This is diane’s Newsletter, a newsletter about writing things.
Who or what inspires you?
Every artist has an inspiration. Someone or something that gave them that extra push that propelled them into the abyss of their dream. Frank Lloyd Wright had Japanese prints, Picasso had Stravinsky, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had Poe. No matter the greatness of the artist, there is that special influence that goes beyond the passing glance. Such is the inspiration for this first edition. I want to get an idea of where we're coming from on our artistic journeys. You can tell a lot about a person from their choices of authors.
As for myself? Whether it's anime, manga, a novel, or the odd short story in a book, Asian voices resonate with my heart. All day long I can read Haruki Murakami and just as his literary voice speaks to me, I speak back to the pages as though he can hear my thoughts. In my head I say, “I have short stories too and a passion to write.” but I'm not him. It's not that I want to have the same voice. No, that would be like saying I want to paint like Picasso, play like Hendrix, or sing like Armstrong. The focus must be on what I can do. I know I can't be Frank Lloyd Wright, but I still want my story to flow like falling waters and I want people to get something from the stories that will make them feel something good has touched their hearts. Even if some of my stories have periods of darkness in them, the reader should find the moonlight between the dark bits. To do that, I must first push my fledgling stories out there.
Over the past 2-years, I've been writing what will be a compilation of short stories. The stories come because they've always been there, segments of my life on the page. But they are followed by the realization that I have no idea of the mechanics of getting them out there for others to read. This question usually spurs more advice than the entire library of congress can process, everything from how to get an agent to advice on what to do if you get stuck. It's all out there but the real kicker, the thing absolutely no one has been able to tell me is, how to do it without fame or money. That is where I was, sitting at my favorite coffee bar when a friend advised me to enter the substack.com world. Full disclosure, I primarily hope to engage the digital population and cause some interest in my writing; the secondary quest is to find my tribe. The people with whom I can connect in a very literary sense. I know it may not be a suitable form to just come out and say that here, but the truth is truth. In future editions, published every 3rd Thursday, you can expect comments on short story writers I've enjoyed as well as snippets of the shorts I will be publishing.
Beautiful!
best of luck mate.
eagerly waiting