It gives me great pleasure to interview Craig Leener about his YA Book There’s No Basketball On Mars, Why he writes YA, About his Autistic character, his thoughts on instant replay, find out what his stand-out basketball moment is and more…
Firstly, let’s start with the blurb for There’s No Basketball On Mars and then on the interview.
Blurb
Lawrence Tuckerman is a fan of probabilities — well, any numbers and math, really. It’s an interest that goes hand-in-hand with his autism. It’s also how he met his best friend Zeke, who is off fulfilling his dream of playing basketball at the University of Kansas. Now Lawrence expects his life in Los Angeles to become even less social and more routine — just the way he likes it. He plans to finish high school as he pursues his own far-off dream of manning Earth’s first mission to Mars . . .
Then the improbable happens: Lawrence is recruited for a top-secret mission of cosmic proportions! The whole operation relies on him realizing the full potential of his 1-in-6-billion mind — without freaking out. The rocket-science math is a no-brainer, but is he made of the right stuff to manage the communication and cooperation of a team effort . . . without his best friend?
Who or what inspired you to write a novel and in-particular for the YA market as opposed to other age groups?
As is the case with most writers, I wanted to write a book, but I really didn’t know how to, and I was at that point of my life where it was time to make good on the threat or move on. So, I read seven books on how to write a novel, and the storyline soon began to fall from the heavens. I told my son about it, and he said, “Hey, Dad, that sounds like a YA.” All of that happily coincided with my volunteer work mentoring young journalists.
What’s are the differences and similarities in writing a novel to you being a sportswriter?
Writing sports for a newspaper involves relying on one’s wits whilst navigating a looming deadline. Conversely, as a novelist, I have the good fortune to live in my imagination as the clock remains safely at arm’s length.
And the similarities are there as well, certainly in executing the proper mechanics of grammar, usage and punctuation, but also in structuring a story that takes the reader on a journey that includes a moment of equilibrium, followed by a trigger, a quest, a series of critical choices, then a climax, potentially a reversal, and then finally a resolution.
What inspired your title – ‘There’s No Basketball on Mars’?
Those were the first words I wrote when I began to draft the manuscript. I remember the moment. It was eery and humbling, like I was serving as typist for some kind of higher power trying to get my attention. The fun part was looking for the ideal opportunity to shoehorn those exact words into the story.
Interestingly, your character, Lawrence Tuckerman is autistic, how important is it that readers are now increasingly seeing a diverse range of characters within books?
When I set out to write my first novel, I sat down for breakfast at a coffeeshop in Hollywood with a YA librarian I met through my daughter-in-law. Over flapjacks and Canadian bacon, I asked the librarian what publishers were looking for from new authors. Without hesitation, she said underrepresented characters. And in that moment, the intrepid, neurodivergent Sherman “Lawrence” Tuckerman was born.
Books that offer young readers a chance to explore diversity and inclusion are a true reflection where we’re headed as a society — and it is long overdue.
Lawrence is recruited for a top-secret mission that is going to take him realizing the full potential. How challenging do you think that is for both your character and people in general to discover and know what that full potential is?I threw a lot of challenges and obstacles at Lawrence in the book. I felt it was important for readers to experience the Sultan of Square Root learning and growing as the stakes rose to greater heights. I believe that discovering your true potential starts with gaining an understanding of what your true calling is — the reason why you’re on this earth.
Lawrence knew early on that he was born to be the mathematics flight specialist on NASA’s first-ever manned mission to the Red Planet. For most people, though, that sort of epiphany can be elusive. It often takes many years of the closed-eye process to discover it.
What would a stand-out moment of a basketball game be for you and what team do you support?
For me, there’s nothing quite like a perfectly executed fast break, where all five players on offense are moving in total grace and harmony and awareness of what their teammates are doing as the play unfolds.
I support high school and community college basketball programs all over the Greater Los Angeles area. At the college level, my favorite teams are UCLA and the University of Kansas.
It is said that you are a lifelong opponent of the instant replay in sports. What made you come to this decision?
To my way of thinking, there is intrinsic value in the human element’s potential to influence the outcome of athletic competition, inadvertently or otherwise. It’s another way of saying that we’re all perfect in our inherent imperfection. And I have it on good authority that James Naismith, who invented basketball on Dec. 21, 1891, would not have wanted future technology to replace a well-meaning person in a striped shirt and a whistle around his neck.
You sit on the board of directors of CSUN’s Journalism Alumni Association serving as the organization’s director of scholarships, how did this come about and what, in brief, does that entail?
I learned about the organization from the sports editor at the newspaper where I used to cover local high school sports. He and I are both CSUN graduates. The JAA board meets six times a year to brainstorm ways to support student journalists and raise money for academic scholarships.
What are you reading or writing just now?
I’m currently drafting the sequel to There’s No Basketball on Mars. (Insider intel: Look for Lawrence to potentially travel to the moon in this one!)
10. Where can people find your work?
The Zeke Archer basketball trilogy and my follow-up Mars novel are available wherever books are sold in the solar system.
You can also find the books inside the Little Free Library that’s in the front yard of my home in the suburbs of Los Angeles.
The Hanging Devil is Tim Maleeny’s latest mystery book, set in the art world and today, I welcome him to my blog for a Q&A, where you will get to know more about more about why he writes in the Mystery genre, he also discusses AI Technology, Poisons, Art, How to follow him and more…
Tim Maleeny has won the Macavity Award and the Lefty Award. This book is a fascinating look at art forgery and heists, based on actual crimes, featuring a unique third-person POV within the private investigation mystery subgenre.
Without further ado, find out about the blurb and then what Tim Maleeny has to say. His answers truly are insightful and fascinating.
Blurb
It was supposed to be a simple job: steal the paintings, leave the forgeries…
When a helicopter crashes through the skylight of the Asian Art Museum, an audacious heist turns into a tragedy. The only witness to the crash is eleven-year-old Grace, who watches in horror as her uncle is killed and a priceless statue stolen by two men and a-ghost? At least that’s how the eerie, smoke-like figure with parchment skin and floating hair appears to Grace. Scared almost to death, she flees into the night and seeks refuge in the back alleys of San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Grace is found by Sally Mei, self-appointed guardian of Chinatown. While Sally trains Grace in basic survival skills, her erstwhile partner Cape Weathers, private detective and public nuisance, searches for the mysterious crew behind the robbery before they strike the museum a second time. As the clock winds down, Cape enlists aid from some unlikely allies to lay a trap for a ghost who has no intention of being caught-nor of leaving any witnesses alive to tell the tale.It was supposed to be a simple job: steal the paintings, leave the forgeries…
Now, you know more about the plot, please proceed onto the interview.
Whoorwhat inspired you to write novels and in the mystery genre?
Thanks to my parents I grew up surrounded by books. Dime paperbacks from the thirties, historical novels, science fiction adventures, pulp thrillers and noir mysteries, along with books about the Greek myths and a small collection of leather-bound classics. I always knew I wanted to write fiction but didn’t know where to start until I began writing short stories. At the time, the bulk of what I was reading for pleasure was crime fiction, and I found my voice in those stories. A mystery can incorporate any style of storytelling, from humor to horror, historical to romance, or all of the above. The only necessary ingredients for a mystery novel are equal parts intrigue and suspense, the rest is up to you.
HangingtheDevil is an art heist. What research did you do into art crimes?
A story that began as a museum heist turned into an international thriller by the time I finished writing because it turns out there is quite a bit of mischief in the art world. Auction houses and museum directors who look the other way as known forgeries are sold and displayed as original masterpieces.Specialized police units in countries around the world, like the Carabinieri Art Squad in Italy and the Cultural Heritage Division of Interpol. Thieves, smugglers and forgers on government payrolls. When I first walked into a museum to check their security and begin my research for Hanging The Devil, I never would have guessed that I’d discover an underground economy where organized crime, greedy government officials and some of the world’s biggest museums conspire to keep the art world a mystery.
Do you like art and if so, what’s your favourite piece?
I am an art lover but would never claim to be an art expert. Learning about art is like reading a book—it begins with a visceral reaction to an idea, and before you know it, you’re empathizing with the characters on the canvas, then learning all you can about the history and context of the painting. Art has inspired me to study history and learn about other cultures, but my tastes, like my interests, run the gamut from comic book art to classical paintings and everything in between. I’m as likely to fall in love with a velvet Elvis as a Rembrandt, as long as it strikes a chord and looks good on the wall. For Hanging The Devil, it was crucial to know what an art forger or thief would look for in a painting, so I spent a lot of time researching the techniques of famous painters. And since part of the story takes place in present-day China, it was essential to understand the historical significance of paintings and sculptures from the 18th century that could be on display at San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, where the robbery in the first chapter takes place.
You’re said to do excessive research into exotic poisons and other things. What fascinates you about poisons and what is the most exotic poison you’ve discovered to be in existence?
My first major short story was called “Till Death Do Us Part,” the title story in an anthology edited by Harlan Coben for the Mystery Writers of America, about an older couple who’d been trying to poison each other for over forty years, a marital game of chess between two masters. From Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie to more modern mysteries, poisons always make the puzzle more perplexing, often unseen and undetected except by the sharpest eye. I’m fascinated by any poison used as a weapon in the natural world, whether it’s secreted by a tree frog, jellyfish, or octopus. My favourite might be the venom of a blue-ringed octopus, a cute little critter that can kill you in under a minute if you get on its bad side. And you can’t go wrong with poisons from plants, like cyanide, which can be found in the pits of apricots and cherries; or arsenic, which is found in rice. So if you want to become a criminal mastermind or famous detective, crack open a book on chemistry and start taking notes.
Hanging the Devil is darkly comical as well as mysterious, how do you go about injecting some humour into what are essentially dark subject matters, such as murder?
Humor is a bridge to empathy. When reading fiction, a smile or laugh helps you connect with a character faster, and so much of the misdirection in a mystery can happen when one character deflects with humor rather than share their true feelings. And when two characters with competing agendas collide, it may not be funny to them, but we’re laughing from having been in equally frustrating situations ourselves. Consider your favorite TV show or sitcom. When Lucille Ball is working on the assembly line in the chocolate factory with Ethel it’s pure mayhem, a nightmare for them but pure comedy for those of us watching.
I wanted Hanging The Devil to be exciting and suspenseful but also fun. Some books are quiet walks in the garden, but mine are more like a drunken ride on a roller coaster.
There is a great tradition of understated humor in noir fiction, often a hard-bitten cynicism peppered with wry observations about the human condition. Those hardboiled mysteries are the books that inspired me to write crime fiction, and later I discovered writers like Elmore Leonard, Loren Estleman, and Ross Thomas, virtuosos who seamlessly blend humor into their narratives through their very real-life characters. People do stupid things, and when you’re a criminal, any misstep can have devasting—and hilarious—consequences. I’m less interested in writing about a perfect crime than a perfect plan that goes horribly wrong, because in life, as in any good mystery, you never really know what happens next.
What made you decide to have an 11-year-old witness a guard being murdered and how did you put yourself in your character’s shoes to be able to write about their perspective?
I vividly remember what it felt like to be that age, the confidence of youth coupled with a growing realization that the world is so much bigger than you are. As for 11-year-old Grace, the witness to the museum heist in Hanging The Devil, fortunately I have two amazing daughters for inspiration when writing about a clever, creative and courageous character.
People are watching AI fairly carefully and discussing it, what is your perspective on this?
Ah, this is a big topic. So-called AI has tremendous positive potential and is being successfully applied in so many ways in business, science, even medicine—but there is definitely a dystopian side to AI that is starting to show its face. We have a co-dependent relationship with our digital devices and spend every waking moment on a digital landscape that is manipulated by companies that want to sell us something and monitored by governments that want to track everything we say or do. In countries around the world it’s become incredibly Orwellian almost overnight, so although I’m a technophile at heart, I’d argue that today’s inventors are not thinking things through in their rush to build what’s next. We’re at a moment in our civilization when our tech is more advanced than we are, and our brains are not ready to handle some of the software that’s already shaping how we live. A recent study showed that the average adult attention span is now less than nine seconds, so we’re turning into a civilization of goldfish.
Hangingthe Devil will be published on 14th How will you be celebrating?
The best way to celebrate a new book release is to go on tour! I’ll be signing copies of Hanging The Devil in New York on the 15th of November and then head to Scottsdale, San Francisco, Houston and LA on the first leg of the tour, meeting readers and reconnecting with booksellers who love mysteries as much as I do.
What is next for you?
Currently I’m procrastinating but have plenty of writing to do, most importantly the next book featuring Cape and Sally. There is also a standalone novel I’ve been thinking about for a while, a YA adventure if I can make the time, and a couple of short stories on the horizon.
Where can people follow you?
Readers can reach me through my website www.timmaleny.com or follow @timmaleeny on Instagram, where I post updates on books I’m writing and books I’m reading.
Q&A with Blue Lunar & The Apex Grail Author –
R.L. Baxter
Q&A By Lou – Bookmarks and Stages
It gives me great pleasure to interview R.L. Blue Lunar about his book – Blue Lunar & The Apex Grail as part of the Zooloo blog tour. Let’s give a warm welcome to Ricky Baxter.
You’ll discover his inspiration and what he particularly likes about the fantasy genre, discover the heroes, where you can follow him and more. Ahead of the interview, let’s find out a bit about him and then check out the cover and discover the blurb.
About the Author
Ricky Baxter is a London born, fantasy author of novels and short novellas. He is an avid blogger, giving advice and thoughts to fellow creators from all walks of life. Starting out as a composer after graduating with a Ba(Hons) in music and multimedia, Ricky worked for many independent short film directors, gaining notable IMDB credits. Since then, he has embraced his earlier passion for writing fictional stories.
Blurb
In a world where the gods have long deserted mortals, a powerful sorcerer emerges from a 100-year-old prison. Releasing an army of beasts, he enters a path of destruction while searching for an ancient relic.
Tasked with challenging the darkness, a pure and naive-hearted boy named Luke embraces his destiny to defeat the wizard – for the promise of a better tomorrow.
Equipped with a divine armour, fashioned by the most powerful goddess, Luke will journey across the land in pursuit of the dark sorcerer, making unforgettable allies and bonds along the way. However, as a long-buried tragedy slowly comes to light, the boy will question everything he believes in… including his destiny.
Without further ado, let’s head to the first question.
1. Who or what inspired you to write novels?
I was actually inspired to write novels thanks to my secondary English teacher. At the time, I was heavily into gaming, films and TV shows but I couldn’t find a way to create my own stories. One day, my English teacher tasked the whole class to write their own story! I believe the assignment was named “Original writing”, and it changed my life forever. I wrote my first story ever and it was named “Rei’s great adventure”, a story about a boy who could transform into a tiger. I received an A+ for my work, which surprised both myself and teachers. Since then, I have been writing ever since and I probably will continue to keep writing forever!
What do you particularly like about fantasy and what made you choose this genre to write in?
I love fantasy for the sheer fact that it isn’t the real world. As amazing as the real world is, I adore fantasy because it provides a wonderful escape/break from our lives for but a moment. To have characters, laws and history that is wildly detached from our own is wonderful. At the same time, I love who certain parallels can be found between fantasy and our reality as well. Problems such as war, love and friendship are just as vital within fantasy as it is the real world. As such, fantasy has always been my genre of choice, as I can get to tell stories that we all can somewhat relate to, yet in an amazing world of make-believe. I especially chose this for Blue Lunar & The Apex Grail for that very reason.
Who are the heroes of your book and how did they emerge to write about?
The three heroes of my story are: Luke, Aurora and Umbra. Luke is the main hero, being a boy tasked with saving the world. He is naive , kind and thoughtful. At times he can live in his own thoughts, causing him to be overly critical of himself and hesitant. He possess a divine suit of blue armour that allows him to do what no normal person can. My idea for Luke came from childhood TV shows such as power rangers, where the heroes could transform into a powerful version of themselves. Aurora is a master female swordsman. She is strong and focused. Born with a mysterious golden eye that allows her to heighten her skills, many fear her for being different. As such, she tends to not trust others easily. I thought of Aurora upon watching an anime named Claymore. Within that anime, there was a character named Teresa who was almost perfect in every way, to the point of being envied and hated by her comrades. Lastly is Umbra, a boy who claims to be a vampire, although he has no problem being out during daylight. He possesses the uncanny ability of immortality which he almost never explains. He likes to laugh, rub people the wrong way and is seen as the joker of the trio. However, his smiles belie a seriousness to him which he keeps hidden. Umbra was thought due to the need to create a mystery character that is somewhat hard to fully trust.
What’s your process of creating a fantastical world?
That’s a great question! I typically imagine just enough of the world to get started, without knowing everything about it. For example, in the case of Blue Lunar & The Apex Grail, I knew enough that it was a world with lands yet to fully be explored, and that a blue moon orbits the world. From there, I create as I go along, in many ways seeing the world through the main character’s eyes. This not only helps to get the story moving, but also keeps a level of excitement from an author perspective, for of course the last thing I would want is to grow bored of my own world. Essentially, I create the laws of the fantasy world (gods, mortals and demons etc) and then allow my imagination to do the rest. In many ways, I’d like to think that the creation of fantasy worlds take a certain kind of faith in the imagination.
In your bio it states a wide and varied career, it says you started out composing music. What genre did you compose and where can people find it?
Yes I used to compose music! In fact, I am quite the piano player. I used to compose orchestral background music to short films in my university days. I absolutely adored composing piano and string pieces. You can find music to a past short film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVrjap6n_c
Where can people follow you and find out more about your book?
You can find me on on Instagram @authorricky
I am also on Amazon and good reads at Ricky Baxter
Interview with Robert McNamara Actor and Artistic Director Interview conducted by Louise Cannon at Bookmarks and Stages
Recently, I interviewed actor and artistic director – Robert Mcnamara at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the biggest of its kind in the world, where many people arrive with their shows or arrive with as visitors to watch them, from all around the world. SCENA Theatre presents Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka, part of the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, showing August 4-13, 15-20, 22-27 (20:10 BST). Robert McNamara returns to the stage in a riveting one-man show.
Robert Mcnamara and I met in a small bar at the venue – The Zoo Southside, where he is currently performing his play ‘Report to an Academy’, based on a story by Franz Kafka, where the main theme is survival. Discover what the play is about and then I will commence with the interview. I asked 7 questions and the answers are fascinating about the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, how his career in acting and directing began, Franz Kafka and his current play – Report to an Academy and what it’s like to play an ape evolving to be more human-like, the universally important themes and more… After the interview, you can find a link to where to purchase tickets. Please note, I am not affiliated in any way.
Synopsis
Discover the missing link An ape evolves to behave like a human and presents his story of survival and the vile details of his captivity to a scientific Academy in this wild tale by the existential master, Kafka. Based on the classic short story by the master of existential and absurdist storytelling, Franz Kafka (author of The Metamorphosis). Acclaimed German theatre director Gabriele Jakobi has adapted the classic short story, Report to an Academy, into a powerful, provocative drama featuring actor/director Robert McNamara. The play centres on an intelligent ape named “Red Peter” who was captured in a West Africa hunting expedition and sent to Europe on a ship. To effect his survival, Peter learns to mimic and imitate the ship’s crew from his cage. By evolving to behave like a human, he devises an escape. Ultimately, Peter presents his fascinating tale of transformation—and the horrid details of his former ape life—to a scientific Academy. McNamara’s performance brings a shocking parable to life and compels patrons to ponder the issues of free will, animal rights, and vegetarianism. Report was first presented to sold-out houses in DC’s 2014 Capital Fringe Festival and was later staged in Europe at the Prague Fringe Festival and at the English Theatre Berlin.
Please join me in welcoming, all the way from the USA – Robert McNamara on to Bookmarks and Stages.
We spoke about the Edinburgh Fringe Festival . He has an illustrious career. I, however wanted to know what his experience was so far at the festival. He said this:
“We had a show years ago called Sister Mary Explains It All For You, performed in a technical college. I was there for 4 weeks and SOLD OUT and had a great experience. We’ve done Kafka in all kinds of places, last year was The Old Red Lion in Islington, London, Finland and then the National Theatre of Nairobi before that in Berlin, Prague and Washington.
Speaking of the festival he says:
“I think it is a wonderful worldwide address to showcase your work in and is also going to give us a lot of energy for the show. It’s The cultural event and probably globally in the month of August and you can’t really say you’ve hit all the festivals without really coming to – as they say in Iraq – “The Mother of Them All”. The Edinburgh Festival, which I believe was established in 1949 as the first beacon of hope after World War 2, culturally speaking. It has always been on my radar – London and Edinburgh.
I used to have a theatre company in Dublin called Dublin Stage One Theatre, so I’m offay with the theatre system in the UK. I was educated in Dublin in Trinity College, so it was always very close to some of my origins.”
It turns out Dublin Stage One Theatre played a vital role in Dublin and was set up by Douglas Kennedy and Robert Mcnamara. Its purpose was setting up new and eclectic shows Ireland had not seen before.
How His Career Began in the Acting and Directing Role:
“Basically I was an actor in Washington DC in student productions in Georgetown University. Then when I graduated, I ran away to France to become a writer and lived in a monastery for 5 months, L’Abbie Sénanque. I had a job there as assistant director and I had no intention to act or direct or do any of that, then I was in Trinity in Dublin and I always loved the theatre first and foremost, so I was walking through the front gates at TCD and I saw them doing some plays by William Butler Yeats called the Cuhulain Cycle, which on one ever does except for me, I did them just recently in America. I said I’d read for that. So I went in and read for it and that changed the course of my life.
I was just acting in Dublin pursuing a couple of degrees and then found that I was acting all the time, but they were running out of directors.”
He kept asking actors if they could direct this and that and they said no, so he ended up directing himself.
“I did a lot of things like ‘The Caveman Cometh’ by John Henry Jones, a play by Henry Fielding – a satire called ‘Tom Thumb the Great’, which is really funny, very rarely done and dates back to the 18th century. Then I did ‘Agamenon’ by Aeschylus, translated by Louis Mcniece. Then I performed in a company called Dublin Stage One Theatre and the rest is history.
Favourite Theatre Shows:
“At the end of your life, the middle and beginning, you’re only going to see 10 performances that you really cared for. I was fortunate enough to see A Midsummer’s Night Dream at Peterbrooke in the 70’s when I was a kid in Georgetown, Washington.
The second – a production by Samual Beckett of Waiting For Godot, which he saw in the Abbey Theatre on a Sunday night.
The third is anything directed by anything directed by his wife, Gabriele Jakobi- Berlin based German director one being – Cigarettes and Chocolate by Anthony Minghella. Gabriele Jakobi won Best Director of the Year for “Theater Heute” Magazine for her direction of “Penthesilea” by Heinrich von Kleist,
The fourth is Rick Cluchey in Krapp’s Last Tape directed by Samuel Beckett.
Live theatre comes and goes and the things that really resonate, there aren’t that many.
Report to an Academy and the Interest in Franz Kafka’s Works
“He’s (Kafka) always writing about outsiders trying to integrate into society and being presented with insurmountable obstacles and after that, all that heaviness Kafka has, certainly, I like his humour and it appeals to me, very, very much. His humour is really off the scope. He throws adjectives and he throws around obscure outsider, alienation and existentialism. He likes people, believe it or not. The humour in his voice is shocking and his accuracy in portraying people in an existentialist crisis is shockingly accurate, absurd and funny and there’s a kind of macabre humour that you find in any Stanley Kubrick film for instance. He has done a lot of Kafka, including in The Trial, by Kafka directed by Berkhoff. I heard him do a bit of this and it sounds fantastic! The acting ability and to perform off the cuff is outstanding!
Robert Mcnamara then went off to do workshops all the time at the Czech Embassy (the Czech-Slovak Embassy) on Spring and Freedom Street in Washington DC. He also imparted to me: “That’s what he called it after The Velvet Revolution. He went onto say: “We did an evening of Czech literature and we worked on the small pieces, the really obscure parables that are almost like Jewish religious paradigms. Then we did The Castle Das Schloss, which is really funny and I did a version of his play ‘American’.
“We did The Metamorphosis and certainly the Metamorphosis which everyone claims to have read is just like No Exit, you’ve either read it in high school or college for your leaving certs. People say I’ve read it, but of course they’ve never seen it. The thing is with The Metamorphosis is the the tale of Gregor Samsa waking up one morning and finding out he’s a dung beetle or a cockroach and this is of course the inhumanity that comes from his family. This is a paradigm for the holocaust that Kafka foresaw because of wisdom and insight and vision.
The play Report to an Academy or in German is Bericht en eine Akademie, is the companion piece to The Metamorphasis, where Gregor Samsa becomes a non-human, a bug. In Report to An Academy, the ape becomes a human-being to survive.”
Playing the Central Character in Report To An Academy
The central character, as you say, is an ape called Red Peter becomes human like to survive. He is a survivor and philosopher. I asked him about his research and experience to convey the emotions and what did he bring of himself to do this. Interestingly he imparted that he doesn’t usually talk too much about himself, but would be honest about his answer, so it was an honour to hear what he had to say. He said this:
“Usually when I’m acting and directing at the same time… This isn’t my direction, this is my wife’s direction – Gabriele Jakobi.” – Award winning director mentioned previously.
Basically it’s a short story, so when we sat down at a table in the early readings (much like how we were sitting at a table). He discussed playing this guy like a broken down vaudevillian and felt how it could be played differently, instead in a tuxedo or tails and waistcoat to reach the truth of the piece.
“Red Peter is performing in a circus or a shabby vaudeville, so is taking a leaf from the page of the entertainer John Osbourne. Basically the point of view is turning off what I know in my mind and trying to be almost like a child, like an ape, a person comes from another environment and being tossed into another environment, where it’s life and death and if he gets it right or wrong or he could stop eating or stop willing to live. I had to explore this whole range of emotions about what’s not – what’s not possible, also when you have to accommodate yourself in a situation where you have no power to control things. Normally in rehearsals I want to be solving the problems and to have to open up as an actor to be vulnerable again, to also be conscious of very small things, almost like a child. You have to go back in time, when you were unformed and it was your parents fighting or your mum yelling at you or something that blew your mind. The ape is walking on dynamite sometimes because he’s doing a balancing act. If he shows he understands the whole thing is rigged, they’re going to put him in a cage in a zoo, but if he gets out…
Originally it wasn’t a play, so the adaptation was by Gabriele Jakobi , who made it into a play, with music with underscores, voyage… it is a voyage. The ape is kidnapped in the west coast of Africa, he’s shot twice. So, in the movement category he took a leaf out of midnight cowboy by Dustin Hoffman, who plays Ratso Rizzo (at which point he imitates him to show he’s quite in your face.) ” The ape has an attitude, but he’s also king of the jungle.
Themes
Going into themes of survival, animal rights, free will, the ape has a choice between going between going to the Zoological Garden or the Music Hall and of course he goes to the music hall, I wondered what was thought of the ape’s choices and decisions made.
Matter-of-factly, Robert said: “Survival! Survival because he figures he would die inside the cage, because your heart would be broken you know. They always have these ASPCA ads (equivalent to RSPCA and SSPCA in the UK) with poor dogs or cats in a cage, can you imagine an ape in a cage? It was a small cage. His face is turned towards the locker. The locker and made up the fourth side and the whole construction was too small for me to stand up in and to narrow to sit down in, so I had to squat, with my knees bent and trembling All…The…Time! He’s being tortured all along the way and he’s smart and he’s “playing the system”, but he also makes the decision, and this is the crux of the piece, not to be free. He’s not “Borne Free”, He’s Borne Free on his terms and he doesn’t want human freedom. Again, it is Kafka being sharp, saying this is freedom in society, and you get to run around in some sub-standard job until the day you die and when you’re dead you pay for it and they bury you and that’s it.
He had a PHD in law, has a legal mind and is a German speaking Jewish, Czech and a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and basically he had different identities; so the ape, following in his master’s footsteps has different identities, so I’m a shape-changer in the play, while I’m trying to communicate his story. There’s a moment of self-realisation passes about the emotions, where he realises he’s living a lie, he’s a ‘freak’. He’s not human, he’s not an ape anymore. He’s taken away to a place called No Way Out! He’s in No Man’s Land and he’s trapped! He got out of one trap and into another trap. That’s like people in life, they think: I’ll do this job for a while and they end up staying for 40 or 50 years, or I’ll just stay in this relationship for a while because I won’t bluff for anything better because I don’t want it. I’m comforted by the level of misery that I’m operating in. So, the ape is a thinker. He’s like your primeval philosopher King of the Jungle, but he’s also a lot of fun.
Franz Kafka is relevant for today’s audiences, so I gave space to allow Robert to say what he hoped people would take away from the play. Instantly, he answered – Pathos, Understanding, A Love of Kafka and hopefully A Love of The Play. To Think of Other People. To realise in the times we live in, close to post-apoloyptic, with Covid, shut down theatres for two years, people dying, but hope they would take away a Sense of Compassion, To Think of Other People. To realise in the times we live in, close to post-apoloyptic, with Covid, shut down theatres for two years, people dying, but hope they would take away a Sense of Compassion and FUN!
The problem is, you’re also laughing whilst disapproving, so if I’ve done my job, it’s to make you think about things. People are loving the show and says there are generous audiences in Scotland. I used to live in Scotland in Prestwick”.
He then injected even more humour by saying “my family was here (in Scotland), my brother got put back a grade in America for having a Scottish accent award, they couldn’t understand a damn word he was saying. Robert then went onto live in Ireland for 8 years and says “Your rain here in Scotland doesn’t fool me. I’m used to it.”
He divulged that by the time he’s finished at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, he would have performed this play close to 100 times.
After Edinburgh, he is taking the play to Ukraine.
He would like to return to Scotland with a bigger show.
SCENA Theatre – Washington DC’s International Theatre over 35 years producing 100’s of plays around the world and we’d love to make Edinburgh one of our temporary homes, having performed in Denmark, Poland, Germany, Bahrain, Vienna, Former Yugoslavia, Zahrib and many, many other places in Europe and he would love to be here in Scotland again.
Interview with A Blog Tour Organiser With Kelly Lacey Conducted by Lou
I am celebrating various authors and actors on my blog in individual blog posts, until September, when my blog turns 5 years old. Part of my journey in blogging is also joining blog tours. I recently had the opportunity to interview Kelly Lacey who founded Love Books Tours. Find out more below, and then onto the Q&A.
Blog Tours! Lots of you will see this as a tag on social media or an intro before a review, thanking a particular organiser. I join in on quite a few, as do lots of other bloggers. I am aware this can be a bit of a mysterious world for some. So, I wanted to uncover for what this really means and what a day in the life of one looks like. Discover all of this from a Q&A I conducted with Kelly Lacey from her company – Love Books Tours, who, incidentally, along with Wendy H. Jones, who I wrote an article about recently, encouraged and persuaded me into starting a blog. Also discover Kelly was inspired to start a blog and then become a blog tour organiser, how to sign up if you are a blogger and how she can assist, if you are an author and some of the recent blog tours she has organised, including one I joined.
So, without further ado, let’s welcome Kelly Lacey, the founder of Love Books Tours onto my blog for 6 questions and her 6 informative, fascinating answers, plus links to social media and website at the end.
1. What or who inspired you to become, not only a book blogger but also a virtual book tour organiser?
Back in 2017, Joanne from PortobelloBookBlog inspired me to become a book blogger. I remember sitting with her during lunch as she explained everything. After that day, I knew that I had to create my own blog. Through my journey as a blogger, I found myself connecting with a lot of authors. After my mother had experienced a number of strokes, I needed to find something I was good at that I could do from home. I realized my next step was to delve into book publicity. In 2018, I decided to take a leap of faith and started Love Books Tours.
From the get-go, LBT has always supported both indie and traditional authors. Not only do we work with big publishing houses such as Marvel, Penguin, and Canelo, but we also work with smaller publishing houses such as Fledgling Press. I am proud to say that we have really taken off, and it has been an incredible journey thus far.
2. For those who don’t know, what is a blog tour organiser?
As a virtual book tour organiser, LBT offers the perfect solution to promoting books and helping them reach a larger audience. With our 7, 10 and 14-day campaigns.
Our LBT tour hosts are amazing and during the campaign period, they will read and review your book and provide constructive feedback every day. We pride ourselves on the honesty of our reviews as we believe that this is an integral part of improving and promoting a book.
But wait, there’s more! A book can have multiple tours, not just one at the time of its release.
Virtual book tours are an excellent way to breathe new life into your book, creating a buzz and generating interest among your target audience.
At LBT, we understand the effort and hard work that goes into writing a book. Hence, we make it our priority to provide a hassle-free experience and help your book achieve the recognition it deserves.
3. What does a typical day look like for you?
As a tour organiser, I stay busy with six to ten tours scheduled every week, along with a one day campaign and our beloved read-along service.
My mornings start bright and early at 6 am with the task of tackling emails and social media. There is a lot to do on social media, from sharing posts to choosing review quotes that best fit our client’s needs. I also have to regularly connect
with clients over video calls to ensure they have the best possible book package.
4. What are the benefits of going to a blog tour organiser for both author and publisher and for a blogger signing up to be part of a tour?
The benefit for my author/publisher clients is delivering a successful campaign with a high reach and the bonus of all the reviews. Their satisfaction and approval is my top goal.
For book bloggers, applying to be a tour host is a great way to support authors.
With LBT we work with new and established authors. I have created a small family of hosts on our Whatsapp chat who are amazing. We also have our super supportive host team. With over 2000 book bloggers signed with us and more applications each day, we love to build up the bookish support.
If you are considering starting book blogging or bookstagramming you can apply here. We work worldwide with all genres.
5. Why should people choose you in particular?
Embarking on a virtual book tour can be daunting, but luckily, the UK boasts a few reliable tour organisers. The key is finding the perfect fit for your unique needs. It’s crucial to select an organiser with an established presence and reach. Before deciding, read their testimonials and review the quality of their work. If you’re looking for someone who’s passionate about your success and will handle your campaign with the utmost professionalism, look no further than me. I am dedicated to crafting a tailored tour that resonates with your readers and drives traffic to your platform. Let’s work together to bring your book to the masses!
6. What are the upsides and downsides of being a blog tour organiser?
The upsides are plentiful, all the amazing love for each book on tour is very satisfying. The feedback I receive after sending my client report after each tour always makes all the hard work worth it. Supporting the book community fills me with pride.
When it comes to the disadvantages of organising the tours. The only hiccup is the occasional book blogger who may take advantage of the situation by signing up for tours and not delivering on their end of the bargain by not posting their review. But fear not, as these delinquent bloggers are quickly caught and barred from any future opportunities. So, there’s really no need to worry about any major downsides when it comes to receiving a quality experience.
Today, as part of the last day of the blog tour, I have an interview with author of Claimed By The Viking Chief –Sarah Rodi. Thanks to Rachel’s Random Tours for inviting me onto the tour. Now, let’s welcome Sarah Rodi to my blog. First, check out the blurb and then onto the interview where we talk inspiration, the themes of her book, libraries, what she does on publication day and more… There are some really fascinating answers to gain lots of knowledge from…
Blurb
She can be his lover
…but never his wife!
Forced into servitude, Wren is quietly miserable…until Jarl Knud arrives at her settlement, seeking an alliance through marriage. Despite their initial sizzling attraction Wren despises everything the Jarl represents—and he needs a high-status bride to save his people, not a servant like her. As Wren uncovers the man beneath the fierce Viking chief she’s tempted to claim one forbidden night of passion…but will it ever be enough?
What or who inspired you to write historical fiction and in-particular, the Viking period?
I’ve always loved reading Mills & Boon novels – you can lose yourself in them completely. It’s because I’m such a fan that I’d always dreamed of being published by them one day. I live in Cookham, a village on the Thames in Berkshire, and in the 8th century, the river here divided the territories of Mercia and Wessex. Cookham was built around a Saxon monastery and many names in the area are still linked to the Vikings, after they rowed up the river in 870. This fascinated me, and a spark was lit. I now write passionate romantic stories based in the Viking times of the 9th century. And now every family holiday is based around a different ‘Viking’ location in the UK! Sutton Hoo in Suffolk or Viking Bay in Kent, the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, the Holy Island in Northumberland, where the Vikings first invaded England… I use these historical settings to help inspire me and I can then ground my characters in a time and place and I get lost in the romance of it all.
In your bio you talk about devouring books from the library, what purpose do you think libraries serve today and how important do you think they are?
Libraries will always have a huge part to play in our communities. Not only are they a valuable source of information and a place to go to seek sanctuary and read, nowadays our libraries are often the hub of our towns and villages, hosting festivals and events to bring people together.
Claimed By the Viking Chief talks about servitude and, in turn, class when it comes to marriage status. What drew you to this?
I loved writing Wren and Jarl Knud’s story – these two characters are made for each other, even though their stations in life couldn’t be more different! I can’t imagine anything worse than having your freedom taken away. My heroine, Wren, was taken captive in battle when she was just a girl. She was torn from the arms of her mother. Gifted to the enemy chieftain’s daughter to be her companion and thrall, she has lived a life of servitude. Jarl Knud knows he must make a marriage alliance with Earl Ingrid to keep his stronghold safe from attack, yet deep down, he doesn’t want to, and he ends up falling for her servant girl instead… This is a rags to riches, enemies to lovers, forced proximity story, but most of all, I wanted it to be about forbidden romance. Knowing they can’t be together because of all the constraints of their society gives their passion so much more depth, and their backstories and their journey to their happy ever so much more worthwhile.
Do you feel class, in-particular when it comes to marriage, still exists today?
Hopefully nowhere near as much as it did back then. Although I love writing about Viking times, I’m pretty glad those rules of society don’t exist like that today.
How do you celebrate your publication day?
I usually have a little dance around the kitchen when my book first comes through the door and I get to hold it in my hand. Publication day will be about spreading the word on social media that it’s now available to buy, and then hopefully having a few bubbles on the evening to celebrate it being out in the wild.
It was supposed to be a simple job: steal the paintings, leave the forgeries…
Thanks to my parents I grew up surrounded by books. Dime paperbacks from the thirties, historical novels, science fiction adventures, pulp thrillers and noir mysteries, along with books about the Greek myths and a small collection of leather-bound classics. I always knew I wanted to write fiction but didn’t know where to start until I began writing short stories. At the time, the bulk of what I was reading for pleasure was crime fiction, and I found my voice in those stories. A mystery can incorporate any style of storytelling, from humor to horror, historical to romance, or all of the above. The only necessary ingredients for a mystery novel are equal parts intrigue and suspense, the rest is up to you.
In a world where the gods have long deserted mortals, a powerful sorcerer emerges from a 100-year-old prison. Releasing an army of beasts, he enters a path of destruction while searching for an ancient relic.
Bookmarks and Stages by Lou 