Time to …
A
series of essays on letting your creative side take control’
Essay
no. 2- Time to be Proud
The
decision to write and published under my own name, was a major step for me. I
would no longer be hiding behind a pen-name, but would be now be taking full
and complete credit for my work, be it positive or negative. Along with writing under my own name, I also
made the decision to reach out to a different market and in a new genre for me.
I did not know what the genre would be, for like so much of what I write, it
simply flows out of me.
The
story that escaped from where ever it had been hiding in my sub-conscious
became my first International Crime Drama “Murder in St. Luietz” (Guns –
Stilettos & Money). A story that
takes place on a fictional tropical island, and not only involves the islands
police force, but agents from the United States, and wet work specialist from
the Russian mafia, all because a US Senator changed his vote on an
appropriations bill, suddenly bringing an end to Gretchen’s grand plan. I
decided to Market it exclusively through Amazon, along with a paperback edition
through CreatSpace. I will be the first
to admit, that I am still a starving author, but I am proud of its solid
reviews, and 4.25 rating.
While
“Murder in St. Luietz” was going through its editing process, I decided to head
off in a different direction. I had a
large number of works of poetry, some of which had been published on blogs and others
that had never been published. I decided
to break the book into four different sections, and include both poetry and
prose. Many of the poems were inspired, by my experiences with dealing with the
sudden addition of my mother-in-law, as a member of our household. As I put the book together, I made the
decision that nothing was going to be excluded from the book. The title for the book is essentially a
statement of its contents. “Words from
the Heart” A Collection of Poetry and Prose became the title before the poem
“Words from the Heart” was written. The assembly of the parts of the book
inspired the title poem. Published on
June 24th of this year, both through CreatSpace as a paperback, and
Amazon in digital formats, I am quite proud of the book and that fact that all
of its ratings have been five stars.
A
third book also managed to find its way out of heart and mind. Inspired by a long series of tones that came
out of my police scanner one night, as the 911 Center, took total control of
the communications channels to put out a system wide broadcast. This one happened to be to officially
announce the retirement of a captain, from the Sheriff’s Department, but the
idea formed, and I began to write about a similar series of tones from a 911
Center in a fictitious city. My newest book, “Out of the Chaos” which will be
released digitally September 15th,
was born that night, and simply flowed out of me.
As
usual, when I write, I did so without knowing what was going to happen next
until is showed up on screen of my laptop.
Somewhere along the way, the book evolved from a police drama, to a
romantic police drama, as the principals began to realize that a special
connection had formed between them. Once
again I have had the book published as a paperback through CreatSpace, while
with this book; I am not limiting it to Amazon. Instead it will be released
through Amazon, Smashwords, and Google Play at the same time.
As I
said in the beginning of this rambling, that it was a year without plan, and a
year with both intellectual and physical creative accomplishments. There is one
physical accomplishment which I accomplished that I am extremely proud of. For a number of years we have had a covered
porch behind our garage that we love to spend time on. However, over the last couple of years, the
number of mosquitoes in our area has slowly made our porch unusable, first in
the evenings and then with the dampness from our heave snowfall during the
winter, and a wet spring, it became unusable with having a fan going at high
speed. After having a new floor poured
in the late spring, it bothered me greatly not to be able to use the porch,
because of the bugs.
In mid
June, once again forced off of the porch in the early afternoon, I went up to
my office and began to draw up different concepts to screen in the porch. Over the next week, I measured and created
drawings and a list of materials required.
I told my wife of my plan, and then order the material necessary to
construct the frame of the porch. Phase
one essentially of the project, that I managed to complete, prior to our departure
to Chicago, for our trip with our granddaughter. Upon our return from Chicago, I began Phase
two, which including finishing the lower inner and outer walls, and hanging the
door. Phase three, consisted of
constructing 14 custom built frames, and then making each into a tight screen,
and fitting it into its assigned space. While I did the construction and built all of
the screens, my dear wife painted and caulked, and then painted some more. The project was completed by the end of July
and we have been able to sit and enjoy our now bug free porch. Our feral cat
pride, also enjoys the porch, and quickly adapted to their cat doors, and have,
to this date, not bothered climb the screens.
When I finished the porch, I knew that I had done a good job, as I had
kept hearing Mike Holmes voice telling me to “make it right”, while I worked on
it. However, when the roofing
contractor, whom I had hired to replace our roof and gutters, which had been
damaged during the long cold winter, came up and congratulated me on a great
job, and asked I wanted to build another one at his house, I knew that I had
truly done a job to be proud of.
I
don’t know what the rest of the year might bring, for like the beginning of the
year, I have no true agenda, with the exception of being a dealer in a two day
glass show as part of our antique business, S & D Antiques. While my wife has a full agenda, as she is
booked through most of September, October, November and December, by various institutions
and agencies, to present her lectures and talks on Art and Architectural
History, to senior citizens, who have not lost the desire to learn.
I am
definitely proud of what I have accomplished this year. For a year that began
with no agenda or plan, I can now hold three books in my hand, which were all
begun and published this year. And what at times, is the best of all; we can
now sit on our porch, and actually read a book or write one, without slapping
mosquitoes constantly. I’ve been doing
my best not to write this is verse, but I am slowly loosing that battle:
That’s
the Plan
Since, I just realized that,
I just might actually have a
plan,
That might produce something quite
grand.
My plan is so simple, all
should understand
To let my left side take
control,
And go where ever it wants to
go.
I’ll let the characters take
the lead,
Become their Marionette dangling
over the keys
Let them take control, move the
wires and string
Making my fingers dance over
the keys.
I’ll let each character, write
what they please
And what part that they play.
Then I’ll take their story and
read it through
And decide just what to do.
Tweak a little here, and add a
bit here
Talk with the characters, when
I need too
Letting some add to the story
While others just might have to
go.
So that is my plan, just plant
a seed
Then sit back, and see what
will grow.
Now if the truth it to be told,
I’m not being bold, for it’s
how I love to write.
So I am willing to wager, more
than just a bit;
That my next story will flow, as
the characters tell what to I write.
Copyright September 17, 2015
Richard D. Nurse
