Monday, October 3, 2016

An Unconventional Conversation


--By Vonnie Davis
As I "may" have mentioned before, my grandson is a freshman at MIT this year. While he’s never read any of my books, he does ask what I’m writing about now. Since I write on the very steamy side, I’m pleased his level of interest stops at this point.
On a recent Saturday night, Ryan and several students were hanging out in the common area of their dormitory, discussing parallel universes and the possibility of life in other forms or on other planets. Ry mentioned his grandma writes books about bearshifters.
The guys started asking him questions, so he sent me a text. "G-Ma...in your bearshifter books, how do you describe the transformation from human to bear? Reply ASAP. The guys want to know." At the time I was working on my latest shifter book, so I copied the first shifter scene into a text.
Well, that only fueled their imaginations. More questions followed.  "Where do you get your data? Do you just like think of this stuff 'cause it could so totally happen. Oh, one of the guys wants to know if you're friends with J.K. Rawlings."  Bwahahaha! 

I replied. Then Ryan called. Texting was too slow. He put me on speaker phone. I could hear kids with various accents asking questions. Did I write time travel? Did I get into parallel universes? (thank God they never brought up sex!) I told them to write and read paranormal, one had to stop thinking linear like you do when working on a calculus problem or a physics proof. You had to think sideways. Allow all the “what-if’s” to come into the equation of creativity.

Their excitement ramped another notch. Yes! They got this concept. Go figure! All the while I'm thinking, the yearly tuition to go here is $69,000 and you're talking about bearshifters with a romance author? Your parents would flip out if they knew! 

A couple of the guys talked in Japanese and were reminded to speak English. I’d taken Japanese when I went to college in my forties. I replied in their language, hoping I was pronouncing things correctly, giving them a touch of home, and not saying something like, "Your mother smells like a pool of dead fish." Wouldn't that just be the luck?

"Dude! Your grandma speaks Japanese, too? She's uber cool." Whew, remove foot from Japanese stumbling mouth. 

Bearshifters. You never know what's going to grab kids. We talked for almost an hour. Grandma and MIT students. An unconventional conversation.


Complete change of topic. I've self-published my first book, published five years ago. I spruced it up a little and had a new cover put on it.

AMAZON BUY LINK: http://a.co/1YlLvlT

Also, releasing today is a Christmas novella for .99. Part of it might sound familiar since it was in my Holiday story that began "A phone ringing at two am, never brought good news." I changed it a lot, but the reason for the title is still in the story.


AMAZON BUYING LINK: https://amzn.com/B01LLZWUWI

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MY WRITING, GO TO MY WEBSITE, www.vonniedavis.com. Sign up for my Newsletter while you're there.


19 comments:

Angela Adams said...

That is an adorable post. And, speaking of adorable, your grandson is one handsome young man.

Leah St. James said...

That's so cool, Vonnie! I wonder how many of those kids will be downloading your books now. :-) And I love, love, love the new cover for Storm's Interlude. I read it years ago but will have to read again! Wishing you much success with the re-releases.

Barbara Edwards said...

Thanks for sharing. I love the idea they hve such imaginations.

Rolynn Anderson said...

Not surprised at all! MIT types should be out-of-the-box thinkers. (The car-talk guys come to mind) What's cool to me is: First, Ryan bringing up G-ma writing about shape shifters; and Second, the kids willing/eager to chat with an older woman about the concept. It's an uplifting story...for you and for the college boys. Made my morning!

Jannine Gallant said...

Love that you chatted with Ryan's friends. My initial thought, "Oh my word! If those boys read your 'racy' books, Ryan will never hear the end of it." Chances are they don't have time for pleasure reading, though, so he's probably safe. LOL Great post! Love that you published your Christmas story in an updated form. I'm thinking about doing that, too. Alison started a trend...

Alison Henderson said...

Vonnie, I LOVE this post! You are uber cool, no doubt about it. And those inquiring young minds have too much going on all the time to be bound by mere classwork. LOL.

I'm glad to see you're doing something great with one of our Christmas stories. I hope it's a big success!

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Thanks, Angela. Ryan was born on my 50th birthday. We've always been close. He'll confide to me in a heartbeat.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Oh, Leah, I think they're too busy with school work to read my books. I hope!!! I texted Ryan the other evening. "How goes it, sweet boy?" (Yes, I am a nickname freak) He replied. "4 physics proofs in 5 & 1/2 hours" Need more treats, G-ma!"

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Me, too, Barbara. So many kids don't. They don't know how to imagine anything.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Rolynn, I agree with thinking "outside the box." Ryan was always a math geek. When he got his first trumpet in grade school, he struggled. Calvin told him music was nothing but math you could hear. Ryan perked up and asked a few questions. Calvin explained. By middle school, Ry was first chair trumpet and taught himself to play the guitar with no lessons--acoustic and electric. He used YouTube videos.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

I think he'll be safe, Jannine. No one asked my name. They all called me G-ma or grandma. LOL I published a Christmas novella with Harper a few years ago and it sold a couple copies every day for over two years. I never expected that.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Alison, Ryan's favorite book is one we gave him. "The World and Dr. Einstein." He's read it 4 times. We sent him books on the string theory and recently on the M theory, which is supposed to be the theory of everything. This is his choice of reading pleasure.

Diane Burton said...

Vonnie, what a lovely story. How great your grandson and his buddies talked t you about such imaginative concepts. Congrats on self-pubbing both books. You will be pleasantly surprised at your sales.

Margo Hoornstra said...

Uber-uber cool, Vonnie. What a great story. You are one lucky G-ma, and Ryan is one lucky grandson. Best of luck with your latest indies.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Diane, I hope my Indie books sell. It's a nervous stepping off point.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Margo, the only time I'm uber cool is when Calvin steals all the blankets.

Andrea Downing said...

Oh, Vonnie, this is so good. What a joy to read.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Ryan claims he's in "Nerd Heaven," Andrea.

Alicia Dean said...

Ha, how cool! I bet you were just glowing, as I'm sure your grandson was. Thanks for sharing this adorable story with us. Speaking of stories, your latest look fabulous. Awesome that you published your holiday story. I'll have to go buy that right now. BIG hugs and congrats!!