BLOG OF THE WEEK ~ ROMMY DRIKS

Sherry: We last spoke with Rommy Driks, who blogs at KESTRIL’S RHYTHMS AND GROOVE, in 2017. Rommy lives in Bucks County, PA, with her husband, two teenagers and a corgi named Kitsune. A little bird told me Rommy has a new book, published just last week, and I was most interested in sharing the excitement with you.

Sherry: It has been a while since we talked to you in 2017. Would you bring us up to date? 

Rommy: One of the biggest changes is my eldest is off to college and my youngest started high school. My husband and I are a little dazed over it all, but they are both handling their respective transitions like champs.

Sherry: Those are huge changes, for all concerned. I'm glad you are all doing well. 

The wonderful Kitsune

Rommy: And yes, I finally finished up another installment of the adventures of one of my favorite characters to write about, Yuuki. His new story, along with 6 other never before seen short stories, are part of my new short story collection, The Trouble with Wanting and Other Not-Quite Faerie Tales.

Sherry: I love the title. Smiles. Tell us all about it!

Rommy: It’s on sale now as an e-book on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble. It was conceived during NaNoWriMo last year, and I thought my eyeballs would fall out of my head during the editing process.

This collection plays on my love of faerie tales and faerie tale themes. All of the main characters are outsiders in the stories they find themselves in. And they each make decisions that reframe or change their narratives, so they can carve out a way to live that is true to who they are.

Now you can’t have fairy tales without a little magic, right? That’s where being a poet helped. There’s an enchanted quality to poems; the right combination of words can sketch images vivid enough to create worlds. When I write poetry, I feel the weight there is in certain words, and how to balance them to get the feel that I want. This feeling carries over to short story writing. In return, writing fiction helps me hone my sense of pacing and developing an idea. It’s something I’ve found useful when writing poetry.

(Cover art by Michelle Kennedy)

The Trouble with Wanting and Other Not-Quite Faerie Tales is
available at the following links: Amazon  and Barnes & Noble. 

Sherry: It looks wonderful, Rommy. What a great cover! Where does your love of fairy tales come from? When did this fascination begin? 

Rommy: My love of reading definitely came from my dad. He always had his nose in a book. We both share a love for Greek myths and trickster tales. I branched out to the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson when I went to school, and just devoured any fantasy book I could get my hands on from there. My name was on all the sign out slots for every book in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series at one point.

Sherry: Fairy tales sometimes show up in your poems, as well as your stories. And they always have a wonderful message for the grown-up reader. Let’s take a look at three of my favourites:

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Not Quite A Faerie Tale

Glass slippers don’t fit

every size and shape of foot.

I won’t waltz bloody-toed

in silks that don’t suit me.

Let me run barefoot,

choosing silk or steel

depending on the way

my curls bounce at the moment.

Let me guide the magic
in well-woven words

and make the fairy tales fit me,

instead of the other way around. 

Sherry: What a wonderful message this is, for anyone, child or adult. No more bloody toes!

Rommy: I wrote this piece to describe the collection as a whole. As I mentioned earlier, the characters in my stories are all outsiders in some way. And as any outsider knows, there are going to be points where the larger world tries to impose what it feels your role should be. But we don’t have to accept that. We can decide what our role is, based on who we are, not on what is expected of us.

Glitter

I wasn't born in silk ruffles.
Sparkles didn't spring
from my first steps.

But I learned,
even when you didn't expect me to,
especially when you didn't want me to.

I ground up your leftover gems,
and pressed the remains
to create my own rebirth stone.

It glitters from the center
of the reclaimed crown
I earned- though you tried your worst
to keep it from me.

Sherry: How I adore the idea of crafting one's own "rebirth stone".

Rommy: This one was inspired by the main character, Matilda, in my story “Just Perfect”. People don’t usually think of fierce when it comes to fairy-godmothers, but that she is. There is a streak of iron underneath the ruffles and fluttery wings.

The Trouble With Wanting

You're what I dreamed of
before I learned some dreams come with a cost.

I've watched a tender heart
mutilate everything she was
on the assumption her love could cross any barrier.

Still, I reach for you,
until I remember a promise made
over the dissolving remains of a life.

What would it be like
to bring you into my world?
I've seen you looking, enchanted,
just as I was enchanted with a place that is not my own.

Would that look stay
when I tell you everything?
Would you accept all of it,
not expecting me to cut away the core of myself?

I've seen the way you smile,
and for a moment let myself dream
of nights spent hiding nothing,
loving hard enough to dissolve barriers instead of hearts.

But some dreams come with a cost
and I don't know if I can pay for this one.

Sherry: Sometimes the cost is too high. There are moments when one feels exactly like the narrator of those closing lines.

Rommy: This one was inspired by the main character, Lynna, of the titular story in my collection, “The Trouble with Wanting”. That story is based on the original The Little Mermaid story by Hans Christian Anderson, but mine is from the point of view of the little mermaid’s sister. While she has some things in common with her ill-fated younger sister, this mermaid has gone pirate, and has a far more calculating eye towards the battles she has to face.

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Sherry: I so resonate with each of these poems. We are raised on dreams and fairy tales, then reality awakens us and grows us up. But we need to hold onto a little of that magic, that possibility, no matter what our age is. Tell us about your love of fairy tales for grownups, Rommy.

Rommy: Well, maybe it could be I like them just because I haven’t really grown up yet. But there’s a quote by G.K. Chesterton I’m reminded of: “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist.  Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” 

I think the dragons only get bigger when we get older. And in today’s day and age, there are flocks of the damn things roaming around out there, in power over us. Fairy tales still can inspire us to become the heroes of our own stories, and remind us that we have lots of pages to go before we can call the tale complete.

Sherry: I so agree. It is a time for heroes and heroines, for there is a lot that needs saving.

Now that your book is published, what will you be working on next?

Rommy: I am planning to get a book of poetry out there too. I already have an idea brewing for one, and several poems written that would work with the theme I’d be using. And I definitely plan on writing more short stories, and a novel or two expanding on some of the characters in the book.

Sherry: That all sounds exciting! We will await more new books with great anticipation. What activities do you enjoy when you aren’t writing, Rommy?

Rommy: Well there are my Japanese tea ceremony lessons. Earlier this year I got my official license from the main Urasenke tea school in Kyoto for the basic forms. I need to brush up on my winter forms (the format of the tea ceremony changes with the seasons) and I’ll move on to some intermediate forms after that. I also am a belly dancer. 

Although I’m mostly laid back in my every day attire, I love the glitz of getting into a full cabaret costume and performing on stage. I enjoy rambling around Bucks County when I get the chance. We have some really lovely areas here. When I’m not doing any of those things, I’ll crochet a bit.

  

Sherry: It all sounds amazing! Is there anything you’d like to say to Poets United?

Rommy: Thank you all so much for the great feedback you give and the conversations you’ve shared regarding poems and the art of poetry writing. I’ve learned so much from the thoughtful constructive criticism I’ve received over the years, and I am truly grateful for it, both as a poet and as a writer.

Sherry: Thank you, Rommy, for this wonderful update, and congratulations on your new book. May it find many, many eager readers.

It is always exciting when a writer has a new book out. Yay! Do come back to see who we talk to next. Who knows? It might be you!