Vicki, First, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.
Vicki: Biker Sunday is a Southern inspirational romance, and it is filled with a kind of humor that could only be set in the South. A prissy Southern belle is drawn out of her safe, predictable world and is thrown into the middle of a gang of rough bikers for the sake of helping her Sunday school student who is battling leukemia. Country clubs, bait and tackle shops, corporate ladders, Harley garages, fancy designer dresses and leather fringes do not mix well. Ultimately, the conservative heroine, April Church, must decide whether working with the biker hero, Bullworth Clayton, is worth what she has to give up in order to help the little boy she adores.
Debra: Such opposites. It sounds like an interesting story.
Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?
Vicki: Keeping my creative cup filled is easy because I live in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. I am privileged to live in—what I think—is one of the most naturally beautiful places in America. I reside in the midst of ancient oaks with long beards of Spanish moss hanging from their limbs, swamps that hide all manner of creatures and secrets, and palmetto trees that sway in the breezes which blow from the oyster-colored beaches that are strung along our coast. The unique beauty of this area seems to have given birth to some pretty unique characters, as well—and I’m talking real people here. In addition, Charleston, South Carolina, is filled with history, myths and tales (true or not). My creativity overflows from the rich environment in which I live.
Debra: Charleston is indeed beautiful and imbued with such rich history.
Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?
Vicki: You don’t even want to get me started here. Since childhood, I have admired language and the way words sound when they play against one another. I have envied authors and have written poetry since I was very young, so naturally, I studied English literature and language when in college and in graduate school. Teaching English became the natural next step. I adored sharing my love of literature and writing with my high school seniors, showing them not only what was being said in a piece of literature, but how the author was saying it. Though I played at writing while teaching, I desired to write professionally and on a full-time basis, so I retired early. Now my days are filled with creating worlds and characters with thought-provoking similes and fresh metaphors, and I charge myself daily with entertaining readers with a new experience with language.
Debra: Thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.
(If you would like to learn more about Vicki Sweatman and the South Carolina Lowcountry about which she writes, visit her website: http://vickisweatman.com/.)
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