He had seen men enslaved, and seen death in battle on a terrible scale. So when a young, unknown poet named Emily Dickinson wrote to ask whether he thought her verse was “alive”, Thomas Wentworth Higginson – a critic for The Atlantic Monthly and a decorated Union veteran – knew he was seeing poetry that lived and breathed like nothing he had seen before.
Higginson was immediately awed by Emily Dickinson, and went on to become her editor, mentor, and one of the reclusive poet’s closest confidantes. The two met only twice, but exchanged hundreds of deeply personal letters over the next twenty-five years; they commented on each other’s work, mulled over writers they admired, and dazzled each other with nimble turns of phrase. After she died, he shepherded the first collected edition of her poetry into publication, and was a tireless champion of her work in his influential Recent Poems column for The Nation.
Later generations of literary scholars have dismissed Higginson as a dull, ordinary mind, blaming him for the decision to strip some of the distinctive, unusual structure from Dickinson’s poems for publication. However, Brenda Wineapple offers a portrait of Higginson that is far beyond ordinary. He was a widely respected writer, a fervent abolitionist, and a secret accomplice to John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry; wounded in the first year of the Civil War, he returned to service as colonel of the first federally-authorized regiment of former slaves. White Heat reveals a rich, remarkable friendship between the citizen soldier and the poet, a correspondence from which Dickinson drew tremendous passion and inspiration – and which she credited, more than once, with saving her life.
Brenda Wineapple is the author and editor of five books, including the award-winning Hawthorne: A Life and Sister Brother: Gertrude and Leo Stein. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in The American Scholar, The New York Times Book Review, Parnassus, Poetry, and The Nation. She teaches in the MFA programs at Columbia University and The New School in New York.
Sorry for having so few posts in recent days. I had surgery the end of July. That is my excuse. It is what it is. There is no hidden meaning in the previous sentence. I am a what you see is what you get kind of man.
I return to work this Thursday after nineteen work days and twenty-seven calendar days off work. Yes, I am returning to the day job. It is the day job that pays for my reading and writing habit. It provides my health insurance, my 401K, and the answer to the question of where do you work.
When I answer the work question with, I am a writer I get funny looks from people. Many times they have a follow-up question. It is, where do you work? What do you do?
When I say, I support my writing and reading habit working as a computer solutions support analyst they still don’t get it. More recently I have started referring to myself as an entrepreneurial author.
When I say entrepreneurial author, I want you to think of a hat rack stand. On it, you’ll find more than a dozen hats. Each hat has the name of a different job I find myself doing. They have names like writer, editor, reader, cover designer, formatter, project manager, distributor, marketer, accountant, researcher, salesman, social networker, publicist, legal counsel, problem-solver, and jack-of-all-trades.
In the days ahead, I will look at each of these roles, the resources I use in support of the role, and how I maintain my focus.
For female reporters who wanted to cover the long, brutal war in Vietnam, the challenge began before they even left home, when – in the words of one former Saigon bureau chief – they had to “fight like hell to get the assignment.”
On Their Own: Women Journalists and the American Experience in Vietnam focuses on a few of the approximately 70 women who worked as journalists during the Vietnam War, spanning from its earliest days as a “not-so-secret war” in the late 1950s to the fall of Saigon nearly two decades later. Each traveled a different path to get the assignment, and each arrived at different conclusions about what they saw. Dickey Chapelle, a grizzled anti-Communist hawk, lived at the front lines with the Marines for more than four years; she would become the first American woman to be killed while covering a war. Gloria Emerson, on the other hand, the first woman to report from Vietnam in 1956, would later earn some of President Nixon’s angriest epithets on the White House tapes for her award-winning work about the war’s effect on South Vietnamese civilians. And for Laura Palmer, among the last reporters to leave Saigon in 1975, the faces below her departing helicopter were “sacred, because it was beyond words; you stand in the mystery, you stand with humility, and you stand with awe.”
Researched and written over the course of ten years, On Their Own is the story of a fundamental shift in journalism, the point at which the “boy’s club” of war reporting in World War II and Korea gave way to the modern press corps of Iraq and Afghanistan, and a more vivid perspective on the causes and casualties of war. At the outset, they had to fight for the assignment; after they got it, the women profiled in On Their Own produced work that led one critic to suggest, in 1986, that Vietnam had been the first war recorded better by women than by men.
Joyce Hoffmann has written for the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and several other publications over the course of her twenty-five year career. She is currently a professor of journalism at Old Dominion University and public editor of the Virginian-Pilot.
Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre’s “Three P’s of Writing Success: Practice, Patience, and Persistence”
Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre
Practice
In a nutshell, practice is writing and continuing to write. And when you are done with that continuing to write again. And to edit and to rewrite. And to write. You get the picture. Keep it up. Keep at it. It is a lot of hard work.
Patience
Patience means you are putting work out there into the world. It may not be recognized right away. It sometimes takes years. A lot of times overnight success stories of authors who have received multimillion dollar advances from publishers or hit the best-selling self-published charts didn’t do it overnight. They were at it and kept working at it and were patient. And that’s where persistence comes into play.
Persistence
I have been writing over thirty-years. There are certain cases where I am very much aware that it is only after time, after a lot of hard work and after a lot of blood, sweet and tears that I am actually getting to where I wanted to be as a writer.
Source: Kobo Writing Life Podcast – Episode 001. A podcast for writers. Episode 001 features an interview with Steve Vernon, author of MARITIME MURDER, SINKING DEEPER, The Tatterdemon Trilogy and the Flash Virus Series with Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre. See: http://kobowritinglife.com/category/kwl-podcast/page/2/
Winner of the Podcast Peer Award and the Parsec Award, this is a show about a writer going from wanna-be to pro. Focusing on the emotional roadblocks one finds in a writing career, this show speaks to over 8000 listeners every week.
I have been listening to Mur Lafferty since 2006. She won the 2013 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer is an award given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous calendar years.
Podcast Description: Audios will be posted at least every two weeks and will cover Interviews, Inspiration and Information on Writing, Publishing Options and Book Marketing.
Podcast Description: AuthorMBA features one-on-one conversations with today’s brightest authors who excel at the business of books. Conversations feature insights into successful business models, revenue streams, publishing strategies, marketing know-how, author platform must-haves, content essentials, career decisions, and more.
Matt Gartland is the Founder of Winning Edits. He is the Editor, Writer, Strategist.
These podcasts are excerpts from lectures given by guest writers, editors, and agents at the Odyssey Writing Workshop. Every month or two, we release a new podcast. Each one is ten to fifteen minutes long. You may download a particular podcast, or you may subscribe to the podcasts so you automatically receive them when they are released.
Every week we offer in-the-trenches writing, business, and marketing advice on what’s working for full-time indie authors. Join us and sell more books!
Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant, and David W. Wright are the hosts.
July is the birthday of America. July is also my spiritual birthday.
What’s that? You don’t know about spiritual birthdays? My physical birthday is the day I was born. It was November 25, 1953 at Brooke Army General Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. My spiritual birthday is when I was “born again”. It is when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. It is when I was “saved”. It was July 11, 1977 at the First Baptist Church of Lakewood in Tacoma, Washington.
Did you know being good doesn’t get you to heaven. Being “saved” does. Here’s my story of “being saved”.
On July 11, 1977, my life changed. If you look up that date in history, you will find nothing historically significant happened on that Sunday. It was a noteworthy day to me. That day was the watershed event in my life.
July 1977 found me on active duty as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. I was serving as Battalion Maintenance Officer, 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington.
Life was good. I had a beautiful, intelligent wife. I had a new son born in January that same year. I had just gotten a commendable rating during an annual general inspection in maintenance. It was the first commendable rating since the division had returned from Vietnam. Named an Outstanding Junior Officer of the Ninth Infantry Division because of the commendable rating, I received an offer of a regular army commission. My career was going great.
I always tried being the best I could be, and doing what was right. I was a detail-oriented perfectionist, high-achieving, and a workaholic. I excelled at most things I did. However, after all of this, I still had an empty, unsatisfied, void, and alone feeling. Beginning in my college years I tried drinking adult beverages, women, materialism, partying, and hanging-out with the right crowd to fill this unexplained need I had. I knew something was missing from my life.
I was also attending church. At my church I noticed a group of men my age that seemed to have what I was missing. I attended a Bible study with them. Here I found that God has given us an important manual for life — the Bible. He has the answers to the problems and emptiness we may face. I found out I was here for a purpose, and not by accident. I learned Jesus loves me, and desires to have a personal relationship with me. However, sin separated me from Him.
I realized I had a sin problem.
The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23 But no one is perfect! Not even a perfectionist. We have all sinned and therefore cannot save ourselves by simply living a good life. Why?
I learned there was a penalty to be paid for my sin.
The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23
I learned God gives us a promise.
The Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
I learned that God made provision for me.
The Bible says, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. – Romans 10:9-10
I prayed to accept the gift of eternal life through Jesus.
I prayed, “Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I believe that You died for my sins and rose from the grave so that I might have eternal life in Heaven with You. I willingly repent of my sins and ask you to come into my heart and life. Take control of my words, thoughts, and actions. I place all of my trust in You for my salvation. I accept You as my Lord and Savior, and this free gift of eternal life. Amen.”
What came next?
Since then my life has not been perfect. It’s been far from it. I have messed up from time to time, sometimes failing miserably in my decisions and choices. However, I have had direction and purpose in my life. I know where I am headed. I have the Bible to give me the principles for daily living. I am never alone. I have had real peace for the last 37 years.
How about you?
Have you ever been “saved”? You can do like I did. Romans 10:9-10, 13 tells us, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. … For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Can an intelligent person or intellectual/scholar believe in God? Can an Intelligent Person Believe in Christianity?
The Real Question — The answer to the above question(s) is, “Yes, of course! We cannot deny that many intelligent people do believe in God and Christianity.” So a better question may be, “How can an intelligent person believe in Christianity?” or “Why would an intelligent person believe in Christianity?” Click HERE for more the answer.
About the photo: It was taken in February 1977 in my military quarters at Fort Lewis, Washington. In the photo in Miss Benita, my bride. We have been married since 1974. Also in the picture is our first child, Kristopher. Yes, I look tired. I had just returned home from a fourteen day training exercise. I had not had sleep in over 72 hours at the time the picture was taken. I was very tired. The picture was taken by my late father-in-law William Clarence Breeding, Sr. He and my mother-in-law had came to Washington State to help Miss Benita with our new son Kris.
Howdy, this is Jimmie Kepler. I don’t know where the readers of my blog live, or what their weather is like. I live in Dallas, Texas. Dallas is in the southwestern part of the United States of America. It is summer in Dallas.
Long time residences and native Texans refer to this time of year as “the blast furnace”. Why do we call it that? It is because the weather is usually as hot as if you were near a blast furnace.
Speaking of the word hot, it is not used by the weather person on the television or radio until the temperature is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. When we are just in the 90 degrees range, they say it will be warm today. My guess is where you live 90 degrees is considered hot. It isn’t that way in Dallas or north Texas.
Most days when I get off work, if the temperature is below 100 degrees I do not turn on my car air conditioner. The exception is when I am just sitting in traffic.
To stay cool in our homes in the summer we run fans and air conditioning. My house is normally cooled to 78 degrees with a fan running to keep the air moving.
My day job considers the warm weather. We are allowed to wear shorts to work twelve months a year. On the warmest days, you will find me in khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. It is very casual business dress.
Why not leave me a comment about where you live and the weather you have in July? I would love to hear from you!
Summoned to my high school guidance counselor’s office, I learned not everyone thinks being a writer is a good idea. I still recall the meeting as if it were yesterday.
“Why can’t I be an author?” I asked. I wanted to be the next Kurt Vonnegut, Philip Roth, or Ray Bradbury. They were the best-selling authors of the day.
Her career choices for me came from the father role models on the popular television programs of the era. She wanted me to be the next Mike Brady (the architect dad on The Brady Bunch) or an aerospace engineer like Steven Douglas (My Three Sons).
“Jimmie, you’re a boy. You need a college degree in engineering, math, science, or accounting. You have to earn enough money to support your future wife and family. Forget your silly notion that a man can support himself by writing. It is okay to write for a hobby, but you will need a real job. With your grades you could even aspire to be a doctor or dentist,” she said.
I was heartbroken. Raised to believe I could do anything, now I wasn’t so sure.
Has anyone ever laughed at your vision of writing? Perhaps you have been told you lack life experience or you don’t stand a chance because everyone is writing now that they can simply self-publish on Amazon.
You may have feelings of doubt, thinking if only you had an MFA. If only your family and spouse supported you more. If you could quit your day job. Maybe you are in your sixties like me. You think it is too late. You say I am just too old. If only…
We all experience self-doubt. Friends and family do not always understand our passion.
Everyone faces such challenges. My faith as a Christian also helps me overcome such thoughts. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned.
Some people will never understand your passion for writing. Don’t bother trying to explain. Just let them watch as you write.
Read. Reading is necessary for writing. Not only is reading the fodder for writing, it is fun. It also helps me relax as well as grow.
Write. I know it sounds silly, but to become a writer you have to write. I have heard for years that it takes 10,000 hours to master something. 10,000 hours is five years worth of forty-hour weeks. Maybe that is why it takes ten years for so many to get that first traditional book deal. Do not be a want to be a writer. Write.
Edit. This includes proofreading, rewriting, and polishing. No one is perfect. Critique groups help as well as reputable professional editing services. Rewrite as needed.
Submit. To your surprise, someone may like and buy what you wrote.
Rejected. Being rejected is not personal. Your writing may be bad. It may be good, but just not meet the publisher’s or editor’s needs. You may have submitted to the wrong market or not followed the submission guidelines (both guarantee a rejection). Every writer gets rejections. The photo is a rejection I received from the New Yorker Magazine. I’ve been rejected by the best.
Accepted. Selling a book or an article doesn’t guarantee success. Many times it means the real work is only beginning. Having your work accepted by a publisher feels good. It feels very good.
Writers’ Groups. Consider joining a writers’ group. I have belonged to three over the years. I have changed groups as I have changed. Some groups I have belonged to were for critique. Some have been to learn the business of writing. Some have been for the encouragement.
I know the thoughts I have shared are all items you have heard many times before. Sometimes a reminder is good.
We all have people like my old high school guidance counselor in our lives. Do not let their negative words keep you from writing. If you have the urge to write, write! It’s not too late.
The formula really is simple. It is read, write, edit, rewrite, submit, and repeat. If your writing is good enough and if what you write matches the publisher’s need, you just may see your story in print.
General Albert C. Wedemeyer: America’s Unsung Strategist in World War II by John McLaughlin. Be there no doubt, the author is a fan of General Albert C. Wedemeyer. The book is a statement of admiration for the general. This is not bad. I am very knowledgeable in military history as a historian by education and a former US Army officer. This book made me aware of a large gap in my knowledge. Yes, I had heard of General Wedemeyer. I was aware of his leadership in China. No, I had no idea he was the architect and strategist of the “Victory Program” which conceived the plans for US mobilization and included the D-Day invasion.
In the late 1930s he was an exchange student at the German Kriegsakademia, the Nazis’ equivalent of Fort Leavenworth’s Command and General Staff School. Because of this,he recognized the revolutionary tactics of Blitzkrieg once they were unleashed, and he knew how to respond.
The book is researched with the skill of a scholar and told in a straight forward way that is very engaging. We learn of a man who held key roles of strategizing on both the European and Asian fronts.
General Wedemeyer was an amazing intellect, one of the brightest minds the US has ever had. Dr. John McLaughlin did a great job of giving us the facts, telling the story, and leaving a tribute to General Albert C. Wedemeyer who was America’s Unsung Strategist in World War II. The book is very good. It has lessons for military leaders, politicians, and strategic strategist.
He had seen men enslaved, and seen death in battle on a terrible scale. So when a young, unknown poet named Emily Dickinson wrote to ask whether he thought her verse was “alive”, Thomas Wentworth Higginson – a critic for The Atlantic Monthly and a decorated Union veteran – knew he was seeing poetry that lived and breathed like nothing he had seen before.
