eXpressions Journal telephone Interview conducted by Susanna with Writer Christina Walden Ehn
eXpressions Journal [eJ]: When did you start writing stories?
Christina Walden Ehn [CWE]: “I first started writing when I was 8 years old, I used to get on my grandma's typewriter and right short stories about half a page long, and then when I was a teenager I wrote poetry, and then in my 20's I took a writer's course, it seems like I've been writing stories my whole life.”
eJ: Do you write fiction or non-fiction? CWE: “Well, fiction. I really haven't written anything that is totally non-fiction. Every scene that I write is a scene taken from real life and fictionalized and put in a real life setting. I've never written an actual non-fiction story. Made up fiction but taken from real life.”
eJ: Tell our readers about your website. www.eleanorebooks.org CWE: “I do keep getting traffic from it, I’m not sure how many, I do have readership on that site, I’m not sure which is the most favorite story, it is very gratifying to know that somebody is reading my work.”
eJ: Tell our Readers about your e-books. CWE: “Each one is like a special baby. Augie Bear Was a Lonely Puppy Until He Met a Dog Who Had To Work for a Living: I got the idea back when I was 30, and I wrote a version of it, and it didn't go right, I put it away for years, then later after I'd taken a writer course and knew more how to write a story, I re-wrote it. Living in my building there was a pretty little blond hair dog named Augie and he got hit by a car, and I wanted to do something for Augie, so I rewrote the story and made Augie the main character. What was I going to hang it on? I was going to hang it on another dog next door wanting to make friends with him. And actually every dog in the story is a real life dog that I have owned or have known.”
War of the Nephilim [Marjiff Was a Riastan History Teacher The Sinister Alien Kidnapped Him Across a Thousand Galaxies--To Earth---To Witness the Return of Christ The War of the Nephilim]: “I think it is sort of current. I've always been fascinated with stories from outer space and time travel. People think all of the aliens are turtle heads that want to come and blow up the earth. People would ask the question, "What if there were really people on other planets and how would that affect our understanding of the God of the bible?" If there were other people on other planets it would have to go according to God's creation because his word is true at all times in all circumstances. But if there were another race on another planet created by the God of the bible, how would they be different from us and how would they be like us? They would be good creations, but they would not know the redeemer because they did not need a redeemer because they didn't sin like humans did, they did not need God to come and redeem, they just stayed like God created them. What I did, I invented a character on a different planet who gets kidnapped by an evil creature from the bible, kidnapped from his planet to earth, just at the time of the coming of Christ. He winds up witnessing something, learns about it as he gets here, and takes back the story of the triumph of good over evil, and brings back a copy of the bible to teach the people on his home planet. I used my imagination that God would have created in heaven, they would know God as their Creator, but not as their redeemer because they would never have sinned and needed a redeemer. In the Book of Genesis there is an account of something very, very spooky about fallen angels mating with humans and creating a hybrid race, and one of the reasons God sent the flood was to get rid of them. In my story, they are the evil ones who have survived all these centuries and now they are going to wage war with Christ when he comes back. And they need the men on the other planet to help them and they are trying to force them to allow them to be taken over so that they can have these young bodies of these aliens to fight against Christ. And when the alien on the other planet realizes that he's being kidnapped by the Nephilim to be used as a warrior against Christ, then he turns the table on the Nephilim and becomes a warrior for Christ. Even though he knows, and all on his planet have always known, that there is a Creator but have never known him or his name. But when he is on earth he learns the story of redemption and he learns who the Creator is and winds up fighting for him.”
eJ: You have an e-book for sale online? CWE: “Yes, my first one, A Man of Faith or a Man of Butchery. It is about a preacher on trial for committing murder. Just this past month they [Xlibris] took it and put it on an e-book.”
eJ: Do you sell your books anywhere on the web or off? CWE: "Right now I have a website that is for free, www.eleanorebooks.org. I have the e-book up. I have not yet sold anything, and actually it doesn't bother me if I don't sell them, but I want people to read them because I think they will lift them, I want them to be touched by their soul. If they get it for free or buy it, it doesn't make a difference to me."
eJ: What are your goals with your writing? CWE: “I want the people who read my stories to be lifted up to understand God a little better than they did before they read the story.”
eJ: What do you think of the writers of today's world? CWE: "I want some 3D characters that I can really get to like as a real person, and then I can get interested in the story. The books are lacking 3D people that I'm interested in as people."
eJ: What is your inspiration for writing your stories? CWE: "Actually, the basic inspiration for all of them is that I want to show forth the fight between good and evil and how the Lord overcomes, and he's always the best because he's the source of all good. I wanted to write a story, with the Nephilim story, to show that Christ's truth is true in the entire universe no matter what situation exists, you will always find Christ is still God at the other end of the universe as he is here. In A Man of Faith or a Man of Butchery I wanted to show the difference in living for Christ in a terrible situation and hypocrisy in the church. That even dedicated Christians have to go through terrible things in trials of their faith and that Christ wins victories for all of us, at same time dealing with hypocrites in churches, because when you're in church it doesn't mean everyone around you is a saint. You're going to have to deal with the good and the evil, and just human difficulties that plague the entire human race.
eJ: Do you have a statement you'd like to give as a writer? CWE: “I have found that created characters and getting inside them and making them real helps me to become more rounded and more real myself because I have to learn to understand other people and how they think and feel, and if I do that then I become a better person, actually understanding real people.
Artisan Angel Luczak eXpressions Journal telephone Interview conducted by Susanna with Artist Angel Luczak.
eXpressions Journal [eJ]: How long have you been painting?
Angel Luczak [A.L.]: "I have been painting for about, I would say, about 7 years now."
eJ: What is one of the most recent titles of one of your art works? A.L.: "I title some of them, my titles are kind of obvious when you look at
my artwork. None of them have really shocking or twisting titles, to
think more about it. The title doesn't have to speak for the painting."
eJ: How long have you lived in Milwaukee? A.L.: "All of my life."
eJ: When did you get your first tattoo? A.L.: "My senior year in highschool. Well when I went in to the tattoo
place, I didn't have a design in mind, I looked through their booklet,
looked like a sun shape, and had it filled in with solid black." eJ: Do you design your own tattoos? A.L. "There's only one so far that I have designed, my most recent. I was
inspired by fashion, I wanted something that would have an elegant and
dramatic look to it, and sophisticated - but it's really my own personal
creation, so it's kind of like, my own personal expression as how I
look at it."
eJ: What is your inspiration for your artwork? A.L.: "Pretty much anything that catches my attention, a lot of the time I go
off of an emotional feeling. Also I get my best ideas when I'm driving
in my car, and I create different images in my head, "Ok, this is the
first layer", "Ok what would go nice with the next layer ?,"- once an
image comes to my mind, I go off of it. It does not necessarily turn out
how I envisioned it, but it gives me inspiration on how to go about
painting that next layer." eJ: Is painting your main form of creativity? A.L.: "Yes, it is my main one, I do have experience in other fine arts, but painting is my main one."
eJ: How do you see your artwork in your future? A.L.: "I think maybe in the future I might experiment more in a couple
different techniques to change it, but it wouldn't be anything drastic."
eJ: When did you make your first sculpture? A.L.: "Well, I went to MIAD, and also UWM, so while attending both of those
schools, at UWM I did take ceramics classes, got some experience, so I
have quite a few sculptures - but otherwise I don't do it in my off
time."
eJ: Are you a "trained" artist, did you study art in college? A.L.: "I attended both of those schools, but I didn't actually get a degree
in art. Actually when I was attending at UWM, in one of the classes we
had to go through all different styles of artwork, and re-create an
artwork in that style. So we had to take a painting already created and
reproduce it exactly how it looked. Then we had to create our own
painting in that same style as the original painting we re-created. My
instructor noticed I had a kind of rebellious attitude towards class.
When we did that second painting my personal technique would always come
out." eJ: What are your goals with your artwork? A.L.: "I would
like to be able to have more gallery showings of my artwork. And
another one of my long term goals is to have a bakery/cafe; but also
have it where there is an art gallery as well. My artwork could be hung
up for sale, and also have local artists be able to display and sell
their artwork in the bakery/cafe shop."
eJ: How does music fit in with your art inspiration, or does it? A.L.: "Yeah, I think it does have an influence, because I do listen to music
when I work on my paintings, I think it does have an influence, but I
don't know how strong of an influence it really is. ....Metal is my
favorite kind of music and also with fashion, I do like extreme
appearances. So anything that is like really intense and noticeable and
stands out is something that I'm more attracted to. So with metal it's
a really intense sound, and with fashion I like the dramatic look. And
then with my paintings I like for them to also have a really intense
kind of feel to them. So that's why I think I have such a dark color
palette with the bright colors that stand out." eJ: Your fashion style draws attention, is this something that is part of your creativity, that lets people know about you? A.L.: "I always keep my fashion separate from my art. My creativity for my
fashion is almost as unique as my artwork. I'm really into music, once I
start to like a different genre of music, then I check out the fashion
scene as well. I don't like to stick to one style of fashion. Maybe I
like this spike collar, and then an elegant dress. I take a lot of
different styles and combine them together into one outfit."
eJ: What do you think about the local Milwaukee art scene? A.L.: "Well, I think there is a local art scene out there and I have been to a
couple gallery nights and showings. I guess I think it can be stronger
than what it is. I think we need to have more displays and murals. I
think there should be more art festivals and activities, there should be
more opportunities for artists to be able to put there art work out
there, and for people in the city to be able to appreciate it." eJ: Do you attend art events? A.L. "Not really, no. I feel like I need to be more involved in the art scene. I do want to attend more art galleries, I do enjoy looking at other people's artwork. I do have confidence in my own artwork. I just need to be more involved in the art world." eJ: What outlets do you use to show your artwork? A.L.: "Pretty much the internet. I have had a couple gallery showings here and there. Otherwise, right now, it is just the internet."
eJ: What are some themes you use in your artwork? A.L.: "I guess like the closest category is abstract expression. Some of them [paintings] do have monsters on them, I like monsters. Also a lot of them I was inspired by black lite posters, they have a lot of contrast. I have a dark color palette, but then I use a lot of bright colors, that make the colors pop out."
eJ: Do you have a statement you'd like to give as an Artist? A.L.: "For all the artists out there. Always stay true to yourself, and try not to be under the influence of any other person and their technique - to be able to express how you truly feel, not to be pressured to do something that society accepts. Take a risk and put your own artwork out there, that's what's going to make you stand out. Always be true to yourself."
Writer Christina Walden Ehn
eBooks Available from Christina Walden Ehn's Website:
