Interview with Randy White

Author of The Magical Meniscus

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

I, GranRan, aka, Randy Lee White was born in Portland, Indiana, and move to Bennettsville, South Carolina where I grew up. After a stretch in the army, I returned to Bennettsville, South Carolina, eventually moving to Charlotte, North Carolina some thirty-five years ago.

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

I moved to Charlotte over thirty years ago and met my wife Christine Tammy Marie Watkins, a native Charlottean. We had three boys, losing our oldest son, Tony, in a car accident. That led to a very gloomy period in our life, and I think it strengthened my love for my wife. In all our thirty years of marriage, she has stood beside me through the thick and thin. (“That ain’t thin, that’s dam near invisible!”); nevertheless, she’s been there. She’s my number one fan who gets to read all my stories first (right after my mom reads them). Anyway, I earned a Master’s in Arts from UNC Charlotte in 2007. I managed to secure a job in the power distribution business to make a modest living, but with retirement (and unemployment) looming, I decided to divide my writings into two areas. The first area is a series of fairy tale adventures, including novellas, novels, and short story collections, all written under my pen name of GranRan (“GranRan tell us a story! GranRan tell us a story!); you can find more information about GranRan’s fairy tale land adventures on my new website: www.myftland.com which will go live January 16th, 2020 (on my birthday). For those readers interested in my other areas of interest: Prose, Poetry and Politics, etc. You can go to randywhitenow.com and read my numerous blogs.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

The older a person gets the more that person wants to be heard and recognized for their efforts. Like so many who arrived before me, I will leave my fading mark on paper.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

GranRan’s Fairytale Land adventures explores kingdoms of magic and wonder, along with some enlightenment and comedy. It is a fantasy world with our real world’s issues embedded at its core. Most of the stories I’ve created are original works, such as “The Magical Meniscus,” but there are also fairy tale retellings which can be found in my next collection, titled, “The eSmith Short Tales: Fables & Stories from Fairytale Land.” The collection is due out in March of 2020 (if the creek doesn’t rise—ops, a cliche!). These real fairy tales are for all ages, but they are often unkind. Like the original fairy tales, GranRan’s fairy tales teach moral lessons. Life can be cold and brutal for those living in the wilds whether in a fairy tale or in the real world.

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

Children of all ages should relate to my fairy tales and the fantasy world they encompass. They have moral lesson all children can learn from. Some tales are for older children and teens, even young adults, but they will be labeled.

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

I’m always learning about the publishing and marketing business, but the writing process goes well. I’ve used a writing technique which has proven effective over the years. It’s called using my imagination. I feel I’m better with each book, but I still have timing issues on the publishing side. Yet, my biggest surprise is how people are reacting to my works now that I’m getting them published. I’m grateful they want to read my books. As to publishing, that’s another process I’m still learning to deal with.

If you could, what advice would you give to your past self before embarking on this journey?

If I could talk to my past self, I’d say write and read more than you submit. If you plan on writing novels or even collections of stories, complete the project, publish it and move off.

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

I hope one day my books will be read by a worldly audience who enjoy fairy tales, fantasy and a whole lot more. The children will love the many adventures in Fairytale Land. There are moral lessons to many of the tales I’ve created that are explicit, but others are not so well define, I want the readers to reach their own conclusion. This audience must be will to accept that the historical fairy tales often did not end well. The lessons learned were life and death for many of those involved. These early fairy tales warned their audience of the real dangers involved.

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

Getting projects done. That is my biggest challenge and frustration. Just today, for example I re-read my collection, “The eSmith’s Short Tales: Fables & Stories from Fairytale Land,” and reading it aloud made me realize it needed another round or two of revisions. After Tammy reads the collection, I’ll know better (don’t worry, the collection will be ready by March of 2020).

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

My biggest strengths in writing are being able to plot a story from beginning to end, stack it with unique characters, and create the world needed for those characters to interact in. I like exploring ideas and fairy tales. I strive to make the action flow. The spoken work is not so easy. I have to work on the dialogue to make it sound real. Another strength I have in being able to link unique events or items together over a series of works—while keep those works independent. Being able to back track a story to its origins can solve a lot of questions. The last few books I’ve done have made me more knowledge of the publishing process. I now sketch out the designs for my book-covers and the illustrations. I have an artist eye and ask people to keep an open mind on my website and on my blog. My greatest strength is my determination of make this happen. Why not I have nothing else to do, and writing is where my real interest reside. The publishing and the marketing of the books are a means to that end. I’m continually revising my works to make them among the best stories available.

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

My weakness in book writing is not commercializing my works before now. A completed commercial products is far far better than an unfinished piece of literature. I always preferred writing in different genre from poetry to film scripts. I have no idea on how to blog or create an effective website, but it’s there for those with an open mind. While my greatest asset is the ability to write, I’m not that great with the grammar and such. I’m grateful for a great editor (my mom is a good one). I love to write, even rewrite another twenty times, but editing is somewhat a task and I’ve gotten better over the years. I have a learning curve in matters of Publishing and Marketing. I’ve also have trouble publishing my books online. I’m still struggling with that one.

When do you think you will write your next book?

I’m in the process of finishing up several works. I will be publishing my collection, “The eSmith Short Tales: Fables & Stories from Fairytale Land,” in March of 2020. These fifteen fables center on the gray fox eSmith’s pup years, growing up with his brother and sisters, his father the tail-less one and his mother the brash vixen. Many of these fables are retellings of Aesop’s fables. Another one of my work available next year, perhaps late in 2020, will be a novella I’ve tentatively titled, “The eSmith Eye Story,” but no publication date has been set yet. These works enhance or add to the novel I’ve been working on (off and on) since 2015, tentatively titled, “The Watermelon Festival.” She’s my growing baby, along with Elmer the third little pig being one of my heroes.

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

All my fairy tales adventures are published under my independent publishing company, NuSaga Press.