CREATING EVIL--GOING TO THE DARK SIDE

The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.

Joseph Conrad

EVIL LIVES--TURN ON TH ENEWS, OPEN YOUR LAPTOP, PICK UP A NEWSPAPER.

So it seems appropriate to face this fact, even in fiction. But I'm a mild person who avoids even the most minor conflict in person, who yearns for a world in which armies and bombs and battles are obsolete. 

Yet novels thrive on conflict. Creating characters, especially those whose personality and goals are the very opposite of mine, always presents a challenge. Producing imaginary people who are as memorable as MacBeth or Nurse Ratched, to make them stalk the pages as believable, demands more than imagination. It demands an understanding of the effects of nature and nurture. This is where my education in psychology (the Gestalt Approach) and theater (the Stanislavski Method) become invaluable.

For a self-centered cheater in my novel DOUBLE DECEPTION I employed “the magic if.” How would I feel if I’d been abandoned by my mother at birth, left in the hospital and then adopted by demanding parents who always made me feel I was somehow lacking? If my husband lost interest in me after the birth of our child, and a suave and charming man offered me the reassurance and admiration I needed?

For a brutal criminal I contemplated the psychology of a boy who’d been raised in a series of foster homes, thrown out onto the streets at fourteen and had to make his way on the streets. Offered a "tribe" and a brotherhood of older criminals, wouldn’t it be natural to find satisfaction and success in the gang?

First I consider the forces that combine to create a certain type of individual. Then I search for quirks of personality, physical attributes, manners and morals that contribute to their individuality.I meditate and search my own soul for the emotions I feel and the emotions I suppress and deploy them as appropriate for my characters.

Writing brings into play all of the accumulated knowledge and experiences of one’s life, the ability to walk in another’s shoes, the excitement and pleasure of playing many different roles. In my real life I’m a staid, modest, law abiding, and considerate human being. But on the page I can live an adventure every day as I become a hardened killer, a wily detective, or a femme fatal.    

Can I Keep Writing Fiction When the World is in Chaos?

“I have an idea that the only thing which makes it possible to regard this world we live in without disgust is the beauty which now and then men create out of the chaos. The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art.” 
― W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil

I read all the headlines--endless wars in the mideast and Africa, fire-bombings in Syria, in the United States--police shootings of unarmed young men, mass shootings by fanatics--not to mention fires and natural disasters--floods, fires, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, and the effects of our contribution to more disasters through climate change.

Chaos seems overwhelming. Makes me rethink my life of security and my escapism into worlds that I  create. Should I be writing about more important issues? Should I voice my opinions in op-ed pieces and letters to the editor instead of more subtly through the the minor themes of my fiction? Is it enough to contribute to causes I believe in, to add my name to petitions, to write to my representatives?

When I was younger I threw myself into the fray. I taught in a ghetto school in a riot torn city. I picketed against injustice. I volunteered. I worked with children at risk. Even when I taught in more comfortable towns I did my best to impart values I believed in to the young people in my care.

Now my keenest wish is to sit at my desk (before a roaring fireplace) in my Pocono Mountain cabin and disappear into a world which is under my control. In which karma ensures that characters get what they deserve. I can insinuate my ideas about issues I consider important--that abuse of the weak is always wrong, that all children are our children, that violence only leads to more violence.  But I wonder if it's enough.  Can art in all its forms create beauty out of Chaos?

LAUNCHING DOUBLE DECEPTION--WITH FRIENDS AND CHAMPAGNE

Author: Joanne (Liebhauser) Weck

The Venue

Friends with Champagne

Joe Leo, the Proprietor

WHAT'S YOUR FETISH?

HERE'S THE STORY, UNION, NEW JERSEY'S HOMETOWN BOOKSTORE

A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.

–Neil Gaiman

Joe Leo, the owner of HERE'S THE STORY BOOKSTORE, has kindly invited me to do a book signing/reading at his Stuyvesant Ave, Union, NJ store. In many ways, it feels like going home. I lived and taught in Union for many years. I moved to Fort Lee shortly before I retired from teaching so, after retiring in 2001, I haven't had many occasions to return.
But when I drove to Union to talk about doing the reading it was very much a case of deja vu. There was the high school that was my home away from home. There were the familiar landmarks, the familiar streets. And yet things have changed.

Joe's bookstore is one of the few independent bookstores surviving in this world of Amazon. It's a lovely oasis in the desert. It bright, cheerful, arranged to lure you in and encourage you to stay. There's a rocker, inviting children to gather around for Story-time.

I hope that friends and strangers will stop by to say hello on November 14th, between 1:00 and 2:30. I hope you will support Joe and his beautiful bookstore. We can't let these islands of culture and community slip away.

ANOTHER GREAT REVIEW FOR DOUBLE DECEPTION --KEEP THEM COMING, (PLEASE!)

A Great Read

By Bsby on October 31, 2015

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

This book was a delightful surprise. It grabbed me from the first chapter, and then I couldn't put it down. This author has a masterful command of dialogue which helps make the characters feel real and fully formed. There is a very real sense of suspense in this story which slowly builds throughout the novel and then bursts into a satisfying climax in the final chapter. The story concerns a young woman who discovers there is someone out there who is her exact duplicate, and somehow their lives are intricately entwined. . All in all, this is a great read. I can't wait for Ms. Weck's next book.

POCONO RETREAT SPARKS FORT LEE AUTHOR'S NEW MYSTERY

fortlee.dailyvoice.com/neighbors/  by Alexis Tarrazi 10/26/2015

FORT LEE, N.J. — It's no coincidence that Fort Lee author Joanne Weck's latest novel takes place in both Manhattan and the Poconos. The former teacher splits time at her borough home during the week and the Poconos on weekends.

“I watch the bear come wandering down the dirt road, watch the birds in the feeders -- and squirrels,” said Weck, whose novel, "Double Deception," was published in early October.

Writing has always been her escape. “I grew up in a family of 10 kids,” Weck said. “I was the poet, I was the writer, I put on plays for grade-school classes. That’s how I got the attention that I needed.”

Her mother rocked her younger siblings to sleep by singing nursery rhymes. It stoked an early interest in poems and rhymes.

“I started writing at 6 or 7,” Weck said. “I wrote almost continuously throughout my life.”

Weck is nothing if not versatile, having worked in Lakewood, Linwood, Tenafly, and Union Township teaching "all the exciting courses," she said, "creative writing, theater arts and TV production, as well as English.”

After retiring in 2001, she found she missed working with youngsters and took up part-time tutor work for Fort Lee.

Weck continued to find time to write poems, produce plays while she taught. She even interviewed celebrities such as Michael Jackson as an editor for Scholastic Magazine.

The fast-paced "Double Deception" is set in and around Manhattan with scenes in a deserted cabin in the Pocono Mountains.

The plot involves a pair of twins, separated at birth, who know nothing of one another’s existence until each is kidnapped in Manhattan. Held by dangerous criminals, they discover one another and escape by combining their ingenuity and courage.

Weck already has completed another novel that is due to be released in January.

But she's also still feeling the thrill of her latest release.

“I didn’t believe it was real until I was holding the paperback last week,” she said.