29 March 2011

Charmaine Gordon Says...





Q) What is the best thing about writing?



As an actor, I cherished every word in the script with respect to the playwright never
thinking one day I’d be a writer. A mother hears her child say, “Read me a
story, Mommy.” Read becomes“Tell me a story, Mom.” And here I am with a
publisher, Kimberlee Williams-Vanilla Heart Publishing who calls and says,
“Write a new story.”


The best is using the powerful gift of imagination. An idea wakes me from sleep. In the
morning I write. Think of what the writer can do with a story. You create a
situation, two people meet, maybe fall in love, a misunderstanding, obstacles
you throw in their path to prevent an easy solution and at last, love wins. OR
an evil presence, a parallel story to collide, illness, death, destruction,
misunderstanding and love wins OR. . .Possibilities are endless. The author is
in command OR is she? The characters take over as they often do. The author
loses herself, cries, laughs, and writes until The End. You weep some more
because your baby has grown up and you want to show her to the world. Then the
real work begins. Promotion, marketing. Oh my. All you want to do is write.

Years of experience as an actor on daytime drama. Stage, spokesperson and commercials plus writing sketches for
Air Force shows helped prepare me for the wonders of a writing career. Of
course, I didn’t realize it at the time when immersed in the written words of
others, that I was like a sponge, soaking up how to construct a scene, write
dialogue, and paint the setting.

I kissed my acting career goodbye, leaving on a high note with the lead in an Off
Broadway play, “The Fourth Commandment” author Rich Knipe. It was great fun and
time to move on. Movies like “Working Girl”, “Road to Wellsville” and having
the pleasure of Anthony Hopkins company at lunch, working with Mike Nichols in
“Regarding Henry” and singing outside with Harrison Ford, crying with Gene
Wilder over loss on another set, When “Harry Met Sally” with the whole gang
singing It Had to Be You. Lots of fond memories. My first job as
stand-in leg model for Geraldine Ferraro in a Diet Pepsi commercial with Secret
Service men guarding her and her daughters. A sweet time.



**Charmaine has given me permission to post an excerpt from her novel
"Reconstructing Charlie"! Check back on Friday to read this totally
engrossing sneak peek!

7 comments:

  1. Hi Charmaine!
    You've led such an interesting life and that carries over to your dynamic characters. Thanks for sharing another piece of what makes you, you!

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  2. love the comparison from "mommy tell me a story" to the publisher calling, lol.

    How true, the characters take over and authors merely become their stenographers. Great thought provoking post.

    Chelle
    http://ChelleCordero.com

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  3. Great post as always Charmaine! And I love the Reconstructing Charlie cover!

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  4. Thanks for stopping by, Wendy, Chelle,and Shoshanna-writers all. And a big thank you to Beth for asking the question.
    Writing is our double life, secrets locked away revealed until THE END and then another story begins. A solitary business with only unseen characters to keep you company.

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  5. One more thought. Beth, thanks for your courtesy and taking the time to invite me for a visit. You have a generous heart.

    Success in your writing career.

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  6. Thank you, Charmaine, for sharing your time and words with me!

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  7. I know I am late (a lot of my blog comments seem to start that way). Great question, great answer. Charmaine, you were in all those movies? Now I will have to go back and watch them again. :-) Can't wait to read Re-Constructing Charlie. From everything I've read I think I am going to like her a lot.

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