A Fresh Waft at Life through Peace
08/13/2004 03:53 p.m.
It was encouraging the other day, while working on my second novel manuscript, (with two novellas manuscripts completed as well years ago) to learn that portions from the first one - The Troubled Tree - are seeing their first days out in the general public eye, and maybe have even experienced being given voice, at a reading by now, in California, after all this time. While I did send out sample chapters from them to a few publishing houses years ago, and in one case in particular had very near success in getting one novella published, (the publishers, General Store in Burnstown, Ontario, were considering it for a year, and wrote a good letter with some tips too in it for me, but then it didn’t turn out to fit their needs), mostly I’ve let them settle in boxes in my office, waiting for re-writes in many places. First novels and novellas can be like that sometimes.

That the portions are in the form of poetry is even more heartening. It was while writing The Troubled Tree, the novel I refer too (but also my novella In the Spirit of Renovation) that poetry raised her head in my work for the first time since my teens. In hindsight I see that the natural progression or discovery of that leaning was beginning again.

Don Campbell and now Michelle Angelini have been instrumental to me, Don in allowing me the opportunities so often, with wonderful forums for our work and Michelle more recently, offering to provide voice at the mic, to some of my Peace through Poetry Anthology poems in our shared circle. The regret that I have never yet been able to participate physically in person in the San Gabriel Poets, is eased by their strong support. I also credit the internet for all this, and internet poetry sites Poesie com and Pathetic.org. The early encouragement to explore the internet more fully for my literary life I credit to Chris Sorrenti. He's shown many fellow poets the same inspiration. Though sometimes it's had its headaches, and has to be treated carefully as a tool, I found, it has turned out to be a more rewarding work organ, but also social venue, than I’d imagined in those early days.

It’s fascinating the way we writers, and maybe in particular novelists though I believe the poet side of us too, think. I am as thrilled for Michael Stephen Armstrong, as for myself, that his poems are getting published in the Peace through Poetry Anthology, and I gave him the first credits in my submission for those two poems. Because he wrote them. But who is he?
The poet-soldier character, and one of the main protagonists in The Troubled Tree.

Though we can develop characterization very realistically and interestingly in poetry, one benefit to me in fiction writing, whether short story, novella or novel, is that I can more fully stay with and raise a character to portray his or her reality. Perhaps if in these times readers accepted and publishers still accepted the epic poem genre, character development and plot would be more viable in that genre of writing.

If Oprah Winfrey’s revival of interest in the general public in the classics and reading in general is working so well, maybe one of we poets should appeal to her to promote poetry as well, long or short volumes of it, and that would help? Much poetry certainly adheres well to the spiritual, meditative kind of lifestyle her magazine and other forums are often promoting lately.

In any case, I’m very excited -1) because of the latest topic, dear to my heart, (Peace through Poetry), for which Don invited me to contribute poems to via his e-mails to me, and the sites he runs, and 2) for the bringing to the public eye and finding voice in California for some of the material from my earlier novel. It makes me want to start sending it out again. I’m committed right now to the newest one, my main project, but will be looking at The Troubled Tree, polishing still, and marketing it as well one of these days soon I hope.

Meanwhile I wait in happy anticipation for my copy from Don, and to see Michael’s poems, and one of my own, (he he do I sound schizophrenic? Maybe we’re all necessarily a bit insane, we writers) as well, and to see the fine work of my colleages in the anthology.

I will be away most of the weekend after early this afternoon, for a writing retreat at cabins at the general setting of my current novel in progress. In fact, one of the characters comes directly from the actually place where I'm going, in Ontario, half way to Toronto. So that's exciting also. I plan to get some more headway on that material plus the absorption of inspiration there.


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