Performed by Val Cole
Get to know the writer:
What is your short story about?
They Drove on Streets Paved with Kindness narrates how God operates in strange ways. He never pounds the table, showing who He really is. Instead, He seats the table with a cast of arguing brothers, their irreligious father and Roman Catholic mother, decrepit nuns, and a car ready for the junk heap, named Lucy. Oh yeah, there’s this white-haired man who’s not related to anyone who flits in and out. In the end, well, I’m not going to tell you the end. Simply, though, God blesses individuals whether they deserve it or not. Strange God.
What genres would you say this story is in?
Family, Inspirational, Christian, Contemporary Adult
How would you describe this story in two words?
God’s Grace
What movie have you seen the most in your life?
Tie-It’s A Wonderful Life and the Big Lebowski
What is your favorite song?
(Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
Suzanne by Leonard Cohen
Do you have an all-time favorite novel?
Everything written by Ernest Hemingway. His prose was pure.
Farewell to Arms; The Sun Also Rises.
What motivated you to write this story?
Maybe, as a result of hearing or reading this story, it moves others to love others a little bit more, and show their love in positive ways.
If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
Jesus Christ, of course – but since he was God and you are asking for a person— I would like to have dinner with Muhammad Ali, several evenings after he’d recover from the Thrilla in Manila with Joe Frazier.
Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Grandkids come first. Being a productive human being, second.
Notre Dame football, NY Jets, Mets, and Knicks, a masochistic third.
What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?
I would like to eventually write a screenplay and see it brought to film. This was a first step. To subject it to public criticism and critique which will only refine it and make it better. Maybe a producer will hear it and be interested.
Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
There’s only a puddle of sweat awaiting you as a writer.
Drink plenty of water so you don’t get dehydrated.
And, if you are old, like me, have a toilet nearby.
****
Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com
Director: Kierston Drier
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson
Camera Operator: Mary Cox
WILDsound Writing Festival 