SO... BUILDING MY AUTHOR PERSONA...
(THERE'S AN AWFUL LOT OF IT...)
(the font is a bit tongue-in-cheek
because this is not necessarily all about westerns!)
In order to sell books, it's pretty important to also build an author persona so that readers have a good idea of the person who's actually written this angst-ridden, colourful or otherwise tale of misfortune and triumph or otherwise, and perhaps get into the mind of the author (God forbid...😱 ?!). Okay, I thought, this could be fun, cuz I'm always writing about what I get up to as an aspirational renaissance soul/multidisciplinary artist anyway. Here's the link to my post Howdy Folks - I'm Blowing My Trumpet! .
(Much of this is taken from that).
I was born in 1953. In the May of that year, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest. I was a mere twinkle in my mother's eye at the time. That counts, doesn't it? I was also there when Princess Elizabeth passed my mother and my granny (Kit) in her coronation coach on her way to Westminster Abbey in the June of that year. At least, I was there in foetal form. That counts as well, doesn't it? I popped out in October.
AS JO BALLANTYNE, - ARTIST
I was born with a paint brush and a 4B pencil tucked behind my ear. I worked as a graphic artist and exhibited and sold art. Hubby maintains that I'm either genius or rubbish. The latter occurs when I'm experimenting and making a pig's ear of it.
My art was pretty conventional in my youth, although I liked different media. I used oils and pencils but settled on acrylics, gouache, pastels and collage or anything else that takes my fancy such as old tea bags (you neve know). I drew faces and characters, painted sixties psychedelia, abstracts and still lives, created clay and wood sculptures. I've since acquired a strong desire to be multidisciplinary, using a variety of media and disciplines. Whatever floats my boat and lights my candle. I read about an artist who's styles look like they've been created by ten different people. Sounds great! Even that can be marketed using the right approach.
AS A NON-FICTION WRITER
My published anecdotal articles and cartoons started after I began considering actually writing my novel Alias Jeannie Delaney, and are a complete contrast to that raw, in-depth saga. I created an anthology, Musings of a Butterfly Brain, consisting of many of those articles, but I never felt it was good enough to self-publish. Recently, however, with a refreshed eye, I decided that I would polish it and, indeed, self-publish eventually. Both this and my art are a future distraction from the intensity of what is now my epic western trilogy.
AS KIT MACKENZIE,
Western Author...
Last summer I self-published the first book of my epic western trilogy Alias Jeannie Delaney - Book 1 - Go West, Girl! on
Amazon. I'd worked on it sporadically for over thirty years
(you read that right), through parenthood and various other neurosis. Before publication, my editor read it and loved it - my story was thus endorsed for the first time by a professional! 😀
AS KITTY LE ROY ,
Wild Western Woman...
Before I conjured up Jeannie, during my teens a deep desire to dress western gathered pace, including fringed buckskins and western weapons, and now I do. Dodgy, huh? I'd take pot shots at empty cat food tins - ding! - with my Dad's air rifle from an open window. Dad called me Annie Oakley. Fabulous!
As a teen I grew fascinated by the wild west, particularly the parts played by the women who thrived in male roles. I was miffed at the lack of decent female role models in westerns during the sixties. Women were never the fastest gun, so, at night, before going to sleep, I visualized Jeannie Morgan, a cowgirl who was the fastest gun in the west. She
also became a great lover to both sexes. Don't blame me for that. It
just happened in my head. That's being a hormone ridden creative for
you! She starred in my own traditional western novel. By traditional I mean every scenario you'd expect in your usual western. The novel I'd always wanted to read and which I eventually wrote because no-one else had.
AS A RENAISSANCE SOUL / EXPLORER
Leonardo Da Vinci is a hero of mine. He was a scanner, a polymath, a multi-potentialite, a multi-passionate... Whaaa...?
A person with umpteen zillion interests, that's what, and I'm one of 'em.
I learned to fly straight and level when I was seventeen. I'd always wanted to fly. A newspaper photo of me in the cockpit was pinned on the school wall, and some bright spark had drawn a moustache on me. A boy asked me 'Why can't you learn to drive like everyone else?' Fair enough. I even had the opportunity some years ago to fly a friend's single engine plane straight and level around the Isle of Wight. Wowsers! I'm so proud of that!
 |
HERE'S THE PLANE! |
A bona fide travel magazine stated that to be considered a bona fide traveller one needs twenty countries under one's belt.
Tick! 😀 I toured the States twice by Greyhound Bus during the late seventies and, from a distance, witnessed a space rocket take off from Cape Canaveral. Mr. Google informed us recently that that rocket had journeyed to Venus on a research mission. Heavens above! On that trip I ate with the Moonies without realising it, spent a night in a friend's shack in Tombstone Arizona, and spent a night in a hillbilly's ranch. Mine host kept a pistol under his pillow. As ya do. Hubby and I have also visited Iceland and Malaysia - two extremes of climate.
I'm fascinated by the paranormal but shall never go ghost hunting. I was terrified on an Edinburgh night ghost tour and my ghost hunting son took me on a hunt for mother's Day in a local village cemetery and I screamed like a girl and ran.
Family history is fascinating - I'm on a quest to research some history in Canada and California - both ancestors joined gold rushes, and a holiday cabin in Dawson City, the Yukon, belonged to my great uncle.
I'm a decent archer and snorkeller.
We love archaeology, beachcombing and mud-larking (much the same thing, really).
I love wild and tropical gardens. We have three ponds, a waterfall, a fountain, my pioneer cabin and our canoe.
I'd love to cultivate indoor plants. Unfortunately I don't have my mother's green fingers. I look at plants and they die.
I love the history of photography, medical matters & science.
I'm a bit of a yogee. Very flexible.
I walk - fast (mostly...). During the winter I walk around the world courtesy of my treadmill and YouTube.
I was brought up rowing boats and canoeing. We own a narrow boat.
Hubby and I love steampunk and getting togged up in cossies, especially at Halloween!
Multi-passionate folks often feel embarrassed by having so many interests, but I've always felt proud . A little frustrated that I can't pursue them all, but hey - that goes with the territory.
I've now got to post this to my fans. I do have a couple.
Facebook Jo Ballantyne
A charity organisation supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
(I'm supporting Stonewall & they are posting links to Amazon & Alias Jeannie Delaney on their social media posts).
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