Shawn L. Bird

Original poetry, commentary, and fiction. All copyrights reserved.

location! location! August 28, 2011

Filed under: Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 2:26 am
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I have discovered that I have a particular pet peeve about books set in places I know.  I expect them to be right.  If you’re describing a real place, a real street, a real region, a real country, then you need to do your research.  You need to know what time the sun sets there, for your time of the year.  You need to know the local language and customs.  You need to research, research, research.

Because if you don’t, some of your audience are going to know, and they’re going to be a vocal part of your audience.  They will hate with a passion and they will shout it from the roof tops.  They will be so distracted by the errors, that they won’t be able to see the good things about your book.

If you don’t know a place intimately, and you aren’t going to research, then make up the place.  Make it ‘like’ a known place that you model it after, if you want, but don’t give it the same name.  Because if you make mistakes, people are going to jump all over that.

Man, I hope there are none of those moments in my books!  I think I’ve kept close to what I know, and researched for everything I needed to check.  I hope my settings stand up to my own standards.

 

symbiosis August 27, 2011

Filed under: Commentary — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:58 pm

Today, I’m feeling particularly thankful for symbiosis. You remember the term from high school biology: two organisms of different species live together to the advantage of both. (Very interesting article here- check out the barracuda!)

I’m thinking how great it is when people can pool their talents to create something amazing.  Each member of the group has the skills to be amazing at a component of the project, but not the whole thing.  How fantastic it is to be part of the magic of people working together, whether it’s a theatre production, a Rotary project, or a novel.  Many people have parts to play to make the magic happen.

How glorious to be a cog in the wheel!

 

 

masks August 25, 2011

Filed under: Pondering,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 7:37 pm
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“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”   Oscar Wilde

It’s an interesting idea, don’t you think?  I can see how character and philosophy oozes out from between the lines of an author’s work.  I know that people who know me laugh when they read my work, because they can hear my voice in the style.

What do you think?  Do you think you reveal more about yourself by your action and writings (particularly writing in character) than you do when responding to others?

PS.  Still looking for the short story “Masks” as per this blog

 

writing struggles August 24, 2011

Filed under: Commentary,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 2:01 am
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“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”

— George Orwell

I kind of feel sorry for George when I read this.  Perhaps it was the subject matter he chose?  Or the onerous nature of writing by hand or typing on an old typewriter?

Personally, I don’t feel like I am compelled to write by any demons.  I feel like I’m invited to enter a new world, that comes into being as I step through.  For me, writing is kind of like the scene at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when Harry finds himself in the train station. His awareness of need calls things  into being.  That concept  is a wonderful metaphor for the writing process.

I don’t find writing to be horrible at all, and most certainly not an exhausting struggle.  It’s more like an invigorating adventure, where surprise waits around every corner.

I can see how writing Orwellian books would be completely soul destroying though.  Living in the head of  1984’s protagonist, Winston, for the time needed to craft that novel would be enough to suck the life right out of you.  Fatalistic visions of a horrible future don’t make for a positive outlook.  I hope George had some antidepressants.  It’s always better to be doing a task you enjoy.

 

Jamila Mai at the Roots and Blues August 23, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Shawn L. Bird @ 7:07 pm
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Some members of Jamila Mai performing at the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues

Jamila Mai Belly Dance of Salmon Arm offers classes for beginners and intermediate belly dancers of  all ages.  Classes run in three sessions a year: generally Sept to Dec, Jan to Mar, Mar to May at the Downtown Activity Centre (former Salmon Arm Elementary).

For details, contact Rachael  at two-five-zero-eight-three-three-nineteen-fifteen or email her at drmoney@telus.net

 

Farewell Jack August 22, 2011

Filed under: Commentary — Shawn L. Bird @ 3:45 pm
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I was so sorry to hear today about the death of Jack Layton, the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party.  Layton was a statesman whom people trusted and respected.  His personal integrity made him one of the most popular politicians in Canada, and when the NDP became the official opposition in the last election,  it was a first for the party, and it was mostly because people trusted Layton above the other options.

Layton’s battle with cancer was public.  At a recent press conference when he announced that he was stepping down to concentrate on treatment for new cancers, the nation was shocked to see how ill he looked.  Today our nation is flying flags at half-mast in his honour, and a movement is afoot to put a candle in your window at 9 pm to celebrate his life.

He left his wife Olivia with a letter to Canadians.  His parting words are

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

Jack Layton

Farewell, Jack.  We’re going to miss your integrity, values and abilities.  We’ll do our best to follow in your footsteps and change the world for the better.

 

field of dreams August 21, 2011

Filed under: Commentary,narrative,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:01 am
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I’ve never responded to a short story prompt, but why not?  Here is something new for this blog!

An offering for the Short Story slam prompt: http://bluebellbooks.blogspot.com/2011/08/short-story-slam-week-8.html

My grandmother looked over the field of ripening grain and saw into her future.   She saw my grandfather driving his beat up ’46 Ford pick-up down the dusty road, saw six babies, saw  two funerals, four weddings, and then she saw me.

I was wailing in a cradle, waiting and wailing.  The house was filling with smoke.  She saw two more funerals.

On the day of the fire, my grandmother phoned my mother.  “You be careful, hon.”  Grandmother could feel the fire coming.

My mom, she told me later, had laughed dismissively.  “Yes, ma.”  She had set out the candles and was enjoying the twinkling.  She fell asleep on the couch.  Dad was in bed, gone to bed early because he was on the early shift the next day.  One candle had caught the drapes.  The house was engulfed in moments.

Grandmother felt the flames grab the fabric, and phoned.  When there was no answer, she called the fire department.  They didn’t ask how someone 400 miles away knew there was a fire.  They went.  They found me, waiting for them and wailing to tell them where I was.  My door was shut.  The master bedroom door was open.  Two more funerals.

And so I came to live with my Grandmother, and to look across the same fields, and to glance into my own distant future.

But that is another story.

 

Roots and Blues August 20, 2011

Filed under: Pondering — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:01 am
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Having read all last night, (The Help) and getting only 3 hours sleep before I had to start my day, I’m now sitting here at 11 p.m. having awoken from a five hour nap, listening to the music from the main stage of the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival.

This is quite a lovely festival, with generally well-behaved guests of all ages, who listen to a variety of music from around the world on several stages throughout the day, and settle in for the main stage once night falls.  A significant portion of Salmon Arm comes free as volunteers for one area or another.

This year I am volunteering on the dance stage.  Various  local dance groups are performing a little, and then leading a participation workshop.  We’ve been practising all summer, which is good, because usually we all desperately miss dance between the spring and fall sessions.

Lots of people make up these local festivals, doing all sorts of little jobs.  Our time makes it happen.  Come on and enjoy a day with us!

 

help your choices August 19, 2011

Filed under: Pondering,Reading — Shawn L. Bird @ 11:01 am
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In the book, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett,  Skeeter is confronted by her maid, Constantine who tells her,

“Ever morning, until you dead in the ground, you gone have to make this decision…. You gone have to ask yourself, Am I gone believe what them fools say about me today?”  (Kathryn Stockett, p. 73)

Skeeter is floored by this revelation.  She says,

“All my life I’d been told what to believe about politics, coloreds, being a a girl.  But with Constantine’s thumb pressed in my hand, I realized I actually had a choice in what I could believe.” (Ibid. p. 74)

This is a powerful message, isn’t it?  You choose the values, morals and beliefs that guide your life.  Your parents may teach you theirs, but in the end, you have the right, perhaps really the obligation, to choose your own.

 

bilingual brains August 18, 2011

Filed under: Commentary,Reading — Shawn L. Bird @ 3:46 pm
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In these years of educational cut backs  to programs like music and languages, here’s a fascinating article about the value of learning foreign languages.  Knowing more languages improves understanding in your own language.  How cool is that?

I know that when I started learning Italian, I started to make all sorts of connections between Spanish, French and English words that added nuance to all of them.  For example, in Italian fog is nebbia.  Suddenly the word for a foggy idea, a nebulous idea, got an added layer of meaning.

In Italian left is sinistra.  The evil side.  The sinister side.  The good sit at the right hand, but evil is waiting on the left.  Bwah ha ha!!! (you could already hear that evil laughter, right?)

So not only does your brain forge new neural connections when you learn a new language, which is good in itself, but it is also improving your skills in your first language.  Win win!  I love happy endings.

Check out the article here:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bilingual-brains