Elyse
Draper is a native Coloradan whose poetic, lyrical style of writing mirrors the
ethereal rhythms of nature. She is the author of several short stories and the
Freewill trilogy, a YA slipstream series with strong touches of science
fiction, dark fantasy, and paranormal romance, which contains the novels
Freewill, Consequences, and Vindication. Although Freewill and its sequels fall
squarely in the urban fantasy/weird fiction arena, Elyse definitely swims in
the horror pool on occasion. Her short story “I Am Morte” appeared in the
anthology Ladies of Horror 2009 (for which she also did the cover art) and “Lay
Me Down” appears in the Ladies of Horror 2013.
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Who am I? Who are you?
By Elyse Draper
I would
need to take the shoes off of a classroom full of students to count how many
articles, lectures, and interviews I’ve given over the years. First, let me
say, writers don’t look to become celebrities… We wave our knickers out on a
clothesline for inspection and ridicule, and no one will ever be able to tell
you why. We sit in bookstores for signings, afraid that no one will ever show
up. There are no red carpets, flashing bulbs, or swag bags. We take our vision,
our art, and cut it to shreds… because we’re told that will make it sell
better. I wonder if Picasso would have listened to, “That’s too blue to find an
audience. Maybe add some yellow?”
Don’t even
get me started on the critics.
So, why
take every interview, seminar, lecture, article, or cold corner at the local
bookstore? Quite simply because this neurotic bunch of contradictory introverts
are the product we are selling; not our fantastic tales, but the mind,
imagination, and sweat-tears-guts that create the stories. Why should the
insecure place themselves in a position to get creamed, criticized, belittled,
and forgotten… many can’t; more quit. However, we all have a story to tell that
is more important to share than the fear of consequences.
This is
not a hobby. This is not a career, or even a job. This is what you are, what
feeds your soul. It keeps you company in the dark and holds you tight, even as
it creates its own nightmares. It cuts open old festering wounds, and lets them
breathe. It hurts. It heals. This is writing. To succeed, it will make you the
most vulnerable creature on the planet, and then give you a hard crunchy shell
that is impervious to insult when you’re in public… and behind closed doors,
cry like a baby while you learn to drink like a proper WASP… Just ask
Hemingway.
The key to
never running out of material is write what you know. With this being said,
there are certain genres that carry a breed of their own, genres you may, or
may not, want to meet in a dark alleyway: comedy, erotica, or political
biographies. Dark fiction and horror writers though… We put our demons down on
the page, and thus tend be a much more light-hearted band of characters. Many
of us recognize in each other the brand of survival. In the depths of our
stories are the shadows of hard lessons learned; sometimes they end mercifully,
and at other times, hopelessly. Why do people read horror, enjoy tasting the
darkness once and a while? Because it speaks to the human condition, lets us know
that we aren’t alone in the gloom… our hard lessons learned are shared, and
maybe, just maybe, there is enlightenment to be gleaned.
Rather
than give another stream of answers to inconsequential biographical questions
about where I grew up, or what my favorite sweet treat might be, I’d like to
tell my story in lessons learned, to prove that you and I are connected. You
and I share the stories that we tell, live, cherish, and attempt to forget with
every fiber of our beings.
1. Grief is for the living, not the dead.
Death is silence; life ruptures eardrums… and the weeping of a mother, who
outlives her child, is deafening.
2. Survival is a magnifying glass, focused
down a narrow hallway. You know when you truly find it, because nothing but
crawling through that passage matters; not the kicks while you’re on the
ground, not even the taste of blood in your mouth, just keep your head down and
concentrate on reaching the end. Focus that energy on the right task, nothing
can stop you.
3. Pain, whether emotional, mental, or
physical, is subjective. And much like poison, one can build an immunity… at a
cost.
4. Love is not a myth. Neither is hope.
Those who preach that they are, have not survived losing either entirely, not
yet.
5. Having dreams will lift you up… they
will keep you company during the darkest times. Be careful not to pour
everything into them though, just in case they fall through.
6. A love of learning, of reading in
particular, and more than a touch of humility will serve you in any, and all,
situations.
7. Everyone has to face the light,
everyone. Some curse it; some shrink from it; some allow it to cast life’s
shadows behind them… and then walk away.
8. You, and only you, can pick who you are…
but we are connected. I know you as I know myself, and I write for us… that is
who I am.
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Elyse
Draper’s lyrical style comes from living at the edge of nature, surrounded by
wild beauty, and from her background, which includes studies in sociology,
psychology, and humanism. Her grasp of darkness stems from a love of horror and
her work in the fields of education, autism, and hospice care.
Of her
latest project, The Voyeurist, she says: “The Voyeurist is a spectacularly
disturbing erotic noir thriller that only my screwy mind can come up with ...
be prepared for twists, cliff hangers, and thanks to Stephen Hawkins co-author
extraordinaire, grammatically correct sex scenes that would make the cuddly
Mr Grey blush.”
To find
out more, follow Elyse at her webpage, Elyse Draper, and on Goodreads. To
purchase her books, visit her Amazon page.
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