Interview with Dina Kucera, author of “Everything I Never Wanted To Be”

By admin, on November 19th, 2010

About Dina Kucera

Dina Kucera was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After completing a project to collect and identify fifty insects, she graduated from the ninth grade and left school for good. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Her first job was a paper route, and she has worked as a maid, bartender, waitress, and grocery store checker. Dina has also been a stand-up comic for twenty years, for which she receives payment ranging from a small amount of money to a very, very small amount of money. When it comes to awards and recognition, she was once nominated for a Girl Scout sugar cookie award, but she never actually received the award because her father decided to stop at a bar instead of going to the award ceremony. Dina waited on the curb outside the bar, repeatedly saying to panhandlers, “Sorry. I don’t have any money. I’m seven.” Dina is married with three daughters, one stepson, and one grandson. She currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

Her latest book is Everything I Never Wanted to Be.

You can find out more about her book at www.everythinginever.com or visit her personal website at www.dinakucera.com.

Could you please tell us a little about your book?

It’s about a family of drug addicts and alcoholics and the trauma and hilarity that has unfolded over 5 generations of insanity.

Who or what is the inspiration behind this book?

My three daughters and the pain they have felt because of my addiction. And the pain I have felt as a result of my father’s addiction. And my fathers pain because of his mothers addiction. And my grandmother’s pain because of her fathers addiction. It’s been a long road.

Who is your biggest supporter?

My three daughters. They are brilliant and amazing.

Your biggest critic?

I am my biggest critic.

In the last year have you learned or improved on any skills?

This past year has been a year of the most growth I have ever experienced in my entire life. I have learned for the first time how to demand what I want. How to say no. How to do what I feel is best for me as oppose to what is best for the people around me. It has been a huge change. And I like it.

Who has influenced you throughout your career as a writer?

My father was not a published author, aside from short articles in newspapers. It seemed like through out my life he was always writing a book of some kind. I always thought that was interesting. This was back in the days when people didn’t have computers or word processors. He wrote everything out long hand. Then one day he got an old type writer and I remember how happy he was. I could hear him in there tapping the keys. My father was a very educated man. I am a very uneducated woman. I always thought you had to be really intelligent to be a writer. Then someone invented spell check, and here I am. Published author.

What is the most important thing in your life right now?

My book. Buy it. www.everythinginever.com

What are you currently working on?

I am taking notes for my second book. The joke around my house is that I wrote ‘Everything I Never Wanted To Be’ and that book was about addiction. Looks like it’s going to be a series.

Do you have any advice for writers or readers?

Writers: Keep your voice when you’re writing. Don’t change things because you think the reader wants things to read in a certain way. I am not brilliant. Turns out, my weakness, is my strength. It’s my voice.

What do you feel has been your greatest achievement as an author?

I didn’t think I could write a book. Then, I didn’t think I could publish a book. Now, I don’t know if anyone will read the book I wrote and published. Knock wood.

What do you feel is your biggest strength?

I think the I look at the world differently than some other people. My training as a stand up comic has taught me to get to the point when writing. As a comic, one extra word will kill you. So that’s how I write. I just say it. There isn’t a lot of describing the weather or color commentary.

Biggest weakness?

I’m not good at descriptive writing. The fact is, I’m jealous.

What do you feel sets this book apart from others in the same genre?

It’s comedy mixed with horror. How often do you get that?

You know the scenario – you’re stuck on an island. What book would you bring with you and why?

I would bring a book called, “How to build a boat”.

If you could go back and change one day, what would it be?

Oh, god. So many days I would change. One? I would change the day my grandson was born. He has Cerebral Palsy. He sustained substantial brain damage when he was born. My daughter should have had a caesarian. I feel that if I were there, in the same city, I could have caused enough of a problem that they would have listened to me. I have never said that out loud about that day. I could be wrong.

What is the most important lesson you have learned from life so far?

The only things you get in life are the things you ask for. I have never had anything fall in my lap. I have had to ask for everything I have. Sometimes you have to ask over and over. Eventually people get tired of hearing your voice and they give you the thing.

Is there anything you regret doing/not doing?

I regret that I wasn’t a better mother when the girls were growing up. I think I’ve made up for it in their adulthood, but you can’t get that time back.

What is your favorite past-time?

Watching my shows. Glee, Parenthood, Brothers and Sisters, The Office, Desperate Housewives. And of course, any show the has the word ’Housewives’ in it.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

I would like to say that I’m really sending good vibes to anyone writing or trying to publish their book. I don’t know that sending good vibes does any good. But if it does, I’m your good vibe train.

About Everything I Never Wanted to Be

Everything I Never Wanted to Be is the true story of a family’s battle with alcoholism and drug addiction. Dina’s grandfather and father were alcoholics. Her grandmother was a pill addict. Dina is an alcoholic and pill addict, and all three of her daughters struggle with alcohol and drug addiction—including her youngest daughter, who started using heroin at age fourteen. Dina’s household also includes her husband and his unemployed identical twin, her mother who has Parkinson’s Disease, and her grandson who has cerebral palsy. On top of all that, Dina is trying to make it as a stand-up comic and author so she can quit her crummy job as a grocery store clerk. Through it all, Dina does her best to hold her family together, keep her faith, and maintain her sense of humor.

Everything I Never Wanted to Be includes a number of horrific events. But in the end, it is an uplifting story with valuable lessons for parents and teens alike, and a strong message about the need to address the epidemic of teen drug addiction in our nation.

It’s a book that can change behavior and save lives—and make you laugh along the way.