My Online Literary Experiment: Be John Coltrane

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Scott D. Southard

Since I started my online literary experiment, Permanent Spring Showers, a novel written off-the-cuff, with a new chapter each week, I’ve had quite a few writers ask me about the experience.

Some seem to have a dark fascination, much like a driver passing by an accident on the road, while others seem to be excited by the prospect, wondering if they will risk attempting the experience themselves.

If you have been following these occasional editorials I have created around the experience… well.. you can tell it is kind of emotional with a lot of highs and lows. Basically, the best way to explain what it does to your nerves is what you experience while writing a book but heightened a great deal and rushed, since there is always the pressure to make it work and you can’t go back. Because it has to work, and if one chapter falters I have no excuse but to continue. So somedays I think I am the biggest idiot in the world, while on others I would kiss a mirror of myself. (Actually, I’ve been known to go through those feelings in the same hour of working!)

This Friday, I am sharing the last chapter (which is in a first draft form now) and I am now, finally, more in a position to look back over the experience and feel out how it worked for me… and one word comes forward more than any other:

Jazz Continue reading →

Five Things I Am Into Right Now, May 2012

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Scott D. Southard

All hail the month for pop media!

Shows are ending on TV and the blockbusters are here each weekend, arriving like new loud neighbors to disturb the quiet neighborhood and old homeowners. It is hard for me not to put on my geek hat, put down my copy of Charles Dickens, and relish in this time.

Literary degree be damned, it is just time to have fun- look it is sunny again. Actual sunlight!

Sigh…

So in this list I embrace the fun. For example, check out my number one:

The Avengers

I loved this movie.

In many ways, it captures what I always felt comics and comic book movies should be. In other words, it is fun. This is not moody or overly dark, this is straight-up heroes saving the world, and really do we need anything more?

What I loved most about the movie are the things that surprised me in it. For one, the humor really added to the film, to the point I can’t imagine the characters or plot really surviving without it. It makes the film in so many ways. Continue reading →

Introducing Your Child to Jazz- Some Recommendations

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Scott D. Southard

Green Spot Blue has printed a new article by me. This one is about jazz and how to introduce your child to some of the great artist and records. Here is an excerpt from the beginning…

As parents we all want the best for our kids, and our plans are filled with the best intentions. Many times this relates to music and our desire for our kids to know more than just what is on the pop stations. Some parents may try to listen to classical more, but for me I have always chosen jazz. Jazz, above all other music genres, seems to me to sing of creativity, the thrill of thinking outside the box. Songs are filled with experimentations, expressions. You feel love more, you feel pain more. There is a story there that surpasses any you may hear in the lyrics of a country song.

The problem is that many times when we parents sit back and look at our own musical choices, we can’t help but feel guilty. Usually it is the same artists, the same albums; we return to the comfort of what we like the most, not realizing that our child is hearing the same thing again… and again… and again….

Well, for the parent that wants to introduce their child to America’s great original artform, might I recommend 7 classical jazz albums to share with the family. Consider this an opportunity to lose The Wiggles, this is an introduction to jazz.

You can read the rest of the article, as well as the recommendations here.