WE ARE ALWAYS EXCITED when we publish a new book, now we are especially thrilled with the publication of a first book from Gay Terry titled Meeting The Dog Girls, now in stores or available from our website. Our readers can meet the author in the following interview.

Where did you grow up?

Northern Appalachia, in the mountains between Pittsburg & the West Virginia border: deer hunters, coalmines, isolation.

What got you first interested in writing?

It must have been an event in a past life—I’ve had the compulsion to write ever since I could hold a pencil. Periodically, I’ve given it up in frustration but ended up scribbling in notebooks, journals.

What were you reading back then?

At a young age, I started reading books about the sea, pirates and legends, true accounts… I wanted to captain a ship even though I’d never seen an ocean. I was bad at math, and algebra did me in so I gave up the dream of navigating a ship (and its a good thing because, boy, do I get seasick fast!). In junior high I started taking books out of the library on the basis of title and cover. I read a lot of mysteries. One day I picked up a Philip Jose Farmer book and got hooked on science fiction. In college I decided I had to read classics, books you never see in back country schools that train you to be housewives and miners. I was totally bored till I got to Kafka. Oh, yes, and there was Mad Magazine. My friend, Patti, & I saved up our money to buy one copy between us and read every word.

So what made you think you could write?

Well, I’m still learning… I wrote for school newspapers in high school & college. I got thrown off my high school paper at the end of my senior year for writing a particularly bloody & brutal valentine poem, but it didn’t discourage me. I realized early that I wasn’t good at true & false tests or multiple-choice tests (I tend to see hordes of possibilities), but give me an essay test & I can ace it with no problem (as long as spelling doesn’t count).

You currently in a writing workshop run by Carol Emshwiller, how does that work?

We bring in our work and read it, then Carol goes over it carefully. Now her eyes are giving her a lot of trouble but she’s a very perceptive listener. She’s been extremely encouraging and I really value her advice.

Do you think Carol’s workshop has helped your storytelling?

Yes, definitely. Not only Carol, but everyone in the group is very astute, very helpful, intelligent and creative is all kinds of ways.

In your introduction to Meeting the Dog Girls you state that a few of the stories came from a diaries that turned into an illustrated autobiographical novel. Care to elaborate?

I have this really quirky family photo collection and a rich fantasy life that’s tightly entwined with “reality,” (so tightly, that I see no reason to acknowledge the difference; our fantasies are a part of our reality, aren’t they?) So I used the photos to illustrate my life.  It’s called:

REMAINS: Or Dead Relatives, Real and Imagined

Preface

The clicking you hear is the sound of wind slapping the rope against the flagpole. The caretaker’s gone home; he leaves every day at four. Everyone else in this cemetery is dead. I come to watch the sunset. The people on this hill have the best view of town. Of course the price they pay for this view is unfortunate.

Ok, it’s about death, but it’s darn funny.

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To read a story from Meeting the Dog Girls see below. To buy the  paper or ebook click here.