Saturday, September 1, 2012

Writers4Higher features April Kelly

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:


WEBITE ADDRESS: Flight Risk Books

AMAZON LINK TO WINGED: Winged

AMAZON LINK TO MURDER IN ONE TAKE: Murder in One Take

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











3 comments:

  1. Can't wait for the new book. Amazing what those insights bring about.

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  2. I 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!

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  3. Hi, 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

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