From a Strident World of Soft Prevailing things received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Aldyth M. Irvine-Harrison.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
From a Strident World of Soft Prevailing things. Published in 2020.
What’s the book’s first line?
“Walk with me in silent, travel around meandering reactors of nuclear parks.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
The book presents an invitation to walk with me through many situations, experiences and places; through the experiences, joys, trials, excitement and solutions of people we see and imagine. There is always a story within the poem. It may be the story of a moment in time when something feels threatened, remembering the idea threaded through the poem, everything lives and works to preserve its longevity as it knows it.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I love to tell stories so the stories in the category humankind are for the most part based on fact. The poem ‘We’ describes human conditions and choices afforded us. ‘Palm Song,’ I wanted to tell the tale palm trees and their contributions to the animal kingdom. The Palm tree is a mother image. In the poem ‘Trapped,’ the field mouse isn’t lucky. All his friends have fled. The pool cleaner had two choices; we do not know what he chose to do, but we hope the mouse wasn’t dispatched. I believe everyone and everything has a story. I cannot enter the minds of mice or people; just be guided by an intuition, to write the story, preferably in the form of a poem and move on.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
If a person enjoys rhythm, this book has musical rhythm which often rhymes. If you like to exercise the imagination, this zips open the imagination to gather all kinds of possibilities. The rhythms in this book do lend an ear to musical ideas.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I never had the intention of becoming an author. As a child of 7 or 8 I always made up songs and stories for my little brother. I did the same for my students throughout my teaching career. I collected quite a few of my poems and my choir director and a fellow chorister suggested that I have them published.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
No. I wrote Patches-In and out 2 Centuries which was published by Mecene in QC, October 2010.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I volunteer that finds shelter for people suffering from Mental Illness. I take part in musical activities and take part in other outreach work. I was a high-school teacher for approximately 35 years.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
It’s difficult to gage. I write as I’m walking. I write very early in the morning. Sometimes I wake up in the night with a thought, write and go back to sleep. I do not plan when I’m going to write, it just happens.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
There will always be that uncertainty. At some point, what is wanted or needed could conflict with what we’re guided to say.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
In many ways I consider myself a Neophyte, but I realize that your true self reveals itself in what we write.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
I must be true to myself at all times.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
Stories of kindness, lovely gardens and cheeky members of the plant and animal kingdom.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
I like Jeffrey Archer and appreciate his humour, mystery and elements of surprise. Lorna Goodison is a poet that I appreciate as she writes about a culture with which I’m familiar.