In 1997, I fell asleep while driving and awoke from a coma paralyzed by a spinal cord injury. My wife later suggested I try writing a novel as a positive focus for my life and thoughts. At the time, my hands were still partially impaired, so scrawling the initial drafts on yellow tablets acted as a therapy in more than one way (my hands eventually recovered).
2. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Yes! Part of my need to write this story concerns the direct cause of my accident. I knew I was falling asleep, and yet I continued to drive because I'd stubbornly determined to make it halfway to Colorado before stopping for the night. I actually paralyzed myself and put my wife through a nightmare because I ignored my reality for the sake of a [comparatively] meaningless goal. Therefore, in writing The Sibyl Reborn, the subtle warning I've tried to share with the reader is this: Take care when interpreting reality to fit momentary convenience...because to reach our ultimate goals, we need to know where we are clearly to choose our steps.
Yes! Part of my need to write this story concerns the direct cause of my accident. I knew I was falling asleep, and yet I continued to drive because I'd stubbornly determined to make it halfway to Colorado before stopping for the night. I actually paralyzed myself and put my wife through a nightmare because I ignored my reality for the sake of a [comparatively] meaningless goal. Therefore, in writing The Sibyl Reborn, the subtle warning I've tried to share with the reader is this: Take care when interpreting reality to fit momentary convenience...because to reach our ultimate goals, we need to know where we are clearly to choose our steps.
3. Who was your favorite character and who was your least favorite character and why?
LOL! That's a dangerous question! (I could write volumes:<) To tell the truth, my characters have been inside my head for so long I think they're real-like Cassandra is probably hiking today with Homer in Polecat Gulch while Sylvia taps out a new expose' in Denver (and Margot hatches a blackmail scheme using E.R.P.). If you forced me to pick, I'd say that Sylvia is my favorite because her background, ambitions, and internal conflicts offer options galore for character arc. Farr is probably my least favorite because he's so devious he revolts me.
4. What did you enjoy most about writing The Sibyl Reborn?
That's easy! Surprising my wife and making her laugh when I read each scene to her aloud. I read these scenes within a year or two my SCI when our situation was especially grim and she needed to laugh. Plus, I love the sound of her laughter. As an extra benefit, I figured if the story entertained her, perhaps The Sibyl Reborn had potentials.
5. What were the challenges (research, literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing the story to life?
The biggest challenge was overcoming my ego. I apparently thought I was Charles Dickens reincarnated because my first drafts were so crammed with complex sentences and compound words it required a feat of concentration even for me to picture the action. Luckily, my wife-who's my template for Cassandra-has a bluntness and spirit to match. She tore it to shreds (my ego:~) so many times I finally sought professional help (for my writing, not my psyche) and admitted my blunders.
6. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in The Sibyl Reborn?
Nope. I think it says exactly what I wanted to say. Believe me, (to paraphrase Jane Austen from Pride and Prejudice) having taken fifteen years to publish The Sibyl Reborn after sketching its initial draft, I hardly would have scrupled to wait another ten to get it right.. ;~)
7. When did you become interested in writing?
Good question!
I first approached writing seriously while writing non-fiction articles about Science during my stem cells activism. I was then the biotech writer for The Seoul Times. I also wrote commentaries for online journals. My exposure to national biotech policy-making caused me to realize The Sibyl Reborn was hugely relevant to how politicians and industries manipulate the public (and our climatic future). I therefore returned to the manuscript determined to study novel-writing to give my characters and their story the attention they deserved.
8. What do you like to read in your free time?
If I'm reading (as opposed to listening to audio books for entertainment), I tend to read non-fictions about writing, public speaking, environmental issues, or psychology. Listening to audio books allows me to experience the story along with Selene (which we enjoy far more than TV). Our tastes are pretty eclectic. We like to laugh with P.G. Wodehouse and Terry Pratchett; but we also like science fiction (The Host by Stephanie Meyers), urban fantasy (Enchantment by Orsen Scott Card), classics, and mysteries.
9. Share with us something about yourself that we wouldn't see in your bio or on any other blogs (this can be anything from the type of music you like, your favorite color, or even your favorite meal - share whatever you want your fans to know about you)
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Thank you so much, Mr. Kelly for sharing your inner-most thoughts on the process of creating and writing The Sibyl Reborn with us. Your personal journey is also challenging and noteworthy. You have turned a devastating event into your motivation to change the world for the better - bravo! I am honored to have met you and wish you well on your journey bringing Cassandra's story to the world.
Would you like to know more about Mr. Kelly? Check out his Bio:
Sometimes
life gives us what we ask for but definitely not what we want.
In
1997, facing a job transfer to a strange state, I used metaphysics to
ask the universe for a way to stay in Colorado without being tied to
the railroad industry. A month later, I fell asleep while driving and
awoke paralyzed for life—with a disability income that allowed me
stay in Colorado. Even worse, I had known I
was falling asleep but kept driving willfully. I told myself I'd be
okay and kept driving for my convenience the following
day...a day I spent in a coma.
I little suspected
my blunders would lead to my twice serving as a surrogate White House
spokesperson, or to my glimpsing a terrible connection between my
accident, my paralysis, politicians, and global warming...or to the
novel that Cloey so kindly reviewed.
Before my spinal
cord injury, I loved hiking, dancing to wild Appalachian or Celtic
music, my wife Selene, our cat and dog (a mostly-beagle named Homer),
and my job as a train dispatcher. Becoming paralyzed didn't change my
loves--only my options for expressing them. Rather than hike
with Selene, I imagined her in The Sibyl Reborn as a young
newlywed who loves to hike and who’s the reincarnated "Cassandra,"
the Trojan sibyl famed for never being believed when she tells the
truth. Because my Cassandra, an environmentalist, would never
give up over being laughed at or scorned, I depicted her using
creative metaphysics to unearth the prehistoric roots of her curse
with disastrous effects for her and Man.
Today
I live with Selene near the foot of Pikes Peak where I commune daily
(via peanuts and birdseed) with chipmunks, squirrels, a mule deer
named "Chloe" (Cloey, I swear
we named her Chloe long before I met you...and she's really a sweet
and lovely deer!:~). If you're curious about my novel or would just
like to connect, please don't hesitate to get in touch. I'd like to
meet you.
Cordially yours! James.
Cordially yours! James.
Still want to know more about The Sibyl Reborn or Mr. Kelly? Follow the links at:
Website: www.thesibylreborn.com or follow him on Twitter @thesibylreborn
The story is entertaining and enlightening, the price is right too so why not give it a try and buy it today at amazon you will not be disappointed
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