What Is It That Leaves You Breathless? Moments of beauty; moments of loss. It was funny how both of these things could take your breath away: life's beauty, and life's losses. It was like getting punched in the gut, losing those that you loved. You found yourself on the ground, decimated and wondering if you could ever go on. How could you go on, but how could you not go on? What was the alternative, suicide? That was no alternative for Charlie McAllister, and so he was going on, day by day, moment by moment. The saddest book ever written, that's what his life would be, if he was to put it down into a book. Losing his parents, losing his brothers and sisters, and now losing his wife and his lovely daughters. The grief was immense, almost unbearable, but then Scoop came into his life - a kind and lovely dog which Charlie had scooped up from the road after she'd been hit by a car. Scoop, her name was appropriate, as she was now scooping Charlie back up, living with Charlie and showing Charlie that he could find joy again in life, and love again, too. Life doesn't always move in the ways which you envision, and "Breathless" is no exception. An unexpected friendship between a man and a dog, and a testament to the power of fate and the resilience of the heart to go on, this lyrical and heartfelt story with its surprising and compelling unfurling will show you what it means to find true and lasting love, then leave you as if in the arms of a lover, feeling breathless.
About the Author: An Interview With Myself This interview first appeared in my head October 30th, 2009 How long have you been writing? Who am I? How can I ask myself questions? There are people who want to know, the audience. I've been writing since sixth grade. I'm prolifically unpublished. Why do you write? I write because I want to know how it turns out. I write because it's my answer to impermanence. I write because I don't feel like I have a choice. I write because writing helps me know myself. I write because writing helps me keep in touch with my humanity and the humanity of this world. I write because the world has so much suffering. I write because we can all live with more kindness and compassion and grace. I write so that others will know that they're not alone. I write because it moves me. I write because writing is a gateway to my heart. Nice. That was nice. Thanks. You're welcome. What do you write about? What gives life meaning? How can we live more fully and with more happiness? That's it? I write about people realizing the ways in which they have been their own worst enemies, then realizing that they are also their own best friends. I write about the great abyss that all of us are standing before and how we do, or do not, look at it. I write about loss. Of course, what I'm writing about, is my own heart. The struggles, joys, difficulties, loves and hardships of my own heart. Why are you publishing your work yourself? I'm not good at targeting the right market and then sending my writing to the right person. That doesn't interest me. I just want to write. The business of writing, well, it's a lot of business. I don't want to be in business. I want to write. What wants to be written is what gets written What's the next step for your writing? I'd like to find a publisher and an editor (laughing). Everything I've written is very raw. That's good in its own way. It's pure. It's straight from my heart, but I'm very much not an editor. I'm a writer. To me they're two very different jobs. I write and just let it all come out. Are you working on any current projects? Always. Until I'm dead.