Showing posts with label fire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fire. Show all posts

December 16, 2017

Interview - Part 8, FIRE, the Hunger

Have you verbally told or written any of the fire stories before?

The FIRE stories came about when I went to Feather River Family Camp, 2005, the first week of August when the outdoors is hot and very dry. I told the stories around the first night's campfire to children and parents. Later, I presented more FIRE stories at night on the Open Stage. And I have a spot for evening stories in the Crafts Circle just before dinner, what better than FIRE stories.

After telling at Feather Family Camp, I told stories for Oaklandish, 2006, who were building pride in Oakland and having a campout at Oakland's Chabot State Park. The FIRE stories went well
 with the crowd of young adults.

Next, I told the stories for a birthday party, 2007. Parents of a young girl called me about stories; I asked if they could have a fire; the parents said yes. I narrated the FIRE stories around the pit and related how we must constrain FIRE because of the horror of eating everything, and that now FIRE was held in candles on a birthday cake and blown out for a wish. The young lady liked the stories.

The last story, Bertha Digby was published in an anthology organized by the 4th Street Studio's Saturday Salons, The Livermore Wine Country Literary Harvest, ©2006. 'Saving the Woods' is on pages 67 to 69. My folktale honors a squirrel and all animals (a metaphor for people) who restore burnt forests that other humans destroy by one means or other.

The FIRE stories were bridged together by the desire for warmth and light and told monthly at a storytelling swap in 2008, which I helped run at the Orinda library.

The folktales were written out for the April 2017 NaNoWriCamp were enhanced, modified, elaborated and bridged together
 around one of the worst predator, who eats everything, 'FIRE, the Hunger.'

Now, the segued folktales are on wattpad, a great platform to connect with readers while writing and editing. Soon 'FIRE, the Hunger' will be posted on Bublish with 'bubbles' that appear on Twitter and Facebook for publicity.

November 26, 2017

Interview - Part 6, FIRE, the Hunger



Are you satisfied with the way the stories follow each other?

Yes, I have made a specific point to use the animal's or the human’s desire for FIRE at the beginnings and FIRE’S horrible appetite at the end of each story to weave into the next story so the characters push the plot along. This is called bridging or the segue, in which ‘FIRE, the Hunger’ is desired for the warmth and light, and how each character managed to secure their desire, or not and the following tragedy FIRE starts. There is a difference in time when the Greek and Roman gods secure FIRE for their followers and how the animals secured FIRE in the folktales from the Americans, the ancient of all worlds.

November 13, 2017

Interview - Part 5, FIRE the Hunger

READ on WATTPAD.

How did you put the stories together?

First, I selected stories to prove my premise and compliment the theme, then arranged the order: the volcanoes and then the animals that helped to a hunter that steals FIRE to the tragedy of that theft burning down the forest, thus making the god Kaang’s warning true, “The human loss of harmony with the animals.” 

And for a constructive conclusion after the horrid FIRE ate the forest and homes, I added a creative story I wrote about a squirrel, Bertha Digby. who replants the forest. Which is fitting because if you ever lived among trees, squirrels are the busiest of creatures planting everything they get their paws on. In my yard, they are always in the Oak, Avocado, Magnolia, or Camille trees. And if they could, they would even plant apples and orange trees as they do the plum trees. The squirrels carry flowers seeds on their fur, and these seeds scatter around the ground while they dig in the acorns, walnut and avocado seed, which will grow into trees if not dug up for foods later.


  FIRE, the Hunger.



September 21, 2017

Interview - Part 4, FIRE the Hunger

READ on WATTPAD.

What is the theme that holds the stories together?

Fire’s personality is the theme. FIRE stays alive by eating, which is the horror of FIRE making it a monster. FIRE is a voracious, selfish, hungry, villain that has no guilt or shame and feasts on everything. FIRE eats oxygen out of the air, which is its very best friend.

FIRE has hypnotic powers to maintain a spell-bound entranced viewer. I witnessed this as a kid watching the hypnotic flames flicker back-and-forth sometimes yellow or orange and maybe green or blue fueled eating FIRE eating its wooden victim. As FIRE reached up into the sky, it popped sparks to escape the trees to satisfy its ravished appetite.
Where I live now, FIRE burned the dried ivy from the house next door eager to eat the house and sleeping victims and damaged our shed in the backyard. Years later an enormous FIRE came from smoldering roots in the Public Park up the hill behind our house. The wind blew the smoking embers into flames, which roared down the hill eating homes, pets, and trees. When ashes fall, and the smoke gathered around our house, I panicked. I took weird things, like the dogs, chickens, phones, frozen chicken, and all our coats. And, all the photos I had because I worked on my Father’s family tree. That FIRE was drowned by Firemen just two blocks away from our home. The just last month, the horror of FIRE, crawling and eating all the plants, animals, buildings of 7,000 people and businesses in the North Bay area of San Francisco.


FIRE is a monster and the humans needed to know this and how to control its hunger.



 

August 16, 2017

Interview - Part 2 - FIRE, the Hunger

FIRE, the Hunger

Why did you pick the FIRE stories you selected?

I wasn't sure if there were stories that talked about the beginnings of FIRE. I knew there were ancient stories about discovering the wheel. So I went the online library and came across about 10 suitable stories. Plus, a few stories about FIRE gods:  Pele and her anger, and Greek and Roman gods, and a story from South America about the god that protected FIRE in the heath. Some worked and most did not. Then I came across stories from the Native Americans about who spread FIRE: Hummingbird, Beaver, Spider, and then the Monkeys who helped a lost Hunter with FIRE. Finally, I found a warning from the bushmen God Kaang, who "If humans had FIRE no harmony would last between trees, animals, and the humans. No longer could they speak with each other." That became the premise, the theme, for the plot - the dangers of FIRE and fear in animals. And as a child, when camping we had FIRE contained in a pit, and it was dangerously hot and tried to continually escape to eat whatever FIRE could.


August 2, 2017

Interview - Part 1 - 'FIRE, the Hunger'

FIRE, the Hunger

What made you decide to tell fire stories with the intriguing title ‘FIRE, the Hunger’?

When I was a child, I grew up in Colorado and loved the mountains. My Dad, cut timber up Highway 24 by Woodland Park, which at that time was not a city. My intrigue with Fire started then we kept it in the pit and burned our garbage and everything, tin cans, and shoes. Fire was very feared because it would burn the forests and take my dad’s job of cutting timber for buildings and making telephone poles.
When my Dad retired from that job because lumber was scarce in Colorado, we went camping every summer. I think every weekend. My Dad loved the outside so did my Mom; she was from the small farm in Limon, Colorado.
At camp, at night, my uncles made this big fire in a rock pit. They built the pit making sure no trees and no roots were near. They brought their wood or cut the dry wood for the trees. Cutting fire wood is not allowed today, too many fires burnt too many forests. 
We had a beautiful warm, actually hot, Fire at night with dancing sparks. When I looked into the air, the flames danced in the darkness. We were never allowed to start the fire or to feed it the wood. However, we could to roast hot dogs on long sticks and after wards melt or burn marshmallows.
 After the camp dinner, the men sat around the fire while the women cleaned up the dishes and put away the foods. Like a hunter's camp only in the summer with the kids and women could come. The men fed the fire and talked about their fishing adventures they had during the day. Now and then, they would drop into their hunting adventures. As the kids, we got to listen.
When the fire ate all the wood for that night, it was put out. Either smothered with dirt or drown with water on the glowing embers. The men killed Fire, so as not to have it escape into our camp or the forest. Sometimes the kids killed the fire.
Fire did burn if touched, always entrancing, magically, and ate all we gave and could turn into a monster taking what FIRE wanted eating everything in its path. As happened in our neighborhood about 20 years ago; 3,000 homes burnt. Now in North Bay in San Francisco where many friends and relations live. FIRE is a HORROR!
Children should know FIRE's charms and dangers.
FIRE, the Hunger

June 26, 2017

STORY, STORY, and more stories

STORY, STORY, and more stories ...

For the next month through NaNoWriCAMP, their July 2017 camp. I am pledge to write 10,000 words eight stories about FIRE, actually how gods of the ancients knew the humans should not handle fire---> which does escape from a dirt pit and eats everything around.

My writing progress will be posted with the Clarion Foundation Write-a-Thon for 8 finished stories.  And, stories will be published on my wattpad page called, 'FIRE, the Hunger.'