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Thursday, September 23, 2010

From Acting to Writing: Charmaine Gordon


Hello Fellow Writers!
I still haven't heard back from my editor at Ellora's Cave about Hollywood Spank, but I sent her an email asking if she wanted me to wait to submit Taste of Candy (a Quickie) until she finished Hollywood Spank, and she said, no, just send it on over... so I did. So now I'm wondering if I should submit Chastity Belt as well...

Anyhoo, I asked one of the published authors from my RWA chapter (Hudson Valley RWA) to talk to us about how she got into writing. Charmaine Gordon has three books in print with Vanilla Heart Publishing. Here's what she said:

Charmaine: After a bunch of years as an actor on daytime drama, commercials, movies including Working Girl singing Happy Birthday to Melanie Griffith, I reached Off Broadway in a wonderful play, The Fourth Commandment. Toward the end of the run, I had an idea for a story. Kissing the sweet time good bye, I began a new career as a writer. Good fortune smiled upon me when Vanilla Heart Publishing offered contracts for “TO BE CONTINUED” and “STARTING OVER” two romance/ survive & thrive books and my most recent book, “NOW WHAT?” a paranormal romance/suspense.

Shoshanna: What's your writing schedule like? What do you *wish* it was like?

Charmaine: Writing schedule is morning, noon, night in bits and pieces due to writus interuptus. Wish it were uninterrupted-peace and quiet the way it should be. I did write one book in one week recuperating from rotator cuff surgery. A good story.


Shoshanna: Ahh, writus interuptus. Sounds like my writing schedule. Where do you want your writing career to be in five years, and how to you plan to get there?

Charmaine: I plan to be alive writing better each year with movie credit. I won’t write the screenplay. Will get there by... good stories written from the heart, no holds barred.

Here's an excerpt from Charmaine Gordon's latest book, Now What?:
It was 2:30 a.m. when the phone rang. I fumbled for it, my heart starting a race toward bad news. Our doctor’s voice urged me to hurry. I crammed into clothes as if I expected this call.
It is only a fever that won’t go down, isn’t it?
Our doctor shook his head. “. . .Carly, I’m so sorry."
He lay on the hospital bed where I’d kissed him goodbye not so many hours before. I’d said, “See you tomorrow.” My husband of thirty years replied with words I hadn’t heard in a long time. “I love you.” Not since the heart attack two years before when he began listening to his heart beat  and forgot about me. Maybe we both sensed the crossroads ahead, the impending doom.
Settling in beside my Bob, I held his cooling hand and asked the two words spoken many times during our years together. “Now what?” This time there was no response.  I was on my own for the first time.
When my fingers touched his wedding ring, I slipped it off and held it in my fist. The gold band was warm. “Come back to me, dearest.”

The first contact Bob made was with our dogs at the edge of the woods bordering our property. My heart soared. I knew he’d return for me. I’d made a quilt from Bob’s shirts and draped it around my shoulders. Bob’s Old Spice clung to the fabric. A shimmer beckoned to me and I ran to the aura of silvery white, purple, yellow as I was enfolded, caressed and loved to fulfillment and then it ended. I knew he’d return. The dogs scampered to my side and guided me home. What this meant, I didn’t have a clue. Bob’s true purpose would be revealed as I struggled through the hurdles of making a new life.

8 comments:

  1. It's always amazing how life starts out one way, but ends up somewhere else we never could have predicted. Congrats on all of your successes so far, Charmaine!

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  2. Love your writing Charmaine! (The writer's pretty great, too!)

    Thanks for such interesting interviews, Shoshanna!

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  3. thanks Wendy! I think it's cool how when I started this blog, all my info on other authors was based on what I could find out about them online. Now I'm lucky to be in contact with so many wonderful authors who are willing to share their knowledge with us!

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  4. Another great interview. Charmaine, your past is so fascinating and I love the way things come around full circle. Life can be pretty wonderful - your books show that!

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  5. Thank you, Heather, Wendy, Jennifer, and of course, host Shoshanna for inviting me. It appears we have a mutual admiration society going on here brought together by RWA. Delightful and rewarding.

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  6. Charmaine, Great interview. I like those write a book in a week moments. Don't happen often but when they do, go with the flow

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  7. Your creativity is endless and fascinating and your energy is phenomenal! Consider me another one of your admirers.

    Chelle
    http://ChelleCordero.com

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  8. Ah,Chelle. Thanks a bunch. This means a lot coming from you.

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