AUTHOR PROFILE
Pryde was born in Winnipeg and attended high school in Calgary. She obtained a B.A. in theatre and later a B.Ed. She has taught both in Vancouver and Japan and traveled extensively. Currently, she is a stay-at-home mom and a frequent denizen of Vancouver Starbucks. In addition to Strays, a collection of short stories and philosophical love poems, she has published the Wisp, a paranormal thriller. Both are available for purchase on Amazon. prydefoltz.com pryde@prydefoltz.com
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Why do you write?
Time
would slip by when I was writing essays at university. So if time
escaped when
writing dry non-fiction, what would happen if I turned my pen to
stories? Love.
I write fiction for the love of story-telling. With poetry it was
different. The
ideas just started appearing in my consciousness. I posted a few online
and to
my surprise they were well-received. I continued posting and realized
that
poetry could be medicine both for the writer and the reader. Then my
fiction
changed too, becoming enriched by the greater understanding of the
human psyche
I was gaining from writing and reading poetry.
What other creative activities are you involved
in?
I
am a full-time mother and that doesn’t leave me much time for other
artistic
pursuits. My first degree is in theatre and during my time at UBC, I
acted in
and directed plays and loved it. But the fit was never right. In my
youth I was
drawn to drawing and painting. At one time I had my eye on being the
next Coco
Chanel. But now, it’s writing. I think Dorothy Parker said ‘I hate
writing. I love
having written’. For me once I’ve gotten the idea on the page and
cleaned up
the writing a little… it is pure pleasure. I guess I love editing.
Who is your favorite author and why?
I
am going to have to be completely uninspired and say Shakespeare. His
work with
metaphor, characterization, and story has yet to be surpassed. Oddly
enough in
my first Theatre essay I spelled his name incorrectly throughout and
received a
good jibbing from my professor and a down-grade. Other writers I
admire?
Hemingway for his deftness with a sentence. Here too I demonstrated my
spelling-challenged ways. Gutter Dog
is the first short story I wrote and is in part a homage to Papa
Ernesto … and
you guessed it. I could have sworn there were two m’s. Senryu another
adventure
in mis-spelling. Among my other favorite writers are Emily Bronte and
Mary
Shelley. For poetry it is Gordon Downie, the lead singer of the
Tragically Hip.
Big, big fan.
Tell us about the mechanics of how you write.
It
depends on whether I am writing fiction or poetry. With fiction I need
an
outline. All plot points don’t have to be solidly established but I
need to know
how I’m going to begin it, middle it, and end it. Then I write at my
worse … by
which I mean I don’t edit. I get a muddled mess down on the paper and
then go
through mercilessly killing my darlings. To give you an idea the first
draft of
the Wisp was over 110,000 words. It
now stands at less than 70,000 and that is with additions to plot. But
it is in
the editing that the best ideas will come. With poetry as I alluded
before, the
poems seem to come almost pre-packaged and so unless it is a rhythmic
and/or
rhyming piece, all in all, poetry writing is quite painless and quick
for me.
Finally, what do you think about Carp, the
fish, not
our website?
In
Japan they provide hours of enjoyment to the contemplative. Koi Pond was inspired by such
contemplation. But in the rivers of North America they surpass a
nuisance,
driving out native fish species and giving unsuspecting anglers a face
full of
fish. The carp of North America demonstrate how quickly beauty can
descend to
chaos and even destruction. They teach us that nothing stays the same
and not
every turn of event can be anticipated, so proceed with caution, remain
flexible and seek out the peace and beauty whenever possible.
Pryde’s
writings include…
The
Wisp Strays, a Collection of Short
Stories and Philosophical Love Poems
Tattoo, Calling All
Soldiers Home, a Collection of Syllable Count Poetry
Monsters,
Real and Imagined, Tragic, Frightening, and Funny, All Too Brief, a
collection
of Short Stories and Poems.
All
titles are available on amazon.com and through your local bookstore and
libraries.
Want
to connect with Pryde online? Look for her on Youtube, Facebook,
Twitter, and
at prydefoltzblogspot.ca