Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 129
September 1, 2023
A Writer's Moment: Striving for 'the truly original'
Striving for 'the truly original'
“Ilove writing both fiction and memoir. Both have unique challenges; bottom line,fiction is hard because you have to come up with the credible, twisty plot, andmemoir is hard because you have to say something true and profound, albeit in afunny way.” – Lisa Scottoline
Born in Philadelphia in 1955,Scottoline started her professional life as a lawyer but switched to writing toearn money from home after the birth of her daughter Francesca. Instant success. Her first novel, the legal thriller FinalAppeal, won the 1995 Edgar Award for "Best Paperback Original Mystery."
Today, she is the author of over 40novels and 10 nonfiction books (many written in partnership with her daughter). Her novels have been translated into over two dozenlanguages and many of her works have reached top ten status on the New York Times Best Seller List.
“I love writing, I love books, and I love reading,”she said. “I read anything, includingcereal boxes. I care deeply about what people think of my books, and I memorizemy reviews. Every writer, whether it's fiction or nonfiction, is tryingto write something truly original, and that's what I think I'm doing.”
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August 30, 2023
A Writer's Moment: 'The most nourishing forms of meditation'
'The most nourishing forms of meditation'
“Ibelieve that reading and writing are the most nourishing forms of meditationanyone has so far found. By reading the writings of the most interesting mindsin history, we meditate with our own minds and theirs as well. This to me is amiracle.” -- Kurt Vonnegut
Born in Indianapolis in 1922, Vonnegut wrote for 50 years, publishing 14 novels, 3 short storycollections, 5 plays, and 5 works of non-fiction. He is most famous for hisdarkly satirical, best-selling novel Slaughterhouse-Five.
Vonnegutalways claimed that it was by reading other great writers that he himselfdeveloped the writing style and ideas that led to his success. Among the most influential on his writing, hesaid, were George Orwell, Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry David Thoreau and H.G.Wells.
Ajournalist first, Vonnegut often credited journalistic writing as another keyto his style – one that made his writing both straightforward andunderstandable by a wide audience.
“One of the things that I tellbeginning writers is this: If you describe a landscape, or a cityscape, or aseascape, always be sure to put a human figure somewhere in the scene. Why?Because readers are human beings, mostly interested in human beings,” hesaid. “People are humanists … most ofthem, anyway.”
August 29, 2023
A Writer's Moment: Making the magic happen
Making the magic happen
“Thenice thing about being a writer is that you can make magic happen withoutlearning tricks.” – Humphrey Carpenter
Bornin England on this date in 1946, Carpenter, who was both a writer and radiobroadcaster, was one of the 20th Century’s leading biographers,including major works on both J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. A native of Oxfordshire, Carpenter’s notableoutput of biographies included J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography and TheInklings: CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Charles Williams and their Friends, winnerof the 1978 Somerset Maugham Award, given annually to the best book written bysomeone under the age of 35.
Healso won the prestigious literary award, the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize, forhis 1988 book Ezra Pound.
Whenhe wasn’t writing, he was performing as a jazz musician, or serving as anengaging broadcaster, host and producer of many of the BBC’s leadingseries. He kept up a tireless routine ofwriting and broadcasting right up to his premature death from Parkinson’s andheart failure at the age of 58.
“Youcall a star a star, and say it is just a ball of matter moving on amathematical course. But that is merely how you see it,” he wrote in J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography. “By sonaming things and describing them you are only inventing your own terms aboutthem. And just as speech is invention about objects and ideas, so myth isinvention about truth.”
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August 28, 2023
A Writer's Moment: 'Life would be sorry without ideals'
'Life would be sorry without ideals'
“Youhave the itch for writing born in you. It's quite incurable. What are you goingto do? You might as well use it?”– L.M. Montgomery
The marvelous Lucy Maud Montgomery, born in 1874,rocketed to worldwide acclaim with her very first book, Anne of Green Gables and really never looked back. The book has sold more than 50 million copiesin 20 languages worldwide. Over a 45-year writing career,Montgomery authored 20 novels, many featuring her lead character AnneShirley. And she wrote a remarkable 530short stories.
Anne Shirley made Montgomery famousin her lifetime and gave her an international following even from fellowauthors. Mark Twain calledAnne, “the dearest and most moving and delightful child since the immortalAlice.” (I believe he was referring tothat one who made that visit to Wonderland).
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Montgomery – who died in 1942 – alsowrote some 500 poems and 30 essays and been honored as the first female inCanada to be named a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in England. In 1935 she was invested into the Order ofthe British Empire, one of the highest British honors.
“Wemust have ideals and try to live up to them, even if we never quite succeed,”Montgomery noted. “Life would be asorry business without them. With them it's grand and great.”
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August 26, 2023
A Writer's Moment: 'It's a Condition'
'It's a Condition'
"Tobe a poet is a condition, not a profession." - Robert Frost
Born inCalifornia in 1874, Frost spent most of his life in New England and isrecognized as one of the world's greatest poets. He said visitors lovedNew England in the Fall for its brilliant colors, but he loved it year-aroundand especially for its summer beauty. For Saturday's Poem here is hisvery brief,
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A Summer Sunday''He bestows summer on us and escapes
Before our realizing what we have
To thank him for. He doesn't want our thanks.''
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Photo by DanJorgensen
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