Davis Aujourd’Hui author Of The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude: aWriter’sWords

JV RADIO PICTURES
Posted on October 24, 2011 by valentinetti

What inspires your stories?
Years ago, when I was a social worker, I developed my characters in order to entertain a colleague of mine. I would leave her voice mails in which I impersonated characters within scenarios that I spontaneously created. She loved it and that inspired me to develop more. When I retired, I thought to myself that I could write a book about my chain-smoking, bourbon-swilling nun along with the cast of other zany characters. I sat down and wrote "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude" in a little over a month. Since I hadn’t run out of ideas, I immediately continued by writing "Babes in Bucksnort". From there, I wrote a total of eleven books in the series. I hope to have "Have A Heart" published within a year.


What inspires your stories?
Years ago, when I was a social worker, I developed my characters in order to entertain a colleague of mine. I would leave her voice mails in which I impersonated characters within scenarios that I spontaneously created. She loved it and that inspired me to develop more. When I retired, I thought to myself that I could write a book about my chain-smoking, bourbon-swilling nun along with the cast of other zany characters. I sat down and wrote "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude" in a little over a month. Since I hadn’t run out of ideas, I immediately continued by writing "Babes in Bucksnort". From there, I wrote a total of eleven books in the series. I hope to have "Have A Heart" published within a year.


What inspires your stories?
Years ago, when I was a social worker, I developed my characters in order to entertain a colleague of mine. I would leave her voice mails in which I impersonated characters within scenarios that I spontaneously created. She loved it and that inspired me to develop more. When I retired, I thought to myself that I could write a book about my chain-smoking, bourbon-swilling nun along with the cast of other zany characters. I sat down and wrote "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude" in a little over a month. Since I hadn’t run out of ideas, I immediately continued by writing "Babes in Bucksnort". From there, I wrote a total of eleven books in the series. I hope to have Have A Heart published within a year.


What experience do you want for your readers?
I want my readers to laugh out loud from beginning to end. I also want them to take a look at themselves as they relate to the characters. In so doing, my readers may discover qualities they wish to develop as they let go of those which do not serve their continued growth.

What inspires your stories?
Years ago, when I was a social worker, I developed my characters in order to entertain a colleague of mine. I would leave her voice mails in which I impersonated characters within scenarios that I spontaneously created. She loved it and that inspired me to develop more. When I retired, I thought to myself that I could write a book about my chain-smoking, bourbon-swilling nun along with the cast of other zany characters. I sat down and wrote "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude" in a little over a month. Since I hadn’t run out of ideas, I immediately continued by writing "Babes in Bucksnort". From there, I wrote a total of eleven books in the series. I hope to have "Have A Heart" published within a year.


What genre do you gravitate toward and why?
I write in the humor genre with a slant toward satire that contains a spiritual message. I do this because I love to make people laugh. I also want my readers to come away with inspiration and food for thought. I dedicate all of my books to adult children who deserve a chance to not take life so seriously.

What are your work habits like?
I generally write every day. I write from two to ten hours per day. I let inspiration be my guide and let it flow from there.

What do you consider your best work?
My best works are yet to come, but both "Misadventures" and "Babes" have been well-received. I have received an average of 4.5 out of 5 star reviews on Amazon.com.

Do you plot out your novels in advance or do you write on the fly?
 I let inspiration be my guide. I do not plot out my novels in advance, though I sometimes have certain themes and scenarios I want to develop as I continue to write. I generally allow my intuition develop the tale as I continue to go with the flow. The end results have always been very gratifying.

What experience do you want for your readers?
I want my readers to laugh out loud from beginning to end. I also want them to take a look at themselves as they relate to the characters. In so doing, my readers may discover qualities they wish to develop as they let go of those which do not serve their continued growth.


Are any of your character traits or settings based on real life?
All fiction tends to be based upon the writer’s life experience. Such has been the case with me. I have incorporated qualities I have witnessed in others as I have developed my characters. What has been the most fun for me has to create nasty characters based on ornery people I have known in real life.

What are your most significant challenges when you write?
The most significant challenge has been writer’s block. When I encounter that, I simply let go of all thoughts. As I do so, inspiration returns to me and I continue to go with the flow. It is also a challenge to keep track of my many characters and to give them equal attention within my books. As they develop over time, I need to remember what has transpired in previous books. This often means that I need to return to my previous books as a touchstone for further development.


What are you currently working on?
I have just finished a reincarnational romance about a couple who travels through three lifetimes together. I am currently seeking an agent to represent the book to a traditional publisher.


Do you have any writing advice you would like to share with aspiring authors?
Keep writing and perfecting your craft. Keep the faith and never give up.


The title of your current book?
"The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude"

Give a brief synopsis.
Are you ready for a class in Advanced Holiness for people from all walks of life? Then, perhaps you’re ready to take a trip to the Have A Heart convent in Bucksnort, Wisconsin. There, you’ll meet a nun you’re not likely to forget – Sister Mary Olga Fortitude.

"The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude" is a satire with a spiritual message, but there’s a lot of hanky panky going on here. Sister Mary Olga is an irreverent nun who has some unique spiritual views that differ from those of the Pope. She’s a great believer of “to each, one’s own.” She also loves her Marlboros and her bourbon. Just don’t let the Reverend Mother in on her secret. The next class in Advanced Holiness may be canceled.


Here in Bucksnort, you’ll meet a zany cast of all-too-human characters. There’s a lot of secret-keeping going on here, but Sister Mary Olga will be sure to deliver the goods in order to provide you with good and bad examples of holiness.

The Reverend Mother is a former prostitute. The convent’s chef is a gay cowboy. Priscilla Bunhead is the town busybody who opens some other closet doors. She, along with the other folks on Dinkledorf Drive, serve up examples of what not to do.

One thing’s for sure. These characters will lighten your load and help you to not take life so seriously. Get ready for non-stop laughs.


Give us an excerpt.
Speaking of looking up, that brings me to the subject of Sister Samantha’s secret. Lord, have mercy! Well now! I was extremely thirsty following my most recent week of penance on my knees in my humble little cell; so, I’d made a hasty visit to Randy Cowboy who was generous enough to give me a half gallon of Jack Daniel’s.

I threw caution to the wind and I ducked into cubicle number four where I began to have a few nips. Oh, I must confess the truth. I tied one on! By the time I’d passed out, I’d managed to refresh myself with almost half of that big bottle. Oh my!


Sometime during the night, I must have slipped off the toilet and landed on the floor. I didn’t wake up until the following morning; and, I must say, I had quite a headache! I also realized that I had partially slid under cubicle number three; and, I couldn’t get up.


Well, wouldn’t you know it, the restroom door burst open and I immediately thought that the gig was up. With my luck, I thought that it might be Mother Carmen and that I’d be sent back to my cell for another week of solitary confinement.

Fortunately, God spared me that ordeal and He had sent me an angel. It was Sister Samantha. Of course, I didn’t find that out immediately. Let’s just say that we both had a big surprise in store!


Well! There I was, with my head under cubicle number three, when I heard Sister Samantha singing Amazing Grace as she entered that very cubicle! Apparently she was so moved by the Holy Spirit that she didn’t even notice my head facing up toward her toilet.


I closed my eyes in reverent prayer just as she was lowering her panties. As she was preparing to sit upon her throne, her habit swished over my face which brought me to attention. I opened my eyes by reflex. Boy, did I get an eyeful and I do mean boy! Sister Samantha wasn’t a woman! Lord, have mercy!

Biography of Davis Aujourd’hui (David Cowery).
Davis Aujourd’hui is the pen name of the author of the Sister Mary Olga Fortitude series. The first book, entitled “The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude,” was just published in October 2008 by Outskirts Press. “Babes in Bucksnort” is the first sequel, soon to be followed by “Have A Heart.”

Davis is a new author, yet he possesses a rich life experience that has enabled him to draw from it in order to create a colorful canvas upon which to paint very human lives. He is a retired social worker, having worked for Adult Protective Services in New York State for nearly twenty years. He developed the characters within his series of books in order to entertain a colleague of his using the gift of humor.

As will be the case of the title character in his third book, Davis is a recovering alcoholic. He also happens to be gay as is the case with several of the endearing and humorous characters within his novels. He can speak from his own experience. He has possessed all of the foibles of his cast of characters, including those naughty, nasty, and nice.

Author Davis Aujourd'hui

"The Misadvantures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude" Paperback $13.95 and can be purchased here!!!!! Kindle Version available for $3.99 and can be purchased here!!!!!

"Babes in Bucksnort" Paperback $13.95 and can be purchased here!!! Kindle Version available for $3.99 and can be purchased here!!

WHO IS DAVIS AUJOURD'HUI?

My name is Davis Aujourd'hui and I am the author of "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude". I have always loved to write, but I didn't get beyond freshman English in college. I resented the criticism of the teaching assistant who had said that my writing was too complex. Perhaps I should have listened to him. I only punished myself by not taking other writing courses.

I had two very short-lived careers in the business field. My first career was in academic publishing where I served as a field representative. I then pursued another dream career in real estate. Unfortunately, that was short-lived due to a then unfavorable economy. Eventually, I became a social worker with New York State Adult Protective Services. A seemingly unfortunate health situation resulted in a blessing. I became able to retire at a very young age.

I've had several challenges along the way. Paramount, were my problems with addiction and mental illness. My journey into recovery had begun over twenty years ago. While I then knew that I had a problem with sexual addiction, I first had to deal with another problem of which I had been in denial. I had been drinking alcoholically for many years. I can now see where I was medicating something else. A few years later, I was diagnosed with manic-depression. After years of suicidal depressions, I had my first mania after my last drinking binge.

Isn't it ironic that I endured some of the same problems that my clients had! In a sense, they taught me what healing I needed for myself. It's just that I needed help. That came from God who provided me with 12-step programs, therapy, and a good psychiatrist.

Despite my history of depression, I had usually possessed an incredible sense of humor. I sure needed that in order to get by in my life as we all do. I especially needed that during the twenty years that I was a social worker. That's when I developed the character of Sister Mary Olga.

I soon began to develop the other zany characters until I had created an entire cast. I would call up my friend and I would leave her voice-mails during which I would create spontaneous outlandish and hilarious scenarios. She loved it and that gave me a lot of joy!


At the point when I had finished my memoirs, I thought to myself, I bet I could write a book about these crazy characters! So I sat down and I wrote a book in a little over a month. The thing was, I still had more ideas! I did the only logical thing. I wrote another book. Guess what? I hadn't run out of ideas yet! Over the course of the next four I wrote eleven novels in the series and I still haven't run out of ideas!


Around the time that I was getting ready to have the first book published, I asked my mother-in-law if she would pose in a nun's habit as Sister Mary Olga on the cover of my book. You see, to me, she embodied my mental concept of what Sister Mary Olga should look like. She said, “Sure, Davis! I'll do it for you!”

Unfortunately, she passed away before that could happen. As she lay on her deathbed, I said to her, “Jan, I'm going to get you on that cover one way or another!” Thanks to the marvelous illustrator for my cover, that person was able to create a nun's habit over her picture. Once that was done, I dedicated my first book to her.

Only in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I would become an author! Yet suddenly I began to write as if it was my full-time job. If you wonder what I'm doing now, I'll tell you. I'm polishing the other books in the series so that they will be fine and outrageously funny gems like the jewel of this first two books I've created: Misadventures and Babes in Bucksnort. You can soon look forward to reading the next book in the series, "Have A Heart".

Author Davis Aujourd'hui

Interview: Davis Aujourd'hui, Author of "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Foritude"

Author: April Pohren

Davis Aujourd'hui is the author of The "Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude" and "Babes in Bucksnort", both of which are humorous satires. Mr. Aujourd'hui possesses a rich life experience that has aided him, as well as enabled him, to create a colorful canvas for his stories and the people in them. He is a retired social worker as will as a recovering alcoholic. Davis Aujourd'hui also happens to be gay, which allows him to bring a deeper perspective to many of the endearing and humorous characters whose stories he tells within his novels. With his personal experiences, Mr. Aujourd'hui is able to share many of the same foibles as those of his cast of characters who are naughty, nasty, and nice.

Please tell us a bit about your book, The "Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Foritude", and what you hope readers take away from reading it.

Sister Mary Olga is a bourbon-swilling, chain-smoking nun who's always getting into trouble with the Reverend Mother, a reformed prostitute. The convent's chef is a gay cowboy. Just watch out for the nasty town busybody named Priscilla Bunhead who is always digging in the dirt. There's plenty of that for her to find on Dinkledorf Drive in the fictional town of Bucksnort, Wisconsin. There's a lot of hanky panky going on there!


All of the book's other diverse and zany characters are delightfully flawed, The scenarios are outrageous. You'll discover the secret of a transgendered nun under the most unlikely circumstances. You may have never discovered a body in the process of cremation as you tried to bake a cake or bore offspring who made inappropriate digestive noises while playing Baby Jesus in the annual Christmas pageant. Yet you will be able to relate to the human foibles discussed by Sister Mary Olga.


Sister Mary Olga takes the attitude of "to each one's own." She pokes fun at the conservative religious and social attitudes of the day. Irreverent and bawdy, this religious satire does have an underlying spiritual message; that is to lighten up and not take life so seriously.


It's my hope that my readers will come away with food for thought while being thoroughly entertained the whole way through. Perhaps they will take a closer look at themselves and realize defects of which they wish to let go. At the same time, they may emulate qualities they wish to possess. I can guarantee my readers will laugh from page one until the end.

Who are your favorite characters in the story?

I love all of my characters, so this is a difficult question to answer. Sister Mary Olga is a hoot although she dispenses nuggets of wisdom in between the laughs. I relate most to Randy Cowboy, the convent's gay chef who is a self-described sex maniac.

I must confess that my favorite characters are the nasty ones. The shrewish prude, Priscilla Bunhead, is always digging in the dirt and really knows how to hold a grudge. She is an archetype of the negative qualities of the human condition. There is much to be learned from her and she will make you laugh.

Do you have a favorite line or excerpt from your book?

If you want an excerpt, here's a doozy:


Speaking of looking up, that brings me to the subject of Sister Samantha's secret. Lord, have mercy! Well now! I was extremely thirsty following my most recent week of penance on my knees in my humble little cell; so, I'd made a hasty visit to Randy Cowboy who was generous enough to give me a half gallon of Jack Daniel's.


I threw caution to the wind and I ducked into cubicle number four where I began to have a few nips. Oh, I must confess the truth. I tied one on! By the time I'd passed out, I'd managed to refresh myself with almost half of that big bottle. Oh my!

Sometime during the night, I must have slipped off the toilet and landed on the floor. I didn't wake up until the following morning; and, I must say, I had quite a headache! I also realized that I had partially slid under cubicle number three; and, I couldn't get up.


Well, wouldn't you know it, the restroom door burst open and I immediately thought that the gig was up. With my luck, I thought that it might be Mother Carmen and that I'd be sent back to my cell for another week of solitary confinement.


Fortunately, God spared me that ordeal and He had sent me an angel. It was Sister Samantha. Of course, I didn't find that out immediately. Let's just say that we both had a big surprise in store!


Well! There I was, with my head under cubicle number three, when I heard Sister Samantha singing Amazing Grace as she entered that very cubicle! Apparently, she was so moved by the Holy Spirit that she didn't even notice my head facing up toward her toilet.


I closed my eyes in reverent prayer just as she was lowering her panties. As she was preparing to sit upon her throne, her habit swished over my face which brought me to attention. I opened my eyes by reflex. Boy, did I get an eyeful and I do mean boy! Sister Samantha wasn't a woman! Lord, have mercy!


Well! It was a rather awkward situation to say the least! I had learned of Sister Samantha's incredible secret. I also needed her help. What could I do, but gently murmur, “Please help me, Sister. I've fallen and I can't get up.”

Let me tell you, Sister Samantha might not have been a woman, but she let out a high-pitched scream that sounded like a woman giving birth. She jumped off her pot and she whooshed her habit off my pleading face. If anyone else could have seen us at that very moment, I'm sure that both of our faces would have appeared beet red.


Well! If either of us had had a blackmailing bone in our bodies, we both would have had sufficient ammunition to use against the other. Suffice it to say, each of us took a higher path except Sister Samantha had the higher advantage at that moment.


Well, that little woman proved to be very strong. She grabbed me under my arms. Then she pulled me right under the partition of cubicle number three and out onto the restroom floor.


Even though I was feeling very shaky, in more ways than one, I managed to get myself up and onto my wobbly legs. Well, what could I say besides, “Thank you;” however, given the situation, it seemed that something else might be in order.


I felt rather like Little Red Riding Hood when she discovered that her grandmama was actually a wolf. The nice thing about my situation was that Sister Samantha wasn't about to eat me up. I decided right then and there that I wasn't going to give her up.

“Sister,” I said. “How did you ever pull it off?”


That's when she told me her story. You see, Sister Samantha just happened to have been born in the wrong body. She was really every bit as much of a woman as myself with one notable exception. God sure works in mysterious ways!

If your current release were to be turned into a movie, who would you love to see play what characters and why?

I would love to see Sally Struthers play Sister Mary Olga. I recently saw her perform in Legally Blonde and she has the gift of comedic wit to pull off the part beautifully. Lily Tomlin would make an excellent Priscilla Bunhead. She plays the shrew well and would be deliciously nasty in the role. The sensual Kim Catrall would make an excellent Reverend Mother who happens to be a reformed prostitute. As for the gay cowboy, I would love to play him myself since I, too, am gay and am a recovering sex addict.

What are your favorite aspects of writing?

I love the creative process. I sit at my computer and let inspiration be my guide. Then it is as if the words almost write themselves. I love to laugh at my characters and laugh out loud at the ridiculous antics of them as well as at their outrageous comments. I also enjoy channeling the spiritual wisdom within the book since I am an avid student and practitioner of spirituality

Your least favorite aspects of writing?

I hate it, on those rare instants, when I get writer's block. I also dislike the tedious marketing process that comes after the fun of writing a book.

Who are some of your favorite authors/books?

I have several favorite spiritual authors. Among them are Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Eckhardt Tolle, and Anthony DeMello. I love the comedic authors, Armistead Maupin and Carl Hiaasen, who I consider to be mentors.

What are you reading right now?

I'm busy reading my own books as I edit future volumes in the series for publication. I have written a total of eleven books thus far.

If you could have a dinner party and invite five authors — dead or alive — who would they be and what would you serve them?

Can I invite six authors? If so, I'd invite all of the authors I mentioned above. I'd serve them humble pie since I am indebted to each and every one of them.

What is a book that you wish you could say that you had written and why?

Actually, I just wrote that very book. It is a reincarnational romance about a couple that goes through three lifetimes together. I especially like it because it incorporates many of my own spiritual beliefs

What is the greatest piece of advice (for writing and/or just living) that you have heard?

Never give up! Dreams do come true.



Author Davis Aujourd'hui