Welcome to
Writers4Higher
The purpose of the Writers4Higher blog: to feature authors in a new light, a fresh look at the way writers use their talents and life energies to uplift humankind. Writers4Higher doesn’t promote religious or political views. Authors are asked to answer three simple questions: simple, yet complex.
This issue, Writers4Higher features
April Kelly
Hi, April. Welcome to the
Writers4Higher family!
1. Tell me
about yourself. Your book(s), your life, your inspiration.
I’ve always been a writer, first on a weekly radio comedy
show at The University of South Florida, then as an advertising copywriter in
Tampa. Still in my twenties, I moved to Los Angeles to break into TV writing. I
had no car, no clue, and only $1500 to my name, so if I hadn’t lucked out and
found work immediately, I guess I’d be lying in a gutter now drinking
Thunderbird wine out of a wrinkled paper bag. Shows like Mork and Mindy, 9 To
5, Webster, Boy Meets World and Becker kept me busy for the next few decades,
but then, feeling burned out on Hollywood, I moved to the Tennessee boonies to
write novels. My first book, WINGED, is literary fiction written solo, after
which I teamed up with a high-profile attorney who also happens to be my best
friend, in order to write two mysteries, MURDER IN ONE TAKE and MURDER: TAKE
TWO, a humorous series blending her experiences with the legal system and my
escapades in show biz. Once we complete MURDER: TAKE THREE, she’ll go back to
penning legal thrillers and I’ll return to my first love, literary fiction, for
my next book.
2. Where do you
see your writing taking you in the future?
I look at this in reverse, asking myself, “Where will I take
my writing in the future?” WINGED, a look at America’s love/hate relationship
with celebrities, came to me in the wake of Anna-Nicole Smith’s death. Granted,
her life was a train wreck, but the circus following her overdose death was
truly appalling. That inspired me to craft a dark, contemporary story modeled
on the myth of Icarus and Daedalus. Then, not long ago, I had an epiphany about
myself, a realization that shifted beliefs I have held since childhood, leading
me to the idea of my second solo novel, LINDY CARLYLE TELLS THE TRUTH, which I
hope to have out by the summer of 2013. In it, a 38-year-old woman who has been
telling the reader her life story, hears six words spoken at a deathbed, and
those words change everything she “knows” about her own life and three
generations of her family…even those events she lived through or witnessed
herself. My lofty goal is to get at least a few readers to stop and go back to
the start of the novel, reading it with the new “truth” significantly altering
every scene. So, in the future, I hope to take my writing to the places that
reflect my own life experiences and discoveries.
3. How do you
use your talents/time to help others?
Short answer: I don’t. I’ve taught, I’ve mentored, but what
successful writer hasn’t? Rather than attempting sweeping changes to improve
the world, I prefer doing small acts of kindness, especially those involving a
challenge. The best example I can give happened when I was still in LA. A few
months after wrapping a movie with a prominent producer, she called me in for a
meeting. I assumed it was another job offer, so I was happy to go. But it
wasn’t a job offer, per se. She had just been diagnosed with breast cancer, an
ironic twist, since she was about to be saluted at a star-studded, black-tie
gala in recognition of her decades of fund raising for the fight against breast
cancer, and they had asked her to give a fifteen-minute speech. Her challenge
to me was; make cancer funny. She didn’t want people feeling sorry for her, so
she wanted me to write her a stand-up comedy routine. Though I had written TV
shows, Vegas acts and a lot of stand-up, I had never had such a grim topic to
turn into laughs. I interviewed her extensively to get the background material
and to be certain I could capture her voice, and after the piece was done, I
coached her in comedy timing and delivery. She didn’t want anyone to know the
words weren’t her own, so I didn’t attend the gala, but her best friend called
me the following week to say she had gotten laughs, tears and a standing
ovation from the Hollywood A-list crowd of 800 people.
Would you like to find April Kelly?
Check out the links to this talented author:
AMAZON LINK TO MURDER: TAKE TWO: Murder: Take Two
Thank you, April. I know others will enjoy your books as much as I do.
Be sure to
visit the Writers4Higher Market! We have gear for the writer in you.
Rhett
DeVane
Fiction with a Southern Twist
Can't wait for the new book. Amazing what those insights bring about.
ReplyDeleteI have read "Winged", "Murder in Take One" and "Murder and Take Two". April Kelly's books are incredibly engaging and very difficult to put down!
ReplyDeleteHi, April. Long Time no see. We sort of met in Los Angeles way back. I'm writing a memoir about those days, as in a VW van car accident. Kevin
ReplyDelete