“I had the flu once. It was terrible. I couldn’t eat a thing for three hours.”
I hope you giggled at that line. I think it’s one of my best. And yes, I am a tad fond of eating. In fact, you could list it as my major hobby.
My name is Melodie Campbell, and I write
comedies. (This is a self-help
group, right?) Sure I’d like to kick the
habit and write a ‘real’ book with literary merit.
Okay, so that’s a lie. Leave ROWENA AND THE DARK LORD behind? Not write a sequel? I’m starting to hyperventilate. Actually, I love writing comedies. It’s in my blood.
<crowd gasps here>
A GREEK MASK
Some people are born beautiful. But most of us aren’t and we look for ways to
survive the slings and arrows of life.
Sometimes we choose to hide behind a mask. That Greek Comedy mask was the one I picked
way back.
As a means of self-preservation in the cruel world
of teenagers, I looked for the ‘funny.’
More often than not, I made fun of myself. This was easy to do. I knew the target well and there was a wealth
of material. And it didn’t hurt anyone
else, so people liked it.
When I left school and had a ‘real’ job, I started
writing stand-up on the side. I rarely
delivered it – usually I wrote for others. That led to a regular newspaper humour
column, and more.
So when it came to writing fantasy novels, I fell
back into ‘safe mode’. Write it funny.
IT’S AN ADDICTION
Worse than chocolate and foreign Counts… Comedy writers take a situation, and ask themselves
‘what’s the worst thing that could happen now?’
And then, what’s the funniest?
But why do it?
Why does an otherwise sane individual write zany and some might say silly
comedy, and risk the inevitable hit from critics who say your book is without great
literary merit?
One reason, and one reason only: many
readers love it. Their comments and
reviews are heart-lifting. I’ve
lightened their day with adventure and laughter, and in some cases given them a
story they can escape into, over and over again. Yes it’s true. It wouldn’t be fun to write if I didn’t have
warm and generous readers.
Excerpt from Rowena
and the Dark Lord
I was
beginning to get a very bad feeling.
“Did you
volunteer for this job?”
“Yes.” Howard
was now relieving himself off to my right.
“Why?” My voice was perhaps a little
harsh.
“To get out
of fighting, of course. Everyone says there’s going to be a big battle. It
seemed like a good time to leave the castle.”
I rolled my
eyes. So now I had a complete newbie horse dude who was also a coward to look
after on this trip. Howard the Coward. Lucky me.
“Can we sit
for a bit? I’m exhausted.” He plunked down on the grass. Then he sprang up
again.
“Ow! Ow!
Ow!” He ran around in circles.
“What is
it?” I watched in amazement.
“A bee! I
sat on a bee.”
“Are you
sure it’s a bee?” I said, crossing my arms. “Maybe it was a wasp.”
“Does it
matter?” He was jumping up and down.
“Well, if
it’s a wasp, you’re okay. If it’s a bee, the stinger will still be stuck in
you. So when you sit down again…”
“Ahhh!! Take
it out! Get it out!” He lifted his tunic and bent over.
Ick.
I turned
away. “I am so not doing that.”
Buy now
No comments:
Post a Comment