And the Nobel Prize for Literature 2012 goes to…

And the NobelPrize for Literature 2012 goes to…

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Novel in Process

Fifteen years old and delivering my first public reading assignment to a class of health students in Waco, Texas  was nerve-wracking and exhilarating.  Knees buckled as I held on to the teacher’s podium and tried to calm my quavering voice.  “Hello, my name is Claudia.”  I paused for effect. Then, “Hello?”  Pause. “I said, ‘hello’.”  Finally, a room full of disinterested, unfocused teens came to life realizing they were asked to participate, to acknowledge the girl from the orphanage standing in front of them.  Like a band director, I waived my arms and in unison, for just this one time, they spoke to me with a resounding, “Hello.”

I finished my speech, “I hate snobs.”

Reading no further, I handed my one page paper to the teacher and sat down.  No, I was not going to tell them more about me, about why I was in an orphanage, what it was like to live behind a gilded cage, or what demons possessed my black heart.  Screw them.

Until now.  If they want to know me they can buy my novel, In the Absence of God.   I pour my dark soul between pages of fiction and reality, for them to figure out which is which.  Now I tell all and my knees are not buckling.

Novel coming soon,

Claudia