Marvelous Marie Gilbert

 

         

 

 

 

   Marie Gilbert, my friend, fellow writer and cohort chats with me about everything.  She agreed to a blog interview so I can share her amazing personality and interests with you.  Oh, and she's also just published a book.

 

 

Dawn:  You've enlightened me about zombies in that the idea of the undead symbolize something possible in reality.  Could you explain a little about this?

 

Marie:  I love writing about zombies because I believe they represent us for several reasons. I sometimes feel that people believe what they read or hear in the news without checking out the facts. We are letting other people do our thinking for us. Just because it’s on the internet doesn’t make it true. Anyone can put a spin on a story to make it look interesting, but we should check it out and when we don’t, we’re no better than a mindless zombie.

            We are what we eat. We are eating food that is bad for us. There is no getting around this. It was proven that the tobacco companies put addictive chemicals into cigarettes to get people hooked, and now, companies are doing this with our food, especially with processed food. I have an overly active imagination and I asked myself, “What if the government could control our minds via chemicals added to our food?”  Is it possible? The meats we buy already have hormones and antibiotics added; the next step would be so easy. This was one of the ways that ‘The Leader’ in my book, Roof Oasis, created his army of mindless slaves.

 

 

            I do a lot of research before writing a story. I’ve become very involved with organizations that are trying to make people aware of the consequences of pollution, fracking, GMO’s and how these things have an effect on living organisms. I’m a big fan of NASA and Space X and believe that life does exist on other worlds. In my book, I use a wormhole for Razhep to travel to our world. Is this possible? Why not? NASA is already planning for ‘faster than light’ space travel. I think we will see this sometime in the future.

 

Dawn:  When is the second book in your trilogy due out?  Your final book in this series?

 

Marie:  I’m hoping to get the second book of the series, Saving Solanda, out by next summer and then jump into the third and maybe fourth book of the series. I’m also hoping to get my Life with Fred and Lucy stories published within the next two years. I’ve accumulated a lot of fans from South Philadelphia, and surprisingly, from around the world that not only love reading the adventures of my dysfunctional family, but also tell me that my stories remind them of their childhood. I’m also working on a ghost story based on one of my investigations and a story about vampires.

 

Dawn:  You're the South Jersey's Writers' Group's promotional person organizing book signings for the groups' anthologies, "Tall Tales and Short Stories from South Jersey" and "Reading Glasses."  You also promote other authors' works from this group.  How does it feel to have a book of your own to promote after two years of promoting the group and others works?

 

Marie:  This past year has been one hell of an adventure that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I’ve had so much fun promoting via blogs and book signings. Dawn Byrne and I travel all over the place doing book signings, and because of these trips, we have met some amazing people; some alive some not. Poor Dawn has had to suffer through my impromptu investigation on several of our outings, but that’s okay, Dawn still likes me and we haven’t taken home any unwanted guests.

            I’ve done several interviews for the South Jersey Writers Blog on the members of our group and also on the coffee shops and book stores that allowed us to do a book signing. People began to hear about our group and the group has grown since our anthologies were published.

Through my connections with Steampunk and ghost investigations, I’ve made many friends and have done many interviews, some for my blog http://gilbertcuriosities.blogspot.com and some for Biff Bam Pop, a pop culture website extraordinaire www.biffbampop.com   I love writing for Biff Bam Pop and working for Andy Burns was instrumental in my growth as a writer.

            This past year, I had the pleasure of interviewing Film Director, Chris Eilenstine for the independent film, The Soulless.  We became friends and I was invited to the private screening and the premier of the film, which I wrote about for Biff Bam Pop. Chris had ordered Roof Oasis from Amazon and was so pleased with my book, that he asked me to be part of his writing team that will be writing the bible for the television series. I am so excited.

            I love interviewing people. I want to learn about them and their work, and I want to know what inspires them to reach for the stars. But, when it comes to me being asked the questions, I freeze. I’m fine talking about me in the Fred and Lucy Episodes, or when I’m explaining what goes on during an investigation, but to be out in the open for an interview feels strange. I’ll have to get used to this.

            Thank you Dawn for taking the time to interview me and asking where I got my inspiration for Roof Oasis, my apocalyptic tale with a twist. Dawn and I will be out and about promoting the South Jersey Writers’ Group, Tall Tales and Short Stories from South Jersey, Reading Glasses and Roof Oasis. Come up and say hello to us.

 

Dawn:  Thank you, Marie, for sharing your fun and informative self with us.  I love going on the road with you and meeting more people than meets my eyes.


For more interviews of Marie, see: www.kevinstephany.wordpress.com,  and www.lorettasisco.com. 

 

 

 

Let the Children

            Minutes after 4, I rushed through the front door.  I started dinner, added fresh water to the dog's bowl and threw laundry into the washer.  My three youngest children set out their homework on our dining room table.  I bounced from food preparation to assignment monitor. 

            Playing this crazy game of back and forth got old, as old as I felt that day.  Priscilla, my pre-teen, walked into the kitchen from her after-school activity.  The dog greeted her by tripping me on one of my returns to the stove. 

            "Get this dog from under my feet.  She's gonna kill me yet.  Her hair's everywhere, and I'm sick of her smelling up the yard." 

            The reverberation of my voice stopped, and the house's stillness shocked me.  Priscilla stared wide-eyed, still wearing her jacket.  Seeing her frightened face, I knew she wanted to say something, but couldn't.  Coming home after her extended day to a ranting mother had stunned her. 

            Thinking this could scar her for life, I broke down crying.  "I'm sorry.  You just came through the door.  I shouldn't have jumped on you.  Who would want to come home to that?"

            We hugged, and I refocused.  It wasn't just the dog.  Working in a preschool classroom all day and trying to keep things from falling apart at home had frazzled me.  I needed to make a change, so I started with the dog.

            Priscilla had come to the age where being the mommy of a dog had lost its glamour.  Other things had taken her attention from Sprinkles.  But the hyper springer spaniel was a part of our family and giving her away could cause emotional damage to the children and, I had to admit, me. 

            My outburst had humbled me enough to see that troubleshooting this problem wasn't as difficult as I had expected.  Back in tune with reality, I noticed our son had slipped into the role my daughter had as Sprinkles' closest buddy.

            Once our family officially acknowledged my son as doggie's daddy, he took pride in feeding and walking Sprinkles without reminders.  The walks also helped with both their extra energies. 

            I worried that Priscilla would be hurt or jealous of this change in family status.  She seemed relieved though, watching Sprinkles leap with excitement as Forest jiggled her leash.  Priscilla's furry friendship had transformed to pet.  Just pet.  A hint that she was growing up.

            Me too.  I admitted to myself that a mature mother didn't have to function alone with household duties.  I can look for growth in myself to accept help from a capable child.  Part of my job as a parent is to look for progress in my children and tap new abilities as they develop before my eyes.  My hope for them is to realize how important their efforts are in our shared life. 

            So when issues arise, and I sense discord in myself, I see my daughter's fearful face that day in the kitchen.  This reminds me to step back and explore why I'm feeling so overwhelmed.  Usually it's a need for new rotation of chores, growth that needs more inclusion, or maybe just fatigue.  Even supermoms who love dogs can accept help from children.