"April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain." - from THE WASTE LAND by T.S. Eliot
The month of April is National Poetry month and Indie Author month, which can also be assigned to in November, for NanoWriMo. Two things I know little and much about, wrapped together in a tangled nest.
Poetry is an area of writing I consider myself a dabbler in over the years. Not a lot in the last 10 years, perhaps scribbling a line or two, but there was a period between the ages of 18 to 35 in which I'd go through heavy stints of writing poetry.
Topics were a standard fare of heartbreak, angst, nature, and current events. Briefly, too, there was a period of reading a lot of Charles Bukowski, which in turn led to attempts to imitating his style (and influence).
Reflecting more, poetry is where I may have truly begun a writing journey with a poem As I Lay on the Desert Floor. Written as an assignment in the fourth grade, the poem ended up being selected for a Nevada Young Writer's publication. At one point, I believe I once owned a copy of this publication, now lost to the dust bins of time. (A quick Google search of these publications yielded little help, aside from a copy from 1983 being sold on Amazon).
As mentioned earlier, very little poetry has been written by me these days. Focus has been drawn elsewhere, such as a new novel and plays. However, there has been a slow attempt to integrate both old (Ralph Waldo Emerson) and new (Amanda Gorman) into my reading rotation. And though I don't write much poetry, I respect those poets out there putting in the work.
Indie Author Month
Self-published through KDP, four books of mine are available to purchase. Though it's through the corporate giant Amazon, I still consider myself an indie author. All four titles are available in paperback and to download, and The Dragon Slayer is also available in hardcover.
Reviews and ratings go a long way for self-published and independent published authors. So, if you have a chance to support indie authors in that regard, whether it be on Goodreads, Amazon, or other platforms, please take a second to do so.
March writing
A busy month of writing is again in the books, with much focus on my latest novel Through the End of Time. Small windows of time were also spent on a new play, plus a screenplay idea (my first in years) that popped into my head in the waning days of the month.
Spent a lot of March watching college basketball, with some exciting Final Four action on both the men's and women's sides. Wrote some thoughts about the men's tournament during that time:
Baseball season got going, just as the NBA is gearing up for the playoffs, so of course had a few thoughts on the Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics:
Books
Finished up reading a couple more books last month. Well, one book and one play. The first was 3 Lives by Gertrude Stein. This book plays around a lot with style and narrative, and is an interesting read for both this and the subject matter within the separate stories.
The second was the play Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee. This is a play that spans over 30 years and focuses on family, sacrifice, loyalty, and the extremes people will go to in trying times. Plus, some outstanding rock music.
Movies/Television
The aforementioned college basketball cut into my consumption of movies and television in March. I did check out the Oscars telecast and watched the Oscar-nominated short film My Year of Dicks.
Also, after years of seeing clips or bits and pieces of the film, I finally watched Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Television watching was mostly relegated to a continuation of shows I've previously been watching. The final season of Succession opened last weekend, so that's another show added to the rotation.
Podcast listening is really hit-and-miss with me but, because of my undying devotion to the television show Friday Night Lights, I began listening to It's Not Only Football: Friday Night Lights and Beyond hosted by Scott Porter (Jason Street), Zach Gilford (Matt Saracen), and Mae Whitman that is pretty cool.
Thanks for stopping by this month. Happy April.
Be bold. Be kind.
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