November Winds...

are usually cold, bring with them rain, and a desire in everyone to get inside and hibernate within your warm home until spring arrives. As winter really takes hold, you don't see many people and even your neighbours are not as easy to connect with as during the warmer months.

I mention this as this evening I had something happen that has not happened before and it made me smile and warm inside. If you know anything about me at all you'll know that as an 'artist' (if I may style myself thus), it is my reaction to emotions, events, conversations or sights that are the 'engine' for my poetry. These events are what drives the requirement, the need, for the poem to be written. 

When I hear the guitar styling from Keith, it generates a response and I start to hear the song and the lyrics in my head and within a fairly short time, the song - melody and lyric - are written. It then moves onto another stage in the process of its gradual birth but in general, this is how a song is written (by me at least).

When I have my camera (I usually have one with me) and I see something that connects or 'chimes' with me, then I hear the voice of one of my photography heroes - Henri Cartier-Bresson. He would talk about taking a photograph in the 'decisive moment'. miss it and the image is lost forever; but record it and you record something important (if only to yourself).

So, this evening I'd been working on the artwork for the 'Rogue Studios Session' CD and feeling that, with the agreement of Keith; I'm close to the final iteration. At the same time - I can mutli-task - I have had the USA Formula 1 weekend on in the background (other sporting events are available). It is cold outside, there are fireworks going off frightening children and animals alike but, safe and warm in my study, things were ok with the world.

And then I received it.

Without preamble, without warning.

An email.

An email from someone who I choose to call a 'fan' of my work. A person who took the time to connect with me via email and tell me that she liked my poetry, that there was a spelling mistake on one of my poems (now corrected) and that having a Contact Me Form as well as my email details on the same page was probably redundant.

Now, I'm always full of doubt over my work, my creative output. I do my best to create what I 'see' or 'hear' in my head, but I'm never fully satisfied and my lack of success, my lack of feedback and engagement by visitors to my site (please don't stop visiting though!) creates a huge deep well of doubt that I'm doing anything useful at all.

Yet I've always said that if just one person liked something I'd written, recorded or sung, if just one person had a positive reaction to my creation; that it would be a vindication of sorts.

And now, not only am I aware of a person who likes what they have read, she has taken the time to reach out and tell me so. This is a huge thing for me and it has made a huge difference to how I view my work; which is a great thing considering I'll have a new book out early next year ('Distant Echoes', my poetry diary of 2019)!

If you've ever seen Baldrick in the Final 'Blackadder' series, it's a bit like having a bullet with your name on it, even if you make it yourself. [That made a lot more sense in my head when I was writing it than it might appear now, but I'll leave it here because someone likes my work and has told me so].

Stay safe all, and keep reading!

Alan