New Writer – Orville Evjen

Tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I grew up in South Dakota on my family ranch. I am half native Lakota and Norwegian. My ranch was homesteaded 100 years ago. I learned to draw when i was real little. I would watch Saturday morning cartoons and try to draw what i saw. When i 18 my folks passed away and i moved up here after wandering around for two years. I created a native Lakota comic book in 1999 called Myth and Lore, but it didn’t sell. Later i wrote and Illustrated a graphic novel about Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea. In 2007 i enrolled in to Bismarck State college for graphic design, or commercial art. In 2012 i started researching for my last graphic novel on Abe Lincoln. In 2018 i self published Lincoln. In 2018 i also relaunched my line of comic books called Myth and Lore. 

How do you make time to write?

I am big believer in staying busy but also in keeping my nerves calm. I had a rocky childhood so now i work much better when I’m totally at ease. I exercise, try to get my sleep, and watch inspirational shows and books along with comic books. 

Do you believe in writer’s block?

Yes this happens when I’m stressed and tired. I try to avoid working when i am both of those.

Tell us a bit about the genre you write and why you love it.

I love fantasy art, but after working on Lewis and Clark and Lincoln, I have found that I love working on history based books.

How are you publishing your recent book and why?

Independent or self published. I tried for a year looking for a publisher but because my book was history the comic book publishers would not get back to me and a big publisher said its not the right book for them. So I went to Xlibris out of Indiana. 

Are you an Introvert or Extrovert? How does this affect your work?

I think I’m an introvert. It actually works well. I stay home and work. I do like to socialize some, but I’ve learned to stay away from alcohol and i do not date much. Not that i don’t want to date but with out bars its more difficult.

What is your favorite motivational phrase?

Off the top of my head I like the phrase

“You can crap in hand and wish in the other, guess which one fills up?” ~Grandpa off of Grumpy old men.

Also, I thought of a couple of my favorite quotes from authors other than myself

“Life is the greatest fairy-tale!” ~Hans Christian Anderson. 

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

If you find an author  you really love then read everything they have done. I do more research than leisurely reading.

Where can readers find you on the World Wide Web?

Under Amazon and Lincoln by Orville Evjen. Also at my website www.bravecrowcomics.com  I’m also on Barnes and noble.

Do you have an excerpt you’d like to share with us?

I am assuming you mean from my book, So on page 161, I didn’t write this, but its my favorite quote from my book, Abe at the first Republican convention:

“In my opinion it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. A house divided against itself cannot stand, I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the union to dissolve. I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.’” ~Abe Lincoln

AuThursday – Jennifer Lemming

Tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I am a writer mostly of poetry, but of other things as well. I always wanted to be a writer of novels, but the poetry came first, the novels have yet to completely emerge. I’ve had poetry published for many years. My husband and I moved to Bismarck, North Dakota from Indianapolis, Indiana because my husband accepted a new job as a psychiatric nurse. We hike, camp, and read. We enjoy learning and seeing this part of the country, it is very new to us. 

What genre do you write in and what draws you to this genre?

I write mostly poetry, some flash fiction, and finally some essays speaking about culture (music, books, and tv. shows) 

Have you written any other novels in collaboration with other writers?

No, but I am working on a visual/poetry collaborative project with a fellow poet/friend. 

What excites you most about your current WIP (Work In Progress)?

I’ll talk in general terms about the visual/poetry project that I am working on with my poet friend. I’m just excited how each of our visual creations are sent to the other for writing inspiration. This is creating a cross-artistic energy since visual art and writing for me happen at two separate energy levels.

Almost everything, about any WIP, excites me. Where the flow of the writing is going, what the rough draft will revel, and what direction then it points to for revision. I realize that if I lose a certain level of excitement, then it is time to set that particular work aside until later. 

Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just to see where an idea takes you?

Mostly free form, just go with the flow of a general idea, or I have a visual and write down what I “see” as the action. I also will write mini-bios of characters – so that I may get to know them better away from what I write. I get a deeper “feel” of who they are, what their motivations are, the bios aren’t long or complicated. Sometimes that is just a fun exercise, getting to know the character outside of the writing somehow deepens my relationship with that character. 

How do you relax?

I read, watch shows and movies, listen to many different genres of music – my musical taste is very eclectic. I also hike and have an active interest in historical preservation, 

I have a series of journals that I work with, that are mostly visual, this is very relaxing. The journals are free-form, rarely when I sit down in front of an open journal do I have even a plan or thought how I will visually express myself. I may have a phrase or quote that I want to record in the journal, but then the visual work just emerges around that brief written passage. 

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

A couple of thoughts and I believe these thoughts about beginning the writing journey are related. I am concerned that aspiring writers are overly anxious for success, for finding their “voice” more quickly, with more self-confidence. I know I was eager and sometimes anxious about this as well. What I would like to say to aspiring writers, (and to my back in the day writer self) is that the writing will come, your “voice” will be found if you follow your instincts and try not to push it forcefully.
I’ve learned from the advice “write what you know”  that when you are beginning, the frustration can be overwhelming because sometimes it is, for example,  I want to write about dragons, or such and such author writes brilliantly about dragons, but how can anyone really “know” about dragons that makes writing about them unique and special? I understand now that, that phrase, that advice really means “write what you are passionate about, what you have deep, authentic feeling about”. If you have that sincere interest in a topic you will acquire the knowledge that will naturally fit into your writing, your world-building (whatever genre you write in, you are world building), and you will find your specific “voice” for your writing. That said,…

Also, learn your craft for skill, and practice that skill with care. 

Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?

Just random facts, my family is from the south, West Virginia specifically. I have the experience of a different culture to draw on, for example, the family stories about our family’s participation in the Civil War. Two of my patriarchal lines were Confederates (gg -grandfathers), one great grandfather was Union, yes my grandmother’s father was a Union veteran, and one I confirmed recently was neutral. So I have this rich, sometimes odd emotional history to at least fuel the feeling of my writing. 

Where can readers find you on the World Wide Web?

My work that I would classify as weird Fiction and edgier poetry can be found on Yellow Mama/Black Petalspublishing site. Amazon has both my most recent chapbook “Star Slough”  by Dark Heart Press, and my dark, gothic (fairytale?) published in the anthology Indiana Horror Review 2015

I’ve recently had poetry published in Redshift#4, AlienBuddaPress, The Shrew (ezine), and more, just google Jennifer Lemming poet. Oh, and KDAK 102.5 has frequently played my song Thunder Song (vocals Peter Kobal,  CD The Only Star)

I am a contributor with reviews of movies and Streaming shows at a great cultural site, Drunk Monkey’s. 

Do you have an excerpt you’d like to share with us?

This is the first poem I wrote after moving to North Dakota in 2014, (following my husband’s job relocation). It was published by Hobo Camp review in January 2016.

Plains Song

Avoiding gopher dugs and digs,

I rub sandalwood oil

mixed with buffalo grease

on my bare arms. Opening

my mouth to bite at the cold,

I finally see the moon

after the membrane of clouds pass

and I try to hold on

until your love reaches shore break

inside my heart,

and shatters all geography.

 

AuThursday – Joshua Knels

Please welcome Josh Knels, a fellow member of the BisMan Writer’s Guild!  Joshua, can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

My name is Joshua Knels. I grew up in Fairview, MT, and moved to Bismarck after I graduated high school and attended Bottineau for a little while. I didn’t get into writing until I was fifteen. I suffered a back injury during a football game that took me out of sports for the remainder of my time in school. That’s when I started reading books and grew a passion for reading and writing. I started writing my first project when I was a sophomore in high school, but later dropped the project when I went to college.

Are you an Introvert or Extrovert?  How does this affect your writing? 

Introvert. It gives me plenty of time to write since I don’t go out much (even less so since Covid-19). The only time I go out nowadays is for work or D&D nights with friends during the weekend

How do you make time to write? 

I usually write between shifts when I get home from work or on my days off. 

What genre are your stories and what draws you to this genre?

I usually write fantasy adventures since I enjoy world-building and creating new worlds. I often mix it with other elements, such as romance and horror. 

Do you ever get writer’s block? 

Not as much as I thought I would get. I am always thinking about character development and story elements and rarely get burned out from it. When I do, I just relax for a day or two and I am back at it. Listening to music while writing a scene also helps me out a lot.

What is your writing Kryptonite?

Depression for sure. When I feel overwhelmed and depressed from work and personal matters, it has an impact on my writing. Whenever I am in these funks, I either write scenes where characters feel the same as I do, or I just take a personal day to myself and try to get over whatever is stressing me out or depressed at the time.

So, what have you written? 

Nothing complete right now, I’m afraid, except two books that I self-published in 2011 and 2012.

These books, The Seattle Massacre & Trails of Blood were two books of a series of murder mystery & horror books that I was writing a long time ago under the pen name J.J. Knight. I stopped writing them when I lost progress on the third book several times and a lot of my other projects when my computer went out and I didn’t have them saved on any other source. I had lost the passion for writing this series and in general when I hit a very deep depression that lasted for over three years and didn’t write anything during that time. It wasn’t until 2016 when I started writing some Pokemon fanfiction to get back into the groove of writing until 2018 when I started my D&D project. In 2019, I fell in love with one of my favorite D&D characters, Victoria “The Scarlet Rose” Valentine, and decided to write a book series based on her and in a modern setting. 

Where can we buy or see them? 

I think you can see the two books on Amazon. I don’t intend to continue that series unfortunately since there’s no passion left for that project and all energy will be devoted to my next project. 

What are your current projects?

My current project is The Scarlet Rose, a planned multi-part series. It is a modern fantasy story that was inspired by my favorite D&D character, Victoria “Scarlet Rose” Valentine. The story follows the main character Victoria, a girl born with the appearance of a devil (horns, tail, and red tail). I was inspired to write this project from elements of Hellboy, Supernatural, and Men in Black.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Never give up your dream and always practice. Write what makes you happy and don’t be afraid to ask others for help and opinions.