ED- The Eerie Digest has interviewed many exciting and well-known celebrities, but author and scientist David Brin is the most exciting personality that we have had the pleasure of presenting to our readers to date. David, amongst today’s scholars and futurists you are the best known. With many books, stories, TV and speaking experiences, how are you able to juggle all that you do?

DB- Badly! I am spread so thin. My novel KILN PEOPLE foresaw a technology when folks may be able to make lots of cheap, one-day copies of themselves, or “dittoes,” and assign them to take care of all the pesky things that need doing, each day, the ideal servants who know exactly what to do, because they are you. And, by downloading their memories, each night, it really WAS you who did all those things. It was a cry for help! I so want that!

ED- Your works, dealing with the possibilities of the future, include ‘The Postman’, in which Kevin Costner directed and starred in. Your beliefs of what ‘could be’ strikes a chord in my own heart. Your educational background is fantastic and has given you the basis to support much of what you write about. Please tell our readers about your achievements in your education and fields of study.

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Tom Lyle

ED- The Eerie Digest recently attended the birthday party of Producer Carlos Roman, of Roman Pictures, just outside of Washington, DC. We had met a number of familiar faces along with many new acquaintances as well. New to us was actor Tom Lyle, an up and coming personality, and a ‘find’ for the Roman Pictures family of actors. Tom, we understand that you were an Army paratrooper early on. Can you tell us about this aspect of your life?

TL-I learned organization and discipline at an early age.  Something I believe many young people need today.  It was an eye opening experience and adventure for a young man. I grew up in a poor multi ethnic section of Baltimore, MD started working a newspaper route at age 8 (usually 12 required) so I was somewhat conditioned for the mental and physical demands.  I loved the Army and thank them for helping me with college under and grad school.

ED- Some years ago you owned your own Health Club and was a physical fitness instructor. How has that helped you in your current career?

TL-Two of my many passions are physical fitness and acting, both of which I studied in college under and grad school.  I have worked a variety of jobs and had many experiences all my life that help in one method of acting I use Lee Strassberg’s style. I owned the first 24 hour Club in Maryland, which was very successful income and people experience for me.  In 20 plus years in the Health Club Business you meet and learn to communicate with a variety of people. 

ED- What was your greatest influence in pursuing acting?

TL-A third grade teacher who performed in theatre, mostly musical encouraged me at an early age.  She was a singer, dancer, actor and a wonderful teacher.  I stared performing in school plays at an early age.  The beginning of my love and passion for performing.

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ED- One of the most popular genres of writing today are Historical Fiction, and I am proud to introduce fellow Virginia Writer’s Club member Diane Scott Lewis to all our readers. Diane what was your greatest inspiration to become an author?

DSL-Thank you for having me at Eerie Digest. I love to lose myself in imaginary scenarios. What would happen to someone if…? I’ve read voraciously since I first learned to read, and, I must admit, epic movies such as Mutiny on the Bounty and Cleopatra inspired my fascination with history. I started to write stories as a small child, and penned my first novel at age ten. A story about ancient Rome. Of course, I didn’t yet have the concept of plot, theme, character arcs or Point of View. My stories rambled on as long as there was lead in my pencil. In school I discovered I excelled in creative writing and the “dreaded” essay questions on tests. Through helpful critique groups, I grew as a writer.

ED- Tell us of your earliest achievements in writing and how they strengthened your resolve and confidence in what you do?

DSL-Every story I wrote was praised by my teachers and that gave me confidence. At seventeen I had a short story submitted from my high school to a literary festival. I didn’t win, but that also urged me on to write. I wrote many stories and poems for school magazines. Two years ago, I won second-place in The Golden Nib for my non-fiction essay, Islands. My recently released novel, The False Light, won the CTRR Award.

ED- Please tell our many readers about your novel, ‘The False Light’. Our readers are students of Mystery and we would love to learn all about it.

DSL- Here is the blurb for my novel: Forced from France by her devious guardian on the eve of the French Revolution, Countess Bettina Jonquiere must deliver an important package to further the royalist cause. In England, she discovers the package is full of blank papers, the address false and she’s penniless. Stranded in a Cornish village, Bettina toils in a bawdy tavern and falls in love with a man who may have murdered his unfaithful wife. Tracked by ruthless revolutionaries, she must uncover the truth about her father’s murder—and her lover’s guilt—while her life is threatened.

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ED- The Eerie Digest recently attended the world premier of Damian Chapa’s film, ‘Brando Unauthorized’ in Hollywood. While reviewing the movie we caught the performance of actor Phil Sky, who played Marlon Brando, Sr. in the film. Phil you made a remarkable performance in this role. What led you to your career in acting?

PS-When I was a young teen, I looked at myself and said, “I am an all around athlete and ambidextrous, I can sing, dance, ride horses and pick up dialects well, and not afraid to show my emotions in front of others. Maybe I should be an actor.”

ED- What actor inspired you the most in making this career decision, and what was the most memorable role for you that they played?

PS-Hands down, it was “Spartacus” played by Kirk Douglas. That character molded my personality for life. The story had love, compassion and a rags to riches story line, although the riches attained, where the richness of spirit and character.

ED- When did your acting debut take place?

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Ryan Quinn

ED- In viewing the screening of a TV pilot we had been following we chanced upon the cast of the short film, ‘Iowa Is Closed Today’. Both projects were being introduce in THEARC Theater in Southeast Washington, DC. There we met writer/ Director Ryan Quinn. Ryan, please tell us what your greatest interest in filmmaking was?

RQ- I’m drawn to film for the same reason most people probably are – film lets us escape into a different world, into the lives of different people, and a good film often runs the gamut of emotions. It’s a completely immersing human experience. Now, why do I want to make films? Looking back at the films I’ve made, I guess you could say none of my stories had to be told. Which I guess is pretty subjective, but it’s not like watching something along the lines of Spielberg’s Munich, which is an important story deserving of the cinematic touch of a masterful artist like Spielberg. The films I tend to write are more just a collection of interesting ideas and conversations I’ve had with friends, and there’s just something really, for lack of a better word, fun about putting all of that together into one coherent thought, that is, the finished film. So I suppose I just love inventing and film is the medium I fell in love with, thanks to all those movies I used to watch with my Grandfather and running around with Dad’s movie camera as a kid.

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ED- The Eerie Digest is proud to introduce actress Sandy Lisiewski to all our readers. Sandy, we recently had the pleasure of meeting you at a party for Producer Carlos Roman on the East Coast. One of your first performances was in the TV movie, ‘Geezers’, in 1999. Please tell us about this production and your greatest influence to take up acting as a career.

SL- First of all, let me say how thrilled I am to have this opportunity to be interviewed for your magazine.  In response to your question about my taking up an acting career and thinking back, I became very interested in acting in high school and was a member of the Drama Club and was cast in several plays during those years.  Then I guess you could say “life took over” and I went on to complete a successful business career.  So, actually I began my acting career in 1995 purely by a “fluke” when I heard an ad on television for the casting of movie extras for the Hollywood film “First Kid”.  I worked as an extra for five days and during that time met many people and did a lot of networking.  I guess you could say that during that experience I caught the “acting bug” and began training in various aspects of the business.  When I felt I was ready, I had my headshots taken and began to audition and build my resume. I met Carlos Roman around 1998 and began a long association with Roman Pictures when I auditioned for the role of Mildred, the frisky blind date to Alfred, one of the “Geezers”.  Working with Carlos on this production as well as meeting the other actors was a lot of fun and I knew I wanted to continue to work with Roman Pictures.  The role of Mildred helped me gain some comedic experience as I worked to expand my talents in those beginning years.

SL-  The film “Far from India” was a wonderful learning experience for me.  I loved the screenplay when I read it and was thrilled to be cast in the role of Chloe’s mother.  The role definitely strengthened my confidence as I portrayed a protective mother of an only child who moves from her parents home in the country to the city and becomes involved with several Indian men.  My husband is a very prejudiced man and as the story unfolds I become torn between my love for my daughter and dealing with his angry feelings.  This story remains one of my favorites to this day.

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Joyce Yarrow

ED- The Eerie Digest is excited to introduce a fellow writer from the Publisher’s own home ground in the South Bronx in New York City. Joyce Yarrow has been in many fields of writing and now devotes herself to the type of stories that we love best. Joyce, please tell our readers about your first written works in your early years and what your greatest influence was that established yourself as a writer.

JY- Thanks for this opportunity to talk about my work. Early years we’re talking about writing short stories as a pre-teen about children escaping from a violent neighborhood via the Staten Island Ferry. When that failed, I escaped to the High School of Music & Art in Manhattan instead, where I composed songs, set William Blake to music and wrote poems about riding the bus late at night. Anais Nin convinced me that prose could be as “good” as poetry; Balzac and O’Henry showed me that you could write about anything as long as you cared about it; and Lenny Bruce put us all to shame by having the courage to go to jail for saying what we now hear on the radio every day.

ED- You had worked as a screenwriter, a singer- songwriter, and a multi-media performance artist. Tell our readers about this phase of your career.

JY- These days the line between music and poetry is blurred, especially in rap. So without bragging, I think I can say I was a little ahead of my time in blending jazz vocals with poetry and multimedia storytelling. I was extremely fortunate to work with the great Brazilian pianist Jovino Santos Neto on these shows, which we performed in Seattle. While living in Los Angeles, I wrote narration for some Greenpeace films and scripts for animated cartoons. I loved in living in LA, no snobbery, everyone going full tilt toward their own windmill – and writing to picture is great practice for eventually attempting that intimidating first novel.

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Steven Nedelton

ED- The Publisher of The Eerie Digest is very excited to introduce an author who writes in the same genre that he does. Steven Nedelton began writing short stories in his teens and has become a very important author today. Steven, tell us about your early years in writing and how they provided you with the confidence in your career.

SN- Thank you very much for this opportunity to present my novels. I believe I became an avid reader after getting Tom Sawyer novel for my tenth birthday. And so, in a way, Mark Twain is to blame for all my later writing woes, including the nagging desire to become a writer some day too. They say Twain was a great writer, but I think he was a genius. How could a mere mortal write so many masterpieces? Actually, we were similar in some ways in our early youths, at least similar to his Tom and Huck. Just like those two, my friends and I used to go to the nearby river, though we never fished. We also ran along the sandy beaches, fought, got badly sunburned, smoked cheap tobacco, cursed abundantly, drank alcohol, and got sick from the evil combinations. Yet, unlike Tom and Huck, we were most often home on time. Those two had it easy, did not have to suffer the wrath of an infuriated parent waiting on them. I believe my friends and I started experimenting with the short story writing at the age of twelve or thirteen, definitely bitten by Twain’s bug. And one of my short stories did get published later in a literary journal, when I was in my twenties. But then I graduated from a university, and my writing nightmares began. I had to write job related technical reports at the end of each completed assignment. And that definitely put an end to all of my writing aspirations during the next three decades.

ED- Your first novel was ‘Fear!,’ you started it in the late 1990’s. Please tell our readers about this story and the theme behind it.

SN- Actually, it was my second book, and I completed it a few years ago. My very first novel or novella, some 30 K words total, ended in a shredder after I failed to come up with the central plot. In general, in order to get published, one should write in a genre that is at least partly popular, and provide a decent content. At first, I thought of writing an autobiography, but only the famous people use variations on their personal life in their first novels. I did not wish to write a novel based on my life alone and so I decided to present a view on life in general. Fear! is all about that. And so, this book, almost my first one, turned out to be my third novel. It should be released the next year.

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Laurence T. Miller

ED-  The Eerie Digest has quite a few readers who are aspiring actors who are looking to make a career of it. We have introduced them to many in the acting field in all ranges of their careers, and now we’d like to introduce a newcomer. Actor Laurence T. Miller has just started into his career of acting, but the stage is no stranger to him. Laurence, after a stint in the Navy you took up the drums as a musician. Please tell us about this period of your early musical career.

LTM- I fell in love with music as a young boy and tapped on everything from my legs to tables and chairs, constantly creating a beat of some kind. Once out of the Navy, a dear friend told me I could set up a kit and practice in their basement. So I did! After a couple of lessons I understood what it was I needed to learn. I spent hours a day practicing rudiments and playing to CD’s. After 3 months, my friend and I created a small band a put together approx. 15 song set.  Once I could play by instinct, I discovered my connection to the source and/or the divine. There is no better feeling in the world than living every moment of the creation process. If you can add to that with the exchange of energy between people, it is a mind blowing experience. I hope to discover a similar connection the the universe via acting.

ED- You prefer to perform rock music. Tell us about the first band that you were in.

LTM- The very first band I played in was formed shortly after I picked up the drums. I came up with the name “Mr. Novocain”, and it stuck. The other two members were high school buddies. Since the singer/guitarist had 10yrs of experience, he created a set list. We learned to play approx. 20 covers and created 3 originals before we split to go our separate ways. That time in my life was an exceptional blessing because I found a way to channel the over abundant energy I had at the time in a creative, non-destructive way, lol.

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Gloria Kisel-Hollis

ED- Many people outside the Entertainment Industry are confused when asked what a Producer is, and often relate the term to a Director of a film. I’d like to present Gloria-Kisel-Hollis to all our readers to shed some knowledge on this subject. Gloria, I have recently met you through the world premier of Damian Chap’s film, ‘Brando-Unauthorized’ in which you were one of the production’s Producers. What is the difference between a film’s Producer and Director?

GKH- A director is the person who tells a story on film and “directs” the actor to play it the way the story is. A producer is the person who assembles everything necessary for the director to do his job. It takes an army to make a film and sometimes a lot of money. A producer is the grand organizer. Sometimes we are creatively involved, sometimes not.

ED- I understand that in an Independent Film these positions are often shared by one person. What is the benefit of this?

GKH- Well, with both an independent film or a major film most directors produce at some level, but the smaller the budget to work with, the more multitasking from all.

ED- What is the primary focus of a Producer, and what responsibilities befall them?

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Amanda Wright

ED- The Eerie Digest is excited to introduce a young actress who has started her acting career at an early age. She has already been on stage and is now breaking into film. Amanda Wright is traveling the path that many young actor dreams of. Amanda, tell us about the training that you have taken so far to reach out towards your goals.

AW- I have been taking private and group acting lessons from teachers at George Mason University, and Hollywood directors such as Tom Logan. I have also recently undertaken singing lessons, and I hope to someday advance to dance lessons to make myself a triple threat.

ED- When did you first started training and what classes did you feel that were the most important for you to take towards your career?

AW- I first started training when I was in seventh grade, right after I finished Annie with my middle school. I have been continuing these lessons for the past four years and I like to think that I am improving!  Improvisation classes are definitely the most important classes I need to take. Thinking on your feet is a necessary skill in this field, and without the training I know I would not be able to do it very well.

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