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Welcome to Three Questions with Van Heerling. This is where you get to meet authors, actors, painters and anyone else that is bent toward the arts, but on a more personal level. Today we welcome Kellie Elmore, author of Magic in the Backyard. Let's get started. VH: At what age were you the happiest? What triggered such joy? KE: O.k., confession time... I have battled with my weight all my life and the year I turned 31, I was kicked into gear and motivated to get in shape. I took off quite a bit of weight and had a new lease on life as they say. I came out of my shell and felt like a brand new person... and I was a brand new person. Life seemed to open up for me and I leaped straight into its arms. When you are overweight, there are a lot of things that either you cannot do or things that you simply will not do because of it. Like swimming for example, I refused to wear a swimsuit and I didn't spend much time at all near the water (something I loved) because of my "issues" and insecurities. So, in 2007, I wore a swimsuit for the first time in years and I never left the water. VH: If you could go back in time to when you were 7 years old, what wisdom or advice would you pass on to yourself? KE: When I was seven, I lived in a pretty large city in Ohio and it was all I ever knew. We ended up moving to a small town in Tennessee, the town I still live in today. I thought my life was over. There was nothing here. Nothing. We didn't even have a McDonald's until about three years after we got here. I remember the two lane roads that seemed so long, going anywhere seemed to take forever and my grandma had family all over the county that she enjoyed visiting so I was in the car a lot. I hated it and gave her such a hard time. Now, looking back I wish I hadn't been so rough on her because this little town is what has made me who I am as well as been a major influence in my writing. All my roots are here and I could never imagine living in the city ever again. I suppose I could tell my seven year old self "you'll appreciate this when your older" as my grandma used to tell me but, I have a feeling I wouldn't listen. ;) You can't teach appreciation. It is something that has to be instilled. VH: What is the number one lie you tell yourself? How is that working out for you? KE: I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way but, I tell myself that I am really not that good of a writer. It's just something I still have trouble with... believing in myself I mean. However, I have the most amazing readers and following that keeps telling me otherwise. Now, whether they are just being polite or "blowing smoke"... I don't know but, it is definitely encouragement that I need and take to heart very much. VH: Kellie, it has been a pleasure getting to know you better. And by the way you happen to have the same name of my first crush all the way back to kindergarten. Oh to be young again huh?  Magic in the Backyard Growing up in a small town, Kellie Elmore learned of love and loss within her humble “backyard” surroundings. Weaving stories inspired by these emotions and the vast nature of the East Tennessee foothills has become her passion. You will feel the enchantment at the center of this collection of prose and poetry as you are completely taken in by the allure of Magic in the Backyard.  Kellie Elmore is a Southern writer who believes self-expression is most beautiful in its pure, raw and unedited form, transforming the simplest words into something you can feel. Kellie finds inspiration in nature and in the humble surroundings of her "backyard" - Southeast Tennessee. Through poetry and prose, Kellie writes freely about cherished and magical moments as well as tragic losses. Her goal is to take readers back, rekindle a memory or elicit a feeling. You think you don't like poetry? Read the work of Kellie Elmore and find your new found love when you read her beautiful prose. *Kellie's poetry was recently selected and included in the Voice Your Verse project, an anthology titled "If the World Were Your Classroom" by shesthefirst.org Would you like to be interviewed for Three Questions with Van Heerling? If so, contact me.
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"For me, writing is a joyful torture or sorts." ~vh~ “In this life, seek your own answers, and quote yourself for a change.” ~vh~
The muse has tapped my shoulder and my ear is turned toward her lips. I am waiting for her whisper. ~vh~
"The funny thing about life: more often than not it’s laughing at you rather than you laughing at it." ~vh~
"At some point there is a moment when you should give up. I’m here to tell you that today is not that day." ~vh~
“If you are afraid of the truth, never ask a young child a question.” ~vh~
“The frailty of life is most evident at its last breath.” vh
“Prove not to the world but to yourself that you are above your current circumstance.” ~vh~
"Don't be wishful when it comes to your dreams. Take aggressive action in your pursuit of them. Start now with a single step, no matter how insignificant it may feel." ~vh~
"Nothing is more powerful than an unwavering, unapologetic decision to BE." ~vh~
"Strive to be the light in an ever-darkening world. SHINE!" ~vh~
"Think big and then think small. That’s where the details live." ~vh~
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