I am very pleased to welcome paranormal romance author, Zoe Archer today as part of my All Hallows Eve event.
Zoe is the author of Half Past Dead, which contains The Undying Heart, the prequel to Zoe’s new series, “The Blades of the Rose“, the first book Warrior was released September 2010, with a further three books in the pipeline. Zoe lives with her husband in sunny Los Angeles.
Please give a warm welcome to Zoe Archer…
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Halloween
by
Zoe Archer
This is me in my Halloween costume. The year: 1984. My age: 11. What am I? A cat. Really? Yes. Why? Good question….
That summer, my dad took me to England. My brother was off in Israel on a post-bar mitzvah trip, so Dad and I went on vacation together. That was my first time across the Atlantic—though definitely not my last. On that trip, my dad and I went to Bath, York, and we even drove through Birmingham just so I could look out the window of the car at the Rum Runner, the club where Duran Duran had gotten its start. I was a bit mad for Duran Duran at that point (what girl in 1984 wasn’t?), and had already written what you might term “fan fiction” about the band. The club itself was shut up for the day, covered in graffiti, and, on the whole, disappointing. But it didn’t stop me from continuing to dream up stories starring me and the Fab Five.
My English trip finished with several days in London. My dad and I visited the usual tourist attractions: Westminster Abbey, Madame Tussaud’s, the Tower of London. We took in some theatre, including that hoary chestnut, The Mousetrap. Another night, we went to go see the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats. During intermission, my dad leaned over and asked, “Want to leave?” “No!” I said firmly. He was bored by singing, dancing cats. I was enthralled. The music, the costumes, the set—my little, wistful heart had been captured. I poured over the souvenir program like a holy document.
Upon coming back home to Los Angeles, I bought the soundtrack and made up dances to it in my mom’s bedroom. When a touring production of Cats came through town, I saw it two more times. For Halloween, I desperately wanted one of the incredible costumes, and actually paid money out of my own pocket to have a costume made. The end result is this. Less sleek, elegant cat and more baggy, stripy pajamas. Not exactly what I had in mind, but I clung fiercely to my dreams.
Inspiration and imagination gripped me. On our giant home computer, I wrote a 60-page fantasy epic about a race of half-cat, half-human people. Our heroine is whisked from this world into an alternate dimension where she must undergo a quest, as heroines are wont to do when whisked from this world into alternate dimensions. I believe the title of this fantasy epic was, appropriately enough, The Jellicle.
I don’t know what became of that 60-page story. Possibly it exists in a drawer somewhere in my mother’s house. Or maybe it has been consigned to memory (heh). However silly or cringe-inducing it may be to read now, it was part of my journey as a writer. I continued to write all through school, through college and graduate school, and eventually received an advanced degree in Fiction from a prestigious creative writing program. And now I’m a professional writer, with more than seven published titles and at least three additional books lined up.
So, when I look at this picture, I do see a girl in a rather ridiculous costume. But I also see a dreamer, a storyteller. A writer learning the measure of her powers.
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Thanks for the great post Zoe!
You can find out more about Zoe and her books here:
4 Comments
Fabulous guest post. I love the cat costume pic.
xx,
E.J.
From the Shadows
Reply
Cute picture, thanks! for sharing.
Reply
great post
Reply
Cute story and I love the costume.
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