“…where little boys with dirty t-shirts are called stars…”

As many of you know by now, I like to watch old TV shows. On one such show called This is Your Life, Petula Clark, the song goddess of England, was being honored. One man, who was a child star with Clark, was filmed for the event, not able to be present in person. That man was Songwriter Hall of Fame member Anthony Newley who would pass away three years later.

I chose Anthony Newley for todays #BeWoW post for his charm, elegance, and dignity to his craft and others. He represents a time long gone, when even the celebrities who were not at the top knew how to act in public and be respectful to others. Even the rock stars of his time knew respect.

Anthony Newley was an early influence on David Bowie, but that legends recent passing did not influence this selection. I only discovered that fact a few seconds before typing this sentence, long after making the selection. However, when listening to recordings of Newley from the early to mid ’60s, I do hear the sound some speak of.

Anthony Newley’s legend has fallen by the wayside for many. Perhaps not so flamboyant as to seek out the spotlight, he did his magic where it mattered most.

There are many types authors. Some are writers of books, of poetry, of newspapers. Then there are the writers of songs.

In 1996 Newley spoke the following words on the This is Your Life special I mentioned earlier.

“In a profession where little boys with dirty t-shirts are called stars, it’s truly reassuring to know that there are real stars like yourself still with us.”-Anthony Newley to Petula Clark.

Anthony Newley Quote

I believe we could say the same for Anthony Newly and many ‘music stars’ today.

“In a profession where little boys with no shirts and underwear showing are called stars, it’s truly reassuring to know that there are real stars like Anthony Newly with music that will forever be with us.”-Ronovan Hester to Anthony Newley

What Kind of Fool am I

Once in a Lifetime-Judy Garland

The film score for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Here is Sammy Davis Jr. doing his rendition of The Candy Man from the movie.

And the theme from the James Bond movie Goldfinger. Newley wrote the lyrics.

Gonna Build a Mountain-Sammy Davis Jr.

And I close with the one that may be what many recognize Newley from.
The Mad Hatter from the TV Alice in Wonder Land from the 1980s.


 

For more Writer’s Quotes Wednesday click HERE to visit SilverThreading.com, and check out the comments below for links to more #BeWoW articles. (#BeWoW stands for Be Writing on Wednesday, Be Wonderful on Wednesday, writing positively.)



Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling by PS Bartlett and Ronovan HesterRonovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in February 14, 2016. He shares his life through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has led to the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

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@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

Louis Nizer-“The excitement has never diminished.”

Who in the world is Louis Nizer? It might sound a bit crazy to some people to have a man who once held the title of highest paid attorney in the world.

Nizer was the senior partner of the law firm he began in 1926, Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin, Krim & Ballon. At the age of 92, he was still going to work almost every day until 10 days before his death in 1992. Was he a workaholic, control freak, or a man passionate about his choice of career? I’ll take that last one. For some reason I can’t see a person devoting 70+ years to unless they were passionate about it.

“The excitement has never diminished. Indeed it has grown. The challenge is ever new. The contest is ever intense. Surprise is ever present.”-Louis Nizer Attorney and Author February 6, 1902 – November 10, 1994

Louis Nizer quote Excitement Grows

A partial list of his clients:

  • Johnny Carson
  • Charlie Chaplin
  • Salvador Dali
  • Eddie Fisher
  • Alan Jay Lerner
  • Mae West
  • Julius Erving

My Life in Court was a New York Times bestseller in 1962. Included in the book, Nizer recounted the trial of Quentin Reynolds vs the columnist Westbrook Pegler. The trial became the basis for the Broadway play A Case of Libel.

Even today, at the time of this writing, My Life in Court is among the Top 10 in its category on Amazon for Kindle and Paperback.

“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.”-Louis Nizer Attorney and Author February 6, 1902 – November 10, 1994
Louis Nizer quote Hands, heart, and Brains make an artist.

“Books are standing counselors and preachers, always at hand, and always disinterested; having this advantage over oral instructors, that they are ready to repeat their lesson as often as we please.”-Louis Nizer Attorney and Author February 6, 1902 – November 10, 1994
Louis Nizer quote Books as Our Instructors

“A beautiful lady is an accident of nature. A beautiful old lady is a work of art.”-Louis Nizer Attorney and Author February 6, 1902 – November 10, 1994



Part of #BeWoW and Writer’s Quote Wednesday. Click HERE for more Quotes on SilverThreading.com hosted by Colleen Chesebro. See the comments here for any links to more #BeWoW articles and check out the hashtag on Twitter to ReTweet those positive posts that apply to the #BeWoW message of positivity sharing.



Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling by PS Bartlett and Ronovan HesterRonovan Hester is an author, with a debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in February 14, 2016. He shares his life on his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of writing, authors and community through his online world has led to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, Weekly Fiction Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

 

 

“TV’s sameness has destroyed … urge toward independent thought.”

Here is the final of a Big Three I have been doing.
First it was:

Dorothy Kilgallen-Her Pen was Her Scalpel.

Groundbreaking journalist, TV legend, and hard as nails crime investigator, Kilgallen was generations and decades ahead of her time. If not for her, Harrison Ford wouldn’t have a hit in The Fugitive. (Click to Read More.)

The Second was:

Arlene Francis-The first lady of television and charm.

During the 1950s, Newsweek put her on the cover as the “first lady of television”. You need to remember something very important about this time; Lucille Ball was a big hit with ‘I Love Lucy’. (Click to Read More.)

The Final is the other mainstay panelist of the hit game show What’s My Line?. A show that you needed to be on when promoting any entertainment coming out or going on. Class, with ties, dresses, and manners. Witty patter, friendship, style, and credentials. Here is the anchor of the panel itself, the co-founder of Random House Publishing, Bennett Cerf.
A public school kid in New York, who graduated from Columbia University. he went to High School with Richard Simon of Simon and Schuster Publishing.
A list of few ofCerf’s Authors:
Ayn Rand
Theodore Seuss Geisel
Truman Capote
William Faulkner
James Michener
Sinclair Lewis

A good deal of Cerf’s time was spent playing nursemaid to some of his more temperamental authors. Among the writers in that category was Sinclair Lewis. Cerf later recalled an occasion when Lewis was spending the night at his apartment and William Faulkner called to announce that he was in town. “I told Lewis and asked him, could Bill come over? Lewis said, ‘Certainly not. This is my night!’ ” Later that night, according to Cerf, about an hour after Lewis had retired, the author called down for Cerf from upstairs. “I answered him, and he said, ‘I just wanted to see if you sneaked out to see Faulkner.”‘~http://biography.yourdictionary.com/bennett-cerf

Cerf has stayed relevant to this day through his son, Christopher Cerf, know for his over 300 songs for Sesame Street and being a force behind the PBS series Between the Lions, a series teaching and encouraging reading.
This more measured assessment of Cerf came from the Saturday Review shortly after his death: “He gave full measure to his profession. Everyone connected with the world of books is in his debt.”~http://biography.yourdictionary.com/bennett-cerf
“Good manners: The noise you don’t make when you’re eating soup.”
Bennet Cerf
Bennett Cerf Good Manners Quote
Coleridge was a drug addict. Poe was an alcoholic. Marlowe was killed by a man whom he was treacherously trying to stab. Pope took money to keep a woman’s name out of a satire, then wrote the piece so that she could still be recognized anyhow. Chatterton killed himself. Byron was accused of incest. Do you still want to be a writer? And if so, why?
Bennet Cerf on being a Writer Quote
Reading is a pleasure of the mind, which means that it is a little like a sport: your eagerness and knowledge and quickness count for something. The fun of reading is not that something is told to you, but that you stretch your mind. Your own imagination works along with the author’s, or even goes beyond his, yields the same or different conclusions, and your ideas develop as you understand his.
 Bennett Cerf Reading is like a Sport Quote
TV’s sameness has destroyed many things, such as the American urge toward independent thought.
Bennett Cerf TV and Independent Thought Quote


Part of #BeWoW and Writer’s Quote Wednesday. Click HERE for more Quotes on SilverThreading.com hosted by Colleen Chesebro. See the comments here for any links to more #BeWoW articles and check out the hashtag on Twitter to ReTweet those positive posts that apply to the #BeWoW message of positivity sharing. Also check out #IWSG, or Insecure Writer’s Support Group brought to my attention by Author Rose B. Fischer at RoseBFischer.com.



Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling by PS Bartlett and Ronovan HesterRonovan Hester is an author, with a debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in February 14, 2016. He shares his life on his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of writing, authors and community through his online world has led to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, Weekly Fiction Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

“…bright and clear as the vast sky…” Finding your way to Writing.

How do you become a creative and imaginative person? You free your mind. You wipe clean the day’s aggravations, disappointments, and responsibilities. During this time you’re mind will give you those moments of  Ah HA and Eureka.

“Always keep your mind as bright and clear as the vast sky, the great ocean, and the highest peak, empty of all thoughts. Always keep your body filled with light and heat. Fill yourself with the power of wisdom and enlightenment.”-Morihei Ueshiba

Morihei Ueshiba Quote of Enlightenment.
Morihei Ueshiba created the martial art Aikido. For him, it was not only a form of defense, but a spiritual endeavor as well. In fact he gives credit to three moments of enlightenment for the creation of the martial art.
“I felt the universe suddenly quake, and that a golden spirit sprang up from the ground, veiled my body, and changed my body into a golden one. At the same time my body became light. I was able to understand the whispering of the birds, and was clearly aware of the mind of God, the creator of the universe.
At that moment I was enlightened: the source of budō [the martial way] is God’s love – the spirit of loving protection for all beings …
Budō is not the felling of an opponent by force; nor is it a tool to lead the world to destruction with arms. True Budō is to accept the spirit of the universe, keep the peace of the world, correctly produce, protect and cultivate all beings in nature.”
I don’t know about all of you, but it’s when I let my thoughts go that I end up with the best ideas. There have been times a point in a book I’m writing is giving me problems. I can’t continue until I get that problem fixed. When I finally decide it will come when it comes, that’s when it comes.
You can’t trick yourself into it. You must learn to relax and know when writing, that writing is a matter of time. Not your time, but its time. If you force a plot, it will read as forced. Through time, patience, and practice, you learn how to let go and move on.
Trust me on this, I’m working on letting go at this moment with a Historical Fiction piece I am working on, and part of it came in the middle of the night as I was drifting off to sleep.
Morihei Ueshibe; December 14, 1883 (Tanabe, Wakayame, Japan-April 26-1969 (Iwama, Ibaraki, Japan).
An Interesting Fact: In order to be enlisted in the Japanese military in the Russo-Japanese War, Ueshibe tied weights to his legs and stretched his spine a half inch in order to reach the 5’2″ minimum height requirement.
The reason I chose this quote today was because I searched for one to use with my challenge words on my Weekly Haiku Challenge. I searched for vast quotes and this is the one I found and enjoyed. The Haiku I created goes along with this somewhat. Tea Cups.


Part of #BeWoW and Writer’s Quote Wednesday. Click HERE for more Quotes on SilverThreading.com hosted by Colleen Chesebro. See the comments here for any links to more #BeWoW articles and check out the hashtag on Twitter to ReTweet those positive posts that apply to the #BeWoW message of positivity sharing.



Ronovan Hester is an author, with a debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in February 14, 2016. He shares his life on his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of writing, authors and community through his online world has led to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, Weekly Fiction Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

The compromise of your ideals is a result of pressure.

“Pray thee, spare, thyself at times: for it becomes a wise man sometimes to relax the high pressure of his attention to work.” Thomas Aquinas
Pressure is a bad thing, and a good thing. It all depends on what you do with it and when it happens. With the release date of my debut novel closing in, pressure is building.
Last night it got to the point my blood pressure was elevated to the point of my being threatened with a trip to the hospital. So I shut everything down and let my mind drift.
Here’s the funny part; my mind drifted to writing. I began writing, in my mind, a companion piece for the debut novel. You see, I love to write and create. The problem is loving your work too much.
I am proud of what I’ve written. I’ve created characters people are enjoying as they beta read. So far everyone has loved it, even those who normally are not Historical Adventure readers or Pirate readers. Although my book is not exactly the normal pirate read.
After a little time, my blood pressure went down a little. Pressure can push you to create, but it can also bring about an end to creation. I’ve taken a step back from my pressure so I can focus on the key moments I need to be able to perform. Pressure can make you miss things.
I’ve learned over the past couple of years how to shut down when those pressure moments get bad. I think its helped me get this far and I suppose I’ll keep at it.
Ronovan Hester Quote about Pressure
“The compromise of your ideals is a result of pressure. The more experience one has with pressure, the harder their resolve becomes to resist that pressure.” Ronovan Hester

“There’s strong data that, within companies, the No. 1 reason for ethical violations is the pressure to meet expectations, sometimes unrealistic expectations.” Stephen Covey



Part of #BeWoW and Writer’s Quote Wednesday. Click HERE for more Quotes on SilverThreading.com hosted by Colleen Chesebro. See the comments here for any links to more #BeWoW articles and check out the hashtag on Twitter to ReTweet those positive posts that apply to the #BeWoW message of positivity sharing.



Ronovan Hester is an author, with a debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in February 14, 2016. He shares his life on his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of writing, authors and community through his online world has led to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, Weekly Fiction Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

Arlene Francis-The first lady of television and charm.

“Trouble is a sieve through which we sift our acquaintances. Those too big to pass through are our friends.”- Arlene Francis
Arlene Francis quote about friends.

In a recent article I noted Dorothy Kilgallen asked “Why can’t I be the adorable one?”; the adorable one in the situation was Arlene Francis, her co-panelist on the game show ‘What’s My Line?’. It wasn’t a competition or an intentional attempt by Francis to be the charming and personable one; that was how she was.

A great many women are seen as the groundbreakers of Television; the name Arlene Francis doesn’t appear among those names to current generations. Arlene Francis was:

  • Hosted ‘Blind Date’ from 1949-1952 on ABC and then NBC, after being the radio host of the same show since 1943.
  • A panelist on ‘What’s My Line?’ from 1950 until 1975 on CBS.
  • The editor-in-chief and host of ‘Home’ from 1954-57, a one hour morning show that was a show for NBC viewers to compliment the ‘Today’ and ‘Tonight’ shows. She also stepped in for ‘Today’ show hosts as well as guest hosted the Tonight Show.
  • In 1954 she hosted the reality show ‘The Comeback Story’ on ABC.

If you read that closely, you see she was on all three networks at the same time.

And all of those were sidelines. She was also a Broadway star, movie actress, radio host, and author.

During the 1950s, Newsweek put her on the cover as the “first lady of television”. You need to remember something very important about this time; Lucille Ball was a big hit with ‘I Love Lucy’.

People naturally loved Arlene. She didn’t try or take herself too seriously to the point of not being able to have fun in front of the camera as herself. Then there was that strength you knew would come out when it needed to.

Her radio career predated television, and her The Arlene Francis Show ran from 1960 to 1984 where she interviewed people from her first guest in Rock Hudson through others such as Frank Sinatra.

Her husband wasn’t the tall, dark and handsome type, although a great Broadway actor. No, he was short, balding, slightly overweight, wore glasses, and an average sort looks wise, but highly intelligent. That was another part of her charm; she went for the real and what she liked, not image. She and Martin Gabel stayed married from 1946 until his death in 1986.

You don’t stay the love of the public for so long without charm. Dorothy Kilgallen was smart, tough, and personable enough, but you could see her trying hard to be something a bit more; she wanted acceptance in a way she wasn’t. On ‘What’s My Line?’, you would see Dorothy and Arlene alternate sitting next to Bennet Cerf, the founder and publisher of Random House. Dorothy would wear on Bennet’s nerves, and you can see him ignore her suggestions. Everyone wanted to sit next to Arlene. She was fun, and not intrusive.

I think Dorothy was never comfortable in her own skin, while Arlene was comfortable anywhere.

For a woman known for knowing so much, her life came to an end in 2001 from cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Arlene Francis quote about people interested in your interests.“…apathy is about as near to the undertaker as you can get.” – Arlene Francis

“People are much more fascinated by your interests than they are by your opinions.”


Part of #BeWoW and Writer’s Quote Wednesday. Click HERE for more Quotes on SilverThreading.com hosted by Colleen Chesebro. See the comments here for any links to more #BeWoW articles and check out the hashtag on Twitter to ReTweet those positive posts that apply to the #BeWoW message of positivity sharing.



Ronovan Hester is an author, with a debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in February 14, 2016. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of writing, authors and community through his online world has led to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, Weekly Fiction Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

James A. Michener: “I’m an excellent rewriter.”

“I think the crucial thing in the writing career is to find what you want to do and how you fit in. What somebody else does is of no concern whatever except as an interesting variation.” – James A. Michener
James A. Michener Writing Career Quote

James A. Michener may just be my hero when it comes to beginning a career. Why? His first book came out when he was 40.

“Sitting there in the darkness, illuminated only by the flickering lamplight, I visualized the aviation scenes in which I had participated, the landing beaches I’d seen, the remote outposts, the exquisite islands with bending palms, and especially the valiant people I’d known: the French planters, the Australian coast watchers, the Navy nurses, the Tonkinese laborers, the ordinary sailors and soldiers who were doing the work, and the primitive natives to whose jungle fastnesses I had traveled.”

This was Michener while on assignment in the Pacific during WWII. These notes led to his first novel Tales of the South Pacific. It won the Pulitzer, became a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical as South Pacific, and was turned into a movie of the same name. Very nice for a first novel.James A. Michener I'm a ReWriter Quote

Michener and I are alike in a number of ways. He went to college for English and History. I went for History and Education. And then there is this  quote; “I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.”

I haven’t researched exactly what he meant by that, but if he’s like me he gets the idea down then grows the piece into a behemoth through his research, and that is where Michener and I are a lot alike.

I’ve seen video of Michener and that is what led me to choose him for this article. Michener, in regards to writing, is similar to how I approach my writing. He did a ton of research and was into details. You learned from a Michener read.

Some people don’t like going for the realism, or they don’t want to go through the trouble of finding out what street a person would travel in a city. They might say, they took a left or make up a name. Details give credibility. Details give James A. Michener Love of Writing Quotepeople a way to become connected to a work. Details create fans who want to travel the path a favorite character traveled.

I doubt I will ever write books that are 800 or 1000 pages long. I’m not counting it out, but I have the attention problems of creativity and concussion combined. I’m working on two stories at the same time right now, with three others marinating until I get back to them to do the next drafts. Hopefully one is not far away from submission time.

Married three times, his third wife, in a way, helped inspire one of Michener’s big successes, Sayonara in 1954. His wife, Mari Yoriko Sabusawa was an American but she and her Japanese parents suffered the internment camps in America in WWII. The two married in 1955 and remained together until her death in 1994.

In 1997, Michener chose to stop his daily dialysis in fighting his terminal kidney disease. His wife was gone, and he had accomplished all he wanted to do. He left the copyrights to his works to his alma mater.

This final quote says something a great number of people should consider.

 James A. Michener Culture Quote


Part of #BeWoW and Writer’s Quote Wednesday. Click HERE for more Quotes on SilverThreading.com hosted by Colleen Chesebro. See the comments here for any links to more #BeWoW articles and check out the hashtag on Twitter to ReTweet those positive posts that apply to the #BeWoW message of positivity sharing.



Ronovan Hester is an author, with a debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of writing, authors and community through his online world has led to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, Weekly Fiction Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

Dorothy Kilgallen-Her Pen was Her Scalpel.

“Why can’t I be the adorable one?” Dorothy Kilgallen

Dorothy Kilgallen-Adorable Quote

It’s doubtful many of you have heard the name Dorothy Kilgallen. The shame of it is you should have. Moreover, if born in the right generation, you couldn’t wait for Sunday nights at 10:30.

Groundbreaking journalist, TV legend, and hard as nails crime investigator, Kilgallen was generations and decades ahead of her time. If not for her, Harrison Ford wouldn’t have a hit in The Fugitive.

Kilgallen’s testimony is the reason Dr. Sam Sheppard received a new trial for the murder of his wife, and ended up released from prison. Forensic advancements years later proved Kilgallen was right in her deductions of Sheppard’s innocence.

She dissected crime reports and testimonies like a skilled surgeon. Her abilities amazed millions, yet she wanted more. She wanted to be the girl next-door people loved for being adorable, cute. However, her wit, her intelligence, and her honesty with a pen in her weekly column read by millions earned her powerful enemies that were cruel in their retaliation.

When Dorothy did a series on Frank Sinatra in the 1950s and spoke of his egocentric personality, he fought back by calling her a chinless wonder in his nightclub acts. He couldn’t argue the facts of her reporting, so he attacked her on a personal level.

In the 1960s she sunk her teeth into the JFK assassination. She ripped the Warren Report to shreds, had a rumored interview with Jack Ruby, and was about to publish her findings when she was found dead in her bed—the file with all her findings—missing. On the nightstand were two glasses, though her husband slept in another room. The sleeping pills in her stomach—Three different kinds. It was ruled an accident from the mixture of alcohol and pills.

The journalist surgeon with a pen was dead.

The lady who became famous by traveling around the world in 24 days back in 1936, when she was 23, for a contest amongst three reporters and newspapers, never understood the adulation she had. Maybe it was in part due to her philandering husband.

On the panel game show juggernaut of the time, What’s My Line?, Kilgallen wanted to be the adorable one, but couldn’t match the personality of Arlene Francis, the darling of Broadway who had a show on all three networks at the same time, and performed in Broadway shows. What she did instead was guess more professions of contestants than anyone else.

From beginning to end, Dorothy Kilgallen was an untypical woman in a world not ready for her. On the other hand, maybe she didn’t realize the world was happy with who she was, regardless of when it was.

She may not have been the perfect person, friend, or wife, but she was dedicated to her field. And she was unmatched.

This is one of my favorite quotes of hers.

“I think sometimes it is more important to be gracious than to win.” Dorothy Kilgallen

dorothy-kilgallen-gracious-quote



This is my contribution to Colleen Chesebro of SilverThreading.com’s#BeWoW and Writer's Quote Wednesday Writer’s Quote Wednesday. For those participating in the #BeWoW movement of positive posts, you may leave your links in the comments below, or do a ping back to this post if you wish. Use the hashtag #BeWoW on Twitter to help your posts receive RTs from others.



Ronovan Hester is an author, with a debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of writing, authors and community through his online world has led to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, Weekly Fiction Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

Eddie Cantor-Slow down and enjoy life.

Eddie Cantor Quote about Enjoying Life.“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going to fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” -Eddie Cantor (September 21, 1892-October 10, 1964)

During research for a book I’m writing, I ran across details of a man I knew of, but did not know about. A great many people don’t know the man I’m about to mention. But they know something he’s responsible for. Something I was surprised about.

Eddie Cantor was an entertainer in the first part of the 20th Century. A star above stars. With his own radio show, hit records, and was an actor, dancer, musician, and comedian. And don’t forget, author. His autobiography Take My Life went through multiple printings in the first six months of its release alone.

He was a member of everyone’s family back in during his days. He was that type of a man. Some of you will remember his hit songs.

  • Yes! We Have No Bananas
  • If You Knew Susie
  • How Ya’ Gonna Keep ‘em Down on the Farm

But why I mention him today is something completely unrelated to entertainment. There used to be a newsreel program shown in movie theaters called The March of Time. Eddie Cantor decided to create a campaign to fight polio in America. He called it The March of Dimes. He asked people listening to his radio show to send President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a polio sufferer, dimes at the White House. 2,680,000 dimes later in 1939 the first March of Dimes was a success. $268,000 in 1939 would now be $4,370,112.22 today.

Eddie Cantor Quote about Success“It takes 20 years to make an overnight success.”



For more Writer’s Quote Wednesday posts, visit Colleen Chesebro’s bewow-network-badgeSilverThreading  post for this week by clicking HERE. This is also for my #BeWoW campaign of Writers writing positive and encouraging articles each Wednesday. Links of a #BeWoW nature can be shared in the comments below and tweeted with the obvious hashtag.



Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by Ronovan Hester 2015

The Beheld

Ronovan Hester Quote-Beauty in the Heart of the Beheld.

“Beauty lies not in the eye of the beholder, but is instead in the heart of the beheld.”~Ronovan Hester

 

Alligator and babies with Haiku poemI hadn’t intended to combine any challenges this week, nor in fact participate. With it being a holiday week here in the US, and the boy “B” home for much of it, I didn’t think it would be possible. However, when I woke this morning a phrase came to my mind, the one I am using as my Writer’s Quote Wednesday participation, if there is one this week, what with the holiday and all. Although my first thought was not of the animal world, I eventually made my way in that direction and through my photoshop painting came up with the above from a photo I found online. To get the blended and brush stroke qualities, not so evident here, there is a blend tool to use. Lay down several colors in an area and then use the tool and slide over the area. The colors will blur and blend as though you mixed paints.

The poem and image are contributions to my Haiku Challenge this week, and in part to #BeWoW if people wish to link back to here for that purpose as my son will be home tomorrow and I’m certain I will have little time for doing things other than hopefully watching some old holiday movies and maybe eating popcorn.



 

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

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@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

Southern Serenade.

Southern Serenade by Ronovan Hester

The hand carved swing was beneath the trees along the back fence line and I let my body and the wood find each other in their common curves, as I knew was the thought behind its creation.

The early fall night was cooler than I had expected, but cooler rather than hot was a good thing. The temperatures were higher than usual for this time of year.

The candle flame wavered slightly on the tree stump used for a table. He’d thought of everything. A lot more of everything than I knew about, even now.

The flame didn’t do much for reading, but that wasn’t why it was here. There was something warm about it. The kind of warm a heart needs, not the flesh. Staring into the flame could help a person get lost for a while. But I had been lost for too long. I was searching. I wanted, I needed to find.

Crickets chirped a Southern serenade. I drifted between their harmonies and the dancing of the flame. If asked I would’ve sworn the swing moved, although I knew it didn’t. At least not by my doing. The flame grew large and then small again, back and forth, with the size changing as if in time with my heartbeat.

A sky filled with dots of dreams and wishes, twinkling their good luck and smiles down on those they were intended for. Those dreams, those wishes burned bright and rained down to a place between the flame and me. The serenade grew louder. One wave after another assaulted my peace.

An ocean roared and waves crashed against the hull chasing the moon. A voice called and I turned. Dark hair moved and sun bronzed cheeks glowed in the moonlight, lips parted an—

“Sis?”

I jerked. Two figures stood over me, each with an arm around the other and looking down at me. “What time is it?”

“About 9:30. We stopped by Mom and Dad’s and got caught up in talk. Sorry we’re late.” Blue eyes of our father searched the eyes I’d inherited from our mother.

“And your mom had lasagna made.” The young woman rubbed the man’s stomach.

“Shh, you weren’t supposed to mention that part.” Mother’s lasagna was his kryptonite.

I smiled up at the miniature version of our father. “You two are lucky you got out of there this early, considering you two were together. Wait until they find out.”

“Well, it was a bit uncomfortable, but they were doing their best to talk about anything and everything other than something.”

My brother and I both looked at my best friend then at each other and then back again. “That was amazing.”

“What?”

“Sis means you just made so much sense while saying so much nonsense. You could be my partner in a law firm one day. ” He leaned down and kissed her the top of her hair. His lips lingered. I could see him inhaling her scent. He had wasted so many years not realizing she had been right in front of him … waiting.

He turned, a grin of joy, a look of bliss on his face. His eyes caught mine and frowned.

“Don’t you dare.” I held up a warning finger. “It’s okay. My turn will be soon enough. I know it. It has to be. After all these years, he can’t give up now.”

“It would take an army to stop him.”

The golden glow of the candle blurred. “But that’s what they have.” Arms wrapped around me and the stirring of the wind blew out the flame. My world plunged into darkness. The stars were dim compared to the heart of the flame. Even when it couldn’t be seen.


 

This is my entry into my first Friday Fiction with Ronovan Writes Prompt Challenge. The story is one you can choose to have it fit in the manner you wish for it to. I hadn’t planned for this to be a Be Writing on Wednesday post but it’s the day I was able to have it ready for.



I don’t write about something unless I am either interested in the subject or am part of the character make up of the cast. For today’s story I looked around and believe I found an appropriate quote.

“What I can say is that all my characters are searching for their souls, because they are my mirrors. I’m someone who is constantly trying to understand my place in the world, and literature is the best way that I found in order to see myself.”~Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho Quote of Characters Searching for SoulsVisit SilverThreading.Com for more quotes this week.


 

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

A Cheer Full Life.

Maeve Binchy Happiness QuoteFor an interview with author Claire Fullerton, whose writing about Ireland has been compared to Maeve Binchy, click HERE.



Cheer is to behold

The day of a released heart,

Gives call to renew.



Happiness does not gather in a corner of the home for cobwebs to cover.
Glow in the warmth of the joy within to burn away the dust of a world’s grousing.
Cling to your determination and do not waver in your efforts for completion.
Unity is at your fingertips once you overcome that which blocks your way.


Check the comments for other #BeWoW posts, click HERE for more Haiku Challenge entrants for the words Cheer & Call, and visit SilverThreading.com for more Writer’s Quote Wednesday offerings.
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Ronovan Hester is an author, with the debut novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com with the hope if inspiring others to overcome and continue on. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

Perseverance-Or is it love?

Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle

“Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.”-Thomas Carlyle

I’ve moved away from talking about my health issues in the specifics in recent months. I felt as though my health was becoming me. And honestly I thought I had talked it to death. Well, I wish we could talk our ailments to death. If that were the case I would have been healthy a long time ago. But anyway, I wanted to be more positive in my writing I shared. However, at times I realize one should open up and share to let others know what can be done. Things don’t  HAVE to stop you.

I’ve never given much thought to perseverance as a word to describe myself. It’s been said by others but I’ve always put it off as a kind thing to say. I don’t mean to say they were being dishonest and lying just to make me feel better by saying it, but being kind in how they viewed my situation.

Many don’t know what Fibromyalgia is, but it’s a health situation that umbrellas a great many things including Chronic Pain and Chronic Fatigue. Much more goes in to it than that, but those two cane be easily identifiable with. Combine that with Osteoarthritis throughout the spine, including the neck, herniated discs in the spine and neck, and various other ailments, life can be such a joy at times.

But then you add the concussion I suffered two years ago, a Grade 3 Concussion that led to Retrograde Amnesia, short term memory loss, migraines that never cease, yes I mean I have migraines 24/7, sound and light sensitivity, and something else I can’t remember, and you end up with a very interesting life situation.

I know of the concussion because it is a habit to know now. A journal I kept around that time, barely legible as I was writing with either hand depending on the moment, tells me what was going on. I’ve slowly begun to let it go, the specifics of things, I’m not a dweller. I’ve truly decided to move on and not allow man made guilt hold me back from enjoying life.

Why tell all of this?

I have a book tentatively set to come out in December. A second book in the final draft stage before proofing and editing, that will then be shopped around to agents/publishers. I have a fairly successful blog, a group of online friends, and much more.

No, I don’t remember my family. I remember my son. I make an effort to remember history of my life as I am told in order to fit in, or at least act as though I am normal enough in my son’s eyes so he an have a normal father. I don’t wear my sunglasses like I should, nor my earplugs to avoid looking like an oddity around him. Seeing me put into an ambulance and then following it, only to see it disappear was upsetting enough for him not to have to be reminded of it every time he looks at me.

With the very odd life I have, I still push forward. I never gave it thought as being perseverance. I wanted to write a book and have my son something in the world to say, “My Daddy did that.”

People write a book for a lot of reasons. Yes, I love writing, but I mainly want something left behind for my son to be able to hold up and always look to. I want to be able to contribute to his life in many ways.

Maybe what I’m talking about isn’t perseverance. Maybe it’s simply being a father. Maybe it’s love. Whatever it is, it has brought me this far, and I intend to keep going.

I still have to write that book he helped come up with.

Thomas Carlyle Quote Perseverance

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Check the comments for other #BeWoW posts and SilverThreading.com for more Writer’s Quote Wednesday offerings.

Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

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@RonovanWrites

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Comfort food? Maybe not.

“There is no more useful and rewarding exercise than to spend time in your own kitchen preparing your own meals.”-Ronovan
Last week I got to thinking about comfort foods. I’m not certain if that was because I’m on a no or at least very little processed foods nutrition lifestyle right now or not.
This past weekend I did an indulgence day and ate something, I can’t remember what, I know bread was involved and some sort of sweet.
Oh, I’ve stayed off sweets as well with this new lifestyle.
I’m glad I indulged.
I ate those foods Saturday and had a Diet Rite drink and very shortly afterwards my body was complaining. It didn’t like the chemically formulated drink, or the run to Google to research ingredient meanings processed foods.
The entire week I’d been on my new nutrition lifestyle I had no problems at all with anything. Well, except for maybe being a little hungry at times because my body was growing accustomed to a little less food and no bad foods it seemed to like before. Yep, IT was craving, and oddly, I was not. I was perfectly happy with my foods.
Of course I began to think about those comfort foods and how they are called ‘comfort’ foods. Yeah, they feel good going down and taste great. They give you emotional well being. And then, Boom!
“Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.”-Mark Twain
I think that quote from old Sam somewhat says it like it is. Especially the last part. Our foods are fighting it out inside of us, but usually it is with us, not with each other.
Maya Angelou was pretty close with her thoughts on comfort food, especially for those of us in the South.
“The best comfort food will always be greens, cornbread, and fried chicken.”-Maya Angelou
I can still taste my Maw Maw’s fried chicken, you know the kind where you have the big cast iron skillet, a lid and she stands there making sure it all turns out just right. Taking each piece off at the right time, ’cause she knows not every part needs to cook the same amount of time.  And for a treat, the bacon grease from that morning was used instead of Crisco. If you’ve ever had that above combination, then you know at some point, not long afterwards, Mark Twain’s quote will inevitably come true.
If there is one celebrity in the world that could influence me to do anything it would have been Audrey Hepburn. Goddess of everything amazing. Well, she was that first classy, innocent but not woman I guess a lot of knew of, and actually believed from the movies. She wasn’t a sex kitten, or obvious, or even had the killer body of some of the time, and I think she proves what I consider about what sexy is. It’s what the woman has going on between the ears, that shows through her eyes and connects through your eyes and into your brain.
I do believe what Goddess Audrey says will be appreciated by a lot of people.
“Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me.”-Audrey Hepburn
But again, Mark Twain wills out. Minor exceptions can be okay but beware. I think perhaps women don’t have as much problem with chocolate than men do for a reason. God gave the earth chocolate for women to enjoy, because God made the mistake of giving the earth man in the first place. Yes, it’s the one thing God may have gotten wrong the first time around and had to perfect the second time. The gloriousness that is woman was God’s do-over.
“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.”-George Bernard Shaw
This is perhaps my favorite quote here today. Notice the use of the word ‘food’. When you look at what you’re eating, is it food, or a science experiment prepackaged for ease of use? Did the person or team creating it where white lab coats or white aprons?
Don’t get me wrong, the stuff tastes good at times, but then you eat real, homemade food and you discover what Food is. When you eat a burger made at home and compare it to one made at McDonald’s you can see what I mean.
“But I need my salt because it’s a flavor enhancer.” If you need the food you are eating to be enhanced, then eat something else.
I know, there are times and situations that necessitate the eating of whatever is available, I’ve been there and I am not a food snob, Nazi. But if you can choose good, healthy, home cooked meals, then why not do it? If you can teach your kids now what food is, then why not do it?
“Get people back into the kitchen and combat the trend toward processed food and fast food.”-Andrew Weil
Check the comments for other #BeWoW posts and SilverThreading.com for more Writer’s Quote Wednesday offerings.
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Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

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@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

Silence is a Writer’s Friend.

Mother Teresa Silence quote
My quote today may seem somewhat one-sided when take at face value and purely at the word God. My being a Christian might even make you think of reasons I chose this verse today, but no.
 
I enjoy silence. Silence is one of my best friends. With the often times chattering mind of a person who has suffered a Grade 3 Concussion, by which I mean my brain does not stop for days at a time and keeps thinking and thinking without sleep, when I can find silence, I embrace it.

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.”-Mother Teresa

You may look at this quote as Mother Teresa apparently intended it or you may take it a step further, as you may with a great many spiritual sayings and scripture. I’m taking it a step further for writers today.

Take a look at that last line. “We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

 

There are times when you are writing and chaos is around you. That chaos might end up in your writing of a scene that requires a delicate touch. In silence I am able to quietly and calmly sink myself into a character, become a character, and bring out the inner heart, the soul of that character.

 

I close my eyes and type. Errors in spelling don’t bother me at this point. I type what my mind sees and what my heart feels during this silence. Those moments where I am successful at this I have found to be the ones beta readers connect with most. Or readers of certain poems connect with.

 

We see a great deal of advice about listening to music while writing, and at times I do like to create a mood with a play list. But my most successful moments are when I listen to the silence in my heart and mind and simply type. Silence is my friend, and one of the best I have.

 

And that silence isn’t just for writing, it’s for life. We need that time to give our minds, our emotions, and our bodies an chance to rest and heal.
For more#BeWoW articles, check the comments possible links and ping backs or Twitter for the hashtag. For more Writer’s Quote Wednesday articles, visit Colleen Chesebro at SilverThreading.com for her post sometime today.
Much Respect, Much Admiration, and Much Love
Ronovan

Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

#BeWoW & Writer’s Quote Wednesday are Tomorrow. Get Ready!

Tomorrow is #BeWoW and Writer’s Quote Wednesday. The first hosted by Me and that other thing hosted by Colleen over at SilverThreading.com.

I combine the two in my #BeWoW post each Wednesday and tweet under #BeWoW.

Normally the hashtag has been for positive posts, motivating posts and things of that nature and stood for Be Wonderful on Wednesday, but I’m going to also make it stand for Be Writing on Wednesday. As long as it’s not negative or derogatory share your post, either on my #BeWoW post on Wednesday, the only post that will go out that day, and/or tweet it with the hashtag #BeWoW so all of us with Twitter accounts can share those posts. Also a ping back to my Wednesday post, which goes out at 00:05 New York City time on Wednesday’s for your convenience, will show in my comments for us to visit, and also tell your readers about what we’re doing.

For the Writer’s Quote Wednesday, go to SilverThreading.com on Wednesday and leave your link in her comments on her post, Tag your post with Writer’s Quote Wednesday, and even do a link back/ping back.

Get ’em ready. It’s time to build up the #BeWoW hashtag to be a force. Be A Writer on Wednesday, #BeWoW.


Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

Impressions-Like Sand or Cement.

I’ve been working on my Romance novel and thoughts as I lay in bed last night, attempting to go to sleep, led me to impressions. Just so all of you are aware, my brain works in odd ways and chases what some in the world call rabbits. Rabbits are something you want to see, perhaps catch, even just for a photo, but will take you far away from where you once were.

For me, rabbit chasing has always been a philosophical adventure.

As I lay there thinking about one of my characters the idea of that person’s impression on others rattled around in my head. Then I began wondering about the kinds of impressions are made.

Where I ended up next is beyond me.

Some impressions are like the impressions you see as you walk along the beach in the evening. The footsteps you travel along beside with the deep heel, shallow toes and slightly kicked up bit of packed bits of all the things that make up that sand. You think about how interesting they look, wonder who made them, how lonely they look alone in their single file. Come the next morning you return to the beach and find that after a night of sleep the impressions are gone. They have been washed away by time and by nature.

Some people are like that. They pass through your life without leaving but a momentary impression. There was nothing in the impression to stay with you. A single file of footprints in an evening beach will be seen again, and not made by the same person, on a beach far away.

Then there are the impressions in your backyard. A frame was set up—the right mixture of materials of dry to wet—smoothening of the cement—patience for the cement to set up just right—then you are brought out as a child and your feet and hands are pressed into the wet but firm cement. You are now set.

Time was taken to make that impression. Time was taken to set it firmly in place. Julius Charles Hare ImpressionsCare was taken to make certain everything was just right in order you would be a part of that world for as long as possible. There would be no overnight washing away of these prints.

I thought about impressions this morning during a conversation. The impressions we leave with our children. Those impressions are like an artist with a chisel. With each strike we leave our mark—our impression—on their minds, hearts, lives. Do we leave the impression of always being there and loving them and doing what it takes to get it ‘right’ or instead do we reinforce the impression of not caring, not being bothered to do something, thinking of ourselves first?

“The mind is like a sheet of white paper in this, that the impressions it receives the oftenest, and retains the longest, are black ones.” Julius Charles Hare

With each strike of our hammer into the chisel we set our impressions in place with our children and with those we interact with. What impression do you want to leave? Do you care what impression you leave? Have you sat back and thought about the impression you have made, are making, will leave?

This was written for my #BeWoW (Be Wonderful on Wednesday share) and for the Writer’s Quote Wednesday hosted by Colleen Chesebro of SilverThreading.Com. Click her site link if the Writer’s Quote Wednesday does not have a link in it directly to her post for the day yet. You simply ping back to her post or copy and paste your link there. You do the same with your #BeWoW posts to here if you have one. Not familiar with a ping back? Click here to find out how.

Much Respect-Much Love

Ronovan

Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer though his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

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Writing while young. (And any other time as well.)

I have recently begun encouraging young people to write. They should write about their now in order to later be able to write about what it was like then.

“Always write your ideas down however silly or trivial they might seem. Keep a notebook with you at all times.”

We try to recapture the feelings we had when we were a certain age or in a certain place, but we so often rarely achieve that goal. Staring at the sentences we don’t feel them. They describe everything but relay nothing of what they speak of. I believe this is the one thing that keeps writers from submitting their work and becoming published authors.

Great masterpieces have been set aside in spiral bound notebooks to collect yellowed pages and dust. All for the simple fact the writer did not feel what they wrote.

Oddly, they may have conveyed more than they realized. Even if not capturing the moment for themselves fully, to others the paint on the canvas is three dimensional with smells of the ocean and heat on their skin from the setting sun.

The problem is they have no confidence in what they have done.

“Encouraging young people to believe in themselves and find their own voice whether it’s through writing, drama or art is so important in giving young people a sense of self-worth.”

Starting early in a person’s creative life helps build a creative confidence. And I believe there is no such thing as failure in creativity. You have created something, even if not what you set out to create. How many times has what any of us begun ended up exactly as we had planned?

“It is really important that focusing on things such as spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting doesn’t inhibit the creative flow. When I was at school there was a huge focus on copying and testing and it put me off words and stories for years.”

Today’s education doesn’t encourage so much creativity as much as it does scores to be nations. “Our nation beat your nation.” It doesn’t matter what it is, each nation is in competition. Even our children have been drawn into it, and not for the better.

But I believe we should rid our children of a great deal of the restraints early on and give them the freedom to create. Show them how to trust who they are and what they are. Give them free rein to explore and express.

“Write because you love it and not because it is something that you think you should do. Always write about something or somebody you know about – something that you feel deeply and passionately about. Never try and force it.”

Michael Morpurgo quote image

Today’s quotes are from Michael Morpurgo, English author, poet, playwright, and librettist.

This has been part of Colleen’s, of SilverThreading, Writers’ Quote Wednesday blog share. Click the link to visit her quote for today, and join in.

Much Respect-Much Love

Ronovan



 

Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer though his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

 

Crazy Little Thing Called Love. #TunefulTuesday

It’s been some time since I did a Tuneful Tuesday but here we are…it’s Tuesday and I’m in a tuneful mood.

It’s a Saturday night in 1979-1980 and I’m on the roller rink rollering away, possibly trying not to break my arm or neck as I hang on to the rail . . . teaching myself to skate. A foolish endeavor when looking back on the fact that one of the prettiest teenage girls ever, my baby-sitter or whatever, was an expert skater and wanted to show me how. Oh how boys can be dumb at a certain age.

Then the scary thing happens. The somewhat empty floor is swarmed. Why? Because the first #1 hit in the land for a British Hall of Fame act is announced as being next.

It’s crazy. Yes, it’s even just a little thing. But I have no idea what it had to do with love.

Freddie Mercury and Queen with Crazy Little Thing Called Love begins and the drum beats of Roger Taylor that are possibly forgotten in their influence through the years due to a once in a life time voice and performer in Mercury drives everyone around the rink.

The meaning of the lyrics? They are what they are and the song is a tribute to Elvis Presley. One of those rare songs from a legendary performer that was what it was. That’s cool if you think about it.

From Melody Maker interview  05/o2/81:

Let’s talk about your song writing. Can you write songs to order: “At two o’clock today I will start working on song . . . ?”

I have no set rules for writing, but yes, I can write like that, I really can. It’s haphazard and it’s become a bit of a joke to me, but if I knew we’re going into the studio I just get my thinking process going. I can write songs to order, like a job. Some songs come faster that others: “Bohemian Rhapsody” I had to work at like crazy. I just wanted that kind of song. “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” took me five or ten minutes. I did that on the guitar, which I can’t play for nuts, and in one way it was quite a good thing because I was restricted, knowing only a few chords. It’s a good discipline because I simply had to write within a small framework. I couldn’t work through too many chords and because of that restriction I wrote a good song, I think.
https://youtu.be/MrelPOP518g

And the live version.

https://youtu.be/yziGiVua0Dg

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

This thing called love I just can’t handle it
this thing called love I must get round to it
I ain’t ready
Crazy little thing called love
This (This Thing) called love
(Called Love)
It cries (Like a baby)
In a cradle all night
It swings (Woo Woo)
It jives (Woo Woo)
It shakes all over like a jelly fish,
I kinda like it
Crazy little thing called loveThere goes my baby
She knows how to Rock n’ roll
She drives me crazy
She gives me hot and cold fever
Then she leaves me in a cool cool sweatI gotta be cool relax, get hip
Get on my track’s
Take a back seat, hitch-hike
And take a long ride on my motor bike
Until I’m ready
Crazy little thing called loveI gotta be cool relax, get hip
Get on my track’s
Take a back seat, hitch-hike
And take a long ride on my motor bike
Until I’m ready (Ready Freddie)
Crazy little thing called love

This thing called love I just can’t handle it
this thing called love I must get round to it
I ain’t ready
Crazy little thing called love

Much Respect-Much Love

Ronovan

Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer though his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

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The dream of a writer; the reality of an author.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”~C. S. Lewis

I believe every person passes through numerous dreams and down many roads on the way to what they will finally become. For some of us we find the roadblocks, the forks in the road, the detours, and at times a dead end. I’ll be using several quotes from famous individuals today, as I am prone to do , however I also enjoy using quotes of my own.

“There is no such thing as being lost. We’re simply taking a more scenic route.”~Ronovan

I have taken many forks in the road in my life on the road to becoming an author. I’ve even sat stalled on the side of that road, but I always find my way back. Those moments of “adventure” add to the experiences my characters are able to struggle through or joy through.

“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” ~Ayn Rand

Not having a good memory after the concussion, I’m not certain if I ever wanted to rule the world of writing. These days I like the sense of accomplishment when completing a novel and submitting it. Even those form rejections are okay these days. Rejections means I tried. Lots of rejections means I tried a lot.

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”~Confucius

Having that memory problem and other health problems means it takes me a bit of time to complete things. I’ve had to re-read chapters to know what I was writing to begin with…short  term memory problems can be a bear for a writer. But just as time takes care of many things, makes many things better, and adds flavor, it also adds to what you can put into a project you are working on.

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”~Norman Vincent Peale

When I wrote my romance, as a challenge to myself to write outside my comfort zone shortly after my accident, I didn’t know what I would do with it. I fussed over it for a time. Then recently with the downfall of my laptop I returned to reading that romance after some encouragement.

Not halfway through, I discovered I was an author. I read on the kindle screen a book. Not only a book, but a very good book. I was smiling and feeling along with the characters.

I am now working on that book and will not stop until it is in a state of submission, either through the mail or by headlock.

Time. There is nothing that can be successful without time. Even a race is won after hours and years of practice.

“Write what you know, but show what you feel.”~Ronovan

what-you-feel

Much Respect
Ronovan

Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer though his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015