Monday, April 25, 2011

Q & A with DC Juris


Hi folks! ::waves:: DC Juris here!

So, I must confess, I couldn't come up with a single thing to write about this morning. Or rather, I came up with about a hundred things, but they all seemed stupid. LOL

I thought what I'd do instead, is post some reader questions that I've received in e-mails or messages, and the answers I gave. Sort of a mini interview, but by the readers. Kind of. Anyhow, here it is!

Q: I loved Calliph's name! How do you come up with character names? 

A: It depends. Sometimes, if I'm stuck on a name, I'll ask my husband, and just keep shooting down suggestions until he lands on something I really like. Also, I'm fond of taking my friends names and screwing them around until something interesting comes out of it. Calliph's name is a combination of my friend Phillip's first and last name.

Q: You write a lot but you have a day job, right? How do you stay focused on writing and not let the real world intrude?

A: For me, writing is a constant. It's something I do everyday, all the time, even if I can't physically get the information out of my head. For instance, right now, I'm thinking in my head “he typed” after each sentence. When people speak to me, I follow their words with mental additions of my own, such as “he said, raising an eyebrow at me in annoyance.” I literally live my life in a book, so there isn't a point when I'm not writing. I've learned over the years to scribble what I can, when I can. I write on scraps of paper, napkins, envelopes – whatever. Back in the day, when I worked for Publix supermarkets in Florida, I wrote whole stories on Presto slips, which are about the size of a personal check in length, and not as wide. :-)

Q: How do you make up your characters?

A: I don't. They come to me fully formed, of their own accord, and tell me about themselves. I don't sit down and think, “I'm going to write a story about a werewolf.” My characters just tap me on the shoulder and start talking.

Q: How do you keep all your characters straight (no pun intended!!)?

A: The same way I keep all the people in my life straight - I just know them. I do have notebooks for each couple, but I haven't as of yet made any character outlines, or anything like that. They're like my friends. I just know them.

Q: You write about a lot of kinky sh*t. Do you do any of that stuff?

A: Some of it. ::grin::

Q: Will you marry me? (Seriously…this was a question.)

A: No. Maybe. Buy me dinner and we'll talk.

Q: I downloaded your memoir from your website and it made me cry. Did all that stuff really happen? Did your family, like your extended family, not know enough to help you? How did you go from there to where you are now? What kept you going to get here?

A: Yep, it all happened. My extended family knew some of what was occurring. You have to realize, we lived over an hour from all of them, so it wasn't like they were at our house all the time. That being said, most of them did know the conditions I was living in, and no, they didn't help.

I got from there to here by perseverance and seeking to better myself through all avenues available. I moved out of my parents' house as soon as I could. I got therapy and anger management. What kept me going was that I didn't want to be a statistic - I wanted to be that guy who people would say, "you'd never know he'd been abused." I didn't want my past to dictate my future.

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by!

~DC

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