Prior to starting The Adventures Of Flash Meridian, I had been taking pictures of myself as a character I called “Rocket Boy”, then the first couple episodes of Flash Meridian were simply captions to pictures I took of my friends wearing vintage flight suits that I had bought on eBay. It wasn’t too long before I realized that the theme of the story was actually my life.
In The Adventures Of Mr.Pumpkinhead, I deal with such underrepresented groups as those with dyslexia and dementia. These are issues that touch my daily life, so it is only natural that they would seep into my writing.
I’ve been given the gift of dyslexia, and it has forced me to compensate for difficulties in creative ways. I’ve actually taken negative things and turned them into strengths. I still have difficulty with directions, but language is something I have come to love.
I am a full time night nurse in a senior care facility.
The sci fi genre seemed cool to me, I guess. As a kid I loved watching Lost In Space. I particularly liked the space episodes of The Twilight Zone and other old space movies.
I think one misconception about my writing is characterized by the statement “I don’t like science fiction.” Stories are stories about people. The setting isn’t what it is about. In my case, The Adventures Of Flash Meridian is my sci-fi autobiography. It’s about neither science nor fiction, though there are elements of both embedded within it.
I chose the genre because it was fun.
I write another, more whimsical story about a jack-o-lantern. It’s pretty easy to balance the two, because both of them were unintentionally autobiographical.
Different parts of me come out in the different stories.
People seem to think that the story of Flash Meridian is just silly and random. Maybe they’ve seen me around town in my silver space suit. If you haven’t actually read it, which most people have not, then you’d probably assume it’s lacking intelligent thought or content.
I got my love of storytelling from my Mom. She used to read to us, and she did the voices. Later, I read to my kids every night.
I spent my Junior year of high school in Jos, Nigeria, where I took a typing class. I was very homesick that year, and that was when I first discovered that writing could be an outlet for my feelings. I wrote about myself in the third person back then. So I’ve been writing for about 42 years.
Storytelling is an ancient way of communicating who we are. It’s an informative art form. Some storytelling is verbal or acted, some is written and some is pictorial. Our history gets passed down to us through myths and legends. We can be part of this tradition by offering our stories to the collective expression of humanity.
I believe that being creative is a spiritual act. Through writing, I search for meaning and beauty.
I want to inspire people. I want to encourage people, and give them permission to have fun and tap into their own story. Flash Meridian is less about space exploration than it is about self exploration. Through writing, I am able to organize my thoughts and present them not only to the public, but to myself in a way that is manageable. It’s a focused look at life events and the ramifications and feelings that are associated with them. Life zips by us so fast. The events happen in real time, but leave a lasting impression on us that actually makes us who we are. We’re not stagnant, but we have routines and habits. Writing helps me see below the veneer of daily tasks.
I got to be where I am in my life today by making it through all the days that preceded today. In every life, we experience great joys and great challenges. The joys are what we strive for, but the challenges are where we learn and grow.
My goals for writing my stories were to have fun, so from that standpoint I’ve been pretty successful.
I live in a remote town on Lake Superior, surrounded by the natural beauty of the boreal forest. That’s what artists and writers usually depict. And I do that, too. But I’m not aware of anyone else going the sci-fi route from here before. That kind of makes my story stand out.
Writing is fun for me, so it’s not hard to motivate myself to write. I don’t labor over outlines and plans. I just write. There’s something that takes over, or maybe it’s a shift in my thinking that happens, and the story flows out. Like opening the bank of a river to irrigate a field.
All I really have to do is find a quiet spot where I’m not distracted, and have the writing tools at hand.
I live alone, so it’s easy to find a spot that is conducive to writing.
Lately, I’ve been writing every day. Maybe it’s because I feel I have a lot to say. Maybe it’s because we’ve been having snowstorms so it’s nice to stay in. Whatever the reason, this has been a time for writing. When the pen starts moving, I hold on tight, because it doesn’t always do that. Other times, the paintbrush gets antsy, and I need to hold it for a while. Sometimes, the objects in the house are still, but my brain is not.
My writing style is definitely more intuitive than logical, though I hope it is a combination of the two. I have a message, or a point to my writing, but I’m an artist. I like to paint a picture with words.