Reese Ryan's Blog, page 26

P is for Pentameter by the Jazz Quintet Chroma

One of the things I love about social media is discovering topics, people, music, and books I might not have learned about otherwise. That’s what happened when saxophonist, composer, and educator, Brian Plautz of Chroma, followed me on Twitter a few weeks ago.

During the past month while I’ve been doing a lot of writing and revising I’ve shifted to a heavy rotation of jazz. So finding the album Pentameter by Chroma was simply perfect.

Chroma is a jazz quintet that features Plautz on sax, Alex C...

O is for Opportunity for Authors (or the Upside of Self-Publishing)

There have been so many shifts in publishing in the last few years. In fact, take a week off of social media and when you return you’ll find that you’ve missed the latest “big publishing news.”

As an aspiring author, at first I was disconcerted by all of the news, the doomsday predictions. Publishing has always been a tough business. The rapid changes and negative outlooks quickly made it feel like getting published was an impossible dream. But then something awesome happened. Self-publishing...

N is for New Adult

New adult is a trend in fiction that has caught fire in the past year or so. The first new adult romance I read was J.A. Redmerski’s book, The Edge of Never. I absolutely loved the story of Camryn and Andrew and am eagerly awaiting the release of The Edge of Alwayswhich will be told primarily from Andrew’s point of view.

But, what is new adult? Even many writers are still asking this question. Many have said it’s simple YA with sex. Not true. New adult fiction targets college-age readers and h...

M is for Making the First Move

So today, as Mike Meyers’ character, Linda Richman, would say in his old SNL Coffee Talk skits, “I’m feeling a little verklempt.”

Anyone who has ever dreamed of seeing their words–and the characters that came to life in their heads–available to be read by others can understand what an emotional rollercoaster the road to publishing is. Each accomplishment is met with a sense of utter joy. But that feeling of euphoria can be dashed just as quickly, leaving you a broken, thumb-sucking, blankie-cu...

L is for Love

Think of this as a brief service announcement, a reminder that we should always treat the ones we love as we would if we knew today was the last day we’d see them. So give your significant other a cinema-worthy smooch. Hug and kiss your kids. Call your parents and tell them how much you appreciate them. Catch up with a friend. Walk the dog.

Below is Alicia Keys song, “Like You’ll Never See Me Again.”

Is making more time for family and friends one of your goals for this year? If so, how are you...

K is for the Kevin Hayden Trio

One of the few things I’d say I inherited from my father is his love of music. I fondly remember sitting on the couch in our living room while he played one album after another. He was a big jazz fan so I listened to lots of Grover Washington, The Crusaders, Miles Davis, Joe Sample, and Nina Simone. But he also introduced me to my all-time favorite band–Earth, Wind & Fire–and numerous other musicians.

As soon as I was old enough to buy my own records I began to build a collection of 45s. (I ha...

J is for Journal

When I was in middle school I kept a journal. I didn’t write in my diary every single night, but it was always there, ready to listen, ready to help me work through thoughts and feelings I wasn’t quite ready to share with anyone else.

I’m not sure what happened to those diaries, or when they stopped being important enough for me to care. But now, more than twenty years later, I often wish I’d held onto those journals.

Like many writers, I’m completely obsessed with writing instruments. I’m admi...

I is for Ice, Ice Baby (as in the Polar Caps are melting)

I’d love to spend this quick post drooling over chocolate-colored diamonds or some other delicious baubles. But today I wanted to address an important topic – global warming. First: YES, it’s real. (Please let’s don’t start that again.) Second: As you can see in the video below, this is no longer about theories and possibilities. The ish just got real.

Here in America we’re a bit spoiled and water conversation isn’t something most of us were taught growing up. But making smart use of water and...

H is for Hindsight (or The 20/20 Experience)

Life is full of tough decisions and everyday choices that can ultimately change the course of our lives or the lives of others. We ponder some decisions long and hard, yet still make the wrong choice. After the smoke clears, the right choice–the one we should have made–becomes glaringly evident.

Ahh…the beauty of hindsight.

So we don’t always make the right choices, and yeah…sometimes we royally eff things up. But the important thing is that we learn the lessons in life that every interaction,...

G is for Goals (or Don’t Talk About It Be About It)

At the end of 2011 I posted my goals for 2012…on my blog. Right there in the open for everyone to see. It was one of the most terrifying and exhilarating things I’d done, in terms of being open and putting myself completely out there. Later in the year I revisited those goals to see where I was.

Surprise, surprise! I accomplished, or began making headway, on many of the goals I established for myself and then shared with others. It worked so well, why not do it again? At least, that was the pl...