Month: May 2013
Writing, Distractions & Crazy Muses
Please forgive me for not posting, but I recently left my job to devote myself to writing fulltime. It is the best decision I have ever made. However, I am finding it difficult to find a balance between being back at home and working from home. Anyone that has worked from home understands the dilemma, you become torn between earning the money and familial duties.
It’s not like you think. What I mean is, I am at home, I need to work, to write, to create. I am in my office. This means I am working.
My neighbor sees my car in the drive for two days straight, comes over, and sits for nearly two hours. I am now behind schedule. It is time to start dinner. I need to wash a load of clothes, but there is still a load in the dryer. I fold that load, put those away, wait…this drawer is too full, I make a donation bag for Goodwill. Ooh, it’s time to load the dryer. I can do one more load of laundry. I go to the kitchen to snap the beans for dinner. I turn on the television in the kitchen, Maury is on, and you know Rayshaun is that baby’s daddy; now I have to wait to see the results.
I take the Goodwill bag to the trunk of my car; there is another bag already in there. Dammit. What was I doing? Oh yeah, the beans.
It is now 5:30. I have not written a damned thing, but I am out of almonds. It’s not random, and I am not rambling. I am listening to an urban radio station on my drive to the store, and this woman is talking about how much her Mother hates her. She stated that her mother has never said a kind word to her, and she cannot figure out why her mother bullies her to tears. I thought, “hhmmmmppp?”
Almonds purchased for the Green Beans Almandine, and I get this crazy ass idea. Why doesn’t she just write her mother a letter?
I took that as my cue and wrote my own version of an adversarial relationship between mother and daughter. This is what I came up with.
You can get this book from my short story, Slice of Life Series, available on Amazon. If you don’t hear back from me in a few days, then come over and check my Facebook author page, become a fan, earn some swag, and see what inspires me next.
Writing is a journey of words. There are characters and cues all around us; you just have to know what is fodder, food and fuel.
Write on!
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Candlelight, Jazz & You
Summer is upon us and we are preparing for pool parties, picnics and playing outside. Of course, this also means summer concerts where you can see who is hot, who is making a move and hear your favorite artist. The summer concert season has a fix for every type of music junky. These concerts can be hosted in large outdoor venues which may feature up to 30 acts, to indoor festivals which may feature as few as five with the hottest talent in the industry. Whether you seek chart busting artist or local favorites, summer is definitely the time of year to get out there and enjoy live music.
On Mother’s Day, I had the pleasure of kicking off my outdoor concert season with a local favorite, 
The Candlelight Jazz Series in Augusta, Georgia. This summer series is sponsored in part by the City of Augusta and Garden City Jazz. What I love of about this concert series is the intimacy. Yes, I said intimacy. Concerts are focused on bringing the masses to the music.
I have attended Jazz Festivals where I felt like a speck of dust on a flower in Whoville. There were literally thousands of people, all jockeying and vying for a patch of grass to spread a quilt. The bathrooms are overcrowded, and it never fails, that I get the stall that just ran out of paper. The lines are long, the patrons are hot, tempers are flaring and I leave stressed out. This, is not a relaxing experience.
I have attended “free” outdoor concerts where again, not only am I vying for a spot near or under a tree, I have to fight for a spot that is not loaded with a young family. As a firm believer in truth in writing, it is with no shame that I admit, I attended the free concert, because I, like many of the attendees was broke with nothing else to do. I packed my lunch basket with cheap wine, lots of ice, bug spray and a positive attitude. I did not leave with one. I left with a sour feeling in my stomach and a firm understanding that sometimes you don’t need to bring the masses to the music, but music to the masses.
The Candlelight Jazz series does just that. It offers diverse programming all summer long for lovers of music in a safe, family friendly environment. It happens in the calm of the evening juxtaposed against the Savannah River, with the freshness of the air blowing in off the water. The coolness of the acts on stage are inviting, as they soothe the savage beast in you whilst preparing you for your work week. Friends and family gather with table coverings, bottles of wine are uncorked as glasses are filled, people get merry an
d the music begins to play. Lawn chairs are opened as patrons sit back, relax, and enjoy live music.
There is no hustle. There is no bustle. Grandma Earline and Aunt Annie rise to dance on the make shift dance floor of the sidewalk that leads to the stage. Little Becka Summerall, adorned in her pink tutu, hits the dance floor and begins modified pirouettes. Teens, who were forced to come, find themselves enjoying the
evening and one or two even get up to dance with one of their parents. The concert starts at 8 pm and by 9:30, everyone is heading home, eager for next week, so they can return to enjoy another Sunday evening at the River.
It is an intimate affair because you make new friends. You share your wine with your neigh
bor and promise next week to bring more fruit and cheese to part with your new pals. If you have not tried or experienced Candlelight Jazz at the River, it is time to mature your music experience. I am currently the Foursquare Mayor of Candlelight Jazz, so when you come down to the river, look for me, and if you locate and snag a photo with me, you just may win a prize.
Candlelight Jazz Concert Series
River Stage at 8th Street (@ Riverwalk),
downtown Augusta, Georgia.
8:00pm
$6 Admission
free for children under age 13
The Candlelight Jazz Concert Series, sponsored by City of Augusta Special Events, Metro Spirit, Dapper & Company, and 96.3 KISS FM, begins in May and continues through Labor Day Weekend. Bring your own seating and picnic for an evening of great music under the stars at the Riverwalk in downtown Augusta.
Click HERE for season tickets – available through midnight May 5
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#AmWriting
I quit my job and in March and started writing full-time. I have freed myself of most of the rules and have allowed my imagination to roam free and write, I was asked recently, if I were a romance writer, I answered truthfully, “No, I am a writer. “I am a writer of literary fiction. I am focused on the story and the characters.
I decided to do a series of short stories about things that happen in everyday life. So here is one of my latest in the short stories series, Slice Of Life. This is book one in the series.
Here are a couple of reviews……
Dora May 8, 2013
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A Letter to My Mother
Marie Williamson’s relationship with her mother has always been adversarial at best, if not downright dysfunctional at its worst. Marie is called home to Alabama to aid her aunt with her mother’s Margaret’s care. In her mother’s final days of her fight with cancer, Marie is hopeful that her mother will at least say something nice to her before passing into the ever after. What her mother shares with her, changes Marie’s life forever, as well as her view of herself and those around her.
Available now on Kindle.
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Olivia Gaines Author 
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