The Mountain

There’s a passage from the “Golden Sands” where the main person meets a bearded man who teaches him something very important – without directly saying what.

Chapter 7. The Mountain.

At the foot
he stood
with a path
before him

the bearded
man
greeted
in white
clothes
and a wooden
stick

“welcome”
he said
the voice
calm
and rich
of life

“I will walk you
a part
of the way”

the path
of nature
in afternoon
sunlight

he saw
the path
rise
before them
and started
walking

they spoke
at length
of words
and deeds

he saw
the landscape
lower
around them
with trees
lakes
and huts

they walked
and the bearded
listened
and learned

the path
grew steeper

they rose
higher
and saw
the splendor
of landscapes
in loving
sunlight
and seas
with glimmers
of eternity

the bearded
asked
some more
and then
he spoke

“my task
is done”

“fare well”

he waited
his mind
blank
and then
a new
spark

the path
less steep
he walked
the last
to see
the wise

..

Through the nature of asking questions, the old bearded man is teaching the younger the path, or the process, towards wisdom. And as they also talk about “words and deeds”, they go through the whole of history and the written heritage – of philosophy and literature.

For a 4 mins talk, click here.

Poetry talks, and Italy writings!

First of all – thanks so much for reading and following this blog, it’s been a great inspiration and motivation for new projects!

News for this year is a series of clips where we talk about the poems, novel-excerpts, and expand on some scenes and thoughts from the writings.

One example is a poem from the Departure collection here: https://www.pscp.tv/ellisd758/1MYxNjnNzzpxw, and the introduction to the “Italy, 1885” book here: https://www.pscp.tv/ellisd758/1zqJVMPZmVAGB

All in an informal setting – with coffee 😀

Enjoy!

Interesting Feedback

We suddenly found a great person for reviews and feedback, a friend who can see through the text and right onto the deeper meaning behind or intertwined with the storylines. This was something we’ve been looking for for a while but did not succeed in fully finding until now. And it has some deeper impact on the feeling of writing. Something about the place within you from where one writes. Suddenly there is more company there.

 

The Golden Sands

We just pre-released our latest poetry book “The Golden Sands” to friends and writer colleagues for initial reviews and feedback!

Please contact us if you’d like to receive an exclusive (and free) beta-version on PDF now.

From the blurb: “The Golden Sands is a journey through seven worlds, symbolic of life’s struggles, virtues and timeless challenges.

As the story and poems proceed, the main person discovers new things about himself and the world, and grows as a person, getting closer to what he sees as his final goal – the distant mountain top.

A modern Odyssey of the deeper life within us.”

 

Here are the opening poems:

APPROACH

the blinking seas
of deep blue
and shimmers
of sunshine

a hat
light shirt
arm resting
on the chair
a mild breeze

islands
gliding
along the horizon
in timeless beauty
and peace

a touch
a smile
in silence

slowly emerging
the splendor
of paradise
and the
beach
of golden
sands

 

Missing the writings..

Summer is almost into August, and we miss the writings..

After a super productive spring with two short novels (150-160 pages) and a poetry book, there has been a long break now. Partly because of the bright and energetic days, but also to absorb the feedback and new professional contact with Brooklyn.

We wrote three short pieces/moments in June for submission to a magazine, but we long for more.

As soon as the darkness falls earlier, the muses will return.

Revising “Two Old Friends” – the Italy Book!

After 3 weeks of a break – we started revising today! The first chapter was maybe a bit fumbling, but the second felt very different as the two main people and the tone of the book had been set. So first feeling a bit “sunk”, but then a lot more uplifted again.

Looking forward to the rest in the coming week!

:))

 

Feedback “Twelve Months”

We sent a couple of chapters of the “Twelve Months” (Or “Subdued Eruptions”, “A Painter in Rome”) over to our new editor in NYC two weeks ago – and just received some very nice reviews and helpful suggestions! Big day, and a big milestone.

Summer Readings

Enjoying the summer holidays in beautiful nature surroundings we’ve embarked on an old classic – “War & Peace” by Tolstoy! A bit confusing at first, but then with some sparkling passages and interesting philosophical conversations. And some truly stunning and poetic scenes with Napoleon on the battle field.

Currently at page 495 – middle of book II.

Italy-book finished!

Four weeks, and we have about 150 pages!

It’s been a fantastic journey through the 18 hundreds and the two old friends, the artist and the family father, and their friendship since boyhood and long into old age.

We ended up with three distinct parts, first with their 30s and 40s as a period of a young adult life with a growing family and authorship, and then about a decade with the artist/writer in Venice, and the family man/adventurer in America. In the last part they’re back in their home town, in a more sunny and tranquil part of their lives, but still full of life and energy.

We’ll let the finished draft rest now for a few weeks, the edit and revise.

Immediate thoughts about the project:

The Venice part is one of the most pleasant we’ve written, ever. Pure bliss, beauty, and a more visual and auditive part of the book. Experimenting with similes of sounds, and the repeating theme of a string quartet in part to symbolize the timelessness of music, and to some extent life in older, beautiful cities.

The old part of their lives ended up a lot more bright and energetic than planned. In the opening of the book, when they meet each other in a square as eighty year olds, it might seem like their life is “over” and they are only reminiscing a lived life, but in the last chapter, the framing has changed. This is one of the beauties of the writing process. After 150 pages you know their story and have lived through their lives, and know the people in your book a lot better. And the adjusted ending leaves the book on more of a high note.

Having a backdrop of real history is both a great help for a natural progression and drive in the book, but it could be tricky to find the right balance. In this case there is a gradual argument that the good life is more in the world that you create for yourself, as time goes on. Exemplified in this book as an artist’s life work, or a family man with his children and grand children.

Some chapters are more artistic than others. Sometimes there are things to be explained and described for the progress of the story, other chapters become pure poetic bubbles for their own value, but also to illustrate contrasts in life.

More thoughts later, thanks for reading!

:))

First chap done.

Another 1200 words today – as the morning session ended, and the first chapter draft is finished.

With the added dimension of the streams of culture, literaure and history in a country, effecting the lifetimes of the two old friends, many things are falling into place by themselves. One can alternate between the close and the big view of things.

As a bonus, one can also examine one’s own writing as a writer at the same time. The ideas and concepts, and the creativity, will to some extent always be part of or perhaps contrast some bigger movements in our current times. And some of these reflections will be channeled through the thinking of one of the two friends in the book, as his creative life unfolds in his early thirties.