For the ask game, may I ask 4, who influenced you as a writer, 11, do you listen to music while writing, and 30, hardest part of writing?
Thank you very much for your time!
4. who influenced you as a writer
Hmmm...that's a tough one... I read a lot (or I used to), but I don't know if I would compare my writing to my favorite authors. If I had to say, though, I guess I'd say my writing was touched by influences of Sharon M. Draper, Walter Mosely, and a soupçon of Meg Cabot.
11. do you listen to music while writing
Sometimes. It really depends on my mood. Sometimes I need music, or the TV for background noise or inspiration. Other times I can't focus unless it's quiet.
30. hardest part of writing?
The sitting down and actually writing part. I mean, don't get me wrong, there's a lot about writing that I find difficult sometimes, but really just opening the doc and writing the next sentence can sometimes be so daunting.
“Philosophers and plowmen, each must know his part, to sow a new mentality, closer to the heart.”
Veering very far away from my typical posts about Carry On and Wayward Son, but I have thoughts and words that I need to express, sitting here in my apartment, blasting Rush on my Spotify. I have so much on my mind right now...
While on my way home, I learned of the passing of one of rock’s greatest legends, Neil Peart. Neil Peart was the drummer and lyricist of the Canadian rock band, Rush. He died earlier this week from brain cancer (something he kept extremely private), and the news was just released hours ago. Learning the news absolutely devastated me (Catch me on the metro shaking my head, whispering “No” in a complete daze...).
I cannot accurately put into words just how his death has me feeling right now. Ironically, Neil did write a beautiful book about the pain of grief and moving on after the loss of a loved one, which I will be picking up again. It’s called Ghost Rider and it helped me through some shit.
So I’m just going to talk about how Rush’s music, how Neil’s lyrics, had more than a profound impact on me, during a time where I needed it the most.
“Closer to the Heart” was my introduction to Rush’s music. It was more than just a good song to me. It was fucking poetry. Philosophical poetry. As the weird kid who spent most of her time in space and thinking way too much, it spoke to me.
"Tom Sawyer”, “Fly by Night”, “Spirit of Radio”, and “Time Stand Still” are all songs that shaped the way I viewed the world as a teen and as a young adult. They play in the back of my mind as I contemplate the many issues still in my life. I could spend a very long time expressing how Rush’s music shaped me, but there is more I need to say. Just know that I would be a very different person today, had it not been for those lyrics.
All that came from Neil Peart. And he wasn’t just a brilliant lyricist. To watch Neil Peart play his drums...You’d think the man was a wizard or something. The way he would play was outer worldly. To see Neil Peart play was an experience.
Rush never saw themselves as the “cool’ band. They were a small group of nerdy Canadians (seriously, listen to “La Villa Strangiato” or the whole “2112″ album... They’re SUPER NERDY!). In my experience, no one knows who Rush is (and if you do, it’s because either YOU or someone close to you is obsessed with them). As a lonely, bullied kid, Rush was one of the bands that provided some comfort to me.
Rush taught me that it’s fucking cool to be the nerdy kid. It’s alright to be the smart, awkward person in your group. It’s fucking awesome to experiment and do weird shit with your art and craft. And it’s fucking amazing to always keep learning new things.
Neil Peart was known as a drumming legend, and he lived up to that name. His musical influence spans several generations of musicians, artists, and poets. But watch any interview with him... He was the most humble, down-to-Earth individual, preferring to stay out of the limelight and focus on his craft, always finding new ways to improve.
To Neil Peart and Rush, thank you for being there for me as a confused, lonely kid. Thank you for helping guide me as a young adult. Thank you for inspiring me to always improve and strive for better (and to do weird shit with my craft). Thank you for bringing me and my husband together.
Thank you for the songs you’ve written and the music you performed. Music has lost an irreplaceable star in you, Neil Peart.
To those who read this, thank you for taking the time to read. I’ll be over here, listening to Rush’s discography and reading “Ghost Rider”, possibly crying as well.
I'm rewatching a show I used to be obsessed with as a kid, but haven't watched in almost 10 years and I've noticed something.
There are a lot of episodes I can't even remember the plot or the ending, but I remember how they made me feel. With no context, my brain autofills whether or not I loved an episode, looked forward to it, dreaded it, skipped it, just by looking at the title.
I hope I can write something that powerful one day.
Well, okay! I mean, I find this funny...(just some rough context-devoid tregrephacard OT4 WIP...)
“Not again…” Trevor groans, staring out the window at the meadow where Greta and Sypha are supposed to be training.
Alucard looks up from the little doll version of Greta he has been working on for the baby. “What is it?”
“They’re making out mid-training!”
“How...unprofessional…” Alucard smirks, his attention returning to the embroidered details of Greta’s jacket.
“Anyone could see them. What kind of example are they setting for the citizens of Belmont?”
“Probably a better example than you or I could set…?”
“They’re supposed to be the best of us!”
“We could...join them?”
Trevor nods solemnly. “I think we have to.”
“To put a stop to this appalling foolishness.”
“Yes. I mean, think of the children or whatever.”
“Mmhm.” Alucard bobs his head in stern agreement. “Yes...surely, someone must.”
56. What influenced you in a surprising way?
I don’t know if this counts as surprising, except that I didn’t realize it was happening until after it had happened, but the confluence of my real-life interests/research/experiences with language, literacy and spirituality often shows up in the way I write about magic...at first, it was an accident. But after re-reading one of the first things I wrote that heavily featured ‘magic saving the day,’ I realized it was almost a love letter to this idea of the transcendence of language. Naming something, writing it down, speaking it out loud, even without fully ‘understanding it’...all pretty magical to me, I guess.
The film, SOULS, is playing on a loop in Whiteman hall as part of the Artist Grants exhibition from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on July 3. The film screening is included with general admission.
SOULSis a visual exhibition, photographic art & and film installation that captures the totality of mortality, blackness and Afro-futurism. Through the lens of a child, we attach the isolation of death…
Today we are pleased to feature Benjamin Soileau as our Authors Talk series contributor. With jazzy Louisiana music playing lightly in the background, Ms. Kennedy Soileau—Benjamin’s wife, first reader, and editor—interviews Benjamin about his writing process and recent fiction piece, “What Paul Would Do,” published in SR’s Issue 23.
I wanted to feel confident with my decision to be a writer, or at the very least, an English major. English Majors are the butt of every joke. From the very beginning, children are taught to hate w…
