Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 37

A Writer's Moment: 'A fountain of gladness'

A Writer's Moment: 'A fountain of gladness':   “The land of literature is a fairy land to those who view it at a distance, but, like all other landscapes, the charm fades on a nearer ap...

A Writer's Moment: 'Every life . . .is a fairy tale'

A Writer's Moment: 'Every life . . .is a fairy tale':   “Every man’s life is a fairy tale written by God’s fingers.”  – Hans Christian Andersen Born in Odense, Denmark on this date in 1805, Ande...

'Every life . . .is a fairy tale'

 “Every man’s life is a fairy tale written by God’s fingers.” – Hans Christian Andersen

Born in Odense, Denmark on this date in 1805, Andersen was first introduced to the wonderful world of fairy tales by his poor and under-educated father who still found time almost daily to read to his young son – especially from 1001 Arabian Nights.  "Being read to by a parent” led Andersen to a lifelong love of both reading and fairy tales and the rest of the world became the beneficiary.
After singing as a child in the Royal Danish Theatre, Andersen turned to writing when his voice began to change, first working on theatrical pieces and then switching to fairy tales.  His first efforts were adaptations from tales he had heard as a child and before discovering magical worlds in his own imagination.
The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Match Girl and The Emperor’s New Clothes are just a few of the tales penned by Anderson.  His stories – translated into more than 125 languages and shared worldwide – have inspired plays, ballets and both live-action and animated films.   
  Since 1956 (for stories) and 1966 (for illustration), the International Board on Books for Young People has honored Andersen’s memory by presenting the Hans Christian Andersen Award to an author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature.  
“Life itself,” Andersen wrote shortly before his death in 1875, “is and has been a most wonderful fairy tale.”

'The delicious promise of a riveting tale'

 

 

“I can think of no other experiencequite like that of being 20 or so pages into a book and realizing that this isthe real thing: a book that is going to offer the delicious promise of ariveting story, arresting language and characters that will haunt me for days.” –Anita Shreve

 

Born in Boston in 1946, Shreve wrotethose kinds of books herself, including the mega-bestsellers ThePilot’s Wife, Testimony and The Weight of Water, allalso made into successful movies.  She began writing fictionin the 1960s while still a high school student and one of her early shortstories, Past the Island, Drifting, was named for the prestigiousO. Henry Prize while she was still a teen.  

 

Shreve, who died from cancer in2018, combined her creative writing with teaching and working as a journalistin the U.S. and Africa before writing The Pilot’s Wife in1999.  That book catapulted Shreve into her successful full-timewriting career that resulted in 19 novels with millions of sales worldwide.

                                            

 Shreve wrote all of her books in longhand, andin an interview with The Writer magazine explained why shethought writing in longhand was the best thing any author could do.

 

“The creative impulse, the thingthat gets deep inside me, goes from the brain to thefingertips.  When you’re writing by hand, even when you’re notconsciously thinking about it, you’re constructing sentences in the best waypossible.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The delicious promise of a riveting tale'

A Writer's Moment: 'The delicious promise of a riveting tale':     “I can think of no other experience quite like that of being 20 or so pages into a book and realizing that this is the real thing: a boo...

'Let what you believe shine through every sentence'

“Be yourself.  Above all, let who youare, what you are, what you believe shine through every sentence you write,every piece you finish.” – John Jakes

 

Born in Chicago on this date in 1932,Jakes gained widespread popularity with the publication of his KentFamily Chronicles, which became the bestselling American Bicentennial Series inthe mid-to-late 1970s.  The books have sold an amazing 55 millioncopies and still are in print.

 

He also published several other very popular works of historical fiction,including the North and South trilogy about the U.S. CivilWar, which sold 10 million copies and was adapted into an ABC-TVminiseries.

 

Jakes started writing while studyingat DePauw University and wrote nearly the rest of his life. He died just short of his 91st birthday in 2023.  The author of 55 novels, he also penned 4 major works of nonfiction, including award-winning books on famous war correspondents and “Famous Firsts” in sports.

 

Known for his meticulous attentionto detail, Jakes said, “Research is one of the best parts of doing what I do: Ilearn something new with every novel.  Ialways begin by reading general studies about the period . . . find events orspecific subjects that interest me . . . and then weave many independent piecesof research into the final story.”   

 

A Writer's Moment: 'Let what you believe shine through every sentence'

A Writer's Moment: 'Let what you believe shine through every sentence': “Be yourself.  Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish .” ...

'It's the rhythms and the music'

 

“At school, I was never given asense that poetry was something flowery or light. It's a complex and controlledway of using language.  Rhythms and themusic of it are very important. But the difficulty is that poetry makes somekind of claim of honesty.” – Tobias Hill

 

A multi-talented writer of fiction,poems and short stories, Hill was born in London on March 30, 1970 and died ofbrain cancer in 2023.  He won awards forall his writing efforts, which included 4 volumes of poetry, 4 novels, a shortstory collection, and a children's book in just 20 years of writing.  

 

For Saturday’s Poem from hisaward-winning Midnight in the City of Clocks (influenced by hisexperience of life in Japan), here is Hill’s,

 

        October

Shemeets the train

atBurning Stone station,

                        redleaves in her pocket

andthe river from the mountain

greenas an eye.

 

Thesun keeps rhythm

                        throughthe pines. The train beats time. She tells me that

hername translates as Three Eight Sweet One,

Sickle-Hand,and that her town

isfamous for carrots, and that

 

Themoon has no face in Japan,

butthe shadow of a hare,

                        leaptfrom the arms of a god.

 

Later,under the sod-black trees

shehides her face against the wind

andasks me to teach her to kiss.

A Writer's Moment: 'It's the rhythms and the music'

A Writer's Moment: 'It's the rhythms and the music':   “At school, I was never given a sense that poetry was something flowery or light. It's a complex and controlled way of using language....

A Writer's Moment: 'There's a genuine magic in what they do'

A Writer's Moment: 'There's a genuine magic in what they do':   “I love artists. I find them fascinating. To me, there really is a genuine magic in what they do.”  – Elizabeth Hand   Born in Yonkers...