Center Stage with Deidra Green

Deidra Green ..Author

I met Deidra on the internet. That is where we all met these days. It is the age of the internet you know and I had observed her posts and became interested in wanting to know more. Now in a very fortunate way I got to read one of her stories and was blown away. When I received the book , I cursorily opened the first page and that was my mistake. I will tell you why in a minute, but I have the pleasure to welcome a very special guest on Center Stage today. She is an author, and poet Ms Deidra Green I would like to share with you my very first reaction to the book FROM THE OUTSIDE IN When I received the book , I cursorily opened the first page and that was my mistake. In the early hours of the morning, tears streaming from my eyes I finally laid the book down. I was done. My heart was sore from pain and I was awed by the writer. It will take such fine writing to make me get so involved in a book. Mercifully Deidra did not torture me, but in very clinical detail grabbed me by the throat and told a story that kept me tossing and turning long after my tears were spent. Every mother should read this book. In fact all who carry gifts of true humanity should make every effort to get a copy of the book. In simple straight words we learn of the murder of a five year old by the lover of the mother. There are enough hints about the mother to show we were dealing with a woman who was very sick and dangerous to herself as well to society. We are shown Rachel, the mother of Bridget, as cold and unfeeling monster who should have been locked up rather than be allowed to be a mother again. I was relieved in learning that the other child she had was also taken from her. We tend to learn lessons the hard way. Deidra wrote from the society she lives in and I was mollified that there was still some level of humanity in that society that promptly brought the culprits to book. I wish the same society had thought of picking up Rachel's father for I personally think he was the one who first murdered the innocence and trust of his wife and daughters and had the monster of Rachel wreak her pain, fury and hate on the society through Bridget. From my own world view and my corner of the world he would be called an abomination. From the Outside In had a lot of meaning for me, in its social messages, the sick humanity that we grapple with it. However I wish to thank the author for this rare opportunity to see into the fine workings of her mind. It was an introduction that will ensure I will be on the lookout for any book of this sazzy lady from now on. Thank you for the gift of love and congratulations!!
1 .Congratulations on the book Deidra, Please tell us more about yourself. 2. From what I have read of you , you seem to be one single powerhouse of the Muse, churning out books on a regular basis, what is the total output you have to date.
First let me start off by saying thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate you extending such a courtesy and meeting you on facebook. To answer your question, as of this date, I have seventeen projects under my primary name Deidra D. S. Green, and another 8 projects under two pen names.  If all goes according to schedule, I will have another 7 projects completed and published before the end of the year. 3. I have read some blurb about some of your other books like A Letter to My Mother, which makes me to think you are interested in human stories that explore the deeper, darker side of human existence. Will that be right?
That would be exactly right. It’s interesting how things play out.  I spent nearly 20 years as a social worker; working with some of the most systematically disenfranchised and need people in my community.  I saw so much being on the front lines of child welfare; but like many social workers, I wanted to save the world even if it was one child at a time.  Eventually I became disillusioned with the politics and red tape of the bureaucratic system that continued to allow and place so many children at risk of further home so a few years ago I walked away for good.  I took my early retirement and walked away. When I decided to take my writing seriously, it wasn’t the happily ever after stories that would wake me out of a deep sleep demanding to be written. It wasn’t love stories and intriguing romances that kept me up into the wee hours of the morning.  What drives my pen and what propels me to write are all the stories of the children that I worked with that otherwise may go unheard.  What prompts me to keep writing even when I am discouraged are all the victims of violence – from strangers and family members.  These are the people, in my opinion that have the most compelling stories and they deserve to be given a voice.  Not all my stories are based specifically on one individuals’ experience but more the collective pain that I witnessed and felt as a result of spending so much time with those going through daily struggles of just trying to survive. 4. What genre of writing do you favour most? Wow, that’s a hard one.  Right now, I would have to say psychological thrillers.  I am fascinated by the human psyche and find myself continuously drawn to new ways to examine this fascination through my writing. 5.Let us return to Bridget and the trauma of what has happened, what will be closure for the author? I don’t know if I will ever have complete closure with this situation. I loved that little girl so much and to have her taken from me so abruptly in such a vile way makes my heart ache every time I think about it.  Even now, all these years later, when I think about my daughter my mind frequently returns to Bridgette. Every birthday my daughter has I calculate how old Bridgette would have been if she had lived.  She was a sweetheart and in many ways she was my first little girl. Closure right now seems impossible; however, in penning her story, I do feel as though I paid homage to her brief legacy and for that I am grateful. 6.When you explore human emotions in your stories like Twisted Sister, A Letter to My Mother and in this particular, what were you trying to portray? Through all of the characters I create in these stories and in many others, I want real human characteristics to be portrayed no matter how pleasant or ugly they may be.  I want the readers to be able to connect with these characters on some basic level and as the characters go through trials, tests and tribulations, the reader can vividly experience these circumstances with them.  I want readers to laugh, cry, become angry and even cheer for these characters. But more than that, at the end of the story, I want the reader to walk away not only being satisfied with a great read but also being challenged to think about things differently and maybe even from a different perspective. 7. Share a typical writing day Much easier question…(lol). I write seven days a week. Every day I am up by 6 a.m. at the latest 6:30. On days my children attend school, I act as their taxi driver – taking my children and my niece and nephew to school.  Once my puppy is dropped off at doggie daycare, I am back home by 8 am.  I try and attend to any business I have before I began writing – whether it is lining up subcontractors, speaking with literary clients for ghostwriting or other literary services, or answering email correspondence.  Once I have posted for the morning on the social network sites I use, I tend to start my writing day by 10 a.m. 10:30 at the latest.  I write non-stop, in as much as possible, till it’s time to pick everybody up again from school and extracurricular activities around 4:00 p.m. Then it’s time for mommy duty; cooking, homework, getting the children prepared for the next day etcetera.  I do my best writing in the mornings, but I try to get in a few more hours in the evening.  I tend to shut my computer down from writing and everything else by 10:30 p.m. Prior to going to bed, I still focus on the writing by completing character outlines, working on cover design, reviewing edits, etc. By midnight, I try to get some rest so I can start all over again the next day. 8.I want to bring you to the current debate that seems to occupy the writing world, self- publishing and traditional publishing. Please weigh in on this, is traditional publishing dead, and has self- publishing become the only way authors can get read? I don’t think traditional publishing is dead by any means and those who chose to pursue that route are finding some success.  I have not completely ruled out traditional publishing as a viable option; however, for me and where I am in my writing journey, self- publishing is the preferred option.  I want to be free to write what I want to write when I want to write it.  I’m not sure if that will change any time soon but for now it works for me. 9. There is a scene in the book From the Outside In that as an African I found very electrifying, that was when Bridget came to you to plead for her mother to let her go, out of body experiences, is taken naturally in my part of the world. How well did that go with your readers in your country? I don’t think that was much of a leap for many of my readers.  Although not frequently spoken about I think many people believe in final visits from those who have passed on.  10.What have been the influences on your writing? So many things influence my writing; life experiences, things I see, hear observe.  I never close myself off to the possibility of being inspired by everyday occurrences. 11. You explained at the beginning of the book what made you write the book and why you have cloaked the characters to protect them. Did you feel that Bridget got fair justice? I can say without equivocation that she did not.  Without spoiling things for future readers, let me just say this: what I wanted for her killers and what they actually received were miles apart. 12. Now in hindsight what would the storyteller wished to have done differently if the tape of life was rewound and corrections could be effected? If I had one regret it would be that I didn’t start writing seriously earlier in my life.  I started taking my writing seriously in 2011 when I penned From the Outside In.  Everything that has been produced to date, with the exception of my children’s books and the two books of poetry I wrote previously, has been done since 2011.  It would be interesting to see where I could have been if I had started earlier. But I must say that God’s timing is perfected and because I know that my writing is a gift from the Creator, he determines when and how it will be exercised. Link to my website: http://deidrawrites.weebly.com/ Link to my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/deidra.d.green Follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/DeidraG Link to From the Outside In: http://www.amazon.com/From-the-Outside-In-ebook/dp/B00810X7NI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1343000334&sr=1-1 If unable to access via amazon, please feel free to inbox me at reflectedgifts@yahoo.com for details. Thank you for coming on Center Stage.