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I recently did an all-encompassing interview with the lovely Deb Ozarko about changing the status quo.
We talked a lot about going indie, self-publishing and creative entrepreneurship, but we also got into some deep and meaningful topics.
I must admit to being fueled by pinot noir for the interview, so I opened up a lot about some of the things that really matter to me 🙂 If you'd like to listen to the whole interview, I suggest joining me for a glass!
You can listen to the whole interview here [1 hr 44], or you can watch or listen to the 5 minute clip below or here on YouTube.
In this part of the interview, I talk about:
- How I finally stopped self-censoring, and how my fiction helps me work out what I believe
- The theme of good and evil is resonant in all my fiction, as well as aspects of my own travels and experiences
- How I want to tell a good fast-paced story to keep people reading but that I also want to tackle deeper topics that leave you thinking afterwards
- Carl Jung and the Shadow side, and how embracing it can make a person whole
I also talk more about Desecration, London Psychic Book 1, and what it means to me. You can find Desecration in ebook, print and audiobook formats here. The sequel, Delirium, is also available.
Do you use the Shadow side in your creative work? I'd love to know your thoughts so please share them in the comments below.
Top image: Flickr Creative Commons red wine by Wes Peck
Exploring the dark side of ourselves is a big part of my own fiction. I haven’t studied Jung (yet) but I’m familiar with the broad strokes. The idea of the buried and often suppressed dark side and the impact it has on both the individual and society fascinates me and tends to come through in most things I write.
We just have to be brave enough to honor the muse and let it out 🙂
A pinot-fueled interview? Hey, can’t get any better than that!
After gamay beaujolais, pinot noir is my favorite wine.
Wow, driving into headlights … not taking enough medication … exploring your dark/shadow side … your life is a story worth telling.
In a scene in my current, and first, book I suddenly had the urge to kill one of the minor characters. A “dark” operative appeared on the scene, carried out the evil dead, assumed the identity of the now dead security guard and … well the rest will be in the book.
It was a mind-shifting experience for me to discover this part of my story-telling psyche. I haven’t yet graduated to headlights, as maybe that comes after you have several books published 🙂
Cheers, JP
That actually goes way back for me 🙂 It’s why I don’t drive in the dark – in fact, I don’t even have a car anymore! I’m glad you’re exploring your darker side.
Great interview, Joanna.
My writing has always come from the shadow side. I think it is why I started writing in the first place, in order to explore, or possibly expunge. It is also the dark side of others that fascinates me. What drives people to do things that they subconsciously know will hurt them.
I thought I was the only one with the headlight thing. I also have recurring visions of the car exploding whilst driving …
Thanks for another great post.
ooh, fantastic – a fellow headlighter! I figured it was some kind of primeval thing, like some phobias, some compulsions must be common. But few people talk about what could be construed as madness 🙂 But here, we’re among crazy writer friends …
Wow, you’re really ‘Writing With the Stars’. Mercury, the planet of communication and writing is in Scorpio, the sign of the ‘shadow’ and our deep, subconscious selves. I love your videos/podcasts and have learned a lot from them. Thanks!
Thanks Elizabeth 🙂
My shadow side is where I get a lot of my inspiration for the darkness in my characters. Through them I can act out those thoughts and actions I would never allow myself in reality to do, say or sometimes, even think. R. A. Salvatore was recently quoted as saying that it was through his characters that he asked the hard questions. I’d add that its through my characters that I am able to give myself permission to explore the answers too questions I am either too afraid, or too ashamed to ask or explore otherwise.