Make Mine A Karma Koffee - Phoenix Karma

I'd go back to South America. Along with Egypt, Peru is one of the most magical places I've visited. But I only got to spend a month there, and there's so so much to explore. I'd like to go there and spend maybe a year out there travelling to different countries. I'd like to go to Venezuela and see socialism actually working for once, maybe even go and teach out there. I'd like to go back to Machu Picchu, it's such a wonderful, energetic, magic, beautiful place, it feels almost like a pilgrimage even though I'm not a spiritual person at all. I'd like to explore the other cultures in South America, spend more time in the rainforest regions and then, when it's all over, write a novel about it.

 

I know you're writing a novel now, but do you have ideas for other novels in your head that you've already planned out, know the plot/characters ect and plan to write some day?

 

The plot for my South American novel is coming along in my head at the moment. When it gets written depends on how this one fares. The second one would be a bit less realistic, more adventurous, the country would be fictional and some of the characters a little less down to earth. I want to focus more on morality and politics, revolutionary struggles, bringing in some elements from satire and fable, as well as explore some of the ancient Incan and tribal mysticism of the region.


Because the second one might have less mainstream appeal, I wouldn't want it to be the one I approach publishers with. I need to focus on something that will sell and try to make a name for myself before I can have more freedom. But that makes it sound like I'm restrained, it's not really like that. It's a lot of fun writing when you're restricted by genre and audience. I used to write fantasy a lot, and in that you can put in anything you want because you created the world. But if you set something in the real world, you're restrained by what is believable. And writing a novel that is both believable and entertaining is a wonderful challenge. Also, as an author once said to me, you write what people want to read, and use that to smuggle in your own opinions on things. Sound advice.

 

That sounds exactly like something my aunt would tell me

What was the first story that you can remember writing about?

 

The first one I remember was when I was about 6 in school. I wrote a story about dinosaurs, probably inspired by the Land Before Time which was my favourite film as a kid. It was appallingly illustrated and my spelling was even worse. In fact my spelling was terrible because I'd never stop writing to ask the teachers how to spell something, I'd just want to carry on, and so many of my early words were spelt phonetically.

The first novel I wrote was when I was 12, it was a simple fantasy tale of good and evil, battles and adventure. A lot of fun really....

 

If you were a building which one would you be?
If you had to choose to live in any fictional world (e.g. Narnia, Noddyland) which one would it be?

 

I quite like the Gherkin, maybe that if I had to, but I'd hate to be a building. Being any building would really piss me off


Well, it'd have to be one of the big fantasy worlds. Possibly Middle Earth, but I'm not sure about the whole impending doom, end of the world, evil spreading thing, I think that would put me off a bit. It can't be good for their tourist industry.

Ok, I'm going to lay my cards down and come out as the geek I am - maybe the Forgotten Realms from D & D. It's not as bad as it looks, I only know about it through playing Baldur's Gate on the PC, which is bad enough, but probably not as bad as doing the pen and paper thing. But that world, which is quite inspired by Tolkien, is a lot more morally ambiguous. There's much less of the clear contrast between good and evil. It's just a lot of very diverse creatures and characters living their lives and making decisions which can have great and terrible consequences. Sounds like fun....

 

Where do you see yourself age 50?

 

Fifty's so long away it's impossible to tell. I can say where I'd like to be. I'd like to be a successful author. I'd like to be making a living purely from writing, selling enough books, and getting large enough advances that I don't have to have a day job and so I devote all my work time to writing. Winning the Booker Prize would be nice too. So would a potential career in television (and if that fails, I can always audition for Pop Idol ) I don't relish the prospect of middle-age, but I think if I've achieved the goals I've set myself, and have something vaguely respectable and or glamorous to fall back on, it won't seem quite so bad. Obviously I think I'd be settled by then, and with Taz as long as I don't cock things up, as has been known in the past. I'm not sure I'd want children, though time will tell. I'd rather be jet set and mobile, be able to travel and see as many places as possible without kids dragging me down by the wallet....

 

If you could make one drastic change in any aspect of your life right now, without any side effects to anything else in your life, and just instantly snap your fingers and make it happen, what would you do? Or is there anything huge right now you would like to even change?

 

This is such a difficult question to answer, not because I think I'm perfect (I know I'm perfect - J/K!!! ) but because it's hard to imagine changing an aspect of life without it having many unintended consequences. If you pull one thread, the whole tapestry may unravel. And even the negative experiences have still been great excercises in learning. Of course there are skills I wish I had, things I hadn't done, things I had done, values I had etc. But generally, I'm very happy with the way things are, and it's hard to think of anything drastic I would change. I'm going to have to fob you off with that for now, but if something springs to mind later, I'll post it....

 

Haha yeah you're perfect, and I'm a sweet innocent little school girl with pigtails

And I'd be really interested to hear waht you have to say about my previous question, so if you do think of anything don't forget to post!

Anyway, an easier question now - What was school like for you? Most kids either seem to love or hate school... Resenting it for supposedly holding them back, or loving it for opening new doors for them. How does that hold in your case?

 

Primary school was great fun. I was quite an active, playful and outgoing kid, and made quite a lot of friends relatively easily. Middle school was shit, I hated it. It was a poor school, and there was a serious anti-work ethic to the tune that any intelligent kids were dragged down by the sea of yobs. I didn't have that many friends through middle school, and I quickly retreated into a shell. Middle school and the people there definitely held me back. But I take solace in the knowledge that the people who held me back are now cleaning floors in chicken factories.


It took a few years, but by high school I came out of my shell, made a lot more friends and found an identity I was much more comfortable with. By 6th form, when the people who didn't want to be there were filtered out, I found it much easier to work and achieve. I really liked high school and still miss it. I don't think it held me back, it did help open doors. Some people find education restrictive, I find it enabling and don't resent it at all.

 

How were academically in high school? I know I could be an A student if I really worked at it, but I choose not to. What about you?

 

I was a straight A student, though I don't remember having to work too hard. I remember a lot of people thought I was a lazy bum and didn't believe me when they asked what I got. It's not because I could just click my fingers and make things happen, but because by A Level I was really enjoying my subjects and it wasn't difficult to put the effort in. But I haven't really been taxed or challenged much before uni, which has been incredibly challenging....

 

Off the subject of school...

I know you've been working hard on your novel, but have you written any poetry lately? I haven't seen any in awhile now that I think about it...

 

I haven't written any poetry in a few months. I don't really sit down to work on poems as I do with prose. I approach prose like an exercise in problem solving - thinking about what works best, how to say something original, how to avoid cliche, how best to describe something, how to develop a character, how to weave threads of plot together in a way the reader might not expect or might find entertaining. Obviously I have to be in the right mood to write, and I have to have some inspiration, but often I can just sit down and thrash it out. Poetry, for me, is different. I get a line in my head, or an idea, and then the whole thing comes out in five minutes and often only in one draft. I can't sit down and make a poem work - if you'll pardon the analogy, it's kind of like trying to force a poo when you don't need one! If I do, it's often not very good. So until something pops into my head, I won't think about writing any new poetry....

 

Yeah I know what you mean, it's not worth trying to forces like that, I feel exactly the same way... Especially with music writing.

What was the first concert you ever went to?

 

The fist gig I went to was a band called Dacryphillia, a fairly crappy nu metal band - that was the crowd I was in at the time. The first major gig I went to was My Vitriol, whatever happened to them? Spent the night failing miserably to pull the same girl I had pulled at the Dacryphillia gig. Women eh?

 

What's your favorite kind of chocolate?