Guests Sylvie Mazerolle & Jason Hamilton - Photographer & Author

Another First for the Scribbler.   



Partners in real life, Sylvie Mazerolle – photographer - and Jason Hamilton – author – are featured in a 4Q Interview.  Both have been guests on the Scribbler before but individually.  Sylvie here. Jason here. 

They met while working in the movie industry, Sylvie a makeup artist and Jason a lighting technician. They have a son, Dustin and now live in Dieppe, New Brunswick. They have agreed to a joint 4Q Interview.

(Photos by Sylvia are copyrighted and used with permission)

Thank you both for being our guests this week.

Sylvie, the first question is for you.

4Q: Since your visit to the Scribbler in June, you’ve added a new collection to your portfolio, “Colors in Motion” which is on exhibit now. What’s it all about?

SM:

This series was inspired by a string of Umbrella that were being installed just outside the office window where I work. I could see them going up one by one. Pops of color in bloom like spring flowers.  I got so excited, I knew I had to capture the energy they exuded. I grabbed my camera at lunch and started shooting.

 Instead of merely reflecting back the world around me, I wanted to show details, textures, movement and the color’s that caught my attention in the first place.   

The series is about bright vivid abstract images that resemble paintings.

This is my first solo exhibit and it hosts 12 images that are 20 x 16 print size. I hope this is the first of many more to come.

 

4Q: Jason recently published his latest novel, The Prince of Acadia. Please tell us about your book Jason.

JH:

The Prince of Acadia & the River of Fire is the result of a clash between a belligerent boss and a powerful urge to write a story that my son might enjoy, ha ha. The seed for the Prince of Acadia was planted just a year after Sylvie and I moved to New Brunswick. We were both starting over again and I found myself in the employ of a rather tyrannical supervisor (who’s name I altered to be the bad guy in the book. Ahh sweet revenge.) that I had to find a way to endure. I felt like I had no choice but to ‘suck it up’ and stay employed, but I couldn’t let the man’s behaviour make me crazy. I decided that, no matter how degrading the task, no matter how verbally abusive he was, I was going to kill him with kindness. I felt like Wesley in Princess Bride: “Good-night Jason, sleep well. I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.” At least, that’s how it seemed. But anger can be incredibly motivating.

I also had a broad concept about doing a story around a very real river in New Brunswick called the ‘Richibucto’ which, in Mi’kmaq means “River of Fire”. I would arrive about half an hour before starting work at 7 am and scribble my story, long hand, in my car before I started my shift. The more my boss yelled and screamed at my incompetence the hungrier I became to exact my revenge on the page. I suffered through John Jerryston (fictional name) for three months and in that same time I had the first draft of what would become “The River of Fire”. It was probably the quickest I’ve ever written!

It’s now the first in a series. I’m grinding through the sequel as we speak, but it seems a little harder to find the right motivation for this one, ha ha.

4Q: Did you ever wish you could make a living by being a photographer or is always going to be a hobby?

SM:  

Do I wish I could make a living being a photographer?  Do birds fly? It’s my dream to make my living as a full time creative. Since the first day I sharpened a box of wooden coloring crayons I dreamed of being an artist.

4Q: Would you like to write full time Jason and what are you working on now?

JH:

The dream is to become a full-time writer and I’m piecing together the segments I think I’ll need in order to construct that vision. I’m working on “The Prince of Acadia &  the Lost Tribe” the follow up to “River of Fire”. When I haven’t been writing fiction, I’ve been polishing my speaking skills at various open mic stand-up comedy events in NB and PEI. (Hmmm, maybe polish is a bit generous.)

The better I get at promoting my work in whatever form it needs to take is another step further in my development as a writer. I’m having a blast, learning a lot, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll find the sweet spot between entertaining, inspirational and informative.   

Thank you both for taking the time to be my guests this week and making this a special feature.  



See more about Sylvie & Jason by going to these sites.

www.jasonehamilton.co

https://sylviemazerolle.wixsite.com/myvision-ourworld

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 Coming in November, e-book and paperback - Wall of War. Watch here for details and where you can buy YOUR copy.