eXcessica Author Molly Wens

“A writer seeks truth.”

That’s what the man said. The man was one of my professors at college, a gentle person by accounts and more than a little nerdy. Ah, but he was brilliant and I should listen, right?

So, what’s so honest about fiction? Do we seek truth in our characters? Do we strive to enlighten with our plots?

I don’t know about any of that, but if I get a reaction, I’m thrilled. Much like tossing pebbles at my husband’s head, I love to find out what it takes to irritate, to titillate, to stimulate and to touch that hidden part of the reader that seems to elude his/her day-to-day life.

With my novel, Shelter from the Storm, I discovered how far I could push the heart. It’s an emotional roller-coaster that has the reader breathless, flipping the pages as fast as possible looking for the solution—and finding it only to experience another upheaval. There’s passion, love, danger, longing, and a protracted search from redemption. It wears the reader to a frazzle at the end of one chapter, lifts him/her back up at the beginning of the next, only to send them spiraling out of control once again before the next one starts.

I received many emails regarding this, but one sticks out in my memory. It was a man, an angry one, lambasting me as a writer. It seems the reader was very perturbed at having been reduced to tears over the fates of the characters. Then the author of the email went on to describe himself: A former Marine-turned-mercenary who wears a five-XL shirt with battle scars over his entire body and an inhuman lust for his job. (The description he gave was later used as fodder while creating a character in one of my free stories, A Cloak of Lies. Commenter beware . . .)

This, like a great many of my fans, is a self-proclaimed rugged outdoorsman who may have been pushed a bit far by the lusts and passions of two people lost together in the wilderness. Did the story find truth? I’m not sure, but it sure struck a chord with the big guy. The email had me wondering if I should be flattered, or run for cover.

There were many stories after Shelter, spilling from my fertile imagination like so many marbles from a broken case. Some fell to the ground with a shattering of glass while others rolled into the sunshine to be admired for their beauty—or their horror.
Many of these tales made their way to the internet, given freely to the ravenous readers who sent screaming messages for more. Well, most wanted more. Some weren’t quite so solicitous. One person suggested I should kill myself. Hey, you can’t please ‘em all.

The suggestion was made after I posted a short tale of marital hell called The Break-up. It was a non-fairytale about adultery, deceit and pain. Needless to say, it didn’t have a happy ending, a situation which didn’t sit too well with certain people. I can honestly say the story portrayed truth—raw, plain and all too real. Based on the real dissolution of the marriage of an old friend, which resulted in suicide and lasting scars, it apparently struck a chord with the reader.

Other stories made it to the web: Dire Straits, Heartless, The Red Velvet Suite, et al, and each of them drew out reactions all their own. The emails and feedback posts I’ve received have brought no end of delight, mischievousness, and laughter.

The Red Velvet Suite can by found (free) on my website, www.mollywens.com. It’s appropriate for this time of year with Halloween upon us. Although categorized as horror, it’s a humorous take on the reactions of persons thrust into a situation—whether of their own making or not—and their ability to adapt.

We have a reluctant psychic in denial, a flamboyant teacher’s assistant, the professor and MaryAnn (it’s okay, you can hum the tune) and a hot, young teacher with eyes for the psychic. Add a long-abandoned old mansion complete with a red velvet suite that’s home to a painting with the psychic’s likeness and you have the makings for a comedy of horrors—and a madcap escape in a lamentably once-cherry classic red Mustang.

Did the story find truth? I suppose if you put a wide range of varied personalities into a setting of a massive house that wants to kill them, they might act the way the story describes. I know one thing; when the real adventure took place my sophomore year at college, it was just as ridiculous as the writing turned out to be. (Insert winking icon here)

My next venture into publishing was Spell of Appalachia. I don’t know how much truth can be found in it. My grandmother once told me about hauntings and magic, the kind one could only find in the murky mists of the Smoky Mountains. Of course, Gramma’s innocent tale was sweet, but not exactly the sort of thing I write, so I gave it my own little spin. There’s sex, passion, lust, love, mystery and a search for something unknown. Two ghostly figures stand a wisp of a chance at being delivered from the bindings of their own making.

After that, it was The Long Road. This one is a bit darker than the ones before it. It centers on the corruption of wealth and power and one woman’s willingness to risk everything to escape. Redemption for her comes in the form of a farmer, a man with a heart as big as the world. She survives the hell of torture, slavery and violence to enter his tranquil, simple world, only to be pulled back down. Our farmer has no choice but to be pulled down with her.

Is there truth to be found here? Do we all seek redemption, fight through the pitfalls and drudgery of life to find the one thing that lifts us up? I believe there is honesty in this subject. I suppose it’s the reason I often write about it.

On the theme of redemption, there is A Little Human Decency. In this novella, we meet young Taren, a woman trapped in a world of hunger and homelessness. Her savior takes the form of Cordova Perry, a man born to privilege and less than sympathetic to her plight—but he made a promise to a dying friend and he always keeps his promises.

The honesty here is in how a man with everything deigns to offer assistance to a woman with no hope, but finds it’s his life that’s changed forever. I think every one of us has met someone we never thought we’d befriend, but later discovered how much they affected us.

The last of my published works is A Bear in the Woods. A challenge was presented by another author to create a work of fiction from a favorite fairytale. This short novella finds its inspiration in the old Grimm tale, “Snow White and Rose Red”. In it, I tried to depict how such a story might come about in our modern world. There are no “real” bears or mythical, evil dwarves, but there is a man by the name of Aedan Bear, his brother, Hugh, and a bad man who bears the nickname, “The Dwarf”.

There are also the twins, Rosa and Neve, two women living in a cottage, trying to survive the downturn in the economy. What happens when two women alone find a bear-like man half frozen in the woods? They take him home, of course. Little do they know upon first inspection that he’s their old childhood friend, Aedan Bear. Aedan is working undercover for federal law enforcement, investigating Harvey “The Dwarf” Malo. Among his many transgressions, Malo has been trying to force sweet young Neve into marriage and thereby seize control of their valuable land.

In true fairytale fashion, the hero saves the day, but has to fight fiery Rosa every step of the way. She’ll brave heaven and hell to protect her child-like sister, and if it means stomping on the Brothers Bear, so be it. Okay, so honesty takes a little vacation, but it is a fairytale. Sorry, Professor Bolling.

Most of my readers know books by Molly Wens tend to be earthy, rustic and passionate. Not only do I write about “real” men, but also “real” women. A real woman isn’t weak and dependent upon a masculine influence—at least not in my world. My great-grandmother sold homemade hooch out of her basement window to make enough money to feed her children while her husband was gone as much as six months at a time working on the railroad. My grandmother owned her own business and employed my grandfather. We are strong, independent and willing a fight a buzz saw to take care of our own. These are the influences that have led to the characters that bring the stories to life.

Therein lays the genuine truth. If a story has realism, if the reader can identify with it, then truth has been found. And if it comes with a healthy portion of lust, a good dose of passion and a man who looks good in a pair of worn jeans and covered in woodchips and sweat, so much the better.

You can find the published works of Molly Wens on Amazon. Shelter from the Storm and Spell of Appalachia are available in both paperback and e-formats directly through the publisher at http://www.excessica.com/. The Long Road is also available at eXessica in e-formats. A Bear in the Woods and A Little Human Decency can be purchased through http://www.fidopublishing.com/  in e-formats.

Molly spends much of her free time playing games with her child while trying to keep the cat and dog from killing each other. She spends many hours looking for lamp shades to replace the ones destroyed in gruesome animal battles and tossing things at her husband’s head to see how long it takes to rile him up. When she finds the time, she stuffs earphones in her ears, listens to jazz, rock, folk—anything other than hip hop and rap—while she immerses herself in plots and characters inspired by the people and events around her.

When she’s not busy tormenting her family and pet; she can be found most evenings at her trusty laptop. Visit her website, http://www.mollywens.com/  (designed by the incomparable Joey Walnuts) for the latest on her career and a free story or two. Find her on Facebook for her newest ramblings (look under “notes”) about the domesticity of an author and her family.