Monday, October 26, 2015

Real Reel Life


Real Reel Life

by John L. Harmon

(July 29, 2004)

 

Here I am

In the film of my choice

A classic from long ago

Revisited, Reimagined, Returned

A sequel of sorts

 

The setting is the same

Changes have permeated the cast

Characters revealing their true colors

Now relating to one another

In vastly different ways

 

So I am finally readjusted

Feeling good with my choice

Beginning to see my purpose

Of rejoining this film at this point

 

Yet, I sometimes ponder

What it is like for others

When I make a special guest appearance

In the old film

On the old sets

Within the old story

 

How do my previous castmates perceive me?

Am I a vapor or a mist?

A spectral memory brought into life?

Perhaps I am the figure

Caught in the corner of the eye

Quickly gone when glanced at

 

Maybe I am seen as a fugitive

From an old silent film

A flickering black and white image

Not quite in focus

Moving faster than normal

A pantomime of speech and action

Not truly there

Cue fade out

 

I give a smile and a nod

As my image starts to dim

The flickering subsides

No, not dead

Back to my film I go

Just down the lot

A different soundstage

Of a different size

 

Now I am fully comfortable

In my celluloid skin

All my props transported here

No solid proof in the old film

Of me, myself and I

Just flashbacks for my former castmates

Memories that can be forgotten

Distorted

Ignored

 

I look upon the old film

Spinning the reels in my mind

It all seems so strange

Now that I am completely home

I have one more question to ask myself

 

Without physical proof of my existence there

       ...did I exist there at all?

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

The preceding was a long poem-thing from a different decade.  It is essentially about moving from one town to another, but I suppose it could also describe moving on emotionally from one state of mind to another. 


Freak Out,
JLH
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Monday, October 19, 2015

The old/new project (or DARKENING STURGEONS: the e-book}

To read, please click on your Amazon link... 
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Tuesday, October 13, 2015

The First Genre


My initial thought when I pulled this genre from my handy, badly painted Halloween jar was...

"Hmmmm...."

Then I sat down and did some good old-fashioned thinking.

About my childhood.  

My personal experiences.  

The books I loved reading.  

The movies and television series I loved watching.

Multiple ideas bubbled to the surface, but one rose a bit higher than the rest.

Let's just say the idea made me grin, but that is all I dare share at this time.

A bit more word-boiling, along with some note-taking, and I shall begin to weave a tale in the genre of Children's Story.
 
RELATED POSTS:
 
Freak Out,
JLH
 
P.S.  The old/new project hit a snag last week, but I think I've got it covered.   ;)
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Monday, October 5, 2015

"What the hell am I doing?"

...is the rhetorical question I ask myself when I know exactly what I'm doing but also know it is crazy.

Maybe it is because I was looking at Dark Excursions on the library shelf and thinking how lonely it must feel.  Maybe it is because I am itching to create something new.  Maybe it is because I know I can, even though it might be a long and painful, but creatively fulfilling process.

Yes, I'm preparing to write another book.  Not a novel this time, but a collection of short stories.  While I could borrow a few stories from this blog, I don't want to do that.  As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I want to create something new.  Since I am the kind of writer that sometimes needs an outside spark to ignite my words, I did something I rarely do.  I asked for help.

I asked five writers and one librarian to suggest a couple of genres a piece. I explained that I would write down each genre, place them in a jar, draw one and write a short story centered around that genre.  The short stories will appear in the book in the order I draw and write the genres.  

Well, the writers and librarian came through for me with some very specific, mind-reeling genres!  Genres I'm not generally known for writing, as if I'm known for writing, but you know what I mean.  I will be writing outside of my comfort zone, and I am nervous and excited by this challenge!  

Yesterday I jotted down the genres on 13 pieces of paper (one person was allowed a third suggestion) and placed them in my Halloween jar, which I badly painted two years ago.  Within the week I will draw the first genre and see where it takes me.  
 

 
Thank you for your time and much thanks to the one librarian and five writers!
I just hope I don't flake out or lose interest.

Freak Out, 
JLH
 
 
 
 
 
RELATED POSTS:
FIRST 

P.S.  I am also working on a separate old/new project that I hope to see completed before the end of October, but that is another post for another day.
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Monday, September 28, 2015

Suggested Words…

I've got nothing this week.
No pretty dark words for you to feel or dissect or misinterpret.
So, please take some time and read the creative words of others...
 

Behind the Mantle (The ramblings of a geek, gamer, ersatz human, sometimes author, and otherwise confused soul.)

http://behindthemantle.blogspot.com/

 
Cinematic Catharsis (Reflections on film from a pseudo-intellectual perspective.)

http://cinematiccatharsis.blogspot.com/
 
Happy Reading!
Freak Out,
JLH
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Monday, September 21, 2015

Imaginary Image

Pretend with me
For a moment or two
That we could be
Something spectacular
Side by side 
Together
In a reality
Of our own choosing
Never minding
The futility in such
Fanciful dreams
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Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Apologetically Inclined (or "Ugh, he's blogging about his book...again.")

It's a gut reaction.

A new reader informs me that he or she is going to read Dark Excursions, and my instant instinct is to apologize.

"I am truly sorry for any literary suffering my awful, crappy book may cause you."

No, I've never been quite so direct, but I have, somewhat jokingly, apologized for any mental illness my book may inflict upon a new reader.

I would love to say I don't know why I feel the need to apologize, but I know.  I have trouble believing anyone can possibly enjoy the words I've spewed.  

Even after positive reviews on Amazon and some very kind words from intelligent people on various social media sites, I fall prey to the epitome of stinkin' thinkin'.  

The irony is that I completely love every single emotionally damaged character in Dark Excursions, and was brave, or crazy, enough to send them off into the digital and print literary world. There is a pleasurable thrill involved, simultaneous to my gut reaction, whenever someone has picked up my book, reading life into Dinkel, Cheryl, Crop, Anapola, Xylem, Ivan, and so many others.

I suppose I'll never completely lose the gut reaction to apologize, but I need to learn to ignore it.    Push it aside, and give a sincere two-thumbs up and say, without hesitation...

"Happy reading!"

Easier said than done, but I can make the effort.

Freak Out,
JLH

P.S.  A post about my book wouldn't be complete without a link of some sort for the curiously inclined...
 
 
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