by anesamiller_wuhi6k | Apr 13, 2015 | Blog, Issues in Our Orbit -- Substance Abuse & Recovery, OMG—It's CELEBRITIES!
This post is part of an ongoing series, OMG—It’s CELEBRITIES!, presenting well-known actors to play parts in (a fantasy) movie version of the novel Our Orbit. Click here to see other items in the series.
But does he give a damn?
♥ ♥ ♥
As mentioned last week, yours truly has fallen “book,” line & sinker (ha-ha), for the People Magazine approach to literary fiction. Indeed, my collection of celebrity photos of talent I’d like to see portray characters from Our Orbit has become a local obsession. Local at my house, that is. I especially enjoy the alternative candidates that readers have suggested and whole-heartedly encourage everyone to share those in the Comments section below.
♥ ♥ ♥
Today we turn to the vital supporting role of Pete Deluca, beloved teacher at North Milton High School. In my novel, Pete is a dedicated, mid-career instructor of biology & health as well as assistant basketball coach. As our story begins, Pete is divorced and single, but a new romance lies in his future!
♥ ♥ ♥
Who better to portray Pete in the movie version of Our Orbit than the dashing Chris Messina? He’s the star of popular TV comedy The Mindy Project, the foodie movie 
Julie and Julia (a big fave of mine), and Oscar-winner Argo. For the cultural snobs among us )))) he is also active nationwide in live theater, including Broadway and Tribeca.
Chris is especially noted as a terrific ensemble actor, as attested by numerous awards and nominations. Thus it comes as no surprise that his acting style conveys an appealing amiability and easy-going manner. What more could I ask from the man to bring Pete Deluca to life on the screen? After all, Our Orbit has a large cast with no dead wood whatsoever. I call that an ensemble!
♥ ♥ ♥
Check out my imagined interview with the character Pete Deluca to see what other important qualities Mr. Messina can bring to the role—
Character Interview with Pete Deluca
AM: Hi, Pete! Thanks for being with us on the blog today. I have to tell you, since my work falls mainly in the realist tradition, I feel strange about what we’re doing here. That’s why I chose you for my first-ever imaginary interview—you’re such a likable guy (if I do say so myself as your creator).
Pete: Glad to help out!
AM: Our Orbit takes place in what I call “the Appalachian corner” of southern Ohio, where you were born and raised. Your heritage is especially interesting. Could you tell us about that?
Pete: Sure. I’m from Youngstown, Ohio. It’s a place with quite a checkered reputation. Way back when, tons of Italian immigrants came to Youngstown for jobs in the steel mills. Not so many years later, the mills started shutting down. That depressed the economy, which has a lot to do with how we got associated with the Mafia and organized crime. Bad stuff does happen when your local employer goes down the tubes.
AM: Are you Italian-American yourself?
Pete: Oh, yeah! We get a bad rap, but that’s not fair for most of us. When my grandparents came over from Genoa, they did farm labor in eastern Ohio and struggled to buy their own land. They got here at a young enough age to make that happen—older folks mostly sacrificed for their children, did manual labor their whole lives.
One hat-tip to Youngstown that I really love comes from The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. He always tells a great story!
AM: But don’t you also identify with your Appalachian heritage?
Pete: Definitely. I grew up in the foothills of the mountains, went hunting with my grandpa—all that backwoods stuff. He was never a moonshiner, by the way, but like a true Italian, he always made his own wine. That was part of the gig! And legal, too, even back in Prohibition days. So long as you made it strictly for home consumption, you were within the law. That was important to Grandpa.
AM: Speaking of alcohol and Prohibition, I know that one of the issues you’re involved in as a teacher is substance abuse among your highschool students. Could you tell us a little about that?
Pete: Well, as basketball coach, I see kids on an extracurricular basis at practice, night games, and parties I chaperone—all that. So I’m on the front line with stuff that goes on. Underage consumption is rampant out there. Unfortunately, a lot of parents and even school officials fool themselves about what a serious a problem it is.
For information on this serious problem, visit the Harvard Help Guide at http://www.helpguide.org/harvard/the-dangers-of-teenage-drinking.htm
AM: In the book, Our Orbit, you’re able to help a young couple deal with the discovery that one of their foster daughters has developed a drinking problem. I’d like to share a brief clip from that scene—
Cover design by Renee Garcia
The new calendar year was barely two months old, but the planning season was already in full swing for end-of-term festivities at the high school: the all-choir concert, prom, after-prom, and various awards ceremonies. That Thursday evening, Deanne was about to get ready for bed, when she heard a pair of bantering voices approach the front door. Rick and Pete came in, blowing off steam after the Sports Recognition Committee meeting.
“Bo-ring!” Pete declared. “Thank God there are no more faculty meetings for at least two weeks.”
“This calls for a drink,” Rick said.
“Rum and Coke,” Pete ordered.
Rick found beers in the back of the fridge for himself and Deanne and a can of Coke in the pantry. He pulled the bottle of rum from the bottom cabinet by Deanne’s desk.
“What’s this I hear about a romance in your future?” Deanne asked. “Who’s the lucky lady?”
Pete laughed… [Spoiler alert! More on this another time.]
… Just then Rick turned away from the counter, his face perplexed. He handed Pete a shot glass half-full of amber liquid. “Smell this,” he said.
“What’s wrong with it?” Pete sniffed the glass. He took a tiny sip and smacked his lips. “Apple juice. None too fresh.”
“What?” Deanne said.
Rick shrugged. “The rum bottle’s full of juice.”
Deanne’s mouth dropped open.
“Oldest trick in the book,” Pete said. “I remember one year before you came on board—” He nodded at Rick. “We caught the whole team with vodka in their water bottles. In the locker room—school premises!” He laughed. “Kids get brazen.”
“Which kids?” Deanne said. She shot Rick an anxious look.
“Half the school has done this kind of thing,” Pete assured her. “Athletes, honors students, debate stars…”
“School premises are one thing. This is our house. My kitchen.” Deanne gave a visible shudder.
Rick returned to the cupboard and pulled out the vodka bottle, still three-quarters full. He opened it and sniffed, handed it to his wife.
Deanne tipped the bottle for a sip. “Water!” she said.
“It’s a phase for most kids,” Pete said. “They have to try it because adults make it seem so special. They usually wind up okay in the end.”
“You figure this is Rachelle’s doing?” Rick asked Deanne.
“Who else?”
They thought back over the previous months and recalled a couple of weekends when they’d found less beer in the fridge than there should have been. Times when Rachelle had lumbered off to bed early or they discovered her drifting around the kitchen for no apparent reason.
“Rachelle has more issues than we thought.” Deanne’s voice rang with dismay.
“We need a plan here,” Rick said.
He and Deanne both looked to Pete.
Pete raised a finger. “Intervention. And I know a very smart lady who can tell you how to do it.”
AM: That was a scene from Part Three of Our Orbit featuring today’s character, Pete Deluca. Thanks again, Pete, for lending us your voice and for helping us understand some of the problems parents and teachers face these days.
Pete: It’s my pleasure. See you at the movies!
Many thanks for visiting my blog today! Please feel free to nose about the website and let me know if you like what you see or if you have suggestions. You can reach me by leaving a comment in the box below or by clicking the Contact link at upper right (or just click here). I hope you’ll stop by again soon. And please consider subscribing to my blog or newsletter!
by anesamiller_wuhi6k | Apr 10, 2015 | Blog
Several serious topics drive the story of my novel Our Orbit. Childhood traumas play a major role in the plot, as does the difficult issue of substance abuse. To open the way for a conversation on these matters, I offer the following guest post that first appeared on Gabbertsite, the blog of mental health professional Gail Gabbert. These themes are so important to my fiction that I plan to share information about their real-world consequences and treatments throughout the coming months. Many thanks to Ms. Gabbert for making her expertise available.
Gail Gabbert writes—
I recently read a Huffington Post article entitled: “The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think.” The author states “the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is human connection.” This piqued my interest in reading the book, “Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs” by Johann Hari, who is also the author of the news article. I highly recommend the book as an interesting account of the history and progress of the war on drugs.
The author cites trauma as a likely culprit of addiction. But the concept of connection as an antidote to addiction is easily misunderstood. A quick reading of the article might cause some parents to blame themselves for a child’s addiction because they didn’t love them enough. Although relational trauma has been documented to be a potential underlying factor in predisposing one toward addiction, unconditional love as an antidote is over-simplifying a very complex issue.
A more accurate description of social connection is found in the book. It is referred, not simply to a bond with one’s circle of friends and family, but rather connection that includes jobs, housing, a sense of worth and dignity. Many of these things are lost to people who have been incarcerated for drug use. Upon release from prison, felons are denied access to public housing and have difficulty securing jobs. They lack many resources to rebuilding a stable life, thereby increasing the odds of return to addictive behavior.
I did my own amateur research on the role of social support in the lives of eleven people who are in treatment for opiate (heroin and/or pain killers) dependency. Ten of the eleven perceived themselves to have had family support prior to their dependency. And ten of the eleven perceive themselves to have family support for their recovery. Therefore, the vast majority of these people feel positively connected to their families and developed a dependency in spite of it. For them, family support didn’t cause their addiction. And family support isn’t sufficient to cure it.
I asked them to complete ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) questionnaire to assess child abuse, neglect and household dysfunction. This study was referenced in the book as an indicator of trauma, leading to negative consequences such as substance abuse. The majority (8) of the eleven people in my sample had low scores which could indicate that there are other factors that contributed to their addiction besides trauma. Granted, this is not a scientific study and should not be taken as such. It was my way to satisfy my curiosity on a small scale.
The author ends with advice to unconditionally love people with substance dependencies, rather than isolate them from their community or incarcerate them. Those who promote “tough love” demand that the addict cease all use of their substance or suffer the consequence of isolation, loss of resources and loss of freedom.
It seems to me that early childhood trauma may or may not have caused substance dependence. But I agree with the author that the consequence of social isolation will only deepen their addiction.
Visit https://gabbertsite.wordpress.com/ for more information and ideas from psychotherapist Gail Gabbert. Leave comments below to share your thoughts on the topic of substance abuse and treatment, or other matters of interest. This item is re-posted with much gratitude to the author.
♥ Sign up to win $50 in free books from Powell’s of Portland! Support indie writer & bookstore. Click here! ♥
by anesamiller_wuhi6k | Apr 6, 2015 | Blog, OMG—It's CELEBRITIES!
I have to kick this off with a big disclaimer:
I am something of a cultural snob. For many years I read nothing but classics (comes with the Ph.D. territory), and did not own a TV throughout my 12-yr. grad school career. So please understand that I’m bringing a dose of embarrassment to this project—a blog page devoted to celebrities!
Wild dreams….
True confession: I have created a Pinterest board on the CELEBRITY actors I would most like to see in the movie version of my novel, Our Orbit.
Why be embarrassed? You may well ask. After all, even snobs love and respect talented actors. Lots of them do Shakespeare! Yes, I know, but it’s awkward to admit how much I have fantasized about seeing my novel made into a film. Not exactly an uncommon dream among writers, but we all know it’s just that: a dream unlikely to survive in waking life.
But so what? Make like a fantasy writer and live a little! Indulging dreams costs nothing. And “casting” these roles turned out to be the most fun I’ve had on a computer since…well, since I finished writing Our Orbit! Here are a few samples of the terrific talent I’d love to see bringing my story to life —
Yikes—this side of Jeff Bridges conveys the deadly serious aspect of his oh-so expressive facial assets! But the creator of cult hero “The Dude” (in THE BIG LEBOWSKI) has a humane and hilarious side as well. That’s why I need him to play the part of Uncle Dan, who claims to be sole survivor of an alien abduction. Jeff, I see another Oscar in your future!
Who is Uncle Dan? A decorated Korean War veteran and brother to the Winslow family patriarch, Levi (more on him later). Dan is uncle to Levi’s four children, all of whom are key characters in Our Orbit. Starting with the youngest, there’s Miriam—
Forever 9!
If only we could go back in time to the era of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (2006), there’s no question that Abigail Breslin would bring the perfect blend of sweet sadness to the character of Miriam, who enters foster care at the age of 9 years. Regrettably, as we’ve all had occasion to realize, time waits for no one! Abigail has gone through many changes, like we all do, growing up. (Hey, that’s a big theme in the book, too.) So how about casting Miss Breslin—still-adorable at 18—as Miriam’s sister Rachelle—
Great country-girl look in a gingham shirt! But can Abigail bring the sullen, a crucial quality for the part of angst-ridden teenage Rachelle? After all, the back cover of Our Orbit reveals that, “Rachelle harbors many painful secrets.” So how about Morgan Saylor who amply demonstrates her skill as a tormented young woman on the hit series HOMELAND…?
Looks like a shoe-in to me!
What do you think? Share your thoughts, impressions, complaints, and candidates for these meaty movie roles in the Comments section below. Many thanks for visiting my blog today! Feel free to nose about the website and let me know if you like what you see or if you have suggestions. You can reach me by clicking the Contact link at upper right (or just click here). And please consider subscribing to my blog or newsletter. Stop by again soon!
by anesamiller_wuhi6k | Mar 31, 2015 | Blog
Published author and intrepid romantic Jacquée T. shares the following entry from the section of her multifaceted website titled “Love for Words.” First posted here a few weeks ago, this discussion of the term “reverie” spoke to me with a lovely eloquence!
Writers know that every word in a book or poem, however brief or obscure, carries its own special weight and character. What could be more important to any type of creative artist than a “fantastical vision,” be it ever so “impractical”?
As Jacquée T. elucidates—
A reverie is a deep absorption in one’s notions.
A person in a reverie is indulging in positive thoughts, perhaps to the point of elation.
♥ Sign on for my excellent GIVEAWAY throughout April 2015: WIN $50 in books from Powell’s Independent Bookstore! Click for details! ♥
Definitions via RANDOM HOUSE KERNERMAN Webster’s College Dictionary online:
1. a state of meditation or fanciful musing.
2. a daydream.
3. a fantastic, visionary, or impractical idea.
One might bask in reverie privately, while it diverts them from surroundings. Or they might feel so overwhelmed by their reverie, they yen to shout it from the rooftops.
Either way, outsiders, should they gaze at that person’s reverie, might admire the inspiration, or consider it mere madness.
“Reverie” derives from Old French reverie, meaning “revelry, raving, delirium.”
Usage examples:
a) After Jenny accepted his invitation to dinner, George basked in reverie to plan an unforgettable date.
b) Sarah took a two-week cruise for her vacation. The evening before the luxury liner returned to port, she reclined on deck and took reverie over her diverse and magical experiences.
c) Andrew Snodd requested VIP passes to the Horse Riders Club annual Rein Ball, based on the fact that his belated grandfather was once the Club treasurer. Committee members considering Mr. Snodd’s request dismissed it as a reverie.
Famous inspiration: Paul Anka’s classic song “You Are My Destiny” begins with lyrics—
“You are my destiny
You share my reverie…”
When have you felt lost in REVERIE?
___________
Connect with Jacquée T. on Twitter via @JacqueeT
by anesamiller_wuhi6k | Mar 30, 2015 | Blog, Events
Blue skies over Patagonia (in January)!
The tiny town of Patagonia, Arizona, (pop. ~980) comes as a revelation to many a snowbird flying south to sunny climes while the rest of America suffers the oxymoronic effects of global warming, such as record-breaking snows! Few locales can claim to be more welcoming: It almost seemed as if our car was surrounded the moment we pulled into town by well-wishers extending a friendly “Hello.” Jaak & I promptly received invitations to sundry interesting events: a weekly spiritual discussion group, a cappella choir, and Sunday morning hiking expeditions.
Maybe it’s no wonder—retired academics and creative folks of various stripes have settled in Patagonia for the natural beauty of the Sonoran Desert, the Santa Rita and eponymous Patagonia Mountains. People here enjoy world-class bird-watching, biodiversity, and—not least of all—one another’s company.
As the ancient saying goes, “One Boomer knows another wherever they may roam.”
Not unlike new college students discovering a world created by and for their own age group, Patagonians embrace the value of community regardless of ideological slant. Whether libertarians, old-time hippies, New Agers, or devout Christians (current or former), we are all, indeed, on this leg of the journey together.
Nesting acorn woodpecker– our next-door neighbor
♥ Sign on for my excellent GIVEAWAY throughout April 2015: WIN $50 in books from Powell’s Independent Bookstore! Click for details! ♥
Within hours of coming to town, I was thrilled to receive an invitation to read from my essay collection, To Boldly Go, at the historic Patagonia Public Library. The popular Short Attention Span Reading Club hosted me at their meeting on February 8, 2015, having selected two of my essays for discussion. I presented a comic rendition from “Dancers in the Wheat,” took questions from the club, and enjoyed the conversation moderated by group leader Cynthia Berk.
As I remarked at the time, “It’s not often that I’m privileged to hear a discussion of my own work. So many interesting thoughts were expressed! It’s truly gratifying when people engage with one’s creativity and relate it to larger issues of social or personal concern.”
Despite its small size, Patagonia boasts several cafés, a terrific coffeehouse, art and yoga studios, a natural foods grocery, and several non-profit organizations devoted to protecting the environment. Those all make for a fine ambiance. For me, there was also a special magic, something in the fresh air, that let me put aside post-partum blues, still lingering since I finished my last novel, in order to finally start writing the next one. I can’t claim that I cranked out numerous pages…the total to date remains in low double digits…but at least progress was made and my thoughts were bent diligently in that positive direction.
After 12 weeks in residence at the Pink Adobe Casitas, I was further honored to be accepted as a local author at the Creative Spirit Gallery downtown. The gallery features work by fiber artists, painters, sculptors, authors, and others who spend at least part of each year in southeastern Arizona. I was delighted to consign several copies of my books for sale.
“I see a return to Patagonia in my future.”
♥ Sign on for my excellent GIVEAWAY throughout April 2015: WIN $50 in books from Powell’s Independent Bookstore! Click for details! ♥
Julie and Julia (a big fave of mine), and Oscar-winner Argo. For the cultural snobs among us )))) he is also active nationwide in live theater, including Broadway and Tribeca.
Pete: Oh, yeah! We get a bad rap, but that’s not fair for most of us. When my grandparents came over from Genoa, they did farm labor in eastern Ohio and struggled to buy their own land. They got here at a young enough age to make that happen—older folks mostly sacrificed for their children, did manual labor their whole lives.
I recently read a 
Published author and intrepid romantic Jacquée T. shares the following entry from the section of her multifaceted website titled 
