"perhaps they are not the stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy" --author unknown As the holidays encroach, I'll be going on hiatus from my blog to gather more silence to feel my parents' love pouring through and shining down upon our family. I'll sign off with an excerpt of Andre Narbonne's story 'All Over', published in the Antigonish Review (Summer 2010 edition): "Between supper and bed is cards. Jimmy is my partner. He's a consummate joker. When I bid he says, "Fill your boots." When we win he says, "Good boy yourself." But it's Chloe who keeps holding up the play with her absurd table talk. She never passes, always passes "for now". . . . . . I try to change the subject on myself by asking Therese about the church. It's so large it could stand as a beacon for ships at sea and probably does. "Oh, yes," she says, "it's the biggest church in Cape Breton." "Then why the name?" "Petite Eglise? Oh, that, well, it's an old name. The church is newer." "That's the problem with labels," says Chloe who would have been a hippy twenty years ago and is now a free spirit. "They're more permanent than the things they describe. Pass for now." . . . . . .Jimmy will drive us to the train. I think Chloe should sit in the front with him. I haven't heard them exchange a word all weekend. It's not that she's forgotten him, but there's something breaking in her too. I realize that now. She is beginning to grasp the obvious. She and Jimmy were always very close, hence the rebellion and now the silence. They haven't spoken because they cannot." Parting note: Though I will miss both my parents dearly, I will always remain so grateful for their holiday gifts - by keeping the magic they instilled in me alive, it is my hope that they will live on forever... Thanks Mom & Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Holidays All, Tartan Frog
2 Comments
This past summer I drafted an article on writers and branding (cartoon really sums it up:) Sadly, I never finished the article when my Mom had a heart attack and passed away a short time later. Below is an excerpt from that article (maybe I'll finish it some day): John Macleod is a cartoonist/writer LIVING THE BRANDWAGON by Dina Desveaux Let’s be honest, what would you rather do this weekend? a) Curl up on the couch—or beneath the stars—and read (or write) a good book; b) Spend weekend drafting a unique platform that you'll later have the ability to deliver with the efficiency of a sound-byte thesaurus; or c) Call an angry dentist back (from her yachting adventures) to perform a root canal on you. Okay, c) probably wasn’t a fair option. What if I’d asked what you would least like to be doing on the weekend? I don’t know about you, but if the dentist weren’t angry, the root canal might win out over the platform. If that sounds crazy then this might not be the article for you. For those of you who are still with me on this, I ask that you read the following quote by Leonard Cohen: "There was a time you let me know What's really going on below But now you never show it to me, do you? And remember when I moved in you The holy dove was moving too And every breath we drew was Hallelujah" Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah If you are an image or a slogan or “a brand”, then please explain to me how you can, with any authenticity, write to me and show me “What’s really going on below”? How can I trust what you are telling me? Because images and brands and slogans are MEANS. Think of a corporate image, or brand, or slogan. If it’s not useful, it’s discarded. Since it was made to order, tailored for the consumer, another one may fit better. Is that what we, as writers, are destined to become? Commodities. According to Chris Hedges, we not only have to “conform to the dictates of these manufactured visions, but we also have to project unrelenting optimism and happiness” or be appropriately depressed in a poetically bohemian fashion, if that’s our brand this year. Whereas people “knelt before God and the church in the Middle Ages”, we “flock hungrily to the glamourous crumbs that fall to us from glossy magazines.” This is the mantra of our capitalist world: Everyone has opportunity. Everyone (with advantages) has (more) opportunity. Everyone (with advantages) has (more) opportunity (to prey upon the weak). The weak are pretty much fucked in this world. Commodoties are objects, like consumer products. They have no intrinsic value. Those nebulous 'theys' all tell me I should, but I can’t seem to buy in! I keep hearing that voice from the past: "You are like a snowflake, unique. Did you know that no two snowflakes are alike?" It's my Mom's voice. I guess she's a teacher, so she should know, I thought, but still...maybe I'd ask Dad. I never did resolve that question, but I've always loved those magical wonderings and those magical people, those that defy explanation. Those are the wondrous and unique individuals I've surrounded myself with. I can't imagine ever branding one of them, so why would I do that to myself? Instead, I joined a community of writers and readers who believe in good writing (and living). I wish I could, in good faith, apologize for my being such a contrarian, but I cannot. You see as much as I want my books to be read, there is something I need more than branding, and that is my dignity. --TartanFrog Did you hear? Yesterday the New York Times announced their 10 Best Books of 2010. And . . . drumroll . . . The first on their list was: FREEDOM By Jonathan Franzen. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $28. The truth: I'm feeling lazy (like lion) today, seeking time to enjoy my morning coffee, write holiday cards and finish reading: Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen. As my writerlies and close friends all know, I've recently completed a novel called Liberty Leading the People, featuring the theme of freedom. So, it will come as no surprise that this book makes me a little nervous. So far though (about 250 pages in), Franzen seems to be approaching it from a slightly different tangent, tiny sigh. The New York Times hopes to inspire you to buy a great book for a loved one for the holidays. If so, don't forget to support local writers too, especially the ones from my writers' group, the Wired Monk Writers: Drive-by Saviours (Roseway Publishing) by Chris Benjamin is the story of desire and connection among lonely people adrift in a crowded world. [I can personally recommend as a great read] You can purchase it at the bookstore or click on the link above to buy directly from the publisher. Or, if you lean more toward the science fiction/fantasy, you could purchase a copy of Simon Vigneault's novelette Stealing Fire, released in the Shelter of Daylight Anthology (a few seconds after clicking, it lines you up with Shelter of Daylight. Below the list of authors and stories there are three links for US, Canadian, and International orders). Wishing one & all a FABULOUS Saturday! Now back to Freedom:) TartanFrog Nancy Moore's paintings "open a window to the uninhibited and joyous Dance of Spirit." If you hold back from your heart's desires, you're inviting bitterness into your life. If you hold back from self-expression, your creativity will stagnate. If you hold back from taking action when called, you can become impotent with timidity. So don't. Do let your uniqueness flow freely. Do not mistake the debauchery of crass clowns born of uber-rich Hollywood types as uninhibited. To be truly uninhibited, you must take sure, fresh, and creative actions. You cannot find this outside yourself, you must look within. To my writerlies: Today try cutting loose and writing something you've been secretly wanting to find time to pen. If holiday madness gets in the way, transform your pen into a watercolour brush & make an uninhibited stroke on the page - an outline if you will, that your imagination will fill with colour later. Happy weekend all, TartanFrog Long Live the Poets of our World! Long Live John's message!! Karl-Ludwig Wendt (1944-2010) situations crawl out of the woodwork things quite beautiful and tall but the ones that usually last are the least expected and small - from "Chaste Wood", 1989 For Chris: My recommendation is that you submit the story we worked on to PRISM. (it's the second contest on that page) Deadline: Post-marked January 29, 2011 A $2000 grand prize! Painting by Rollin Kocsis About Writing & Prisms: A prism is an object with flat, polished surfaces that refract light - a story, well-polished can create light where none existed -- How 'bout that Mr. Newton? In Newton's time, it was believed that white light was colourless, and that the prism itself produced the colour. Newton's experiments convinced him that all the colours already existed in the light. He arrived at his conclusion by passing the colour red from one prism to another, finding the original colour unchanged -- thus, the prism did not create colours, but merely separated colours that are already there. Okay, I'll cut out the metaphors. Every good writer knows the importance of using all senses in their writing. Today, I thought I'd tip my hat to colour. I love the colour red. In my novel, the character of Sabine: "Sabine sat there, just as red sits on top of a rainbow—glowing, expectant, and intense". Contrast the line above with this: Moon above water Sit in solitude This is the power of light and colour! Happy scribing! TartanFrog When I first saw Frida Kahlo's painting, "Le due Frida," 1939, I instantly connected to this woman, this creative force that is Frida. (I couldn't resist including her in my novel - here's an excerpt) The two poles between which I (and Frida, and many others) oscillate are inventions of my mind. Yet, the duality has a force of its own and expedites meaning. This same driving force can be observed in the characters I try to build. It would be naive to think that we are merely organized dually -- we may all have a diversity of opposing pushes or pulls, but in myself as with all my friends, I am fascinated by the childhood essence around which we rotate, around which we are tied, by umbilical cords (or aorta), and from which we fling ourselves in attempts to explore our otherness. I spent my day Sunday, during our open house, thinking about these forces as friends came and went. To my writerlies: if you find yourselves far from the written page during these festive times, I hope you will enjoy spending it with your loved ones. You might also find that once things get back to normal (whatever that normal is), your writings will be flooded with brilliant characters. May you all publish widely and successfully in 2011!!! TartanFrog First of all - Yayyyyyyyyy!! The Wired Monks are back in the saddle, or on the rollercoaster, and the discussions (as always) were/are stimulating ...(!) Seriously, in the back of my mind all day, the topic of male/female writers narrating the opposite gender, and what about transgender??? Arrrggghhhh!!! So, I'm going to focus on my writerly dudes, and our synergetic vibes, but I couldn't help looking up a few other blogs today. Here's one that stood out. About the blogger: "The Rejectionist is a cranky, underpaid, whiskey-swilling, snack-deprived assistant to a Very Important New York Literary Agent. Don't fuck with the assistant." I can relate to that assistant! TartanFrog |
Welcome to my Blog! Archives
December 2015
© 2010 - 2012 Dina Desveaux. All rights reserved.
Search through the categories below:
All
|