ROMANCING THE MUSE

Subject: Consumed by Words!
Time: 12:43:08 AM EDT
Author:  jofarr9
Mood:  Determined

In The Writer's Idea Book by Jack Hefflon in Chapter Fifteen "Minding Other People's Business" the last sentence of the first paragraph says:

"Sometimes, as writers, we live a bit too much in our heads, blind to what's going on around us."

Raise your hand if you are guilty of that.  In my case I raise both hands.  I'm the guy that puts dinner in the oven but forgets to turn the oven on because my mind is still on my current writing project.  I've been accused of being "absent-minded" when I'm working on a new project.  That may be partially true, particularly when I'm working on a longer piece of fiction, like a new novel.  I don't mean to be "absent-minded", but I can't help it.  I'm consumed by the words trying to find their way to the printed page.

Sometimes those words come pouring out and I can hit a thousand in under two hours.  Sometimes it takes a little more effort to get them out; and sometimes I have to rewind because of "false beginnings".  An example would be one of my latest works.  I got twenty-seven pages into a new novel and hit a block.  It wasn't writer's block per se, but the ideas weren't coming together.  Fortunately, I wasn't so far in that I couldn't retrace my steps and begin again with a fresh start and a new title, "Sons of the Fallen".  Now the words are flowing much easier.

So what do I do with that old "false beginning"?  Do I toss it out?  No!  "False beginnings" are ideas that haven't had time to mature yet, so I put them in a file and keep them for a future date when I can mine them for new material. 

Written by jofarr9 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Subject: A Writer is a Student of Everything!
Time: 9:38:37 PM EDT
Author:  jofarr9

When writing is your life's calling time-managenet can often be a challenge.  Embarking on new writing projects can be exciting, but when one works from home distractions abound.  I have the only Internet connected computer, and other family members have to sometimes take care of online business.  My brother, for example, is a photographer with work displayed at Flickr.com.  When I write I disconnect the computer and go outside.  Thank God for lap top computers. 

I have been intensely focused on finding literary representation with the type of contacts I can make at the upcoming Editors and Agents Conference in Austin.  Unfortunately I won't be able to go this year because I will be in Florida at the time.  I haven't been away from home in two years and that is pretty hard for someone who has been used to traveling all his life.

Keeping Mom on a schedule with her medication is also my responsibility.   I've been her nurse ever since she got out of the hospital after her stroke in February.  When I was a kid I wanted to go into the medical field, but that was not my life's direction.

I'm a writer, so I'm a student of everything!

The Crabs & the Box is a story (fable) about believing in your dreams and never giving up even when discouragement comes your way.  It is scheduled to be published in Apollo's Lyre in August.  Never let discouragement get you down, and continue to press forward for your goals. 

 

Written by jofarr9 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Subject: The Nephilim Chronicles
Time: 4:09:27 PM EDT
Author:  jofarr9
Mood:  Hopeful

Sometimes searching for the right literary agent to represent my work can get discouraging.  I sent another query letter off today, hopefully it will meet success.  I’m working on the third book in the Nephilim Chronicles of which Eyes of the Nephilim is the first.  Technically See No Evil doesn’t mention the Nephilim, but it does tell the story of one of the characters in the third book, Nephilims Return.  I’m also concentrating on Whispers in the Cornfield which I hope to turn into a serialized novelette.

 

“Friends Forever” is scheduled to be reprinted in the Taj Mahal Review next month.

Written by jofarr9 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Subject: Thanks, Mom!!!
Time: 2:22:52 PM EDT
Author:  jofarr9
Mood:  Chillin'

Where would we be today without mothers?  They carry us before we are born.  They nurture us when we are young.  They care for us in sickness and health.  And often times they are the first ones we run to when something is wrong or we have a problem.  Too often they are taken for granted for all the things they do and we take one day out of the year to honor our mothers; although, I believe they deserve their own week or maybe even their own month.  As I sat down to write today I began to consider what my Mom has done to put me on the path to where I am today.  One of my greatest influences as a writer is my mother.

When I was a little boy barely learning to read and drawing pictures in books – I would draw lines between the lines, kind of like a maze – my mother said to me one day: “Toys are for Christmas and Birthdays.  The rest of the time you are getting books.”  I still got toys when I wanted them of course, but books became my first love. 

Tom Sawyer became one of my best friends.  I spent time on the island with Robinson Crusoe.  I solved mysteries with Sherlock Holmes.  I followed a white rabbit down a hole to Wonderland with Alice.  I traveled with Dorothy down the yellow brick road.  I traveled with the children through the wardrobe to Narnia and enjoyed all the books in the series.  I loved reading, and a love of reading led to a love of writing, a love that put me on track to where I am today. 

 

So in honor of the day, and for all that she has done to bring me to where I am – not to mention all the support and encouragement in my writer’s journey – I have to say:

 

“THANKS, MOM!!!”

Written by jofarr9 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Subject: The Candy Man Lives
Time: 9:41:41 PM EDT
Author:  jofarr9
Mood:  Hopeful

I have two passions in life.  Writing, of course, is a given.  The other is theatre.  Between 1991 and 1995 I called the UTPA theatre my second home, performing in productions such as The Wind in the Willows, Little Shop of Horrors, Alice in Wonderland, The Rover, and Hamlet.  When I was on stage I was backstage, working the technical side of things.  My always having candy to give out – and flowers and anonymous poetry posted on the bulletin board – earned me the nickname the Candy Man.

After 1995 I left the theatre to take a five year sabbatical.  Later I learned my theatre family thought I dropped off the face of the earth or ran off to South America to become a missionary.  No, I didn’t become a missionary in South America, but I did do a bit of traveling, meeting new people, and gaining new experiences.  Today some of the people from my theatre days – they were barely in Junior High back then – don’t remember my name, but they do remember me as the Candy Man.

 

Last week there was a production of Alice in Wonderland in 3D at STC, and I was given the privilege of playing the Cheshire Cat.  Old habits returned and before the last performance everyone again knew the Candy Man with his bag full of Hershey’s Kisses, Werther’s Original, and chocolate Riesens.  The theatre bug bit and I feel like my old self again.

 

This past Saturday there were two performances of Alice in Wonderland with a four hour wait between each show.  What did I do during the long hours of waiting?  I wrote a sonnet:

 

When I get lost in sweetest dreams of you

My heart does soar above the greatest heights;

As the great eagle spreads his wings in flight

My longing soul keeps your sweet face in view.

With my last breath in this waking land

I will whisper the beauty of your name;

And with my longing heart as the light wanes

I will yearn for just the touch of your hand.

And if my love is called into question

May my words find room somewhere in your heart;

And in your recollection find a home.

And in times alone in separation

When our longing hearts are too far apart

May the light of love guide us when we roam.

 

A few weeks ago I gave one of my business cards to a friend who used to be the editor of Valley Christian News.  He has embarked on further writing ventures and called me last week about a business proposition.  He wants to meet for Breakfast in the morning and go over a few ideas.

Written by jofarr9 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Subject: Facing Challenges
Time: 4:12:37 PM EDT
Author:  jofarr9
Mood:  Chillin'

How many times do we perceive obstacles to our goals in life and hesitate to move forward any further when the obstacles we perceive are only bumps in the road made bigger in our minds than they really are?  I’ve encountered situations in life that seem insurmountable until I step back to take a closer look at them.

 

An example would be college algebra.  Ever since the eighth grade I always thought I couldn’t do it.  I used the excuse I’m a writer, not a mathematician.  That manner of thinking followed me all through high-school, and when I got to college, although my career plan didn’t require any form of mathematics, college algebra was required.  I put it off for years and when I failed college algebra the first time I was put on academic probation.  My other scores were on the mark, but college algebra eluded me.  However, my professor did assign an extra credit assignment.  We needed to write a report on an algebra related topic.  I wrote on the concept of infinity, and my professor acknowledged that I was a writer…but I still didn’t believe I could accomplish anything in mathematics. One day I realized I needed to face my dragon.  A lot depends on the professor’s style of teaching as well as study habits.  I took a semester to concentrate fully on college algebra.  Studying the formulas until it became automatic.  When I did that I got an “A” in college algebra, something I never believed I could do.  College algebra wasn’t an obstacle.  When I applied myself to it I found I actually enjoyed it, especially matrices.

 

For years I perceived another obstacle to my academic goals, basically financial.  I have been planning to go back, but I have been putting it off.  Yesterday I went to talk to a guidance counselor to help me get back on track, and when I went to inquire I learned that what I thought was an obstacle was merely a bump in the road.  I now see how to get back on track.

 

The same applies to a lot of obstacles we face in life.  We may see them as being bigger than they really are until we face them had on and realize they weren’t obstacles at all.  We then chide ourselves for waiting so long to face them. 

 

They aren’t obstacles but challenges to be faced!

Written by jofarr9 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Subject: Have faith that something good can happen
Time: 2:26:02 PM EDT
Author:  jofarr9
Mood:  Happy

I got another rejection letter Wednesday; technically it wasn’t a letter but an email.  However, after the successes of the past couple of weeks it can’t get me down.  I’m already searching the market for my next submission destination and the agent search is ongoing.  As I said back in January, this is my year.  If you want something good to happen you need to have faith and believe it can.  So, sure disappointments come in the form of rejections, but this is my year and I will hold to that.

My brother is going to work for the USDA doing the same type of field work I did for Fish & Wildlife.  He still has to write his resume, but my sister-in-law who is married to my other brother is a USDA scientist pushing for him, so I’m pretty sure he has it.  It’s the type of work I love, but I’m not going to take it from him.  I’m too busy with my writing.  If he gets the job he has to be in McCook at 6AM.  That means he will have to leave out around 5AM just to make it which also means he will have to wake up around 4AM to get ready for work. 

 

He is also the photographer of the family which means he will have ample opportunity to take photos of the early morning sunrise and the beauty of the sky at dawn.  That is also the perfect time for viewing wildlife: jackrabbits, raccoons and javelina. 

 

If the opportunity arises again I might take a similar job, but my main focus at the moment, besides my writing, is getting back in school.  My second sabbatical from the hallowed halls of learning has gone on long enough.  I see where I want to get to, an MFA, residency programs, Fellowships, and perhaps studying abroad.  But in order to get there I first need my BA.  I almost have it.  I just need to get my schedule back on track.  That means going to talk to a college guidance counselor which I am planning to do this afternoon.

Written by jofarr9 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Subject: The Writing Process
Time: 4:18:22 PM EDT
Author:  jofarr9
Mood:  Hopeful

All writers are different.  We each have our own work routine.  There is no one way in which to compose.  I for one like packing up my laptop and going to sit on the swing underneath the carport outside.  There is something about being outside that makes me feel freer than when I’m confined to my writing desk.  Thank God for laptop computers.  Outside I can clearly hear the church bells chime the hour in the convent across the street.  At certain hours of the day, particularly at noon, Ave Maria chimes.  A different song chimes at 5:30 in the morning announcing the coming of a brand new day.  As I sit in my outdoor office I turn on my music and listen to the chant of the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos and I begin to write.  Where will the flow of words take me today?

In honor of National Poetry Writing Month, here is a poem that made the front page of RGV Christian Life a few years ago:

 

HIS HANDS

 

I know the one who with His hands

Set the stars in the Heavens,

Hanging each one in place with His hands.

 

He holds in storage the wind, the rain, and the snow

To be brought forth in its season by His hands

To water and nourish the forests and gardens

He has planted with His hands.

 

With His hands He set the earth in place

Turning on its axis.  With His hands

He makes the waves to roll and the mountains rumble,

Creating vast oceans and continents.  With His hands

He moves the clouds across the sky.  With His hands

He flings meteors and asteroids through space.

 

With His hands he made a man from a lump of clay

And gave him life.  And with His hand

He wrote my name.  He carved my name

Into the palm of His great and mighty hand.

 

 

“See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.”  Isaiah 49:16

 

 

 

Write on, my friends!  Write on!  Write on!  Write on!

 

Written by jofarr9 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Subject: The Taj Mahal Review
Time: 3:28:55 PM EDT
Author:  jofarr9
Mood:  Ecstatic

This year started out with a long list of rejections and discouragements, and I came to realize just what it means to say, “Writing can be hard work.”  Writing is enjoyable, but marketing your writing is where the work comes in.  But when you have faith and continue to believe in your work then good fortune may come your way.

I’m still feeling elated from the past couple of weeks.  My short story “Friends Forever” is the Story of the Month in Long Story Short and this past Saturday I received an emailed request to reprint it in the Taj Mahal Review in their June 2008 issue.  That’s got me excited and I guess I’m still on Cloud 9.

If you have a dream never give up on it.  Hold on tightly to it.  Believe in it.  If you love what you do, continue to have faith and believe, someday success will find you!

This month I also return to the theatre as the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland South Texas College.  The theatre is my other passion in life after writing.  I missed theatre life.  I performed in Alice in Wonderland at the University of Texas/Pan American back in the early 90s as the Dormouse.   Back then the theatre was like a second home to me.  I spent so much time there someone made the comment that maybe I should just bring a cot and stay there. 

 

My love for the theatre is still strong and I’m considering adapting one of my short stories for the stage later this year.

 

Meanwhile, my search for literary representation continues.

 

Write on!  Write on!  Write on!

Written by jofarr9 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Subject: NaPoWriMo
Time: 12:14:48 AM EDT
Author:  jofarr9
Mood:  Happy

It is NaPoWriMo and I’ve been too preoccupied to notice.  What is NaPoWriMo?  Like NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), NaPoWriMo is National Poetry Writing Month where the challenge is to write a poem a day.  As I said, I have been a bit preoccupied and have fallen behind.  Yesterday I went out to take a walk to get the  creative juices flowing, but I was distracted when an email came telling me the faxed contract for my short story “Max and the Marvelous Miracle Mincemeat Pie”, which is to appear in a future anthology, hadn’t been received.  I did a little bit of email tag to figure out what happened because I have the transmission verification report that assures me the fax was transmitted on March 28th.  I received an email back thanking me for a prompt response and said I didn’t have anything to worry about.  The important thing was that I contacted them.  I don’t know what happened, but they didn’t have the faxed contract, but I gave an electronic signature to give them the go-ahead and the anthology should be going to the presses within the next couple of days.  I did however fax them another copy of the original contract to cover all the bases.

My poetry flows when I’m traveling.  It is inspired by the open road.  That’s been the problem I’ve been having.  I haven’t been away from home in two years and for someone that’s used to traveling that can be a bit stifling.  Plans are in the works however to go to take a road trip to Pennsylvania and Florida this summer.  I’m looking forward to it.  In the mean-time, what am I doing during NaPoWriMo?  I do have a couple of poems in my head that haven’t found their way into print yet, and I am studying some of The Best Loved Poems of the American People, an anthology of poems selected by Hazel Felleman.

 

In honor of the month here is one of my poems.  It’s not my best, but it has always been my favorite that I wrote in a Creative Writing class at South Texas College a few years ago.

 

THE JOURNEY

 

I sit in a box enclosed by four walls

And a ceiling over my head.

I long for the sunshine to feel the warmth

On my face and to breathe

 

The fresh cool air that comes before an April rain.

I reminisce.

I walked the trails amidst the green of the mountain laurel,

Breathing the fresh air of the Smoky Mountains

 

Walking in the footsteps of my Cherokee grandfathers

In the land of blue smoke.

I hear the song of the crow in the trees.

I hear the rushing waters of the Tennessee River.

 

I stand at the foot of a roaring waterfall,

Feeling its breath and the mist on my face.

I climbed the steep mountain trails

To walk among the clouds

 

To breathe the air of great heights,

To feel the sunshine of great heights,

To see the nesting Peregrine Falcon of great heights.

I walked the wooded paths of New England

 

In the footsteps of Thoreau around Walden Pond.

The tap, tap, tapping of my walking stick

Was familiar on the streets of Concord

As I walked past the houses of Hawthorne,

 

Emerson and Alcott.  I walked to sleepy Hollow Cemetery

To the Author’s Ridge and paid homage at the graves

Of the authors.  I stood by the bridge

Of which Emerson wrote of the shots fired

 

And heard around the world,

Igniting a spark that would give birth to a nation.

I felt the cold breath of the Concord River

Of which Thoreau spoke and wrote of his journeys

 

Rafting, traveling the course of the river.

I slept in the cool foggy night to be awakened

By the honking of snow geese

Gathered in the field outside my Concord home.

 

I saw the leaves painted red and yellow

Like nature’s canvas torn in pieces

That flutter in the Autumn wind.

I stumbled through waist deep winter snow,

 

Feeling the bite of the chill wind

Against my face and my running nose.

I returned to the sunshine of Texas

I carry Concord in my heart.

 

I carry the mountains of Tennessee in my heart.

I sit and ponder in my box with four walls and a ceiling.

I hold to the past and look to the future.

Because in truth enrichment comes

 

Not from the wealth of reaching the destination.

Enrichment is gained by the journey.

 

Written by jofarr9 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own