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| Michael Sortomme |
Michael Sortomme is an author, artist and
retired teacher of metaphysics, the occult arts and Active Indigenous
Shamanism. Educated in anthropology and modern literature, she has journeyed in pursuit of truth that she translates into vivid paintings and equally compelling stories. A Reincarnationist, her prodigious past-life memory has motivated passions
in Genetic Genealogy, Herstory and the Levant. The Pacific Northwest is
home—the Oregon wine country—her piece of heaven. You may contact her through her main
website.
What motivated
you to start writing?
Lost in grief, I plunged head-first into poetry, prose and free writing
after my baby sister died. The surrender changed me, opened me to words in a new
way, using them to vent anger, sort through despair.
What is the
primary source of inspiration for you?
My major inspirational subjects are the rise and fall of ancient and
current civilizations, reincarnation, creative self-empowerment, the need for social
justice, the human genome and evolution in all of its forms.
Do you write
when the muse strikes, or do you follow a writing schedule?
When I saw myself as a starving, ill-fated poet, I waited for the
Universe to hit me over the head with revelation and inspiration. But lesson
plans, lectures and speeches broke me of that habit, to my benefit. It’s all about
the schedule now, else I am lured away from the job at hand far too easily.
Please describe
your process.
My body learned to listen to the demands of creative process, applying
flow and trust to words as well as multi-media art. The process was almost
sexual at first; it lured me to be better and bolder, taught me to pay attention.
When a subject or happening stimulated my body, my brain learned to ignite and ideas
sparked, words flew, paintings were visualized. When I combined the right mix
of stimulation and a schedule, magick began to happen. I have always depended
on my passion to keep me motivated.
It’s not mysterious in
reality, if a schedule is properly kept, writing at least one “keeper” page per
day, a year goes by and you have a book. The challenge is to stay plugged-in
and focused, inspired to give it every last drop of energy available. Flexibility
helps, regarding what constitutes a full work day—it takes the sting out of a
seven day work week. When dealing with a painful or cathartic subject, I give
myself permission to stop and regroup whenever the need arises. Sometimes I go
back to it, sometimes not. Short but consistent work-blocks keep me from
burning out and getting lost in my own dramas. Illustrating my books helps the
process stay fresh; no time is ever wasted, including staring out a window. No
embarrassment or waste of energy exists; I am free to take mental license in
order to expand space and time—my meaning of a bard.
I live large in my office—the
hub of my world—always a legend in the making. I embrace my work as worthy, use
expletives at forces that try to lead me astray and, the struggle of all time:
I try NOT to be a people-pleaser! My keyboard is well dusted—a tea cup on my
right and pens on my left, a line of painted miniature horses and fairies face
me—ready for action on my terms.
What have you
done to promote yourself as a writer?
Website creation, social networking, befriending other authors wherever
and whenever possible, entering awards, whatever I can do without making myself
a total pest and an enemy of all. A creative person cannot hide, only if one
wants a life as a miserably lonely, forgotten outcast. I don’t dig the whole
Sylvia Plath thing; I want my words to heal, inspire, reinvigorate, so I
navigate promotional land mines daily.
What's left to
do?
So much to do—there’s never enough time! I am frazzled at present,
getting two titles to market in a year. After a few months in the studio
painting and another month or so working on our enormous family tree, I’ll be
ready to hit the keyboard with a non-fiction occult overview for 2013. You
never know until the very moment you sit down to write what’s going to come out—if
you are not paid up front, that is. What needs and wants to be written will, as
obtuse as that sounds. Another mystery featuring Emancipation’s hero, Sophie
St. Cloud, might surface at any time though; the world needs more bad-ass women,
in my worldview.
When did you
discover your unique voice? How long did the process take?
Language was second nature for me, reading, writing and speaking before I
could understand the meaning of the word vocabulary. My parents were artists
and my mother had been, for periods of time, a serious poet. Paper and pencils,
drawing boards and rulers found me, props for classes taught to invisible
audiences. My head thought out-of-the-box
from the beginning.
Outer-world success frightened me; several career choices further
confused my way. People, including professors, complained my writing was
embarrassingly autobiographical, they doubted anyone would ever relate.
Withering for a time after college, I abandoned written words for a spiritual
career. Several decades later, as a teacher too busy to keep up with her own
concepts, I was forced to return to writing, producing several volumes of guidebooks
for in-house use. Since retiring from private practice and teaching, I have
rediscovered my passion for words. Putting other people’s work aside allowed me
to confront my demons head-on, make priorities and follow through with rough
choices, by and for myself, my sanity and success. That’s when I became a real writer.
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| The Emancipation of Giles Corey |
What do you
consider your greatest achievement as a writer?
Thus far, The Emancipation of Giles Corey, my first historical novel, is
my crown. It won the Indie Excellence Award for Best Historical Fiction of
2011, Honourable Mention for the Hoffer Award and finalist for the Montaigne
Medal.
What's the most
recent book you read?
Fires in the Dark by Louise Doughty
Who are the
writers you admire most?
The trailblazing women that have moulded literature in all forms and
genres in the last century are my heroes; my limited list would never do them
justice. Fiction, spirituality, feminist culture, social action, anthropology
and the natural sciences, fine art or good read—all important, all valuable,
all changing and fine-tuning the art as we know it.
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Margaret Atwood
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Margaret Meade
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Ruth Benedict
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Patricia Monaghan
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Geraldine Brooks
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Alice Munro
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Rita Mae Brown
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Anne Rice
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Zusanna Budapest
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Dalia Sofer
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Tatiana de Rosnay
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StarHawk
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Anita Diamant
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Gertrude Stein
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Louise Erdrich
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Gloria Steinem
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Alice Hoffman
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Kathryn Stockett
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Marija Gimbutus
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Susan Vreeland
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Erica Jong
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Alice Walker
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Stephanie Kallos
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Barbara G. Walker
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Sue Monk Kid
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Sarah Waters
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Shirley Maclaine
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1. Be authentic. Write
what you know to be true and what you feel is right. It makes no difference
whether you write fiction or non, write from a place of experience.
2. Risk disapproval.
Regardless of how talented you are, not everybody will embrace the work you
produce. Accept that fact and let it set you free. Write what you need to
communicate, what you are driven to expose. Those who are inspired by your concepts
will find you.
3. Don’t be shy! Artists
of all disciplines must believe in the work that is being created to have a
successful outcome. It takes a strong ego to propel one into the spotlight;
even a pale glimmer needs work and follow through to interest an audience.
However, building one’s ego up enough to put a work of art on the chopping
block of public opinion can lead to extremes: arrogance and its complement, low
self-esteem. Temper your methods to avoid overt aggressiveness, but be strong
enough to make a positive impression.
4. Have a day job. Admit it,
being an accepted published author takes time, energy, determination, luck,
money, connections, Karma, and most probably, lots of gifts of expensive dark
chocolate sprinkled throughout the publishing world on a regular basis. Not
everybody has the magickal combination to get noticed, but everybody needs to
pay the rent. Be smart, get a job and pay your bills, including college loans. Eating,
drinking, having proper supplies and a working lamp are necessary ingredients for
this work; wrap your head around the concept early, it will make your life more
productive and a hell of a lot more secure. Poverty is over rated!
Is there
anything else you'd like to add?
I would like to thank Betty Dobson for the opportunity to share my thoughts,
hopes and experiences with her blog audience. Her invitation to appear in
written form for InkSpotter Publishing was generous and the support for my work
is greatly appreciated.
The new world of publishing appears,
to the untrained eye, open, accessible, affordable—yours for the taking. For
those of us in the publishing trenches, the pitfalls of today’s industry are
apparent and it’s tough out there for everybody—maybe not for Stephen King,
but he’s a rare success story. No matter how stubborn, jaded, irritatingly
isolationist and grizzled a creative person may be, to be truly successful one
must reach out and be accepted on some level by others. Understanding, support
and greater-world encouragement for the creative process must be had for the
artistic temperament to produce consistently. Without it, it is far too emotionally
paralyzing to be chronically misunderstood and rejected. An artist needs an
audience, one that is hopeful.
The world is ripe for talent, new and old—there's room for all genres and personalities as long as quality rules. We need a talent driven market instead of a celebrity showcase. The hard part is convincing large publishing houses, distributors and the people who still buy books that the world is much richer with diversity and subsequent choice. Large conglomerates are dictating intellectual future in streamlined catalogues. Have creative people devoted their lives for naught, unique ideas replaced by episodic reruns? It is my hope that independent thinkers and the small presses that print their work will flourish like never before because of the support of people unafraid to use their voices. Let us keep a growing library of ideas in circulation, not settle for a top five hundred playlist of someone else's choosing.
Welcome 2012—let the drama
continue—write on,
my companeros!
