Interview With Larry K. collins

Today, just for fun, I interviewed my partner in life and in crime (novels, that is), Larry K. Collins. You might enjoy some of his answers.

What started you writing?

I’ve always created stories in my head. From four until age twelve, I stuttered badly. Talking to others was so difficult I stopped speaking and retreated from the outside world. When I was seven, TV’s Space Patrol and Commander Buzz Corry held my fascination. For Christmas, I got the official patrol space station model, complete with two-inch high plastic spacemen (Buzz, his crew, and several villains). My imagination provided many hours of adventures.

At ten, it was Disney’s movie Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. I constructed a complete scale set of the Nautilus out of wood and cardboard. I always made up stories, plots and characters. I liked mine better than what I saw on TV. I just never put them down on paper.

In my sophomore year of high school, my English teacher was also the writing club sponsor. For his class, each Monday morning, every student had turn in a story with any subject, a minimum two pages, single-spaced. Most of my classmates hated the course. I loved it. I began to write down the imagined adventures from my youth. Two of my short stories were published in the yearly school literary magazine, The Silver Pen.

What are your writing goals?

Two years ago, Lorna’s anthology, Directions of Love, won the EPIC eBook Award for best romance anthology. Since then I have had to live with an “award winning author”. Someday I hope to even the score.

What is the hardest thing about the writing life?

I’m a plotter. But I live and write with a pantser.

I spend days in thought. I know the story arc, character progression, and have outlined the logical story path to the end, often before words go on paper. It makes me a slow writer. If I can get a chapter done in two weeks, I’m doing well.

Lorna always knows where the story will end, but her characters lead her on a merry chase through strange and unknown pathways to arrive there. She writes fast and trusts her voices to show the way.

We’ve totally different styles. Yet, somehow when we coauthor, the magic still works.

Do you enjoy blogging? Why or why not?

I have to admit, I’m not big on blogging. I guest occasionally on Lorna’s and others’ blogs, but that’s about it. As I said, I write slowly.

Are there any other genres you’d like to write?

I read and love science fiction and fantasy, but I’ve never written it. That genre tends to be on a grand scale, with all-encompassing stories, saving the universe, or protecting the shire from Sauron. I tend to write smaller stuff. One detective solves one case, or saves one person.

But someday, I just might try it.

What is your favorite of your own books, so far? Why?

The genres I’ve written in are so different, it’s hard to choose. My collection of short stories Lakeview Park is my latest. Each of the fifteen stories stands alone, but they are linked in that they all take place in and around a small urban park in a large city. Writing it gave me a chance put down my observations of people I noticed while walking in a real park, and to go back to my favorite, slice-of-life, short story style.

What are you working on now? Where did the idea come from?

The current book in progress is historical fiction, The Memory Keeper. It takes place at Mission San Juan Capistrano between 1812 and 1890, as told by a Juañeno Indian.

A lot happened during the period: earthquakes, a pirate attack, two-wars, statehood, bandits, epidemics, floods, and droughts. Lorna and I have spent more than a year in research and expect it will take another year to complete.

We have lived about three miles from the mission for the past twenty-five years and became fascinated with the period. We also obtained the help of the San Juan Capistrano historian and a Juañeno storyteller to help us get our facts straight.

Just like all our books, whatever I’m working on at the moment is my favorite.

Thanks, Larry. Even I learned a few things I didn’t know! You can read more about both of us on our website http://www.lornalarry.com.

Attending Writers' Conferences

 A couple of weeks ago, we spent four days in Vancouver, WA at EPICon, the annual conference for EPIC (Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition). As we have since 2006, we loved spending time with others who are as obsessed with books as we are. Then, in July, we will go to Las Vegas for the PSWA (Public Safety Writers Association) conference. Why do we keep going to conferences?
 

In 2005, after our first book, a memoir entitled 31 Months in Japan: the Building of a Theme Park, was published, we decided to attend the now-defunct Maui Writers Conference.  We had already planned a trip to Hawaii for the same time, and my favorite author at the time, Gail Tsukiyama, was one of the presenters. Larry said he’d rather surf. That is, until he found out one of his favorites, Terry Brooks, would be speaking. Oh, and he realized the cost of the conference was tax-deductible.

He agreed to go, but said he’d drop me off in the morning, go surfing, and pick me up in the afternoon, except for the time Terry was scheduled. I agreed.

Once we arrived, however, and he saw all the topics available, he decided maybe he’d go to one or two workshops. It was a good thing we had another few days on Oahu after the conference, because he never surfed on Maui.

We heard some awesome people speak, learned a lot, which we’re still using, met some wonderful folks, and had a blast! Oh, and we also met the guy who became the inspiration for our protagonist, Agapè Jones, in our mysteries, Murder… They Wrote and Murder in Paradise  (finalist for the EPIC eBook Award).

We discovered spending time around others who understood when we complained that our characters wouldn't cooperate was empowering. If we say, “I just couldn’t sleep last night. My latest character kept talking all night,” they don’t think we’re crazy. In fact, they nod sagely. They’ve been there, too.

Later the same year we decided to go to EPICon in San Antonio when our book, 31 Months: The Building of a Theme Park, was named one of the two finalists in the nonfiction category.

This conference was a more intimate, but we actually preferred it in some ways to the big one. And we loved visiting San Antonio. We didn’t win the award, but we had a ball. And we’ve been attending EPICon each year since.

By now, quite a few of the members have become dear friends. I met one of my writing partners at the first conference. We’ve since written five anthologies together, including Directions of Love, which won the EPIC eBook Award for best romance anthology.

Why do we keep going, year after year? Because the workshops are relevant to the publishing industry and we never fail to gain information to make our writing better. Because we love reconnecting with dear friends every year and making new ones. Because writers are lots of fun!

We plan to attend EPICon again next year. In fact, our arms have already been twisted to present our workshop "The Perfect Pitch" again next year. (We've presented every year since 2007, including doing the luncheon keynote for one.)

Hope to see you at a conference next year!

More Pieces in the Quilt

Last week we were in Vancouver, WA for EPICon, the annual conference for EPIC, The Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition.

Once again, we enjoyed spending time with writers, editors, publishers, and other industry professionals, many of whom have become good friends.

After the conference, we were invited for dinner at the home of one of the guys who worked in Japan with us. He invited another of the USJ team. Loved getting to know their wives and reminiscing about our time working on Universal Studios Japan.

The following evening, Monday, we drove to Mt. Angel, OR to see a girl I went to grammar school with. The last time we saw her was when she was a bridesmaid in our wedding. Although we've stayed in contact over the years, we'd never met her husband. So the evening was very special, and I was thrilled to know our friendship remained strong.

On Tuesday evening, our last in the Portland/Vancouver area, we drove into Portland to see a dear friend who used to live in our area. We reminisced about old times and enjoyed a meal together.

Wednesday was travel day, and we arrived back home in the early afternoon. The remainder of the day was spent unpacking and doing laundry.

Thursday morning, while slaying email and catching up of Facebook, an instant message appeared from a second cousin, Cindy. Our mothers were first cousins. She and her sister Connie were driving from Camarillo to San Diego and wanted to stop on the way. My answer? A resounding YES!!!

They arrived mid-afternoon, and although we'd never met face-to-face, we had been corresponding via email and Facebook for several years, so it was as though we already knew each other.

I remembered their mother and was amazed at how much Connie resembled her.

We went to an early dinner at the Wind and Sea at Dana Point Marina and compared notes on family stories. Once again, pieces of my personal family story were filled in.

What an amazing month March has been! So many reunions and wonderful times with old and new friends and relatives. It doesn't get much better than that

So how was your month?

Family Patchwork

I think of families like old-fashioned crazy quilts. The people are all different shapes, sizes, fabrics, and colors. They're joined together with colorful stitches in a variety of styles. Some are green chains, others are blue buttonholes, still others are yellow lazy daisies, green stems, etc. All those unique pieces, stitched together tightly, represent the totality of each family.

But sometimes, pieces are missing, stitches are frayed, and the quilt loses some of its integrity.

My father died when I was seven and large sections of his family disappeared from my own quilt. For most of my life, I lived with huge gaping holes. But, through Facebook, we were able to close the gaps.

However, a couple of weeks ago, two of those pieces were permanently restored.

My cousins, Margaret and Suzanne grew up close to one another. (Their mothers were my dad's younger sisters.) They knew each other all their lives. But my family lived at a distance.

Prior to 2011, the last time I'd seen Margaret was when we were about eight, and I hadn't seen Suzanne since she was three. But in 2011, over Memorial Day weekend, Larry and I were invited to Suzanne's brother Roger's home for a barbeque. The three of us made a great start at reconnecting and discovered we had a great deal in common. A couple of weeks later, Margaret joined us to visit my mother in the nursing home, and she was also restored.

However, the three of us girls had never been in the same place at the same time. That all changed a couple of weeks ago when the other two came to our house for a few days of 'cousining.'

I got practically no sleep the entire time they were with me. We stayed up late talking, and then I was so wired, I couldn't settle down. I didn't want to miss a second.

One day we visited the Dana Point Marina and Mission San Juan Capistrano. The next, we picked up my brother and drove to San Gabriel Mission where we finally found our grandmother's grave along with those of our great grandparents. I knew my great-grandfather was there, but I couldn't find any online records about my great-grandmother. There she was!

The most important thing we discovered was how much we genuinely loved each other. It was more like being reunited with long-lost sisters. We were supposed to go to Catalina one day, but the boat was broken down. It was okay however, because we still have the tickets, and 'the girls' have promised to come back soon. It gave us more time to compare memories and stories.

My family is like a true crazy quilt—including the 'crazy.' But it feels as though the pieces are coming together and are now stitched tightly. I'm confident we won't lose each other again! Now we just have to get Ted and Steve to come next time so all six of us can finally be in the same place!

Have you ever lost family members or good friends and had the joy of reuniting with them?