"All you have to do is . . . " are, according to DJ Anderson, the six most dangerous words.How often have the complexities of a human life been distilled into this simple catch phrase in order to explain it all?Using a blog she has called "The Six Most Dangerous Words," Anderson's goal in posting is to focus on the absurdity of trying to dilute each story into a "category" and then expose the web of intricate emotional decisions that actually led to its outcome.Some of her stories are non-fiction-character studies of real people, using their real names . . . in many ways, tributes. Some of her stories are thinly disguised as fiction. To those who know her best, she says, "It won't be hard to make the connections back to the non-fictionalized circumstances that gave rise to these accounts." One of the things Anderson has learned about writing from memory is that her memory is sometimes not very reliable. Not wanting to be held accountable for details that she's filled in for the sake of the storytelling, she categorizes these stories as fiction. As a colleague's father used to say, "Don't let facts interfere with the telling of a good story."Finally, some of Anderson's stories are a complete fabrication coming entirely from her imagination. She occasionally throws in a poem here and there to change the pace.Volume I of "The Six Most Dangerous Words" is a collection of the first two years of blog postings. Additional stories can be found on the web at authordjanderson.blogspot.com
About the Author: DJ Anderson was born in Wisconsin and raised on the shores of Lake Michigan. A graduate of Stetson University and Wesleyan University, DJ earned a master's degree with her thesis in art, "Behind the Façade," an exploration of what is known and unknown about the individuals in our lives. Her first novel, Mercy of the Fallen, explores this same theme, peppered with anecdotes from DJ's life experience, and the stories strangers have told her while waiting in the grocery line. DJ is a noted storyteller and amateur psychoanalyst with an eye for detail. She approaches her writing just as she approaches the world-with compassion and matter-of-fact wisdom. "The Six Most Dangerous Words" blogpost was begun in late 2010 as a vehicle for showcasing her short stories and reminiscences. DJ's discipline is to post to the blog at least once every 4 to 5 weeks in order to have set deadlines to keep writing. DJ lived in New England for 23 years, but currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is an avid runner, bird watcher, and the director of communications for an independent school. Her first novel, Mercy of the Fallen, is also available on Amazon.