Category Archives: Writing

I Get Lunar With Perigee Moon Author Tara Fuller

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So, Tara Fuller is a Crescent Moon Press writer, and her first book, Perigree Moon just came out.  Get it while it’s hot, yo.  Since she is a newbie, like me, and since she is awesome, like me, and since she has a new book, which will be me, I badgered her into letting me interview her.  After the restraining order didn’t work, she agreed.

 

Her book is all Salem Witch Trials, time travel, smoky teen angst and a boy with dark hair and piercing blue eyes.  As you’ll see.  For the full story, you can check out the full pitch and full bio at Crescent Moon Press.  Fully linked.  Also you can click above, to her website and to Amazon.

But don’t go yet.  Let’s get to it.

Aaron Michael Ritchey: Let’s start right off with the hardest question of all. How do you cope with the brutality that is the writing life? The rejection, the constant self-doubt, the fist-shaking rants at heaven? That’s how I deal with it. Shaking my fist at heaven. And ranting.

Tara: Lol, there have definitely been some fist-shaking moments for me too. Lots of moments when I didn’t think I was good enough. For me, I just remind myself every day that anything worth having doesn’t come easily. And this has been my dream for as long as I can remember. I don’t think any amount of rejection could make me walk away from it. Writing is just part of who I am. I love it.

Aaron: What was the inspiration for Perigee Moon? Was it a sparkly-vampire-type of dream? Or were you walking along, and suddenly, yeah, witches, man, witches.

Tara: Nope. No sparkly vampire dreams for me. I had known for a while that I wanted to write a time-travel story. And then one day I was watching a documentary on the Salem Witch Trials (yes that is the sort of thing I do for fun) and it hit me. Why not combine the two? After about three days of plotting (Definition of plotting: me lying on my floor listening to music and staring at my ceiling fan thinking about witches and kissing) the idea for Perigee Moon was born!

Aaron’s Response: That made me laugh. Witches and kissing. Laying on the floor, listening to music. Great answer. I walk. For me, walking is plotting. Cool.

Aaron: How did you pick the title? I can’t do titles. I used up all my good title ideas in high school and college. I call most of my books by numbers. Yes, I’m working on Book 123. Kidding. Titles, talk to me.

Tara: I’m not great with titles either, but this one was pretty easy. The spell in this book that the entire story in hinged on must take place during a Perigee Moon (the time when the moon is closest to the earth). So this time, thankfully, I didn’t have to pull too much hair out coming up with one.

Aaron Responds: It’s a great title. And interesting. You can google perigree. Dang, you learn something every day.

Aaron: Speaking of witches, what drew you to the whole Salem thing? Do you enjoy the smell of burnt flesh? Please answer both questions. It’s important for our readers.

Tara: I have always been fascinated with history and the Salem Witch Trials were something I loved learning about. It’s really crazy to learn about the events that went on back then. It’s heartbreaking to say the least. As for the second question: the only burning flesh I’ve ever smelled was mine when my flat iron attacked me recently, and no I wasn’t too fond of that moment, lol.

Aaron Bites Back: Had to google flat iron. Okay. Gotcha. And yeah, Salem Witch Trials were fascinating. Those wacky Christians.

Aaron: Rowan Bliss is the name of your heroine, which is awesome. How did you pick that name? And can I use it as my stage name for my transvestite show in San Francisco this summer? Please, both questions, hit me.

Tara: Well, thank you! I love her name. When I name a character I approach it just like I did with my kids. I break out the baby name books. When I found the name Rowan it just felt right. As for your stage name, have at it. I’m sure Rowan would be flattered, lol. 😉

Aaron Ain’t Done: I’ll come out, dressed in black, very witchy woman.

Aaron: So, we talked, and you love music. Love the playlist section of your website. Link here. And yeah, that Snow Patrol “Run” song is awesome. How do you pick the music you write to? Random, or do you have a special way? For example, when I wrote The Never Prayer, I searched my music collection for all songs that had “Angel” in the title. Do you do something similar?

Tara: I am a huge music fan, so when I hear a song that speaks to me or a project I’m working on, whether that be from lyrics or just a melody, I store it away. The console of my car is jammed full of old receipts and scrap paper where I heard a song on the radio and said “Oh! That song is so Finn!” then proceeded to pull over so I could write it down so I wouldn’t forget.

Aaron’s Quip: That’s so sweet. Having a playlist really helps me, especially during the re-write process.

Aaron: Can you write without music? Can you revise with music? How do your writing routine and music intertwine?

Tara: I can write without music, but I usually don’t. It’s a very useful tool for me in the writing process. When it comes to revising I can go to the song I had on while I wrote that chapter and it helps take me back to the tone and mood of that scene.

Aaron Shamelessly Agrees: Me too. Same, same.

Aaron: Last music question. You will be judged on style and content. If suddenly your MP3 player was taken over by demons, and you could only choose ONE band/artist to write to for the next fifty years, who would it be? If you say Justin Beiber, I will love you forever. Others will judge. Oh Lord, will they judge.

Tara: Lol! I’m sorry to say that Justin Beiber wouldn’t be my choice. I would have to go with “City and Colour”. They are too amazing for words and have actually inspired a lot of the current series I’m working on (Kissed by Death).

Aaron Acts Out: I’ll have to check that “City and Colour” out. Because I’m completely self-centered, I must say, my answer would be Moby. And not just because he’s a hardcore vegan Christian.

City and Colour; Comin’ Home

Aaron: At its heart, what is Perigee Moon about? What transcendent human truths does it contain? In other words, theme. Crush me with theme.

Tara: At its heart, Perigee Moon is a story about growing up. Rowan is dealing with loss, falling in love for the first time, and finding out who she is and what her place is in life. She’s really not different than most teens. They are going through all of this too. She’s just going through all of this under extraordinary circumstances.

Aaron’s Muttering: Ah, coming of age. Traversing rocky waters.

Would you date Alex, the love interest in your book? Or would it merely be a physical thing? No blushing. But don’t go into anything beyond PG-13 rated descriptions.

Tara: Would I date Alex? Well, if I wasn’t married and was ten years younger of course! Alex is a good-looking guy but he is so much more than that. He is a character that broke my heart. But in a good way. He is strong, caring, intelligent, and just a little bit broken. And when he loves someone he does it with his whole heart. Even if that person doesn’t deserve it. Alex believes in family and respect. He’s an old-fashioned kind of guy.

Aaron Risks Embarrassment: What a great answer. I might be crushing a little. If I wasn’t married, twenty years younger, and well, you know, into guys with black hair and piercing blue eyes…

Aaron: What aspects of Perigee Moon did you draw from your own teenager years? For me, the answer is simple. I can’t remember that far back. I just steal everything from the Gossip Girls, since, of course, that is so totally reality.

Tara: One of the things I loved about writing this book was being able to draw from those memories. Feeling lost, not knowing who you really are yet, or what you’re going to be. The awkward moments when you finally meet a boy that you can’t walk away from, but don’t know how to act. The wonderful butterfly sensations of first love.

Aaron’s Second Shameless Agreeing: Me too. Same, same.

Aaron: You’re a late night writer. Can you write during the day if forced to? Or do you draw power from the night like a vampiric H.P. Lovecraft? What is the latest you have stayed up? Any all nighters? All funny stories welcome.

Tara: I do most of my writing at night because I have two small kids. But I write whenever I get a chance. On the weekends, I escape to a local coffee shop to write during the day. As for all-nighters? I’ve had plenty of those. Too many to count. I have sacrificed sleep for finishing up a chapter or reading a good book or catching up on True Blood more times than is probably healthy, lol.

Aaron’s Sleepiness Showing: In insomnia terms, I’m an early waker. But yeah, understood. It’s great your spouse is so supportive.

Aaron: For question 13, if you could be someone in Perigee Moon, who would it be? And why? How long could you stand being your villain? Or is that too many questions in one question? Pick one and love it. And thank you so much!!!

Tara: If I could be anyone in Perigee Moon it would be Rowan. Obvious choice I know, but she is so much stronger than I will ever be. The things that she manages to overcome in this story inspire me. I admire her. Plus she gets to kiss Alex. I mean, who wouldn’t like that? 😉

Aaron’s Final Finale Finally: Well, thanks so much to Tara Fuller! Great answers to what I have to say are great questions. Greatest. Interview. Ever.

To read the greatest review ever of Perigee Moon by Sam at Falling Books, go here:

Really Quick Movie Reviews: “Comedy is just tragedy with more fart jokes.”

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BAD TEACHER – This is what I want.  I want to take the Cameron Diaz character out of this movie and put her in a movie written by Adam Sandler and his buddy.  The first four Adam Sandler movies, Billy Madison through Big Daddy, were brilliant because they told a story.  Yeah, the story was cliche, stupid, predictable, stupid and stupid, but there was a story there, with a nice predictable character arc.  And yet, the ride along that patch of road was so alien and over the top, it was awesome!  Like going down Kipling for the ten thousandth time with a meth-outed Barnum and Bailey’s clown, a monkey, and Oliver Pratt doing lines of coke off a stripper’s taut belly.  Bad Teacher has the coke, the taut stripper belly, Justin Timberlake being all cute and wonderful and funny and daring and risky, and Jason Segel being as cuddly and smarmy as a teddy bear in a teddy, but it doesn’t have a story or character arc.  Which is a shame.  Because the movie could have been so much more awesome.  However, what Cameron Diaz did with her body and a desk is worth a watch.  And I don’t mean that in a sexual way, you dirty-minded people.  Dirty, dirty I say.

THE GREEN LANTERN – Love that Ryan Reynolds.  Love the hot chick who had to play the typical disgruntled hot chick.  Love the fact that the movie is not good versus evil, but really will versus fear.  How cool is that?  I never read the comic book, and I always thought Green Lantern was kind of silly.  Green ring that creates green things.  Yeah, whatever.  But you tell me the green energy is will and the yellow energy is fear, well, you have my attention.  No, seriously.  I am sitting up straight in my seat.  And the visuals in this movie.  I wish I had seen it at a theater.  Some great stuff.  And you have the huge tentacled monster, huge and huger, getting bigger, huge, sprawling.  It had that two-page, jaw-dropping quality.  Everything else, pretty typical, but hey, it worked for me.  And Tim Robbins, always good to see Tim Robbins.  “I wanna spank your bald head and lick it.”  Yeah, Tim Robbins, class act.  Is he still married to Susan Sarandon?  I hope so.

CAPTAIN AMERICA – Right away, you love the little guy who wants to fight Nazis, who won’t stay down after bully kicks the hell out of him, who just has this vast amount of heart.  And you love Tommy Lee Jones.  And you love Stanley Tucci.  And you just love this movie.  And boom, Hugo Weaving looking like what Roger Ebert says, a guy with a face made from that fake red Chinese food duck meat.  Hugo Weaving.  Cool.  And who doesn’t like to kill Nazis?  Not this red-blooded American hombre.  And the path to superhero wasn’t through his own pluckiness, but through political marketing and American propaganda.  No, this movie was probably the superhero movie to see from the Summer of 2011, and yet, in the end, oh don’t hate me, it fell down at the climax.  With a movie like this, you need a huge, end of the world, blow ’em out of the water, kill me now, shoot me later, type of ending.  A climax that leaves you breathless. Didn’t quite do it.  Kind of petered out.  Though I did get a little teary-eyed when Cap is talking to his girl and he’s sacrificing himself and it was sweet.  Though you could have had that and had the big, blowing-stuff-up type of ending.  Ah well, not all movies can be as perfect as GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.  Kidding.  Not really.

HORRIBLE BOSSES – First of all, Jason Bateman is aging into perfection. He’s like cheese.  He’s like wine.  He’s like vintage porn.  And I had to read the ending credits twice.  Er, the IMDB post.  Sorry.  Colin Farrell played one of the horrible bosses.  Impressive.  But then, he probably knows his way around a coke spoon and trashy women.  Open.  This end up.  And Kevin Spacey, who can play snide and evil as well as anyone, and Jennifer Aniston’s daring, over-the-top, risky, fully committed hoooooarrrrr was inspired, and Jamie Foxx, what he did with that drink and straw, academy-frakkin-award.  No, seriously.  This movie wrote itself.  Three guys wanna kill their horrible bosses and they are all justified.  Yeah, duh.  Pitch me, baby, ’cause you don’t need to pinch me.  However, yeah, no movie is ever perfect, except GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.  Kidding.  Not really.  I wanted Horrible Bosses to be smarter.  I wanted cleverness, and they flirted with cleverness, but it never really got me there.  In the end, I was satisfied, I’d give it a thumbs up, but again, I want more, always more, give me more.  Give me twists and clever.  The cell phone was flirting with clever, but they needed to add Jennifer Aniston into the cell phone\assassination thing.  Then I would have been happier, and if Aaron ain’t happy, nobody is happy.

GET HIM TO THE GREEK – There have been a lot of comedies out lately that are all trying to be as great as Get Him to the Greek and they fail, and do you know why?  Movies like Hot Tub Time Machine, and others, fail because they, oopsies, forget about story.  And character.  And tragedy.  Comedy is just tragedy with more fart jokes.  Get Him to the Greek is a revelation because it shows this grand, epic, tragic character and we follow him through his nightmare and it’s hilarious.  The writing is smart, reaching beyond the words, to be smarter.  Really, dang smart and funny.  Jonah Hill.  The fat guy Everyman, and his girlfriend, Daphne, the chick from Mad Men, and let me tell you, the actor who plays Aldous Snow is done.  You can layer make-up on that guy and put him in front of a green screen and give him a Swedish accent, dubbed, and still, I would only see Aldous Snow.  It’s a Colombo type of character.  A House type of character.  Like Jim from Taxi. The end.  And Sean Combs, Academy Award for this guy, as the evil music industry executive who is completely insane.  Not since The Hangover have I been so impressed with a story that swept me along and left me laughing my butt cheeks off.  I had to vacuum them up.  And don’t worry, we have a happy ending.  And Lars Ulrich?  Are you kidding me?  Loved his cameo.  Best movie I’ve seen since I started watching movies again.  Can’t recommend this enough.

DODGEBALL – Ben Stiller zapping his nipples with a car battery while toying with a donut.  Ah, yes.  This is the Adam Sandler school of comedy.  Stupid, cliche story, done well, with a wild cast of dodgeballers.  And Ben Stiller.  And his hot wife who may or may not be a lesbian.  And Rip Torn.  Whenever Rip Torn is in a movie, I just wanna buy the movie because I love Rip Torn.  He was in The Beastmaster, don’t you know.  And you know, when I watched the movie, I was put off by Vince Vaughn’s character because he really didn’t care one way or another.  But the Apple commercial guy was so ardent, that Vince Vaughn could be so blithe.  This one is a classic, or can we have classics any more?  We have so many damn movies, it’s hard to say.  Notice on the chest, it says DEUS EX MACHINA on it at the end.  Nothing new in this movie, except the way it takes a cliche and kicks it squarely in the testes.  Hurray.

MAVERICK – It’s a western.  It’s fun.  It’s not dark.  Mel Gibson smiles so much, and is so nice, you can forget about his later-years meltdown.  Poor Mel.  Never be too handsome and never be too rich.  It kills your soul no matter how many Jesus movies you make.  And then James Garner strolls on as Zane Cooper, Coop to his friends.  Love James Garner.  And James Coburn.  Two veterans, cowboy weary, and Graham Greene as the ironic Indian and a funny Richard Donner cameo for Danny Glover.  Ah, the 90s.  When I could watch as many movies as I could stomach.  Strong story, strong characters, though no real character arcs, but that’s okay because William Goldman is too good of a writer, you can forget about little things like that.  I would say, Jodie Foster did well, but I don’t know, you’ll hate me, I know, but her dramatic work really blocked me.  And her personal life stuff.  And the icon that is Jodie Foster.  I had a hard time with her doing comedy and doing the role.  Stupid of me.  This is why it’s best to ignore everything about an actor except their work.  It can get in the way.  I would have liked to see Holly Hunter in that role, but then, I’d like every movie to have Holly Hunter in it.  No, really.  Every single movie.  Including, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

You Will Never Write Your Novel, Ever

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Recently, I spent a weekend at a writer’s retreat, and the whole thing is to go away and write. It’s like The Dick Van Dyke Show episode where Rob Petrie goes away to the cabin to write his book because he couldn’t focus at home. It’s a common writer’s idea. I won’t write today, because someday, I’ll have a ton of time to write and boy, won’t it be great. Like Harry Chapin Carpenter’s “Cat’s In The Cradle”, we’re gonna have a good time then.

The thing is, I don’t buy it. Writing is a daily habit because if you wait for the perfect time to write, it will never, ever come. There’s never going to be a good time.

A friend at work, whom I love to hate, and hate to love, gave us a book which has the secret to life. Seriously. It’s by Jeff Olson, and it’s called The Slight Edge. The idea of the book is simple, people are successful by the little choices they make, every day, just itty, bitty little choices that by themselves don’t mean much, but over time, add up and make all the difference in the world. Writing is like that. If you wrote 43 minutes a day, which is the length of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode, you would have a novel faster than if you waited for eight hour chunks. Because how often do you have eight hour chunks? If you have my life, you never have them. You long for them. You hunt for them. They are an endangered animal, elusive, yet beautiful. Come here, little eight hours, come to Daddy.

So I’m enjoying the writers retreat because I’m using it to sneak in projects I won’t have time to tackle once I return to normal life. So in the end, maybe that’s the best way to use the time I got, sneak in the impossible books I’ll never have the time to write.

And Rob Petrie never did write his novel. He got distracted. It’s not about the time you don’t have, it’s about using the time you do have, and realizing how lucky you are in this moment and being grateful.

And that pistachio episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show always unnerved me. Pistachios, everywhere, weird.