and I will conquer the world...

This Bird Can Sing

It is not much of a secret that my job is not a career I set out looking for. I am indeed happy for a job when many are without. And yet there is a quiet sadness that I am not following my heart towards a creative path.

However, after some encouragement I have signed up to take a fiction writing workshop with Inprint. It will begin after the first of the year. I will be expected to turn in pieces throughout the 10 week workshop, so I am going to spend the next couple of months brainstorming.

I have been asked where I get inspiration. I don't know. I am always writing. (I really hope this doesn't sound skitzophrenic) My mind is always writing, 100% of the time. I leave a dictaphone in my car to catch little poems or starts to stories that seep out while driving.

True magic just happens. I have a little orchestra in my head, we file into the concert hall. I, the conductor, tap tap tap at the music stand. We, the musicians, take a soft deep breathe in... With a swift falling gloved hand --blowing of horns, singing of strings, beating of drums begin all at once! And I the conductor take my pen and jot it down. Ok sometimes it is just noise, yet others are beautiful, spontaneous and free pieces of art. That is what it is like in my head, um somewhat metaphorically, hopefully this doesn't sound like I hear voices.
If I can corral the noise, I can hear art.

Readers!

If you love reading, you have to read Larry McMurtry's Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen. Even if you don't like westerns at all. If you are from Texas, or ever had the dream of having a library with floor to ceiling books and one of those library ladders... it will impress you. He talks about his life, but also his love for reading and books, and it changed the way I saw reading.

A few months ago I mentioned I wanted to finish a book. I was unable to quiet my mind enough. I really think (here goes the crazy again) the devil was trying to suppress my happiness. But last week I read my book.
The Road- Cormac McCarthy

It has been called his most accessible book, and I agree. It was very easy to read. It would be a great start into Cormac's style which can be difficult to get used to. I've had it for years now, just waiting to read it. It was special, as Cormac seems to be.

Now I am working on

The Harafish- Naguib Mahfouz

Review to come...

I apologize for the self indulgent last two posts.