"We All Need A little Help From Our Friends"

My back deck last year, along with one of our cats, Baldur. -RPF

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 ought to make you happy).

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...

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

DANGER!

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.

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.

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 Ragamuffin Gospel.
(I also believe you can youtube him, as well.)

happy writing!

- Ryan 

9 O'Clock

I've probably mentioned this before, but I think it bares repeating (repeating) -

 I think I've done my best writing while personally at my worst. 

As Hemmingway once said, 
"There is nothing to writing. All you have to do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."

This resonates with me deeply. This fall, my first completed work, Rienspel, 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.

To this day, 9 o'clock is 'the magic hour'.

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.

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.

Writing helped focus my purpose when I felt I had none.

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.

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.

- Ryan

ps - my novella, The Grey Isle Tale, will be releasing via Amazon mid May! Get ready to face Mororedros, the Sea Dragon!

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. Ernest Hemingway
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/ernesthemi384744.html

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. Ernest Hemingway
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/ernesthemi384744.html

A Whole New World on the Horizon...

“Listening is not a reaction, it is a connection,

Listening to a conversation or a story, we don’t so much respond as join in — become part of the action.” 

- Ursula K. Le Guin
 -The Magic of Real Human Conversation

- Here's to seeing you experience the world of Rienspel, 
starting with The Grey Isle Tale!

Ryan P. Freeman 

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