real craziness and that they are more than just words on a page. The worlds I create for my characters is real, as real as the matrix we beings live in right now. LOL!
EA: I recently heard a "renowned" writer say that there's no such thing as an aspiring writer, you just write. Personally, I think that's BS and ill-informed. What's your take on those with this view?
JR: I’ve been writing poetry since I was eleven years old, so I believe that some of us are born writers. You’re not going to find me sitting in a virtual or physical classroom or some writers group to learn how to write, I believe that would destroy the natural creativity I was born with.
EA: Finally, tell the readers why 30: The Dragonfly Catcher is a worthy buy and a good read.
JR: 30:The Dragonfly Catcher is more than worth the purchase and is a great book and it can be bought with just one click on Amazon for your Kindle. Some women can accept rejection and move on with their lives, but CaSandra in 30: The Dragonfly Catcher isn’t like other women. Her struggles with acceptance and love existed even as a young girl. Some things we grow out of, and others just take over our lives and our entire existence which is what happened to CaSandra with the other part of herself that named itself The Dragonfly Catcher.
I’m a unique writer who tells stories in a unique way. My writing style is different from that of a lot of Authors. I’m extremely proud of all my books, but 30 The Dragonfly Catcher is the story that tested my ability to write and tell the story the way I wanted to regardless of what people would think about my writing style.
I gave CaSandra real life female flaws and emotions that come with being lied to, strung along and then tossed aside and forgotten by a man that she was deeply and madly in love with. Many women know the pain of a broken heart, but very few are so fragile emotionally that they lose touch with reality and are destroyed mentally.
I would like to thank Jacqueline for taking the time to share her vision, thoughts, upcoming projects, and even a little of her past with us. You can check out other works written by Jacqueline such as Dark Harmonie and Toni's Blues here. Watch the trailer for 30: The Dragonfly Catcher, and visit her website and Twitter page in the links below my final analysis.
Epilogue
On a final note, while I thought that Jacqueline's answer to my question about the writer (Shonda Rhimes)-- whose theory on writing I question-- was a good answer, and I didn't quite look at it that way because I, too, consider myself to be a natural born writer. I'm gifted by the Most High, I never took any classes for what I do.
First, let me say this: I heard her say this on an ad while I was waiting to skip past it so I could watch the YouTube video that I was waiting to view, so I'm paraphrasing what I heard. The reason why I criticize Rhime's theory is because to "aspire" to do something basically means that there's a desire or goal that you set out to achieve.
So, to say that there's no such thing as an aspiring writer, is to say that there's no desire or a goal that one sets out to accomplish of becoming a writer. If there's anything that you venture to accomplish in life, whether it be writing, acting, professional sports, doctor, lawyer, etc., it is your aspiration to make it and be successful in that profession, which, in my opinion, makes her logic faulty. You don't "just write," there has to be a desire to do so.
Amazon purchase link for 30: The Dragonfly Catcher https://goo.gl/pw5rZ1
30: The Dragonfly Catcher YouTube Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCNKy0OUfQg
My Author Website: BlueHarmonie.com
My Twitter: @BlueHarmonie
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