Davis Aujourd’hui – "Babes in Bucksnort"

Interview
by Cathy B Stucker


What is your most recent book? Tell us a bit about it.
I have written a series of hilarious religious satires with a spiritual message. My latest book is entitled Babes in Bucksnort. It is about a naughty nun who teaches classes in Advanced Holiness.

Once again the unconventional bourbon-swilling, chain-smoking nun will spin hilarious tales about the residents of Bucksnort while she tests the will of a reformed prostitute who just happens to be her Reverend Mother.

But there’s trouble brewing in the Snortlands.

The town busybody crusades to stamp out “the gay menace.” That’s when she brings Reverend Billy-Bob Blunthead and his Born Again or Burn Forever Disciples for Jesus to town to do the job. It will be an uphill climb when the closet doors of many gay people burst open.

In between laughs, Sister Mary Olga dispenses nuggets of wisdom during her Holiness Classes. The bottom line is that everyone is welcome in Sister Mary Olga’s classes. Join the diverse cast of zany characters for a joy ride that will tickle your funny bone until it aches.

Tell us something about yourself.

I am the creator of the Sister Mary Olga Fortitude series of religious and social satires. As will be the case with Sister Mary Olga in my next book, I am a recovering alcoholic. I also happen to be gay as are several of the endearing and humorous characters within my novels. I speak from my own experience. I have possessed all of the foibles of my cast of characters, including those naughty, nasty, and nice. I am socially-minded and spirituality is the most important ingredient in order for me to maintain a happy and successful life.

What inspired you to write this book?
I have always loved to write, but I didn’t begin to write full length novels until five years ago after I had taken an early retirement. That’s when I had an inspiration. I remembered the characters of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude and her friends which I’d developed in order to entertain a colleague of mine while I’d been working as a social worker. I thought to myself, I bet I could write a book about these crazy characters! That’s when I sat down and I wrote The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude in a little over a month. The thing was, I had more ideas…so I wrote another. Amazingly I still hadn’t run out of ideas! Over the course of the next four years I have written eleven novels in the series and I have no plans to stop as long as the characters continue to inspire me.

How did you choose the title?
I maintain that we are all children of God. That is where the name Babes comes from. Bucksnort is the name of my fictional town in Wisconsin.

What obstacles did you encounter in getting this book published? How did you overcome them?
While I received much positive feedback from some traditional publishers, they didn’t want to publish the book. Consequently, I chose to self-publish it. My reader reviews have been ecstatic. I hope to obtain a traditional publisher for the next book in the series which is entitled Have A Heart.

How did you know you wanted to be a writer? How did you get started?
Although I have always loved to write, I never dreamed I would have a career as an author. I retired from many years as a social worker. Then I started by writing my memoirs. Following that, I wanted to write more. That’s when I remembered the zany characters I had developed in order to entertain a colleague of mine. I realized that I could write a book about them. One book led to another and I now have a successful career.

Do you have any writing rituals?
I discipline myself by spending many hours each day. Then I spontaneously create my crazy characters and the outrageous situations in which they find themselves involved. It is all a matter of waiting for the inspiration to come. Then I am off to the races.

How do you come up with the names for your characters?
Of course, I had created many of the names when I had entertained my colleague. Otherwise, I just let my imagination lead the way. I try to make the names as funny as the scenarios of my books. Many of the names suggest characteristics that my characters possess. It is all great fun.

Did you learn anything from writing and publishing this book? What?
I learned that inspiration is the key to successful writing. When it’s not there, I simply shift gears and write articles for my blog. As for writing and publishing both, my mantra is to never give up. Dreams do come true.

If you were doing it all over again, what would you do differently?
No! I believe that everything happens for a reason and that it does no good to have any regrets.

What types of books do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors? Why?
I love to read funny books and spiritual books. I love the books of Armistead Maupin who has been an inspiration to me in developing my own series. I also appreciate the zany humor of Carl Hiassen. As for spiritual authors, my favorites include Anthony DeMello, Eric Butterworth, Deepak Chopra, and Eckhardt Tolle.

Are you working on your next book? What can you tell us about it?
The next book in my series is already written and awaiting publication. It is entitled Have A Heart.

Sister Mary Olga is always getting into trouble with her Reverend Mother, a former prostitute. Among a cast of zany characters is a gay cowboy, the town prude and busybody, Priscilla Bunhead, and her hatchet man, the Reverend Billy-Bob Blunthead and his Born Again or Burn Forever Disciples for Jesus. Billy-Bob will be put to the test by an eccentric woman named Cherie Amour who channels a spiritual entity named Ruth. His own past in a closet of shame eventually catches up with him.

Sister Mary Olga finally has to face the music when the Mother Carmen Burana sends her off to Holy Happenings Rehab. Upon her release she joins a twelve-step program called Alcoholics Unanimous while the bawdy Randy Cowboy joins a similar program called Sex Maniacs Notorious.

The book builds to a close with one surprising climax after another. Its strength lies in its original, outlandish humor. The characters, with their hilarious names, are archetypes of the universal human condition. We all have our foibles. This book is designed to make its readers laugh out loud as they look at their own.

What is the best advice you could give other writers about writing or publishing?
Keep perfecting your craft and never give up hope.

Who is the perfect reader for your book?
My books will appeal to anyone who has an open mind, a zest for their spirits, and loves to laugh. They will especially appeal to gay and lesbian readers since many of the deliciously dysfunctional characters within the book are gay. Recovering alcoholics will embrace the outrageous situations encountered by the booze-loving Sister Mary Olga and her Advanced Holiness students. “Recovering Catholics” who do not agree with everything the pope holds to be true will embrace Sister Mary Olga’s unconventional views on Christianity.

Where can readers learn more about you and your book?

They can visit my blog at http://bestsatireseriesofthedecade.blogspot.com/


They can also visit Amazon.com to look at my rave reviews and to purchase the book which is also available in kindle format.


My Facebook fan page is located at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Davis-Aujourdhui/138584429540046

LAUGH YOUR TROUBLES AWAY

Life may not be a bowl of cherries, but I am offering you some delectable desserts within my two Sister Mary Olga books. If you have an open mind and a zest for living, you will be able to laugh your troubles away. If you're in a place of joy, I will only increase it.

The irreverent Sister Mary Olga Fortitude is a nun who likes to nip her booze while she sends up smoke signals to God from her Marlboro cigarettes. She does this much to the consternation of her Reverend Mother who happens to be a reformed prostitute.

I throw into the mix a diverse cast of delightfully dysfunctional characters with whom to titillate your funny bone. Try out the dried out prudish prune, Priscilla Bunhead. She is in sharp contrast to the fun-loving gay cowboy chef, Randy Cowboy. Just wait until he finds out a secret beneath a nun's habit when he discovers that Sister Samantha isn't what she appears to be.

You'll meet the clown-like Lilliliver Lipstick who dabbles in the dirt with Priscilla. The two of them recruit an arch conservative minister named Reverend Billy-Bob Blunthead. He and his wife, Pinky Poo, bring the Born Again or Burn Forever Disciples for Jesus to Bucksnort to wipe out what they consider to be perversion.

You've got it! Priscilla and Billy-Bob don't like gay people and there are plenty of gay characters with whom they tangle. Priscilla gets her panties in an uproar only to find that her crusade backfires on her when the townspeople of Bucksnort come out in support of their gay brothers and sisters.

You'll relate to the foibles of my cast as you learn to laugh at your own.

Take a joy ride to Bucksnort.

Visit Amazon.com where you can purchase "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude" and "Babes in Bucksnort".

Just be prepared to get your own panties into an uproar.

Enjoy the journey!

Author Davis Aujourd'hui

Available in Paperback and Kindle Formats! Kindle Formats are $3.99. You can purchase Kindle Format and send as a gift to anyone that has an email address. 

THE JOURNEY TO SANITY - Part 2

Shortly after I asked my wife for a divorce, I met a beautiful man and began what seemed as if it would be a relationship that would last forever. It did last for a very long time. It's just that nothing in this life is written in stone.

After years of spending my life as a sex addict, I thought the lure of that addiction would finally be broken once I met a man to whom I was attracted. I certainly loved him. Unfortunately, love is never enough when it comes to the void within the addict that nothing outside of him or herself can ever fill.

I pledged to remain monogamous to him, but it was only a matter of time before the spell was broken. After my first few slips, I fell into another suicidal depression. Once again, I weathered it out without reaching out for help. Then, after a few months, it disappeared. I was back on top of the world again. Life seemed absolutely fabulous. The only problem was that I was acting out sexually more than ever. That would remain my dirty little secret.

The following years would unfold in a similar pattern. I would plunge into depressions that would be followed by emotional highs. Fortunately, the depressions were not as devastating as my earlier ones. That was a blessing that would not last. The zinger lay ahead.

On October 19, 1987, I attempted to hang myself. Realizing that I didn't want to have my partner find my body hanging from a noose, I somehow managed to undo the knot as I struggled to keep from dangling from it. Once free, I took an overdose that should have knocked out a horse. As my good fortune would have it, I had developed an amazing tolerance to substances. I had become an active alcoholic in deep denial and I only ended up turning into a zombie.

I spent the next three weeks on a psychiatric ward where I had my first encounter with a psychiatrist. He turned out to be a loser. Every morning, the waiting room would be filled with his patients. One by one, we would be called in to see him where he would spend all of one to two minutes before sending us back to the ward. The medication I had been put on took away my suicidal inclinations, but I still felt miserable.

Finally, I was released to the care of my partner and I soon returned to work. I was ashamed of my hospitalization and kept it a secret. I went into work where I felt totally incompetent to carry out my duties. Somehow, I carried on.

Eventually I came out of my stupor and began to feel as if I was invincible. Once I had reached that point, I began to drink like a fish. The end of my alcoholic career was dramatic. I drank more and more each day until it was an around-the-clock love affair with the bottle. The thing that brought me to my senses was when my partner left me since he couldn't handle watching what I was doing to myself or the damage it was having upon our relationship.

It also opened a door that I was about to walk through that would bring me into the next phase of my journey to sanity. On April 5, 1988 I had my last drunk. The following day I went to my first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. That would take care of the drinking problem, but a new problem was about to emerge.

Author Davis Aujourd'hui

LET YOUR SPIRIT LEAD THE WAY

Why let your ego with all of its insecurities get in the way of going with the flow? Let your spirit lead the way. It is a matter of letting go of doubt and embracing faith. Let go of fear and let love be your guiding force.

All too often in life, you allow yourself to fall into negative patterns that perpetuate themselves. What you put out, you attract. You can break the cycle. Just remember that grace is always flowing your way. It's up to you to claim it for yourself.

Practice awareness of your thoughts. Observe them without judging them. Allow yourself the freedom to choose the ones you want. Take responsibility for your life.

It all starts with your thoughts. Discard the ones that don't serve your spirit. Embrace those that enhance it. Then you will send forth rockets of desire that will manifest those things you wish to possess. Positive thoughts will bring positive results.

Now, it's time to put into practice the principles you are learning. You are not in this life alone. As you let your spirit and love be your guiding force, you will attract more of the same from others.

Do not attach any conditions. Appreciate what is and do not dwell on what has not yet manifested. It is all a matter of accepting that life and people are inherently good; so are you! Remember, the Source of your being only wants the best for you. It is up to you to believe that.

Consider the following. Will you be empowered by a particular thought or action? Will you feel “good” about it? Is it a loving one or is it based upon a selfish thought or desire? Are you following The Golden Rule which is to do to others what you would have them do unto you? If you can answer yes to the following questions, you will be coming from a place of love.

You have the choice. You can create heaven for yourselves or you can create hell. Why would anyone choose to create the latter choice? Heaven can be yours now.

What I am speaking about is leading a life based upon spirit. It does not necessarily have anything to do with religion. All you need to do is to believe in yourself and that there is a benevolent power in the universe. This power only wants the best for you. Yet it will not manifest if you don't put into practice the principles of which I am speaking.

There are only two forces operating in the universe – love and fear. It's up to you to choose. As it's been said, there is nothing to fear except fear itself. Let the power of love be yours today.

Remain aware and do no wrong. If you make an error, remember it is correctable. It simply means it's time to admit you are wrong and to forgive yourself. Practice the same love for yourself that you would extend to another. Do not be your own worst enemy.

Stay in the moment. Affirm and practice that which is positive. Always let your spirit lead the way. The results will be amazing.

Author Davis Aujourd'hui

Book Series:

Book #1 "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude"

Book #2 "Babes in Bucksnort"

Both are available in Paperback and Kindle Format. The Kindle Format is at a special price of $3.99