42 Stories Anthology Presents: Karla Hailer

 

Story in the anthology:

THE TRUE SACRED CATHEDRAL OF MY REBELLION

Location in the world:

Boston (because I love that dirty water) Massachusetts

Writing Space:

Office in my home

Pen names in the 42 Stories Anthology if applicable:

Frances DeLisle (for steampunk)

Bio:

Karla Hailer is a retired teacher and lifelong Red Sox fan who has spoken educational conferences, at the Thoreau Society about misreading “Walden.” She is in “Bolts of Fiction,” an anthology of flash fiction and publishes steampunk under the name Frances DeLisle.

Best animal in earth?

The best animal on earth are cats because they understand boundaries, and are furry purry fuzzy wuzzy balls of love.

Books/authors you like? 

Far too many to name them all but I love that George Plimpton taught me at an early age that you can get paid for writing about sports, even if I ended up as a political journalist for a while. Ursala K. LeGuin ignited my passion for fantasy and H. G. Wells my love of science (speculative?) fiction. As a history nerd, I am glad John Meachem, David McCullough, and Rob Chernow all have eBook editions so I’m not breaking my arms carrying their books. Henry David Thoreau started as a “You need to read…” in school and he quickly became the man who opened up the whole world to me - even if I misread “Walden,” at the age of 15 and felt he was telling me I needed to learn how to garden.

Artists/paintings...?

Raphael… so much love for Raphael and the Madonna Della Seggiola inspired me to go to Florence to see the original. Like books and authors, there are just so many! I adore Milton Glasser’s work, Peter Max, R. Crumb, and Bob Waldmire (who Fillmore from “Cars” is based on).

Songs/bands...?

Jonathan Richman’s “The Morning of our Lives” is a song every writer with imposter syndrome - which is all of us - need to take to heart.

Places...? 

I am a Boston girl, born and bred. As Jonathan Richman of the Modern Lovers once said, “I’ve been all around the world but I love New England best.” Outside of New England, I love Amsterdam, the Grand Canyon, and Key West.

Countries...? 

Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy.

Do you have a writer?

I am a member of Activated Authors and Heartbreathings writing communities.  Having a wonderful circle of people to sprint and goof with is truly inspiring.  I am also a member of the Boston Urban Sketchers group who draw what’s going on around them live reminds me how much I enjoy just going out in the wild to paint and draw.

Who do you write for? Why?

I love writing Middle-Grade fiction - which is the steampunk stuff.  Currently, I am writing it in serial form on Ream Stories and Substack to build an audience. Because of my “misread” of Thoreau as a teen, I am working on a series of Middle-Grade fiction about the Transcendentalists where Thoreau is fighting off a Kelpie at Walden pond or Louisa May Alcott is trying to soothe a Puckwudgie’s feelings after her father accidentally insults it. The idea of using the paranormal to introduce that philosophy appeals to my goofy side.

What inspires you?

I was first inspired to write when I read “Paper Lion” by George Plimpton. I was way too young and most of it went over my head, but it was the first time someone told the story of sports and I realized you could get paid for being a writer. I’m not a football fan, but I love that it inspired me to think of writing as storytelling.  We all tell stories, whether it’s about something that happened to us yesterday or a well-crafted narrative tale. The thought that it could be about fun things made my heart sing.  Most kids grew up with game recaps that were the box scores in words.  Guys like Plimpton and Frand DeFord wove a tale of the game that inspired imagination. Like listening to a baseball game on the radio - it’s such a visual game and yet, a good broadcaster is weaving threads together to make it real.

When I am creating a Steampunk world or taking someone back to Walden Pond during the time of Thoreau or to my “magical” contemporary town in Maine, I am doing what those people did for me growing up: taking symbols on pieces of dead wood and turning them into compelling stories for others to see.

Tell me about your outline process.

Until fairly recently my outlining process was “This is why we can’t have nice things” or “everything blows up here” or “wacky, tragic misunderstanding for why they can never be in love…” such things.  Then I started using some software that has helped me more and more with the outlining process.  While I will never be that 32-page Jeffery Deaver level of outliner, I am no longer that Lee Child form of “So, what do we have to write today?”  I have to admit that the skeleton blurb Protagonist must do this or this horrible thing will happen sort of statement to help set up the stakes really does help me be able to craft things before I start writing.

Kind of ironic coming from someone who, until recently, taught kids how to pre-write and then write essays using graphic organizers when I was sitting down with the people in my head and saying, “So, what part of the story do you want to tell me today?” Now that I can do better pre-writing, I feel my narratives are stronger and I can tell my story with more clarity.

Social media links or links to your published works:

Instagram: @pikagirl59  (Karla Hailer) and @authorfrancesdelisle (Frances DeLisle, my steampunk penname)

About the Anthology:

42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42² features 1,764 stories, each exactly 42 words long, spanning 42 different genres. This global collection brings together 1,281 authors from around the world—new voices, seasoned writers, and everything in between—united by the challenge of saying more with less.

Available now in print, ebook, and audiobook formats:

www.42storiesanthology.com