Why do you write?
I wrote a similar blog post on July 9th, 2014, with the exact same title, but it seems like the right time to remind Authors of these thoughts of mine …)
Why do you write?
That’s a simple enough question, isn’t it? Why do you “create” could also be asked of all artists – musicians, visual, photographers, sculptors, authors … What is is that makes you want to create something? It’s a question every creator should ask themselves from time to time, but especially when they’re down, after having checked non-existent sales for the umpteenth time, or when reading lackluster reviews.
Why did you get into this in the first place?
If it was with a plan to write the next big bestseller and make untold fame and fortune then I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell to you.
But if it was for the sheer joy of creating something, of using your imagination, or your experience or your skills, to form something tangible out of your vision … well, then! Now you see the ultimate value that no one – and I mean NO ONE! – can ever put a monetary value on or judge in any way to make you feel less than you should about realizing your dreams.
I’m asking this question, Why do you write?, because there are far too many authors out there who are agonizing over the $$$ (or £££ or €€€) and the numbers of copies sold and not considering what it is about writing and creating that got them into this in the first place.
And it all had me remembering a song written by Michael Burton, Night Rider’s Lament. The chorus pretty much sums up what I’m trying to say here … (Lyrics)
Here is my Calgary pal, Tom Phillips, accompanied by Shaye Zadravec (with the very talented Mr. Dwight Thompson on guitar in the background!), instead. Great song! And there’s a bonus – Tom yodels, too …
So … don’t tell me why you write. But be sure to tell yourself – over, and over, and over again.
ABC Friday Reads & Listens – David Poulson and Tom Phillips
Since this Friday just happens to be the opening of the Calgary Stampede and the Calgary Stampede Parade has just finished winding its way through downtown Calgary, I thought I would recommend not only some good Alberta reading for your weekend, but also some great Alberta music to enjoy, whether you’re stampeding in Calgary or wishing you were!
For the reading portion, I recommend Don’t Fence Me In, A Romance of the New West by David Poulson. I sold this book many years ago when I was a rep and it was published by Red Deer College Press. It’s no longer in print, but I happen to know where you can buy a copy, so send me an email, if you’re interested or can’t find it at your local library. David has been a bareback rider, a rodeo clown and also a professional rodeo announcer, and this book draws on his experience. It’s about Doc Allen who is at the end of his rodeo career, and it’s very funny! Poulson has lived his entire life in Alberta and currently makes his home in the foothills southwest of Calgary.
Tom Phillips, too, has lived most of his life in Alberta and now resides in Calgary. I’ve known Tom for a bit longer than I’ve known David – I sold David’s book to Tom when he managed Canterbury Bookstore in Penny Lane (neither place is there any longer). Tom is better known around the province now as a singer/songwriter, and he and his band, The Men of Constant Sorrow, play many gigs – especially during this annual week of Stampede! Tom has produced a number of CDs, but the one in the photo above includes my favourite song he wrote with the appropriate title, Like a Rodeo. Click here to hear Tom perform this. Beautiful! I’ll be catching Tom’s performance at the annual Schooners’ Stampede Party this weekend. (Oh, and I forgot to mention that Tom is also writing a novel…)
So there you have it… a little taste of the Calgary Stampede for all of you to sample over this weekend of July, 2012! YAHOO!!
Island in the Clouds – *UPDATE* Print Book Launch, Memorial Park Library, June 21st!
Please join me, and some very special guests – including Tom Phillips!, at Memorial Park Library in Calgary, June 21st – also my birthday! – to help launch the print publication of my novel Island in the Clouds! We’ll be serving birthday cake and wine, tea and coffee, and books will be available to purchase, thanks to Pages Books on Kensington.
Place: Memorial Park Library, 1221 2nd. St. S.W., Calgary
Time: 7 – 8 p.m.
No registration required
Baking in Bequia 2
It’s been socked in and coolish, all morning. A big wave of rain just passed through, and it looks as though it will continue raining, on-and-off, for the rest of the day. I hope it’s not enough of a storm to delay flights from Barbados, because we have a visitor arriving in St. Vincent at 1:30 who will be taking the ferry over to land on Bequia at 5 this afternoon – just in time for drinks at the Tommy Cantina bar.
It’s Glenn Dixon, Calgary author, who is flying in. He landed in Barbados the same day I did, and is in this part of the Caribbean for their Crop Over (carnival) that begins on Sunday. How could he not come to visit me on Bequia when he is so close? Check out his website for more information about Glenn, his books, and his travels. (This really is the southern office of Alberta Books Canada – I’m still promoting Alberta authors, it seems, even though I’m not presently in the province. Old habits die hard…)
So, today’s baking will involve making something to serve Glenn at dinner tonight. And since I used the last of the yeast yesterday, it looks as though the recipe I will be baking is Cracker Bread, an old favourite that I have always served as an appetizer. I first had cracker bread, years ago, at an Italian restaurant here on Bequia that was run by a crazy Italian chef/free diver/disco DJ. At one point, an even crazier Italian friend of the chef was doing the baking. He made this fabulous cracker bread – nice and crispy, and delicious – so good that I had to try to duplicate it. I searched through my cookbooks and, again, this is another recipe I discovered in Baking With Julia, but I’ve adapted it a bit and have perfected my own method of rolling the dough out thin and long using the pasta machine. Yes, strange, I know, but I also use this machine to roll out perogy skins, and Dennis’ good Ukrainian mother would be shocked by that information, so please don’t tell her. The hand-cranked machine really does work best for more than just making pasta.
It was a no-brainer picking out the perfect music to accompany my baking today. I immediately grabbed the CD by Tom Phillips and the Men of Constant Sorrow, because Glenn and Tom played in a band together in Calgary oh so long ago. This will be almost like having Tom here with us as well – without the cigarette smoke and expense of providing too much tequila.
To serve with the cracker bread, I’m making a dip of some kind, and will add some roasted peppers Dennis had already prepared. For dinner, we’re going to go a bit local and make a Calaloo Soup, Lime and Thyme BBQ’d Fish, Peas and Rice, Coleslaw, and a local recipe for Lime Pie that is a favourite dessert for my Toronto-friend, Jim.
Here’s the finished Cracker Bread, ready to eat.
And there’s the boat, coming around the headland. Gotta go!