R.W. Ridley's Blog, page 14

A message from Mom – Repost

Feeling loved!

May 1, 2014 – The third anniversary of my mother’s death came and went without my notice.  The day she left this world holds less significance to me than the days she spent in this world, but I feel duty-bound as her son to pay her homage in some way for the sacrifices she made to give me a fantastic life.  So, here is a message she delivered to me in a dream one year after her passing.   

You shouldn’t be surprised that a writer with horror leanings would write a post featuring a message from his dead mother on Mother’s Day, but you might be surprised that this isn’t a macabre entry. On April 3 of this year I had a very vivid dream involving my mother. For those of you who don’t know, Mom passed on April 29, 2011. Obviously my subconscious was aware of the coming anniversary of her death, even if my conscious mind had blocked it from my memory. I was blissfully unaware of the coming milestone. So, on April 3, 2012, my Mom visited me. Yes, it was a dream. Yes, the dream was obviously influenced by a program I watched on PBS that night featuring Dr. Wayne Dyer where he spent a significant amount of time talking about the afterlife. But, I can honestly say that it was the most vivid dream I have ever had, and it was perhaps a little more than a dream. It was a message, a message that reveals a little bit more of itself everyday whenever I’m confused about how life is supposed to work.

The dream had many elements that had nothing to do with Mom, but towards the end my Dad and I checked into a hotel in Asheville, NC (a fancy hotel – $400/night). I went to the lobby and Mom was there. She looked healthy and happy. I sat down and talked to her, and very early in our conversation I said, “Hey, wait a minute. You’re dead.” She smiled and said she came back because she knew I was worried about her. Here’s what I remember about our conversation in the dream. (BTW – The wording is to the best of my recollection. She said a lot without saying it if that makes sense. It was as if I could feel the meaning of her answers).

Me: How are you feeling?

Mom: I feel loved. There is no fear on my side. There is only love. There is only a sense of belonging. That is the truth.

Me: Your world sounds much better. Why even have two worlds? Why can’t we all just live in your world?

Mom: You have to learn how to appreciate love before you can live in a world that is only love. You can only learn to appreciate love by going through the trials, tribulations, and triumphs that exist on your side.

Me: Are you always with us? (Us being her family)

Mom: I am with you when you feel and express love. And when I’m with you it’s not how you think. I’m not hovering above you taking notes on what you’re doing or influencing the outcome of some event. I am a part of the channel of love. I have no choice but to be there. We’re all there with you during those moments. If you’re experiencing hardship, focus on love. When you do, you can take comfort that not only am I with you, but that everyone on my side is with you. There is no greater power that can influence the outcome of an event because it won’t change the event itself. It will do much more. It will change you and for the better.

Me: What is love?

Mom: Love is/are those moments when you feel like you belong. The more you do to make someone or something feel like they belong, the more you feel like you belong. They feel loved. You feel loved. That is love.

Me: Is there a God?

Mom: Yes, and God is only different from the rest of us on my side by one simple aspect. There was never a time when God did not appreciate love. God has always known that there is no value in love if you do not appreciate it. God feels infinite joy when the rest of us discover the truth, that the only true state of being is love.

That’s it. That’s all I remember about our conversation. At the end, I could see her fading back to her side. I kept questioning her as she drifted away, and I could see her consulting with the others on her side before she answered. She smiled throughout. She was happier than I have ever seen her. I woke up feeling really good about where Mom is, and I’ll never worry about her again.

BTW – The weird thing is that on the one year anniversary of my mother’s death I sat in a motel lobby with my family, and we all gave a toast in her honor.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! Thanks for the message!

A short interview with Dan Wallace

Dan (aka Nate Daniels) is the narrator of my C. Hoyt Caldwell book Bad Way Out.  I’m a fan of this guy’s voice and work.  If you need a narrator, I encourage you to hire him.

 

My favorite Bad Way Out audiobook excerpt

I’m going to be posting segments from a quick little interview I did with Dan Wallace, the narrator for the audiobook version of Bad Way Out.  I’ll probably get it on the blog on Saturday.  Until then, here’s the segment of the book that Dan captured beautifully.  While it has no official name, I’ve dubbed it The Party.  When Dan reaches the pivotal moment in this scene, I still get a little emotional by his perfect read.  I’ll let you, the listener, guess what that pivotal moment is.

 

 

What Book Seven looks and sounds like in my head

Book Seven is still months away from being published, but that doesn’t mean my head isn’t swimming with images of Oz and the gang.  In fact, this video demonstrates what I see and hear every time I turn my attention to the last book in the Oz Chronicles.

TEDx Postmortem

One of the twins from my fictional tale about publishing. I know what you’re thinking, and I agree. She’s gorgeous.

I did the TEDx event this morning at Pinewood Prep in Summerville, SC.  I had a fantastic time, and I met some great people.  I spoke to a roomful of mostly kids about publishing using a fictional tale of twins exploring separate paths to fame and fortune as authors.  I’m not sure how it went from their perspective, or how long I actually spoke.  I rehearsed several times before going in and came out anywhere between 13 minutes and 25 minutes, so I’m guessing I got close to the required 18 minutes.  I kind of expected a countdown clock in the room to keep me on task, but there was just an old analog clock in the back of the room, and I was too preoccupied to do the necessary math to keep track of time.  I used no notes, but I had prompts in my PowerPoint that triggered facts and figures I needed to tell my story.  I had this whole thing about the honor in failing I wanted to get into, but I got sidetracked.

I got the opportunity to talk to a couple of the kids about writing after the program, and met one young man who has already finished his first novel.  He asked for advice, and I’m afraid I failed to give him anything inspirational.  I have to come up with a better response to that request from young writers.  When I was his age, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to ask an adult about writing.  My hats off to him for being passionate enough to complete a novel at such a young age, and for having the guts to talk about it so openly.  It’s not easy to do.  I know.

The speaker after me was Brian Thomas, a Yale graduate, renowned educator and former Emmy Award winning actor for his role in Fast Break to Glory.  When I heard his credentials, I was convinced they had asked me there as a joke.  He was a super nice guy, and made it a point to tell me that he felt like the kids got a lot out of my presentation.  I don’t know if it’s true, but he made me feel better.  I was up the night before with a stomach bug, so I was still kind of floopy during my presentation.

That’s enough rambling.  Now that TEDx is behind me I’m going to do a feature on the narrator for the audiobook version of Bad Way Out.  His name is Dan Wallace, and he is an incredibly talented voice over actor.  He’s so good I don’t know how I was fortunate enough to get him.  More on that to come.

A thought to ponder

Conflict

My concept is up in the air right now.

The theme for the TEDx event I will take part in is conflict.  I’ve been asked to address the conflict that exists between traditional publishing and indie publishing.  I think I’ve come up with a way to illustrate the life of a traditionally published author and an indie author that blends actual stories (some that belong to me and some that are ripped from the headlines) set in fictional circumstances.  It will be a bit of a juggling act.  I’m just hoping my talk won’t go viral for the wrong reasons.

TEDx here I come

I’m sure I’ll be the unintentional comic relief for the day.

Very cool.  I just got invited to speak at a TEDx event.  I’ll update the blog as I know more, but first things first.  I now have to come up with 18 minutes of material.  Yikes!

“I took a risk.”

Lessons in storytelling by Larry David

The headline for this blog post comes from an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry David’s character, Larry David, offers it as an explanation to his wife Cheryl, played by Cheryl Hines, when she asks why he would say something so socially unacceptable to another human being. He took a risk in an attempt to be honest to another person, and he failed miserably. That’s what made it so funny.

It sums up how I feel when I think about the stories I write under C. Hoyt Caldwell. Succeeding as Mr. Caldwell isn’t nearly as important to me as taking risks as Mr. Caldwell. I go down some dark roads in an attempt to tell an honest story. Not honest from my point of view, but from my characters’ various points of view. They say and do things that I am embarrassed and shocked by, and I love it. It’s really a blast.

There are parts of The Closeout Kings that I know will offend some readers. As a reader of the material, I even felt it might have gone too far, but as the writer, I knew the material called for it because it advanced character, conflict, and action. Those are the only things I can and will concern myself with. If I start considering how the story will affect the reader, then I’m not really writing. I’m pandering.

Can I take risks as R.W. Ridley? I hope so. Oz’ tale isn’t your typical Young Adult series. There are some very adult themes that he has dealt with and will deal with in the final installment. My goal with Oz all along has been to take him from a boy to a man over the course of the series, and that in and of itself is a risk in the Young Adult market. I never think about category and genre when I write, so that may be why some of the major publishers who’ve thought about picking it up eventually passed because they didn’t know where to place it. I’ve been told on a number of occasions by editors that Oz sounds too grown up. I agree. He does. But there’s a reason for that, and hopefully I can make that clear in Book Seven.

So, here’s a little helpful tool for readers as you flip through the pages of a book. If you are offended by something you read, ask yourself if it reveals something to you about the character and/or story. If it does, then the author took a risk in an effort to be honest. Can you really be offended by that?

It is so wrong for me to be this excited about a movie… about turtles!

Okay so they’re mutant and ninjas, but that’s still no reason for an intelligent 48-year-old man with no kids to get so excited about their upcoming movie.  The fact that they’re teenagers alone should keep me for seeing this movie, but I’ll see it, and most likely by myself in an attempt to hide my shame.