Previous Interview by KC Heath - Originally published on Yet Another Book Review
Interview: GLORIA OLIVER
Gloria's Publications, to date:
Fantasy Novels
In The Service of Samurai Zumaya Publications Dec 2002
The Vassal of El Zumaya Publications Mar 2004
Anthologies
The Four Bubbas of the Apocalypse: Flatulence, Halitosis, Incest, and Ned Yard
Dog Press Dec 2003
Small Bites Coscom Sept 2004
Fundamentally Challenged Jeff Turner Nov 2004
KC: What state/province do you live in? Have you always lived there,
or are you originally from somewhere else; and if so, how did you get
transplanted?
Gloria: Currently I live in Texas. While my husband was born here and
has never lived anywhere else, I've been all over the place! Was born in Rio
Piedras, Puerto Rico. When my mom got remarried, we left the island and moved to
Ohio. Stayed there for a couple of years then moved to Texas for a year or two,
then up to New Hampshire. Right before I entered High School, we moved back to
Texas. Been here ever since. :-)
KC: With all of this moving around, I'll bet you've experienced
cultural differences. How have these affected your writing?
Gloria: Affected my writing? I'm sure it has. Trying to quantify how
is terribly difficult though. Most of those differences are buried in my
subconscious somewhere and hopefully my brain is putting such knowledge to good
use. Anything and everything you experience throughout life will only help your
writing. And to be honest, it's amazing how in some little things there is such
variation in our country. House styles, for example, are something you wouldn't
normally think much about. Yet can be extremely different from region to region.
I suppose it has helped me with my two novels as well, since one is set in a
totally different culture (In the Service of Samurai) and the other (Vassal of
El) has two cultures with one man torn between them in which I hopefully was
able to bring out the subtle and not so subtle differences in the two.
KC: Tell us a little about yourself.
Gloria: Hm, what to tell? Female, Aries, blood type O negative.
Married for twenty plus years and have a daughter. Have several cats and a
ferret. I work full time doing accounting and sneak in writing and reading
whenever I can. Have been writing for about 17 years, though only in the last 5
or so have I been aggressive about getting into print.
KC: What life experiences with family and work come out in your
writing? Why?
Gloria: I wouldn't say anything specific with my life has come out in
my writing. There are many writers who use their writings as therapy or outlets
for problems. I think I use the writing itself, regardless of what it is that I
am writing, as therapy--it keeps me from getting into trouble! :-) Yet I am sure
there are things in my writing I would never have conceived or been able to
convey without the experiences in my life. Basically everything that happens to
us becomes a subconscious source for our understanding of human nature which in
turn helps us with the motivations and characteristics woven into our
characters.
KC: Ha~ love it! . . . How did you get into writing?
Gloria: Stumbled into it really. Pretty much had an idea for a fantasy
epic that wouldn't go away, so I finally gave in and wrote it. Didn't do
anything for years after until I found some people who had an amateur press
association based on a Japanese Animated show called Gatchaman. I started
writing fan fiction for the APA along with the other members and got feed back
and encouragement from the people there. This pushed me to write more and start
to refine the craft, and eventually I got an idea for another novel and went
from there. Haven't looked back since.
KC: Did you publish the first story you ever wrote?
Gloria: No. But then again, at the time that I wrote it, it hadn't
been meant to be something for sale, and I never tried to sell it. The very
first story I wrote was a fan fiction piece based on original Star Trek. It was
a piece whose idea poked at me so much I had to put it down on paper. I was in
my early, early teens at the time. I wrote it because it made me and so I could
enjoy it, and never intended to do more with it than that. I don't even think
any one has ever seen it other than myself. I believe I've still got it tucked
away somewhere for nostalgic reasons.
KC: Tell us about your fan-fiction pieces for the APA .
Gloria: Not sure what to tell. Over the years I've been part of three
different amateur press associations all based on fandom for Japanese anime or
manga. The first, and the one I am still involved in, is Bird Scramble, which is
for fans of the show Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman. In the United States people
might recognize it as Battle of the Planets. It's had several other incarnations
in the States, but I can't remember the names at the moment. The other two APA's
I belonged to where for fans of St Seiya, and the other was for Cosmo Police
Justy. In the Apa's , those participating share art, stories, research, whatever
they can contribute. For me it was a great venue for learning the craft of
writing as not only could I get commentary back on the pieces I submitted from
the members who read them, but it gave me a reason to write, and things/people
to write about that I already found interesting. Not all writers start out doing
fan fiction to get their skills honed, and when I originally started I had no
idea I would be using it for that. It was just a fun group of folks and a neat
place to share ideas with others interested in the same things. I will say that
without it, in my case, I would not be to the level of writing I am today. A few
of the folks there have helped me learn a lot and pushed me to be better.
KC: Where did your initial interest in things Japanese come from?
Gloria: My interest in Japan started when I was very, very young. A
lot of the cartoons and shows I was watching as a child in Puerto Rico were
translated works from Japan. Kimba the Lion, Princess Knight, Speed Racer,
Ultraman, Godzilla movies, I grew up watching them all. From the live action
stuff in particular you could see it was a different culture than my own. The
ending credits told you they were products that came from Japan. Somewhere in
there I discovered samurai and ninja, Japans' swordsmen and assassin/spies, and
was totally enthralled. It was a very harsh culture back then, don't get me
wrong, but like things from the old West, it has a certain romanticism attached
to it in modern times that is very attractive. All cultures out there are
incredibly fascinating in one way or another. While Japan is high on my list,
I've dabbled a little with many others. Wished I enjoyed reading textbooks more!
KC: Tell us a little about your current writing project.
Gloria: My current project is called "Willing Sacrifice". I
just finished the 3rd draft recently , so it's now out to a couple of beat
readers. It's another Fantasy title. The heroine has grown up believing she was
born for one thing and one thing only, then gets faced with the problem that
either all she's always known is not true, or there are those who would rather
have the world be destroyed rather than saved. How's that for vague! :-)
KC: Ooo, sounds good. What kind of research are you doing for this
project?
Gloria: Since it is a fantasy, research can be subjective, but I have
had to do some. I looked into gypsy wagons for instance. Needed reference
material so I could make realistic traveling wagons for a troop that becomes
central to the story. A lot of things become more a matter of thinking them out
and writing them down than actual research for a fantasy. As the author, I have
to understand a lot of information about the world the story is set in and how
things work in it. So I have to create the society, the conditions, the general
history of where I am setting the tale. This is where all that subconscious
knowledge and experience comes in and helps you out to create the framework you
will need. For this I have a separate notebook than the one I use for making the
story's first draft and jot down all that info I cook up so it is there for me
to reference as I go along.
KC: What are your future writing goals?
Gloria: Don't have any specific writing goals aside from writing more
books, continue to improve my craft, get more people introduced to my writing,
etc.
KC: Are you able to make a living as a writer, or do you have a day
job?
Gloria: Actually, most writers can't make a living on just writing
alone. A few lucky percentage have either enough books out there or are popular
enough to keep them from a day-job or their personal circumstances allow for not
having one, but most of us have to work to bring home the bacon. :-) I work in
the accounting field, which works because that way my "have to job" and "my want
to job" are different enough one doesn't burn me out from doing the other.
KC: What are your other main interests, besides the writing world?
Gloria: I have too many interests and not enough time for everything!
The main ones I suppose would be watching Japanese animation and reading
Japanese comics. I am also taking Japanese on the side, and translating comics
(called manga) on my own. Aside from those, there's reading, watching movies,
and playing on-line games.
KC: Do you have a website? If so, what's the link?
Gloria: But of course! All writers should have a web site.
www.gloriaoliver.com And as you can see, if you can get your name as the site
address, so much the better. :-)
KC: Nice site! Thanks for sharing with us.
Back to
Interviews