TRADITION BY VERONICA JORGE
December 22, 2017 by Veronica Jorge in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as Contributions, Magnum Opus, Traditions, Veronica Jorge
Holiday traditions; we all have them.
I usually initiate December by watching, The Bishop’s Wife, a 1948 black and white picture about an angel, Cary Grant, sent to help a Bishop, David Niven and his wife Loretta Young, with a cathedral project and a strained marriage.
Monty Woolley portrays my favorite character, Professor Wutheridge, who’s always on the verge of completing “the next greatest history of Rome since Gibbon.” The trouble is he can’t find anything new to write about. Time is passing by and whenever he walks by the local church cemetery, he feels likes he’s shopping for a new apartment. He despairs of ever finishing his magnum opus. Yet, scholarly and old as he is, it does not prevent his heart from believing that Grant is a real heavenly angel.
Another of my holiday traditions is reading Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, mostly for the uplifting sentiments that it addresses. One of the thoughts I find most touching in the film version with Alistair Sims is spoken by Mr. Fezziwig when he explains that he has spent a lifetime building up a business, not just for the money, but to preserve a way of life.
The 1996 movie, The Preacher’s Wife, a remake of the original The Bishop’s Wife, features a Christmas song performed by Whitney Houston, Who Would Imagine a King?. Written by Mervyn Warren and Hallerin Hilton Hill, the lyrics poetically relate Mary’s awe concerning the child entrusted into her care who would one day change the world.
When I measure my own life by these standards, I find that, like Professor Wutheridge, I too want to find something new to write about; to make some lasting contribution to the world of ideas, discoveries, and literature. But what can I say that has not yet been written? In what new way can I convey the world of the heart or express an eternal truth? And I realize that, like Mr. Fezziwig, preserving a way of living and thinking is important to me too.
I consider the Creator of the universe who made us in His image and likeness and I cling to the hope that the choices I make in living and in writing can make a difference in the world. Perhaps I may one day write a lasting novel that will become a tradition for readers. Better still, that my magnum opus will be the work-in-progress of a life well-lived that makes the world a better place because I am here.
See you next time on January 22nd.
Veronica Jorge
Manager, Educator, and former High School Social Studies teacher, Veronica credits her love of history to the potpourri of cultures that make up her own life and to her upbringing in diverse Brooklyn, New York. Her genres of choice are Historical Fiction where she always makes new discoveries and Children’s Picture Books because there are so many wonderful worlds yet to be imagined and visited. She currently resides in Macungie, PA.
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H.O. Charles December Featured Author
December 21, 2017 by marianne h donley in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as books, fantasy, HO Charles, reading
H.O. Charles is an Amazon Top 100 Sci-Fi and Fantasy author of The Fireblade Array – a #2 best-selling series across Kindle, iBooks and B&N Nook in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy categories (#1 would just be showing off, right?)
Okay, it did hit #1 in Epic Fantasy in all those places… BUT DON’T TELL ANYONE because no one likes a bragger.
Though born in Northern England, Charles now resides in a white house in Sussex and sounds like a southerner.
Charles has spent many years at various academic institutions, and cut short writing a PhD in favour of writing about swords and sorcery instead.
Hobbies include being in the sea, being by the sea and eating things that come out of the sea. Walks with a very naughty rough collie puppy also take up much of Charles’ time.
It’s Nice to Be Important, But It’s More Important to Be Nice by @meriamwilhelm
December 20, 2017 by Meriam Wilhelm in category A Bit of Magic by Meriam Wilhelm tagged as Christmas, kindness, magicI enjoy including interesting quotes when writing my blogs and even sometimes in my books. So I’m always looking for new ones to add. Many times I find the quotes inspirational, sometimes funny and often motivating. While I love to include comments from famous world leaders, educators and even fellow authors—I’ve rarely included any quotes offered by actors. Not that I intentionally rule them out—it’s just been that way… until today.
“It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
What famous human being uttered those profound words, you ask. It may surprise you to learn that the insightful thoughts were offered up by none other than Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock. He said them while celebrating his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last week. When asked what the recognition meant to him, he shared that it was all about family…about working hard and surrounding himself with good hard-working people…about the happiness he found in always sharing his gratitude for his friends, family and for his professional success.
His words struck me and I decided to try to put them into action. I thought—I should be more like him. It’s not that hard—after all, I can be a nicer personcan’t I? But man, during this crazy holiday season, it turned out to be a lot harder to do than I had expected.
Whether I was interacting with a cranky postal worker, a harried sales clerk or a nasty fast food server – I challenged myself to try and remember The Rock’s words…”it’s important to be nice”. It was exhausting at first and at times I had to grit my teeth and force a smile on my face. It would have been so easy to give up and succumb to my feelings of frustration and fatigue.
But once I got started, I have to tell you that I found that the tides quickly turned when I took the time to offer a kind word of understanding or gratitude when confronted with an unpleasant individual. I’m not sure if my smile and nice words embarrassed others into change or made them just stop a moment to think about how they were acting—but more than once I heard surprise, relief, and far nicer words offered back to me in place of anything negative. And it felt pretty good and rather empowering to project niceness in place of nastiness.
Thanking the grumpy postal worker for her hard work during these busy days caught her totally off guard. She actually stopped, looked me in the eye, and touched my arm as she smiled and thanked me for noticing and wished me a Merry Christmas too! I admit that I had a little more of a struggle with the store clerk who rang my sale up wrong not once, but twice. Yes, I really did want to choke her until I noticed her eyes filling with tears as she looked at the long line of unhappy folks waiting behind me. I turned around and faced the formidable crowd, smiled and said, Ain’t Christmas great! I’m sure that a few of them wanted to kill me right there, but it seemed to give the kid behind the counter enough time to figure out her mistake and to actually ring up my order correctly. I left wishing her a Merry Christmas and she sighed a thank you and squared her shoulders ready to take on the next customer with a smile on her face.
It hasn’t been easy and I haven’t been always been successful. More than once I’ve had to choose to swallow a comment with a smile rather than announce what a craptacular job I thought someone was doing. I’m glad that I happened to hear The Rock the other day and I actually appreciate the challenge he unknowingly sent my way. It’s been tough to say the least, but I’m going to keep trying to be nice…because it’s important!
Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
The Write Spirit by Jenny Jensen
December 19, 2017 by Jenny Jensen in category On writing . . . by Jenny Jensen tagged as holidays, reading, reading about writing, writing
We’re in the midst of the celebration season: Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Cuanza, Wilkie Thumbnoggin. (Okay, that last one is just me but he’s a dear old friend and I only hear from him at this time of year; he leads such an interesting life. Can’t wait to hear what’s happened since that kerfuffle last year on the Isle of Jersey with the sea lions and Prince Charles.) It’s also the season of giving – or if giving isn’t practical, then sharing.
I’d like to share with you some wonderful books – the fiction kind – about writing. We’re all readers and writers and we all read and write for different reasons. I read to learn something, to escape, to relax, to be entertained and, of course, to edit. But sometimes I read for therapy (as a 21st century American, I need a lot of therapy). My favorite therapy books are the fictional tales about writers. These stories deal so satisfyingly with the fears, annoyances and obstacles I run up against in my work in the same way you experience them in yours.
There’s nothing like a good writer examining the perils and pains of their craft through the lens of fiction. It’s not only enjoyable but also comforting to read an author’s take on the hazards we all face when we sit down to write. They address the dreaded writer’s block, the struggle for discipline, the angst of working with publishers and dealing with fans (think King’s Misery). The concept of a writer writing about writing is rich with a million possible premises because this business is – and always will be – about limitless possibilities.
[tweetshare tweet=”Editor Jenny Jensen’s Top Five Picks … On Writing” username=”A_SliceofOrange”]
Here are five of my picks. Some you may already have read but if not, I hope you’ll enjoy them.
Foul Matter, Martha Grimes (2004)
Ms. Grimes gives a grand romp through the egos, posturing and Machiavellian plotting of the industry of writing.
Blind Submission: A Novel, Debra Ginsberg (2006)
A wonderful indie look at delicate author sensibilities, the struggle for those next 1,000 words and the uses of an editor.
Piranha to Scurfy and Other Stories, Ruth Rendell (2001)
The title story offers the most satisfying rebuttal (or is it revenge?) to those obsessive readers who cannot let go of what they perceive to be a misplaced comma or an ‘incorrectly’ used word.
Plot It Yourself, Rex Stout (1959)
Every writer fears a charge of plagiarism. This tale is about a sort of reverse plagiarism and makes me ponder the infinite possibilities one can spin off an original premise.
Breakfast At Tiffany’s, Truman Capote (1958)
We never learn much about the narrator except that he’s a struggling writer. It’s through this writer’s eye that a rather tawdry story becomes magical. It’s the narrator’s portrayal of Holly Golightly, the way he invests her with an almost mystical quality that reaffirms for me the power of a writer’s vision.
If you can add to this list, I hope you will share. I’d love to read those tales about writing that have given you, if not therapy, at least a little wry solace. So happy reading and celebrate well this season!
Jenny
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December 14, 2017 by marianne h donley in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Fantansy, Featured author, HO Charles
H.O. Charles is an Amazon Top 100 Sci-Fi and Fantasy author of The Fireblade Array – a #2 best-selling series across Kindle, iBooks and B&N Nook in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy categories (#1 would just be showing off, right?)
Okay, it did hit #1 in Epic Fantasy in all those places… BUT DON’T TELL ANYONE because no one likes a bragger.
Though born in Northern England, Charles now resides in a white house in Sussex and sounds like a southerner.
Charles has spent many years at various academic institutions, and cut short writing a PhD in favour of writing about swords and sorcery instead.
Hobbies include being in the sea, being by the sea and eating things that come out of the sea. Walks with a very naughty rough collie puppy also take up much of Charles’ time.
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