dahliadewinters

Blogtoberfest – Dark Country Songs

There’s no song like a country song. Whether you’re into Charley Pride, Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr., Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline or the “new school” of Garth Brooks, Trace Adkins, Miko Marks and a score of others, there’s not a doubt in my mind that country’s roots are entwined with the blues both musically and lyrically. Some of the saddest songs I’ve ever heard were from either of these genres, usually by men, who’ve acted up so bad that they drove their woman, and sometimes their dog, away.

Today we’re going to look at and listen to some dark country songs that go even deeper into the human psyche, past crying into your beer or sittin on the porch weeping, into murder, mayhem and ghosts.

The first one is by a musician who performs one of my all time favorite country songs. The Charlie Daniels Band is perhaps best known for its rollicking fiddle-fest “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”, but they also did a mysterious song that tells of a swamp, an old man and a treasure.

It’s a song that tells a story and it starts off like this:

Well, if you ever go back into Wooley Swamp
Well, you better not go at night
There’s things out there in the middle of them woods
That make a strong man die from fright
Things that crawl and things that fly
And things that creep around on the ground
And they say the ghost of Lucius Clay
Gets up and he walks around

To say anything further would ruin the scarily told/sung story, so click here to listen for yourself:

As a child, Johnny Cash’s rumbling bass always used to scare me. It also didn’t help that he was called “The Man in Black” which rendered him as some sort of evil being floating around, scaring kids with his guitar and flashy country shirts. As I grew older, however, I was more able to appreciate the music and I give you “Ghost Riders in the Sky”. Can’t get much scarier than that.

Rachel Brooke – The Black Bird

This sparse arrangement leaves room for Rachel Brooke’s hauntingly innocent sounding voice to a story of illicit love…and that black bird always watching. Also, the video is pretty creepy too!

Comment below with your dark country artists!

Dahlia

Treat Your Art Like Guys Treat their D*cks

Whoooa! What’s going on? This post is primary addressed to writers, but is applicable for anyone who creates.

Writers! Yes, I’m talking to you: Treat your Writing like Men treat their D*cks

I’ve read so many self-deprecating writer speak that it ceases to be funny. “I’m not any good.” “I write crap.” “No one likes my work.” “Why am I doing this?”

Stop the madness, because personally I’m sick of it. And don’t get all up on your high horses, “Humph. Who does Dahlia think she is?” Nope, don’t even go there because I used to feel the same way. Let’s take a look.

Do you:

Whimper and cringe as each word appears on the page, knowing deep in your writerly heart that there’s no way that word “apple” you just wrote, will past muster with the frowning, critical public?
Weep at editor’s marks, not seeing them as a helpful improvement, but as a branding of how awful your writing is?
Say, “I can’t believe I just wrote that. People will think I’m a horrible person.”

Welcome to the world of self-deprecating writers. Have a seat. Sit down. Have a drink. Now that you know you’re there, here’s how to get out of it.

Remember Steve Harvey’s crap book/movie “Act like a Lady, Think like a Man?” Well, I can’t stand anything about Steve Harvey, but even a broken-ass clock is right twice a day. The grain of truth in this title can certainly be applied to writers.

“Treat your writing like a man treats his d*ck”

This is a bare bones joke, but you’ll get the meaning:

An elephant gets a thorn caught in his foot, and a mouse happens to pull it out. To show his gratitude, the elephant says he’ll do any favor that the mouse wants. The mouse says “I’ve always wanted to f**k an elephant”. The elephant says o.k., the mouse lifts the elephants tail and starts going to town. About that time a coconut falls out of a tree and bonks the elephant on the head. The elephant says “Ow!”, and the mouse says something like … “That’s right, bitch, you’re going to take it no matter how much it hurts!”

That mouse just KNEW he was packing a heavy package.

I have two boys, and from the time they knew what was going on between their legs, it was like a pop gun to them. When those pants came off, the fun began. “Pew, pew!” they’d say, grabbing it and running around pointing it at everyone. It got to the point where my daughter (in between them in age) bumped her crotch on something and cried, “I hurt my penis.” The influence is strong, folks. Not only could you pee on the run, but you could shoot people with it. How handy!

While I am not a man, I’m married to one and asked him about the mystery of the penis. Men love their penises, he told me. They even let them take the lead in decision making every once in the while.

I was amazed. The penis, making life-altering decisions? That just goes to show how very valued and important they are.

Which brings me back to your writing. No matter how big, how small your writing may be, you need to treat it like the best thing that you’ve ever done on paper. Of course, it can always get better, but those words on the screen are pretty darn good right now. Because they’re THERE.

I had a dream that I had lunch with George W. Bush. (He’s a friend in my head, by the way.) He looks like the type who would bring his own bottle to a lunch and pick up the tab without hesitation. Anyhoo, he and I were having lunch (at a very nice restaurant, by the way,) and he said to me, “As long as you act like you know what you’re doing, people will believe anything you say.”

I.Kid.You.Not. That’s what W said to me. And why shouldn’t I listen to a two-term President? Bonus points: He has a penis.

So, writers. Treat your art like your very own penis. Adore it, love it, find ways to make it better. Polish it, rub it down, make it happy. Above all, do not denigrate or belittle it. As you do, others will follow suit. Once you do this, you will gain more confidence. You will gain more creativity. You will become true to your art and will be so much better for it.

1Love

Dahlia

Whatever Wednesdays – Mental Clarity for Writing

If you are a writer with a full time job, or have extra duties in the home, I bet you sometimes wish that you could lock yourself in a closet and use that time to write, write, write. Only when you get that time, you find yourself looking at a blinking cursor on a blank, white page.

I am a stay at home mom and my children are in school all day. That means that I’ve got tons of time to write, right? No. There are dishes to be done, floors to be vacuumed, laundry to be done and let’s not forget the dog that thinks her task is demanding that you pet her every time you sit down at the computer.

There’s also the distraction of those awful daytime television shows and those tons of movies that you’ve recorded and haven’t had a chance to watch. And, there is always the lure of that huge, empty bed and the promise of “I’ll be a lot fresher if I take a nap.”

As Public Enemy said, “Don’t Believe the Hype”.

Creativity is something that cannot be forced. But it can be nurtured.

Proper brain function is important for every aspect of life, but especially when you are trying to focus your thinking and your creativity for a certain amount of time. When you are a busy person in general, the time that you spend at the computer, creating, must be productive.

What’s my secret? Herbs! I’m a crunchy, granola, hippy type of gal and I believe in herbs, essential oils and supplements.

Herbs won’t make you produce faster, but I have found that it improves my concentration and keeps me focused on the task at hand.

Now, I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on television, consult a medical care professional before you take my advice. However, some of the herb supplements I use for mental clarity are “Better Brain” by Gardens of Life. It’s an extra bonus because you also get some Omega 3 fatty acids. And who can’t use more Omega 3 fatty acids?

You could also try Himalaya Herbal Healthcare, MindCare, as well as Eclectic Institute Fresh Freeze-Dried Ginkgo Gotu Kola Combo.

Again, consult your doctor before beginning any herbal supplement regimen. Just because the supplements are natural doesn’t mean that they are right for everyone.

Happy writing!

#MotivationMonday – 5 Ways to Kickstart Your Muse

We all have those days where we’d rather be writing, but nothing is flowing. Instead we putter around, catch up on programs or simply sit and stare at a blank page. Believe me, you’re not alone. It happens to everyone.

I don’t like wasted time, because you never get it back. I try not to dither away time on social media either, because that’s a hole you can get sucked down and not emerge until three hours later. While I do love the cat vids and the cool memes, there’s a time for work and a time for play.

This brings me to the point of my post. Sometimes inspiration doesn’t sit waiting for you, you have to run it down and beat it into submission. Inspiration is wonderful. Inspiration can get you writing 5k a day. However, when inspiration decides to take a little break, what do you do?

You jump start your creativity. You can do it! Here’s seven quick ways to get that brain churning.

1. Listen to music – Remember “The Mozart Effect”? While that’s kind of gone the way of the dodo, the premise can still be used. Grab a song or two that you really love and jam out to it for a couple of minutes. Sing, dance, get the blood moving to that stuffy brain. Then, sit down and dare that blank page to defy your words.

2. Write by hand – I can’t recommend this technique enough. There is something about putting pencil to paper which gets the creativity going, especially if you imagine yourself as the royal scribe for the kingdom of…whatever. Point is, the physical act of writing may send stimulus to the brain that it’s time to get to work.

3. Get out of the house – We spend a lot of time indoors, especially in those of us in areas of colder winters. Shake yourself out of a rut by going outside – bundle up if you need to! Even as little as ten minutes taking in nature will mostly like shake that creativity into submission.

4. Work with your hands– Activating your hands will activate your brain. Cooking, knitting, crocheting…even washing dishes has an effect. Something about focusing on a bit of a mundane task makes the brain want to entertain itself. I swear to you, I’ve had some excellent ideas when up to my wrists in dishwater.

5. Play video games – I have a terrible secret to share. When I feel I’m stuck and can’t write another word, I go onto Facebook….and spin those fake slots. Or, I’ll play Zuma, where a frog spits beads. In other words, I do something totally mindless. Again, the brain gets bored, and tries to entertain itself. And as odd as it sounds, it really does work.

One thing I don’t recommend is scrolling social media. Depending on your temperament, it might actually be detrimental to your ability to create, depending on what you run into on your feed. As we all know, news stories and other people’s issues can be stressful, even if we are not directly involved. Save your social media involvement for after you’ve finished working. You won’t be sorry.

Do you have a tip to get the creative motor running? Leave it in the comments.

1Love

Dahlia

Writers: Increase Productivity with these 3 Tools

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As a writer and a lover of technology, I find I like to try a lot of different things I think will increase my productivity. Sometimes I find a tool helpful, sometimes it simply pulls hours of frustration from my life with no real return. Right now, I want to share some of my best apps and tools which assist me in make a life as an author and as a mom a little easier.

Writing often includes research, lots of it. From recipes to the right way to give CPR to trying to find out if a .357 Magnum would really blow your head “clean off” as Dirty Harry once told us, “writing” isn’t all about getting words on the page. In fact, it’s the research that helps us find our flow and get words on the page in the first place. I always feel twenty minutes of thorough research can influence at least 5,000 words on the page.

The question is, where do you store all this research? Printing it out is ridiculous. Who needs all those reams of paper floating around their space? I have enough clutter as it is. While I love the printed page, I make the effort to go paperless when I can.

Enter Evernote.
Yes, an elephant never forgets, unlike my spotty memory. Evernote floats along with you on your web searches. Any little thing you want to save, it’s there for you. You can even enter your own voice and written notes.