Welcome to
Writers4Higher
This issue, Writers4Higher features
Andrea Brunais
Hi, Andrea. Welcome to the
Writers4Higher family!
1. Tell
me about yourself. Your book(s), your life, your inspiration.
After many years in newspapers, I’m now a sort of
“backpack journalist” writing news releases and creating video news stories for
Virginia Tech. More than just a marketable skill, writing has been a way for me
to satisfy a drive for creative expression while expressing certain truths
about the world. I was lucky enough to learn, early on, that a good writer
isn’t expressing himself or herself; the best writers express the reader.
My first novel,
Night of the Litani, was set against the civil war of Lebanon of 1975. I
wanted to keep readers enthralled while helping them learn about the Middle
East in a way that did not vilify ethnic groups including Arabs, who were
horribly stereotyped then and still are. I strove to make a page-turner but at
the same time earn critics’ respect. I’m happy to say I succeeded on both
counts, though I’m sad to say the book did not make me a household name!
In my new novel,
Mercedes Wore Black, I create a contemporary scenario where readers can
experience the changing face of journalism as well as be introduced, up close
and personal, to some of the fragile Florida environments I’m blessed to have
visited. As a journalist, I’ve flown 10,000 feet above Crystal River watching a
federal wildlife agent count manatees, and I’ve also been out in the shallow,
glittering waters of Tampa Bay where seagrasses and tiny shrimp and other
sealife gain footholds. I’ve also seen some old Florida pols in the Legislature
wheel and deal, so that’s another setting I wanted to share with readers.
Finally, I’ve seen the puppet-masters control the Florida Legislature – the
special interests who spread big money around and thwart the public interest.
My inspiration comes from those authors such as Kurt
Vonnegut, whom I once met, who subscribe to the school of thought that “writing
is easy. You just open a vein and bleed.” (Digression: The Quote Investigator
attributes the saying to Paul Gallico, author of The Poseidon Adventure, in the 1946 book Confessions of a Story Writer.) The best writers eschew the easy,
clichéd strings of sentences that often pepper one’s first drafts. One of my
great college writing teachers, Thomas E. Sanders at the University of South
Florida, said: “There is no great writing; only great rewriting.”
2. Where
do you see your writing taking you in the future?
I hope to continue writing about my characters Janis
Pearl Hawk and Leah St. Clair, fueled by their passion for good journalism and
the environment. Their adventures could spawn a series of Florida-based novels.
I can’t wait to see reader response! I also hope, one day, to employ my writing
skills on behalf of vulnerable populations, when I have the luxury to write
without worrying about monetary gain.
3. How do
you use your talents/time to help others?
I mentor young women writers on the job, and I also do
what I can to promote women novelists. I’ve been doing book reviews for various
publications for years and go out of my way to review women’s work because so
much of the media favors men. (If you don’t believe me, do a count!) As a
journalist, I wrote a lot about child abuse in Florida. I found that many
politicians are oblivious of the fact that some 40 children a year die from
abuse or neglect. One day I’d like to devote myself full time to improving the
prospects of children at risk of abuse. On a personal level, I also hope one
day to write important things down for my children – to share with them the
principles and beliefs I’ve tried to live by. And I hope my fiction continues
to be an avenue for the expression of values, even as its primary goal is
entertainment.
Would you like to find Andrea?
Check out the links to
this talented author:
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Rhett
DeVane
Fiction
with a Southern Twist
I like the use of fiction to highlight Florida settings, animals and habitats. People learn a little while reading a good story.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm