Welcome to the Polebarn, Jamieson Wolf!!

Ok, everyone. Grab a cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate and get cozy. Jamieson Wolf is here at the Polebarn to answer questions, comments and to promote his new book, "Garden City" a collection of fiction stories. Jamieson, so glad to have you and welcome!! But first, I have a few questions of my own.

In your bio, it says that you started out writing poetry. Do you think that learning to write poetry first has had an influence on writing fiction? Do you find the rhythm, the cadence, the descriptions more lively, colorful, in your fiction writing?

Indeed I do think that writing poetry has an influence on whatever else I write. I'm more conscious of the flow of words, how the words sound, where the words are placed. This doesn't have much effect on dialogue, but it does come in handy when I'm trying to describe something. Words have a rhythm all their own and, with learning how to be poetic, I find I have a better understanding of how to use them.

You also held a variety of corporate and office jobs before you discovered you wanted to be a writer. What was the worst job you ever held and why was it so bad? Let me guess, it had nothing to do with money! Even if you never make a dime as a writer, do you feel you are pursuing your life's work? That this is your purpose?

The worst office job I ever had? I was working at a call centre and it was awful. I can't even describe the stress, the unhappiness. I hated almost every moment of it. In the company I worked for, you were just a number. You weren't a person and were expected to do as you were told. There was no union, so employees had little to no rights. It was also shift work which made it hard to have a life outside of he office. I was being paid $18 an hour after five years and I had had enough. I decided to leave because I realized that money isn't everything. Mental health is.

I know for a fact that writing is what I was put on this Earth to do. Even if I never make a dime, I am always happiest when I write. Now, I couldn't not write. Writing is my passion, one of my reasons for living and I'm thankful to the Muses for giving me a kick in the butt when I needed it. :)

In "Garden City" the first story was about Time and her Sisters and trying to keep Time from aging. What was the inspiration for this story?

To be honest, Times Malaise was going to be a romance novel with a supernatural twist. It was going to be the novels prologue. The problem was, when I went to write the rest of the novel, I found I didn't want to write that story, I wanted to write Time's.

So I went back and fleshed out the story from a two page prologue into the story that it is now. I may eventually go back and write out that romance novel, but that may be a while in coming.

The inspiration came from one of my friends complaining that she was growing old and calling Time a bitch. Well, I thought, what if she really was? And thus Time's Malaise was born...


The second story was "Magic Man" and you had a line in there that says, "Life itself feeds the imagination". I just love that! Where did that line come from and do you believe that is true?


I do indeed believe it's true. It's what my course, The Muse for the Long Story Short School of Writing, is based around. The conversation at the beginning of the story actually took place. Owen is me in that story; in fact, every time I have a story that is loosely based around real life, Owen seems to be my mouthpiece. It's what makes Garden City so autobiographical; Owen's in a lot of the stories.

Life is the greatest inspiration there is; think about it. In life we have food, love, music, passion, friendships, marriage, birth, death. Is not every great story that has been told not about one of these things? Laura Esquivel wrote Like Water For Chocolate based around her love for food; she went on to write The Law of Love based around music.

Inspiration is all around us, if we take the time to open our eyes to it.


What has inspired you to keep writing everyday? You post on your blog daily almost, and you have a lot of fun things to learn about, interesting articles, etc., do you feel like the blog is almost a full time job in itself?

It's funny really. I started my blog in October of 2006 to see if I could do it. I had tried in the past to write in journals, diaries and online postings but it never really clicked with me. Now my blog has become a part of my life and, in some strange way, a reflection of my thoughts at the time of the postings.

I post daily because I made a promise to myself to keep writing every day. Whether I write a poem, a chapter of a story, a poem, a scene from a novel; it doesn't matter. As long as I write something every day, it makes that day worthwhile.

The blog is becoming a job in itself, but I'm enjoying every moment of it. People who don't check my web site DO check out my blog on a regular basis. To each their own I guess.


If you could write your life story for the next 2 years (I would ask for 5 years, but that's too predictable and too much time to try and think about, in my opinion), where would you like to see yourself in your personal and professional life?


Personal life? I'm already married to the most wonderful man in the world and we have been talking of adoption, so that's something. I'd like to mend bridges and have a relationship again with my estranged brother. I'd like to have a few more quality friends.

Professional life? I want to see Hope Falls published. I'd love to go on a physical book tour, publish my book of essays on Stephen Kings Dark Tower Books, publish one of my children's books.

I'd love to write full time, but I know that, until I hit the big break (if I ever do), I need a full time job to pay the bills. The job I work at now is wonderful and hopefully I'll still be here in two years time learning and growing.

It's all about learning, really. About myself and what I can do. Without learning, there is no life. :)


You live in Ontario, Canada, do you find inspiration in your current environment, and do you notice any differences in writing for a Canadian audience vs. an American audience, or do you just write for your reader, no matter where they come from?

I just write for the reader, no matter where they're from. Actually, that's not true; I write for me, for myself. If someone reads my work, I'm just tickled pink.

I don't think writing should have anything to do with where your from. It should have more to do with the words inside you. Now, don't get me wrong, I get a lot of inspiration from the environment I live in. I see things, hear conversations, and I get ideas for stories or novels.

I think that would happen where ever I was though. I can never stop being a writer.

You also will be teaching an online class called "The Muse". Is this the first class you will be teaching and what events brought you to teaching? What is your Muse?

Yes, this is the first class I have taught. I had the pleasure of taking a course through The Long Story Short School of Writing called The Reel Deel-How to Write Movie Reviews with Betty Jo Tucker. I had SUCH a great time working on assignments that I wanted to teach my own course.

I did a workshop of the course for The Muse Online Writers Conference as a test run and it was a huge success, so now I'm teaching the actual course at The Long Story Short. I'll also be teaching another workshop at The Muse Online Writers Conference this year on how to write serial novels. It should be great fun!

Thank you Jamieson, and good luck and best wishes on your writing career. What I have read of your work, you have a bright future as a writer! Thank you so much for stopping by the Polebarn!

You're making me blush. Thank you so much for having me here, Larua and thank you for the bright blessings for my writing career!

If you have comments or questions for Jamieson, you may post them here. Jamieson will be available today to answer them. If you would like to know more about Jamieson Wolf and his work, please visit him at these locations:

JAMIESON WOLF
Weaver of Words, Teller of Taleshttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jamieson_Wolf/
CHECK OUT MY BLOG http://www.jamiesonwolf.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by!!