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About
Author, Performer, Gregory Leifel
The playfulness of life and literary expression is what draws, author, storyteller Gregory Leifel to write and perform. He can be inspirationally philosophical--as with his novel-- and humorously poignant, though admittedly oddly--as with his short stories--and somehow in both we walk away with a sense of wonderment, charmed, and possessed of a new way to look at the world. 
His precise use of language leads us where he wants us, though half the time, as with his short stories, we are uanaware of where he's really taking us, and we are never worse for the wear because he's so artfully setting us up for the surprising payoff. With laughter and insight, we realize later every clue was present along the way.
His novel writing demonstrates an acuity for not only understanding Walt Whitman, but for opening our lives to Walt's poetry. His knowledge of Whitman in a contextual sense is demonstrated by how well Whitman's Leaves of Grass fits the novel's journey. To construct an entire novel in first person from behind a blindfold and seemlessly pull it off is a testament to his craft and imagination. Scholars and students alike will find a new accessibility in applying Whitman's words, and the reading public will touch, taste, and smell poetry and fiction as they've never thought possible.
As a performer, Mr. Leifel is as sneaky as his short stories lead us to believe. His unassuming character and ease on stage belie what's to come, as his hypnotic voice transports us deep into his stories where his story universe borders the norm and the slightly freakish. Yet somehow, with crafted voice and words, he makes us believe it's all probable.
Gregory Leifel is currently working on another novel, more short stories, and other life enhancing experiments. He is a longtime member and the current chairman of the Barrington Writers Workshop --a 23 year old organization. Mr. Leifel is available for storytelling performances for mature audiences by contacting the publisher.
He
welcomes your comments and thoughts
Write
him in care of :
Thriving
Moss Publications
PO Box 337
Cary, IL 60013
e-mail
ThrivingMoss@aol.com
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Q: Your stories all seem to have a voyeuristic, obsessive angle to them. The characters go through intense, internal conflicts, which we are privy to, though at the same time their obsession seems to ground them in the moment; and yet, despite that, its tough to predict where the story is going. Where do your story ideas originate?
GL:
Human behavior, though intensely interesting, is often predictable and I believe any and all changes happen to us rapidly to establish a new, consistently predictable behavior. Those who think humans are generally unpredictable, I think are in denial. Those who think changes in human behavior take place over time, wont change much themselves. But those who consciously become aware of the expanse of an eye blink effect changes within themselves, because I believe change takes place in rapid, precise moments; moments that can be frozen in the mind, explored, and manipulated. It is here where most of my stories begin.
Q: As an author, what makes you want to look at those moments, freeze them, and extract a story out of them?
GL: In terms of humans changing, those precise moments are the thrilling times in our lives. They become our signature stories we tell over and over. Unless we are constantly making changes in ourselves, we are all predictable. I like to tinker with those life altering moments because
there's more to them then we generally acknowledge. They can become useful to us. Its here, indulging in these types of intense, real moments, where the characters in my stories begin to teach themselves; where the ordinary becomes extraordinary because we pause long enough to question the ordinary.
Q: Your stories lead the readers to believe they are going in one direction, but in the middle of the story or at the end, we suddenly find out
we've been on a completely different road which you--unknown to us--have put us on. Why, as an author, do you choose to manipulate the reader this way?
Aren't you afraid that the readers reactions may be hostile because you are manipulating them?
GL: No. Because it is within that hostility, or within that intrigue, or that anger, or that surprise, or even in that recognition of being manipulated, that we are jarred out of our own predictability.
That's when we, and my characters, begin to think for ourselves.
Q: What gives you the ability to view and write about these unique moments in the fashion you do? What jars you out of your own predictability?
GL: First, I had parents who allowed and encouraged me to think anything. Secondly, when I began to view ordinary, boring moments in life as having a definite purpose, I began to see that these boring times could be utilized, not only for observation as all writers do, but as recess time on my imaginations playground. I find it fun to force a marriage between absurdity and convention, or tempt curiosity with siren calls of borderline sedition, and then see what my imaginary characters will do. And third, which ties into this, I try never to restrain my imagination.
Q: How does one un-restrain ones imagination?
GL: I ask myself one question: What else could I be thinking...of ...this very moment?
Q: One can read this question two completely different ways.
GL: Exactly.
Q: When you begin a story idea, where does the initial idea come from? And how do you manage to take it to new and odder levels?
GL: Quite a few of my short stories, strangely, come from an odd sentence in my head as I wake up. I once woke up with the phrase, "If Norman Rockwell had gotten his fingers dirty more often," on my mind. Now that's not the kind of thing one can ignore upon waking. I got out of bed, got myself a glass of orange juice, sat down and typed that sentence. Then I sat there long enough to finish up what would have happened if Rockwell had gotten his fingers dirty more often. The story direction, for me, is a matter of allowing my imagination to take off unchecked. Now I didn't recall having seen a Rockwell painting in years, nor did I recall recently coming across anything Rockwell-related to trigger that thought. I did remember thinking before I went to sleep, that I should write another story soon. Now I go to bed thinking that thought often, and then stay out of the way so those weird and wonderful things pop into my head.
Other times, I'll be reading or noticing something that triggers the same process. It's generally one sentence that holds my attention to an idea, and the rest is sitting out there in the periphery. I have a feeling where the story wants to take me, but I can't capture that feeling until the story eventually lets me in on it's secret, which comes by sitting there typing and retyping.
Q: So you are kept off kilter in writing it and in knowing where it will go, just as we are in hearing it?
GL: Yes, but a listener or reader hears one of my stories in minutes, where as when I'm writing it, it can take hours, days, even weeks.
Q: Hours?
GL: Some of them come quickly. I'll knock off a story in an hour, and then spend days or weeks tweaking a few words in it. This was the most difficult writing lesson to learn. When I first began to write I was more concerned with just getting my ideas out there. As I've matured as a writer, I now relish finding the most descriptive word to show the reader the condiments of my stories.
Q: Which brings me to your use of humor in a story. You write so tongue-in-cheekish, often glancing over very funny lines in your delivery. On hearing it again, we discover a lot more that you put into the story.
GL: I like to enjoy my work. And I figure that as a writer and storyteller, my work is to make people think. The best way to make someone think is to frustrate them a little, while holding a chocolate carrot in front of them. I try to do that with my words, and other candied vegetables.
I'm actually a rather serious person when it comes to philosophical ideas, but with my short stories, I try to create as much fun in my work as possible. I think we learn more when we are having fun.
Q: Your next storytelling CD will contain what?
GL: It will be a collection of stories centered around the theme of inspirational experimentation with life.
Q: Meaning?
GL: Playing with life. Experimenting to make the day grander. Passivity is such a rampant problem. Couple that with complaining and it can be turned into quite the obnoxious hobby. I prefer to learn from the children, who have more fun with the box the toy came in than with the toy. So these stories are variations on an empty box, so to speak.
Q: I'd like to talk about your novel now. Why Walt Whitman?
GL: He showed up.
Q: Meaning, that you did walk blindfolded and barefoot through the woods?
GL: Yes. I first did this when I was 16, with a partner at an outdoor school in Georgia, called, Wolfcreek Wilderness School. It really was an eye-opening experience. Crabtree Nature Preserve, the setting for my novel, always makes me feel like I am back at that school having those kinds of experiences. One day, in my thirties, I decided to relive the blindfolded experience all alone and I set myself a goal a mile or so away in this pine grove. Whitman's Leaves of Grass happened to be the perfect companion that day, before and after the blindfolded, barefoot walk.
Q: What is so remarkable about the novel's journey, is that it precisely fits Whitman's philosophical journey in Leaves of Grass . It's like he wrote it for you.
GL: That's how personable I think his poetry and philosophy is. He speaks to all those issues we contemplate when we are alone. But he does it in this loving, wisdom-heavy, grandfatherly way. And his language is so precise because he wasn't afraid to use new words, and new ways to say old words. He defied every convention for his times as far as poetry was concerned, but he didn't do it out of spite or self-promotion. He just had something important to say, that needed a new way of expression to reinforce his ideas, because he was ahead of his time. And if you spend 30 years rewriting what you have to say, like he did with much of
"Leaves of Grass" it's gotta be important to him that it comes out precise. In my mind, the whole of
"Leaves of Grass" is one huge love poem. It's his love for language, form, America, equality, imagination, potential, and endless themes.
Q: Your love for Walt and his work is very apparent. Which brings me to the ethereal, yet at the same time, stark cover of your book. The wonderful transparent picture of Walt Whitman in the trees looming just over your bare shoulder and chest is very telling isn't it? There's an intimacy to the picture, what with it being pretty much accepted that Whitman was homosexual, but the story in the book focuses on a more intimate, father/son relationship between you two.
GL: I've always had some sort of older person mentor relationship in my life, so it was quiet natural for me to bring Walt to this role in my work. My Dad was one of my greatest influences on my philosophical life. He taught the mind sciences, but was mainly a storyteller. He and I used to work together, and when we finally reached the point where I realized I knew I could teach him things, and he realized he could learn from me, our father/son relationship went to new levels. It was a matter of me realizing I could be like him in many ways, because I already was, yet still retain my individuality; something Walt's work addresses often.
The cover photo was taken by my friend, Melissa Rice, and she captured what I was after beautifully. I integrated Walt's picture in that way because when I did the blindfolded walk, he was a such a huge part of the landscape.
Q: And you so artfully integrated Walt's thoughts with your journey, so that his words have a contextual, contemporary meaning.
GL: Hopefully my journey explains some of his intended meaning, and his words explain some of mine. It's very much in the vein of my father and I working together, which reinforces the universality of interconnectedness that his poetry addresses so beautifully.
Q: What's next for you in fiction?
GL: I continue to write more short fiction, because it's so much fun. I'm in the middle of my next novel, which has a strong, dominant female character, which is fascinating to write about. One of my favorite books is Josephine Hart's Damage, where she writes from the perspective of a 50 year old man and captures every nuance of the male
persona. When I read that I was compelled to someday try to write a female character as well as Josephine did a male character. I found a subject that intrigued and angered me at the same time, male business C.E.O. attitudes, so out of that I decided to use my manipulative, literary tendencies to address the issue. Stay tuned.
***Interview conducted by Karen Chace, a Storyteller from Massachusetts. Karen is the author of "Researching Stories on the Internet: A Webliography of Storytelling Internet Resources," available on compact disc.
Email: TeachingTales@aol.com
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