Chapter 7: Garden of Words and Printing Presses with India Emerald

As I walked out of the forests edge, I suddenly found myself standing in a lawn of freshly cut grass. I took notice of the smiling woman seated in a garden across the way, nestled in the dirt, plucking leafy herbs and spices into the air. Like tissue papers from a box they wafted up and into the wild breeze that blew in from the forest. Dissipating and vanishing into thin air, then a movement on the table near the edge of her garden. A book that seemed to breathe.

 As I approached, a gentleman working a strange machine that involved rotating circular parts with levers and pulleys, gently waved through the steam that puffed from it's locomotive engine; a welcome in between chugs of propulsion. He was in between feeding it sheets of paper when he noticed me. This was the lady gardener's husband I would later learn. The closer I neared, the clearer it became. I saw the vanishing of the vegetation into a burst of dusty clear sparks exploding into the unknown. These  invisible fireworks were revealing words, some fragmented, some dancing in circles like a sentence that was feeding on itself, then disappearing. Followed by the movement on the table, a book with blank pages. She explained she was a writer. As well as her husband.

I explained I was collecting tales from places all around the world and if she wouldn't mind talking; I had a question or two. She agreed to share her insights.

  Question 1 : Who do you roughly base your characters on ( if real people ) ( if not based on real people ), who do imagine could fill their shoes if they became real ?  

 There's a standing joke with authors that if someone upsets them, they get written into a story and then killed off as horribly as possible! I've never done that though. I don't base my characters on anyone as a whole, but I can definitely see character traits that are present in many people I know and they form a collective character along with a bit of the unknown. I'm a firm believer in the idea that "people are people" and we have more in common than our differences, we all have the same basic motivators, and that's what helps us to empathize with the characters we read about. I also think I'm pretty lucky because I have a degree in Performing Arts so understanding emotions and how to portray them is something I have a bit of practice in :) I never have an idea of a famous person that "fits" with a character, I couldn't' say "oh that one's so and so from that show" they all have their own unique voices and each one feels different to write. Shelley from Internet Famous speaks very differently to say, Charlotte from Appeal; for example. I can't put my finger on how exactly I do that (sorry), but I suppose it's down to spending a good deal of time with them in my head.

 As she continued the upkeep of this garden that grew words, her husband gave out an audible 'ha" every now and again, paying close attention to the words as they appeared on the blank pages, perhaps finding an inside joke or a brilliance that never ceased to amaze him about his wife. All the time proofreading as he fed more and more clean, blank sheets of paper into the machine; flying out and sliding neatly back into the tome resting upon the table; waiting to consume more of her linguistical harvest.

Question 2 : What is your favorite word ?

So many words! It's difficult to say because in isolation most of them are fairly bland and the magic happens when you weave them together. I love the little tingle I get when a sentence just clicks. I do a Twitter hashtag game called 1linewed and it's fantastic to put one of my favourite snippets and then see that other people appreciate it too. To pick a word though- Kinder because it sums my life up pretty well. Most people will read that as Kine-der as in "being thoughtful to someone", but I read it as Kin-der because I spend all day speaking German. I've lived here for nearly 2 years now and I watch a mix of German and American stuff and read in both languages, but I write in English. My aim is to write a poem in German within 3 years, but I know far more English words than German and getting a hang of the grammar is the hard part. When I start to write shorts in German I want them to be as perfect as I can, so I'll take as long as it needs :)

She continues pulling endless amounts of colorful greenery, lavender and purple wisps, white and yellow ochre flowers, magentas and vermillions; as she does so, reaching into her vest pocket at the same time, she reveals one individual seed, and whispering into her cupped hand, a soft message to awaken. She places the seed gently into the dirt from where there once grew a word flower, sprinkling water from the other hand as she scoops it out of pail. She continues, down each row, pulling the herbal verb here or there, flipping it out and up into the air; words exploding, disappearing then reappearing onto the pages of the book that jumps on the table with their arrival; planting the seeds of new  ideas and word spices along her way. Up and down the rows she went, sometime reaching over into the next, knowing where to find her own thoughts to finish her creations.

Question 3 : When you feel like taking a break from writing, a "recess" at it were, what other outlet(s) of creativity do you enjoy doing ?

I'm a creative sort so I'm always on the hunt for crafty projects, I've made Steampunk jewelry, a tiny book in a glass jar necklace, and a Lego key rack recently. Any excuse to cook is good, I made a Roasted Pepper Sauce for pasta yesterday. I don't have a big garden (and I miss having one) but I still like to have plants so I got a Chili plant and a basket of herbs for cooking today. I used to be a big gamer (ESO in particular) but I've gone casual with my gaming now. My Grandfather always had a new crafty project on the go and he was full of life, so I follow the lead he set :)

Proofreading as he operates the machinery, the husband continues producing the blank canvas of pages from the combustive wordless press, watching the words erase from the air in front him, then slowly being scrawled onto the empty pages he was providing; never ceasing to be amazed at how she cultivates and nurtures her words into visual sustenance. 

Question 4: Where would like to travel to, a place you have always wanted to see?

The moon. I think it would be an awesome sense of perspective. Plus I'd like to see the Bay of Rainbows close up, it's one of my favourite areas to view with a telescope. I'd prefer not to have a hotel on the moon because of the unique landscape, so maybe an orbiting hotel complex with shuttles down to the surface. It would be cool to see an ultra modern hotel flying around in orbit. I'm from a generation that remembers the Russian space station, Mir, which was held together by a space-worthy version of duct tape. It gives me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about what would happen if the tape got loose/ripped. But that would be why they used it, duct tape is seriously strong stuff ;)

The forest, towering over the edge of the outskirts of the property, whispers with a radiant warm breeze; fresh air and inspiration turning the words on their side and backwards. I explain it calls me back to my travels and ask one last question ,

Question 5 :  Why ( what brought you ) to live in Germany ? ( as a side note, 2 of my favorite stories, are written by Germans, The Neverending Story , Michael Ende / Inkheart series Cornelia Funke.. ) is this genre ( fantasy ) popular there ? 

A motorbike accident! Long story there, but we had an accident on our Honeymoon and spent the duration in a German hospital. I was fine but Rob broke his nose and needed surgery. We came back to England with a better understanding of how life can pass you by if you're not careful. We'd always wanted to live abroad and Germany had everything we wanted, good healthcare, good schools (and they start at 6 years old here rather than 4), and easy access to the rest of mainland Europe. I love it here, I'm on the edge of the Black Forest so we have a fairytale landscape!

Germans are big readers, in general. It was a German who invented the printing press. We have Märchenwald here as well, they're forest parks with mechanical tableaus in glass cases which tell the stories of the Brothers Grimm. Like Disneyland only not as commercial. As I write in English, most of my readers come from America and the UK comes second, with Germany in third place. I've sold the odd one in Australia which is cool.

 She sends me off with goodies for my travels, some seeds to plant for when I return home and a blank piece of paper. I step back into the forest I walked out from;  knowing I would come out the other side with a full page of words to share with others.

The two stand in their garden, the wife and her proof reader, bidding me a farewell. Their book is full for today, until harvest time tomorrow, when she plants more seeds of thought, nurturing them into life, giving way to untold stories, created from thin air.

I wish, for all that they grow together, to flourish. In their verbal garden of creativity and inspiration.

Thank you, India Emerald. For all the words you have whispered into existence. 

And, all that you breathe into life.