Aya's Inspiration - MSHP Blog Tour guest

Heya gang, 

I have been asked to introduce another writer today who is borrowing the flat while I am away touring the blogosphere,  a writer who though sharing the queer spectrum with me holds radically different views and speaks with a voice different to mine. 

I don’t wear my politics or group affiliations quite as strongly on my sleeve as she does and don’t generally subscribe to the views she holds about group-think, but this is what free expression is about -- the right of people to hold views that you disagree with and even championing their right to hold those views. 

Though in this blog, I will comment on others views in relation to mine, I wont cast aspersions on their character for doing so.  To this end, I am lending Ms Aya my place in the sphere to discuss not only her work, but her social politics as well… 

So without further ado I give you Aya Walksfar.

What inspired you to write this book? 

My murder mystery novella, Dead Men and Cats, actually grew from several different insights that were born from various opportunities I had to experience some unique situations.

One of the things I’ve had the pleasure of doing in my life is to act as a speaker for the Seattle police in a diversity training situation. Though this was years ago, I still recall how misinformed some of those young officers were about lesbians and gays. Some of them grew up in areas where anti-lesbian/gay sentiments prevailed.

It was my experiences with them, as well as my experiences in the lesbian community, that made the reality of hate crimes very clear to me, and how sometimes law enforcement--being comprised of real, live humans--can be impacted and, in some ways, hindered in dealing with hate crimes.

But it isn’t only the mainstream community who has members with anti-lesbian/gay sentiments. Growing up in the mainstream society, young lesbians/gays often have no role models (until relatively recently), and at times grow up hating themselves, denying their own sexuality and creating issues for themselves that can have long term, negative effects. I wanted to show how one young man deals with this internal conflict.

The fourth ingredient that helped create this book was my admiration of strong women. When I speak of strong women I am talking about women who are faced with difficult, and, sometimes frightening, situations but they persevere in spite of everything.

The two main characters in Dead Men and Cats are Megan Albright and Janie Sampson, a lesbian couple. In most ways, these women are ordinary: Janie owns a riding stable, Megan is a paramedic. They live together in a long term, monogamous relationship in a small community. How they deal with discovering a dead man and a live calico kitten in an old rowboat, and the violent events subsequent to that, is what marks them as strong women.

 

It was from these insights that Dead Men and Cats grew.

For those who would like to read my novella, Dead Men and Cats, it is available at http://www.amazon.com/author/ayawalksfar 

Folks can get to know me better by visiting my blog at http://www.ayawalksfar.com

or chat with me on facebook, http://www.facebook.com/ayawalksfar and http://www.facebook.com/AyaWalksfarAuthor.  
 I can also be reached through twitter @ayawalksfar.
Or shoot me an email at : ayawalksfar@gmail.com  

Born in a rougher section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (and there were several of those when I was growing up, though I hear Pittsburgh has cleaned up very nicely over the past couple of decades. I haven’t been back in years.) I soon learned how to make myself invisible. If you tend to be on the smaller side, this is a very good talent to cultivate. As a result, I got to observe people in their myriad of attitudes and emotions. They fascinated me.

In self-defense against loneliness, I learned to read very young, and to write. My first story was written in pencil on those tablets for little kids with the huge spaces between lines. It was a story about a lost dog. Do you ever forget your first?

Ever since that day, I have been creating alternate realities.

Fortunately, my life has been anything except traditional, and therefore, I have never run out of stories to tell. I lived on the road for several years, have worked non-traditional jobs (and a very few traditional jobs), and have walked many dark roads and city streets.

Currently, I live on a 12 acre wildlife/wild bird/indigenous plant habitat that my wife of 25 years and I have created. During a single year, we host over 68 different species of birds, and many different animals.

When I am not either reading or writing, I love to hike, take photographs, work with my German Shepherds and Papillons, tend the land, horseback ride, travel, learn new things, and since I recently acquired a motorcycle, learn how to ride a bike. I am having a great deal of fun perfecting that skill! Whenever I have the opportunity, I also search for the perfect chocolate. There are many good chocolates in the world, but I am convinced that there is a “perfect one.” Have to eat a lot of chocolates while I am researching!