Crafting Poetry One Syllable at a Time
Posted on June 21, 2017 by Colleen M. Chesebro
One of the most satisfying things about reviewing books is that you meet some interesting authors. Jack falls into that category. I asked him to stop by my blog to tell us a bit about his life and the inspiration for his book, Inside Out. I reviewed this book a while back. Click HERE to read my review.
Author, Jack Kearney
“For most of my life, I was a struggling actor. I appeared on such shows as M.A.S.H., WKRP in Cincinnati, and General Hospital. For a short time, I even taught an acting workshop. Back in the mid-seventies, I was a recent graduate of the very prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts where I was part of the first graduating class in Los Angeles.
After that I joined the ranks of the other sixty thousand would-be stars who acted in showcase plays, occasionally going on professional auditions, and attending weekly workshops. It was while attending one those workshops in the mid-seventies that I had the opportunity to take place in a groundbreaking event. To compete with New Jersey’s “Scared Straight” program, California thought that an improv workshop for the inmates could help in their rehabilitation efforts.
Jack Kearney – back in the day
The woman that ran the workshop I was attending at the time, was asked to run the prison workshop, providing she had a male actor to assist her. Jackie asked me to help her, not just for my talent, but because, she thought with my looks I wouldn’t be intimidated by the inmates. It was an interesting experience, but it wasn’t until a few years later, and after a frighteningly close call, that I was inspired to write my story.
Thinking back to the prison workshop, and all the inmates and their interesting stories, I remembered how big some of their egos were, and how easily they could be bruised, just from some simple direction. I thought, what would happen if an actor were to experience what I had, but by a twist of fate, six months later, he ends up back inside as an inmate – where he has already made both friends and bruised enemies. There has never been a storyline where the protagonist, a non-criminal, is thrown into prison where he already knows some of the inmates.
That was my inspiration for INSIDE OUT. Originally a script, it was to be my “Rocky,” and it would make me star.
At the time though, producers weren’t willing to make a movie that depicted prison life with such violent realism, so once again, I got close but no cigar. I don’t know what made me think that I could turn it into a novel, but after I had lost my wife to cancer, I took the script out of the mothballs and wrote INSIDE OUT– One Actors Nightmarish Journey Of Incarceration.
Recently, I found out that one of my hundreds of submissions to literary agents may have finally got some attention. A major agency is considering representing me to submit it to producers, so my dream of a movie is still alive.
While waiting for that big break, I had many survival jobs typical of the actors of the ’70s and ’80s. But sales seemed to offer the only possible way to make a living, and contrary to popular belief, I discovered that a salesperson is made – not born. In fact, commissioned sales can be almost as frustrating as breaking into show business.
I am currently working out of my home, as an appointment setter for a major IT company. I have been married twice. My first, which ended in divorce gave me my beautiful daughter Shannon. I lost my second wife of ten years to cancer in 2012. Now 65, I am a prostate cancer survivor, and currently, reside in Northern California with my Yorkie-Poo Toby.”
Here’s where you can find Jack:
Facebook: Jack Kearney https://www.facebook.com/jack.kearney.773
Twitter: @insideoutauthor https://twitter.com/insideoutauthor
Amazon Author Central:
https://www.amazon.com/Jack-Kearney/e/B014O8GQ1U/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Thanks for stopping by to meet Jack Kearney. Make sure to check out his book, Inside Out. ❤
Category: Authors Supporting AuthorsTags: American Academy of Dramatic Arts, California, Inside Out, Jack Kearney, Los Angeles, New Jersey's "Scared Straight" program, prison life, the life of a struggling actor
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“A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone’s knowledge of himself and the world around him.”
—Dylan Thomas
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Colleen M. Chesebro is an American Poet who loves crafting paranormal fantasy and magical realism, cross-genre flash fiction, syllabic poetry, and creative nonfiction. Colleen sponsors a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called Tanka Tuesday, on wordcraftpoetry.com where participants learn how to write traditional and current forms of haiku, senryu, haiga, tanka, gogyohka, tanka prose, renga, solo-renga, haibun, cinquain, Etheree, nonet, and shadorma poetry. Colleen's syllabic poetry has appeared in the Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal, and in “Hedgerow, a journal of small poems.” She’s won numerous awards from participating in the Carrot Ranch Rodeo, a yearly flash fiction contest sponsored by carrotranch.com. In 2020, she won first place in the Carrot Ranch Folk Tale or Fable category, with her story called “Why Wolf Howls at the Moon.” Colleen is a Sister of the Fey, where she pursues a pagan path through her writing. When she is not writing, she is reading. She also loves gardening and crocheting old-fashioned doilies into works of art.
Reblogged this on O LADO ESCURO DA LUA.
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Thank you for sharing. Very kind of you! ❤
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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I always appreciate your help. ❤
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Thx, its a great pleasure. 😉 Michael
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A fascinating story. Thanks, Colleen.
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