Featured Interview With L E Kinzie
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My life seems to have been written in movements like a classical musical piece.
I was born in San Antonio, Texas and grew up there with my family and my trusty cat, Jack, for jack-o-lantern, because he was bought for $7 on Halloween. My earliest desire that I remember, was to be a member of the Motown singing group, The Supremes. Yes, I am serious.
My brothers, our friends, and me ran wild through the neighborhood and the city on our bikes, the only rule being “Show up before dark, or else.” This fostered a sense of adventure and possibilities that would come in handy, as I would later try to re-invent myself, after 30 years in other careers. I actually started writing when I was about 10 years old, and got sidetracked for about 30 years chasing a legal career, sanity, survival, money, and kids, not in that order.
I moved to Austin, Texas to chase a job, and I’ve been in this wonderful artists’ hive ever since. This is where I found everything- -including myself, my backbone, my purpose, not to mention an extremely hunky husband with the patience of Job. Former corporate lawyer, now fount and purveyor of joy, words, humor, and most importantly, questions.
I now live with my family and Japanese Spitz dog that thinks he is a cat and a Persian/ Siamese mix cat, which has dementia and thinks she is a dog. We’ve lost track of her age. She’s just “Granny Kitty.”
I have one book out now, another of a completely different genre out in a few months, two more books in the works after that, a website, a blog, entitled What’s in your
Spiritual Toolbox? , a poetry blog which about 20 people follow, called PimpinPoet on WordPress, and have been known to sing with a band—just like a Supreme, sort of, minus the style and talent.
“Suddenly “, I’m a creative fountain that has been Undammed and I just can’t get enough of the act of creation. Coincidentally, that is the title of my book, Undamned, and it all started with motherhood, which prepared me for a career of attempting to bring things of beauty into the world. I’ve been on that track ever since.
I simply think that any kind of art is beauty and joy and a kind of celebratory prayer to our creator, so there is nothing creative that I won’t try. For that reason, I have no idea why anyone would limit himself or herself to only one genre—I don’t. You can expect something completely new and different from me with every creation. I’ll be as surprised as you are ☺
Our house reminds me of the old TV series, Green Acres—everything is falling apart and the décor is 1960s, not in a good way. But the backyard is where God and the angels dance, and ideas and inspirations percolate for me. It is completely overgrown, unintentional, and lushly inviting, like someone put a jungle with a walking path in the middle of a neighborhood. I actually don’t write in my house at all. I built a little writers shed in my wild back yard. There, looking out the window on all of this lushness run riot, I believe in the infinite number of courses a creative process can follow, and I get started creating.
I write most first thoughts, titles, drafts and poems on the Memo/ Post It app on my phone, and in my pajamas, if at all possible. It really helps to dispense with any formality or limits to letting the process be what it will.
An idea, a chapter heading, a poem title, or a full poem will occur to me, and to save time, I put that idea on the memo pad, to flesh out later. Then, I transfer it to my computer to be modified, edited and re-edited, as a form of self- torture.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Someone gave me a children’s bible sometime around kindergarten and I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on ever since. I started writing poetry when I was 10, and I wrote a “magazine,” complete with graphics, artwork, and articles, as a project for junior school. Words have always had incredible power and sacredness to me. To me, they do not differ from music. They are a kind of music. It’s all about reaching and uniting people for me.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I am remarkably impressionable and something that is well – written and powerful can influence me for weeks or even years. The Goldfinch and All the Lights We Cannot See changed me for good with their message and their beauty– The Goldfinch, because it illustrated how a thing of beauty can be redemptive in even the darkest of lives. All the Lights… similarly showed that there are moments of heroic sacrifice and pure goodness in people who appear dark and times that appear without hope. These acts simply aren’t brought to light.
The Goldfinch made a huge difference to me, in that I saw that art has the capacity to change a life, and therefor, what I do as an artist is never in vain. I may never see how my work affects someone, but that does not mean that it doesn’t. I love the idea of seeing and pulling light out of the darkness. The Nightingale is also a beautiful work of historical fiction with this theme.
I typically read more than one book and more than 1 genre at a time. I just finished Tammy Hoag’s new thriller, Cold, Cold, Heart and am finishing an interesting book entitled 60 Million Frenchmen Can’t be Wrong, and am reading the last few chapters of The Gifts of Imperfection. I discover and re-discover books, according to the inspiration I need at the time. They all have their own gifts and beauty. I read so many books of so many different genres; it’s hard to choose one. I’m not just a writer; I ‘m a huge fan of all good authors and a voracious reader. My favorite book is always the one I’m reading right now.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is called Undamned, My Escape from the Old Testament. Simply put, I wanted to return the gift of joy to so many who had it surgically removed from their spirits by their religion.
It was inspired by what I describe in the book as my collision with the phenomenon of McChurch, something that can look more like a fast- food restaurant than a place of sanctuary, and can be more of a harmful addiction than a balm for wounds.
As a person of faith, my heart ached for so many who sought solace and got judgment and more pain, and was outraged that this was happening to so many, simply because they were asking questions every spiritual person has asked and should ask. I sought to help others and heal myself and found answers to the questions that would not fit in this cold doctrine, as well as a whole new, more forgiving and infinite spirituality. It is the compelling chronicle of the journey from shame and oppression to joy and freedom. Many say they read it in one sitting, like a thriller. (My life has been that crazy.) Others have thanked me for writing it, and say they keep it on their bedside tables, to refer to again and again.
This book took a lifetime to write. I had to realize that what I thought of as my spiritual bedrock was actually what was harming me, before I could embark on the journey that became this book.
I had no idea when I conceived the idea and began writing, that I was blending several different genre’s of book– Memoire, Christian, Non- fiction, and Poetry. I just wanted it to be a page- turner and to be an authentic soul baring. It took me two years to just conceive of how this would work and to organize it in my head and on paper. It took another year to research, write, and finalize, because I was still living the journey I was describing.
I think art is worth it. I think beauty is worth it. I think 100% authenticity and vulnerability are worth it. These are the things I attempted to combine in this book. They touch people in a way that can’t be measured or even fathomed, and that in and of itself is worth it!
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles