tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55131917754939574912024-03-05T18:04:40.573-06:00RienspelMeet Ryan P. Freeman, fellow adventurer and writerRyan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-10372890132620577762018-11-20T08:35:00.000-06:002018-11-20T08:35:59.163-06:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: red;">How to Do</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: red;">A Talk for Payson School</span></b></div>
<br />
<span style="color: red;">- <b>How to Be Successful</b></span><br />
Who are you?<br />
What are your talents?<br />
What do want to do?<br />
<br />
Radio, KKIM<br />
<br />
Critical thinking - why do you believe what you believe?<br />
Travel (where have you always wanted to go?)<br />
- feed your curiosity, feed your wonder (driving to Canada)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">- <b>What You Do Today Affects Your Future</b></span><br />
One of the reasons I talk writing is because...<br />
<br />
<i>The point is, I could have started doing what I loved when I was your age.</i><br />
I think the real change happens when people figure out they can take control of their own life.<br />
That you really can figure yourself out, more or less, and do what you always dreamed of doing.<br />
Will it be pretty and will you be gloriously successful? - well, probably not. But it will be meaningful, and honest, and powerful. It's not about filling your bank account, it's about filling your life.<br />
<br /><i></i>
Too many adults don't want to get up in the morning - and not just because their beds are nice and warm. Our choices, each day, perpetuate a world. What you do and think and say matters. You are growing ideas and furthering presumptions. Why not grow your own ideas? Why not live your life on your terms and not someone elses'?<br /><i></i><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">- <b>Attitude and Effort</b></span><br />
Want to want<br />
Will - You act the way you do for a reason: Mental, Biological, Environment<br />
How Marketing primes you<br />
Main St Books, Podcasts, Imgur (It is pronounced <i>Jiff</i>), exercise<br />
- they all affect your mind and outlook<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>- Time Management</b></span><br />
"A room with a door you can shut"<br />
Quality over Quantity: 45mins, 15 min breaks<br />
NaNoWriMo<br />
<br />
A room with a door you can shut continued... in 3 months</div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-83497406112222940702017-02-01T15:22:00.000-06:002017-02-01T15:22:25.209-06:00How to Write & Publish - notes for the road<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "High Tower Text","serif";">How to Write & Publish</span></h1>
<h2 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "High Tower Text","serif";">By Ryan P. Freeman</span></h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "High Tower Text","serif";">Hey all, here's my notes for my 2017 Author Tour! Along the way, I'll be stopping at one college and three high schools, talking with students about what it takes to Write & Publish. My goal is to empower new writers to finish their stories and get them published. Without further ado, here's my rundown:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "High Tower Text","serif";"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">Introduction</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
About Me</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">How
to Write</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
Getting Your Story</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Vision and Feel</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
Pantsers Vs Plotters</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
Write!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Write what you really, honestly
love</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- “Writing is easy, all you have to
do is sit down and bleed.” – Hemingway</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Addressing the voice of doubt</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Where-How: 1k words/day x
6days/week x 3mo = finished manuscript</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Take a Break</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
Feed Your Imagination</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Read (Know what good stories are
like by immersing yourself in them)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Travel</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Explore</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Join Writers Groups</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
Beta Readers</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">- When
is your story finished?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">How
to Publish (begin PR)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
Different Publishing Routes</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Traditional</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Indie</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Small Press</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Self-Publishing</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
Design</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Formatting</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Feel/Physical size</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
Finding a Cover Artist</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">- Day-of-Publishing</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>-launch event</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">- PR
(Keep Writing!)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">Summary</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
Write!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
Feed Your Imagination</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
Publishing</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- PR</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
‘Make Good Art’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">-
Questions! – Get to it!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">- Join
Writers Groups in your Area</span></div>
</div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-34895703539876505552016-10-13T13:54:00.000-05:002016-10-13T13:55:45.944-05:00Breaking NEWS!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
If you haven't seen already...</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyi0iafV8rTEqzgJeeP42nIsvbnb_NlsGJVe2Jmumqc6N3r854brzX1awjrBPHUDRAs0rih7D0TO6GM7LPcc5tB006v69SBJsDvevfVtkt7Dbea_Nj2xsTrQDCpF79kh8rVgvxtAj7N8xL/s1600/Phoenix-Symbolpngweb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyi0iafV8rTEqzgJeeP42nIsvbnb_NlsGJVe2Jmumqc6N3r854brzX1awjrBPHUDRAs0rih7D0TO6GM7LPcc5tB006v69SBJsDvevfVtkt7Dbea_Nj2xsTrQDCpF79kh8rVgvxtAj7N8xL/s320/Phoenix-Symbolpngweb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I've got a <i>brand new</i><br />
<b>Super-shiny</b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">WEBSITE!!</span><br />
<br />
Behold it in all its glory here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ryanpfreeman.com/">http://www.ryanpfreeman.com/</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(thank you, yet again, to Jennie Kelly and my various contributing concept artists!)</span><br />
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Also:</span></i></h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I've started a super-cool new YouTube series called </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmXEOfY8Vq7TRNuv0Af8SYqNHdjsbVV72" target="_blank">Ryan Talks</a> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">- where I blather on about what it takes to write Fantasy.<br /> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Feel free to subscribe! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(That is all.) </span></div>
</div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-44712128350286751072016-08-31T09:56:00.002-05:002016-08-31T09:56:55.604-05:00The Great Chase<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
The Great Chase</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Why Friendship and Joy-Chasing are Essential for</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
A Life Well-Lived </h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMfrui4PsHm7nBLJq7L-mlApv_AskNysMy4P5jd33AcN_mp_JqRsDLxS7FSI1ANnI7IiscmrFhLCatBIyRjapMZaf4ePcr2MSYWMe_olm2pLKwAUpPbQPxwzIApCtCkOXlyXPIpo0UKVv/s1600/creation-of-the-world-1864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMfrui4PsHm7nBLJq7L-mlApv_AskNysMy4P5jd33AcN_mp_JqRsDLxS7FSI1ANnI7IiscmrFhLCatBIyRjapMZaf4ePcr2MSYWMe_olm2pLKwAUpPbQPxwzIApCtCkOXlyXPIpo0UKVv/s400/creation-of-the-world-1864.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
</h3>
<br />
In lieu of the increasing fans (like you),<br />
<br />
here's a new post!<br />
<br />
I'm not really sure what to write. It happens more often than not, actually. What really kills me, though, is how I'll get these excellent writing moods... all the stars will align and a hallelujah chorus will shimmer down from above... and then I'll get distracted.<br />
<br />
Seriously.<br />
<br />
And no, before you bring it up - it's not all social media distractions, either. Life gets distracting. My mind just becomes all cluttered up sometimes. Lately, I've been without a car - which has been frustrated. I don't like always being stuck at home, and it can drive me up the walls. As a writer, and really just as a regular ol' human being, the ability to get out when the fancy takes you is essential. I'm sorry Emily Dickinson... but no... I have mad respect for you and all... but still no.<br />
<br />
I guess what I'm trying to say is how I think really good writing is something which, barring a gift from fickle muses, comes out of life well-lived. Good-bad-ugly... but still life well-lived.<br />
<br />
What makes for a well-lived life?<br />
<br />
I'm no Marcus Aurelius, but I think CS Lewis was on to something when he writes about Joy-Chasing in his Surprised by Joy, and also in his Pilgrim's Regress. There are things you will find, uncovered within yourself - or introduced to you by others, which stir up a Longing inside. For me, they're things having to do with mythology, theatre, traveling, Autumn, the rain... It's funny, because a tell-tale sign that you're probably on the right track to identifying exactly what your Joy is - the harder it becomes to say exactly what IT is. - Like those who have tasted of the magical food from Faerie... after you've returned from the Perilous Land, you're always left wanting in a delightful sort of agony.<br />
<br />
Lewis humbly suggested that what we want is not, perhaps, the Thing ITSELF, but the chase. So the next time something moves you, don't try to possess it. Merely enjoy it while it is, as it is, and then carry on. Keep IT secret - keep IT safe.<br />
<br />
Another thing I think lends to a life well-lived are good friends. A man may be the poorest in the whole world, yet if he has genuine friends he is rich. Friendship is one of those things which lend to Life's sense of meaning and purpose. When you suddenly discover that the guy or girl over there likes the same thing you do... that same secret Joy... there is often a moment, whether spoken or not, where each thinks something like, 'What? You too?'.<br />
<br />
- This same thing is partly how I first met my to-be wife, Steph... it's how I first met my esteemed friend (and fellow author) R.E. Dean... Friendship helps make us MORE. A Joy we may have inside remains only that one Joy, but when friendship allows people to share a Joy... its like light splitting through a prism into a million new possibilities we never could have come to on our own. Shared Joy via Friendship is like staring down from a great height... we see all the twists and turnings which could have taken us higher up and deeper in - and all the other paths which could have led us on... but our Journey would have been radically different. Thus, WE would be radically different, in turn.<br />
<br />
What does any of this have to do with writing, though?<br />
<br />
It has exactly, precisely to do with writing because when we finally do sit down and write, we are not just putting words on a page, but little pieces of us. This is not ink, nor mere pixels which you now read - but the confluence of hundreds of thousands of interlinking friendships formed over shared Joy-chasing. Each word is not only my own - but also immaculately blended bits and pieces of people I've known and loved from all over the world - living and departed.<br />
<br />
And it's the same when you create something, too.<br />
<br />
Whenever someone pours their heart and soul, time and energy - blood, sweat, and tears - into something beautiful - we see Life as Art. (Tolkien would call it 'Sub-creation')<br />
<br />
In all your Joy-chasing - happy hunting. Write on! Read on!<br />
<br />
- Ryan<br />
</div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-16648542133124011182016-08-15T16:14:00.002-05:002016-08-15T16:19:07.158-05:00On Chronological Snobbery<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div data-contents="true">
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="3hbqv" data-offset-key="6nvcg-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6nvcg-0-0" style="text-align: center;">
<h2>
<span data-offset-key="6nvcg-0-0"><span data-text="true">On Chronological Snobbery</span></span></h2>
<h3>
<span data-offset-key="6nvcg-0-0"><span data-text="true">(A Rant) </span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span data-offset-key="6nvcg-0-0"><span data-text="true"> </span></span></h3>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHIdVvvhW_Ynl6539QJF0DAEPuenMk-bdTPHHmxlmsKEEC5h6jk_f_psQMDEBuhDTXwp5LctKiFBxs2wTQn2vd3v5mj6YUqhbL4OrT1bWBx6wLSPSBKrOxts3W9ue6RVfDxepv90b_2tI/s1600/banned+books.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHIdVvvhW_Ynl6539QJF0DAEPuenMk-bdTPHHmxlmsKEEC5h6jk_f_psQMDEBuhDTXwp5LctKiFBxs2wTQn2vd3v5mj6YUqhbL4OrT1bWBx6wLSPSBKrOxts3W9ue6RVfDxepv90b_2tI/s320/banned+books.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6nvcg-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6nvcg-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6nvcg-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="6nvcg-0-0"><span data-text="true">When researching through mythology and history for my fantasy works, I think it's an important point to remember the dangers of Chronological Snobbery.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="3hbqv" data-offset-key="dkam4-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="dkam4-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="dkam4-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="3hbqv" data-offset-key="7pjg3-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7pjg3-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="7pjg3-0-0"><span data-text="true">What is Chronological Snobbery?</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="3hbqv" data-offset-key="c50du-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="c50du-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="c50du-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="3hbqv" data-offset-key="1fifp-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1fifp-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1fifp-0-0"><span data-text="true">Roughly, it is a term coined by Professor CS Lewis used to describe people who assume their time and culture are right and how others which came before are obviously wrong.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="3hbqv" data-offset-key="6ejq-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6ejq-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="6ejq-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="3hbqv" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">A good example of this is the general idea of Modern Progress, which has its distant roots grounded in The Renaissance and its nearer roots embedded with the Industrial Revolution.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">Are we living in the greatest moment in all of Time? </span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">Isn't that a bit conceited to assume we are? </span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">What about other times and places?</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">Now, it could possibly be an easy route to take, in trying to say that oh, well since we don't live in 1548 or some such era, we can't very well say, either way, which has it better.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">As my good friend, fellow author, and budding Medieval Historian, R.E. Dean would say (probably),</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">"PREPOSTEROUS!"</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">When you read old works, try and understand what the authors mean - not what you assume they might mean. One of the wonderful qualities of History is how it can tell us exactly what WAS witnessed, believed, and considered important. Professor Lewis, while remembered mainly for his outspokenly Christian-based fantasy and lay-man theological works, also wrote other things, too. </span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">(As a British Professor, he was sort of expected to, you know...)</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">In one of the other excellent books he wrote, <i>On Words</i>, Lewis explores the importance of how words are used through the ages, by following a few of them. By doing so, one can learn just how easily passages from Shakespeare to Caesar can be misread because linguistical context is misunderstood.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">Will we always only read things 'correctly'? </span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">Is reading and understanding 'rightly' all there is to enjoying a good book?</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">(*rolls eyes) What do you think?</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">But the ideas and sentiments behind what is being recorded through History and Myth - the storied voices and mirrored Truths which other eyes witnessed and other hands now long turned to dust touched come to life. They rise like long shadows cast down through the years to illuminate our own modern history and everyday lives. When we read intelligently, we are not reading books. We are peering through another's eyes.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">Good History does that. - It is not merely the analytical recording of tedious events, but second-life. When you pick up the Illiad, it's not assigned reading or something you're finally getting around to... You see the world as it was thousands of years ago. You're not learning dates, you're re-experiencing other people's lives, passed down through countless oral stories and translations, because what they saw and felt is important. Primal, even. And we're not too different from them, on a human level, either.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">But only, if we continue to learn - and also think critically, with intelligence and an open mind.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">To remain ignorant is to live in the Dark.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">...</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">Other excellent reads relating to this rant include the following:</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">- Lies My Teacher Told Me</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">- The Book That Made Your World</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">- From Homer to Harry Potter</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">- The Discarded Image</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">- The Greek Way</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">- On Faerie Stories</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">Read On!</span></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">- Ryan</span></span></div>
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</div>
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<br />
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">PS, my up-and-coming fantasy novel, Rienspel, releases THIS Halloween!!</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1ujph-0-0"><span data-text="true">(Don't worry, I'll keep you posted) </span></span></div>
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Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-3015785917863330732016-07-26T09:27:00.002-05:002016-07-26T09:27:39.644-05:00Firehall Beckons!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>The Phoenix of Redd, Volume I: Rienspel</i></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Coming this Halloween!</span> </i></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>
</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JOb1Fk7ux9L4OXQ-vuZD9KZb-C7ExFVAAUqRUE0o2jOvQl5x7fkiaqJDm2pzOibf3YzRS-LT3OPE533htCzMqPhmNyWLyls071mvRDKuOez62oUOWjhqEfhqyxUD1Cg4PXdbh50iCMcQ/s1600/front+cover.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JOb1Fk7ux9L4OXQ-vuZD9KZb-C7ExFVAAUqRUE0o2jOvQl5x7fkiaqJDm2pzOibf3YzRS-LT3OPE533htCzMqPhmNyWLyls071mvRDKuOez62oUOWjhqEfhqyxUD1Cg4PXdbh50iCMcQ/s320/front+cover.jpg" width="237" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">"What
Rien discovers about his past will change his future…"</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"Rien
Sucat wiles his days away, bored-stiff in his small backwoods village. But soon
gets more than he bargained for after he befriends a magical Phoenix, accidentally
witnesses a secret necromantic ritual, and comes face to face with a league of
racist, knife-wielding assassins out for his blood. Travel with Rien as he and
the Phoenix journey from the unassuming Rillian village of Nyrgen through the
enchanting depths of the Great Wood where the unquiet dead lurk, to the high
north country of Firehall - elusive sanctuary of the Elves. Launch into an epic
quest with consequences farther reaching than Rien could ever possibly imagine."</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
</span><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"<i>Rienspel</i>
is about heart. It is about family and about how the power of love played out
in everyday life often carries lasting consequences. Rien’s tale transcends the
dim shadows of our own world by revealing the lingering power we all carry
through how we live and treat others. It is a tale about the Story we all
reside in which readers both young and young-at-heart will find compelling. As
C.S. Lewis once penned for his colleague and friend J.R.R. Tolkien, so it is
with <i>Rienspel</i>, ‘here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold
iron. Here is a story which will break your heart”… and re-forge it anew in
Phoenix-fire."</span></span></div>
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><span style="font-size: medium;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- Available </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">as ebook via Amazon and print-on-demand via Createspace Halloween, 2016.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the meantime, check out Freeman's <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Grey-Isle-Tale-Ryan-Freeman-ebook/dp/B01F6RZJ3O?ie=UTF8&keywords=Ryan%20Freeman&pldnNewCustomer=1&qid=1462458897&ref_=smi_ge_s_cnf_smi&ref_=sr_1_2&s=books&sr=1-2#" target="_blank"><i>The Grey Isle Tale</i></a>, now available on Amazon!</span><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></div>
</span></div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-69887240600621254812016-07-14T12:58:00.002-05:002016-07-14T12:58:55.570-05:00The Question<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
The Question</h2>
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<br /></div>
As I continue writing, I find I'm feeling a bit of an emotional disconnect with my content. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. It simply is. See, writing Rienspel's sequel is hard. (I know, I know, I think I already covered this in a previous post...) I think it bares repeating and lamenting, though. I know others have told me emotional disconnect is a good thing when you're writing, because you can't be held hostage by it, in turn. However, the way I primarily Make Good Art is an intensely emotional, personal process most of the time. I sit down, write, and bleed. Especially when it comes to Rien and Rienspel. I realize first novels can be awfully stereotypical. Mine's no exception. It's a 3rd person omnipotent coming-of-age fantasy. Some would even fling the mewling complaint, "It's just wish-fulfillment"...<br />
<br />
And yeah... it might be... but do you blame prisoners for wanting to be free? And yeah, I am projecting a bit... or at least I was... but we grow up (and if we're especially sharp, we keep growing, even later on). Rien is no longer me any more - and I am no longer him, either. We came to a forking path in the forest one day, and we both took our roads less traveled, in accordance to who we are. Our stories are leading us different ways... We are still brothers, for sure. We share many things and ways. But I'll be damned if somebody looks down their noses at us. We're both proud of what we are, whatever that is - whoever that is.<br />
<br />
Yes, I realize he's a fictional character of my creation. It's a book I wrote which is currently sitting, locked in time and space, inside various computers and drives... But when you create something, when you use your heart and your mind, your soul and your love, I think you can bring something entirely MORE into the world for other people, in turn, to love and care and hope for too.<br />
<br />
I envy Rien a lot. (yeah, I just used 'a lot' - it's me and it's how I actually talk). I love the idea of being able to wander The Great Forest in autumn time. I'm fascinated with hidden wonders and ruins of times long ago. I furiously believe Man was not meant to bide his days desk-bound - it wounds the soul. If you could forget your life - your consequences- your responsibilities - your upbringing's life assumptions- and simply BE and DO... what would you do? Who would you be?<br />
<br />
This Question is the genesis of Rienspel.<br />
<br />
It comes out this Halloween - the same night the first few pages take place in the story.<br />
<br />
And whether you chose to ultimately read it or not, maybe your own deeper questions can find their voice, too. What question does your own heart and soul ask over and over again? Once you can put words to it - what will you do about it?<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
<br />
In the meantime, while you await the Fall release of Rienspel, and while I struggle on to write its' sequel, May the Sun Illumine You Path, and Light By Stars Where Else...<br />
<br />
- Ryan<br />
<br />
PS<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Grey-Isle-Tale-Ryan-Freeman-ebook/dp/B01F6RZJ3O?ie=UTF8&keywords=Ryan+Freeman&qid=1462458897&ref_=sr_1_2&s=books&sr=1-2" target="_blank">The Grey Isle Tale is now available on Amazon</a> - Prince Janos and friends, likewise, have their own Questions to answer, too!<br />
<br /></div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-3963797892753361552016-06-27T15:44:00.002-05:002016-06-27T15:44:30.222-05:00Coming this Halloween...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Releasing World-Wide October 31st, 2016!</span></h2>
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<h3 class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
What is Rienspel? There's a Phoenix?! Check out the 'Books' tab to read all about Ryan P Freeman's next up and coming novel! </h3>
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Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-46302166527693653052016-06-23T09:49:00.000-05:002016-06-23T09:49:48.216-05:00Writing Rienspel (Warning! *Contains Spoilers*)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Writing Rienspel </h2>
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<br />
<br />
Thanks to my wife Steph's urging, I might try to start writing the much anticipated follow up to <i>Rienspel</i>: <i>The Grey King</i>. I'm not sure how to do it, though... Writing Rienspel was magical. It was personal and real - it throbbed and beat with exactly what I needed at the time.<br />
<br />
How do you just start again? Sure, I've grown as a writer since then, both in style and technique... but there's something which neither finesse or skill have... and I don't know what it is... but it's something. Writing Rienspel took what I think many new, young writers do - put a version of themselves into a new literary world - and go on adventures. I traveled alongside Rien from Nyrgen to Firehall. I faced the undead and examined my own past. I came to grips with what it means to grow up - to both put childish ways aside, all the while become more childlike. I watched part of who I was die, and be reborn.<br />
<br />
In the movie Gladiator, in the end the question is asked, Is Rome worth one good man's life? This morning, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was on, and we talked about how because Lily sacrificed herself for her son, Harry, that by taking his place, a powerful spell of protection was placed on him. Evil (initially, anyways) couldn't touch him. I want The Grey King to be about Death and Life... all so often, I think many stories cheapen Death, by either simply resurrecting the character or by misunderstanding what Death is. <br />
<br />
One of my favorite fantasy authors of all time, George MacDonald, was wrote that 'Death is simply more Life'. And in fact that we often misunderstand what Life is because we do not die because of Death, we die because of lack of Life. Life is more than what your heart and lungs do - it's more than an ability to articulate higher brain function... It hints on what CS Lewis wrote, "You don't have a soul, you <i>are </i>a soul: you have a body."<br />
<br />
One of the things I do with my fantasy writing, is actually use it as a vehicle to explore real questions I have about life, the universe, and everything. What sort of realms untold lay waiting just beyond the Pale for us? Who/what are we, really? What if our existence is much more than we scarcely can imagine, even at our best?<br />
<br />
Now, I'm no Great mind. I'm no Lewis or MacDonald... or anyone else for that matter. I'm just me. When it comes to writing well, I still feel like a lost beggar wandering on the fringe of Faerie... with Rienspel, I was given by luck, chance, or design, the faintest of glimpses inside its depths - and for that, I'm extremely grateful. While writing Rienspel, I learned the hard way just how much obsession can cost you... I've seen the Shadow on the wall, and done my best to not horde the writer's manna lest it rot. I've learned to accept what you are given, take what is needful for today only...<br />
<br />
I know, I know... I'm probably going off on tangents here. I let me mind wander and this is where it leads me... I worry about being good enough - writing enchanting stories which slip inside the back doors of your minds and hearts. Life goes on... I get farther away from The Great Forest as the years crawl on. But I don't forget. I can't. Part of me is still there - wandering the woods... Except now I've found myself outside, wondering how to get back in... and at the same time, worrying about how I also need to continue going, too.<br />
<br />
How does one continue going?<br />
<br />
I remember those long silent Saturdays I would spend, tucked away in the Library at Central Christian College... as the snows fell... and I would dream and write... I remember the dorms - with our laptops and coffee... writing on - invincible in our ignorance, impetuous in our youth. There is this place I have inside, from which my stories flow. It's my heart, I think... because I feel my best writing is when I sit down and bleed - and it comes out as words on the page. I've read books on disciplining one's love for writing into a honed craft... I've read Stephen King and Ursula LeGuin. There's this simplicity and purity to writing - just like there is this equally simple and pure way of living which springs from it. We write from our Living. We take what has been filtered through our hearts like a french press brews rich coffee - and then we pour it out onto our pages and screens, and wonder if it's good enough.<br />
<br />
Maybe what makes it 'good enough' isn't an arbitrary list of marks to hit... but if our stories in turn are worked again into the good earth of others' lives? That's it. And in season, we allow ourselves to see the garden of light and color flourish around us.<br />
<br />
I'm still not sure how to keep writing The Grey King... but I'm sure it'll come when it does.<br />
<br />
(Thanks for listening)<br />
<br />
- Ryan </div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-90225631574197886962016-06-13T09:23:00.001-05:002016-06-13T09:25:43.541-05:00Playlists<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h4>
As I continue to write my next work, "<i>Nameless</i>", <span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">one of the biggest motivators pushing and calling me on is music. Awhile ago, I began collecting songs which I felt really captured the essence of my various stories. While you wait for <i>Rienspel</i> to come out this Fall... whether you're working, camping, or maybe doing your own bit of applied creativity, check out my various story playlists on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC842rl532nDJIudFcjwcqw" target="_blank">Youtube</a>. </span></h4>
Go, ahead - get lost for awhile...<br />
<br />
- Happy listening,<br />
<br />
Ryan<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLmXEOfY8Vq7TqoACT1Yg6NeA_JLObkfHp" width="425"></iframe></div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-14437938706411220672016-06-08T10:04:00.003-05:002016-06-08T10:08:02.390-05:00On Despondency<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">On Despondency</span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st" style="font-size: small;">"To have what we want is riches; but to be able to <i>do without is power</i>."</span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st" style="font-size: small;">- George MacDonald </span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span class="st" style="font-size: small;"> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span class="st"></span></h3>
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<br />
I will write until something comes to mind. Sometimes it's good just to let yourself wander. After all, as the infamous Mr Baggins once wrote, "Not all who wander are lost." The quote is on a piece of art hanging up next to me in my office; I think it serves as timely reminder for us all. Since writing can often be a bit of a head game, despondency can be a real creative killer. When it's basically up to you, the writer, to keep going, the long lonely stretches can be challenging...<br />
<br />
One of the things I've learned along the way, is how by continuing to write you build muscles. When I first read in Stephen King's <i>On Writing </i>how he types about 4,000 words a day, I was admittedly staggered. Immediately, my mind went from awe, to jealousy, to disbelief, and finally to dreaded despondency. How could I EVER write that much on a regular basis, I grumbled. Likewise, on Amazon's new author updates I receive, I'm bombarded by all these smiling, successful authors who gush about their dedication to their art.<br />
<br />
And then there's me. I'm lucky to find spare moments to peck out a few pages at a time, much less dedicate scheduled time for 'making good art'. What's to be done for the rest of us regulars?<br />
<br />
Keep going.<br />
<br />
Any way you can - do it. Only you can express it. Only you can write it just so.<br />
<br />
Also, remember you're not Stephen King. You're (probably) not any of those gushy, successful new authors featured in Amazon newsletters, either.... But you're you. (<i>and they're not</i>; in fact, nobody else in all existence is) So long as you keep going as best you can, your work continues to live and grow and ultimately, be <i>yours</i>.<br />
<br />
One of the types of stories I like to read are about near-death-experiences. (I know, I know, please forgive the apparent randomness) In some of them, they describe a sort of library filled with all the books ever written. For a fantasy-writer like myself, this sort of material is gold! Imagine, a place where every book ever written exists (including your own). In these descriptions, in this library, there resides a large wing filled with all the books and stories which exist but were never actually written. Whether you believe in this sort of stuff is entirely up to you, of course - but I think the notion remains rather sobering.<br />
<br />
What great wonders and heart-felt treasures never grace the earth because someone never wrote them down?<br />
<br />
Now, I don't tell you all this to shame you or guilt you or anything like that - but to remind you, what you write, big or small, great or just for fun, <i>matters</i>. We write for ourselves and other people. We write because we must. We type and scribble on because we love to. We write because It Matters.<br />
<br />
We are given each day what we need to keep going, and sometimes we must be forced to slow down in order to appreciate it. Sometimes (*gasp, dare I admit), we need to be stressed, tired, and generally over-worked, so we are forced to go back and shelter in what we love best. And as we stumble on, we must look around with new eyes upon the everyday, in order to see the mundane afresh. When we next pick up the keyboard or pen, we're ready to bring keen literary life into our world. Our hands may be callused and weary as we write, but they're still our own. They make each word we spell and each sentence we string that much more <i>ours</i>. <br />
<br />
So come marauding dragons or long boring work-weeks - Write on.<br />
<br />
"Good night and joy be with you all"<br />
<br />
- Ryan <br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-60128291110454205012016-06-01T11:08:00.000-05:002016-06-01T11:13:18.361-05:00There Is a Me I Know<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
There is a Me I Know</h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
There is a me I know.</div>
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I am Him</div>
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and He is me</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Whenever in my wanderings</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I wonder what to do</div>
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I find Him still</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
inside of me</div>
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and suddenly I know</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
what to do</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
What could I do</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
if I were me?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
unleashed and unbridled?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Could I travel far and wide?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Could I find my dreams</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
come true?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Each day there are so many</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
things that I must do</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and mostly they are mundane</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
whether task, or chore, or bore</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Duty says, 'Here you stop</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and do'</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But the Me who is inside,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He, we stare on past</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to far horizons calling</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
new and fresh and true</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
our heart knows best</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
what our mind forgets</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We know what We must do.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
-RPF '16</div>
</div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-373454951584255422016-05-20T10:12:00.002-05:002016-12-13T09:10:15.197-06:00Today I Am An Author<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
I can't believe it. </h4>
In the midst of a brief lull here at work, it's been suddenly hitting me. I can remember back to 4th grade when we had a creative writing assignment... they told me to just make up something and write it down. Whatever I turned in was probably only a few (brief) paragraphs... but the teacher complimented me, out-loud in front of the class. For a boy growing up with a severe stuttering problem - public affirmation like that changed my life. While my old 4th grade teacher, Mrs. McNeese, probably doesn't remember what I'm sure was just another day at work for her, I do.<br />
<br />
It's rather tempting to disbelieve with barbed cynicism how 'what you say matters'. It has all the hallmarks of gushy greeting-card platitudes. However, today especially, I realize just how much my life is a living testament to small mercies and others' thoughtless kindness. In the past, I've written about <a href="http://rienspel.blogspot.com/2016/01/why-i-write.html" target="_blank">why I write</a>, how <a href="http://rienspel.blogspot.com/2016/04/9-oclock.html" target="_blank">what you write matters</a>, and even existential pieces on how <a href="http://rienspel.blogspot.com/2016/05/awake-oh-sleeper.html" target="_blank">Fantasy is not Escapism</a>... I may have learned new 10-Dollar words and been exposed to more complex ideas since that fateful creative writing assignment in the 4th grade, but I have carried the weight of one woman's kindness with me ever since. Her words did more for me than all the other writing workshops, self-help books, and countless hours typing ever could have.<br />
<br />
As I've expressed before, what you create will go out into the wide-world... they will find homes in unlikely places, and become keys to hidden kingdoms for those who seek them... but who you love and care for, those people will carry your words and actions far beyond the horizon. Who knows what uncharted worlds you breathe life to when you spread Goodness. We are lights which shine - and our light goes out into dark places - and there catches flame wherever need calls.<br />
<br />
Happy writing, everyone.<br />
<br />
-Ryan<br />
<br />
PS, you can purchase my novella, The Grey Isle Tale, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Grey-Isle-Tale-Ryan-Freeman-ebook/dp/B01F6RZJ3O?ie=UTF8&keywords=Ryan+Freeman&qid=1462458897&ref_=sr_1_2&s=books&sr=1-2" target="_blank">HERE</a> <br />
<br /></div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-40401762461767850392016-05-19T09:12:00.000-05:002016-06-08T10:25:18.080-05:00The Grey Isle Tale - now available!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
The Sea Dragon is Coming!</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZDGA7io9fmqJcYjKWNsTfQLMrwfeh7JJ3_Sh2CFhMDMtzIL0H9ujxevQAuzfj7FzrDCHKHgnqm7HO1NyGGVX6AFuO6m5ERrHAMZIg2mIjABIGBkg65IKgcl67pFWZHfwlKrf7ZFJJPhAN/s1600/website+promo+git.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZDGA7io9fmqJcYjKWNsTfQLMrwfeh7JJ3_Sh2CFhMDMtzIL0H9ujxevQAuzfj7FzrDCHKHgnqm7HO1NyGGVX6AFuO6m5ERrHAMZIg2mIjABIGBkg65IKgcl67pFWZHfwlKrf7ZFJJPhAN/s1600/website+promo+git.jpg" /></a></div>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Grey-Isle-Tale-Ryan-Freeman-ebook/dp/B01F6RZJ3O?ie=UTF8&keywords=Ryan+Freeman&qid=1462458897&ref_=sr_1_2&s=books&sr=1-2" target="_blank">- Order your copy today -</a></span></span></h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Enter the Grey Isle - a land full of misty ruins, the cry of the sea, and... conspiracy!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Race through the countryside alongside legends, leaders, and stubborn locals as they confront the greatest threat their way of life has ever faced: their own inner darkness.</div>
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...</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
You can read more about The Grey Isle Tale, as well as all of author Ryan P Freeman's books <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://rienspel.blogspot.com/p/books.html" target="_blank">here</a></span>.</div>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
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Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-87873495950734150102016-05-16T09:42:00.003-05:002016-05-16T10:16:07.766-05:00Awake, Oh Sleeper!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Awake, Oh Sleeper!</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-LsTUPvHqpJ6Z4QZfFWhGGwvJDQnDzkFdbJaA0Roscgjux5z4HljvqCQVpiGq927F3mIkwhrH6fgE0wJUAWtmCdT2cVO_rKL1y40_M05tlsA_kEDvGH8Ku9Ib4N2T4KTdIeiTzjRf_XmB/s1600/aslan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-LsTUPvHqpJ6Z4QZfFWhGGwvJDQnDzkFdbJaA0Roscgjux5z4HljvqCQVpiGq927F3mIkwhrH6fgE0wJUAWtmCdT2cVO_rKL1y40_M05tlsA_kEDvGH8Ku9Ib4N2T4KTdIeiTzjRf_XmB/s400/aslan.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Every small thing is meaningful -<br />
Especially when it comes to writing.<br />
<br />
Sometimes, over the long-haul, it's the endurance to keep writing which is the hardest. Be aware of what you're writing and when you have ideas. Jot them down. Don't put them aside until you have! Inspiration can come from the strangest of places. I've come to realize that imagination is the back door to the soul. We humans are creative powder kegs waiting for just the hint of the smallest spark. Be aware of who you are and what excites your passion at a knee-jerk level. Take time to get away, even if its just a walk through a nearby park. Pacing your endurance and tending to your imagination are essential not just for creating great art, but for you as a person.<br />
<br />
Too many times, I've heard the term <i>escapism</i> flung at my genre, fantasy. If you're not familiar with the term <i>escapism</i>, it has to generally do with the idea that fantasy is just 'escaping from the supposed real world'. It's an objection which has floated around for quite some time now. Tolkien once asked C.S. Lewis who was opposed to escape.<br />
<br />
His answer?<br />
“Jailers.”<br />
<br />
Now, I'm not trying to be overtly conspiratorial here or anything; however, who's to say what 'real' is? The two most powerful words in existence are as follows: <i>What If. </i>It's easy to go to school day in day out, or punch the time-card Mon-Fri, 9-5... but is that really the entire circumference of our lives?<br />
<br />
One of the reasons I like fantasy is because I feel like the world of long ago has a soul-stirring straightforwardness to it. It's one filled with unlikely peasant heroes, who take up the enchanted sword or the impossible quest against Darkness. It's one where words like <i>heroism </i>and <i>justice </i>mean more than just civil service or legality.<br />
<br />
Imagine, for a moment, that the lens of fantasy is not relegated to quasi-medieval Europe. If there was a wicked aunt or an evil king, what would a hero do? Protagonists from legends past would resist and eventually overcome them. Similarly, Niel Gaiman once said, "<span class="st">Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that <i>dragons can be beaten</i>."</span><br />
<span class="st">How much have we been pacified and numbed by our modern culture? What modern spells have put us into an enchanted sleep? And what will it take to break the spell?</span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">I don't yet know.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">But I do know that imagination is the backdoor to the soul. I know that with the right story, as a key to ancient locks of secret gardens, slumbering heroes can once again be re-awakened.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">My favorite part of the entire Chronicles of Narnia is when for a moment, as Lucy wanders through the forest at night, the trees have all half-awakened at the coming of Aslan; in the moonlight, they all dance around the Great Lion.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">I do not count myself as one of the waking ones, but one of the half-slumberers still. When I write, I am trying to wake up - rising up through deep waters to waking. What we see meanwhile, in this dreamtime, may indeed be frightening. It is not overt terror of monsters we now flee from - but the Yawn. From the lie of purposelessness, determinism, and timidity. </span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">I believe that who we are is yet to be seen. Good stories help awaken us with a whisper and a gleam of something far better and higher than we can now imagine or dream. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">Have you felt it, too? </span><br />
<span class="st">Will you heed the clarion summons?</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">When I read from the great masters, those who have seen and have written back for us, I know I am not them. I am not a great hero nor a wise sage. I'm just me. But perhaps we're exactly who we need to be, where we are, for a reason and purpose greater than all our modern culture has presupposed. As someone else once wrote, "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st"><i>What you do and who you are matters. Never forget that.</i></span></div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-6728142662689015272016-04-18T08:58:00.003-05:002016-04-18T08:58:55.490-05:00"We All Need A little Help From Our Friends"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6urtPM_Jt2NwhB5jb8guf_vazkI0NQ7iUjHFISq6bRSaJOFzd3_UlYHFYyjZpafyw7fnytF8Yxcea7QuZCIbya8g8qrFilTFM-U80L7dlj9K4x5ft2nbt9K9x9EoPNIWE5scQFCdNyo6/s1600/by.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6urtPM_Jt2NwhB5jb8guf_vazkI0NQ7iUjHFISq6bRSaJOFzd3_UlYHFYyjZpafyw7fnytF8Yxcea7QuZCIbya8g8qrFilTFM-U80L7dlj9K4x5ft2nbt9K9x9EoPNIWE5scQFCdNyo6/s400/by.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My back deck last year, along with one of our cats, Baldur. -RPF</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
A couple of the things I've learned over the course of this whole writing endeavor is to value good friends; and the other is to do what makes you happy (and not what you think <i>ought</i> to make you happy).<br />
<br />
Case-in-point, the other day I was coming home from work. My driveway is rather long-ish, so I usually come in the back of my house. It's the first thing I see (besides my bounding dogs) when I come home, and it's the last thing I see before heading out again. So yesterday when I got home, it struck me how bare my back deck was... Then later on that evening, just after sunset I stepped back outside to simply sit outside my backdoor, drink some iced-coffee I accidentally bought, and watch the stars come out. After a some time, I got this gradual image in my head about how sitting out there would be even better if I were surrounded by flowers...<br />
<br />
The image stuck with me through till the next day, so after work, I went out to Lowes and loaded up on a smattering of my favorite flowery plants and vines, then swung back home and got to work gardening the place up.<br />
<br />
Why do I relate a random story? Well, honestly, because it makes me happy to garden outside. I believe writing is the ultimate self-expression. If you're tired, stressed, harried, and otherwise indisposed, how... how on God's green Earth are you going to be able to create good art?<br />
<br />
I've come to learn in order to write at your best, one of the essentials is to cultivate your own life. Look, I know life is what it is sometimes... and I know most of us can't simply generate levitating-zen-inner-peace or anything (most of the time), but we can strive to be self-aware and purposeful about how we live our lives.<br />
<br />
Since I expanded my garden, instead of moping about the house, begrudging the inevitable siren-call of work in the morning - I was outside instead. Watering-can in hand, I dallianced amid the columbines, trumpeter vines, and pansies. Now I'm cheerfully pecking out another post, all because I did a simple little thing I like to do.<br />
<br />
Another part of this cultivating yourself notion, is to be aware of who lifts you up? Which friends help you? Who is ready to hang out - chat - drive around town with you? Likewise- are you this sort of person for someone else?<br />
<br />
DANGER!<br />
<br />
As you read that last sentence, did you feel a lighting flash of guilt? STOP IT. To the best of your ability, don't live your life on 'ought to's' and 'should's'. What do you want to do? I mean, seriously. Yeah yeah, we all have responsibilities and work - but don't box yourself in. Don't laden your own creativity and don't fetter your heart. Deliberately and intentionally water your whole self. Break your own tough ground - and be aware of ruts, mental or otherwise.<br />
<br />
Who you are, what you do, and who you spend your time with affects you. This might come off sounding like common sense, but you'd be surprised... Sometimes, we're just waiting for someone else to tell us what we've been guessing all along. This idea of balance is not new. Many people over many years have all taken cracks at it - and I'm no master at it, either. But when you write, you are expressing yourself. All of you comes tumbling through the point of your pen or through each stroke of the keys. There are no filters and there is no inner-spell check. You're writing for people who need to hear you. And you're the only one who can write you. Make good art, then. And in writing good art, be at your personal best. Know how you work. Spend time with yourself - then who you truly are can flow with sparkling clarity and power.<br />
<br />
Or, I dunno - do what you want. These are just words on a screen, not your conscience. If you'd like to read more on some of what I've been talking about, I highly recommend just about anything by author Brennan Manning - especially his <i>Ragamuffin Gospel</i>.<br />
(I also believe you can youtube him, as well.)<br />
<br />
happy writing!<br />
<br />
- Ryan </div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-89139231796656395752016-04-04T14:00:00.000-05:002016-04-04T14:00:06.767-05:009 O'Clock<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
I've probably mentioned this before, but I think it bares repeating (repeating) -</h3>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
I think I've done my best writing while personally at my worst. </h4>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBlg6o1WaYVvYm9IMdw4Px32oFBtV59ct7FBDxAzi3NMQDFP_Qr6YacLDv97DeTwq_xUy49JVoh1-Ug9VcLfWdscAQHQRyRId3WYaTnVFUh1UhYvOofrBKP0SnDzTCc0tPcAuarI2rSV-/s1600/eh.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBlg6o1WaYVvYm9IMdw4Px32oFBtV59ct7FBDxAzi3NMQDFP_Qr6YacLDv97DeTwq_xUy49JVoh1-Ug9VcLfWdscAQHQRyRId3WYaTnVFUh1UhYvOofrBKP0SnDzTCc0tPcAuarI2rSV-/s320/eh.png" width="282" /></a><br />
<i>As Hemmingway once said, </i><br />
<i>"There is nothing to writing. All you have to do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."</i><br />
<br />
This resonates with me deeply. This fall, my first completed work, <i>Rienspel</i>, will be releasing via Amazon. Writing this work, especially the end, helped carry me through a time when I felt purposeless and void. Only a few years ago, I was out of work. Frustrated, embarrassed, and powerless - the one thing I had going for me each day, was to get up and write.<br />
<br />
To this day, 9 o'clock is 'the magic hour'.<br />
<br />
It's the time of morning when my house would be quiet and empty. I would brew what coffee I had, turn music on, and write. There, in that suspended mythos of creativity, there was only the story. There was only the characters and there was only the plot. When I woke up and sat down - and after a few sips of coffee - my day synced with my character's day. In my experience, when a writer is broken and humbled, then there is less of him to get in the way of the story. Like the slow brewing of coffee (french-press style, in my case), the bits and pieces of my life settled down, and what was left was pure and unadulterated ambrosia: Pure Story. I was myself - unleashed before an open page, white before my black-lettered voice.<br />
<br />
If my heart ached - there it was that I could feel the power I had inside, raw and unrefined, propelling my tale on and on. It was a heady place. Delve too deeply or inquire too closely and the vision would vanish away... But then, when the sun rose again, when the morning rains came once more, there was 9 o'clock. And it was time for magic, once more.<br />
<br />
Writing helped focus my purpose when I felt I had none.<br />
<br />
The other day, one of my friends and beta-readers, Jennie, told me I was 'so talented'. I still feel boggled by her compliment. In my mind and heart, once the life-dregs have settled once more, I still feel like the Ryan I was during those magic hours years ago. When I felt like every other pride, dream, and source of definitive power had left me exposed to the world... there was still writing. It wasn't very good, and it wouldn't matter much... but what I created mattered to me. That was what I had and it helped carry me though.<br />
<br />
Whatever you have and whatever state you find yourself in, know that you can always create something. Sub-creation is a power we are all given. It is small and it is humble. But it has the power to guide you through the darkest of life's storms. We each have our own 9 o'clock - we each possess our own magic hour.<br />
<br />
- Ryan<br />
<br />
ps - my novella, <i>The Grey Isle Tale</i>, will be releasing via Amazon mid May! Get ready to face Mororedros, the Sea Dragon!<br />
<div style="left: -99999px; position: absolute;">
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
Ernest Hemingway <br /> Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/ernesthemi384744.html</div>
<div style="left: -99999px; position: absolute;">
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
Ernest Hemingway <br /> Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/ernesthemi384744.html</div>
</div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-43845645654936709742016-03-30T08:43:00.001-05:002016-03-30T08:44:43.779-05:00A Whole New World on the Horizon...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOnZQev0nTNhQOvA6RedOZMKP9prff-AqU_4w5_QGIwaexbL9Tsaql5XhiotExDQQKQzP40JAQSJQaHXQVuY4HajXg7YOyS2o6HGy_e1hm_BJuNBCa47K_NntTjEApptqPHG5kiWnOGCnQ/s1600/Rebecca-guay-a-wizard-of-earthsea-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOnZQev0nTNhQOvA6RedOZMKP9prff-AqU_4w5_QGIwaexbL9Tsaql5XhiotExDQQKQzP40JAQSJQaHXQVuY4HajXg7YOyS2o6HGy_e1hm_BJuNBCa47K_NntTjEApptqPHG5kiWnOGCnQ/s400/Rebecca-guay-a-wizard-of-earthsea-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="color: orange;">“Listening is not a reaction</span>, <span style="color: lime;">it is a connection,</span></i></span></span></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i></i></span></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: blue;">Listening to a conversation or a story</span>, <span style="color: purple;">we don’t so much respond as join in</span> <span style="color: magenta;">— become part of the action.”</span></i><span style="color: magenta;"><i></i> </span></span></span></h4>
- Ursula K. Le Guin<br />
<a href="http://brainpickings.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=13eb080d8a315477042e0d5b1&id=5aa288b1d7&e=8f56d50e99" style="-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; color: #c33737; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"> -The Magic of Real Human Conversation</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">- Here's to seeing you experience the world of <i>Rienspel</i>, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">starting with <i>The Grey Isle Tale</i>!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ryan P. Freeman </span></div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-8116619029211657062016-03-28T11:37:00.000-05:002016-05-19T08:59:22.709-05:00Ryan P. Freeman's Back Cover Exclusives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b> Hey all,</b><br />
<br />
Just wanted to give everyone a head's up about upcoming releases!<br />
<br />
My novella, <i>The Grey Isle Tale</i>, will be releasing via Amazon by May 20th, 2016!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZKsByU2XWvLyZOsNylzNmS9olQkaGzdg0W9UDvZmR9ozElBOYQ2q2f4b-3A-iB2y2aQTJ9FIN4j4Q5natxH6li-P4yc5SKWSLGYHj6GKF14QZGJgfMICODfizAQRrtyhY7x9z1089T34i/s1600/Blu%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZKsByU2XWvLyZOsNylzNmS9olQkaGzdg0W9UDvZmR9ozElBOYQ2q2f4b-3A-iB2y2aQTJ9FIN4j4Q5natxH6li-P4yc5SKWSLGYHj6GKF14QZGJgfMICODfizAQRrtyhY7x9z1089T34i/s320/Blu%25281%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>Back cover exclusive:</b><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> "Prince Janos of
House Ulian is having a rough day. No, scratch that - a rough life. So when the
watch tower he is inspecting begins exploding all around him, Janos soldiers on
like usual. Race through the countryside of the island empire of Rumenjia, as one
unlucky Prince, along with a stubborn local watch captain join forces with
staunch Generals and legendary Wizards to confront the greatest (and
potentially last) threat their country has ever faced: their own inner
darkness." </span>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"The Grey Isle
Tale chronicles the last breath of a crumbling empire. Adrift upon its own
momentous tides of conspiracy and hate, something even more sinister lurks
beneath the nation’s waves. The Grey Isle Tale is the sort of story which flows
from hair-raising novel to epic northern legend. The Grey Isle tale tells the
story of a nation on the brink, and how even the smallest gestures can tip the
balance between good and evil. Within, experience tremors of horrific
casualness matched against the indestructible bonds of friendship and kindness."</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And my main series, <i>The Phoenix of Redd</i>, will available via Amazon this Fall with the first installment of the trilogy. <b>Here's your back-cover exclusive for <i>Rienspel...</i></b></span></div>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">What Rien discovers about his past will
change his future…</span>
</h4>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rien
Sucat wiles his days away, bored-stiff in his small backwoods village. But soon
gets more than he bargained for after he befriends a magical Phoenix, accidentally
witnesses a secret necromantic ritual, and comes face to face with a league of
racist, knife-wielding assassins out for his blood. Travel with Rien as he and
the Phoenix journey from the unassuming Rillian village of Nyrgen through the
enchanting depths of the Great Wood where the unquiet dead lurk, to the high
north country of Firehall - elusive sanctuary of the Elves. Launch into an epic
quest with consequences farther reaching than Rien could ever possibly imagine.</span></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
</h4>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>Rienspel</i>
is about heart. It is about family and about how the power of love played out
in everyday life often carries lasting consequences. Rien’s tale transcends the
dim shadows of our own world by revealing the lingering power we all carry
through how we live and treat others. It is a tale about the Story we all
reside in which readers both young and young-at-heart will find compelling. As
C.S. Lewis once penned for his colleague and friend J.R.R. Tolkien, so it is
with <i>Rienspel</i>, ‘here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold
iron. Here is a story which will break your heart”… and re-forge it anew in
Phoenix-fire.</span></h4>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It's hard for me to imagine that in a couple short months or so, the first taste of my world will be out for all to finally enjoy. I mean, seriously. SERIOUSLY. What began as a chance doodle ended up becoming a major facet of my life. I don't know if I can say thank you enough to you: my friends, family, battle-hardened beta readers, editors, artists, dreamers and fellow adventurers. In only a few months' time, Rien will finally begin his journey... Janos will face his demons and a whole new chapter of mythos will open up. If you know me, then you know just how much I can wax poetic on all this story stuff... so for all who follow and comment, encourage and create with me along the way:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thank You</span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="st"> </span></span></span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="st">"<i>There</i> are <i>more</i> things in <i>Heaven</i> and Earth... <i> </i></span></span></span></span></span></h3>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="st"><i>than</i> are <i>dreamt</i> of in your philosophy."</span></span></span> </span> </span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>
</i> </span>
</div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-45639490392558490822016-03-17T11:31:00.001-05:002016-03-17T11:32:23.036-05:00The Prophecy of Domnu<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Prophecy of Domnu</span></span></i></h2>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Recorded by Peter Berresford Ellis, from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Celtic Myths and Legends</i></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span></span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUlP4n7LmCpMYPj-YOOIEX-jUqwm6qTtIW8mtZd4NSbqWORgGstz6SeezZWDoO8ZTdHsKFVfnGhvJXgjIemk1oJj8XiizXeCToPCnrP6mB7Eac-eu2T5hzgkNzarwkkASqkpLLEFI-B7Xo/s1600/humanity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUlP4n7LmCpMYPj-YOOIEX-jUqwm6qTtIW8mtZd4NSbqWORgGstz6SeezZWDoO8ZTdHsKFVfnGhvJXgjIemk1oJj8XiizXeCToPCnrP6mB7Eac-eu2T5hzgkNzarwkkASqkpLLEFI-B7Xo/s400/humanity.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“‘All life is transitory. Even your children are not
immortal, my sister. The time will come when they will be defeated. The time
will come when no one will want gods and goddesses to nurture them, when they
will be driven into the darkness, like my children have been this day.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“‘The time approaches when the summers of Inisfail
will be flowerless, when the cows shall be without milk, and the men will be
weak and the women shall be shameless; the seas will be without fish, the trees
without fruit and old men will give false judgments; the judges will make
unjust laws and honor will count for little and warriors will betray each other
and resort to thievery. There will come a time when there will be no more
virtue left in this world.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Indeed, there came that time when the Children of
Mil flooded into the Island of Destiny and when the Children of Danu were
driven underground into the hills, which were called sidhe, which is pronounced
shee, and in those mounds they dwelt, the once mighty gods and goddesses,
deserted by the very people who they had sought to nourish. The descendants of
Mil, who live in the Island of Destiny to this day, called the Children of Danu
the aes sidhe, the people of the hills, and when even the religion of Mil was
forgotten, when the religion of the Cross replaced that of the Circle, the
people simply called the aes sidhe by the name of fairies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of the greatest of the gods, the victor of the
battle on the Plains of Towers, Lugh Lamhfada, god of all knowledge, patron of
all arts and crafts, his name is still known today. But as memory of the mighty
warrior, the invincible god, has faded, he is known only as Lugh-chromain,
little stooping Lugh of the sidhe, relegated to the role of a fairy craftsman.
And, as even the language in which he was venerated has disappeared, all that
is left of the supreme god of the Children of Danu is the distorted form of
that name Lugh-chromain… leprechaun.”</span></div>
</div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-77284250547104429642016-03-10T09:39:00.000-06:002016-03-10T10:15:41.986-06:00Wide and Well<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Wide & Well</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666;">How Reading Well & Widely Equates to Better Writing & Being</span> </h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv84B_ESRUBbuqFG_Bj5UWbZuXAfDdCXMawDlfKnSm_m97SBb8-hAS8RPSBYJreSwrunVoC79W27gwGXRZmZ5aTyjaPMTOkIaTBr0MQ4vBtA_v8x6RKfKzCCeXD-bEwzJWBTx83a4VyYyb/s1600/magic-book-after-effects-cs5-template-590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv84B_ESRUBbuqFG_Bj5UWbZuXAfDdCXMawDlfKnSm_m97SBb8-hAS8RPSBYJreSwrunVoC79W27gwGXRZmZ5aTyjaPMTOkIaTBr0MQ4vBtA_v8x6RKfKzCCeXD-bEwzJWBTx83a4VyYyb/s320/magic-book-after-effects-cs5-template-590.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hey Ryan, why is it important for writers to also read?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well, first off I think it's important to read even if you're just a regular ol' human being. Read widely and read well. If you find yourself sneakily thinking 'I've read everything' - that's just silly. Unless you're immortal (and I'm not necessarily saying you're not...), you probably haven't read EVERYTHING (yet). A good strategy for getting past readers-block is to look up who inspired your favorite authors and start there. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Another maneuver is to head to your local bookstore... walk in and <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">take</span> that deep breath. Smell all those lovely books? Good. Relax, take a second or two and chill... then get excited. Let your inner compass guide you to your regular isle haunts... trace your fingers lovingly along the spines of all those books you love... and then blink. Rub your eyes and look around. There's a whole bunch of other books there, too! (I know I know, 'who put all these here??) Pick up at least one new book from a new author. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Don't be snooty. Try something new.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Along these lines, you can also ask one of the book sellers w<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">hich </span>authors are their fa<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">vorite<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> a</span></span>nd go from there.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My point is<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">,</span> you have to keep personally fresh and current with your reads. We people tend to find little corners of bookdom and burrow our own little den there. Doing your best to range beyond your literary foxhole will help grow you as a person, as well as expand your mind with new ideas and places. Whatever is in your mind and heart will eventually spill out onto your pages. So if you've been reading well and widely, that fresh stock of new ideas can both oil and fuel your write-abilty.</span></span><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
Examples!</span></span></h4>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Two examples of <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">how</span> reading well and widely can help you personally and as a writer for me begin with the Fossegrimmen. That's right, you heard me: <i>Fossegrimmen</i>. Now don't be fooled, brave reader - books are not the only thing you can read to garner ideas from. While recently browsing through one of my favorite time-killing sites, <a href="http://imgur.com/" target="_blank">Imgur</a>, I came across a post on Norse Mythology. If you've beta-read any of my upcoming novels or know me - then you'll already know just how much I adore northern European mythology. So it was a delight when I had beg<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">u</span>n reading the post and realized it was about creatures I had hitherto been unaware of. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Idea central!</b> I could hear my imagination and wonder whirring to life as I read article after article on old-world Norse creatures. One of these was the Fossegrimmen - which apparently even good 'ol Wikipedia didn't know about (which is saying something).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here's the article on the Fossegrimmen:</span></span><br />
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<h2 class="post-image-title font-opensans-semibold">
Fossegrimmen</h2>
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<img alt="" src="http://i.imgur.com/OjCOR5n.jpg" />
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<div class="post-image-description font-opensans-reg">
<br /></div>
<div class="post-image-description font-opensans-reg">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Fossegrimmen, or just Grim (Foss is Norwegian for Waterfall) is a water-creature. He is a young, handsome man who sits naked under waterfalls. He plays the music of nature itself; the sound of the water, the wind in the trees, it all comes from his music. He is said to teach humans how to play if they secretly brought him a stolen piece of meat. Torgeir Augundsson (1801-1872), better known as Myllarguten, was a famous fiddle-player from Telemark, Norway who was so good it was rumored he had sold his soul in exchange of Fossegrimmen’s skills."</span></div>
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<a href="http://starcatbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/gaiman-books.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="gaiman-books" class="size-medium wp-image-810 aligncenter" src="http://starcatbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/gaiman-books-300x200.jpg" height="200" width="300" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My other example is <a href="http://www.neilgaiman.com/" target="_blank">Neil Gaiman</a>. More than half of you reading this are probably rolling <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">your</span> eyes<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">;</span> the rest just mentally said, "huh, who?" Neil Gaiman is an incredibly talented writer originally from England. He's <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">writ<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ten</span></span> everything from graphic novels to movies to books (and probably more). After I discovered him (and realized just how many things of his I already loved without knowing), it was like opening up a whole new fantasy vein in a mine I was beginning to think I had exhausted.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2>
</h2>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When you keep reading, you're not only training and stretching your mind, you're helping grow yourself as a person. You can expose yourself to powerful, enchanting writers who can transform you with their<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> own</span> magical talent and creativity. Reading well and widely gets your own wonder whirring. It fuels you and oils you. You learn what good writing looks like by osmosis. You're adventuring into a vast realm of Imagination, where other sojourners have already gone before you. <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So p</span>ick up your laptops, pens and paper and prepare yourself: your Story is <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">awaits</span>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">- Ryan</span></i></div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-64976105997942376702016-03-01T09:05:00.000-06:002016-03-01T09:05:15.679-06:00Agnes Martin on Inspiration<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="entry-title">
<span>Artist Agnes Martin on Inspiration,
Interruptions, Cultivating a Creative Atmosphere, and the Only Type of
Person You Should Allow Into Your Studio</span></h1>
<div class="entry-title" style="text-align: left;">
<span>(reposted from http://www.brainpickings.org ) </span></div>
<h2>
“The development of sensibility is the most important thing for
children and adults alike, but is much more possible for children….
Adults are very busy, taught to run all the time. You cannot run and be
very aware of your inspirations.”</h2>
<h3 class="byline">
By Maria Popova</h3>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0714859966/braipick-20" target="_blank"><img alt="Artist Agnes Martin on Inspiration, Interruptions, Cultivating a Creative Atmosphere, and the Only Type of Person You Should Allow Into Your Studio" class="cover alignright size-medium" height="197" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brainpickings.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/agnesmartin_monograph.jpg?zoom=2&fit=320%2C361" width="175" /></a><br />
During my annual surrender to a week of forced extroversion, I was <a href="https://twitter.com/brainpicker/status/699734989529681920" target="_blank">acutely reminded</a> of the perils of interruption in creative work. Although studies of <a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/08/25/the-psychology-of-writing-daily-routine/">the psychology of the optimal creative environment</a>
indicate that some artists and writers thrive when surrounded by
stimulation, most creative work requires unburdened space and
uninterrupted time for what Mary Oliver calls <a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/04/10/mary-oliver-poetry-handbook-rhythm/">“that wild, silky part of ourselves”</a> — also known by its commonplace name, inspiration — to reveal itself. <br />
The nature of that wild, silky part and the conditions that best coax it forth is what the great artist <strong>Agnes Martin</strong>
(March 22, 1912–December 16, 2004) examines with uncommon insight in
her handwritten notes for a student lecture, included in the magnificent
monograph <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0714859966/braipick-20" target="_blank"><strong><em>Agnes Martin: Paintings, Writings, Remembrances</em></strong></a> (<a href="http://www.worldcat.org/title/agnes-martin-paintings-writings-remembrances/oclc/770625694&referer=brief_results" target="_blank"><em>public library</em></a>), edited by Martin’s longtime friend and Pace Gallery founder Arne Glimcher.<br />
<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_52729"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0714859966/braipick-20" rel="attachment wp-att-52729" target="_blank"><img alt="Agnes Martin at her studio in New Mexico, 1953 (Photograph: Mildred Tolbert)" class="size-full wp-image-52729" height="610" src="https://i2.wp.com/www.brainpickings.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/agnesmartin2-1.jpg?zoom=2&resize=680%2C910" width="456" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Agnes Martin at her studio in New Mexico, 1953 (Photograph: Mildred Tolbert)</figcaption></figure>
Martin begins with the often troublesome relationship between the artist’s ego and the artist’s art:<br />
<blockquote>
I have sometimes, in my mind, put myself ahead of my work and have suffered in consequence. I thought <em>me, me</em>
and I suffered and the work suffered and for that I suffered more. I
thought I was important. I was taught to think that. I looked very big
and the work small. But now I see it quite differently. To think I am
big and the work big, the position of pride, is not possible and to
think I am small and the work small, the position of modesty, is not
possible.</blockquote>
The only possible position for creative work, Martin suggests, is the
position of inspiration, which she considers “the beginning and end of
all art work.” For this notoriously elusive grab-bag concept she offers
the crispest yet most expansive definition I have yet encountered:<br />
<blockquote>
An inspiration is a happy moment that takes us by surprise. <br />
Many people are so startled by an inspiration or a condition of
inspiration, which is so different from daily care, that they think that
they are unique in having had it. Nothing could be further from the
truth. Inspiration is there all the time for anyone whose mind is not
covered over with thoughts and concerns, and [it is] used by everyone
whether they realize it or not.<br />
[…]<br />
It is an untroubled state of mind. Of course, we know that an
untroubled state of mind cannot last, so we say that inspiration comes
and goes, but it is there all the time waiting for us to be untroubled
again. We can therefore say that it is pervasive.</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0714859966/braipick-20" rel="attachment wp-att-52695" target="_blank"><img alt="agnesmartin1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-52695" height="496" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brainpickings.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/agnesmartin1.jpg?zoom=2&resize=680%2C680" width="496" /></a><br />
In a sentiment that echoes and adds dimension to Picasso’s famous
proclamation that every child is an artist, Martin considers how our
relationship with inspiration evolves over the course of a lifetime:<br />
<blockquote>
Young children have more time in which they are
untroubled than adults. They have therefore more inspirations than
adults. The moments of inspiration added together make what we refer to
as sensibility — defined in the dictionary as “response to higher
feelings.” The development of sensibility is the most important thing
for children and adults alike, but is much more possible for children.</blockquote>
But inspiration, Martin argues, cannot be controlled or willed — it
can only be surrendered to. She illustrates this by way of the child:<br />
<blockquote>
What is the experience of the small child in the dirt? He
suddenly feels happy, rolls in the dirt probably, feels free, laughs
and runs and falls. His face is shining… “The light was extraordinary,
the feeling was extraordinary” is the way in which many adults describe
moments of inspiration. Although they have had them all their lives they
never really recall them and are always taken by surprise. Adults are
very busy, taught to run all the time. You cannot run and be very aware
of your inspirations.</blockquote>
It’s a sentiment that pierces our modern condition and calls Kierkegaard to mind — as he contemplated <a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/05/05/kierkegaard-on-presence-unhappiness/">our greatest source of unhappiness</a> more than a century earlier, the Danish philosopher lamented: <em>“Of all ridiculous things the most ridiculous seems to me, to be busy — to be a man who is brisk about his food and his work.”</em>
To counter this ridiculousness, Martin urges artists to create a
sanctuary for inspiration — a space devoid of busyness and dedicated to
unburdened clarity of mind, with “no telephone,” where one is “to be
disturbed only if the house is burning.” A century and a half after
Delacroix <a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/04/17/delacroix-journal-solitude/">admonished against social distractions in creative work</a>, she counsels aspiring artists:<br />
<blockquote>
A studio is not a place in which to talk to friends. You
will hate your friends if they destroy the atmosphere of your studio. As
an artist you will have to try and live with inspiration. You are not
like the little boy in the dirt free and open. The whole world which you
now know intrudes. It is almost hopeless to expect clarity of mind. It
is hopeless if your studio atmosphere cannot be preserved.</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0714859966/braipick-20" rel="attachment wp-att-52696" target="_blank"><img alt="agnesmartin2" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-52696" height="496" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brainpickings.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/agnesmartin2.jpg?zoom=2&resize=680%2C680" width="496" /></a><br />
But there is one kind of person who should be allowed, even invited,
into the artist’s studio — the kind that calls to mind Patti Smith’s
notion of those who <a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/10/23/nine-years-of-brain-pickings/">magnify your spirit</a>. Martin writes:<br />
<blockquote>
There are some people to be allowed into the studio,
however, who will not destroy the atmosphere but will bring
encouragement and who are an absolute necessity in the field of art.
They are not personal friends. Personal friends are a different thing
entirely and should be met in cafés. They are Friends of Art.<br />
Friends of art are people with very highly developed sensibilities
whose inspiration leads them to devote their lives to the promotion of
art work and to bringing it before the public.</blockquote>
Such “friends of art,” Martin argues, bring with them a highly attuned intuition — intuition being, of course, merely <a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/11/08/the-science-of-intuition-answers-for-aristotle/">the accretion of experience-encoded discernment</a> — which can help guide the artist closer to his or her own truth:<br />
<blockquote>
When they come to see the work it is not to judge it but
to enjoy it… When these friends of art come to your studio they should
be treated as honored guests, otherwise you will destroy the atmosphere
of your studio yourself. If you are not ready to do this, be sure to
wait till you are ready. The premature showing of work when you are
perhaps struggling and even fighting is an unnecessary suffering. You
will know when you are really ready.</blockquote>
Because the studio should be a sacred space for the untroubled mind,
Martin recommends avoiding physical clutter in order to prevent mental
clutter:<br />
<blockquote>
You must clean and arrange your studio in a way that will forward a quiet state of mind. This cautious care of atmosphere is <em>really</em>
needed to show respect for the work. Respect for art work and
everything connected with it, one’s own and that of everyone else, <em>must be maintained</em> and <em>forwarded</em>.
No disrespect, carelessness or ego [and] selfishness must be allowed to
interfere if it can be prevented. Indifference and antagonism are
easily detected — you should take such people out immediately. Just
turning the paintings to the wall is not enough. You yourself should not
go to your studio in an indifferent or fighting mood.</blockquote>
</div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-75727471748275693022016-02-26T12:06:00.000-06:002016-02-26T12:06:17.282-06:00What Gets You?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
What <i>Gets</i> You? </h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
- Persistence & the Writing Muscle -</h3>
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<br />
Usually, I write about writing success or some sort of inspiring quip about writing... usually. But this time, as I'm typing away, I have to be honest. My regular writing times have been flagging a bit. I mean, I'm still writing something just about everyday, but I sense that I'm trying to revert to only writing when the misty-magical muse hits me. I realize instead of this, I ought to be focusing on writing consistently, instead. I really ought to read my own advice and just keep on going...<br />
<br />
One of the things I love about my wife, Steph, is that she's a smart cookie. Yeah, I might complain about her, shall we say 'high standards' when it comes to my writing... but all that said, if you stick around long enough, she says just the right stuff I need, often at times I least expect (which makes for keeping me on my toes). In the previous paragraph, I used the phrase 'I ought' quite a bit. It just sort of spilled out. And if you're trusting me, I can assure you I did not just go back and add the phrases in for effect, either. 'I ought' is a dangerous phrase. One of the reasons I like journaling and blogging is because you get to take these little wispy, intangible thoughts out of your inner-dialogue and make them a bit more real. By going from little voices in your head to real words on the page or screen, it can help you to see what you're really thinking, and get it out of you. Once you've got your self-conscience out of the darker corners and into the light, you get to see just what sort of creature you're actually dealing with.<br />
<br />
Which brings me back to the phrase, 'I ought'. Like I said, it's a dangerous phrase. The 'I ought' creature is one with ties often linked to fear, guilt, shame, and/or doubt. It's dubious and accusatory - and it's a real buzzkill. When you catch yourself running on fear, guilt, shame, and/or doubt, it means you're drinking from poisoned wells. So when you're creating art as you write, it affects you. 'I ought' is a slippery creature, too. Right now, you may even feel it's subtle claws grasping for your will... because you may be beginning to think I ought not use 'I ought'.<br />
<br />
The only way I've found to avoid this existential trap is to jump tracks completely. Just like in Ursula LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea, you have to make peace with your own shadow. The only way I've found where someone can successfully jump tracks out of the 'I ought' trap is with George MacDonald's rallying cry from his Unspoken Sermons, "More LIFE!"<br />
<br />
What did good ol' George mean?<br />
<br />
The idea comes from the notion that we don't die (physically, personally, spiritually, creatively) from death. We die for lack of LIFE. The true goodness and vivacious gusto for what truly motivates and inspires us on a deep personal level (and at an even deeper, light-hearted level) is what we need to dance with and nurture. It's what we need to have our deep, late night conversations with - and IT is what we need to buy another round for. Among many things which humans beings are, one of them is Joy-Chasers. If you've never thought about it, get an idea about what you truly love. What gets you all passionate and waxing poetic about? It's not so much about what you get, but about <i>what gets you</i>.<br />
<br />
When it comes, full-circle, back to writing, we find that now our love, passion, creative need ect. is now properly put in it's place. Our drive to write no longer corners us with black-mail, guilt, and fear like some lion prowling outside our door... When our creative Rally Cry really becomes MORE LIFE! our love of writing is transfigured from a devouring monster back into a needy kitty-cat purring in the sunshine on our lap.<br />
<br />
What do we/I love? Joy-chase it. And while chasing, write.<br />
<br />
thanks for listening,<br />
<br />
- Ryan</div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-53279850627535422382016-02-23T21:39:00.000-06:002016-02-23T21:39:02.574-06:00Advice from Merlyn from Confucius<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<br />
In the wonderfully moving sequel to The Once and Future King, The Book of Merlyn, near the end, Merlyn quotes Confucius:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
"In order to propagate virtue in the world, one must first rule</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
one's country.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In order to rule one's country, one must first rule one's family.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In order to rule one's family, one must first regulate one's </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
body by moral training.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In order to regulate one's body, one must first regulate one's </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
mind.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In order to regulate one's mind, one must first be sincere in</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
one's intentions.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In order to be sincere in one's intentions, one must first</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
increase one's knowledge."</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513191775493957491.post-70401815472132257042016-02-15T16:00:00.001-06:002016-02-15T16:00:55.784-06:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A lot of the times, living in here in Missouri really leaves me with nothing but time to write. That might sound romantic, but it's not so much. I have this tick about always having to be doing something important, something meaningful. I'm nearly always aware of it. It's something in me which wakes when I do, and probably stays up long after I've finally gone back to sleep again. Outside, the world is filled with puddles of melting snow and chilly wind. The land is bleak and bare. It is February. There is nothing going on in town and there is no where to go. Whatever you do or have must be done by you alone, or with a few friends. Often times, with jobs how they are - most everyone's schedules don't match up too well. This means you have time alone... alone with the Nuisance. That persistent feeling that you have to - must - be doing something.<br />
<br />
So I write. I wonder if I just down enough words between gasps of intermittent boredom I can bleed out some of the impatience. I feel listless, grey like the land here. Grey, gray, grey. It's a funny word. I like using it in my stories, because again, it evokes some sort of mystique. But that's story telling for you. In the living world, grey days and times appear just so. I will be off work in about an hour and then I will drive home in my rusty white Ford Contour and probably sit back down into my usual spot on the couch and binge-watch more Netflix, or play more video games. I like and don't like doing it. I like it because it's familiar and occasionally enjoyable. I don't like it because I feel like I'm hiding from life and because of the Nuisance. Later, if I don't get side-tracked and I feel more or less up for it, I write. I always write fantasy. I've tried writing other things, but it always ends up as a fantasy. I'm not sure why. I dream about places and lands that never were. My house is usually empty since my wife often works late (she works too much).<br />
<br />
Sometimes I catch myself thinking about how this is just where a fantasy story might begin. In the Grey Days... in the nothing and the piles of old slush.<br />
<br />
Right now I'm writing about two Wizards and a Nameless Girl. They live in a far-away land with no name full of islands and magic. There's often so much magic there, that wonder is hard to find. But that's only a concept I've recently realized exists. In my stories there is usually a personal quest people are on. I feel like I have to figure out how to make it special. I have to figure out why it matters. It's important. But I don't know if I can figure it out. I want to rush through the story to the end... I want Christmas to hurry up and happen so I can know what I got. I feel that way about here, too. I want life to hurry up. What does that mean? Will anybody like it? Do I want people to like me? I act like there's an invisible stage I'm always on. Sometimes I get tired of my current story-lines and I wonder about other lands and lives far away.<br />
<br />
I read somewhere that artists are miserable people. I don't know how I feel about that. It seems like it's the sort of thing an artist would say to make themselves feel better. I don't know if I trust it. But when Steph, my wife, says it we laugh and we mean our laughter. How can you just change something with only a few words? The right sentiment from the right person... the right relationship with the right gritty bonds can transform something from dubious to lovely.<br />
<br />
I wonder if I write enough I will change. I wonder if I wait long enough, the blase will fade away. I remember remembering a better way. I wonder why I stay here. My parents are always overtly trying to pressure me back to New Mexico. I feel like moving back would be admitting defeat. I value my freedom and individuality too much to move back - even for culture, even for family, even for better opportunities. But I also think it's not just for me that I stay. I think that somehow I'm supposed to be here. As dumb as it is. As drear as it is. I don't understand why. Maybe when someone stakes their claim willfully, the strength of their resolve makes for a firmer ground for others to stand, too. I hope so. I hope there's meaning to all this. And not general meaning - not pie-in-the-sky meaning- but real meaning. Something that makes sense and can be understood.<br />
<br />
I know I live in my head too much. Being stuck at home for 5 days is just too much. Sure I was sick but I had to do something. The Nuisance was back again, I guess. I still feel sick. But maybe I'm better now, a little bit. I want to matter. I want to save the day. There's so much saving that needs done here. I don't see no cavalry. I don't see grand miracles. I see little people in faded streets. I see needy and I can't meet all their needs. I see what's left of beautiful slowly drift apart. And I don't... I just don't understand why it must be.<br />
<br />
We need Ways, not Directions. We want directions. I want directions. I want do this, this, and then this and bam - there you go. Problem solved. But we don't get that sort of permanency here. Stability. We need Ways. We need to hold on.</div>
Ryan P Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13880385121609917259noreply@blogger.com0