Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 40
March 15, 2025
And the beat goes on
“The mature man lives quietly, does good privately, takes responsibility for his actions, treats others with friendliness and courtesy, finds mischief boring and avoids it. Without the hidden conspiracy of goodwill, society would not endure an hour.” – Kenneth Rexroth
Born in March of 1905, American poet, translator and critical essayist Rexroth laid the groundwork for what would become the 1950s beat movement. Dubbed the "Father of the Beats" by Time Magazine, he also was among the first U.S. poets to explore styles like haiku. For Saturday’s Poem here is Rexroth’s,
Yin and YangIt is Spring once more in the Coast Range
Warm, perfumed, under the Easter moon.
The flowers are back in their places.
The birds are back in their usual trees.
The winter stars set in the ocean.
The summer stars rise from the mountains.
The air is filled with atoms of quicksilver.
Resurrection envelops the earth.
Goemetrical, blazing, deathless,
Animals and men march through heaven,
Pacing their secret ceremony.
The Lion gives the moon to the Virgin.
She stands at the crossroads of heaven,
Holding the full moon in her right hand,
A glittering wheat ear in her left.
The climax of the rite of rebirth
Has ascended from the underworld
Is proclaimed in light from the zenith.
In the underworld the sun swims
Between the fish called Yes and No.
March 14, 2025
A Writer's Moment: 'We're all amateur investigators'
'We're all amateur investigators'
“We're all amateurinvestigators. We scan bookshelves, we ogle trinkets left out in the open, wecalculate the cost of furniture and study the photographs on display; sometimeswe even check out the medicine cabinet.” – Lisa Lutz
Born in California on this date in 1970, Lutz started writing with an idea for a screenplay, which ultimately became the basis for a best-selling series of novels. It was while working for a private investigation firm that she started writing the screenplay for a dark Mob-type comedy called Plan B.
Ultimately published as the novel The Spellman Files, her book is about a family of private investigators named Spellman, who, while very close knit, are also intensely suspicious and spend much time investigating each other.
That first book – nominated for half-dozen awards – has led to 8 books in the series, all with multiple honors. Her most recent is 2022's The Accomplice. She’s also authored a children’s book and several stand-alone thriller/mystery books, including the 2017 award-winning The Passenger.
While highly successful, she said, “My writing process is chaos. I usually start with an overarching theme. Then I establish several story threads, but I don't outline. I just start writing and keep notes for what may come. It's an organic process that's usually pretty flexible.”
March 13, 2025
A Writer's Moment: Words that 'peek out in an emotional way'
Words that 'peek out in an emotional way'
“I believe musicians have a duty, a responsibility to reach out, to share your love or pain with others.” – James Taylor
Born in Boston on March 12, 1948 Taylor is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He advises writers – whether it be of songs, poems or literature – to remember that what is artistic is really nothing more than people’s very creative and inventive ways out of impossible situations
“It is a process of discovery,” he said. “It’s being quiet enough and undisturbed enough for a period of time so that the words can begin to sort of peek out … in an emotional way.”
Taylor’s first breakthrough in writing songs was his hit “Fire and Rain,” and his first number one was the amazing “You’ve Got a Friend,” a recording that still gets thousands of airplays each month around the globe. He also had a huge hit with the joyful “Your Smiling Face" and won Grammys for all three.
“Though 'Fire and Rain' is very personal, for other people it resonates as a sort of commonly held experience,” he said. “And that's what happens with me. I write things for personal reasons, and then in some cases it becomes a shared experience.”
Here’s a link to “Smiling Face.” Happy writing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giB8gZ2L6hA
March 12, 2025
A Writer's Moment: Supernatural tales sending shivers up the spine
Supernatural tales sending shivers up the spine
“A strong emotion, especially ifexperienced for the first time, leaves a vivid memory of the scene where itoccurred.” – Algernon Blackwood
Born in England on this date in1869, Blackwood was a short story writer and novelist and one of the mostprolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. He also was ajournalist and broadcasting narrator. A giftedstoryteller, even in childhood, he said he always amazed friends and neighborswith his ability to spin yarns about the supernatural.
Blackwood authored 14 novels,several children's books, a number of plays and at least 3 dozen original shortstory collections before his death in 1951. A highly sought-after speaker and broadcaster as well, he became knownas “Master of the Genre.” Among his mostwell-known tales were The Willows and The Wendigo. Most of his stories elicited a sense of “awe” or the “what if?” factor,making them perfect for such broadcast shows as “Suspense” and “NightGallery.”
Blackwood said the secret to his writings’success was leaving his reader with a nagging sense that something yet mighthappen. “Those little things that pierce and burn and prick foryears to come.“
March 11, 2025
'Focus? Who needs to focus?'
“There's nothing worse than sittingdown to write a novel and saying, 'Well, okay, today I'm going to dosomething of high artistic worth’.” – Douglas Adams
Born in Cambridge, England on thisdate in 1952, Adams is perhaps best known for writing The Hitchhiker'sGuide to the Galaxy, which he originated in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy. Ultimately,he turned it into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a computergame, a feature film and a bestselling series of book that sold over 15 millioncopies.
Adams, who died of a heart attack atage 49, was a true Renaissance Man, known as an advocate for environmental andconservation causes, racing fast cars, and for his acting, singing and standup comedy routines. He also created several top-selling computer games.
His writing began with a piece publishedat age 10, and by age 13 he had a humorous short story published in a nationalyouth magazine. His first nationally published short story came at age22. But it was Adams’ work on“Hitchhiker’s Guide” that made him a superstar and got him enshrined in The UKRadio Academy’s Hall of Fame.
“I seldom end up where I want togo,” he said about his constant movement among careers andopportunities and seeming lack of focus. “But I almost always end up where I need to be.”
