Episode: 1134
Title: HPR1134: Scannerdrome Ep. 1 - Lola Lariscy
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr1134/hpr1134.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-17 19:38:02

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Hi everyone, this is Klaatu. You may or may not know me from Hacker Public Radio.
And it turns out we're throwing a party on New Year's Eve.
And everyone's invited, whether you've listened to Hacker Public Radio or not,
whether you've contributed or not, you should stop in on the Mumble server.
Mumble.OpenSpeak.cc.
Hort 64747. You can use any username you want.
Drop in, say hi, eavesdrop, whatever you want to do.
It'll be a lot of fun, and it's going for 24 hours.
That's right, UTC minus 12.
The whole UTC day will be broadcasting all day, all night, and we want you to join us.
Welcome to the Scanner Drone.
Who we, what's that on the floor?
Who we gooey aliens, needles and pores?
Quantum physics, black holes and quasars, science fiction writers, make the twinkles and the stars?
Who's that? Swinging back and forth, Mr. Doc Matt is on her, of course.
Kick back, relax with a snack, off the interviews, reviews on track.
Welcome to the Scanner Drone.
Hey there, ladies and gentlemen.
Once again, back to the Accutable Byer Brown.
And this is the first episode of Scanner Drone, where you'll be able to check out
literature, authors, new authors that are out there, reviews on web episodes, and all kind of
things that are just sci-fi.
Or if you want to come on the show and talk about aliens or anything like that,
you have a weird, odd story.
I would love to hear it.
So in any case, our first episode of Scanner Drone, I have a wonderful surprise for you.
We're going to meet an author, sci-fi author, and it's coming up right now.
I'm very excited about the person that I am going to introduce to you.
If you are into literature, if you're into writing, especially sci-fi writing,
I have the person that you are going to love to meet.
And we're going to talk about some of the stories that she has created.
Some of her history, a little bit about her, the things that she likes to do.
And you guys are going to love it.
Now, you can check out HPR, that's Hacker Public Radio, as well as the new radio.net.
We'll also be on Mixlar and a lot of other different places that you can
be able to get this interview and other interviews.
In the future, I hope if she agrees to come back one day.
So without further ado, I would like to introduce you all to the lovely Lola Laracy.
Hey, Bar, how are you doing?
How are you doing today?
I'm great. Thank you. I'm very happy to be here.
Thank you for having me on.
Oh, I'm thankful that you even came on.
You know, I was sitting there and I was thinking, and I said,
man, I really would love to interview you.
Way back in the day, I used to do this one show called The Face Lift.
And it was kind of based off of Facebook.
And I would take people from my Facebook list and interview them just to find out more about them.
And I was thinking about that.
I was like, wow, this would be a great person to do that type of a show with.
But what I really want to know is a little bit about
what you are into right now.
You love to write.
And, but well, before that, let's talk about exactly where you came from.
Savannah, Georgia, if I'm not mistaken.
Yes. I was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia.
My parent, my, my father's from there and my grandparents.
And I, I lived in the, I called it the Walmart Bill section.
It was, it was the suburbs.
I mean, when people say, oh, you're from Savannah.
It must have been lovely all the time.
I'm like, yes, I walked on a bed of daffodils.
Oh, wow.
No, I grew up in the suburban part.
I mean, you know, I could walk to the movie theater.
And it was a nice suburban neighborhood.
And then on weekends, my grandmother would take me down to downtown.
And I would look at the waving girl in River Street and all that.
In some cases, I was almost as much of a tourist as some other people.
Because I only went there like, like downtown Savannah on weekends.
But it was, it's a very beautiful place.
I miss it. I left when I was 17 years old because I had to make my way in the world.
And I had to do great and wonderful things.
So I moved to Alabama.
I don't, I don't really know where that came from.
I don't really understand that.
But I lived there for 10 years and I went to college.
I got a degree in English literature.
You know, people always told me, well, you need a backup plan.
You know, you don't need to major.
And if you're going to major in English, you need to have something else to do.
And I always said, no, no, no, it'll be fine.
Everything will work out.
Well, I'm a customer service representative now.
I realized I have to make my own way in this world.
Nothing's going to come to me.
That's why I'm really pushing my writing right now.
I'm trying to self-publish.
I'm podcasting my stories.
I'm working on a novel.
So this is part of me really trying to introduce myself to the world.
What I have known about you up to this point have been very pleased
and happy that I even met you.
Now, you know, you had a situation where you came from Savannah.
And that does sound like just a beautiful place.
It's the name of it.
Savannah, you know, what's magical?
It truly is magical.
People don't understand it.
But even when you're there, when you're standing on the street,
you feel all the history.
It's a beautiful place.
Yeah, that's down there.
That's a provenance of George Moe, Savannah.
Yeah, yeah.
It's right on the corner.
It's actually only two hours from where I am now.
I live in Jacksonville, Florida now.
And it's so sad.
It's only two hours away.
But I've only been once in the last 15 years.
That's a poor place, isn't it?
Isn't there a place down there?
Yeah, Savannah River runs right by it.
It's on the inner coastal waterway that actually goes all the way
from the south up north.
That runs through there.
The same inner coastal waterway that runs through Jacksonville.
Now, your journey, you went off and you, you were, you were,
as you say, the rubble against the family going off to some other place.
Who she thinks she is just running off some place?
My parents weren't happy, but I fussed so much they finally let me go.
You went off to school.
You, you know, you were taking up English and literature and whatnot.
Now, you know, you say it to right now, you're doing customer service work.
What happened during that, that area from where you left school
to where you're at right at this moment?
After school, I didn't know what I wanted to do.
I mean, obviously, I wanted to write, but it's so hard to break into it.
And I just never really got my footing.
And so I just took odd jobs here and there.
And then after I graduated college, my mother, she, she has various health problems.
She's actually from Florida.
So I decided to move to Florida like a good daughter and, and help her.
And that was 1998.
And then I continued to be a good daughter.
And, and then I worked at, you know, my uncle's eight insurance agency.
And then I got another job at an insurance agency.
And then I didn't want to do insurance anymore.
And then I went into the tech field.
So that's where I am now.
And I actually, okay, I, I sigh when I say I'm a customer service representative,
but I should not get too much because it's helped me a lot.
I do website troubleshooting for the Navy.
The reason I got the job in the first place is because I've been doing my own blog since 2005.
I've been podcasting since 2006.
So even though I have absolutely no professional technology experience,
I have no education in technology, I got this job.
And it's actually helped me.
I've learned some other like troubleshooting things that I never knew about websites.
Certain things like put this in your trusted site.
Look at this event setting tab, things like that that I didn't know before.
And it's actually helped me a lot.
So even though sometimes I roll my eyes when I talk about it,
I can't knock it because it's got to me where I am right now.
Very true.
Now the thing, and I totally know where you're coming from with that.
And, and, you know, dealing with customer service.
I've done a lot of customer service in my time.
I do some now that we we were joking around earlier about glitches and
hiccups and glitches.
But when I'm interested about
since you're into this tech field.
Now, what is the genre of writing that you like to do?
I'll let you introduce it.
I write science fiction, which is awesome.
I love science fiction.
I've been, I was born for science fiction.
I mean, I remember reading Isaac Asimov when I was a little girl.
And Madeline Leongo because I was a little girl.
I just I absolutely love science fiction.
I wouldn't call it hard sci-fi.
It's really it's soft sci-fi.
Yeah.
It's not fantasy.
For instance, the novel I'm working on is about an alien
spaceship captain who lands on earth and decides she's tired of being
spaceship captain.
So she's going to try being a detective.
All right.
It's almost like it's almost like a mystery science fiction hybrid.
But it's more comedy than anything else.
So I guess you could call it sci-fi comedy.
That's what I like.
Sci-fi comedy.
No, that's that's that is good.
Now, do you think that you're messing around with the internet
and everything?
Does that feed that science fictionist thing in you?
I would say so.
I mean, for instance, the the short story that I have up on my website
that you did the promo for end of life projections.
It's it's technology.
I mean, that's really what it's about.
It's about what would happen if we learned how to capture a person's soul
just for a few hours after they die.
And it's pure technology.
I mean, it's not supposed to be supernatural.
It's just all technology, which is awesome.
And I love love that story.
The end of life projections.
And now let's enjoy a snipplet of end of life projections
by Lola Laracy.
Swain finally finished setting up the camera.
He was the only one in the conference room.
The angle was perfect for capturing the audience around the table
and the speaker in front.
All the VP told him that morning was,
make sure the camera caught everyone.
He'd only be able to get an occasional facial shot of the audience members
but he would have the speaker the whole time.
The company never asked him to film a meeting before.
It seemed strange and even stranger
was the number of meetings they were holding five in one day,
20 people each.
The whole company was going to pass through that day
and the company wanted him to film each meeting.
He never heard of a small company hiring its own full-time videographer
but there he was.
He had been at the company a month.
And so far, he had just made training and safety videos,
lift with your knees, don't leave objects on the floor, etc.
The first group began to filter in.
Some employees dragged their feet, some drinking cups of coffee,
some were so perky you would think they were viving for promotion,
not going to a staff meeting.
He didn't start filming until everyone was settled.
The vice president came in and walked toward the head of the table.
The coffee sippers, brown nosers, and the hangovers all ceased their activity once.
He took his place.
Ladies and gentlemen, I want the next hour to seem like any other hour
in this company.
I don't want any exclamation, no screams, and no indication of surprise at all.
I don't want you to let the word out about this to the rest of the company.
They will come here today, same as you.
The room was noticeably uncomfortably quiet.
The camera made a faint humming.
To Swayne is sounded as loud as a window AC unit,
the closed door of the conference room rattled.
The vice president anxiously looked towards the source and hurried to the door,
so he can open it before it entered.
Swayne felt the executive dread as he reached toward the knob.
He trained his lenses on the open door, but as he did, he heard the ex-helling breath
from the people behind him.
He didn't hear words, but he could hear the hands tightening on the armchairs.
He snuck a look back to saw the eyes wide opening, his sense of impending panic.
He turned the camera briefly towards the reacting audience,
but switched back in time to catch the gray figure as it rushed through the door.
This was a reading of End of Life Projections by Loto Leracy,
performed by By Our Brown.
Now, let's get back to Scanner Droom and the rest of the interview.
I have to tell you, I literally, when I'm at my regular everyday job and I'm doing customer
service, there's different times where I'm talking to customers.
And we, thankfully, we are allowed to kind of be a little personable on my job.
That's good.
And I actually ask, I say, hey, do you like writing?
And they're like, yeah, you know, I said, you're in the books and whatnot.
And I have told, at least, at least 75 people about your blog and about End of Life Projection,
which is really cool.
And people like on the phone have literally gone and said, oh, I found her right here.
And I'm like, look up Lola Leracy, End of Life Projections.
You cannot go wrong.
You'll love that story.
And I plan on still doing that and telling people more people about your stories.
End of Life Projections is one of my favorite stories you've done.
That makes you very happy.
Thank you.
Oh, I really, that's the one that hooked me.
And you even put on there my best story in my opinion.
Now, I don't know if it's your best story because I think there's a lot more wonderful
things coming from you.
But it is definitely one of those stories that I really just connected with.
I felt connected to Swain, which is the main character in there.
As I was reading it, I could vividly start to see the interaction between the boss
and what was about to happen in this story.
I don't want to give it away.
I don't know.
I want to give it away.
I want you to go to Lola's website.
And I want you to check out End of Life Projections because it is, that's hot.
I love that story.
Thank you very much.
No, no, no, thank you.
Now, you also have, now we're going to be talking about some other stories of yours as well.
But you also do writing.
I mean, you don't just do, well, you don't just do writing.
But you do other writings as far as like articles and whatnot for different blogs
and websites out there as well.
That's true.
One of the ways that I've been writing for the last 10 years,
this is the first time that I've really tried to push my fiction writing.
But I've been writing non-fiction articles for at least the last 10 years.
Like I said, I've been blogging since 2005 and I write for various venues.
I've been writing for Southern Beer Review for the last few months.
I've been watching their podcast since 2010.
They almost saved me because I was going through a really tough time in 2010
and I was feeling very alone and I found their podcast.
And I would sit there and I would just watch it and I just felt like I knew them.
First of all, they're from Georgia.
Right, right.
Hello, I'm from Georgia.
And actually Anna really is from Florida.
But she moved to Georgia because that's where James is from.
And so I got the Florida connection.
I got the Georgia connection.
I got the beer connection.
I just felt like I found new friends.
And they really took to me right away when I started emailing them.
And so when they decided they were going to do a blog,
well, I said, well, of course I want to write for you.
Please let me.
And so they've been gracious enough to let me post stories articles.
So I've been writing articles about places I like
that serve really good beer here in Jacksonville, Florida.
I've been doing that for the last few months.
Awesome.
And I remember when I was talking to James from Southern Bear Review,
which he's a really interesting and fun guy.
I was very honored to meet him and actually have some interaction with him.
But I remember him telling me that he was talking about
they kind of were like talking about girls and women.
And you know, I don't like to drink beer.
When they don't selly girls.
When are they talking about it?
And then you just came in, hold up.
Wait a minute.
Now I like beer and I like these beers.
And you're going to respect my gangster.
I could possibly drink them under the table.
I mean, Friday night at the end, it was just me and Clay standing.
I think that maybe James was still there,
but he was kind of like leaning down.
But it was really just me and Clay.
So I think I won the beer wars that that last show was on.
So I can drink a lot of guys under the table.
Now, I'm not big with hard alcohol.
I'll drink rum and I'll drink vodka.
But it does tend to make me sick.
I'm really a beer and wine girl.
Awesome, awesome.
And I do like the partake of different brews of my own.
And I like to do home brews as well.
And that's how I really got a connection with you on that one.
So I got to wonder.
You kind of like, they were talking about girls not like in beer.
You come in.
You kick down the door and say, this is the kind of beer I like.
And you know, you really showed them, hey, I know my brew.
Even though I'm a girl, I know my brew.
So I got a wonder.
You have another story out there about a super heroine.
Yes.
Okay.
And she's kind of, you know, she got a little bit of a chip on her shoulder.
But she's a serious superhero kicking down some doors.
And she ain't taking no mess.
No, she doesn't.
Now, I got a wonder.
You know, what part of that?
I feel like there's a little bit of your soul in there somewhere.
Like, you know, where you kind of sitting back and saying,
oh, if I was a super heroine and I had to deal with this nonsense out here,
what would I be like?
Was that the kind of the feeling that you were getting from that particular
story?
Tell us about that.
I think it's super heroine in New York.
Super heroine of New York.
And one of the great things about science fiction or any writing is
you get to put, you get to encase something you're feeling in another exterior.
So even though it's a story about a super heroine who kicks ass and stops crime in New York City,
I mean, I'm not there.
I'm not a super heroine.
But in a way, I can feel myself kicking down some doors.
You know, even though it's about someone else other than myself,
I can put my own wishes into that.
And it's a bit of a catharsis.
Because even though I've never stopped a crime,
I've stopped someone from being a jackass.
I've stopped people from hurting other people.
So in a sense, I've been in that situation in real life.
But the super heroine of New York, that's just heightened.
That's like, what if I could do that but have real super hero powers
and really stop someone from being physically hurt?
Yeah, so you know, even as I was taking that story in,
I just kind of felt like I said, I feel like there's some parts a little all through this.
And I guess in writing, just like you said, you're able to just intertwine
and then, you know, different aspects of yourself.
Or, you know, like in your head when you have all those different thoughts and that,
you know, that person in your head, I like to call it when you're thinking of those ideas
and they pop up and it's like, wouldn't it be cool to be this?
And then they're after the races, but you have the talent to write it down.
And it is a little bit of wish fulfillment.
What if I could do this?
And we may not always be able to do it, but we can write a story about it.
And it makes us feel better knowing that even maybe in this fictional world, it can happen.
And is that what draws you to this genre?
Is that what draws you to science fiction?
Even though it's not like super hardcore science fiction, it's still, you have a good way of just
grasping it. And I think that people are going to like it because it's not science fiction that's
over their heads. It's that kind of science fiction that kind of like, it's still attached to real life,
but kind of just draws you into this other fantasy world a little bit.
But not so fanciful that you're like, ah, that's just totally.
It's kind of like right, you know what?
It's kind of like a human experience of science fiction, which I really think that's your
niche or your your that thing that's different about you.
So is that what draws you into this science fiction genre?
I think so. I think it's like, what if our world were a little different?
What if we can make our world just a little different?
What would it be like? It's like I'm taking our world, everything we know, everything we take
for granted, everything we get bored with. But I'm turning it just a little bit to the left and
saying, what would it look like if we looked at it just a little bit differently?
Just enough to jar us, not not enough to completely knock us off our access,
but just enough to make us really question things and look at things.
Awesome. Yeah. So I see that in the stories that you're writing. Now while you're writing these
stories, are you, do you take time to just go off and daydream a little bit and then come back?
Or what do you do to just get your, you know, your your creative juices going?
I have to, I know my boyfriend thinks I'm sleeping, but there are times when
if I really want to know what I'm doing with this story, I have to think about it.
I just have to sit there and close my eyes and think, okay, what do I want to happen next?
What do I want the outcome to be? Because I'm not one of the those people who can just sit there
and write and have it just flow, you know, from me. I have to kind of take it in chunks. I'll do
the beginning and then I have to think, well, what am I going to do next? And sometimes I have to
work things out in my mind. Like, do I want this character to do this? Is this character this kind
of person? Sometimes I have to just think about who are these characters? And so there's a lot of
prep work and I usually do that when I first wake up in the morning before I even open my eyes.
So that's one thing I'm going to miss when I go to the eight to five schedule because I told
you that, you know, I'm changing my schedule at work because now I have time in the morning to
just lay there for an hour if I want to think, okay, how is this scene going to work? Is she going to
come from this angle, you know, and things like that? I have to work things out in my head before
I write them down. That's really cool. So in being first thing in the morning, do you feel like
that? I wonder if that's where you're kind of coming out of your dream state from being
sleep that day and you still have a little bit of that dream magic left. And I wonder if that's
where your brain is like in between those two worlds of dreaming and going into the reality. And you
kind of find that sweet spot of, okay, this is where Lola's science fiction world exists, you know,
that's exactly it because that's my magic time. That's actually where end of life projections
was born. That was a dream. I actually have that dream. It was a little bit different in my dream.
In my dream, I was talking to the great person. It was a little darker actually. In my dream,
the person was really unhappy and he didn't understand why he was dead or what he was doing.
And it was really depressing because he was so upset and he didn't understand what was happening
to him. Well, I didn't want to write anything quite that depressing. So I kind of thought,
all right, how can I do this? Where is more wonderment and a peaceful passing and more, you know,
just just a little more in awe of life versus death. So I kind of tweaked it when I actually
wrote it down, but that was a dream. And that time when I'm just coming from sleep to wake
it's the time when my mind is most open. And when I've had some wonderful ideas for my dreams,
now it's also the time where I've had some really silly ideas for my dreams. And I wake up thinking,
oh my goodness, this is going to be the greatest story ever. And then I open my eyes and I go,
that is the dumbest thing I have ever thought of. So it can go either way. It can be my wonder time
or it can be my time to wonder if I'm in the right field. Yeah, I know what you mean by that.
Sometimes when you you have those thoughts, I go through that where you're like, oh, I'm going
to change the world. This is going to be like the best things since wonder bread. Oh, this is going
to be great. And then you're sitting there, you're like, yeah, people are going to think I'm just
a downright idiot. Yeah, I had one story actually. I woke up and it just seemed like the best idea
ever. I was like, oh, this is just wonderful. Is this so beautiful and magical? This is something
Pixar would do. This is how beautiful it is. And then I realized I was like, wait, that's like
this stupidest story in the world. Because basically for some reason, the idea hinged on someone
actually like putting an anchor in the earth and like trying trying to split the earth in half.
Now this is actually pretty funny because in my dream, it looked like a Pixar wonderful magical
fest. Okay. But then when I woke up, I was like, someone's trying to put an anchor in the earth
and it's going to split it in half. That's ridiculous. But I came out with one thing. I came out with
the title one split earth. Oh, awesome. And the funny thing is I took that title and I made a
different story from it. And that's what I'm recording today. So I hope to have that out on my
podcast this weekend. And I am also looking forward to that, the one split earth. So that's where
one split earth came from. This Twilight Zone timeframe of putting an anchor in the middle of the
world. Exactly. That is interesting now. And I guess, well, we're not going to spill the beans
because we're going to let people listen to the cast and check out that wonderful story as well.
In which case, I had the opportunity to check out that story. And I enjoyed it.
It's probably not forgotten. You saw that I had it on my drive. I forgot about that. What
do you think? I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. The characters without giving anything. I really liked
grandma. Grandma hit home with me. She was sweet and she was very grandma-ish.
Very caring. But smart. I made sure she she's actually smarter than a grandson.
Yeah. Yeah. She has a job in the real world. So she kind of guides him.
Exactly. I really like grandma. I really liked the main character and the character that he
you know kind of conversates with. These are people that I feel like I know in life like they
represent that type of person that you know. It's like you know what God like that.
I think you did a good job at that. I'm glad. Thank you very much.
What is the hardest part about writing? Do you get the writer's block? The dreaded writer's block?
I get the fear. That's the hardest part, the fear. We were talking about what happened between
college and now it was fear. That story super heroine of New York. I actually wrote that in 2001.
That was the first thing I ever finished and I put it in a shelf or in a hard drive.
And I didn't think about it because I was terrified. I was like what if nobody likes it?
What if I get rejected? What if they tell me it's stupid? What if they tell me it's the worst thing
I could possibly do? Because this is all I ever wanted to do in my whole life. This was what I
was meant to do. This is why I was put on this earth. I truly believed that. And to have someone
squelched that it would squelch my heart. I wouldn't be able to come back. So I was terrified.
So I put it away. But then in 2004, I thought well this is silly. I need to submit it somewhere.
So I submitted it one place. I submitted it sci-fi.com used to have online submissions. You could
put your work online. It was like a magazine online. And I submitted my story to that.
And I was so excited. I printed it out. I made sure that the formatting was right. Although I
found out later some of the formatting was wrong. But I tried really hard. I made it look as
professional as I could. And if you've ever tried to submit anything to a magazine or a publisher,
you'll know that's really tough because there are very stringent guidelines you have to go by.
So I went through all the guidelines printed out, mailed it in. You have to use one of those
large envelopes for it because it's a 90 page story. It was a big deal. And so I was so excited
and so terrified. This was 2004. Well, I got back the package with a letter from the publisher.
It was handwritten. So I can say that I have a handwritten letter from Ellen Datlow.
Nice. And it says, you know, we're not going to publish your story. Don't double space between
paragraphs. So now I know don't double space between. And I know that that is deep in my heart,
deep in my brain that will never leave me. So, but I was so naive. I didn't understand back then
that you're going to get rejected. Yes. It's true. It really is. Do I understand that now?
You're going to get rejected. There are people who they're not going to like what you do.
They're not going to read it. They're going to decide because you haven't been published
before. They don't want to have anything to do with you. Right. So that's going to happen. You
cannot let that deter you. But I didn't know that back then. I was so young, even though
physically I wasn't particularly young, emotionally, I was young and I didn't understand that.
So I got so upset and I was so mortified that I put that story in a drawer and I didn't look
at it. And that's why I didn't do anything for so long. In 2007, I brought it back out and I
updated a little bit because they hear when originally had a CD player instead of an MP3 player.
So I had to update that a little bit. So now she has an MP3 player. But I didn't try to submit it
again because I was still scared and still upset. So but I started doing more research. And finally
in 2010, you know, I read enough or I realized, okay, I'm going to get rejected. I have to heart
in my heart. I have to put some arm around me and just do this thing. And that's when I started
writing my novel that I've been working on. And it's been taking me a while for the novel.
It's almost done. I would say it's about three fours done. I'm working on the final scenes.
But in the meantime, I also read that it's better if you have some short story credits on your
belt before you try to submit a novel. So that's when I started really seriously concentrating
on my short stories. And that's when I started trying to publish my short stories.
Now when it comes to the short stories, do you find yourself, is it difficult for you to stop
writing? Do you find yourself wanting to keep going with the short story? Because I know when
I was when I sat there and I was enjoying end of life projections, I know that I was kind of
sitting there like, well, I want to, I want to know somebody else to be projected. I was wondering,
do you ever find yourself, is it, do you find yourself wanting to go back and revisit any of
the short stories? Well, with the thing like end of life projections, I mean, it is, it is a
little bit fantastical in that we don't have anything like that. I mean, technologically,
that's not over the horizon. So I think it's better for something like that to be a little snippet
because it really is just like a, it's a glimpse into an alternate life into an alternate future.
Sort of like a highlight zone type. It's very twilight zone. And if you examine it too much
it breaks down. I mean, we don't have anything like that. It's not coming. I mean, we're talking
about the soul here. No one can quantify the soul. No one knows what makes the soul. So it is almost
like a fantasy. Almost it's fantastical science fiction. So with something like that, I think it's
better to keep it small and keep it short and keep it sweet. But that doesn't mean there can't be
other stories. If it really does take off and people do like it, I couldn't make other stories
like it. It's just really one of those things where you just want to wait and see what happens.
I think what you really achieved though, and just like you just said, it's best for it to be like
a little snippet. And I think you're right. And I'm kind of like sitting here talking with you
about it. And I understand where you're coming from with it because it did, it did its job in the
sense of, you know, the story begins. And it hooked me. Okay, it was like, okay, I want to read
more. It wasn't one of those kind of things where it's like, okay, all right, it hooked me. It's
like straight. So I got hooked. And then it kind of drew me in a little bit more. And I wanted to
go do something else. But then I was like, well, wait a minute. I want to know what's happening here.
It drew me in a little bit more. And then it started getting the juices running. And as the story
went on, and towards the end, it did what every great story really does. It leaves you wanting more.
And I sat there was like, okay, I really need to go find something else that she wrote because
I want to read some more stuff. And that was perfect because a lot of people, a lot of authors
do not achieve that always. And I guess even as you become a season writer, there will be times
where you won't always achieve that. But just like you said, you put your armor on and you realize
that there are going to be some rejections. There's going to be some downtime. And I think that's
just really great advice for, you know, other authors, young kids that are coming up. And
to hear your story and to say, wow, you know, Lola was scared. And she didn't really, she threw her
story into the drawer, shut it, walked away from it. And I bet you there's a lot of young authors
out there that have gone through exactly that. And this should be good for them.
Because it's terrifying. I mean, this is something that's part of me. This is who I am. I mean,
long after everything's done, you know, people may say many things, but the best thing you can say
about me is she followed her heart. She's a writer. She did what she wanted to do. That's part of
the reason why I'm podcasting my stories and putting them on my website because I, you know,
I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I could walk out and be hit by bus. I don't know.
No, no, no. Hopefully not. I don't know what's going to happen. I can't wait for big publishing to
come and say, you're kind of cool. Let's take a chance on you. I can't wait for that. I want people
to know who I am right now. I want to be known for what I'm supposed to do right now. So I'm
making it happen myself. Whether I'm financially successful, I don't know. That's not the concern
right now. The concern right, the concern right now is that people know who I am. People get a
chance to read my book, my work, my short stories, and eventually my book. And that I get my
name out there. That's the concern right now. And you're going to be successful at that. You
know, you just keep pushing it along. You're going to be absolutely successful in achieving your goal.
I like the fact that you did not say, you know, oh, I'm going to be, I'm looking if I'm rich,
then I consider myself to be, you know, it wasn't about that. And that's why you can tell that
you have a real passion for what you do. And that is where true authors, in my humble opinion,
is, are born from because if it's all about the money that you're not, no, you're not a real author.
It means nothing. Then then you're a hack. Yeah. That's what, before there were hackers,
there were hacks. Mm hmm. That is someone who just slices and dices away through something to
make it whatever they want it to be. That's a hack. People who do it for money, they're hacks,
because at this point, if you want to guarantee financial success, you have to follow a template.
You have to be a certain type of author. You have to write a certain type of boilerplate novel.
That's the only way you can guarantee any sort of financial success. Well, that's not what I'm
here for. I'm here to write my stories and to do what I want to do. That's why I'm podcasting
my stories. That's why I'm putting them online so that people can see who I really am.
And that is, that is very good. Like I said, you're coming from the heart. You're coming from the
soul. You're not worried about the finances. You're worried about perfecting your craft. And that
there is priceless. Now, I got to ask you, what are or who are some of the people who inspire you?
Who are some of your favorite authors that are out there? And do you have any other books that
you recommend from maybe one of your other authors that you like? The person who inspires me the
most right now is Scott Siggler. If you want to see a true success story for a self-published
author, go to Scott Siggler's website, read about him. He was a pioneer in this field. He
was podcasting novels before most people knew what podcasting was. And I was very lucky because
when I was at Dragon Con in Atlanta this last time, I went to a panel where he was in a podcast
with some other authors. It wasn't a podcast. I think it was just a panel with some other
self-published podcasting authors. And I stood up and asked a question about music because
I've had music podcasts before, but I didn't know if I could use the same music for my running
podcast. And they gave me some ideas for some places to go for royalty-free music. But after it
was over, he came up to me and he started talking to me. And he helped affirm my faith that I can
do this. This is something that is completely available to me if I put the work in the time
and if I really go for it. And he is the true success story. I mean, he is the juggernaut when
it comes to this. We can't all hope to be as successful as he is. I mean, not everyone will be
as successful as he is. But if you're looking for someone to inspire you, he is the person because
he's done it. He went from podcasting his novels. Okay, not only is he still podcasting his
novels, but a publishing company came to him. Crown Royal came. Crown Royal. Crown publishing.
Okay, I've years. Crown publishing came to him in years. Crown publishing came to him and said,
we want to publish your books. So not only is he now published professionally through a big
publishing house, but he's retained control of his works. So he's still podcasting. He's got
the best of both worlds. Now, I'm not going to pretend that will happen to me. I don't know.
I can't judge that, you know, that's something that I'll have to look at if it ever comes to pass.
But he is truly the beacon for this. And so right now, I'm just looking at him. There's some other
success stories and self-publishing the leap of Valentine and some others that, you know, that I
go to. And they're really wonderful. And as far as old school writers that I'm fans of, you know,
there's Douglas Adams, Matt and the Uncle, Ursula Kaylequin, all the usual suspects when it
comes to science fiction writing, I love them all. What do you foresee your future to be after the
novel is done? You know, you got that going, are you going to go right after another novel?
Or are you going to try to maybe take that novel that you're making right now and just, you know,
go out and work on its publicity? Or do you always just continue to write or do you have
downtime where you're just like, I'm not going to write right now. I have no downtime.
With working full-time, I've been writing in the mornings and the evenings and the non-weekends.
I've absolutely no downtime, no downtime whatsoever. I haven't decided what's going to happen next.
I'm waiting until I finish the novel. One thing that I know for sure is it's better not to plan too
much until I'm done with what I'm doing right now because I'm one of those people. I'll get caught
up in the future. That's why I'm a science fiction writer. I'll get caught up in the future and
I'll forget about the present. So I need to concentrate on the novel right now. Make sure that it's
perfect. Make sure it says everything I want to say. Just even the littlest things like with my
novel right now, I'm writing a battle scene and I've never written a battle scene in my life.
I'm working on the actual novel right now to make sure that it's something that I can be
completely proud of, something that I mean for it to be. My original plan was to at least try
to get an agent and get professionally published. There are two agencies that I thought would
really fit me very well. The novel I'm working on right now, I had envisioned it being
two parts and I was going to publish the first part and then the second part later. So I had
originally submitted the first part to an agent and I never heard back and that's what got me
thinking I need to make this one complete novel instead of two parts. I need to make it one
complete novel. So after that I really started thinking about it you know I was like this needs to
be one work. I have a choice. I can try to hit up the next agent that I think would be a really
good fit and that the whole publishing process is I'm sorry, it's a nightmare. Yeah. It can take
months, okay, let me start over. You may never find an agent. That's the truth. You may never
find an agent. If you do, it could take you a year or more and then the agent has to sell the
rights to your book. That could take another year or two or three or never happen. So you're looking
at you know a year, three years, four years your book is in limbo and nothing may never happen
and one of the realities of reading now, of publishing now is that people don't go to bookstores
as much. Here in Jacksonville there's only two parts in the upper left and someone told me that
one is supposed to close. If I'm wrong about that I'm sorry and I never went to books and millions
of but there's still a few of those left and there's maybe one independent two or three independent
booksellers now. So people don't go into bookstores that much anymore. So I have to think about it
if I do go the big publisher route and I wait four years for something or nothing to happen,
what am I waiting for? Right. Whereas if I want to I can go to Amazon and for free or minimal cost
I can just put it out there and see what happens and see what happens and any cost would be
if I wanted to hire someone to make the cover for me if I need to hire someone to format it for me
and you know I've already I've been in technology for enough time where I hope I can format it myself
we'll see I don't know. Well you never know but I think that's a good idea to go on Amazon
and try it out anyway and like you said all that time the four years and it could not happen
and nothing may happen. I love to read your story now. And see it's a difference between do I
try it immediately now into what happens or do I wait four years for someone to maybe take a
gamble on it and not only that but even if it gets published to a big publishing house
maybe they only make a run of 400 copies and then they don't make a second run. And then what?
it's it's in the bargain bin for three dollars. Right. Whereas if I do it myself
I retain the rights forever. It's out there it's on Amazon forever. The more I think about it the more
I lean towards doing it myself. I really do and also if I do it myself there's no one who tells me
that the main character needs to shag up with someone because in my novel all right the not the
character the books are actually named after Trudy Lim. She she she is a horn dog.
She is but she's also kind of ugly and kind of belches a lot. She's she's she's um
I would say she is uncouth. You don't want to see her having sex. So I keep it off camera so to speak.
Right. Right. But but the real focus of the stories the secondary character is Aurora and to me
she she's the light of the story. She's not innocent but she is not to be solid and so I don't
want someone telling me she needs to shag up with somebody. Right. So if if I keep complete
ownership of my stories no one will tell me anything. Now that might mean that people won't read it
and that I won't make any money but I'm no worse off than I am now. That's true and the thing
is is that um you know of course although you know those kind of situations come up in different
stories here and there. I kind of like the idea that it's not um a shag fest. I kind of like
that idea because I'll tell you honestly there's times where I'm reading a story you're watching
a show or whatever and I'm into it and it's going along and then it's like oh it's shag time and it's
like oh they have to put naked people in there and they have to have awkward you know conversation
that that doesn't seem real. Exactly it's like this is not the time for it. No keep going.
I was like I was happening before keep going but they feel like they have to break it up with
you know sexy stuff because I think that the desperate housewives crowd this CW crowd they
want to see that. Well I mean not not in CW because I love supernatural. Right but I mean you know
that's not who I am. I'm not saying I won't ever have that but there is a time in a place and I
would like these ones say that. No exactly that's the whole thing it's like it's not that shag time
it's not that it's that it's you know unfavorable or whatever but it's not welcome. No it's not
unwelcome not at all. I mean that's a natural thing that happens and that's and it's a good thing
but it's just that when I'm watching or reading and it just kind of pops up out of nowhere
I'm not even fitting in there and it's like you had this thing going on that was so cool
and then you stopped it with that and that upsets me because I'm like it's almost like a commercial
for sex. Yeah it's like boom it's like okay okay everyone's getting shaggy and then we go back
to our story you know. Can we get back to the story now it's like yeah I understand I know the
mechanics let's go. I'm a doll I know what happens I don't need to see it right here. Exactly
and that's you know I commend you on that to keep keeping the story going and interesting
and I noticed that you know because I am a bit well I'm nowhere near on your level but I do a
small bit of writing but I noticed that what I kind of like to do is write a little bit
right a little bit in a way where it kind of hints a little bit but not exactly it's kind of like
oh you know you describe a person maybe in a certain way and it seems like oh wait he's going
that no no he's not going that way at all you know. You want to do that you you want to that
that's one of the wonderful things about it you you want to like subvert expectations that's
exact phrase for it you want to subvert expectations if someone knows what you're going to do
then it's boring for them. Exactly. You want to take them on a journey but then kind of take them
on a little zigzag route so they don't really know where they're going otherwise why would they go?
Exactly exactly and I love that when that happens. One of the stories or shows that I watched
was Spartacus it was on stars and now Spartacus it is very adult like but it is. My mother's
not allowed to watch. I told her that flat out. I was like you can't watch that. You can't watch
this. As much as I love Game of Thrones she can't watch that either. Yeah that one is interesting
to say at least. I love it but yes definitely it's it is awesome but I love what I loved about it
was the twist in terms where I thought they were going to do this and then the next thing you know
this guy over here gets killed and you're like whoa you killed this guy here and they did a really
good job on that as far as Spartacus you know twisting and taking you in different areas that you just
never knew you were going to go. So I look for that as well in writing and whatnot and you know I
think that you you are definitely achieving that and your stories because I have not found anything
yet that I've ever anything of yours that I've read I've not been like oh oh man so far
I loved everything that you read and like I said I don't just say that. If I find something
that stinks I'm like yeah see really like you but that part that was so good you need to work on
exactly if anything I'm honest and that's okay I want people to be honest because I mean how how
else am I going to know I only have my own perspective and you know I understand my perspective
is skewed and and I don't always make the best judgments so I appreciate someone saying you know
maybe you should have gone a little different direction with that that's fine. Oh yeah
constructive criticism definitely is is welcome I welcome that in many parts of my life and
you know and I'm sure you welcome it as well because we all want to just become better at
the craft to do better you know so I mean being an English major one of the reasons why I didn't
pursue writing right out colleges because being an English major broke me it really broke me for
writing I mean it was like military training it broke me down and built me up again but I was like
I can't do this I can't I can't I had to walk away for a little bit because it really broke me down
because I went into college thinking I'm a great writer I know what I'm doing I don't have a gift
for this I'm a natural and then I learned that I don't really know where the commas go and I need
to learn how to start an argument sustain the argument in the argument and I mean it it really
truly broke me down just like I was in boot camp and you know I hated it at this time I was
miserable but I am so grateful and I'm still paying for it literally I mean I'm still paying for
my college degree and I will be for a long time right right but it was worth it because they taught
me how to break down my writing truly examine it and build it back up now that's that that is a
priceless thing to have to have that skill I can understand that you know you yeah you're paying
for it but it's it's paying for itself in a sense of allowing you to be yet a better writer than
you already naturally are yes so that is that's going to be great so in any case it looks like
we will be coming down to an end we need to know where we can find you how do we you know enjoy
more of your stories what else are you doing out there I know that there's another website you do
that's awesome as well tell the listening audience about you know where to find you where to find
more of your work and you know tell them about the other website as well well my main website is
LolaLaracy.com L-O-L-A L-A-R-I-S-V-Y.com I also do a podcast at CyrillianLopster.blogspot.com
and it's the word Cyrillian and the word lobster all put together I am all over Twitter all over
Facebook you can find me if you if you dare you can find me if you dare yeah oh man you know we
really like to talk to you again and see the different steps that you're going through talk about
stories and just that whole thing if you'll if you'll allow us to be a part of your world every so
often that would be awesome I would love that cool cool so is there anything else that you would
like to say to anybody else that's out there at all I appreciate being on here I just want the
chance to share my writing with people and if you like my writing please pass on my link to whoever
you think would like it awesome I'm sure I'm sure we're gonna do that throughout this throughout this
interview and whatnot you got the chance to listen to little snipplets of of Lola's book so you
can always go back and check out Lola's website little laryseek.com and also you know listen to
more because she's she's putting together audio for her recent short story which you're doing
middle-earth right there I know one splitter one splitter now I'm not pretending to be J.R.
are talking no I'm not I'm not middle-earth I wish I were but I'm not I'm right now one splitter
one splitter so you're you're getting that together right now so a little bit later on that will
be available every so often I like to read your stories into a microphone so I appreciate you did
such a good job buyer I can't even begin to talk about how good a job you you did you really got
the differences of the characters you embodied everything about the characters oh that's that's
that's really cool because I I was reading I said I hope she doesn't hate me yeah I couldn't
help it though I was like I wanted to read this story and that just goes to show you it wasn't just
oh that's a nice story it was like I I was inspired I want to read this and I want you know I want
swaying in the in the guide it's sound like this and I want you did a great job when I read the
stories I mean I'm sorry I sound flat because I am I'm not an actor and I sound flat
you really are differentiating each character and I mean if you ever want to read any of my
stories I won't say anything no that's that's awesome and I will read whether it's reading it into
a microphone or just you know sitting back and enjoying it myself in the comfort of my home either
way I am really really I'm definitely a fan I'm looking out and I want to see you succeed and
you know I want to be right there with you as you succeed and document all of this so and I
encourage you out there to listen her you go and you check out Lola Lola Lairacy.com you will not
be upset you will do yourself a disservice if you do not take a trip into this wonderful ladies
mystical world that twilight world as she allows us to visit her and and she just puts it out on
the page and we can have all kind of fun maybe spark a more interest even in yourself inspire
yourself to go out there be creative take Lola as an example do not give up on your dream she's
not giving up in nor should you and this is by our brown with Lola Lairacy and I'm wishing you
all the best AG2G and God bless
Scanadro
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