We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Arnie & Debby Johnston a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Arnie & Debby, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
DEBBY: First, I have to honor my parents, Richard and Helen Percy, who loved and believed in me and my two brothers, Rick and Lee. Everything I chose to do, they supported and believed was the right thing to do.
ARNIE: My parents, too–James and Eliza Johnston–were instrumental in starting me on life as an adventure by emigrating from Scotland when I was nine. That forced me to learn new things whether I wanted to or not, and to discover inner resources I might not have found otherwise.
DEBBY: My parents and teachers instilled in me the belief that I had to honor my talent with practice and hard work. Flaubert said to de Maupassant, “My young friend, you must work harder than you do.” And that, too, has guided me.
ARNIE: Teaching myself an American accent opened my eyes to the wonder of different voices, as well as confirming for me the value of technique and practice. The illusionist’s devotion to both allows the audience to believe in magic.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
We’re lucky enough to live in three lovely places: Kalamazoo and South Haven, MI., and Rancho Mirage, CA. We write both individually and collaboratively: changing new Do you know the reason I’m not gonna mess with it because without putting my finger on it Debby writes fiction, drama, non-fiction, and translation; Arnie writes fiction, poetry, drama, non-fiction, and translation. Our individual and collaborative plays have won over 300 productions and readings on stage, screen, and radio, as well as numerous awards and publications across the country and internationally; and we’ve written, co-written, edited, or translated over twenty books, the latest of which is a collection of one-acts, The Old Fart Plays, recently out from Dramatic Publishing Company. Our award-winning poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and translations have appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies.
Debby’s two collections of short fiction are Cool Front: Stories from Lake Michigan and Invisible Traffic. Her latest projects are a fiction collection, Stepping Off into Space, a novel, A Second Opinion, and a novella, So She Said. Arnie’s books include two novels, Swept Away and The Witching Voice: A Novel from the Life of Robert Burns; five collections of poems, Where We’re Going, Where We’ve Been; Sonnets: Signs and Portents, What the Earth Taught Us, The Infernal Now, and the forthcoming In and Out: Love Poems. His translations of Jacques Brel’s songs have appeared in numerous musical revues nationwide, and are also featured on his CD, Jacques Brel: I’m Here!
After a distinguished administrative career in the Kalamazoo Public Schools, Debby is now a full-time writer, as is Arnie, who was chairman of the English Department (1997-2007) at Western Michigan University and taught there for many years as co-founder of the creative writing program and founder of the playwriting program. We’re members of the Dramatists Guild, the Associated Writing Programs, Poets & Writers, and the American Literary Translators Association.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
As we noted earlier, the three qualities we value most are technique, practice, and obsession. In addition, take yourself seriously right from the start. Learn and practice the craft of writing. Look at and listen to what’s going on around you—and inside you. Pay attention. Don’t wait for permission. Technique and practice set talent free. An illusionist’s well-honed technique is what makes an audience believe in magic. And as Robert Frost once observed, “A large part of education is hanging around long enough to catch on.”
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
We regard each other as the most helpful influences in our personal and professional lives. Early in our relationship we discovered the gift of collaboration. And it is a gift. It depends on trust in and admiration for your partner, and openness to his or her ideas. It turns work into play. In creative work, surprising your audience is much to be desired, and we’re fortunate to be able to surprise each other constantly
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Johnston-Percy-Writers.com
- Instagram: [email protected]
- Facebook: [email protected] & dajohnston2.com
- Linkedin: [email protected]
- Twitter: [email protected]
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
