Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 493

That 'amazing, surprising' literature

“Science fiction is an amazing literature: plot elements that you would think would be completely worn out by now keep changing into surprising new forms.” – Connie Willis
A fellow Coloradoan who makes her home in Greeley – where she studied at Northern Colorado – Willis is one of science fiction writing’s trailblazers and an inductee in the Science Fiction Writers Hall of Fame. 
Born on this day in 1945, Willis has won more major awards than any other writer – an  an incredible 11 Hugos and 7 Nebulas.  Her 2010 novel Blackout/All Clear won both, and just preceded her being named by the SciFi Writers Association as a “Grand Master,” their highest honor.                                                                                             An English and elementary education major, she combined her teaching with short story writing for more than a dozen years before the awards (and income) started piling up from her writing.  She’s been a full-time writer since the mid-1980s.
While much of her writing is grounded in the social sciences, she often weaves technology into her stories in order to prompt readers to question what impact it has on the world.  And, several of her works feature time travel by history students and faculty of the future University of Oxford—sometimes called her Time Travel series.

An advocate of meticulous research and exquisite detail (check out her books Passages or Remake for two terrific examples), she encourages new writers to do the same and never in just one take.  “I have never written anything in one draft, not even a grocery list,” she quipped, “although I have heard from friends that this is actually possible.”




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Words - the most powerful drug

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.  - Rudyard Kipling
And Kipling, who was born on this date in 1865, used words in the most powerful of ways, creating great novels like The Jungle Book and The Man Who Would Be King, epic poems like Mandalay and Gunga Din, and collections for children like The Just So Stories.
Despite that, he is probably most quoted on or around Mother’s Day when his saying “God could not be everywhere and therefore he created mothers” is used in various renditions.
One of the most popular writers in the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he is widely regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story.  His children's books are classics of children's literature; and one critic has described his work as exhibiting "a versatile and luminous narrative gift.”
He was born in Bombay (Mumbai), India, where both his parents and the setting became integral parts of his writing and creative process.  His father was a noted sculptor and professor and his mother a socialite and driving force behind her son’s successes, teaching him reading and writing early and encouraging him to "think beyond yourself and your   own world and tell everyone’s stories.”
In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first English-language recipient. The prize citation read: "In consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author."

“If history were taught in the form of stories,” Kipling said about his writing,  “it would never be forgotten.”


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That 'image in your mind'

“Writing well means never having to say, ‘I guess you had to be there.’”― Jef Mallett
Not to be confused with the founder of internet company Yahoo!, Mallett is  the creator and artist of the nationally-syndicated comic strip Frazz.   He also has authored several books for both kids and adults, including one I’ve enjoyed, Dangerous Dan. 
Mallett, who makes his home in Michigan, planned to be a nurse or an EMT, but both his athletic and artistic skills kept getting in the way.  A standout athlete in high school and college, he is an avid triathlete, having completed his first triathlon in 1981.  Since then he not only has participated in many more but also completed the grueling Iron Man competition. 
While drawing is his first artistic love, he also has long enjoyed writing and, in particular, putting the two together.  He has several award-winning comic strips and political cartoons to his credit – in each case where both the words and the images are powerfully presented.    A political cartoon, just like a political opinion piece, can and should be a powerful expression on behalf of a cause.  His own causes have ranged from Habitat for Humanity to support for the USO, which in turn supports U.S. Servicemen abroad.
“An opinion should be the result of thought,” he said,  “not a substitute for it.”
 Frazz by Jef Mallett

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That helping hand holds a pen

“It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.’” – Sam Levenson
Born on this date in 1911, American humorist, writer, teacher, television host, and journalist Levenson was originally a Spanish teacher in Brooklyn, New York.  But, once he started writing humor pieces he was sought after as a columnist and that led to his stand-up comic routine.  He appeared a record 21 times on the Ed Sullivan Show  and multiple times on The Tonight Show.
Once he got more into writing, he focused on nonfiction and wrote the bestsellers Everything But Money(1966), Sex and the Single Child (1969), In One Era And Out The Other(1973), and You Can Say That Again, Sam! (1975).
Poetry was another of his somewhat hidden talents and he is credited with authoring the well-known poem "Time Tested Beauty Tips,” the favorite of actress Audrey Hepburn, who has sometimes been falsely attributed as its author. Levenson, who adored children, said he was inspired to write the poem for his grandchildren and in memory of his parents.
He pointed out that while his parents were not wealthy, they cared about what their kids did and encouraged them to read, read, read.  “Any kid who has parents who are interested in him and has a houseful of books is never poor.”

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Those valuable daily reflections

“I started writing one afternoon when I was twenty, and ever since then I have written every day. At first I had to force myself. Then it became part of my identity, and I did it without thinking.” – David Sedaris
An American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor, Sedaris first burst onto the scene in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "SantaLand Diaries,” which have since become one of NPR’s standards for the Christmas season.
Sedaris went on to publish six best-selling collections of essays and short stories in a row, the best-known being the absolutely hilarious When You Are Engulfed in Flames.  (The title comes from a guide for guests in a hotel in which he was staying).
A native of New York, he grew up in North Carolina and – as noted above – started writing down thoughts about growing up, family life, heritage and various and sundry jobs.  It was while reading from this diary at a comedy club that he was “discovered” by NPR’s Ira Glass, who arranged for him to do his SantaLand essay.
Sedaris, of course, is a firm believer in keeping a diary or journal, and not only because it has served as the basis  for most of his award-winning work.
“I've been keeping a diary for thirty-three years and write in it every morning,” Sedaris said.   “Most of it's just whining, but every so often there'll be something I can use later: a joke, a description, a quote. It's an invaluable aid when it comes to winning arguments. 'That's not what you said on February 3, 1996,' I'll say to someone.”
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Stir a flower; trouble a star

“All things by immortal power. near or far, to each other linked are, that thou canst not stir a flower without troubling of a star.” – Francis Thompson

Saturday’s Poem is by British poet Francis Thompson (1859-1907), who wrote three books of poetry, a number of short stories, and several essays, including one of the best ever done on the poet Percy Bysche Shelley.   He battled both debilitating illness and depression for most of his short life and died of tuberculoisis. 
He is perhaps best known for writing key phrases that became the focus or central theme for other writings or actions.  His term “With all deliberate speed,” was used in the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Brown vs. Board of Education.  And his phrase “Love is a many-   splendored thing” became the title of a novel by Han Suyin, popular 1955 movie and hit song by The Four Aces.  Authors J.R.R. Tolien and Madeline L’Engle both cited him as a key influence on their writing. 
Here is his short poemGo, songsGo, songs, for ended is our brief, sweet play;  Go, children of swift joy and tardy sorrow:  And some are sung, and that was yesterday,  And some are unsung, and that may be tomorrow.
Go forth; and if it be o'er stony way,  Old joy can lend what newer grief must borrow:  And it was sweet, and that was yesterday,  And sweet is sweet, though purchased with sorrow.

Go, songs, and come not back from your far way:  And if men ask you why ye smile and sorrow,  Tell them ye grieve, for your hearts know Today,  Tell them ye smile, for your eyes know Tomorrow.

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Writers' words at Christmas

A few “wise words” from writers about Christmas.  Happy Christmas everyone!   “I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays — let them overtake me unexpectedly — waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: ‘Why, this is Christmas Day!’” ~ David Grayson (journalist and biographer)
“As long as we know in our hearts what Christmas ought to be, Christmas is.”~Eric Sevareid (longtime CBS News reporter, novelist and essayist)
“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.” ~Laura Ingalls Wilder (written when she was a magazine editor in Kansas before her Little House days)
And a few words from me:  May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through.

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A Merry Little Christmas

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," a song primarily written by Hugh Martin (with an assist from Ralph Blane), was introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis.   Frank Sinatra, whose 100thbirthday we celebrated a couple weeks ago, then recorded Martin's 1950s version that became the standard that we so often hear at Christmas.   
In 2007, ASCAP ranked "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as the third most performed Christmas song and the 76thmost performed song of ALL songs that had been first written and recorded for the cinema.  I shared thoughts on the song a couple years ago after hearing an interview with Martin about the song's genesis.  Martin said developing the song was “a moment that just came to him” as he thought about Christmas, and being together with family while vacationing near his family home in Alabama.  It became a “writer’s moment” if you will.
Martin said one of his favorite versions was done in the 1970s by the incomparable Karen Carpenter. So on this Christmas Eve day, here’s that version.  And Merry Christmas everyone!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyNcz7M8Kqc

Slow and steady is the pace

“The storytelling gift is innate: one has it or one doesn't. But style is at least partly a learned thing: one refines it by looking and listening and reading and practice - by work.”  – Donna Tartt
Born on this date in 1962, Donna Tartt is a writer whose pace is something I like to point out when I am talking about my own – which runs to the “slow and steady wins the race” type.  Usually one every 10 years.

Her novel The Little Friend, released in 2003, won the WH Smith Literary Award, and her 2013 book The Goldfinchwon The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction – not a bad track record.  On top of that, she was named to Time Magazine’s “The 100 Most Influential People of 2014” list.   
A native of Mississippi, Tartt started serious writing as a first-year student at Ole Miss under the tutelage of fellow Mississippi author Barry Hannah, who was serving as Writer-in-Residence at the University.  Struck by her enthusiasm and ability, he enrolled her in his Graduate writing class.   Eventually she transferred to the renowned Bennington College (Vermont) writing program.   Her experiences there, along with her vivid imagination, led to her best-selling first novel The Secret History in 1992.
“My novels aren't really generated by a single conceptualspark,” she said.  “It's more 
a process of many different elements that come together unexpectedly over a long  period of time.”  Like a decade, a timeline I can truly identify with.

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Those seeds that you plant

Today, I am coming from the funeral of my Aunt Alyce, a woman who helped raise me when my mother was left alone with 3 small kids and no one else to whom she could turn for help.  To say she had an oversized impact on my life would be an understatement, and I thought of her again this morning when I saw this quote.
“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
My aunt was a “seed planter,” not only for me but for hundreds (perhaps thousands) more, and so many of us didn’t get that last chance to thank her personally before her sudden and unexpected death from a stroke.  As we approach Christmas, I encourage you to thank a person who “planted the seeds” that made a difference in your life.   It will, indeed, be a gift that will have meaning to you both.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!




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