An interview with Julie Ortolon
Julie
Ortolon, ’83 is a successful writer in a hot genre, the romance
novel. Her books are inspired by her own life experiences of struggle
and success, by the Texas Hill Country and its diverse, sometimes
very strange people, and by an imagination honed by a childhood spent
locked inside a small person that the world had labeled “slow
learner.”
SCENE interviewed Ortolon at her home outside Austin.
When
you were a child, was your dyslexia understood by family, teachers
and friends and if not, what kinds of misunderstandings did you have
to deal with?
When I started school, we lived in Colorado, which had some sort of
special program, but since I’m drawing on my memory as a first
grader, it’s all very vague. I do remember it was fun, and I
didn’t feel singled out as having anything wrong with me. I
felt “special” in a good way.
When I was in the second grade, my family moved to Texas, and things
went downhill in a hurry. The school had no special program and little
understanding of dyslexia. Remember, this was back in the 60s, when
a lot of people had never even heard of it. The principal told my
parents I was mentally retarded and should be removed from public
school. My parents were outraged, because they knew I was very bright.
In seeking out help, my parents found a research facility here in
Austin that was studying dyslexia. I became one of its guinea pigs.
Every Wednesday, my mom would take me out of school for half a day
so doctors and researchers could observe me while I played games,
solved puzzles, did all kinds of fun things. Pretty sweet deal for
a kid who hates school. One of the scientists got the bright idea
to glue electrodes on my head and monitor my brain waves. They had
to cut off my hair to get the glue out. I like to think some of those
studies back in the 60s are helping kids today.
I recently spoke at a middle school for students with
dyslexia and saw that things are very different now. None of those
programs was available when I was growing up. As a result, I hated
school. Hated it with a passion. Hated it so much I became physically
ill and had to take tranquilizers my whole senior year just to get
through the day. I can’t tell you how many times people said,
“If you’d just try harder.” Which implied that my
problem was laziness. Sadly, I believed it. I let people put that
in my head to the point that it destroyed my self-esteem. Looking
back now, knowing what I know about myself and about other people
with dyslexia, I’m outraged at the way the school system demoralized
me. Learning
isn’t a matter of trying harder, it’s a matter of trying
the right way. Telling a student with dyslexia that if they’d
just try harder they could keep up academically is like telling a
child in a wheelchair that if they just tried harder they could keep
up on the track field.
When I finally escaped the tortures of public school, I had no intention
of going to college. Mostly because I couldn’t read well enough
to take the SAT. Of course, I couldn’t read well enough to fill
out a job application, write a check, or take a phone message without
help and a lot of embarrassing mistakes.
One of the frustrations of being intelligent but illiterate is that
you’re condemned to working brainless, boring jobs when everything
inside you craves challenge. You feel as if a vital part of you is
atrophying and you’re helpless to stop it.
After a couple of years of drifting, I realized something
drastic had to change. That’s when my parents mentioned Schreiner
again, and I finally listened. I’m very glad I did. Schreiner
changed my life by giving me back my self-respect.
Schreiner showed me that learning doesn’t have to be hard. It
can be fun, and exciting and easy—when you have the right approach.
Having access to tutors and taking my tests orally made a huge difference!
It was the equivalent of someone building a wheelchair ramp to finally
give me access to a building I’d always longed to enter. My
grades jumped from barely passing to As and Bs. I remember having
the highest
score out of the entire class on a history final and being completely
stunned.
Do
you think that there is any relationship between dyslexia and high
levels of artistic/literary creativity?
I do. I have nothing to back this up, but my theory is that being
dyslexic makes you use more of your brain to process information.
Like a muscle, the more you work it, the stronger it becomes. So,
whatever natural ability you have grows into its full potential.
As for how this relates to me personally, I survived my early school
years by staring out the window, making up stories in my head. I learned
to retreat into my own private world that was very adventurous and
vibrant in detail. I basically had a mental movie screen, and I was
the writer, director and star of every film. This habit of retreating
fits in perfectly
with the profile of most authors.
To paraphrase Robert McKee, author of the much acclaimed book on writing,
titled “Story,” all writers suffer some traumatic event
in their childhood that skews their perspective and makes them observers
of life rather than participants. I have yet to meet an author who
disproves this. Actually, I have yet to meet one who even disputes
it!
Before I turned to writing, I concentrated on art, which was my major
at Schreiner because that was the only area of my life where I consistently
received praise. It was also one of the few ways I had of expressing
myself. And again, there’s that job thing. I didn’t have
a lot of career options, so I pursued art very seriously as a profession.
I’ve sold my own work and the works of others, designed a line
of art wear and jewelry that was wholesaled to galleries across the
country, owned a gallery and managed another, and most recently worked
in advertising layout and design. These were all things I could do
with very low reading and writing skills.
The day I discovered that computers have spell check, though, I dropped
art and went after writing with a singleminded intensity that was
nothing short of obsessive. I basically spent the next five years
learning how to read, type and punctuate, on top of learning the craft
of novel writing.
I’ve always been a natural story-teller, but there was a lot
of craft to learn. And I hate to say this, I really do, but in the
end “trying harder” worked. But I was finally trying harder
with a tool, the computer, and I was going after something I wanted
passionately enough to make the hard work a small price to pay.
Do the characters in your novels have
to deal with any of the developmental issues that you have dealt with
in your own life?
Rory St. Claire, the heroine in “Falling for You” had
dyslexia, but that wasn’t something I planned. I was actually
well into the rough draft when I figured it out. I never set out to
write a novel about a woman with dyslexia, it just evolved on its
own. Her struggles were a part of the story, but not the focus. Although
writing the scene where Rory reveals her dyslexia to the hero, Chance,
was very cathartic.
Are there any advantages for a young
person with
learning disabilities to choose a smaller school like Schreiner over
a larger school like University of Texas at Austin, for example?
Absolutely! In a huge university, you’re lost in a sea of
students. At Schreiner, the student/teacher ratio allows all students,
not just those with special needs, to receive a lot more individual
attention. There’s also the social aspect of getting to know
the other students well. And, let’s face it, the campus is gorgeous!
What would you say to a “normal”
student who might be considering attending Schreiner but who worries
about going to a college where there are learning disabled students
on campus?
I don’t know whether to laugh and be sarcastic, or be
offended. On the want-to-laugh end is the temptation to say “Well
it’s not like dyslexia is contagious!” On the offended
end: Do people think the level of teaching is “dumbed down”
because of that program? If so, that’s ridiculous! Good grief!
Considering the fact that people with dyslexia frequently score higher
than the norm on IQ tests, why would anyone think this? All right,
maybe I can see it a little. After all, when I was seven I was accused
of being mentally retarded but that was the ignorance of the day.
There is no
reason for anyone to think this today. The reality as far as the ‘normal’
people on campus is that the Learning Support Services programs all
happen outside the classroom and don’t effect or change the
classroom environment at all. If I needed a tutor, we met in the library.
If I needed to take a test orally, that was done in a separate room.
None of the LSS programs available to students affected the classroom
environment or campus lifestyle any more than when a university study
group meets at Starbucks after class. It’s simply a non-issue
for anyone who doesn’t
need the programs and shouldn’t affect their decision on whether
or not to attend Schreiner at all.
Are there any faculty or staff who you
remember from Schreiner with special affection?
Going to Schreiner had a big positive impact on my
life. I owe a debt of gratitude to a lot of the faculty who encouraged
and helped me. And wow, there were so many. I guess the most significant
memory is the short story contest I entered for the school magazine,
“The Muse”. I’ve always had stories in my head and
struggled unsuccessfully to write them down. This was before the era
of computers. When I heard about that contest, though, I desperately
wanted to enter. So one of the women who worked in the office volunteered
to help me. I wrote my story out longhand the best I could—my
handwriting is atrocious—and then we worked together so she
could figure it out well enough to type it for me. That’s the
first story that ever made it from my head onto paper. I won first
place, and a $50 prize. Talk about a boost to the ego! I cried my
eyes out when they gave me the check. And even though I now receive
checks in much larger amounts on a regular basis for my work, I will
never forget that $50 prize.
Another highlight of attending Schreiner was Andy
Edington’s Bible studies class. I remember going in the
evening, and the place would be packed! Far more students attended
than were actually enrolled. His stories riveted the whole classroom.
Wow, there were so many people who affected me in a positive way,
I couldn’t possibly list them all. I’ve often wanted to
thank them, though, for the encouragement they gave me.
What advice would you give to a Schreiner
student who is concerned that they can’t write or communicate
well?
I attended Schreiner decades ago, so I don’t know all
the programs you have now. I just know that for me the experience
of attending Schreiner was as different from high school as night
from day. The faculty and staff have a wonderful understanding of
the challenges that face bright people with learning disabilities
like dyslexia. They don’t condescend. They assist.
As you can tell, attending Schreiner had a huge impact on my life.
Before that, people who knew me told me I wasn’t stupid, but
until I began making those As and Bs in a real university environment
I didn’t believe them. Now I do. I won’t say life has
been clear sailing since. We all have demons to conquer and challenges
to overcome. Self confidence, though, is one of the greatest weapons
we can wield when pursuing our dreams. Schreiner helped give me
that self confidence.
Julie
Ortolon rocketed onto the book scene in March of 2000 when her first
romance novel, “Drive Me Wild,” hit the USA Today bestseller
list and was selected by the Doubleday Book Club. The following year,
she matched that success with “Dear Cupid,” which Romantic
Times Magazine praised for being “endearing, emotional, and
romantic!”
Titles in her Pearl Island Trilogy, “Falling for You,”
“Lead Me On,” and “Don’t Tempt Me” have
garnered her a Bookseller’s Best Award for Best Single-Title
Contemporary of 2002, and positive reviews in Publisher’s Weekly
for being “heartwarming and at times heartrending” reads.
As a native Texan, Ortolon enjoys setting her stories in her home
state.
Her upcoming trilogy will feature three Texas women, friends since
college, who travel to Santa Fe, Colorado, and the Caribbean to fulfill
separate challenges. “Almost Perfect,” “Just Perfect,”
and “Too Perfect” are scheduled for release in autumn
of 2005. Readers can learn more about Ortolon and her books, or contact
her through her website: www.ortolon.com
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