Hearing Voices: When a Character Cracks Up

My first novel, Adventures with Max and Louise features a woman who, through a surgical error, is given unwanted breast implants. Before they can be removed, they start talking to her. One is an English bloke, Max, the other a black woman of a certain age, Louise. Both have very strong opinions on what Molly, the main character, should do to fix her life, which is stuck firmly in the past.

In other words, Molly is completely nuts. And she knows it. She's hearing voices. The completely

mental thing about it is that when she starts listening to them, they make sense. Both Max and Louise, although they clash wildly, want Molly to break out of her shell and take some risks in love and life.

When I was writing the book, people at cocktail parties or my daughter's soccer games either laughed uproariously or they took a step back with a confused look on their faces, asking "Seriously? A book with talking boobs?" And to be honest, readers either willingly suspend their disbelief in order to enjoy the story or they don't.

But the insanity of the idea is what made it interesting to me. Weighed down by years of guilt about an accident in which her mother died, Molly's breaking point is the surgery, which cracks her open, spilling out all the fear, loneliness and guilt that have shadowed her since the day of her of her mother's death. With the breaking point comes two voices that change her life forever.

If you ever read any books by neurologist Oliver Sacks, such as The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, featuring stories of patients with various mental disabilities, Molly's voices aren't that much of a stretch. But unlike many real and debilitating mental illnesses, this one goes away once the Molly has reached a crisis point and moved beyond.

Great fiction takes characters and tosses them into the sea of crisis, spitting them out changed, for better or worse. In every day life, when faced with the chaos that life throws our way, we all have various coping devices. Sometimes going a little bit crazy is one of them. In fiction, writers can take it further because unlike real life, no one is going to end up getting hurt.

And in my books, I can promise you a few laughs along the way.

A native of Seattle and graduate of Smith College, Ellyn financed her MFA at The American Film Institute by working as a cook on fishing boats in Alaska. After several years as a screenwriter, Ellyn came to her senses and returned to Seattle, where she wrote her first novel, Adventures with Max and Louise, which was pubished in 2012. Her second novel, Divine Moves, was published the following year. She's polishing her third novel, Fifty Acts of Kindness and outlining her first YA novel, Finding Nirvana.

When she can find the right mix of humor, depression and hysteria, she'll write about her years in Los Angeles.

She lives near Seattle with her family and a shelter dog.

For writing news, sneak peeks at new projects and her blog, visit www.EllynOaksmith.com

Just One of the Girls?

Normally I would feel a little intimidated by being the first man to guest blog here at Girlfriends Book Club, but it just so happens that I’ve got an ace up my sleeve.  It’s not the first time that I’ve been surrounded by beautiful women.

Just last weekend, I went out on a limb and stood up in front of a 300+ person audience at the Synetic Theater in Arlington, Virginia as part of the annual ‘Listen to your Mother’ theater series.  Fifteen of us read original pieces that pay homage to motherhood.  It runs in 24 cities leading up Mother’s Day and I was crazy enough to audition.  Here I am feeling super comfortable (sort of) with the rest of the talented cast.

 Since you probably don’t want to hear about how my daughter is going through her ‘Tyrannical Threes’ or that my 2-year old son tried to rip his penis off this morning, perhaps I should focus on telling you a little bit about myself and why Tuesday, May 7^th is one of the biggest days of my life.

My name is Adrian Kulp.  I was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania and moved to Los Angeles when I was 21.  Over fourteen years in Los Angeles, I was the comedy booking agent for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS, as well as a Vice-President of TV development for both Adam Sandler and Chelsea Handler’s companies. 

Now… I’m a full-time stay-at-home dad for two toddlers in Rockville, MD.  It’s been this way for a little over three years.  I’ll be honest I never pictured myself doing what I’m doing, but that’s okay. 

My transition from executive to primary caregiver wasn’t the easiest.  When the phone calls and emails began to eventually dry up, reality set in as Ava and I sat on the floor of our living room on weekday mornings staring at each other.  Several weeks went by where I felt lost, I questioned my self-worth and my pride was challenged.

In an effort to regain some form of sanity and perhaps commiserate with others that were in my position, I started my blog, Dad or Alive, writing funny stories about parenting.  After a few weeks, those stories caught the attention of a literary agent in NYC and she suggested that I write a book proposal.  I took her lead and within a few weeks, I had it finished.

I turned it over and waited with bated breath for her to either call me and let me know that the publishing houses had passed OR the alternative.

She called me with the alternative.

The Penguin Group bought my comedic memoir about becoming a first-time father and my subsequent year as a full-time, unexpected stay-at-home dad.  They gave me a year to write it.

In that year, my wife and I had another child, a boy named Charlie.  We moved across the country and I still spend every day with them.  Ava is now 3½ and Charlie will be 2 in July. 

In the beginning, I didn’t see the good fortune in losing my job and having to stay at home with my kids, but now, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  I can’t wait until they’re old enough to appreciate my humor (and not repeat curse words), and look back at the picture of us on the cover, and begin to understand exactly how much it meant to me to be their dad, how I picked myself up, dusted myself off and evolved as a man and as a father…

And today, Tuesday, May 7^th, a years worth of yelling story ideas into my phone app while dropping off at preschool, jotting down notes on the cardboard of a diaper box and staring at my computer monitor with bloodshot eyes at 2am will finally pay a dividend.  

This book would make a great gift (I know the author, he told me) for Mother's or Father's Day.  You can pick it up in any major bookstore, or order on Amazon or Barnes & Noble for your e-readers! 

Adrian Kulp is a full-time stay-at-home dad for two toddlers, Ava & Charlie. He writes the blog “Dad or Alive” as well as for The Huffington Post. Circle of Moms ranked him #4 on their Top 25 Daddy Blogs of 2011. His blog has been optioned for Television by Sony Pictures/ Happy Madison Prods and Adrian’s first book with Penguin Publishing debuts in bookstores May 7th. He is also the former VP of TV Development for both Adam Sandler & Chelsea Handler, as well as a comic booker for “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” on CBS. He currently lives just outside of Washington, D.C. with his family.