Third Wednesdays
Tucker-Reid H. Cofer Library
5234 LaVista Road
Tucker, GA 30084
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Chapter Leader:
Charles de Andrade
5234 LaVista Road
Tucker, GA 30084
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Chapter Leader:
Charles de Andrade
Alternate Arts: Do you prefer Portia, P. K., or Dr. Wayne? Portia: I don’t have a preference. It’s kind of awkward to be called Doctor when I’m not in a professional setting. I think it’s easier for kids to call me P. K. So when I do storytelling or anything with younger audiences I definitely go by P. K. Alternate Arts: When did you know you had an interest in writing? Portia: I have always enjoyed writing. Even as a young girl, I would enter into writing and oratorical competitions. I wrote in college for the Spelman Spotlight. After I graduated, I wrote a lot of poetry. And then it was when I was studying for my degree and spending time with my little ones that I began writing stories and actually publishing my books. Alternate Arts: What’s your earliest writing experience? Portia: Wow. I can remember in the second grade I had a horrible experience. I ended up having an accident at school and all of the other kids in my class called me Portia the Pee Pee Princess. I remember going home and being totally embarrassed. After that, I started making stories with Portia the Pee Pee Princess as the main character. She would go have all types of embarrassing debacles. But it was fun. I think it was my way of releasing whatever it was I feeling. At that time, especially, I didn’t think that I fit in. So writing was a way for me to express my feelings without having to talk to others. Alternate Arts: What’s the first thing you remember reading? Portia: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. My mom was very big on reading. I guess that’s why I am such a stickler about reading now. But yeah, I remember being in the first grade and my mom making me read Maya Angelou’s book. I was like five years old with this intense chapter book. Of course, I read picture books before then but that is the first book I can really remember reading... Alternate Arts: What’s your earliest writing experience?Chuck: The earliest one that I remember was winning $5 in an essay contest when I was in the fifth grade. That was second place; I was shooting for first place. It paid $10. I wrote for the student newspaper all through high school. The newspaper was a junior class project, but there was nobody else who could up with enough synonyms to write the sports column. The first time I actually received a paycheck for writing was when I was 19 and writing for the local weekly.
Alternate Arts: What’s the first thing you remember reading? Chuck: I spent much of my childhood in the local library. The first book I remember from there was Ivanhoe (Sir Walter Scott). At that point in my life (cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians), a knight was a hero I could identify with. Alternate Arts: Who has influenced your writing the most? Chuck: I had two identifiable and significant influences. The first was my mother. She wasn’t a writer. However, she was a voracious reader. We were encouraged to read pretty much anything. Largely because of my mother, our family produced two writers who managed to make a living for many years by stringing words together. The second was Josefina Niggli, who ran the Professional Writing program at Western Carolina. She contended that she couldn’t teach anyone to write, but she could teach us to make a living at it. For years after I was graduated, I sent my work to Josifina, and she would mark it up and send it back. (For a more detailed account of Josefina and her influence, see this post at Chuck’s website.) Alternate Arts: Who or what inspires you now? Chuck: At my age, it may be a little grandiose to call it inspired, but I’m engaged by a number of things. I’ve been married sixty years, and it’s a challenge to keep a marriage fresh for so long. I have four grandchildren, and I want to be an influence in their lives. And I fear for our country in its current political climate. I guess that goes back to the grandchildren. I want them to have the country I had to grow up in, but better... Alternate Arts: You’ve worked in education, corporations and manufacturing, and you’ve served with a mission group in France. What drew you to writing, and when did you know you had an interest in it?
Frannie: I never really thought about writing because I have a brain disability in language arts. As I aged, I couldn’t find a job. Everybody said I had too much experience in academics and stuff. I turned to the Lord and said, “What am I supposed to do?” That’s when he started speaking to me about possibly writing and I said, “Lord, you do remember that I have never been very good in this area?” Then I said, “Okay!” and “What?” That’s when I started the first book about codependency and addiction because they have always been an issue in my family of origin. So, that was a real natural place to go... Perhaps the best way to know history is to relive it, which is what authors Julie and Rick Clarke have done and written about…
Alternate Arts: You live, love and write history. Which came first: doing reenactments or writing your book? Julie and Rick: The reenactments came first. We had to follow the steps of the ancestors before we had enough information to write a book... |
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