The Master's Artist

The things we write about

Just back from London today. I was there to help some friends with a music project. As is traditional with these collaborations, there was a lot of talk about why we were making music. We grappled with what we were trying to achieve, who it was for, how the music could be presented. Distilled, I suppose you could say we were questioning what we wanted to say and whether anyone would be interested in it. So what sort of things are people writing? What captures our imaginations?

Imagination and Mystery

Tuesday morning our local paper ran a little sidebar article about a New Zealand beverage company's quest to recover a lost cache of vintage whiskey embedded for a century in Antartica's ice. British polar explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton, had shipped two crates of McKinlay and Co. whiskey as part of an abandoned 1909 expedition. Whyte & Mackay, the group that now owns the company, wants a sample for a series of tests to determine whether to relaunch the now-defunct Scotch.

I munched my cereal as I read, mildly engaged until I got to the last paragraph where the expedition's leader, Al Fastier, explained why he didn't want to sample the contents. His words jolted my groggy brain to attention. I read them again.

"It's better to imagine it than to taste it," he said. "That way it keeps its mystery."

One More Time?

It's happening again. A cross-country move. Or rather, a "slice the nation in half diagonally"... move. We'll be leaving the great, rather warm, somewhat bug-ridden state of Arizona for the snowy 'shores' of New York. It's a homecoming, of sorts. Both my husband and I were born and raised there.

It's funny how it all comes full circle eventually...

On the road

I’m about to hit the road. The show I’m in opened on Saturday night in West Belfast. It moves to the city centre to a studio space at the Grand Opera House beside the Europa Hotel (which has the dubious honour of being the most bombed hotel in the world, I think!). Then we do a few one off gigs around Northern Ireland before crossing the border and taking the show to the south – although the first date is in Donegal, which is in the south even though it’s in the north west of the country. Confused?

 

We’ll be touring to Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) areas of the country. So Gortahork, on the coast of Donegal in the north west, will be the first stop. Then we head down the west coast through Mayo and Sligo to Galway where we play in the city centre for two nights, before getting the ferry out to Inis Oírr, one of the Aran Islands. I’m really excited about this as I’ve never been out there before.

 

Then it’s on south to county Cork and Macroom before heading in to the  city and playing a couple of nights there. We'll swing east to Waterford, where there is a small Gaeltacht area in An Rinn just outside the city, on the south coast  before hitting  Navan in Co. Meath and then finishing the tour in Blanchardstown, just outside Dublin.

One thing I have discovered over these last few weeks is that I find it really difficult to write when I'm acting. I don't mean in practical terms -it would be fairly silly to attempt writing while I'm physically on stage! I mean, that while I'm in rehearsal anyway, my mind can't really focus on anything else. These few posts for The Master's Artist are all I'm able for, truth be told.

My wee family aren't coming with me on the tour which means that I will miss them hugely, but it might mean that in the gaps where I'm not actually driving the length of the country or acting on stage, there may be space for me to get back to my own theatrical meanderings. And then before you know it, I'll be home and it'll be a few weeks before Christmas and time to start thinking of new goals and projects for 2010.

If you're the praying kind, I'd value your prayers for safe travel for me and health and safety for Simon and our daughter. Watch this space for an update on my progress in a couple of weeks.

Is aisteoir is scríbhneoir í Melanie Clark Pullen agus faoi láthair tá sí ar chamchuairt le leagan nua don Bhéal Bocht le Flann O Brian. Melanie Clark Pullen is an actor and writer and she is currently on tour with a new version of The Poor Mouth by Flann O'Brien.

Better writing?

It’s been a busy, busy couple of weeks. So rather than recycle some old post, I thought I might pose a question.

Actually, I’ve already shared this query with another online forum and was a wee bit shocked at the results. Anyway, here’s how I posed the original question…

My question here is inspired by a fun little debate on another thread. Although I'm positive we won't all agree, I do think that it's possible to look at different passages and agree that one is better than the other. Again, I liken this to comparing a Big Mac to a steak from a five-star restaurant.

So to spark this discussion (or firestorm?), I'm going to offer up two different passages from two vastly different writers.

Why Don't Agents and Editors Email Back?

I sat across from a writing friend who shared her frustration with me. "The agent asked specifically for my proposal. He said to write 'you liked this' in the subject line. But I haven't heard anything from him. it's been months!"

I listened, sighed, and let her continue.

Blog Thanks Award

Happy Monday. I love November. It's one of the few months of the year where instead of buying gifts we give thanks. We honor those who mean a great deal to each other. This month I would like for us to also honor the blogs that have meant so much to us. I will begin with me:

1. Faith*In*Fiction - although new content is rare now. Bethany House AE David Long inspired some of the best Christian publishing blogs out there. He invited me into his community and have forged eternal friendships because of it, including...
2. The Master's Artist - I am still shocked that I write for this great blog collective. Everyone here seeks fervently to please God through their art. That is so refreshing in a world bent on pimping Jesus sometimes.
3. Problogger- I can't say enough about Darren Rouse's Problogger. The blog has helped me be a better blogger and to stay focused on taking care of my readers.
4. Chris Brogan - I share his philosophy on building relationships on and offline using social media.
5. Successfool - Has the best live vlog and is my friend. I love that Alejandro is only a phonecall or a tweet away and that he actually responds. He has taught me how to treat each reader as my best friend. 
6. The Brother's Brick. I love Lego!
7. Now's your turn. Who do you want to give thanks, too?

Dee Stewart is your thirty-something Christian blogger, PR/publicity, journ, mommy, writer, Atlanta-alien friend. Get at me at here. I'm online everywhere. You'll see.

Action

Great book recommendations are fun. I suppose they are like matchmaking. That is to say that while getting put on a date with someone you immediately hit it off with is good, it is even more fun to do the pairing. So I want to recommend a book today and here is the tease. You just HAVE to read...

Language as Soundtrack

Monday evening I enjoyed the delightful privilege of speaking to the Northwest Christian Writers Association on "Language as Soundtrack." The NCWA is a vibrant, active group of a hundred or so writers--some already published, others hoping to be, all of them serious about growing in craft and encouraging others in their writing journey. If you're a writer living within a couple hours of the Seattle area, I'd encourage you to join.

When Athena Dean invited me to speak, I decided to rework my notes from a workshop I co-taught with Mick Silva at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference in 2006. I love the topic, and I also love that most of the meat comes from people with authority. When you're giving writers permission to bust loose and play with language, it's nice to have a few big names standing beside you on the platform, nodding in agreement. People like E.B. White and Dean Koontz. I may not have much clout, but they do.

Here's a sampling of what E.B., Dean, and I had to say.

Bugs In The Rice Bin

Thank goodness BJ put up such a great Monday post! I'm hoping it will make up for my utter lack of inspiration. I actually have no post. I have bugs. In my pantry. Lots and lots and lots of tiny little bugs crawling through the rice and the cereal and the flour and it makes me itch just thinking about it. And so I've spent my whole day throwing away almost everything we own. It's quite disgusting.

I also have to take my son to see the neurosurgeon today. A week ago he fell and hit his head, causing a bad concussion which led to the unfortunate discovery of a cyst on his brain. It's something that has changed our lives - his most of all, and although we are so thankful that we now know about it (apparently it's been there since birth), learning to live with the limitations surrounding this new diagnosis has been difficult, at best.

I hope you'll forgive me for being so otherwise preoccupied. I'll try to be more inspired at some later date! In the meantime, perhaps you can reread BJ's post and send her lots of comment love!

Grace,
Madison Richards