Bob Gillen

Healing through story

Author: Bob Gillen (Page 20 of 28)

Mannequin Monday – How Quickly She Disappears

January 18, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Mannequin Monday – How Quickly She Disappears

So many words to drape our mannequin form this week. Books, both fiction and non-fiction. A debut novel How Quickly She Disappears. And a new Steinbeck biography.

And another bit of fiction I wrote, more from my heart than usual.

What I’m Reading

This week I am in the middle of reading six books. Not six books on my To Be Read pile. Actually reading each of them. The perils of the digital age.

I am a public library lover. A heavy user. Before the COVID lockdown I always had at least one library book at home. Lately I have been using LA County’s digital version, Libby. When I am reading online, and come across a mention of a book that looks interesting, I immediately go to Libby. I put the book on hold, or borrow it right away if I can. I am not ashamed to say that I can easily put one book aside to taste a new book. If it grabs me, I will read it right away, then go back to the one I paused.

I was an early reader as a kid. Our town had no library, so I took a 30-minute bus ride to the nearest library. It was only a storefront, but I browsed every book on every shelf there over the years.

Today I am diving into How Quickly She Disappears, a debut novel set in Alaska in 1941. Halfway through the second chapter, I’m hooked. This meant setting aside The Enigma Game, a WWII story. I am a big fan of the author, Elizabeth Wein. I’ll be back to it shortly.

Two of my loan books are non-fiction. I am slowly working through Atomic Habits. And I finally got to borrow a new biography of John Steinbeck, Mad at the World, by William Souder. I’m one chapter in, and I will surely finish this. I’ve been looking forward to a new biography on Steinbeck, hoping for some new insights into his writing.

Using Libby gives me the opportunity to try out a book. If it does not hold my attention, I return it right away. But it gives me the chance to experience a wide range of books. Digital shelf browsing, at its best.

As a postscript, I should add that the books I borrow on Libby don’t include what I have on Amazon Kindle. More books there that I am working my way through. A great time when there is always a book to be had.

 

 

What I’m Writing

A story I wrote, based on what I’m going through these weeks. Maybe another expression of how quickly she disappears. Enjoy.

In the Deep

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Mannequin Monday – Take Me Somewhere…

January 11, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Mannequin Monday – Take Me Somewhere…

I’ve never been to the catacombs of Paris. Never come face to face with the roots of Irish humor. But on this Mannequin Monday books take me where I have never been. Elle Marr, Tana French…

Words don’t simply clothe a blank form. They transport the viewer.

And an excerpt from my next book Surfrider,

What I’m Reading

In several recent blog posts I’ve said that, when I open a book or begin watching a film, I expect the story to take me somewhere I’ve never been. Whether it’s an emotion, place, personality, mystery, spirit – I want to experience something new.

Stories I’ve enjoyed recently, for example, that fit that bill would include:

  • Tana French’s mysteries, one of which is In the Woods, based in Ireland. A sense of place, of culture, of humor…all new to me.
  • Elle Marr’s novel The Missing Sister, set in the Paris catacombs. A dark, intriguing place, a bit of history, that I never knew existed.
  • Eric Jerome Dickey’s novel Before We Were Wicked, set in 1996 Los Angeles. A new-to-me perspective on Black experiences, insights into African cultures, even the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles in the late 90s.
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Mannequin Monday – Here’s Joe Cool…

January 4, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Mannequin Monday – Here’s Joe Cool…

Here’s Joe Cool, appearing in the first Mannequin Monday blog post of the new year. This week, an insightful article from The Atlantic on Charles Schulz’s character Snoopy. Snoopy, “realizing that he’s tired and cold and lonely and that it’s suppertime.”

And, as always, a writing exercise of my own.

What I’m Reading This Week

A 2005 article in The Atlantic caught my eye this week: “The Exemplary Narcissism of Snoopy” by Sarah Boxer. Boxer began the article with a short history of the comic strip as it developed from its inception in 1950.

“Peanuts was deceptive,” Boxer wrote. “It looked like kid stuff, but it wasn’t. The strip’s cozy suburban conviviality, its warm fuzziness, actually conveyed some uncomfortable truths about the loneliness of social existence. The characters, though funny, could stir up shockingly heated arguments over how to survive and still be a decent human being in a bitter world. Who was better at it—Charlie Brown or Snoopy?”

Every character… had at least one key prop or attribute.

Boxer’s description of the workings of the comic strip offers solid advice for any story writer. She wrote: “Every character was a powerful personality with quirky attractions and profound faults, and every character, like some saint or hero, had at least one key prop or attribute. Charlie Brown had his tangled kite, Schroeder his toy piano, Linus his flannel blanket, Lucy her ‘Psychiatric Help’ booth, and Snoopy his doghouse.”

I see a connection between writing a comic strip and storytelling at large. Any fiction writer will struggle to create characters with distinct personality traits, quirks, foibles. Even a tic unique to them. I think, for example, of Hemingway’s Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea. The story is all about the fisherman’s quest for a large fish, but we readers revel in hearing him talk about American baseball teams.

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Mannequin Monday – A Frozen Moment in Time

December 14, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Mannequin Monday – A Frozen Moment in Time

Disability awareness and inclusion clothe our mannequin this week. We examine how comics in particular have expanded to include who we are collectively.

The focus is on The Silver Scorpion, written by Ron Marz.

And I offer a character sketch on a teen with limb difference.

What I’m Reading This Week

I read The Silver Scorpion this week. You can read Issue 1 of the comic for free here. You’ll need to sign in to Google to access it.

The story was written by veteran comic writer Ron Marz. A Syrian boy, Bashir Bari, who lost his legs in a landmine explosion, develops a superpower to manipulate metal. The power is to be used only for good, for protecting the innocent. Bashir becomes the Silver Scorpion.

I came upon the comic while taking an online writing course from the University of Iowa. The course, Creative Writing, Disability Awareness and Inclusion, is part of the offerings from their International Writing Program. In the last several years I’ve completed several of their online writing courses. I strongly recommend them. They are definitely a challenge, but the results are so worth the work.

The course presents six YouTube video presentations on disability awareness and inclusion. The one I’m talking about today features Ron Marz. He has been writing comics since 1990. Marz says when he started in comics, it was white men writing for white teen boys. He has helped that world evolve to be more inclusive.

A Muslim character with a disability

The Silver Scorpion was created by a group of Syrian and American disabled teens who gathered for a conference in Damascus. The Open Hands Initiative and Liquid Comics approached Marz, who eagerly joined the project. To this day, it is one of his proudest accomplishments. The Silver Scorpion is a Muslim character with a disability. The story aims to build trust and understanding between cultures.

In his presentation Marz talks of the changing audience for comics. An audience that now embraces graphic novels and digital comics across a wide, inclusive range of characters.

Comics, Marz says, are simply stories with pictures. This kind of storytelling has a long history: drawings on cave walls, medieval tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, for example.

In writing a comic, Marz describes each image, each panel, as a frozen moment in time. The writer selects the best visual for each panel that lets readers know what they need to know to advance the story. The illustrator is the co-author of the story, guided by the images the writer has described. Focusing on visuals is a valuable insight for any fiction writer.

Today’s comics embrace a diversity of audiences. Not all characters are superheroes. Genres now include horror, crime, romance, sports. Marz says being inclusive is an evolutionary process. Contemporary comics express who we are collectively. We all want to see ourselves reflected in stories.

Marz is confident a reader can find the one comic story that pulls you in.

(If you’d like to try your hand at creating comics, here’s a link to some blank comic book pages on artist Jarrett Lerner’s site.)

What I’m Writing This Week

I offer you another character sketch, this one from Surfrider, the second book now in draft for my Film Crew series. Maddie Dela Riva is a teen girl with a limb difference. Enjoy the sketch.

A Limb Difference

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Mannequin Monday – Be Still

December 7, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Mannequin Monday – Be Still

Turn down the volume and listen to the silence. Mannequin Monday brings us a note of quiet this week. Drape the form in soft fabric. In words that rise out of the silence in our hearts. A moment of stillness.

A few words from a biblical psalm help us be still.

As always, a lighthearted story of my own.

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Mannequin Monday – What I’m Not Reading

November 23, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Mannequin Monday – What I’m Not Reading

We don’t always like the first outfit we try on. The same holds true for dressing our mannequin with words. The first words don’t always suit our taste.

This Mannequin Monday I talk about books I have not finished.

And, as always, I offer you a bit of my own writing, this time the opening chapter from the draft of my next story.

Thanks for joining me this week. And enjoy your holiday.

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