Jason R Jones's Blog: Writing in the Dark of Morning...

Summer Storms and Inspiration...

So the storms are coming, that much today was evident in the sky and winds that whispered. They teased me, as dark roiling clouds rushed up south from Marco Island, yet they brought not a drop of rain. I am ready for the lightning, the thunder, and the sound of all that the storm has inside to drown out my tapping fingers at the keyboard and the music that guides my writing.

Something about a storm, about the coming and going, the longing of its arrival and far too quick of its departure, it mesmerizes me. For all of its power and magnitude, I feel it is frail and that but a distracting comment could send it away without delivering what it was meant to. It is as if the storm can see me, and I can see it, in a way only two things of far different circumstance see one another.

That connection, that desire for the right moments of wind and rain, and thunder and lightning, all happening at once before me, for me, as I write not feet from the edge of the garage: that is the moment I seek, while it lasts, for the inspiration it brings draws out of me something the storm knows I have within, something I am not aware of yet, but the pages shall soon have it.

---JRJ

Just one more chapter...

I have a wondrous problem, I cannot figure where and when exactly to stop book 5 of The Last Pantheon series. It is not even truly a Book V, it is Revelations Untold, a group of chapters that take place between books four and five. It was actually a creative diversion for myself, as my series is four quartets and a duet finale', I figured a little fun with the years between quartets could be entertaining.

Now, it has turned from perhaps 3oo pages or so, into a full fledged novel length. I have no true deadline, no true format to follow, and no hard-lined outline to contend with here. It's just me, the characters, the setting, and whatever comes to mind. The guidelines are vague, the chapters need not coincide with overall plot, and it is a bit more fun than I had envisioned.

I cannot share much more, as it will spoil those that have not followed the series from its inception as The Exodus Sagas, and now transformation into The Last Pantheon. Yet, I have this urge to share what I am writing, as I feel it is some of my most heartfelt work.

With but one more chapter to go, this is what most anyone would call a good problem to have. Then, it is on to From Tower to Temple, and the rest of the second quartet...

JRJ

The Rites of Writing...

I would assume there are plenty of writers that just zing words to a page with a marvelous simplicity that I could only dream of. There are others that I know who struggle at the grind of it with enduring forces I cannot fathom.

For me, it is all setting. Darkness, the lack of light is a must for me. And, that being stated, it cannot be indoor darkness that inspires me, it must be allowed the outside air. Daytime drags, the evening lingers, and by nightfall my mind has taken in far too much to allow anything new to be born. Nighttime is for reading, editing, and perusing ideas.

The morning, when most things are still sleeping, when the world is not yet awake and full of actions demanding my attention, that time between 4am and 8am, when the moon fades and the sun is coming, that is my time. Give me a candle, some background music, and the stars. An espresso or three, a maduro cigar to smolder, and the deadline of beating the light, that is my daily challenge.

In that time, nothing yet exists that I must be enslaved to, besides the silence that allows my waking mind to recall the places and feelings I dreamt of, whether I recall them or not. It is there that another world can be wandered, another time and place may be explored, and the unhindered adventures may come to life.

---JRJ