FROM BACK BURNER TO BANQUET TABLE
I knew I’d have to take care of myself (it was so ordained in my Early Puritan East Coast Training Manual). So, I had to be practical, and I put my early dream of being a writer on the back burner. It simmered for years, for decades, in fact.
The magic is that dream never boiled over or burnt out!
Through the years, I wrote in journals, made up short stories for my high school loves, wrote a column for my school newspaper, became an English Literature major, earned my teaching certificate, and taught High School English in the US and Montreal, Canada. I enjoyed my students and the teaching. Still that pot burbled away quietly.
I’ve always loved the emotional dynamics between people and became a psychotherapist. I wrote papers for grad school, session notes for clients, a doctoral paper to get my PsyD degree, (We’re Not in Kansas Anymore). Then I wrote a blog for PsychologyToday.com, (Your Zesty Self). All non-fiction. Burble, simmer, burble, simmer.
I am finally at a place in my life—kids grown, major schoolings completed, money saved—that I can now focus on writing fiction. I invite you to join me at my Banquet Table.
Q: As writers we use the concept of “the inciting incident”—something that changed in a character’s life and started the events of the story. What was your inciting incident related to writing fiction?
Aletta Bee: I love that question; I had a clear incident that started my current dedication to writing fiction.
A woman friend of mine had a new couple move into the condo next to her and her husband. The couples developed a close relationship until the new woman started being an intrusive, demanding pest to my friend.
My friends tried to distance from their new neighbors, but the woman told my friend outrageous and terrifying lies that crushed her.
I was so distressed by the abuse towards my friend that I had to write a short story about it. And then, I had a Revelation: Uh-Oh. I didn’t know how to write short stories.
I bought Joe Bunting’s book, Let’s Write A Short Story. Joe supplied many links in the back of the book which brought me to TheWritePractice.com, a site for writers. (Duh)
My story turned out to be a psychological thriller, Deceit & The Laundry. I’ve submitted it to a contest, so I don’t have it on my website.
Q: Before your revived love of fiction, you wrote a lot of nonfiction-self-help and motivational essays. What has it been like to plunge into fiction writing?
Aletta Bee: In some ways the heart of my fiction is the same as it was in nonfiction. It’s still to uplift, (I don’t think I could write a piece that left the reader disillusioned, hopeless). It’s still to emphasize helpful concepts- for example an examination of secrets and how they affect a person’s life. It’s still to advocate for the power of vulnerability and authenticity. It’s just a lot harder.
Q: Where do you get your ideas?
Aletta Bee: From my life. I look at what has emotional pull for me, something I think is important. Like the short story I’m working on right now, Finally. June 7. Maybe. A friend, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s about a year ago is having difficulty realizing he needs to be in a home. “I feel fine. I’m not sick,” is his response to the doctor who wrote a document saying he is no longer able to make decisions. And his friends are having difficulty with his deterioration. I don’t think people know enough about the process of this tragic condition.
Q: Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Aletta Bee: I’m a plopster. I plop right in the middle of those two. I’ll first look at the character need, pile up the conflicts in a structured way. With my novel, Whatever It Takes I honed the Premise, wrote the whole memoir part- except the ending sections- then added the second main character. I made a list of all the scenes, then changed them all around as things morphed in the writing.
Q: That reminds me- would you call yourself an introvert or an extrovert?
Aletta Bee: (Laughing) Well, here I go again . . . I’ve been tested as an ambivert. Right in the middle, between the two. I love being with people, but I have my limits, and need to recharge by being alone.
Education
Conestoga High School, PA
Duke University, English major, B.A.
Antioch University, Los Angeles, Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in family studies, M.A.
Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Doctorate, PsyD (A clinical PhD)
Life Passages
I’ve had about six lifetimes. I’m working on my seventh. So far, I’ve been:
A student majoring in English Literature, because I read all the time anyway;
A high school teacher (teaching biology and English class. They threw that English class in to lure me in);
A stay-at-home mother, later a grandmother;
A professional artist using painting, & sculpture & installation art;
An actor;
An acting coach;
And for the past 20+ years, a doctoral level psychotherapist.
