Claire Fullerton's Blog: A Writing Life, page 13

Pat Conroy, "My Reading Life" Review

My Reading Life by Pat Conroy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved reading these vignettes from my favorite author's life! In "My Reading Life," I gathered a sense of how this writer goes about his writing process, which I found incredibly valuable. I've read many of Conroy's books and am in awe of his lyrical phrasing. To me, he is the finest American writer of the current age.



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Writing Days

My writing career is a self-motivating, full-time job that is a lot like tending a garden: in order for the whole to flourish, each individual species of plant needs loving attention. I rarely have a daily plan, rather, I go where my mood draws me, which makes it a slightly emotional pursuit. I am passionate for each of my projects, believe in them all, and want to share. I've always thought the art of communication is the highest art form on earth. Every day, I seek to get better, more clear, more succinct. It is more than wanting to be heard, wanting to be understood; it is more the desire to contribute on some meaningful level, however large or small that level may be. I think all writers are like this. What do you think?

My first novel's intention

My first novel, "A Portal in Time" was released by Vinspire Publishing on November 30th, 2013, and what a fantastic road it has been. The road was fueled by blind faith and iron-clad belief that I have a story to share that'll make people stop and question their spiritual beliefs by holding themselves up to the mirror of this story, which is exactly what I aspire to do with my entire writing career. When I write, I am always making a point, though it is often deliberately camouflaged. Heretofore, I have written short stories and weekly 1st person narratives for "The Malibu Surfside News" as well as for a national anthology and various national magazines. Always, the theme beneath my narrative is that there is magic in life if we but open our eyes to see it! What I did in "A Portal in Time" was make this theme bigger, extremely compelling and entertaining. I wrote about beautiful people with intuitive abilities who live in a hauntingly beautiful setting. "A Portal in Time" is written in two time periods for a very specific reason. The story is a journey whose two time frames fit together, but the reader has to pay close attention to discover why. At the end of "A Portal in Time," the reader will stop and exclaim, "Wait a minute; I should have seen this coming!" It is my hope my readers will therefore go back and read the story again while considering the vehicles of foreshadow and innuendo within the book, which all leads to a bigger question! My aim in writing "A Portal in Time" was for the reader to see the question within the story, look within and arrive at their own answer!