Interview with a Monster~

The island waters lapped the golden shore with a serenity and peace hard to fathom after the frightening earthquake days before. A quiet restaurant with a thatched roof on bamboo poles was a few yards from the water, mostly undamaged, and 2 creatures sat inside at a candle lit table. One was a female human, the other a monster of sorts, male of course.
Both seemed a little nervous, as it was their first real encounter in "meat-space". It was hard to tell if the somewhat tense aura was due to chemistry, or the fear of aftershocks. However, after a shared bottle of sake, all tensions melted away. The 2 creatures revealed through dialog and physical gestures they were dear friends at heart- separated by time and space, yet joined in spirit in a way I can not explain.

(See Scary in the upper left corner of this pic?)

Clearly the human woman had traveled a long way to meet her monster friend. He had proposed an interview, she accepted, and since this is fiction- she thought, "Why not fly over and speak in person?"
So she did.
This is what I heard him ask the human woman, he called her Mayden-

Here are your questions:

Do you feel that your graciousness and charm are due in part to your southern upbringing?

"Scary- you are a DEAR! (she blushed a little) While my mother is a true southerner and did instruct her children to use their manners and to be considerate, I think the "Grace" aspect of my personality has been heightened by all the grace shown to me in my life. I am amazed, daily, by how stupid and selfish I can be- and by how quickly it is forgiven or overlooked by those who love me.

You are known to be a warm and loving individual by most of the people who visit your blog. Have you ever done something malicious to a person, if so, how did you feel afterwards?

"Honestly, No. I've done sneaky things to get someone in trouble (like spraying my perfume in his car so the other chick would know I was there), or played a questionable joke on someone, or left a pointed note on someone's car who had rude bumper stickers or parked badly...but I've never done something malicious or mean (at least not as an adult) to another person. I know I would feel so guilty and sick about it I would apologize. Being mean is just not part of my nature."

You seem to have a happy marriage. What is your secret to not letting molehills turn into mountains?

My husband and I have been friends for almost 25 years, which is over half of my life. We know each other well- and neither of us come from families who believe fighting is the way to solve personal issues.

I'm hot, and he's cool. I'm passionate, he's even tempered, but both of us know that we have to move to the edges of our personalities in order to meet in the middle. Sometimes we do this well, sometimes we don't. This is actually a difficult period in my marriage. One thing that I am learning is that my husband can not meet all of my needs. And it's wrong for me to expect him to. I am the only person who can truly make me happy...

and this is true for everyone. I've branched out more in the last 2 years than I have in my whole life- and it has been good for me.

Are you a happy, satisfied person?

Not fully, which makes me sad to say. The problem is I am half-way to a bunch of things, and the finish line is not quite in sight. My kids are half grown, I'm near the mid-point of my life- I have books written, but not published, and I'm in a place where my kids and husband need me less and less. I need to fill the void. I'm figuring out what that is presently.

Tell us about the Cora we’ll know 7 years from now?

Sweet Monster...In 7 years I will be 45, my kids will be almost 19 and 21. Several of my books will be published and I will either have a home on a lake, or near the ocean- where I write most of the day. I hope I will have been to Indonesia, and the Philipines by then...and perhaps a visit to the Middle East. I have a strong feeling about all 3 places- about people I am supposed to meet there, and not necessarily people I know.

With that, the interview was over, and the 2 creatures hugged and decided to go out for sushi and dancing. I'm not sure how the night ended but there were many rumors in the village the next day about a pair who matched their description.

One kept spraying perfume into strange men's cars and leaving lipstick smooches on the windows, and the other just laughed and kept pouring the vodka.

A fun time, to be sure, was had by all...until the next morning when I heard Mrs. Monster yelling at her spouse, "I don't care what that so-and-so American tart told you! If you want to "branch out" I'm leaving!"

But, I'm kind of thinking that after 25 years of hanging out with her beloved, she might change her mind~

;)