CP Spotlight: Roxanne Cottell

One of my favorite articles on Associated Content is titled, "If God Didn't Want it Here, it Would Be Gone like the Dinosaurs; Marijuana is Here to Stay." This article was written by a very interesting individual, Roxanne Cottell. Since the topic of her article is a major issue in my state today and very controversial, I knew Roxanne was a woman of courage and wanted to be heard! This is something I admire about writers - the ability to write about anything they wish. That's what inspired me to interview Roxanne. See what she has to say...

What really inspires you to write?
Anything. Anything will give life to the creative monster. If I am especially passionate about the subject matter, I will stay "on it" for weeks.

What is the one thing that draws you to the computer and really gets your fingers moving on an article?
Normally I will focus on a subject for a little while. I believe in like attracting like, and this thinking and belief would include my writing. When I am focusing on a subject, I focus only on it. When the time is right, I sit down and I write. I write until I have nothing left to say, and once that it done, I read it over and over again. Once it is done, I know it. After the final edits, I know it is done and once it is done, I set it free into the world. Yes, typos and all.

So how did you get into writing?
I did not get into it. It is something that I was born with. I was reading the newspaper at the age of four, picked up a pencil and started copying the letters on Sesame Street by the time I was three. I wrote my first poem when I was 5, and my first play when I was in the 6th grade.

Tell us one thing about yourself that people might not know.
I might seem like a pushover, but I'm really not. Once I get screwed-over, that's it. Screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice...well, it ain't gonna happen. People take my kindness for weakness when in fact my kindness is my strength.

What has been your greatest success in life?
Getting through it without killing someone! Ha ha!!

What goals are you trying to achieve with your writing?
I've achieved most of them. I would like to eventually be a guest on Oprah for being known as the Web's Infamous Aunty. If you google my name, you will find that I am here, there and everywhere!

If you where trapped on an island by yourself what 3 things could you not live without?
My husband, my kids and a fishing pole.

Name 5 songs that you would include on your personal life soundtrack.
1 - Faith No More "Midlife Crisis" (My favorite line in the song is "You're perfect, yes, it's true, but without me you are only you...you're menstruating heart will not bleed enough for two...")
2 - O-Shen "Maoli Girl" (about what a real Hawaiian girl is all about).
3 - Nazareth "Son of a Bitch" (I need say nothing more)
4 - Red Hot Chili Peppers "The Other Side"
5 - Iz Kamakawiwo'ole "Over the Rainbow" ...rest in peace bruddah.

What actor would you want to play you in your life story and why?
Kelly Hu...she's Hawaiian.

What made you start writing for Associated Content?
I wanted to get paid! It ain't the most important thing, but it sure is cool!

What color best describes your personality and why?
My aura reading says bright white (or actually, bright anything). White is the aura color for divinity, for the power of my soul. But we are not talking about my soul. We are talking about my personality, and that is bright, bold red. Red is my favorite color.

Any last words?
In conclusion, it is my opinion that every writer has their own niche and their own market. What works for me might not work for the next person. A lot of writers "cut their teeth" on the WWW, and it is a really great place to get your start at some exposure. My advice in that area is just to keep submitting, keep blogging, keep making it impossible for someone to not see what you write when your name is googled.

Another thing is that people who love what they do, do the thing that they love regardless of pay. I teach hula, and I would do it, have done it, still do it, for free, for pay. Hula is the language of my Hawaiian soul. To deny my soul the very thing that makes it free because my human physical self feels like what I do is worthy of monetary gain is denying the soul of its actual right to be. It's like saying that the soul has nothing to do with one's life when in fact it has everything to do with it.

(I'm kinda cosmic like that, know what I mean?)

Yet these two things that I have given you are not even as close in importance as is what I am going to say next, and that is no matter what ANYONE says, write what YOU want to write. I am a conversational writer, and a lot of people are more worried about my method than they are my message. I am not a Politically Correct person, and it shows. Exercising one's right to the freedom of expression is the law of the writing land. Once a writer allows themselves to become a slave to what society wants to read versus what said writer wants to write, it is at that point that the writer has taken one step forward and two steps backward. NEVER allow anyone to tell you what you should and should not write. Be controversial- people love to hate controversial writers. Without controversial writers there would be nothing for conservatives to bash, which means that there would nothing for the "unconservative" (is that even a real word?) writers to have an opinion about.

Oh yes, NEVER write something that is not something that you are passionate about. Life is dull without passion. No one wants to be another dull and boring writer who has no passion about what they are writing about. This is not to say that there is no audience for it. There is an audience for every writing style.

Understand that there are going to be people who will feel like you are not qualified enough to have an opinion on stuff because of one thing or another. I chalk it up to said person not having the confidence in their own writing, in their own decisions. To have something to say that is not rosy about what another writer has to write is fine. Just remember that Karma is a bigger bitch than even I can conjure being. We all create our own destinies. Don't let yours be the sequel to something you had no idea you were creating over something as trivial as "little man's disease." I often make the comment about some people needing to "take it out, lay it on the table and measure next to mine. By the time they figure out that mine is a strap-on, it's already too late." By this I mean that I will not be party to a pissing match over someone not liking what I write, because I have the same right as they do to not like what they write. I make the analogy of the strap-on because too many people-mainly women- like to compare their stuff to mine. They fight like a man, when in fact they also forget that men fight to win, but women fight to kill.

Not that I am a murderer or anything. I value life. I am saying though that when a writer writes anything, they should be prepared for people to be nasty and mean. Enjoy cutting your teeth, I say, because even bad publicity is publicity.

In fact, bad publicity is better than good publicity. Bad is sexy and wicked and people are drawn to it like a crack head is a pipe. They know they shouldn't, and when they do, they might find out that the thing they read is the Pandora's box that should have stayed closed.

Too late- I've already invaded your brain space!

And on publishing a book? Self publishing is the way to go. You are responsible for everything, which means that you are also the only one who can claim credit to you work and the profits. Crappy books have been published by large publishing companies, and people got paid anyway, right? Why be a slave to a "real" publisher when you can reap the benefits of being your own publishing house? I use a web based printing outfit, and I call one of my "outfits" Angry Bitch Media. The first publication that ABM published is called "ANGRY: Some words about the crap in your life." It's funny and truthful and completely Politically Incorrect. I haven't sold many copies yet, but I also haven't set it free globally. (Gee, and I wondered what I was going to do today...guess I know now, right?)

Anyhow, enjoy yourself and write, daily, at every opportunity. What I say here might sound like the rantings of a crazy woman, but it all really makes perfect sense once you think about it.

Have a good day. Be blessed. Roxanne K Cottell The Web's Infamous Aunty.