Shadowcat

I’m not a cat person. Sorry.

But maybe I should rephrase that – I’m not a little cat person. Domesticated cats just don’t do it for me. However, big cats…now that’s another story. For one thing, you never have to worry about emptying their litter box.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by wild, big cats. Apex predators, quick, agile, fierce fighters. Anyone who has heard a cougar’s scream knows that they are nothing to be trifled with.

In my books series, the Greenwood Tales, there’s an animal that grew out of my love for big cats. I called it the “Shadowcat”.

“The pair just stared at the huge feline. Where the shade from the protecting bows overhead fell, nothing of the cat’s form could be seen. Only where sunlight hit it directly could they see its sleek hide – dark grey with slashes of a dirty white. It flickered in and out of sight, then stood and trotted to their side….”

In the first book, Song of the Dawn, the Shadowcat is introduced in a quite dramatic moment. The Greenwood Tales are still a work in progress, but I couldn’t be more excited about where they are headed!

If I’ve piqued your interest at all, I’d love to hear from you – greenwoodtales@gmail.com!

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Good Things Start on Paper

I find it incredible how lines drawn in certain sequences can illicit such visceral responses within us. The way we interpret language, words and symbols on a page, is truly a wonderful gift.

Imagine that shy kid in school. He sees the pretty girl everyday around school, in class, in the cafeteria. He wants to talk to her, but…How?

Check “yes” or “no” has started more than a few happy relationships.

Their first expression of love started on paper.

Or imagine, after that shy kid in school has grown up a bit. That pretty girl, now his wife, let’s him know the family is about to get a bit bigger. Suddenly, that one-room apartment just won’t do.

So they sit down at the dinner table, staring at a blank sheet of paper. They talk, discussing the future. Slowly, walls start taking shape on the paper. Here’s where the kitchen will be. We’ll want the laundry near the baby’s room. The living room should definitely face west to catch the sunsets.

The dream house started on paper.

Some years go by, that shy boy and that pretty girl, now parents to 4 beautiful, lively children, gaze in wonder at their refrigerator, covered in paper. Each sheet, held on by an alphabet magnet, a tribute to the love and happiness of not just a house, but a home. One sheet is covered in a cacophony of scribbled crayon, an explosion of orange and blue and purple and green. Another sheet, has a child’s drawing of 3 people, labeled “Mommy”, “Daddy”, & “Me” with a bright yellow sunshine smiling down.

The love of a home, expressed on crinkled construction paper.

More years pass, that shy boy and that pretty girl, now grandparents to an ever expanding number of grandkids and great-grandkids, sit alone in that happy, love-filled dream house that holds so many memories. In his hand, he holds a photo. In that photo, 21 faces are smiling back. Each one is saying the same thing – that paper note, passed in school by that shy boy to that pretty girl, so long ago, was just the beginning of something wonderful.

Yes, good things do start on paper.

Beauty, Emotion, & Art

The human heart and mind cannot fully comprehend or appreciate beauty without expressing emotions. To be dead inside is to behold a brilliant sunrise without feeling something. Only a stilted heart can view the ocean without some sentiment of awe.

Art is an expression of emotions. Therefore, humans use art so that we can wrap our hearts around the beauty we see in the world. This art attempts to capture the wonder of this universe. And though it so often fails, yet we continue to try. Because beauty is always worth the struggle.

And that is why I am proud to announce the launch of the WordSmith Designs Store –

On it, you will find original creations of things that have sparked my imagination. Themes that flow through my written work. Beauty that I just had to capture.

I hope you enjoy it. I see the WordSmith Designs Store as a way for me to express myself creatively and share what I love with the world! But it’s also a way that you can support the work (both written and design) that I am doing. And for that, I can’t thank you enough!

P.S. I will be adding new designs regularly so check back often! If you have any custom design suggestions that you’d like to see in the store, I’d love to hear from you – GreenwoodTales@gmail.com

 

Love’s Poetry

 

Ollfeist

“Ollfeist. Monster. Many, if not most, dismiss them as the stuff of stories to scare children in bedtime tales. Then there are those who acknowledge their existence but with a lack of true conviction, most likely thinking that since they will never see one, it does not matter much one way or the other. They would be wrong.

Across the sea, beyond the Veil of Ceo, there is an island where once dwelt the unholy offspring of death and shadow – the Ollfeist.

In every ocean of legend, a drop of truth. Those who acknowledged but lacked conviction, were soon to learn their error.”

Finding Tranquility

No matter what form it may take, art doesn’t just happen. Whether it’s a beautiful song, a painting masterpiece, or a novel that moves a nation, art must have an origin. And that origin is emotion.

Art without emotion is hardly art at all. From the mass produced pop song, to the millionth pulp fiction novel, we see emotionless art all around us. And it is a waste of time.

Putting emotion into our art, however, is not as easy as it may seem.

Emotions tend to pass us by. On a day-to-day basis we experience a gambit of powerful emotions. Anger turns to confusion, which turns to laughter, which turns to a tear rolling down our face. And while we experience these emotions, I believe we often fail to notice them.

It’s like standing in a swiftly flowing river. The water is all around you, swirling and creating sensations on your skin. Yet, stand there long enough, and you’ll hardly even notice.

Everyday, our emotions swirl around us, within us. But if we don’t stop and consciously notice these emotions, chances are, they will just pass us by.

It is in the cool shade of tranquility that we find the ability to notice. It is when peace gently envelops us that our emotions become more poignant, more powerful, more real.

The real, powerful feelings are then free to flow into our art. But it starts by finding tranquility.

 

Siota

“In the fitful moonlight, the steed was a sight to behold. Her sleek black body, accented by an irregular snow white mark on her right shoulder, and flowing black mane, looked dream-like in the pale light.”

Grimwolves

It takes time, but eventually, all monsters become myth. There’s something in the human mind that refuses to believe. Refuses to believe that something so terrifying could truly exist.

So we make it a story, a legend.

But something within us knows, a myth always has a beginning.

A New Someone to Die For

Two-thousand, six-hundred seventy-three. That is the number of miles I traveled recently to meet my newly born niece. And it was worth every single mile. She is the essence of perfection. From her tiny little baby toes to her head full of dark, downy soft hair, my niece is the most beautiful thing this world has beheld, in my humble and unbiased opinion.

On the long flight to meet her, I had plenty of time to think. One thought that kept reoccurring was how even though I had not met her yet, I would do anything for my niece, I would do anything to protect her from harm or hurt. Even though I had not met her yet, she had already had that huge of an impact on my heart. Even though I had not met her yet, I knew without a doubt, without a shred of hesitation, I would lay down my life for her.

As decent human beings, I think most of us would like to think we’d lay our lives down for anyone in danger. However, we’ll never know for sure until we’re actually in that situation. In this case though, even before meeting my niece, I knew without even thinking about it, that I would die for her.

A new someone to die for. Not something that happens everyday.

Negative Space

“He’ll be coming and going…One day you’ll see him and another you won’t. He doesn’t like being tied down–and of course he has other countries to attend to. It’s quite all right. He’ll often drop in. Only you mustn’t press him. He’s wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.” ~C.S. Lewis

“Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.” ~Arthur Schopenhauer