September 4, 2026 • 28 mins
A memoir of a marriage deeply rooted in love, faith, and literary art, featuring excerpts from Pulitzer Prize winner Oscar Hijuelos’ final, unpublished novel, Blue Antiquity
In A Writing Marriage (Regalo Press; hardcover, May 12, 2026, $30.00), Lori Carlson-Hijuelos reflects on the wonder of her union with Oscar, her soulmate. To write their love story, Lori chose a sacred place: the library of a nineteenth-century cathedral in her upstate New York hometown. True to their partnership in life, she created a work of collaboration, with Oscar’s voice, views, and presence shining through in excerpts from his unpublished fiction opus, Blue Antiquity, which he was working on at the time of his death. A unique blend of memoir and fiction, A Writing Marriage illuminates Lori’s life with Oscar, whom she met in 1981, nearly a decade before he became the first Latino author to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and who she wed in December 1998. In an interview, she can talk about: The power of writing to create and remake worlds and reveal the writer - while reading her husband’s final, unpublished novel, Lori was struck by how the protagonist—an academic with a passion for archaeology and the son of Cuban immigrants—mirrors Oscar. In excerpts from Blue Antiquity, she captures Oscar’s zest for life, fascination with ancient civilizations, and spiritual development.The hallmarks of a foundational marriage, the kind devoted to serving, nourishing, and empowering each other, and why cositas, the “little things” that mark the way spouses treat each other, matter—whether it’s celebrating birthdays or holding hands.How writing has helped her as she deals with the profound grief and reality of widowhood - As Lori reflects, the word most used to explain what should happen to someone after the death of a spouse is healing. She prefers the verb reconstructing. “Reconstruction is what I am encountering.”
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-view-from-the-writing-instrument--1023245/support.
In A Writing Marriage (Regalo Press; hardcover, May 12, 2026, $30.00), Lori Carlson-Hijuelos reflects on the wonder of her union with Oscar, her soulmate. To write their love story, Lori chose a sacred place: the library of a nineteenth-century cathedral in her upstate New York hometown. True to their partnership in life, she created a work of collaboration, with Oscar’s voice, views, and presence shining through in excerpts from his unpublished fiction opus, Blue Antiquity, which he was working on at the time of his death. A unique blend of memoir and fiction, A Writing Marriage illuminates Lori’s life with Oscar, whom she met in 1981, nearly a decade before he became the first Latino author to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and who she wed in December 1998. In an interview, she can talk about: The power of writing to create and remake worlds and reveal the writer - while reading her husband’s final, unpublished novel, Lori was struck by how the protagonist—an academic with a passion for archaeology and the son of Cuban immigrants—mirrors Oscar. In excerpts from Blue Antiquity, she captures Oscar’s zest for life, fascination with ancient civilizations, and spiritual development.The hallmarks of a foundational marriage, the kind devoted to serving, nourishing, and empowering each other, and why cositas, the “little things” that mark the way spouses treat each other, matter—whether it’s celebrating birthdays or holding hands.How writing has helped her as she deals with the profound grief and reality of widowhood - As Lori reflects, the word most used to explain what should happen to someone after the death of a spouse is healing. She prefers the verb reconstructing. “Reconstruction is what I am encountering.”
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-view-from-the-writing-instrument--1023245/support.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Arrow.net. A-R-R-O-E.net. It's not just a podcast. It's 20 different
podcasts with episodes going at all times. The goal is
to give you the power of choice because how many
times have you gotten in the car or at work
and you go, what do I want to listen to?
What do I want to listen to? Oh, God, I
don't want to hear that. Oh, I'm so tired of
hearing the news. Oh, I don't want to hear another
actor's interview. Oh, my God, what am I going to do?
(00:23):
One place, arrow.net, A-R-R-O-E.net. Enjoy your exploration. Hello and good morning.
Happy Friday, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Mr. Collins, you have one of the most energetic, forceful,
happy voices I've heard in a long time.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Oh, man, thank you so much. It's because I'm passionate
for this opportunity to share conversations.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I hear that in your voice. It's unusual and uplifting
and frankly hopeful.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Well, the thing is, is that you're holding on to something.
There are many times, Lori, that I really do feel
like that you have the needle in the haystack and
you're saying, this isn't just for me. I want to
share this with people. And so now we've got to
find those people. So all of a sudden, you know,
the universe puts us together because the universe was having
tea one day and they said, we got to get
Lori and Arrow together so we can get a conversation started.
(01:18):
And then it's going to become a tea party and
then we're all going to sit around talking about writing
a marriage. And I mean, you see how it works?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah. Well, you are infectious, for sure, in the most
wonderful way. You really are. You're quite something.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Do you see yourself as being an explorer when it
comes to words? Because it seems like the word exploration
has taken on a brand new image.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Hmm. Could be. Actually, for this book, I was more
of an archaeologist than an explorer, but I suppose I
was both. I don't think I thought of that concept
when I was writing, though.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
But you're giving us an opportunity to have a better understanding.
And that to me, that's a chance. That's courage. That's confidence.
That means that you turned around and faced the fire
and said, I'm going in. I'll let you know what
I see when I get in there.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, I've always done that. You see, I've had a
rather challenging career, even though it's been very successful. It's
been very tough because most of my books are unique.
They're unusual books. And when my agent would approach an
editor and the editor would ask, what is it comparable to?
(02:33):
She couldn't give an example because my work has been
so different. Yeah. And I suppose I believe in my
my mission. I think that's what it is. I never
have given up. I never thought of it as courage.
I just believe in being steadfast. I'm basically a communicator. Yes.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Oh, now you're speaking my language, Laurie. Oh, my God. Yeah.
And you can't turn it off, can you? I mean,
it's like, oh, I got it. I'll be right back.
I got to go do something.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
You are funny. You have so much energy. You're making
me feel a little better. I've been having a hard
time getting myself off the ground this morning, but you're
doing a very good job.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Now, who is your mentor teacher in the way that,
you know, because I always, since 1994, July, I was
in Carmel, California, and that's how I hooked up with
Julia Cameron, with The Artist's Way. And it's just one
of those things where it's like, when you get up,
you do your daily writing, then you go talk with
people who understand what daily writing is, and then you
make your way to trying to find who's going to
(03:42):
read the daily writing. How can you not be inspired
by a journey like that?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Hmm. Well, for the last few years, I've been living
in a small town where there is a very, very
tiny group of people who are interested in reading. So
I haven't found this community of individuals who think like
me there. But of course, here you're surrounded by writers
(04:10):
and people who love to read. New York City is
such a wonderful place.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
I love just walking in New York City. People always
ask me, you're going to take an Uber? You're going
to take a cab? I'm going to walk. I'm going
to walk. I just want to feel this.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah. It's, I think, the finest walking city other than Rome.
I love to walk in Rome, too.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
So when you're walking around New York City, I mean,
my last book was really based on I walked into
a comic store, which I didn't know was on this road,
and I saw a girl in there with orange hair.
That became the subject of my next book. I knew
right then on the spot I was going to write
a book. I didn't know what it was going to
be about, but it had to include the girl with
orange hair. You have to be the same way. I mean,
(04:54):
your eyes do the speaking. The rest of you just
tries to catch up.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Mm-hmm. Something similar happened to me with my last novel.
I was in Brussels, Belgium, in a lace museum. And
I love lace, ancient lace. And I saw this piece
and it was identified as a circumcision cloth from the
(05:19):
16th century. Yeah, I didn't know that there was such
a thing. And it was this intricate, magnificent piece of workmanship.
And in that very moment I knew I was going
to write a novel about a group of Spanish nuns
who were lacemakers. So yes, it's happened to me. See
(05:40):
what you just described.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
That's the connection I'm talking about that you unveil. You
speak of things that we see on a daily basis.
And all of a sudden we're walking through a Barnes
and Noble or on Amazon. We see a book like this.
We're going, Oh my God, I was just thinking about this.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
How often do you come to New York City?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
I wish it was more times. I mean, it's one
of those things where they try to keep coaxing me
up there, but I have this beautiful forest in Carolina,
and this thing has me by the neck. It says,
you ain't going anywhere, buddy. You're going to sit here,
and you're going to write all day. See, my writing
doesn't come from me. It comes from the soil of
this forest, and I owe everything to these trees and rocks.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Wow, what a beautiful thought. I love that.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Where do you get yours? Who is your muse? What
is your muse? Where is your inspiration hailing from?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
I would say the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Oh, love you, love you, love you, love you. Amen.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Yep. I get it.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
That's how it works for me.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yep. I get it. I get it.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I think it's the intention to be a steward. When
I was growing up, that was a message that I heard.
on a weekly basis to be a steward. And I
knew from a very young age that I was meant
to be a writer, to be working with people globally,
(07:09):
that I was going to have a very unique life.
I knew this. And I knew that Spanish was going
to be a part of my life and that I
was going to be in unusual circles and being in
a small town and Having my friends listen to me
say these things, they were amused. They would laugh. But
(07:30):
I knew it. Yeah. I've never been to Charlotte, but,
you know, I taught at Duke.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Really?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
For 11 years. Yeah. Wow.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
You were that close.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
I love the triangle. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
It's a beautiful state.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
It has. And I've always said there's either something in
the soil or it's the curve of those back road highways. Because,
I mean, you get on those back roads and it's
like you are flowing with jazz. And there's just something
about it. And you can't help but want to be creative.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Well, yeah. I mean, it's a magnificent land.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
So now when you have a book that's called A
Writing Marriage, there's going to be people that are going
to walk into a bookstore. And the only reason I'm
bringing this up like this is because there's a movie
out right now called Is God Is? And they all
think it's a religious movie. No, it's the furthest thing
from that. But yet they're judging it because of that
word G-O-D in the middle of it. When you're looking
at a book called A Writing Marriage, you know people
(08:31):
are going to come up and go, oh, really? What
is Laurie up to this time? And so how can
we get listeners to understand you are reaching further, I
swear to God, further than what you ever have?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
How do you know that? And what makes you think that?
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Because I feel it. And because man, when I do
some research, I go digging and, and because it's not
that I'm looking for dirt. I'm looking because I, I know,
and you know, there is somebody sitting in a bedroom
right now with about six tablets underneath their bed or
in the attic, and they're not going to release it.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Why?
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Because they're afraid. And it's going to take someone like you, Lori,
to say, don't be afraid. Let it go. It doesn't
belong to you.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
That's for sure. It, That's right. The message that I
conveyed really did not belong to me. It came from
me for others. That was precisely what I was thinking
when I was writing. And I wrote a writing marriage
in a church. So I was thinking about the spiritual
side of marriage as well as the regular parts of marriage,
(09:35):
the sort of business side of marriage, the daily part
of marriage.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
I think.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
For me, the overriding need was to make certain that
Oscar Higuelos, my extraordinary, brilliant novelist husband, would be understood
for future generations as well as his readership now. The
People would understand what his soul was, who he was
(10:04):
as a human being, because novels can give you the
wrong impression of a person in much the same way
that an actor can give you the wrong impression of
himself or herself. Writers and artists are expressing all sorts
of emotions and thinking, but the real person is usually
(10:27):
not understood or never known. Very few people get a
chance to meet the author's work through the author. And
I wanted people to see that he was such a sweet, beautiful, generous,
kind soul. Um, yeah. And that marriage, our marriage was
(10:50):
so beautiful.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Please do not move. There's more with Lori Carlson. How
way low's coming up next. You're going to love this book,
a writing marriage from Lori Carlson. How way low's is
my interpretation of Oscar wrong. And please correct me in silly.
I felt that he knew and understood his readers and followers.
(11:13):
But when it came to real life, his heart was
still back in the writing. And because you know how
we are as authors, do we ever really leave the story? Because,
I mean, it's almost like when we put the book
down for the day, the writing discipline is over, and
we go about the world, we're studying. We're looking for
things that we can add to a paragraph. Am I
(11:33):
wrong about Oscar? Because I really feel like in reading
it that he understood who he was reaching, but in
that moment where he wasn't writing, He sought the people
that he knew were reading. If you know what I mean,
I mean, because I mean, I'm talking like a writer
now because people go, why do you do what you do?
Because there's somebody out there that I know needs this.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Well, let me think about this. Oscar was highly intellectual
and that he was talented. a person who read voraciously
on all sorts of topics. He loved ancient history and
(12:16):
he loved science. He loved math. He loved poetry and
art and comic books was one of his passions. He
was interested in so many subjects. So he was truly
an intellectual and talking to him was a thrilling experience,
but He didn't intellectualize the process of writing. Oster was
(12:38):
very much, if I may say so, a laborer. He
was a worker. He just got down to business. And
I don't really think that he thought about who he
wanted to reach, Arrow. I think what he was thinking
(13:00):
about is how he could make people understand think better,
act better in the world, be better, strive for higher ideals.
These were the things that were on his mind. The
big issues, love, faith, eternity, what this means to be
(13:25):
on this earth. And for Oscar, and people really didn't
know this side of him, He was very much a
person who believed in God's goodness and strove, I think,
really to convey that in his writing. He was a
compassionate writer. If you read all of his works, you'll
(13:48):
know that even though his characters had major flaws, Oscar
felt kindly toward them. He had mercy for his characters.
He was a very loving creator.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
And you got to spend time with his unpublished work.
That would be like my wife coming inside this studio.
I've got 32 years of daily writing. I always tell her,
just go through the book. What was I thinking? Go
to the books. It's all written in the books. Go
to the raw writing. What did you feel when you
went to the unpublished works? I mean, we're talking about
the stuff where the perfectionist had to wait on the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Well, it was, it was heavy. And it was emotional,
very emotional going through his archival matter. There were hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds of boxes. To answer this more
(14:52):
specifically regarding Blue Antiquity, I was stunned by the between
his major characters, protagonists, Victor Mercado and himself, because Victor
was Oscar in a different profession, in a different guise.
But Victor's thinking was very much Oscar's thinking. And this
(15:20):
individual is a scholar whose passion is archaeology. Oscar was
not a scholar, although he in the formal sense of
the word, I would say. He was first and foremost
an artist who had scholarly leanings. But Victor is the
(15:40):
son of Cuban immigrants, and he makes it in a
certain way. He becomes well-known in his field. And his
area of interest is the life of Christ. Now, that
was kind of a surprise to me, because even though
Oscar was was Catholic and believed in the Trinity and
(16:03):
was very much interested in the saints and the life
of Christ, I had no idea that the center of
this masterwork was truly about that and faith. And then
coming upon all of the ancillary materials that he was
reading and And researching for this novel, that also surprised
(16:25):
me because Oscar was collecting pictures of saints and many
books about Jesus. I wondered, was Oscar thinking about mortality
because Victor knows that he's going to die and keeps
this knowledge to himself? And Oscar, from the time he
(16:49):
was young, had been told by physicians that he would
not have a normal life expectancy because he had nephritis
as a child and his system had been compromised. But
Oscar ended up dying not of any kidney issue or
renal issue. It was a massive heart attack. Oh, boy.
(17:10):
But I wondered if Oscar might have been in the know,
so to speak, if he had... An understanding of when
he was going to die, because it was so prescient
and so eerie as I was reading about this character.
(17:31):
Does that answer your question?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
It does. And it takes me so deep into so
many questions. And probably the biggest one that is just
screaming to be asked is that as that author, Oscar,
as well as yourself, because everything that I do is
in the name of Christ. Everything that I do. And
I felt like that, that I was structured in the way. Okay, dude,
(17:53):
you can write about me all you want. You can
talk about how your love for me is the greatest thing.
You can save people's lives, but you're going to have
to put it in the language of somebody who was
walking the street. That is a nonbeliever. And did you
guys do that with your writing as well? Where it's
like you, you got the original idea. You got that message.
But then you had to do what I call hidden
speak and you twist it a little bit and all
(18:15):
of a sudden it becomes a novel and it's not so,
you know, glory based or anything like that, but you
still kind of push it forward in a way of saying,
I did my job, Lord. Thank you so much for
showing up for the other creative side of it.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Well, the writing or the art that comes from one,
whether it's music or painting or writing, has to come
from a healthy soul. So rather than think about how to,
let's say, compose or manipulate raw material into saying what
you are, I think you have to act out your faith.
(18:53):
You have to be that example. Yep. And I came
upon this book published in 1957 by chance in my
mother's church in Jamestown, New York, where I wrote the book.
I wrote the book in a church library. It's actually
a cathedral. And the title is The Radiant Life. And
(19:15):
I devoured that book in one sitting. It was written
by a British minister. a Methodist who said, why is
it that people of faith go around moping and look
so miserable? Right? That anybody who meets you should see
radiance in your being. That is the message that you
(19:37):
are walking around showing others that God is love and light.
And if it's not being shown on your face and
in your actions, something is truly wrong with your alignment.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
So that's how I would respond to that. I don't
think it was, let's say, a conscientious decision to show
faith in the writing, but to be the person you
could be essentially proud of yeah and hopefully that person
is creating something reflecting the light.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
That reminds me of Stephen Furtick, who is my pastor
at Elevation Church here in Charlotte. And he always gets
up there and he says, you know how you elevators are?
It's the energy that you bring into it. You got
to bring, they know that you're from Elevation because they
see it. That's right. Because they can, they can see it,
but they don't know how to identify it. But man,
(20:37):
they can tap into it.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Yeah. Errol, you're amazing. You're a preacher yourself. My goodness,
you have such a talent for speaking.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
It's 46 years of radio. I mean, you know, it's
because I'm so, so much in love with authors. And
with writing and the ability to write. And I can't
figure out why people say, I can't write. I've got block.
I've got this. And I go, why are you using
these excuses? If that's your excuse, put it in a book.
Do something. Put it in a paragraph and just see
(21:10):
what it looks like and smell it.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
My question for you is, how do you reach people
where they are to make them curious enough about reading again?
Because My experience in, let's say, Jamestown, New York, where
I was born, is that people don't read. Right.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Oh, they read headlines. They read the first paragraph of
the headlines and make up a decision. That's their reading nowadays.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Yeah, but they're not reading literature at all. Right. How
does one encourage the average American to find time to
be quiet, to sit down and edify themselves? his brain
and elevate his soul. How do you do that?
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I think one of the steps that I was guided toward,
and I, and I really did feel this because I,
because I've been in radio for 46 years, I didn't
know what it was like to be with people because
in radio you envision people. And so, so therefore I
took a job at a grocery store because I just
wanted to be with real people. And the one thing
that I learned, they were never happy to see me.
(22:20):
But by God, they loved it when I saw them.
You know what I mean by that? And I swear
to God, that's how you get to people. And when
you've got them, you say, by the way, there's a
new book out called The Writing Marriage. I'm thinking you
need to pick it up.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Oh, you are one of a kind, my friend. Okay. Okay.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
But you know what I mean, though? It starts in
the conversation. And so we've got to get the conversation started,
prime it up, get that motor running and get that
monkey on that track.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
All right. So you're saying to be very proactive. Yep.
All right.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
People want to be led. You know that people want
to be led. I mean, that's like when Jesus sat
down at the well with the woman, that woman wanted
to be led. She wanted to be shown a different way.
She wanted to go back to the people so that
she could have a message for the people. And she did.
And it changed everybody. And it was all because of
a conversation at the well that everybody else would have
just shunned away from.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Well, now, see, that's an interesting way of thinking about
that encounter, because I would have thought that she wanted
to be seen.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Oh, I'll give you that.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, I think that's what Christ was able to see
who she was. And she was shocked. Right.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
And then go and then go beyond what he saw
to tell her what she could be. That's right. That,
of course, that, of course, did. take her places. That's
why she went back and told everyone. So you're right.
She was also being led.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
See, and that's just like when Jesus sat down on
his knees and he wrote in the sand. In my
heart as an author, I said, that was the very
first writing instrument. He wrote in the sand. Why aren't
we all writing? Because he did it in the sand
and everybody read it. That's right.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
You see how weird we are? We are weird being
writers because we understand the calling and we acted upon it.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah, well, the writing life is not so simple, is it?
It's complicated. It's complicated. You spend so much time alone
with your thinking.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
That can be good. That can be bad. How did
Oscar handle a situation like that when it came time for,
I don't want to say alone time, because when you're
going in there with those characters, those characters are very
much in your ears.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Well, Oscar had two sides to him. He was perfectly
comfortable and happy being in his office, writing eight hours
a day, if not 10 and being in another world
with his characters. And he had also a very social
side to him. It was, On stage, he was very
much the showman. And I think if you saw him,
(25:17):
let's say, reading at the 92nd Street Y or any
venue around the country, you would probably have the impression
that he was comfortable communicating, being affable, upbeat, and sharing
with his readers. But I would say more than that,
he was of a solitary sort. He very much lived
(25:40):
in his head. And loved being in his head, thinking
about his collections, history, memories, what life could have been
like if he had been born in Cuba. He often
talked about that. But yeah, I mean, he was, he
had both sides to him.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
And the fact that you understood that, because I often wonder,
people always go, man, you're lucky to have my wife, Lee,
in your life. And I'm going, you have no idea
how lucky I am because I don't know how she
puts up with me as a writer. I do not.
Because you're right. We live in so many different worlds
mentally and physically that when we come popping out, it's like, oh,
my God, you're still here. How about that? I love you.
(26:23):
Thank you for being here all these years.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Well, yeah. Being a writer myself, I understood the pressures
that he was facing only 10 times more than me.
And I accommodated his needs because I understood them. And
of course, I was so in love with Oscar. He
was my soulmate. I explained that in the memoir. That
(26:50):
it was just, in my mind, a privilege to be
his wife. I loved every day. we had together. Yeah,
every day was a gift to be with my husband.
He was just a very, very special, unique individual with
multi talents, who had a grasp of reality that most
(27:15):
people don't. And then a language to convey that, which
was thrilling, to be able to communicate on such a
beautiful level on such a creative level yep and I
was the recipient of that so I never thought of
it as being a burden to be married to my
(27:37):
brilliant husband I really thought I was one of the
blessed ones.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Wow Where can people go to find out more about you?
Because 25 minutes with you is never going to be enough.
And I'm going to ask you that we get back
together again very soon because I love where you are.
I love that you're open to talk about it because
so many people go, oh yeah, I'm a writer. We'll
talk about it. No, no, no. That's what I love
about you, Lori, is that you're willing to share the experience.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
That's why we're on this earth to share.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Oh, God, I love your heart. Oh, my God, you're
saying the right things. Holy God.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Thanks, Arrow. I'm really enjoying talking to you. I have
a new friend now. Wow. Wow. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Well, you be brilliant today, okay? And thank you for
blessing my life today. And I know that it's going
to reach out there. This is outreach in full forward motion.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Oh, thank you, Arrow. I just appreciate you and your
message and what you've done for my book and for
me today. And I would love to come back to
talk to you.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Well, you be brilliant today, okay?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Thank you. You too, Arrow.
Arrow.net. A-R-R-O-E.net. It's not just a podcast. It's 20 different
podcasts with episodes going at all times. The goal is
to give you the power of choice because how many
times have you gotten in the car or at work
and you go, what do I want to listen to?
What do I want to listen to? Oh, God, I
don't want to hear that. Oh, I'm so tired of
hearing the news. Oh, I don't want to hear another
actor's interview. Oh, my God, what am I going to do?
(00:23):
One place, arrow.net, A-R-R-O-E.net. Enjoy your exploration. Hello and good morning.
Happy Friday, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Mr. Collins, you have one of the most energetic, forceful,
happy voices I've heard in a long time.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Oh, man, thank you so much. It's because I'm passionate
for this opportunity to share conversations.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I hear that in your voice. It's unusual and uplifting
and frankly hopeful.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Well, the thing is, is that you're holding on to something.
There are many times, Lori, that I really do feel
like that you have the needle in the haystack and
you're saying, this isn't just for me. I want to
share this with people. And so now we've got to
find those people. So all of a sudden, you know,
the universe puts us together because the universe was having
tea one day and they said, we got to get
Lori and Arrow together so we can get a conversation started.
(01:18):
And then it's going to become a tea party and
then we're all going to sit around talking about writing
a marriage. And I mean, you see how it works?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah. Well, you are infectious, for sure, in the most
wonderful way. You really are. You're quite something.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Do you see yourself as being an explorer when it
comes to words? Because it seems like the word exploration
has taken on a brand new image.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Hmm. Could be. Actually, for this book, I was more
of an archaeologist than an explorer, but I suppose I
was both. I don't think I thought of that concept
when I was writing, though.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
But you're giving us an opportunity to have a better understanding.
And that to me, that's a chance. That's courage. That's confidence.
That means that you turned around and faced the fire
and said, I'm going in. I'll let you know what
I see when I get in there.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, I've always done that. You see, I've had a
rather challenging career, even though it's been very successful. It's
been very tough because most of my books are unique.
They're unusual books. And when my agent would approach an
editor and the editor would ask, what is it comparable to?
(02:33):
She couldn't give an example because my work has been
so different. Yeah. And I suppose I believe in my
my mission. I think that's what it is. I never
have given up. I never thought of it as courage.
I just believe in being steadfast. I'm basically a communicator. Yes.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Oh, now you're speaking my language, Laurie. Oh, my God. Yeah.
And you can't turn it off, can you? I mean,
it's like, oh, I got it. I'll be right back.
I got to go do something.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
You are funny. You have so much energy. You're making
me feel a little better. I've been having a hard
time getting myself off the ground this morning, but you're
doing a very good job.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Now, who is your mentor teacher in the way that,
you know, because I always, since 1994, July, I was
in Carmel, California, and that's how I hooked up with
Julia Cameron, with The Artist's Way. And it's just one
of those things where it's like, when you get up,
you do your daily writing, then you go talk with
people who understand what daily writing is, and then you
make your way to trying to find who's going to
(03:42):
read the daily writing. How can you not be inspired
by a journey like that?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Hmm. Well, for the last few years, I've been living
in a small town where there is a very, very
tiny group of people who are interested in reading. So
I haven't found this community of individuals who think like
me there. But of course, here you're surrounded by writers
(04:10):
and people who love to read. New York City is
such a wonderful place.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
I love just walking in New York City. People always
ask me, you're going to take an Uber? You're going
to take a cab? I'm going to walk. I'm going
to walk. I just want to feel this.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah. It's, I think, the finest walking city other than Rome.
I love to walk in Rome, too.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
So when you're walking around New York City, I mean,
my last book was really based on I walked into
a comic store, which I didn't know was on this road,
and I saw a girl in there with orange hair.
That became the subject of my next book. I knew
right then on the spot I was going to write
a book. I didn't know what it was going to
be about, but it had to include the girl with
orange hair. You have to be the same way. I mean,
(04:54):
your eyes do the speaking. The rest of you just
tries to catch up.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Mm-hmm. Something similar happened to me with my last novel.
I was in Brussels, Belgium, in a lace museum. And
I love lace, ancient lace. And I saw this piece
and it was identified as a circumcision cloth from the
(05:19):
16th century. Yeah, I didn't know that there was such
a thing. And it was this intricate, magnificent piece of workmanship.
And in that very moment I knew I was going
to write a novel about a group of Spanish nuns
who were lacemakers. So yes, it's happened to me. See
(05:40):
what you just described.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
That's the connection I'm talking about that you unveil. You
speak of things that we see on a daily basis.
And all of a sudden we're walking through a Barnes
and Noble or on Amazon. We see a book like this.
We're going, Oh my God, I was just thinking about this.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
How often do you come to New York City?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
I wish it was more times. I mean, it's one
of those things where they try to keep coaxing me
up there, but I have this beautiful forest in Carolina,
and this thing has me by the neck. It says,
you ain't going anywhere, buddy. You're going to sit here,
and you're going to write all day. See, my writing
doesn't come from me. It comes from the soil of
this forest, and I owe everything to these trees and rocks.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Wow, what a beautiful thought. I love that.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Where do you get yours? Who is your muse? What
is your muse? Where is your inspiration hailing from?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
I would say the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Oh, love you, love you, love you, love you. Amen.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Yep. I get it.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
That's how it works for me.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yep. I get it. I get it.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I think it's the intention to be a steward. When
I was growing up, that was a message that I heard.
on a weekly basis to be a steward. And I
knew from a very young age that I was meant
to be a writer, to be working with people globally,
(07:09):
that I was going to have a very unique life.
I knew this. And I knew that Spanish was going
to be a part of my life and that I
was going to be in unusual circles and being in
a small town and Having my friends listen to me
say these things, they were amused. They would laugh. But
(07:30):
I knew it. Yeah. I've never been to Charlotte, but,
you know, I taught at Duke.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Really?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
For 11 years. Yeah. Wow.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
You were that close.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
I love the triangle. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
It's a beautiful state.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
It has. And I've always said there's either something in
the soil or it's the curve of those back road highways. Because,
I mean, you get on those back roads and it's
like you are flowing with jazz. And there's just something
about it. And you can't help but want to be creative.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Well, yeah. I mean, it's a magnificent land.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
So now when you have a book that's called A
Writing Marriage, there's going to be people that are going
to walk into a bookstore. And the only reason I'm
bringing this up like this is because there's a movie
out right now called Is God Is? And they all
think it's a religious movie. No, it's the furthest thing
from that. But yet they're judging it because of that
word G-O-D in the middle of it. When you're looking
at a book called A Writing Marriage, you know people
(08:31):
are going to come up and go, oh, really? What
is Laurie up to this time? And so how can
we get listeners to understand you are reaching further, I
swear to God, further than what you ever have?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
How do you know that? And what makes you think that?
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Because I feel it. And because man, when I do
some research, I go digging and, and because it's not
that I'm looking for dirt. I'm looking because I, I know,
and you know, there is somebody sitting in a bedroom
right now with about six tablets underneath their bed or
in the attic, and they're not going to release it.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Why?
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Because they're afraid. And it's going to take someone like you, Lori,
to say, don't be afraid. Let it go. It doesn't
belong to you.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
That's for sure. It, That's right. The message that I
conveyed really did not belong to me. It came from
me for others. That was precisely what I was thinking
when I was writing. And I wrote a writing marriage
in a church. So I was thinking about the spiritual
side of marriage as well as the regular parts of marriage,
(09:35):
the sort of business side of marriage, the daily part
of marriage.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
I think.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
For me, the overriding need was to make certain that
Oscar Higuelos, my extraordinary, brilliant novelist husband, would be understood
for future generations as well as his readership now. The
People would understand what his soul was, who he was
(10:04):
as a human being, because novels can give you the
wrong impression of a person in much the same way
that an actor can give you the wrong impression of
himself or herself. Writers and artists are expressing all sorts
of emotions and thinking, but the real person is usually
(10:27):
not understood or never known. Very few people get a
chance to meet the author's work through the author. And
I wanted people to see that he was such a sweet, beautiful, generous,
kind soul. Um, yeah. And that marriage, our marriage was
(10:50):
so beautiful.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Please do not move. There's more with Lori Carlson. How
way low's coming up next. You're going to love this book,
a writing marriage from Lori Carlson. How way low's is
my interpretation of Oscar wrong. And please correct me in silly.
I felt that he knew and understood his readers and followers.
(11:13):
But when it came to real life, his heart was
still back in the writing. And because you know how
we are as authors, do we ever really leave the story? Because,
I mean, it's almost like when we put the book
down for the day, the writing discipline is over, and
we go about the world, we're studying. We're looking for
things that we can add to a paragraph. Am I
(11:33):
wrong about Oscar? Because I really feel like in reading
it that he understood who he was reaching, but in
that moment where he wasn't writing, He sought the people
that he knew were reading. If you know what I mean,
I mean, because I mean, I'm talking like a writer
now because people go, why do you do what you do?
Because there's somebody out there that I know needs this.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Well, let me think about this. Oscar was highly intellectual
and that he was talented. a person who read voraciously
on all sorts of topics. He loved ancient history and
(12:16):
he loved science. He loved math. He loved poetry and
art and comic books was one of his passions. He
was interested in so many subjects. So he was truly
an intellectual and talking to him was a thrilling experience,
but He didn't intellectualize the process of writing. Oster was
(12:38):
very much, if I may say so, a laborer. He
was a worker. He just got down to business. And
I don't really think that he thought about who he
wanted to reach, Arrow. I think what he was thinking
(13:00):
about is how he could make people understand think better,
act better in the world, be better, strive for higher ideals.
These were the things that were on his mind. The
big issues, love, faith, eternity, what this means to be
(13:25):
on this earth. And for Oscar, and people really didn't
know this side of him, He was very much a
person who believed in God's goodness and strove, I think,
really to convey that in his writing. He was a
compassionate writer. If you read all of his works, you'll
(13:48):
know that even though his characters had major flaws, Oscar
felt kindly toward them. He had mercy for his characters.
He was a very loving creator.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
And you got to spend time with his unpublished work.
That would be like my wife coming inside this studio.
I've got 32 years of daily writing. I always tell her,
just go through the book. What was I thinking? Go
to the books. It's all written in the books. Go
to the raw writing. What did you feel when you
went to the unpublished works? I mean, we're talking about
the stuff where the perfectionist had to wait on the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Well, it was, it was heavy. And it was emotional,
very emotional going through his archival matter. There were hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds of boxes. To answer this more
(14:52):
specifically regarding Blue Antiquity, I was stunned by the between
his major characters, protagonists, Victor Mercado and himself, because Victor
was Oscar in a different profession, in a different guise.
But Victor's thinking was very much Oscar's thinking. And this
(15:20):
individual is a scholar whose passion is archaeology. Oscar was
not a scholar, although he in the formal sense of
the word, I would say. He was first and foremost
an artist who had scholarly leanings. But Victor is the
(15:40):
son of Cuban immigrants, and he makes it in a
certain way. He becomes well-known in his field. And his
area of interest is the life of Christ. Now, that
was kind of a surprise to me, because even though
Oscar was was Catholic and believed in the Trinity and
(16:03):
was very much interested in the saints and the life
of Christ, I had no idea that the center of
this masterwork was truly about that and faith. And then
coming upon all of the ancillary materials that he was
reading and And researching for this novel, that also surprised
(16:25):
me because Oscar was collecting pictures of saints and many
books about Jesus. I wondered, was Oscar thinking about mortality
because Victor knows that he's going to die and keeps
this knowledge to himself? And Oscar, from the time he
(16:49):
was young, had been told by physicians that he would
not have a normal life expectancy because he had nephritis
as a child and his system had been compromised. But
Oscar ended up dying not of any kidney issue or
renal issue. It was a massive heart attack. Oh, boy.
(17:10):
But I wondered if Oscar might have been in the know,
so to speak, if he had... An understanding of when
he was going to die, because it was so prescient
and so eerie as I was reading about this character.
(17:31):
Does that answer your question?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
It does. And it takes me so deep into so
many questions. And probably the biggest one that is just
screaming to be asked is that as that author, Oscar,
as well as yourself, because everything that I do is
in the name of Christ. Everything that I do. And
I felt like that, that I was structured in the way. Okay, dude,
(17:53):
you can write about me all you want. You can
talk about how your love for me is the greatest thing.
You can save people's lives, but you're going to have
to put it in the language of somebody who was
walking the street. That is a nonbeliever. And did you
guys do that with your writing as well? Where it's
like you, you got the original idea. You got that message.
But then you had to do what I call hidden
speak and you twist it a little bit and all
(18:15):
of a sudden it becomes a novel and it's not so,
you know, glory based or anything like that, but you
still kind of push it forward in a way of saying,
I did my job, Lord. Thank you so much for
showing up for the other creative side of it.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Well, the writing or the art that comes from one,
whether it's music or painting or writing, has to come
from a healthy soul. So rather than think about how to,
let's say, compose or manipulate raw material into saying what
you are, I think you have to act out your faith.
(18:53):
You have to be that example. Yep. And I came
upon this book published in 1957 by chance in my
mother's church in Jamestown, New York, where I wrote the book.
I wrote the book in a church library. It's actually
a cathedral. And the title is The Radiant Life. And
(19:15):
I devoured that book in one sitting. It was written
by a British minister. a Methodist who said, why is
it that people of faith go around moping and look
so miserable? Right? That anybody who meets you should see
radiance in your being. That is the message that you
(19:37):
are walking around showing others that God is love and light.
And if it's not being shown on your face and
in your actions, something is truly wrong with your alignment.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
So that's how I would respond to that. I don't
think it was, let's say, a conscientious decision to show
faith in the writing, but to be the person you
could be essentially proud of yeah and hopefully that person
is creating something reflecting the light.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
That reminds me of Stephen Furtick, who is my pastor
at Elevation Church here in Charlotte. And he always gets
up there and he says, you know how you elevators are?
It's the energy that you bring into it. You got
to bring, they know that you're from Elevation because they
see it. That's right. Because they can, they can see it,
but they don't know how to identify it. But man,
(20:37):
they can tap into it.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Yeah. Errol, you're amazing. You're a preacher yourself. My goodness,
you have such a talent for speaking.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
It's 46 years of radio. I mean, you know, it's
because I'm so, so much in love with authors. And
with writing and the ability to write. And I can't
figure out why people say, I can't write. I've got block.
I've got this. And I go, why are you using
these excuses? If that's your excuse, put it in a book.
Do something. Put it in a paragraph and just see
(21:10):
what it looks like and smell it.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
My question for you is, how do you reach people
where they are to make them curious enough about reading again?
Because My experience in, let's say, Jamestown, New York, where
I was born, is that people don't read. Right.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Oh, they read headlines. They read the first paragraph of
the headlines and make up a decision. That's their reading nowadays.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Yeah, but they're not reading literature at all. Right. How
does one encourage the average American to find time to
be quiet, to sit down and edify themselves? his brain
and elevate his soul. How do you do that?
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I think one of the steps that I was guided toward,
and I, and I really did feel this because I,
because I've been in radio for 46 years, I didn't
know what it was like to be with people because
in radio you envision people. And so, so therefore I
took a job at a grocery store because I just
wanted to be with real people. And the one thing
that I learned, they were never happy to see me.
(22:20):
But by God, they loved it when I saw them.
You know what I mean by that? And I swear
to God, that's how you get to people. And when
you've got them, you say, by the way, there's a
new book out called The Writing Marriage. I'm thinking you
need to pick it up.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Oh, you are one of a kind, my friend. Okay. Okay.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
But you know what I mean, though? It starts in
the conversation. And so we've got to get the conversation started,
prime it up, get that motor running and get that
monkey on that track.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
All right. So you're saying to be very proactive. Yep.
All right.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
People want to be led. You know that people want
to be led. I mean, that's like when Jesus sat
down at the well with the woman, that woman wanted
to be led. She wanted to be shown a different way.
She wanted to go back to the people so that
she could have a message for the people. And she did.
And it changed everybody. And it was all because of
a conversation at the well that everybody else would have
just shunned away from.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Well, now, see, that's an interesting way of thinking about
that encounter, because I would have thought that she wanted
to be seen.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Oh, I'll give you that.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, I think that's what Christ was able to see
who she was. And she was shocked. Right.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
And then go and then go beyond what he saw
to tell her what she could be. That's right. That,
of course, that, of course, did. take her places. That's
why she went back and told everyone. So you're right.
She was also being led.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
See, and that's just like when Jesus sat down on
his knees and he wrote in the sand. In my
heart as an author, I said, that was the very
first writing instrument. He wrote in the sand. Why aren't
we all writing? Because he did it in the sand
and everybody read it. That's right.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
You see how weird we are? We are weird being
writers because we understand the calling and we acted upon it.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah, well, the writing life is not so simple, is it?
It's complicated. It's complicated. You spend so much time alone
with your thinking.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
That can be good. That can be bad. How did
Oscar handle a situation like that when it came time for,
I don't want to say alone time, because when you're
going in there with those characters, those characters are very
much in your ears.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Well, Oscar had two sides to him. He was perfectly
comfortable and happy being in his office, writing eight hours
a day, if not 10 and being in another world
with his characters. And he had also a very social
side to him. It was, On stage, he was very
much the showman. And I think if you saw him,
(25:17):
let's say, reading at the 92nd Street Y or any
venue around the country, you would probably have the impression
that he was comfortable communicating, being affable, upbeat, and sharing
with his readers. But I would say more than that,
he was of a solitary sort. He very much lived
(25:40):
in his head. And loved being in his head, thinking
about his collections, history, memories, what life could have been
like if he had been born in Cuba. He often
talked about that. But yeah, I mean, he was, he
had both sides to him.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
And the fact that you understood that, because I often wonder,
people always go, man, you're lucky to have my wife, Lee,
in your life. And I'm going, you have no idea
how lucky I am because I don't know how she
puts up with me as a writer. I do not.
Because you're right. We live in so many different worlds
mentally and physically that when we come popping out, it's like, oh,
my God, you're still here. How about that? I love you.
(26:23):
Thank you for being here all these years.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Well, yeah. Being a writer myself, I understood the pressures
that he was facing only 10 times more than me.
And I accommodated his needs because I understood them. And
of course, I was so in love with Oscar. He
was my soulmate. I explained that in the memoir. That
(26:50):
it was just, in my mind, a privilege to be
his wife. I loved every day. we had together. Yeah,
every day was a gift to be with my husband.
He was just a very, very special, unique individual with
multi talents, who had a grasp of reality that most
(27:15):
people don't. And then a language to convey that, which
was thrilling, to be able to communicate on such a
beautiful level on such a creative level yep and I
was the recipient of that so I never thought of
it as being a burden to be married to my
(27:37):
brilliant husband I really thought I was one of the
blessed ones.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Wow Where can people go to find out more about you?
Because 25 minutes with you is never going to be enough.
And I'm going to ask you that we get back
together again very soon because I love where you are.
I love that you're open to talk about it because
so many people go, oh yeah, I'm a writer. We'll
talk about it. No, no, no. That's what I love
about you, Lori, is that you're willing to share the experience.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
That's why we're on this earth to share.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Oh, God, I love your heart. Oh, my God, you're
saying the right things. Holy God.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Thanks, Arrow. I'm really enjoying talking to you. I have
a new friend now. Wow. Wow. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Well, you be brilliant today, okay? And thank you for
blessing my life today. And I know that it's going
to reach out there. This is outreach in full forward motion.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Oh, thank you, Arrow. I just appreciate you and your
message and what you've done for my book and for
me today. And I would love to come back to
talk to you.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Well, you be brilliant today, okay?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Thank you. You too, Arrow.
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