Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Spotlight of Inside Out by Jack Kearney (GUEST POST)

Guest Post by author Jack Kearney

Today I am pleased to welcome Jack Kearney to the blog to share his inspiration for his debut novel Inside Out.  



Inside Out­ One Actors Nightmarish Journey of Incarceration

I Guarantee You Have Never Read This Plot Before

            For anyone looking for a thriller that offers Tarantino like twists with multidimensional characters that you will both love and hate, "Inside Out" is for you. . There has never been a story line where the protagonist, a non criminal, is thrown into prison where he already knows some of the inmates.
            Inside Out weaves together an engrossing story of a young actor who, after volunteering for a unique project to teach drama to inmates of the local medium­security prison,months later finds himself locked in a cell as a convict. Where he now has already made friends and unforgiving enemies. It introduces the reader to multitude of characters. Some are good, some are bad, and a few are just evil. It is a fictional account of what happens to an “Everyman” that gets caught up in a system deliberately designed to treat all felons the same.
            Utilizing a groundbreaking format, Follow Danny Belson as he goes from a care free beach volleyball loving, pool shooting, actor, who's only worry is knowing when his next audition will come, to a convicted murderer. Written using flashbacks, with no chapters, learn what a struggling actor goes through, and how, after his incarceration, Danny's life is turned INSIDE OUT.

The Inspiration

            For most of my life I was a struggling actor. I appeared on such shows as Mash, WKRP in Cincinnati, and General Hospital. For a short time, I even taught an acting workshop. I was a graduate of the very prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts where I was part of the first graduating class in Los Angeles. After that I joined the ranks of the other sixty thousand would­be stars that acted in showcase plays, occasionally went on a professional audition, and attended a weekly workshop.

            The women that ran my workshop got involved in an interesting experiment directing a group of prisoners at the Federal Correctional Institution, Lompoc, California, in a production of Short Eyes. Except for the lead character, all the roles were played by inmates. Because of its success she was granted a weekend to conduct an improvisational workshop with the men who had been in the cast, as long as she was accompanied by a male from the outside. When she proposed the idea to me, I was excited at the possibility of being part of something that unique and agreed to be her assistant. As it turned out, nothing of any real consequence came about, but it was a very interesting weekend that few if any will ever experience. I met some very fascinating guys, some of whom I got along with and others that—let’s just say, I was glad that there were guards stationed just outside of our room.

            After I got back to my regular life, a few years later I had a scare that made me think, what would happen if someone were to be part of this program and, by a twist of fate, end up back inside as an inmate? “Inside Out” is that story. My experience in the late seventies inspired me to write a script in the early eighties. It was to be my “Rocky.” At the time though,the subject matter was to controversial, because it is a very realistic depiction of prison life. However, with the recent popularity of prison ­based shows, I decided in 2013, at the age of 62, to write my first novel.

Dreamers rarely rule the world but they can change it.

 













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