Today’s podcast episode is a Member of the Month episode, where we get to know one of our fellow NAIWE members.

Our guest today is Claudia Riess.

Claudia Riess, a Vassar graduate, has worked in the editorial departments of The New Yorker and Holt, Rinehart and Winston and has edited several art monographs. Her earliest recollections of word-spinning are of her father, an English professor, telling stories at bedtime—funny stories about a little girl and her daddy going on riotous adventures. These were interspersed with lively readings of Winnie the Pooh and Mary Poppins. Other times the two would sit around the kitchen table and discuss Will and Ariel Durant’s The Age of Reason.

 

Q: Please share a little of your professional history with our readers.

Before I began writing in earnest, I worked in the editorial departments of The New Yorker and Holt, Rinehart and Winston, and edited a number of art history monographs. And for a brief stint, I taught at the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind.  I wrote my first novel when I was in my mid-forties: Reclining Nude.  I’d categorize it as a psycho-sexual odyssey.  An experiment, really, to see if I could suspend my inner censor and write freely about a subject that I otherwise felt rather prudish about. The book was published by Stein and Day and subsequently by houses in the UK and Germany.  It was a boost in both my joy of writing and confidence, and yet the determination and discipline required to make writing an occupation remained latent for years.  When they finally awaked, I discovered that my earlier experiment had affected my writing ability more broadly than I’d expected.  I found that I was able to enter a fictional character’s mind, whether it be that of a woman, a man, a cop, or a killer, without barriers or restraints.

 

Q: How and when did you make this business a reality?

After the debut-novel hiatus, I self-published Semblance of Guilt, a mystery, followed by Love and Other Hazards, a romance, and Stolen Light, an art suspense. Level Best Books picked up Stolen Light and re-released it in 2019, offering me a three-book contract to create an “art history mystery series.”  I was off and running.  Last year, I signed another three-book contract to continue the series.  The fourth book, To Kingdom Come, was released May 31, 2022.

 

Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned so far in your career?

To be true to my core values, but open to criticism—including my own!  To be as objective as possible when going over a rough draft, and not be possessive of words or phrases or expository ramblings that either don’t add to the story or detract from it. (It takes some bravery to be vulnerable.) To sit down at the computer even when the ideas are not percolating.  If I write a bit of dialogue, sometimes it gets the protangonists’, as well as my own, juices flowing.

 

Q: Are you working on any personal writing projects at this time?

Yes, book five in the series.  Pivoting on Monet and his contemporaries, leading to present-day murders.  As ever, amateur sleuths, Erika Shawn, art magazine editor, and Harrison Wheatley, art history professor, are in the mix. Their burgeoning romance began in book one. They have since gotten married and now have a toddler son.  Although the couple’s relationship continues to evolve (I’m an incurable romantic), each book stands on its own.

 

Q: Are you working on any special projects you’d like to tell us about?

Back in 2008, when I was the president of Friends of the Westhampton Free Library, I started a K-12 poetry contest for the schools in the library’s community.  Even though I’m mostly in Manhattan now, I still try to keep up with the continuing project.

I’m also trying to do what I can to raise awareness in a subject that sparked the idea for To Kingdom Come: the return of art and artifacts looted from African during the colonial period.

 

Q: What are some of the teachers, books, or authors who have influenced your professional life in a positive way?

Authors that have influenced me indirectly, by inspiring me to hone my skills to the best of my ability: Umberto Eco, with his sheer brilliance, as in The Island of the Day Before.  David Mitchell, for his wildly creative and provocative ideas, as in The Bone Clocks. (BTW, a long passage in his Cloud Atlas, “The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavandish,” is the most hilarious writing I’ve ever come across.) Anita Brookner, for her ability to describe the intricacies of the human spirit and the constraints of society. (Also her ability to write three-page sentences that make perfect sense.) Philip Roth, who cuts to heart of the matter—and to the soul—with seeming effortlessness, as in Everyman. It’s not that I want in any way to emulate any of these diverse writers’ styles.  It’s just that they stir my desire to write. Much like when you hear beautiful music, you want to sing.

 

Q: As a seasoned professional, what advice would you offer an independent writer or editor who is just beginning a career?

If you love to write or helping writers perfect their work, never be discouraged.  The journey toward achievement is as valuable as its attainment, both for developing your sense of self and for the experience itself.  Don’t be afraid to reach out for advice, contact a person or organization you imagine might not be forthcoming.  In a word: Network!

 

Q: What inspires you?

Passionate creativity in all areas—writing, art, music, dance.

Heroic or simple attempts at righting wrongs.

Morality without zealotry.

 

Q: How has your membership in NAIWE benefited you professionally?

Camaraderie—mostly virtual during the COVID-reclusive period—has been like a shot in the arm at times (no pun intended).  The members are very friendly and open, and it’s nice to know like-minded individuals are always there to exchange ideas.  Publicity outlets which boost one’s on-line presence are always available, too.

Today’s podcast episode is a Member of the Month episode, where we get to know one of our fellow NAIWE members.

Our guest today is Alfred O’Neill.

A.E.S. O’Neill grew up going to private school paid for by a mobster father, rocks out to the Grateful Dead and Beethoven for inspiration, reads comics to never lose his inner-child, and disregards most of society’s rules—except for the importance of decency, empathy and humanity. From a childhood marked by wiretaps, mob dinners, and FBI agents following his father, O’Neill learned to understand the complexities of love, crime, and human behavior that drives right and wrong. Despite all of his own life’s more challenging lessons, O’Neill knows that love will always win.

 

Q: Please share a little of your professional history with our readers.

As a marketing executive, communication in all forms was crucial to developing and articulating conceptual ideas and strategies – and in the last decade or so, travel blogging, fiction, and poetry also honed those skills. But writing and a chameleon’s ability with language for so many different audiences was a critical skill I was fortunate to have. I have written dozens of industry B2B articles, blogged for more than 15 years, and written a million presentations, dozens of public speeches, poems, and now novels. The influence of my working on a vaccine during the pandemic made extrapolating what could happen with Covid a few years out; l made it a mundane everyday danger and how we would adjust.

I tried to create a side career to be a travel writer because my wife and I were traveling to so many fascinating and magical places – like the New Years’ private Golden Eagle train trip through central Europe ending in Vienna. The travel blog’s motto was “Equal in praise and damnation.” It was also an expression of how she inspired me: www.outspokentraveler.com. Life got in the way of that pursuit, though the years of blogging honed my voice.

 

Q: How and when did you make this business a reality?

The two LLCs are AESON Publishing for my novels and writings and HarbingerAssociates.net for marketing consulting, which involves a fair amount of writing. Every month, I refine the juggling act on how the latter pays for the former.

I am fortunate that my marketing network is good, but it takes a lot of work to chase any project. AESON Publishing is still in an early phase, with the marketing falling into place as I move to finish book 2 in the series, “Even Climate Change Can’t Stop Love and Murder. Book 2, Paying the Price”. Publishing LLC is in the marketing and writing phases of establishing my voice in the crowd.

 

Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned so far in your career?

Nothing is a straight line, so you need to be open, really open, to opportunities. Self-doubt can be a visitor, but not stay over, you have work to do. Always stop and recognize, in a humble and quiet way, your accomplishments. That is not Ego, it is healthy pride.

 

Q: Are you working on any personal writing projects at this time?

Number 2, in the 3-part romance crime thriller novel, “Even Climate Change Can’t stop Love and Murder.” Climate change is as evil and destructive as the bad guy white supremacists. Book one was “Even A Pandemic Can’t Stop Love and Murder”. www.evenapandemic.com

Ginger and Alby venture to Arizona. The road trip is wild and their Sedona escapades caught between love, bad guys and bad climate, flavored by their 1930’s-style banter make the story more humorous and heartfelt.

 

Q: Are you working on any special projects you’d like to tell us about?

National Gallery of Kindness. A side hobby but personally important. In my lowest moments of grieving, I became attuned to the kindness of people and wanted to celebrate it. Gallery of Kindness is the Facebook page, it is me being part of a community.

 

Q: What are some of the teachers, books, or authors who have influenced your professional life in a positive way?

Having a mother as a psychologist, archetypes and human behavior have always been a fascination, and Jung is a big influence.

My favorite books in the genre that influenced me are Dashiell Hammett, especially the Continental Op. Also, the Swedish detective writer from the 1960s, Maj Stowell, who was brilliant on all levels.

Back to the archetypes: on an ongoing basis I am always re-reading sections of Ulysses by Homer and a wide range of modern poetry. Last, I dabble in the ancients – Suetonius, Caesar, Agricola, Livy, Plutarch, Thucydides, Herodotus, Pliny – I enjoy dipping into the history pool for how stories are told.

 

Q: As a seasoned professional, what advice would you offer someone who is just beginning a career?

Focus on two or three – no more – skills that match what you do best with what the market is looking for. We live in an age where nuance or a passion/specialty is appreciated.

Network endlessly but sincerely. Authenticity is what will make you memorable. Your personal brand will not succeed without a human side to it.

You can have a dream, but you do not need to start at the end result. You need to pave the road first to get there.

 

Q: What inspires you?

Besides my two children and a score of amazing people I am lucky to know? People I meet every day. Small interactions. Nature rules. Listening to the wind in the trees. A slow hike with a majesty all around. Rich experiences: The first bite of a great entrée. Being in love. Loving just Being. Waking up and saying “Hello World!” Always waiting for someone to yell back.

Art, paintings mostly. Love everything but true abstract.

Live classical music.

Poetry.

 

Q: How has your membership in NAIWE benefited you professionally?

Having just joined, the community aspects look very good.

 

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

The world of language and the written word is one of the pinnacles of human achievement. How great we are all part of it.