B. Roman's Blog: Inspiration From Unexpected Sources - Posts Tagged "crystals"
Books Teach As Well As Entertain
As "The Secrets of The Moon Singer" trilogy of adventures follow teenager David Nickerson's “coming of age” transformation from a naïve and conflicted boy to a determined and purposeful young man, readers may find themselves able to examine their own lives and work through any obstacles that have been holding them back from realizing their true potential. There is a lot of family angst going on in the stories, and the characters are constantly learning how to deal with these relationships. I also touch on topical issues such as respect for the environment, ethics (or lack thereof) in business, the misuse of power, the contrast between good and evil, and the importance of personal and Universal Truth and integrity.
As the stories developed, I hoped to reach young boys looking for a main character who triumphed heroically over his circumstances, as well as appeal to young girls who are looking for a boy who will gallantly protect and selflessly nurture them, all the while allowing girls to maintain their individuality and strength of character. For both genders I wanted to create characters they could respect and whose virtues they would want to emulate.
I realize that teens today are attracted to pop culture that focuses on dark and violent themes, but my mind just doesn't go there in story telling. I hope that my stories will offer kids a balance, especially if they are just beginning to ponder ethical, spiritual and metaphysical thoughts and concepts. Of course, I try to give them an enjoyable, suspenseful, and uplifting reading experience. It is a trilogy of adventures written to appeal to the youth in all of us, and with a respect for language and prose that hopefully will inspire young people to read material that requires time and attention to spiritual matters.
As the stories developed, I hoped to reach young boys looking for a main character who triumphed heroically over his circumstances, as well as appeal to young girls who are looking for a boy who will gallantly protect and selflessly nurture them, all the while allowing girls to maintain their individuality and strength of character. For both genders I wanted to create characters they could respect and whose virtues they would want to emulate.
I realize that teens today are attracted to pop culture that focuses on dark and violent themes, but my mind just doesn't go there in story telling. I hope that my stories will offer kids a balance, especially if they are just beginning to ponder ethical, spiritual and metaphysical thoughts and concepts. Of course, I try to give them an enjoyable, suspenseful, and uplifting reading experience. It is a trilogy of adventures written to appeal to the youth in all of us, and with a respect for language and prose that hopefully will inspire young people to read material that requires time and attention to spiritual matters.
The Power of Music and Magical Adventures
this blog is available at Creativia.org
http://www.creativia.org/the-power-of...
B. Roman is the author of The Moon Singer, a Young Adult fantasy series that comprises three Books: The Crystal Clipper; The War Chamber, and The Wind Rose. She is also the author of a suspense fiction, “Whatever Became of Sin?”
“You are born to what you will be in life,” said a noted ballet dancer as I interviewed him for a newspaper article. For him, it was dance. For me it was singing. I knew my future had been ordained at age 3, as I romped down the movie theatre aisle singing along with Shirley Temple. I consumed movie musicals and every Disney animated film, learning all the songs therein. But I also loved to read, every Grimm’s fairy tale, every magical children’s book. In time, I fell in love with the Great American Plays and read them all. I loved how the stories moved on the page/stage with little narrative; all character, dialog and emotion.
As time went on, singing professionally now, song lyrics were my thing. The story in the song. Hundreds of songs, every note and nuance, the meaning of each word. When I began to write as a journalist, editorials on music, dance, theatre, and film were my specialty. At the same time, collaborating with musicians on music and lyrics with a metaphysical tone, I began exploring the power of music to improve our lives and our health. The subject matter manifested my first book titled, “Music Power,” picked up by a New York publisher. Magazine articles and teaching workshops resulted. I was born to write about this subject. It was Informational, Motivational, Transformational.
But then a funny thing happened. Visions of children’s stories with musical themes danced in my head and moved my pen. I composed original songs for them and dreamed of them as films. Animated ones. Award winners (of course), when the perfect illustrator appears.
The Crystal Clipper began as a children’s story about a boy with a magic crystal shaped like a boat that transformed into a flying, shimmering clipper ship that transported him on magical adventures. At first a picture book, then a screen play, it ultimately found its truest form as a novel. A trilogy of novels. The Moon Singer trilogy. (Which, of course, will one day be films. Fantasies inform many aspects of my life!)
For me, one creative art nourishes another - music and writing are complements. Just as I sing at concerts the magnificent lyrics written by masters of poetic language - Gershwin, Porter, Hart, Mercer...), I write my stories with music in my head.
It is no accident or plot device that The Moon Singer trilogy is all about this powerful art form, how music has the power to heal, to transform, to create life - or destroy it. The books are quick reads, but profound, and filled with the language of music. As I write about David Nickerson’s real life problems in each book, it is the musical codes in the crystals, the Universal Truths they contain, that give him his traits of courage and selfless resolve to save a life that means more to him than his own and to create miracles for everyone he loves.
I used my own knowledge of music, and much research, to develop David’s and the other’s characters. There are additional facets to the stories that are informed by my own feelings about social issues, war, ethics, personal integrity, and discovering how one’s “disability” (David is a deaf teen) can be one’s greatest gift. But it is the art, the desire, of creating something more magnificent than mundane that the characters all share and move the stories vigorously along, and inspire me as well.
Through writing and music - for most of my 73 years - I have developed personal insights as a mother, grandmother, and as a creator. Both art forms compel me to be disciplined, focused, committed to a cause, and respectful of my audiences. I fall in love with my stories just as I do the songs I sing or write. With literature, as in music, every word must count, a picture painted, a vision revealed.
I have made my home in several cities from coast to coast, now residing in Carlsbad, CA. I still work at a very rewarding day job at a retirement community. But becoming a Creativia author and partnering with Miika Hannila who shares my vision is a serendipitous opportunity. The Moon Singer trilogy (and a 4th book -a suspense fiction, “Whatever Became of Sin?”) will have a fresh new look and a global audience. One day, writing is all that I will do. But a song will always be in the air.
The rest is up to my Muses.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.creativia.org/the-power-of...
B. Roman is the author of The Moon Singer, a Young Adult fantasy series that comprises three Books: The Crystal Clipper; The War Chamber, and The Wind Rose. She is also the author of a suspense fiction, “Whatever Became of Sin?”
“You are born to what you will be in life,” said a noted ballet dancer as I interviewed him for a newspaper article. For him, it was dance. For me it was singing. I knew my future had been ordained at age 3, as I romped down the movie theatre aisle singing along with Shirley Temple. I consumed movie musicals and every Disney animated film, learning all the songs therein. But I also loved to read, every Grimm’s fairy tale, every magical children’s book. In time, I fell in love with the Great American Plays and read them all. I loved how the stories moved on the page/stage with little narrative; all character, dialog and emotion.
As time went on, singing professionally now, song lyrics were my thing. The story in the song. Hundreds of songs, every note and nuance, the meaning of each word. When I began to write as a journalist, editorials on music, dance, theatre, and film were my specialty. At the same time, collaborating with musicians on music and lyrics with a metaphysical tone, I began exploring the power of music to improve our lives and our health. The subject matter manifested my first book titled, “Music Power,” picked up by a New York publisher. Magazine articles and teaching workshops resulted. I was born to write about this subject. It was Informational, Motivational, Transformational.
But then a funny thing happened. Visions of children’s stories with musical themes danced in my head and moved my pen. I composed original songs for them and dreamed of them as films. Animated ones. Award winners (of course), when the perfect illustrator appears.
The Crystal Clipper began as a children’s story about a boy with a magic crystal shaped like a boat that transformed into a flying, shimmering clipper ship that transported him on magical adventures. At first a picture book, then a screen play, it ultimately found its truest form as a novel. A trilogy of novels. The Moon Singer trilogy. (Which, of course, will one day be films. Fantasies inform many aspects of my life!)
For me, one creative art nourishes another - music and writing are complements. Just as I sing at concerts the magnificent lyrics written by masters of poetic language - Gershwin, Porter, Hart, Mercer...), I write my stories with music in my head.
It is no accident or plot device that The Moon Singer trilogy is all about this powerful art form, how music has the power to heal, to transform, to create life - or destroy it. The books are quick reads, but profound, and filled with the language of music. As I write about David Nickerson’s real life problems in each book, it is the musical codes in the crystals, the Universal Truths they contain, that give him his traits of courage and selfless resolve to save a life that means more to him than his own and to create miracles for everyone he loves.
I used my own knowledge of music, and much research, to develop David’s and the other’s characters. There are additional facets to the stories that are informed by my own feelings about social issues, war, ethics, personal integrity, and discovering how one’s “disability” (David is a deaf teen) can be one’s greatest gift. But it is the art, the desire, of creating something more magnificent than mundane that the characters all share and move the stories vigorously along, and inspire me as well.
Through writing and music - for most of my 73 years - I have developed personal insights as a mother, grandmother, and as a creator. Both art forms compel me to be disciplined, focused, committed to a cause, and respectful of my audiences. I fall in love with my stories just as I do the songs I sing or write. With literature, as in music, every word must count, a picture painted, a vision revealed.
I have made my home in several cities from coast to coast, now residing in Carlsbad, CA. I still work at a very rewarding day job at a retirement community. But becoming a Creativia author and partnering with Miika Hannila who shares my vision is a serendipitous opportunity. The Moon Singer trilogy (and a 4th book -a suspense fiction, “Whatever Became of Sin?”) will have a fresh new look and a global audience. One day, writing is all that I will do. But a song will always be in the air.
The rest is up to my Muses.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Inspiration From Unexpected Sources
Why Did I decide to make David's character deaf? I own a Singer crystal, shaped like a small sailboat, that inspired the Moon Singer trilogy’s first adventure, “The Crystal Clipper.” I found this uniq
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