Gen X and Baby Boomer Talk About Fulfilling Your Dreams | Episode 114 | Author Interview

What about your fourth book? So this is called true grace and it was inspired by my grandmother. Her father was a white British man and her mother was an African woman and this is all true. And this is a true story. This, well it's inspired by my grandmother and when the story opens in the first chapter, you know, she's got five kids, she's a homemaker. And when the story opens, something horrific happens, something that would just bring somebody else to their knees. Karen Osborne, welcome to the bookaholic podcast. Thank you so much. I'm delighted to be with you. Yes. Glad to have you here. It's such an interesting background that you have, you know, and Karen, I feel like this interview is as much about you being a writer as living your intentionality and being on purpose and living out your dream. Absolutely. That is exactly what I am doing. Yes, it sounds like it. And so with that said, let's discuss, let's talk about your dream. So you started writing at the age of? 12. I wrote stories in my head from as long as I can remember. As a little kid, I used to entertain my friends with stories that I made up. Yeah. But, but I would tell them that it was real because then they were more interested until I made them too fanciful and, you know, I'd get caught. But I started actually writing things down from 12 years old. Wow. Wow. And you started writing professionally at what age? 69. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. You know, I will tell you, I was so glad to read that. I was so glad to read that because I've been noticing that everybody ages differently. You've got your people that do like you did write a book at your first book at age 69. You've got people that will run marathons. The folks that live in the blue zones. I saw a clip for that. I think it's a show coming on or been on Netflix and you see all those people at a hundred and they're doing all these fantastical things. And then you have other people that may be just in their fifties and they have completely slumped down. They're like, I'm old, I can't do anything, dah, dah, dah, dah. And so I'm always on the lookout and always so happy when I see somebody like yourself that's living out your dream and you are living. Some people actually stop living while they're alive. Yeah, that's unacceptable. That's 100% understandable. So I love the fact that you did not give up on your dream that you had since you were 12 years old. And Hey, you wrote your first professional book at 69. That's wonderful. So here I am at 76. Here I am at 77, excuse me, ma'am. And as you write books later, well, so what made you different? What gave you that push to go ahead and say, I'm going to write my real first book. I've been writing stories all since I was 12, entertaining people since I was 12. What gave you that push to go ahead and write that book? So two motivations. So the first one was every time I watched a movie with a horrible murderer or, you know, somebody who was doing terrible, terrible things, they'd find out in their past that they had been an abused child. And so, and while it's true that most abusers have been abused, it's not true that most people who have been abused become abusers. One motivation in my head was I wanted to write about someone like myself who most of us who are survivors are just out there trying to get well, trying to live our life. But I didn't know, I didn't know what to do with that. You know, I didn't want the book to be about that. Then, motivation number two, these women started talking to me in my head. Okay. And one's name is Kara and the other is Alex. They start having these whole conversations with me and I'm, you know, talk about distracted driving, you know, I'm here and I'm driving and I'm hearing all this in my head. And they were just like, okay, we're ready. We are ready. Start writing. So that's how it did. That's what had happened. I knew what I wanted to do. And then Kara and Alex told me, here's how you can do it and get going. And then I was still working full time. So I was in the air four days a week. I was in hotel rooms four days a week. I was in, you know, the Delta lounge four days a week. I was writing, you know, on airplanes and hotel rooms and I just trying to squeeze it in. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm so glad that your voices in your head motivated you to go ahead and write books. And as a matter of fact, you write some of my favorite genre of books, mysteries and thrillers. Is that correct? So that's one of the, I write a lot of genres. I know it's very wise to stick with one, but I just write what I feel. At this point in my life, I'm just going to do what I feel. So I did write, yes, Tangled Lies was my second novel. And the first one was Kara and Alex's story and it was suspense and it was family drama and suspense. And then the murder mystery Tangled Lies came out and it's on page two is a graphic, graphic murder. And then the protagonist is a 70 year old black woman. And the other protagonist is a 25 year old white woman. And the story takes place over two weeks and how they solve the murder, how they come together, why and how. And of course there's lots of drama, you know, just, just like in the first book, Getting It Right, there was insider trading and FBI agents and, you know, I write short chapters, keep moving. Good. That's good. Short chapters. I love it. Unless you really have something to say and can build the value to me as a reader by having a long chapter. I don't want them, you know, I'd rather have short snappy chapters. Yeah. Just keep it moving. Now let's go all the way back to that first book. The name of that book is Getting It Right. Getting It Right. And that's the originators, the two voices in your head. Tell us about that book. Yes. So Kara and Alex are half sisters. Kara is mixed race and Alex is white. And Alex grew up in dysfunctional privilege and Kara grew up in foster care and she ended up in an abusive home. And the book opens on the eve of the death of their father, who is white. And he had a massive heart attack and he calls Alex to his side. And he says, you have to help me. I abandoned this child and I need you to find her so I could make things right before I die. And she's like, what? Yeah. Deathbed confession. Yes. And so over the two weeks it takes place in March on the cusp of spring in New York, Alex sets out to find Kara and bring her, but she expects Kara to be grateful. She expects Kara to be, you know, but but Kara who wanted to be saved so many times in her young life, you know, she's like, you know, I made it. I've been wishing for this day forever. It's too late. You're too late. He's too late. And so all that happens to them. And Kara is an incest survivor and we make a lot of bad mistakes and a lot of bad judgments until you get well. And so Kara's life is really complicated and Alex's life is really complicated. And so over these two weeks, they come together, but not. Well, you know, I like the sound of that from your description of your first book and second book so far that you are going into an area that I find a lot of people don't go into. You either have books that are of a solid lead pretty much. They might have one character thrown in, but solidly they have a white book or a black book or an Asian book or an Indian family book, you know, typically now that's nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that. Yes. The story is about, I'm not saying everybody has to do this, but I like the way that you are incorporating real life situations. There are plenty of people out here with mixed race. There's plenty, millions of mixed race people of all kinds of types, of all angles. And I feel like they are not present in a lot of our stories that you see, you know, and you're bringing in that factor there. And an intergenerational relationship between an older black woman and a younger white woman that you've mentioned, and that's your second book. And that's called what? Tangled Lies. Tangled Lies. And where's the first one was suspense. The second one is a murder mystery. Wow. Okay. And again, it's two weeks. So it tangled. Yeah. I like keeping the crucible tight. Uh, so things move quickly. So Tangled Lies takes place two weeks in May. Okay. Spring is just sprung in New York. All my books are set in New York. Okay. Okay. Do you live in New York? Not anymore, but I'm a New Yorker. Okay. I live in Florida, but I'm a New Yorker. And then the third book, Reckonings, I decided to make up a town in New York. I'd never done that before. I created my own little city that's in a suburb of New York. And this story is about Roxy who 36 years old. She is old. She is 36 years old. She's what? Old. Oh, she, remember you were telling me, you know, that there are 50 year olds at all. Well, she's 36 and she is old. She has four children. The oldest is 17 and pregnant. She has, she's married to a man she loves. She has two rescue dogs and they live in a teeny tiny apartment. And she's working in a beauty salon that her father-in-law owns. And she is worn out. I got you. I got you. Right. And she looks worn out and she feels worn out. And her daughter won't tell her who the father is or the baby. And then she has hope though. Because as the story opens, she has written a play called the Monday night murder and the local community theater has agreed to stage it. And a childhood friend who's an actor has agreed to come the one night to open a night. That's all I'm giving you to be in her play and in her mind, this is going to solve everything. This is going to end up on off Broadway. Maybe even Broadway is going to give her enough money so she can quit her job. And she and her husband could start their own shop and that she could get a little house, little house. Wow. Don't tell us any more. That sounds so intriguing. Well, this is only the beginning. This is only page one. Whoa. Wow. And now tell us about the fourth book. So let me just tell you about what happens. The one last thing that happens in reckoning. So she's got this hope and then who walks into town is spider booth who raped her when she was a teenager, who think was consensual in his mind and believes that her daughter who's pregnant is his child. Oh my gosh. What could possibly go wrong? What could go wrong? Wow. Okay. So that's two weeks in August. And what about your fourth book? So this is called true grace and it was inspired by my grandmother and it's takes place in 1924 during the Harlem Renaissance. Grace was born in the Congo, educated in England and then moved to Jamaica where she met her husband. And her father was a white British man and her mother was an African woman. And this is all true. And this is a true story. This, well, it's inspired by my grandmother, which is different. Yeah. Cause I had to make up a lot of stuff, Deidre. I had to make up a lot of stuff, but this part is all true. And when the story opens in the first chapter, you know, she's got five kids, she's a homemaker, you know, she's home. And when the story opens, something horrific happens, something, something that would just bring somebody else to their knees. And so the book is about how grace with no education, she married very, very young and she got pulled out of school. No means of living. They wouldn't let her even access her bank account because she's a woman. This is 1924. If your husband doesn't sign, you can't get the money out. She has no way of supporting herself and she has to figure out how to survive. And she's an immigrant, right? She's an immigrant in this country. So the story is about how she overcame one obstacle, after another or just trying to keep her family safe and keep them together. True grace. So all of your stories seem so fascinating. I really liked the premise of all of them. Now I noticed throughout our conversation, you said, and I think most of your books go on for a two week period. Except the last one. Historical fiction is harder to do in a two week period, but still it's pretty well. Somebody said, and you're wicked fast plot, which is unusual for historical fiction. So it really, it starts in April and it ends in October or November of 1924. Wow. That is pretty fast though for historical fiction. But I like that two week deal for your other books. Always very interested. I have, I am not a writer, you know, I'm not writing any fiction or anything like that. So through all of my interviews, I come to mark three areas and this may not be for those of you who are professional writers, but I think about the story is one thing you have to have in mind. Your characters is the other thing and the world that you build is the third. You know, that's not in any order, but I feel like those are the three components and it's sure. I think many people, you could get lots of people, maybe just picking people out of my neighborhood that have a story that they could throw out there, but to build the characters and the personalities, heck, even the names of what the characters are and what they wear and their style and their personality type, you know, and the world that they live in. It's one thing to write a story that takes place in New York City and you know, New York City and you can refer to a bodega for an example or large department store on fifth Avenue that, you know, those things are already exist, but it's another to create your own fictional town, you know, such as you. So how do you do your writing process? You know, do you still sit down with pen and paper or you just jump on the computer? What do you start first building characters? Does the story come first? Does the world come first? What's your writing process like? So characters are the driving force for my stories. People are my protagonists. Like who are they? And people are rarely one thing, right? Even even the bad guys are not a hundred percent evil. So what is going to be those other characteristics of that person that makes them whole and real? And one of the things I love that so many of my readers say is that, you know, I could sit down and have like lunch with your characters. I mean, I know them. I want them to come over and talk. So I really try to flesh out my characters because they actually drive the story, right? You know, I have a plot in mind and I start writing, but then they take me places. They go, no, no, no, no. Karen, that's not where we're going. We're going over here. So, but if you don't have them rich in your mind, if they're not a whole, complete, interesting people, all you've got is a plot, right? Right, right. You're just going along. But when you have real people and they just create all kinds of opportunities and all kinds of ideas. Yes. It's characters plot and then setting. Yes. Got you. For you. Right. Exactly. And now, so what else do you have up your sleeve? I know you've got another book on the horizon. Surely. I do. So I decided to, I loved writing historical fiction. It was the first time I'd ever done it. And I never did it before because I didn't like research. That's what I told myself. Cause I don't have patience. And so I like just making stuff up cause that's easier. Right. When you're doing something that's set in 1924, you have to know what existed and didn't exist. And you know, so I thought, okay, for this new book, I had this character in mind. He's a 77 year old Vietnam vet that at the beginning of the book, the first page or so he gets murdered. Oh no. Just listen to me. I'm like, I'm already involved. I'm like, what? So Emerson is murdered, but who is he? Yeah. So the story takes place on a dual timeline. So it's present day as my protagonist, young black woman, she's 50 Gen Xer young to me, but not all that young. So she runs a not-for-profit. She's a CEO of a not-for-profit that's helping the unhoused hungry and unemployed. And Emerson was a volunteer. Right. Okay. And then, so the story takes place. She has to solve his murder. She has to figure out a way to save her not-for-profit. The murder happening in it has hurt, hurt it. There are other things going on. Is there some fiscal thing going on? There's lots, lots happening. And who was Emerson? So the second, so I have parallel is 1968. He's flying. He's just got, you know, this is during the Vietnam war and the draft. And he decided to join the air force before they drafted him into the army. Cause he didn't want to end up in the mud and Vietnam. So he signed up for the air force and as he is flying over to Vietnam, it's on the day that Martin Luther King was murdered. And he's questioning like, what, what am I doing here? You know what it like, how is, how is anything going to be different? How's anything going to change? You know? So he's a disillusioned. He, he was, he was okay with going, but he's over the Pacific and this murder happens of Dr. King. And then the story progresses. So his life until they come together in present day and he's, yeah. And then who killed Emerson and why. And you know, I've already loved Emerson and it's not even the book out. I'm already loving Emerson and the fact that he is questioning, Oh my goodness. Okay. So Karen, I will tell you, I was on Amazon yesterday and I saw your profile on Amazon and you know, follow et cetera. Your books sound so good from the writings on Amazon to what we've been discussing here. So right now I'm already a fan without having read the books yet, but I will be checking your books out. And so this all sounds wonderful. And I so appreciate and thank goodness that you did follow your dreams because you got some great stories to tell. Oh, thank you so much. I'm having a time in my life. Oh, that's good. That sounds fantastic. Well, Karen, thank you so much for joining me today. And we're going to have Karen's information in the podcast show notes as well as in the video description box on my YouTube channel. Karen Osborne, thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you for having me. Yes. Thanks.