Ryan P. Freeman's Back Cover Exclusives

 Hey all,

Just wanted to give everyone a head's up about upcoming releases!

My novella, The Grey Isle Tale, will be releasing via Amazon by May 20th, 2016!

Back cover exclusive:

            "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."

"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."

And my main series, The Phoenix of Redd, will available via Amazon this Fall with the first installment of the trilogy. Here's your back-cover exclusive for Rienspel...

What Rien discovers about his past will change his future…

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.

Rienspel 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 Rienspel, ‘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.

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:

Thank You

 

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth...  

than are dreamt of in your philosophy." 

   

The Prophecy of Domnu

The Prophecy of Domnu

Recorded by Peter Berresford Ellis, from Celtic Myths and Legends

 

“‘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.’

“‘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.’

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.

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.”

Wide and Well

Wide & Well

How Reading Well & Widely Equates to Better Writing & Being 

 

 

Hey Ryan, why is it important for writers to also read?

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. 
Another maneuver is to head to your local bookstore... walk in and take 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. 
Don't be snooty. Try something new.
Along these lines, you can also ask one of the book sellers which authors are their favorite and go from there.

My point is, 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.

Examples!

Two examples of how reading well and widely can help you personally and as a writer for me begin with the Fossegrimmen. That's right, you heard me: Fossegrimmen. 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, Imgur, 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 begun reading the post and realized it was about creatures I had hitherto been unaware of. 
Idea central! 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).

Here's the article on the Fossegrimmen:

Fossegrimmen

"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."

My other example is Neil Gaiman. More than half of you reading this are probably rolling your eyes; the rest just mentally said, "huh, who?" Neil Gaiman is an incredibly talented writer originally from England. He's written 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.

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 own 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. So pick up your laptops, pens and paper and prepare yourself: your Story is awaits.

- Ryan

Agnes Martin on Inspiration

Artist Agnes Martin on Inspiration, Interruptions, Cultivating a Creative Atmosphere, and the Only Type of Person You Should Allow Into Your Studio

(reposted from http://www.brainpickings.org )

“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.”

By Maria Popova

During my annual surrender to a week of forced extroversion, I was acutely reminded of the perils of interruption in creative work. Although studies of the psychology of the optimal creative environment 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 “that wild, silky part of ourselves” — also known by its commonplace name, inspiration — to reveal itself.
The nature of that wild, silky part and the conditions that best coax it forth is what the great artist Agnes Martin (March 22, 1912–December 16, 2004) examines with uncommon insight in her handwritten notes for a student lecture, included in the magnificent monograph Agnes Martin: Paintings, Writings, Remembrances (public library), edited by Martin’s longtime friend and Pace Gallery founder Arne Glimcher.

Agnes Martin at her studio in New Mexico, 1953 (Photograph: Mildred Tolbert)

Martin begins with the often troublesome relationship between the artist’s ego and the artist’s art:

I have sometimes, in my mind, put myself ahead of my work and have suffered in consequence. I thought me, me 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.

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:

An inspiration is a happy moment that takes us by surprise.
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.
[…]
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.

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:

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.

But inspiration, Martin argues, cannot be controlled or willed — it can only be surrendered to. She illustrates this by way of the child:

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.

It’s a sentiment that pierces our modern condition and calls Kierkegaard to mind — as he contemplated our greatest source of unhappiness more than a century earlier, the Danish philosopher lamented: “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.” 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 admonished against social distractions in creative work, she counsels aspiring artists:

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.

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 magnify your spirit. Martin writes:

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.
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.

Such “friends of art,” Martin argues, bring with them a highly attuned intuition — intuition being, of course, merely the accretion of experience-encoded discernment — which can help guide the artist closer to his or her own truth:

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.

Because the studio should be a sacred space for the untroubled mind, Martin recommends avoiding physical clutter in order to prevent mental clutter:

You must clean and arrange your studio in a way that will forward a quiet state of mind. This cautious care of atmosphere is really needed to show respect for the work. Respect for art work and everything connected with it, one’s own and that of everyone else, must be maintained and forwarded. 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.

What Gets You?

What Gets You?

- Persistence & the Writing Muscle -

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...

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.

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'.

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!"

What did good ol' George mean?

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 what gets you.

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.

What do we/I love? Joy-chase it. And while chasing, write.

thanks for listening,

- Ryan