L.P. Kirkbride's Blog, page 3

Writing and Art: The Marriage of Two Worlds

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am an artist as well as a writer.  I think this is because the writing came first.  But my artwork is equally important to me.

Here is one of the latest silhouettes from book one of my novel series, Mr. Austen.  You can view more of my  artwork on my website:  www.lpkirkbride.com under Picture Gallery.

 

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Writing and art may seem dissimilar to one another, and the process of creating them is certainly different, but there is also a lot that is similar between them.  For example, writing can paint a picture with words and art can tell a story with a picture–such is the expression: “a picture can tell a  thousand words.”

I strive to establish a balance between them by combining them.  Such as illustrating my own books:  Mr. Austen, Kate Hawkins, two novel series.  Several writers have illustrated their books, such as J.R.R.  Tolkien drew the maps for the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and notably William Blake illustrated many of his works.  I also later plan on publishing my art collections as books.

So, I think it is possible to have a happy medium between writing and art–they will be a union to last for a long time to come!  5 April, 2017–L.P. Kirkbride  

The Importance of Poetry

This is the last entry of the blog tour for my poetry collection,  Idle Pursuits , 28 February, 2017.  I’d like to discuss in this part about why poetry is important.

     Poetry has a long history, its roots going back to the oral tradition, even before literacy, such as with Beowulf, where poems were used to remember stories.  So, it has been the basis of literature.

But in our modern day novels have become more of the norm.  Yet during Keats or Lord Byron’s time poetry was quite popular.  Byron, for example, was like a rock star in his time.  In  Idle Pursuits  there are poems on Keats and Byron, On Rediscovering Keats and If Byron Were Alive Today.

But poetry, perhaps, has fallen out of fashion; but I think it’s important to keep it going, as it can portray emotions, situations and matters of the heart so well.  For example, love poetry can be so beautiful.  And it has been how literature originally started, so it is a strong part of our literary history.  I still love to read poetry as well as novels.  So, I hope it will always be around!

This is the end of the  Idle Pursuits  blog tour but it is  available for purchase, e-book and paperback,  on all major sites, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and iBooks; or for more information and to read samples please visit my website at: http://www.lpkirkbride.com

I have very much enjoyed sharing my poems and thoughts on poetry with you.  Happy reading!–L.P. Kirkbride

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‘Musings’ on Writing Poetry

“…if poetry comes not as naturally as the leaves to a tree it had better not come at all.”–John Keats (Letter to John Taylor, February 27, 1818).

This next  instalment for the Idle Pursuits blog tour, my upcoming poetry collection is about the process of writing poetry or the muse for 27 February, 2017.

Something  interesting to note is the synchronicity to these things, which can involve the muse.  For example, the quote I just found from Keats is also dated February 27, the same date as this blog post!  And I just noticed this after the fact.  Also W.L. Hawkins’ book To Charm a Killer has a character Michael Stryker  who is fixated on Lord Byron and drives a red Ferrari and I have written a poem about Byron, driving a red Ferrari!  Yet neither of us knew this at the time until afterwards!  You can see her comment about this in the blog post for this tour under If Byron Were Alive Today or on Goodreads.  So, perhaps, there are parallel dimensions?

What is interesting and may seem strange as a writer to say, but I am not really writing, really I feel that I am visited by my muse and am just following the process, like a journey.  Actually it feels like this for all of my writing and my artwork as well.

We can also ask our muse for guidance when needed when working on any creative project.

One may ask who or what is our muse?  I believe this is whatever inspires you–just follow your inspiration.  It’s an adventure!

Feel free to share any of your writing experiences in the comments section.  And I will see you here for the last instalment and final blog for this blog tour tomorrow 28 February, 2017, which is about the importance of poetry.  See you then!–L.P. Kirkbride

 

 

Idle Pursuits, Blog Tour, Almost Midnight

This is the last entry, 20 February, 2017 for the favourite poems part from my Idle Pursuits poetry collection blog tour, where I have been choosing and discussing my own personal favourites from the collection.  This time it’s the last poem from the collection, Almost Midnight:

The sun is setting, it is almost midnight

Youth passes at the close of day.

The dawn’s infancy was not so long ago

When the first glimpse of the sun was in sight.

The morning of our younger years passed slowly

In all its glory, how much we enjoyed it all,

Basking and revelling in all its warm light.

Then as adults our afternoons moved faster

As we hurried to take it all in as much as we could

Before the last sunset seemed not as bright.

Now we are older as the evening rolls in

As we settle into the realm of new experiences,

And even the stars are as beautiful in the deep twilight.

This poem is about getting older, or better as I like to say!; and the beauty/value in all things even getting older/better.

The life changes expressed in this poem can be seen, in part, with its rhyme scheme, where there is an internal rhyme throughout, which can show more consistency; but then it is also mixed with some free verse, which can represent change. 

And in keeping with the theme and title of the collection, Idle Pursuits, it can show the many sides of life–some of the poems in the book are neutral, others humourous, this one is a bit more serious, but still looks at the lighter side of life, as life is good and should be enjoyed!   As also in this poem the course of a life is compared to the changes in a day, which can show how quickly it can all seem to pass, so we shouldn’t waste any time, but the sieze every moment!

The next part and finish to the Idle Pursuits blog tour will be next week with the following schedule of events on this blog:

27 February, 2017 will be a discussion about the process of writing poetry.

28 February, 2017 will be a talk on the importance of poetry.

Idle Pursuits e-book and paperback is available on all major sites, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and iBooks.

See you  next week!–L.P. Kirkbride

 

 

Idle Pursuits, Blog Tour, If Byron Were Alive Today

This is the second week, 13 February, 2017 of the part of the blog tour for my poetry collection, Idle Pursuits, where I share and discuss some of my favorite poems from the, collection.  This week it is the poem, If Byron Were Alive Today:

If Byron were alive today

He’d be driving a red Ferrari.

A real ‘Don Juan’ he’d be that is to say

And be living in Hawaii.

He wouldn’t write about ‘roving by the moon’

But be cruising every strip.

For every lady he would swoon

And boy, would he be hip.

He’d hang out at every club and so

No Grecian hero with a cause to fight

Nor a Lord so, ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know,’

But more like a rock star partying every night.

     Byron is another one of my favorite Romantic poets.  I especially like his poems, ‘We’ll Go No More A’roving’ and Childe Harold.  With this poem one can see the humor in life, as it is a funny idea of Byron being alive today and what he’d be like in a modern world.

     The humor in the poem is captured with some non-sensical rhyme: Ferrari and Hawaii; and Byron’s imagined actions: ‘cruising every strip’ and ‘a rock star partying every night.’  But like life there is also a serious side with references to Byron’s works within the poem.

     There are also some more humorous poems in the collection, which I think can be a good approach to life–it can be helpful to be silly at times!  Humor can be found in some of my other works as well, such as the upcoming Mr. Austen and later Kate Hawkins also has some humorous elements.

To read more full poetry samples from Idle Pursuits or for more information please visit my website at:  http://www.lpkirkbride.com.

     Please feel free to join me for the next installment of this part of the tour with one more favorite poem from the book 20 February, 2017.  Hope to see you then!

–L.P. Kirkbride

 

Idle Pursuits, Blog Tour, Poetic Acrobatics

[image error]This is the next part of the blog tour for my upcoming poetry collection, Idle Pursuits where for the next few Mondays 6, 13 and 20 February, 2017 I will be showing samples and discussing some of my favorite poems from the collection.

For this one it is the poem, Poetic Acrobatics:

“The poet walks along the tightrope d r a g g i n g her pen along the page,

being careful not to fall for fear of losing her stage.

She does a pirouette of rhyme,

Then a          leap of free verse, landing  back straight upon the line.

Shetightens on a sonnet, then does another      turn–

stre   tch   ing  her imagination to the point of no return.”

 

What I like about this poem is the incorporation of the form and content–the physical look of the poem follows with its theme with the play on the placement of its words.  For example, a leap is represented by a gap bewteen the words in the line.  I think this builds meaning and shows that poetry and writing itself can reveal truths in life.  I also like and can relate to its theme–on the one hand, it is playful with the idea of acrobatics like at a circus and poetry can be that as well.  But also when a poet or a writer for that matter writes, it is sometimes like taking risks as one can reveal a lot about one’s self, or be opening themselves to criticism, so it can be like walking that fine line on the tightrope such as an acrobatic would.  But still it is worth it, as by writing one can share valuable experiences with others and could also receive praise and feedback and have some fun as well!

I hope you will join me next Monday 13 February for another favorite poem of mine from the collection.  You can also find more information on my website at: http://www.lpkirkbride.com

Happy reading!–L.P. Kirkbride

 

Idle Pursuits, Blog Tour, Poetry Challenge, Shakespeare

My poetry challenge for 3 February, 2017 is Shakespeare’s sonnet 18.  I love Shakespeare’s imagery and take on human nature at times.  My favorite sonnet of his is #18:

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate….

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,…

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”

Love is such a strong, central theme and driving force–in my poetry collection Idle Pursuits there are several love poems, such as I Could Never Hurt You and Love Sits Down Beside Me.  I also sometimes use more traditional styles, as poetry I think can take on many different forms, such as one of the sonnets in the collection titled A Nod to Jane Austen.  Here is part of the sonnet:

“I wish I were a character in a Jane Austen novel

Dancing with Mr. Darcy, as did Elizabeth Bennet

Oh, how many things I’d have to tell

If Mr. Bingley I had met.”

I hope you will undertake your own poetry challenge and read a poem a day–I read poetry just about everyday and find it very relaxing and uplifting!

I hope you will join me on the next leg of Idle Pursuits’ blog tour, starting on Monday 6 February I will be posting here on my blog full samples of some of my favorite poems from the collection; and also discussing their background and how they have inspired me.  You can also read full samples of some of the poems on my website at: http://www.lpkirkbride.com under Books/Samples.

The Idle Pursuits poetry collection e-book and paperback will soon be available 1 March, 2017 on all major sites, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and iBooks.

Have a great weekend!

 

 

Idle Pursuits, Blog Tour Poetry Challenge, Wendy Cope

This is the second day 2 February, 2017 of my poetry challenge for the blog tour for my poetry collection Idle Pursuits–to read a poem a day.  This time it is a more modern poet Wendy Cope.  For modern poetry I am also fond of Sylvia Plath and the Canadian poet P.K. Page.  But I particularly love Cope’s  humorous take on life.  One of my favourite poems of hers is Bloody Men, here is the opening stanza, which is quite funny:

“Bloody men are like bloody buses–

You wait for about a year

And as soon as one approaches your stop

Two or three others appear.”

    In Idle Pursuits I also like to use different styles of verse and a look at the lighter side of things, as I don’t think life should be taken too seriously or sometimes the best remedy is  humour!   Some poems like this in the collection are Unemployment and If I Were To Marry, a few lines from If I Were To Marry:

“If I were to marry a fellow poet

And we had a lawn, who would mow it?…

We’d both be far too busy writing and dealing with our affairs

For either of us to take time out to  vacuum the stairs…

So, I think I would be better off with a  mathematician 

Or, perhaps, a carpenter or politician,”

Feel free to share any poems you like.  Tomorrow 3 February, 2017 will be the last day of the poetry challenge!

 

 

Idle Pursuits Blog Tour: Poetry Challenge, Keats

This is the first entry for my blog tour for the book launch of my poetry collection, Idle Pursuits.  The first 3 days 1-3 February, 2017 is the poetry challenge to read one poem a day.  Feel free to join in and share your poems as well, leave a comment or just read the poems or blog.

For my first poem I have chosen a poem by John Keats, who is one of my  favourite poets.  I do like his Ode To A Nightingale, but another favourite is his To Autumn.  I love its haunting beauty as Keats finds lovely thing in the Fall season.  I think this translates to life as well, as we can find good things even in challenging situations.

Some of my  favourite lines from the poem are:

“Season of mists and mellow  fruitfulness/Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun.”

“And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.”

     Actually in the painting on the cover of the book is Keats by his painter friend Joseph Severn, with Keats having a quiet moment reading, but I can just imagine that he is also thinking of his next poem.  In the collection there is a poem I wrote about Keats, titled On Rediscovering Keats about how he has a wonderful influence even today.

     See you tomorrow for day 2 of the poetry challenge! 

 

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Plot Along

The general outline of a story is really just the bare bones.  The real meat of the tale is the writing itself.

I always start a story with an outline to help me get started and keep me on track.  But once I start writing it anything can change along the way–the plot can change, new characters develop.  Though I may follow my general plan, so much more can come out of that.  I often feel that I am plotting along as I go!