Spoke by Coleman

  • SPOKE
  • Behind The Story
  • Events, Reviews, Bio
  • Contact
  • Musings
  • Plays by Coleman

On Good Writing

2/14/2015

0 Comments

 
I'm a voracious reader. I read every night for half an hour or more before I go to sleep. I normally wake up once in the middle of the night and read for another fifteen to thirty minutes. And upon awakening, I read another half hour. On good days, I find time during the waking hours to sneak in some more reading. It's not unusual for me to finish a novel or two a week. I prefer fiction, but a good narrative non-fiction is also satisfying.

With all this reading going on, you'd think i'd run out of things I want to read - and sometimes I do, but never for long. I'm usually able to discover a new author, or a new book from a favored author - and dive right in.

Recently I had the opportunity to read a new novel by Dean Bakopoulos, Summerlong - scheduled for release this coming June. It's a desperately sad book, and very funny at the same time. Dean has a knack for making sadness somehow alluring. I wanted all of his sad characters to be my friends. I'd like to have lunch with them. Or a drink. Or a few drinks. And the last two sentences of the book alone made the time I spent reading it worthwhile, not to mention his always savvy command of language and image.

I'm currently devouring Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Flanagan is an acrobat with words and phrases, and a master of meandering through the life of a protagonist weaving past and present into a cohesive tale. He tells a hell of a story.

I recently finished eight books by Peter May - three in his Hebrides series and five in his China series. I like a good mystery/thriller - but only when it is well-written, and Peter is a writer's writer. I liked the first book of his that I read so much that I quickly devoured seven more. I'm currently on a Peter May break, but I will return soon to read his Enzo series.
0 Comments

On hope

2/1/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
I am at least 45 years older than the next oldest person in my class. Wisconsin has this little known provision allowing seniors to audit any public university class for free, so long as there is space in the class. Given Governor “Who-Needs-Education” Walker’s drive to slash the hell out of public education, this opportunity may not last much longer. But for now, at least I’m taking advantage of it.

My last foray at taking an art classes ended badly in 1958. My fourth grade art teacher sat me at the back of the room, after grimly examining a page covered with my scratches from something called ‘pastels’, and told me that it would be best if I just didn’t try.

Screw her.

So I am taking a basic – very basic – art design class. And here, dear reader you can see a sample of my first project.

What do you think? Is there hope?

0 Comments

    Musings

    Random thoughts about the news of the day, or walks in the woods

    Archives

    January 2023
    April 2021
    January 2021
    May 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    June 2017
    October 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014

    RSS Feed

(c) Copyright 2022, Coleman