About Gregory G. Allen
Gregory G. Allen moved from Texas to New York in the late 80s and has been in the entertainment business for over twenty years as an actor, director, producer, songwriter, playwright and author. He’s had over ten shows that he has written produced on stage, been the recipient of musical grants from BMI, ASCAP and the Watershed Foundation, and has had short stories and poetry published in Off The Rocks, Muscadine Lines: A Southern Journal, The Oddville Press, Perpetual Magazine, Loch Raven Review, Word Catalyst Magazine, and Rancor’d Type.
He is a member of ASCAP, The Dramatist Guild, and the Theatre Communications Group. He now lives in the suburbs of New Jersey and for the past five years he’s managed an arts center on a college campus. Proud Pants: An Unconventional Memoir was published this summer and is available as a digital download on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This is his first novel.
For more information on Gregory, visit his website at www.ggallen.net orhttp://www.facebook.com/author.gregory.g.allen.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
I think it started from my love of reading and hearing stories told to me. Then I knew I wanted to share stories as well and I loved to make them up.
When and why did you begin writing?
I started writing original short stories around 5th/6th grade and have old spiral notebooks full of them…somewhere in a drawer.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing since I was a child, but wrote my first musical at 14 years old and it was produced by a local children’s theater company.
What inspires you to write and why?
I’m inspired by personal journeys. People attempting to overcome an obstacle: whatever that might be. Then I might be traveling and meet a truly interesting person who would be a perfect character type. All of these things hang in my brain and notes start to pour out of me to write a story.
What genre are you most comfortable writing?
I really don’t categorize myself into any genre. I’ve written literary fiction, women’s lit, non-fiction memoir, short stories – I’m drawn more to the character and putting them in a believable situation in which to work out their issues.
What inspired you to write your first book?
Well With My Soul is actually my debut novel and I wrote it first as a play. After hearing it read by a cast, I knew I needed to write it as a novel and tell the story of the fifteen years of these brothers.
Who or what influenced your writing once you began?
When I read Augusten Burroughs Running with Scissors, I knew I wanted to write in that powerful, raw, storytelling voice. Sometimes what I write can be abrasive, but I believe in staying true to my character and letting them speak in the way they would.
Who or what influenced your writing over the years?
Reading other authors has truly influenced me. I believe I can see what I really like and what I don’t care for as much. Then I know what it is I want to do.
What made you want to be a writer?
I never really thought “if only I could be a writer…” I think instead – I just wanted to be a storyteller. In my writing. As an actor, director, producer – it’s all a way to express a story to an audience.
What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general?
I think the loneliness of writing. Not when you get to the point of sharing it with others and turning to other authors, but those moments when it is you…inside your head…wondering if the story is moving in the correct way. That can be a challenge.
Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it?
Writing Well With My Soul taught me I can speak from two different sides of a situation…no matter how “Greg” may feel about it. My characters do not all see things as I do and it was liberating to find their voice and be able to allow it to be heard even when it goes against my own beliefs.
Do you intend to make writing a career?
I intend to keep writing. I’m not expecting to make my living from it, but as long as I can do it and people read my work – I’ll be happy.
Have you developed a specific writing style?
I’ve heard from readers they can really hear my voice in my writing (both books and blogs) and that is a very nice compliment to hear. I know I prefer writing in 1st person POV and that I don’t like to play by the rules. My writing will have a twist and a turn and not always go exactly where readers expect.
What is your greatest strength as a writer?
I think my years as a playwright have really made my dialogue strong. I believe I write the way certain people speak…at least those people I enjoy writing about.
Have you ever had writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?
I really can’t recall a true writer’s block. I went through a period of writing several novels (which are all put away) as I knew I’d switch gears eventually to the ‘business/marketing’ end. But I do know once I uncover those to do more with them – I’m sure I’ll end up doing some major rewrites.
About Well With My Soul
Well with My Soul introduces two brothers who, although close in childhood, have drifted away from each other and closed the door to engagement and emotional connection. The older brother, Jacob, flees his small Tennessee hometown to seek a new life in New York, where he imagines he will overcome his self-hatred and growing sexuality as a homosexual. The younger brother, Noah, stays behind and feels trapped by his role as caretaker for his aging mother. As they grow apart, both brothers go through a series of traumatic events that irrevocably alter their lives: while Noah, shackled by familial duties, finds courage in the sorrow of the past, Jacob’s frenzied search for freedom leads him into a labyrinth of fear and doubt which alienates him from his true identity and wreaks havoc in the lives of those closest to him. Covering the wild times of the 1970s and the restraint of the Reagan years and told through the perspective of both brothers, Well with My Soulis about the families we inherit and the families we build. It is an unflinching exploration of the way that we deal with what most unsettles us, at times using it for the highest form of inspiration, and at other times letting it confine us in previously unimaginable ways.