Kurt Brindley's Blog

Writer In Residence – Jordan Dodd

Before I introduce you to Jordan Dodd, our very first Writer in Residence, I should first introduce you to our new Residency Program. The program came about because of that dear Mother of Invention, necessity. We needed a home for Jordan’s longform writing, a body of work that far exceeds that which the Relating to Humans was designed to host. It took me a while before settling on the residency format – I know it sounds a bit pretentious and way than a bit more ambitious for this humble yet happy site. But hey, it sounds cool, right? You can visit the program’s main page to read the entire submission and acceptance criteria, but the most important aspects of it are: all creative mediums will be considered (e.g., Artist in Residence, Photographer in Residence, etc.); only new work will be accepted (completed work will not be considered); and, while all applicants will be considered, not all will be accepted. So, check it out and pitch me a proposal if you’re interested.

As for Mr. Dodd, I was hooked on his work the moment I read the tag line for his site. It is, hands down, the best tag line I have read to date:

I LIKE TO WRITE. LET’S GO DANCING…

And then I read his movie reviews, which I find to be interesting, well-written, and, most importantly, to my taste. It wasn’t long after we established an online friendship that I began hounding him to post something to our Relating to Humans feature. I expected he would post something to the Film Feature; however, I was pleasantly surprised when he posted his powerful poem MY (UN)REALITY to the Mental Health Feature. And then he posted part one to his longform work there as well, which is what led us to the development of the Residency Program.

Funny how quickly things can evolve.

Needless to say, you’re going to be hearing a lot more from Jordan here. You can read his bio at his main page and find a link there to the first part to The Archway Chronicles. Please check out his work and support him any way you are able – with a “Like”, a comment, a follow, critical feedback, however you feel most comfortable providing your assistance. I can assure you it will be greatly appreciated.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to present to you Jordan Dodd, our Writer in Residence.

Jordan Dodd

First off, a big thanks must go to Kurt for setting this up, and more thanks for his kind words on my blog.

What is my blog? Well, it started off in life as a side-interest – I was in a writing slump, creatively speaking – so I decided to begin to go out and see as many films as I could, and then review as many as I could. I kept at it and must have gotten better at it, as after a few months a person commented on my site! Such a momentous occasion! Slowly a few more people started to drop by, and while my site is galaxies away from something I would consider popular, it is nice to have an audience, however small.

When I first created my site, I never thought a single person would read a word of mine. Honest to God, I just wanted to have an online archive of my writing, rather than failing hard drives and USB sticks driving me mad. Every single comment I read means so much, as it gives me pleasure just to know people are enjoying reading my work. It is a good feeling!

Despite the blog successfully kick-staring my creativity, I continue writing about film as it has now become a compulsion of sorts. I am now writing about original soundtracks (OST) as well, combining my two biggest passions – music and film.

Now in possession of my writing mojo, I am able to create again. I first tried with a poem, next a short story (which I rewrote and re-posted, as I want to turn it into a not-so-short-story).

I’ve only had my mojo back for a couple of months, so writing like this – poems, short stories – are limited in number, but I certainly intend to continue to add to that section of my site, titled ‘Complex Partial Seizures’, which are actually the type of seizures I experience every day – hence the title! The first short story I have posted in this category is “A Room without a Door”, my first ever attempt at fiction, altered and rewritten over the last couple of years.

epilepticmoondancer.net

What I really needed to get my creative juices flowing though was to begin working on my personal story of my time in rehab, a rehab centre that was actually a fully blown cult, with indoctrination and all.

Working from diaries I was forced to keep daily inside the place, I have been slowly working on this story since I left the facility, almost four years ago now. Now in possession of my mojo again, I am going through what I have already written and am properly polishing and posting them chapter by chapter.

Thanks to Kurt for hosting it on his site – I hope this means more people can enjoy my story, and hopefully it can inspire hope in people who are perhaps in a similar situation to where I was once.

So, do you like film? Do you enjoy surreal, fictional creative writing? If so, stop by and say g’day! It is my hope that I can entertain as many people as possible. This is my only goal, and the more the merrier, as ‘they’ say.

– Jordan Dodd

Residency Program

Writer in Residence