Author Spotlight Keith Weaver

Welcome to the Author Spotlight

where authors get treated like

the stars they are!

(Keith Weaver and his son Keaton)

Today we have none other than Keith Weaver with us: The author of Nebulous!

(Massive amounts of dry ice fogs the entire stage making everything hazy and indistinct)

(A loud tapping is heard on a microphone)

Hello? Special effects crew? Get your heads out of your poured plastic masks and clear this stage please.

(A large fan is turned on and papers fly into the audience with fluttering confetti-like littery qualities. The crowd is at first pleased thinking that these are prizes in Oprah-ish fashion then realize it is nothing more than receipts and several posters of barbarians)

(When the fog clears, a large man-sized book with the cover of Nebulous opens and out walks Keith Weaver)

(The crowd quits playing with their posters and goes wild)

Welcome! So good of you to join us and…

(Out of the remaining mists the Queen of Hearts from Alice and Wonderland steps up and sits in Keith’s chair.)

Umm…hello Queen. Uh, you do realize that this is ah…not your interview, right?

Queen of Hearts: This…human has painted a picture of a wicked queen and I’m here to represent.

That’s uh, nice, but please have a seat in our just-as-equally-grand second plush sitting chair.

(The queen refuses to move, crossing her arms across her large chest. Keith and Zencherry exchange glances and he then sits farthest away in the equally good chair.)

This is a little out of the ordinary. You haven’t been seen since Lewis Carroll’s demise and Keith has been kind enough to take time out of his busy day to…

Queen of Hearts: I beg your pardon but a movie was just made of me and don’t forget the animated one. (The queen rolls eyes and picks teeth.)

Quite true, but really…

Queen of Hearts turns towards Keith: And just why did you find it necessary to make her a…(said with horror)…spider? We queens have our alter selves of course but I know this queen and know that she wouldn’t be caught dead without her lipstick.

Perhaps, but! Let me quote from the book: ‘Queen Joro can transform herself as well. She can be beautiful and pleasant like you saw her, or she can shift into a monstrous spider that makes the Tsuchi look like babies.’

Queen of Hearts: “A deliberate misrepresentation!”

(Zencherry espies the bodycards in the wings) Ah…if I may quote from the book yet again? ‘Queen Joro rules the land of Nebulous. She commands everything and everyone that lives here. She is a wonderful and beautiful Queen indeed.’ Unlike you who Lewis Carroll tried to illustrate himself and found that the task was too…daunting?

(The Queen of Hearts jumps to her pudgy feet) “Off with her head!”

(Zencherry flicks the large fans back on and the bodycards float away into the audience which then pounces upon them. A general sound of disgust hisses out when it is discovered that the bodycards are just more paper.)

(The Queen of Hearts tries mightily to hold onto her plush chair.)

So Keith, you’ve created a world that … (peels Queen of Heart’s last fingers off of chair and ignores her screech into the distance) … is about a boy who goes on a quest searching for his brother. Did you have a brother and if so were you the elder or the younger?

Keith: First off, thanks for removing the calamity going on here, wicked Queens can be a lot to deal with. I actually have a brother that is 3 years older. So in a sense, this book was written from a different perspective than I would be accustomed to. But the relationship feelings I could relate to.

You’re welcome! We try to make a safe environment for our guests but these queens pop up out of midair! Other than restricting oxygen…well…we’ll have to work on this security breach. It wouldn’t do to suffocate our audience after all. We may just have to call the Mad Hatter but his voice mail is always saying he’s out to tea. Bother!

Keith: Typical! (with rolling eyes)

Tell us about your son. Was this story made for him originally?

Keith: I actually have two sons, Keaton is 7 and Hudson is 4. They were truly the inspiration for my book in many ways: Keaton is a swimmer, they love bugs such as spiders and scorpions; they’re also fond of whales, sharks and fish. Other than that, they’ve gotten into fantasy a lot. In fact, if the Queen were still here, I would tell her that Keaton and I enjoyed going to see her movie in 3D very much!

Oh my goodness! Sharks and scorpions? Your sons are brave indeed! (A voice can be heard in the distance) I think…I think that’s the Queen of Hearts rescinding any bodycard shenanigans she may have planned for you Keith. What’s that? (Turns fan on higher) What? What’s that? Oh ah…myself excluded naturally.

(Zencherry glances at the audience and sees that one of the bodycards is waving madly, hand up in the air)

Ah…yes Jack?

Bodycard: Since the Queen of Hearts has gone missing, do you think Mr. Weaver would mind if we joined his crew?

Nebulous is already finished Jack. Ah…Keith? Is there another book in the works?

Keith: Glad you asked. I am in the beginning creative stages of a sequel, Return to Nebulous. I’m always looking for interesting characters, too! (winks at Jack)

(Jack blushes and floats to the ceiling with hope)

I’m always interested to hear how author’s come up with the train of thought that began the book. Something must have triggered an entirely new world.

(A giant spider can be seen sneaking up behind the large ornate desk and plush sitting chair, the audience pointing and making large arrr sounds.)

What? Hush…Keith is going to tell us about what exactly started…(looks where Jack, the former bodycard of the Queen is wildly pointing to behind the desk)

It’s an acrobatic arachnid!

(The audience begins to flee and finds that the doors have been webbed shut)

Keith! What would Ty do?

Keith: Ty would remain calm and remember that every spider has a weakness, we just have to find out what this one’s is. It also would help if any of you have a friend standing next to you with magical powers, anyone???

(Just then a wizardly man appears and taps his fingers together and then gives a sly smile. He waves his arms madly and a vortex of spider and webby goo fling towards the center of the room disappearing into a vanishing hole. The auditorium doors can be heard giving a loud click and the audience finds their way back to their seats in relief.)

Well that was like letting the bathtub plug out after giving the dog a bath.

(Zencherry looks around for the wizard but he has vanished as well)

Nice friends you have there Keith! Back to the…(wipes spider goo off of Versace suit), original question. What brought on Nebulous?

Keith: It helps to have weird friends in high places! My first love in literature was fantasy. Again, I’d like to compliment the Queen but since she left so hastily! The two books that are truly my first memories are The Phantom Tollbooth and Alice In Wonderland. Both of them are fantasy tales of strange, wondrous places, with kids being the stars who go on these crazy quests. Reading along as Alice and Milo grow up before our eyes was magical, the movies were good, too. I always imagined creating my own world and putting unimaginable characters in it to see what happens.

And here you’ve done it!

(The audience gives a standing ovation)

Alrighty then! A treat for the audience! Buckle up! We’re headed out for Nebulous!

(Large shuttle carrier-like seat belts strap everyone in, zooming around like flying noodles and audibly clicking.)

Ready everyone? One…two…warp speed!

(Zencherry clutches the desk and the wild hair becomes unbelievably wilder)

Almoooost…there!

(A heavy landing throwing everyone into their belts and then silence.)

We’re here! Fabulous place you have here Keith. What’s the first thing we should do? I mean, besides unbuckling?

Keith: Let’s just enjoy the land and the scenery, it’s so beautiful here and the weather is always perfect! We have to find Ty’s friends, too. Corsair and Nade are probably out sailing around the great lake where the castle once rested. We can head to the heart of the forest and meet the enigmatic Kits, or the magical old man. If we’re lucky, we may see Ryu the wingless dragon out flying around. Be careful, though, Ty’s friend Muji is very good at being invisible and sneaking up on people, might just give us a delightful scare!

Fabulous idea! I’ve been needing to work on my tan. It’s lovely here!

Keith: It is now with no characters of malice around! Take pictures if you want.

Wonderful! Let’s go!

(The audience flashes cameras out and everyone is momentarily blinded by the shutter speed of the crowd.)

Should we find the Moon Stone?

(Rummages around in desk and lays out several marbles and rubberbands.)

Will any of these do?

Keith: Probably not, the old man has the moon stone now. I guess we could go see if he will show it to us. I mean, it’s kind of an iconic thing, the stone that brought down the evil Queen Joro.

Yes, yes. Of course! But maybe…maybe we should see about Ryu the wingless dragon first, I’d really like to see…

(Bake, the shape-shifting cat comes out of nowhere and pointedly looks at a watch.)

Ah, of course you’re right Bake, we should wrap this up.

Keith, we’re thrilled to have had you on the Author Spotlight! Only ah…could you maybe write us a way back home?

Keith: Bake, you wouldn’t happen to have a travel stone on you that we can transfer ourselves back? No, then I guess I better get to work for all our sakes!!!

Uh-oh…you wouldn’t happen to have a publishing date on Return to Nebulous? Well we’ll all be here waiting and Keith will be too so join us…

(The wizard appears again and everyone is transmorgrifiddled back to earth after deliberate showoffmanships and wild waving of arms from said wizard.)

Oh now THAT’s a relief! We wouldn’t want to hold up Keith’s next book!

(Whispers to Keith) You DO have some amazing characters for friends! Let me present you with this

Official Certificate of Awesomeness

Can’t wait to read Return to Nebulous!
 

Keith Weaver's Website
Find Keith on Facebook
Keith's Twitter tag: @drmweave2501
Nebulous on Createspace (Paperback)

Join us January 20th when Dawn Armstrong, author of A Little Book of Love comes to the Author Spotlight!

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