Month: April 2014

Writing: A Healing Art

Ed GriffinGuest Post
by Ed Griffin

Aristotle said, “Art releases unconscious tensions and purges the soul.”

I volunteered to teach creative writing first in a maximum security prison in Wisconsin where I lived. When we moved to Canada in 1988 I volunteered again, but the prison administrator told me I wasn’t needed because Simon Fraser ran a university program at Matsqui prison. A year later the program was cancelled and I started to teach creative writing.

That was twenty years ago and I made Aristotle’s quote my motto. Writing was an art, and it helped people understand themselves. I remember giving an assignment, “Write about a safe place you knew as a child.” Nothing was more productive than this. “Me and my brother, we had a fort behind the house where we went when ma was looking for us.” “My safe place was under the steps. I hid there when my old man came home drunk.”

If a guy stayed with the class, he got beyond “F…. the system,” though I was glad to see him write that, rather than act it out. Only a few guys in all those years turned into ‘real writers,’ but that didn’t make any difference to me. Continue reading “Writing: A Healing Art”

Writing, Madness, and Voice

brain sketch3A recent article on the Thought Catalog talked about the relationship between writing and mental illness that sparked quite a discussion. Our own Lynne Cantwell gave a very thoughtful and intelligent response here. For many of us, the most offensive paragraph (of several) in the original article was this:

The common theory for why writers are often depressed is rather basic: writers think a lot and people who think a lot tend to be unhappy. Add to that long periods of isolation and the high levels of narcissism that draws someone to a career like writing, and it seems obvious why they might not be the happiest bunch.

To my mind, this author made many ridiculous and unsubstantiated assumptions, but I’ll confine my response to two of them. Per his paragraph above,

  1. People write because they are drawn to isolation.
  2. People write because they are highly narcissistic.

I have a different theory. I believe people write because that is the voice that serves them best. Let me explain this through my own experience. Continue reading “Writing, Madness, and Voice”

Featured Selections from Nicole McGehee

Glamourous, sexy page-turners best describe Nicole McGehee’s romantic novels. Though not a series, both feature strong heroines who are ground-breakers for their eras. McGehee tackles tough subjects – personal tragedy, racial prejudice, sexism – with an approach that involves the reader in the moment.

You will laugh, cry, and recognize aspects of your own life as you immerse yourself in the dramas created in McGehee’s Regret Not a Moment and No More Lonely Nights. You’ll travel the world, from Virginia horse country to sultry New Orleans; Paris to post World War II Egypt.

McGehee’s motto is, “Escape and enjoy!”

[ezcol_1quarter]Regret Not a Moment[/ezcol_1quarter] [ezcol_3quarter_end]Regret Not a Moment
Available from Amazon.

If you love Downton Abbey, REGRET NOT A MOMENT will take you to the Virginia version of grand estates and blue bloods in the year 1930. This romance spans three decades and three continents as you follow heroine Devon as she discovers great love, challenge, and heartbreak. [/ezcol_3quarter_end]

[ezcol_1quarter]No More Lonely Nights[/ezcol_1quarter] [ezcol_3quarter_end]No More Lonely Nights
Available from Amazon.

Nothing in Dominique’s sheltered, aristocratic upbringing has prepared her to be stripped of all her privilege and forced to fend for herself. She flees a revolution via an arranged marriage only to find that her husband is a fraud, and she must strike out on her own in America. This romantic saga takes you New York, New Orleans, and Washington, DC, as Dominique finds new love and a new life.[/ezcol_3quarter_end]

LynneQuisition: Donna Huber, Girl Who Reads

Interviews by Lynne CantwellBe honest: who among us indies hasn’t fantasized about having the sort of publishing success that E.L. James has had? Say what you will about 50 Shades of Grey, the woman knows how to sell books. What’s her secret? Here with the inside scoop is Donna Huber, marketing professional, author of Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour, and book blogger at Girl Who Reads.

Donna, thanks very much for taking a seat in the comfy chair and submitting to this LynneQuisition. First…well, I have to ask: How did you end up working with E.L. James?

Continue reading “LynneQuisition: Donna Huber, Girl Who Reads”