Category: creative writing
American museums, American writers, Americana, Angels and Demons, creative photography, creative writing, Magic Realism, new perspectives, Photography, popular culture
This man is unable to speak, photo by author
Today,there is silence everywhere.
January 17, 2018 yeyerightman of stone, PMA, Portland Maine, sculpture, silence, sounds of silence, statues2 Comments
The Times They Are A Changin'
Bob Dylan, creative writing, literature, popular culture, popular music, Writing
Bob Dylan playing at the recent Azkena rock festival in Barcelona,Spain in 2010
A couple of weeks ago (October 13th, 2016), the Nobel Prize Committee in Sweden awarded Bob Dylan the Nobel Prize in Literature. This particular award has raised some eyebrows, since even though Dylan has penned one autobiographical book, Chronicles (2004), and one book of poetry (1966), called Tarantula, he is not really considered a literary writer. There is even a sequel to Chronicles in the works, but no one, not even Mr. Dylan knows when the manuscript will actually be released to the general public.
Here, is what Mr. Dylan will receive at the awards ceremony. (if he shows up)
Bob Dylan, the Songwriter
What Bob Dylan did do, was to create a body of music and lyrics that has rocked the music industry since the early 60s. Undoubtedly, it is this accomplishment that has earned him the prestigious award and the large sum of money ($900,000) that comes with the little piece of gold. Starting out as a protest folk singer, the Minnesota native has continued to produce new and intriguing music right up to the present day. Some of his lyrical masterpieces that may have helped him earn the award, could include such timeless hits, as Maggies Farm, Desolation Row, Positively 4th Street, Like a Rolling Stone and My Back Pages. Of course any list like this, is highly subjective, as is the award itself.
P.S. His last two releases, Shadows In the Night (2015) and Fallen Angels (2016) consist almost entirely of Frank Sinatra covers.
A Proverbial Can of Words
My first reaction to the announcement that Dylan had been nominated for the award, was one of surprise, for this seemed to be a major change in direction for the Nobel Committee. True, it has been over a hundred years since the first awards were passed out by the Swedish and Norwegian (Peace Prize only) delegates, but still this choice has the airs of travelling down a new road that will forever change the nature of the highly-regarded, Literature Prize.
The new direction seems unfair and perhaps disrespectful to all the writers across the planet who work daily in creating words that communicate to readers instead of those who prefer to get their words of inspiration from the international music industry. All in all, this is not a good development that may lead to problems in the not-so-distant future. Perhaps, creating a special award for songwriters would be a better alternative.
Rigid Guidelines
Over the past two weeks since the award was announced, I have undergone a gradual transformation in my thinking. For one, I have always admired Bob Dylan for creating an oustanding musical and lyrical body of work. There is absolutely, nothing superficial about what the man is done.
What is important in considering the importance of this choice, is the way the Nobel awards are set up. Created in 1900 by the Swedish scientist and inventor, Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Foundation only gives out medals in the endeavors of literature, chemistry, physics, peace and medicine, which is sometimes referred to as physiology. Nothing less, nothing more. And since all this is willed by the late Mr. Nobel, there is no way to change the categories, except by expanding the intellectual ground that each award covers.
So this is why I am more excepting of the commitee's choice and I do look forward to see who in the near future will receive the literature award.
Yesterday, October 28, 2016, Bob Dylan finally responded to the Nobel Committee, which for the last two weeks, had been trying to contact the reclusive American songwriter. In a statement sent to the Nobel Committee, he said he would accept the prize and also attend the awards ceremony in December, if he could. This closes a two-week period, when no one knew whether or not Mr. Dylan would accept the award or attend the award ceremony.
This modest house in Hibbing, MN is where Bob spent his younger days
October 29, 2016 October 29, 2016 yeyerightBob Dylan, literature, music, Nobel prize, Nobel Prize for Literature, popular culture, songwritersLeave a comment
Don't Write What You Do Know, Write What You Don't Know
American novelists, American writers, Americana, creative writing, Twenty First Century, Writing, Writing Advice
Even though N.C. Wyeth was born too late (1882) to know any actual pirates, his paintings and illustrations of these colorful characters still inspire viewers today. This illustration was first published in Treasure Island.
You might say that writing memoir is like pirating your own life.
Quotation From Toni Morrison
"When I taught creative writing at Princeton, my students had been told all of their lives to write what they knew. I always began the course by saying, "Don't pay any attention to that." First, because you don't know anything and second, because I don't want to hear about your true love and your mama and your papa and your friends." by Toni Morrison
Good-bye To The Memoir
Everyone seems to start out writing memoir, and perhaps…….the unfortunate ones get successful at it. Look at Jack Kerouac. His second novel On the Road was a smash hit. It even got him on national TV……but at age 47, Jack was dead, victim of severe alcohol abuse. Jack London didn't fare much better after his series of successful fiction and non-fiction titles. I'm sure everyone has read the short story, To Build a Fire, but how many know that he died at a young age of 40 from a complication of various medical problems including alcoholism.
Now it's also very possible that having the name of Jack may have lead to the early demise of these successful authors, but no matter how you feel about this premise, I still think that evolution beyond the first person narrative is a good thing for a writer. Just by looking at the lives of famous authors, you might postulate that writing the truth can be a difficult thing to outlive.
Recent picture of Toni Morrison
Say Hello To an Octogenarian Novelist and College Professor
Her name is Toni Morrison and she teaches fiction writing at Princeton University. She is also a Nobel Prize (1993 for Literature) recipient and her 11th novel, called God Help the Child, is due to be released this month and is probably already on the bookstands. (Sorry I haven't been to a bookstore lately, so I can't verify this.) In a recent interview with her old editor and collaborator, Alan Rinzler, Toni delves into how it is important for young writers to get away from the old concept of "write what you know" and venture into the brave new world of "write what you don't know". This may be an invaluable piece of advice for writers regardless of age or experience level.
Maybe It's Better To Fib A Little
So, what's the moral of the story here. Well, it goes like this. If you fib a little bit, then you might live longer. It's kinda like eating hard candy and drinking red wine. That is when done in moderation these things, which are supposed to be bad for you actually relieve some of your stress, thus leading to a longer life.
A very imaginative painting by N.C. Wyeth, entitled Giant
This surreal painting is simply called Giant. It was done by the master illustrator and painter, N.C. Wyeth. Just in case you've never heard of Newell Convers Wyeth he is the first generation of that famous American triad, which also features Andrew and Jamie. If you ever get a chance to see this painting in person, go do it. You won't regret it, for this is an impressive, large oil painting that will most likely completely take over any space where it is exhibited.
April 30, 2015 April 30, 2015 yeyerightAmerican novelists, God Help the Child, Jack Kerouac, Jack London, N.C. Wyeth, To Build a Fire, Toni Morrison, what you don't know, Writing, Writing AdviceLeave a comment
A House Made of Sky
American novelists, American writers, Americana, books, creative writing, current events, literature, Writing
A high plains sunset in Sioux Falls, SD photo by author
A Montana One-of-a-Kind Passes Away
Since noted Montana writer, Ivan Doig, passed away this pass week, I deciced to honor the famed author of This House of Sky with some comments and a series of sunset photographs from the West. Though Ivan spent most of his adult life in the Seattle area, he did grow-up in the shadow of the Montana Rockies and wrote extensively from that experience. One of his best known books was This House of Sky. It was a memoir of his Montana youth that became a finalist for the National Book Award.
Sunset with tree silouhettes in Taos, NM
Western Childhood
Ivan Doig was born in 1939 in White Sulfur Springs, not too far from the Big Belt Mountains and the state capitol at Helena. He grew up in a family of homesteaders and ranch hands. His mother died at age six, so after that tragic event, Ivan was raised by his father and grandmother. Soon thereafter they moved north to a different part of the state, where the family's main occupation was sheepherding. Doig stayed in Montana until educational pursuits drew him away from the state, first to Northwestern University in Illinois and finally to the University of Washington, where he obtained an advanced degree in American history. Ivan would remain in Washington for the rest of his life.
Clouds above Billings, Montana, photo by author
Last Bus To Wisdom
Even though Ivan Doig just passed away, there still is one more book on the way. The novel is called Last Bus To Wisdom and it will not be officially released until August of this year. The publisher is Riverhead Books and this autobiographical story revolves around an eleven-year old boy from Montana, who is sent to the Midwest to stay with some friends of his caretaker, a middle-aged woman, who needs to undergo an emergency medical operation.
The visit to Minnesota does not go well and soon the boy from Montana is back on the bus home with a surprise companion. This posthumous traveler's tale falls in line with a lot of the western tales that Ivan wrote during his lifetime and should consolidate his well-deserved reputation as one of the best Western storytellers of the 20th century. The book is definitely on my reading list for this year.
Sign for Empire Steel Manufactoring Co. in Billings, MT, photo by author
April 12, 2015 yeyerightAmerican writers, Big Sky Country, Ivan Doig, Last Bus to Wisdom, memoirs, Montana, novels, sky pictures, sunsets, This House of Sky, Western writersLeave a comment
Why We Read (and write) Horror
American cinema, American writers, Americana, creative writing, fiction, film noir, horror, literature, new perspectives, popular culture, Writing, Writing Advice
"We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones." by Stephen King
The Joker from the Dark Knight
Those Terrifying Flying Monkeys
I have a confession to make…….I could not watch The Wizard of Oz all the way through until I was 14 years old. It was always the flying monkeys that would send me running away from the TV set and into another room, where I would bide my time reading a book or some such activity until the movie ended. Even my younger brothers were able to sit through the whole movie before I was able to. Why I was so terrified of these fictional animals I do not know, I just know that there was something very primal in them that frightened the Dickens out of me.
In fact, we all seem to have a few basic fears that storytellers from past ages to the present have tried to exploit. And as Stephen King expressed in the opening quote, their motive may not always be financial, for there is also the innate need to develop an effective way to prepare ourselves for any misfortune or disaster, which are bound to come our way from time to time.
Living In the City Where Stephen King Was Born
For over ten years I lived in the city where Stephen King was born, Portland, Maine. And to be honest, the place is a beautiful city on a series of hills that overlooks a saltwater bay. The port has picturesque lighthouses, ocean-going freighters and popular seafood restaurants that specialize in boiled lobsters. Not by any stretch of the imagination can Portland be considered a dark-spirited place. So where did King get his stories. They must have been internalized.
King's Memoir Almost Comes Home To Haunt Him
Stephen King's book On Writing, A Memoir of the Craft, started out just like any other book on writing. Put rear end in chair and type. But then a demon showed up, a middle-aged man in a SUV. Accident or not, he ran Mr. King over and near killed the famed author. As a result, On Writing differs from other treatises on the same subject, because the details of Mr. King's horrendous accident and miraculous recovery become part of the story. Even Mr. King could not escape his own stories.
Quotes On Horror
"There are moments when even to the sober eye of reason, the world of our sad humanity may assume the semblance of hell." by Edgar Allan Poe
"[Horror fiction] shows us that the control we believe we have is purely illusory, and that every moment we teeter on chaos and oblivion." by Clive Barker
"Most of the laugh tracks on television were recorded in the early 1950s. These days, most of the people you hear laughing are dead." by Chuck Palahniuk
"It's a dance. And sometimes they turn the lights off in this ballroom. But we'll dance anyway, you and I. Especially in the Dark. May I have the pleasure?" by Stephen King
"Demons are like obedient dogs; they come when they are called." by Remy de Gourmont
"I think perhaps all of us go a little crazy at times." Robert Bloch, Psycho
"The last man on earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door." by Frederic Brown
"There are horrors beyond life's edge that we do not suspect, and once in a while man's evil prying calls them within our range." H.P. Lovecraft, The Thing On the Doorstep
"It's not the books of Stephen King that I read,
I need protection from the things in my head…." by Jimmy Buffett
"Imagination, of course, can open any door – turn the key and let terror walk right in." by Truman Capote from In Cold Blood
A scene from The Wizard of Oz, where a winged monkey takes an order from one of the witches
March 1, 2015 March 1, 2015 yeyerighthorror, horror quotes, horror writing, Stephen King, tales of horror, The Wizard of Oz, writersLeave a comment
African-American literature, American novelists, American writers, Americana, books, Contemporary Fiction, creative writing, current events, e-books, popular culture, Writing
Star Formation in the Tadpole Nebula
Image Credit: WISE, IRSA, NASA; Processing & Copyright : Francesco Antonucci
Good Riddance to 2014
Though 2014 has not been all that bad a year, I am more than glad to see it banished into the realms of past history. For me, as a writer, this past year has been one of great promises, all of which seem to have gone unfulfilled or turned into dead-end back alleys. All the good contacts and leads, which I had so painstakingly advanced, dissolved into nothing.
Then there was the closing of Yahoo Voices, a site which I had started to contribute to, way back when it was called Associated Content. Finally, as of this year, the site was beginning to produce some real revenue, but as soon as that begin to happen, YV closed it doors and took all articles off the web with just a 30 day warning…….2015 has to be better!
Important Literary Events of 2014
By far the most important literary event of 2014 was the ongoing feud between Amazon and Hachette. Although this dispute was settled last month, just in time for the Christmas sales, the ebook pricing agreement will affect all the large publishers, who wish to sell ebooks on Amazon.com. Another important Amazon action that will affect many self-publishing Indie authors is the introduction of Kindle Unlimited (commonly called KU) by Amazon. This decision will be especially detrimental to authors, who sell a large number of self-published ebooks in the $2.99 to $7.99 range through Kindle Select. Stay tuned for there is more to come on this new development.
And finally there is the most recent success of The Interview, a recent Sony pictures release that depicts the death of the leader of North Korea. This is a complex story, where Sony originally eighty-sixed the movie after hacking repercussions, but later released the movie in an unique way that has made the dark comedy a smash hit around the globe.
In Passing
For me, the most notable passing has been the death of Maya Angelou, theaward-winning African American writer, who penned such American favorites as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes. Also gone are Thomas Berger (author of Little Big Man), Nadine Gordimer (July's People), Graham Joyce, P.D. James and Ralph Giordano (a holocaust surviver and author).
2014 Success Story
One of the most amazing events of 2014 was the landing of a ESA spacecraft on a moving comet. On November 12, 2014 the Rosetta spacecraft successfully landed on the Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko and immediately started beaming back pictures, such as the one below. Unfortunately, a notably 20th century problem has now disconnected the adventurous, ESA spacecraft from the planet Earth. And that problem is low batteries, which is something many of us experience all the time.
The Cliffs of Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko
Image Credit & Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO): ESA, Rosetta spacecraft, NAVCAM; Additional Processing: Stuart Atkinson
What the Future Might Bring?
image from the Vimeo short film titled The Wanderers, which was created by Eric Wernquist and Christian Sandquist and features the words and voice of Carl Sagan.
To view The Wanderers go to the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day site, here.
December 28, 2014 yeyeright2014, Amazon-Hachette, in passing, literary events, looking back, Maya Angelou, Rosetta spacecraft, The Interview, writersLeave a comment
Stolen Stories
books, Canada, creative writing, new perspectives, Writing
illustration by Henry Kane of North country canoeist
Before the Internet
Before the internet came rolling around way back when, books were an important way of discovering strange worlds that were unknown to us in our day-to-day routines, which most of us lead. And as you go further back in time, before the TV network news, movies and the color photographs, you might find that the written word had an added importance in telling people about the strange worlds that existed across the seven seas and into the interior of some of the most isolated spots on the planet. Our world would have been a whole lot poorer, if it wasn't for the likes of such writers as Jonathon Swift, Jules Vernes, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mary Shelley or William Shakespeare.
Cache Lake Country
For me, one of the most vivid books of my youth was Cache Lake Country, which was written by John J. Rowlands and illustrated by Henry B. Kane. I grew up in central Maryland where the winters were not so severe and not all too long. So to read about two men who spent an entire year in the North Woods of Ontario, Canada was spell-bounding to say the least. The most fascinating part of their tale was their life on snowshoes, which lasted approximately from December till April. The fact that no photographs are part of this book, only adds to the mystique of time and place, even though the manuscript was published in 1947, when cameras were well in fashion.
When I wrote Le Loup de Garou (see previous post), I borrowed from two parts of the Cache Lake book. One part of the short story is influenced by the account of a real-life lumberjack, who gets turned around on one of the coldest nights of the winter and spends most of the night outdoors attempting to gain his bearings. Finally, he comes across a lighted cabin, but not before developing a minor case of frostbite. And then there is the title, which comes from a French-Canadian legend in regards to a wolf-man type of creature that haunts the North Woods at night. So there it is in a nutshell, on how to be influenced by real life experiences, even though they might only appear in book form.
Cache lake woodlore as illustrated by Henry Kane
December 17, 2014 yeyerightCache Lake Country, Canada, French-Canadian werewolf, Le Loup de Garou, North Woods, Ontario, storytelling, winterLeave a comment