Sheryl A. Keen
PageOneLit.com:
Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who
were your earliest influences and why?
Sheryl A. Keen: I grew up in the Caribbean. Reading and writing were
definitely a part of my life. I would read everything I could get my hands
on and I would write stories that I made up about various things.
I grew up reading authors like Shakespeare, Dickens, Virginia Woolf and
Caribbean writers like Jamaica Kincaid, Erna Brodber, Derek Walcott and V.S.
Naipaul.
PageOneLit.com: Your new book is JOURNAL ACCORDING TO JOHN. Briefly tell us
about your main character John and why he is writing a journal?
Sheryl A. Keen: John is a twenty–eight year old man who is recently
divorced. At the prompting of a friend, he reluctantly begins to write in a
journal. He hopes the journal will provide a tool with which to make sense
of his brief, failed marriage and to determine why he is so emotionally
challenged.
Early on,
he realizes that his mother, the curator of
a gallery that specializes
in steel art and other nontraditional works, has largely shaped his thoughts
and actions. He continually blames her for his current state of affairs. As
he continues to write, he begins to take a closer look at his own actions
and decisions and soon he starts to make interesting discoveries about
himself.
PageOneLit.com: Have you ever kept a journal or diary? In your opinion, how
can journals improve one's life?
Sheryl A. Keen: I have kept a journal because I believe that it is a good
tool to help me see where I am and where I want to go. In fact, I have a
blog about that at
http://personaljournaling.wordpress.com. A journal can improve one’s
life by helping one to find perspective and to connect with one’s true self.
PageOneLit.com: JOURNAL ACCORDING TO JOHN is a fresh original story that is
told through John's actual journal entries.
How did this angle of storytelling for this novel come about? Was this point
of view premeditated or did it just write itself?
I started writing the story and realized that actual journal entries would
be interesting because it lends itself to intimacy between the readers and
the main character. Also, it’s a device that facilitates a very subjective
viewpoint and John’s perspective is definitely skewed. This particular form
is a direct antithesis of the manhood that John is trying to find so it is
interesting to find out if John does come to terms with his masculinity
while writing in this way. So this angle of storytelling served several
purposes.
PageOneLit.com: JOURNAL ACCORDING TO JOHN has a spot on
YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77ozA-J67_Q - Explain how
this spot was developed and created and why you chose YouTube to promote the
book?
Sheryl A. Keen: I wanted to create a book trailer that would capture the
salient themes in the novel and this was done for me by a creative person
name Allen Zuk. It’s on YouTube because it’s the first place people go to
look at videos. However, the book trailer can be found on other sites such
as Myspace, Facebook etc.
PageOneLit.com: In JOURNAL ACCORDING TO JOHN butterflies play an important
role - Explain.
It’s a metaphor that runs throughout the novel. It parallels John’s need for
transformation in his life. Of course, transformation takes place in stages
and some of the stages may not be beautiful to look at similar to the pupal
stage in the butterfly. However, in the end the butterfly does come out
making both the process and the product important.
The butterflies are also important because they represent the first time
that John sees his mother’s indiscretions.
PageOneLit.com: What did you learn from writing JOURNAL ACCORDING TO JOHN?
Sheryl A. Keen: I learnt that in spite of what other people may do in my
life, I am ultimately responsible for my own reactions and actions.
PageOneLit.com: What do you hope to achieve with JOURNAL ACCORDING TO JOHN?
Sheryl A. Keen: I hope to give readers an enjoyable and interesting read. If
they find that by reading “Journal According to John” that a journal might
help them in some way or if they see that each decision we make are ours
alone, then that’s just added bonus.
PageOneLit.com: What's next?
I am working on my second novel. It’s set in an office that is about to
relocate and join other branches under one roof. It explores everyday issues
like fear of job loss, especially after overlapping jobs are combined,
nepotism and favoritism, the confusion of what “business casual” means in
the workplace etc.
PageOneLit.com: What was the last book you read?
“The Secret Lives of Bees”
PageOneLit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they
enhance your writing?
Sheryl A. Keen: I enjoy painting when I am not writing. It’s a process
similar to writing where there are a lot of details used to create a big
picture. In painting I use color and composition and in writing I choose
words and a certain way of putting them together. They both end up giving
the reader or viewer a certain point of view so in a sense they compliment
each other.
