 GMB: For my inaugural interview I’d like to welcome intrepid Alberta writer - Linda Alberta to my blog.
LA: Thanks Mitch. Let’s offer a warm welcome to your blogger fans too. GMB: First off, tell us about your writing career. LA: I’ve interviewed Canadian authors for eight-years. Prior to that, I covered the music/entertainment scene for a number of memorable and cantankerous years. GMB: We’re having a little fun here. Indeed, the book reviewer/music reviewer is being interviewed by me, the author. Why did you agree to be the one interviewed? LA: I’m curious about everything. I’m curious about the process, the purpose and the limits of self-revelation. Because I’m curious, I need to know how it feels to be interviewed. I’m not one to leave digital footprints and I’m not a convert of social media cults. That’s why talking about myself for this interview will be interesting. GMB: We hope this will be fun for you. LA: Oh, it will be. GMB: You’re having more coffee? LA: It’s only my third espresso. GMB: If you’re ready, here is a question. If you could interview anyone who would it be? LA: I’d interview bold and fascinating, comic book iconoclast – Gerard Way, just because he resonates authenticity and because he is a coffee fanatic. I’d interview musician Jared Leto because he’s complicated. He is a genius of impression management. And, I’m recorded on YouTube, at his last Edmonton concert. GMB: You’re on YouTube? LA: I timed a vocal, “wahoo!” prior to “30 Seconds to Mars” playing a favourite song. This occurred when the room was silent for a few magical seconds. Somebody was recording and I go back to YouTube to listen to that moment. GMB: But, was the room silent for …30 seconds? Next question: did you attend music school? LA: I started out as a singer/songwriter who studied jazz guitar at Edmonton’s Grant MacEwan. I love music. I read compulsively. I write from my gut. GMB: When did you start work as a writer? LA: In grade 10 I joined the school newspaper club and I interviewed everyone. After this, teachers were friendlier. But they were also kind of careful about what they said to me. GMB: Did you date Billy Boyd (Pippin from Lord of the Rings)? LA: That’s what people say. When I interviewed Boyd for the Edmonton International Film Festival, I didn’t bring a recorder and I understood every tenth word he said. He speaks Scottish. In addition to being an unbelievably nice person who speaks very quickly, he shared that he worked as a book binder for seven-years. One of his jobs, was to assemble “Lord of the Rings” books. Carl Jung has this theory about meaningful coincidences. GMB: Do you believe in synchronicity? LA: Absolutely. That’s why we met and why we’re doing this interview. GMB: Who was your strangest interview? LA: Musician Kelly Simpson used to wear a black cloak, paint a third eye on his forehead and sing songs that would scare the Hades out of other scary people - while shaking a goat skull on a stick. I co-wrote a Halloween story about him. For this story, we (myself, co-writer and band) met at the Edmonton pyramids after midnight and proceeded to his drive-way, where I tried to start a large cranky hearse. Kelly was chanting and somebody said there were animal skulls buried in the backyard. I believed it! GMB: What was your most fun story? LA: One summer I created: The Linda Alberta Roll Pebble Roll Summer Limo Story with Junior Gone Wild. For this traveling photo shoot of a story, we took a limo the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex through an Edmonton McDonald’s drive-through, to order one burger. Somebody made a sign that said “Don’t Look, We’re Not Famous,” my friend Lilly brought Mooky the stuffed snake and somebody tried to eat cake through a green monster mask. The cake said “Roll Pebble Roll” but we almost didn’t roll. GMB: Why? What happened? LA: There was a momentous travel bill for this five-hour excursion that I had to pay, if the story wasn’t published. Being published was part of an advertising agreement I made with the limo company. I kept asking the publisher when this story would be printed. It kept not being printed. When it all transmogrified into a cover story, I relaxed. It was good clean fun, except for the cake. GMB: Why do you enjoy interviewing people? LA: It’s an opportunity to interact with fascinating people and I love to hear their stories. I am relentlessly curious about people and life. That’s why I’m always processing information. I’m always learning something. GMB: Has there been one interview that influenced your life? LA: When people interact, it’s like introducing salt to a glass of water; the two substances can’t stay the same. Everyone is influenced by everyone. This is part of the joy of life and this is part of the complexity of life. And whether life is a tragedy or a comedy is anyone’s guess. GMB: You’ve interviewed authors for years. When can we read one of your books? LA: I’m working on a futuristic story collection dedicated to event probabilities. With one patron, I could finish this book. GMB: Thank-you Linda, for this interview. One final question: What are your thoughts on being interviewed? LA: It’s as much fun as three adjectives in one sentence. Thanks Mitch! END FORTHCOMING Week of April 10, 2013: G. Mitchell Baker Interviews Joan Leslie Woodruff, Native American Mystery Author
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