A Writers Block

As you might have noticed, I am working hard at this writing thing. So it was fortuitous that in the past month I've had the wonderful opportunity to interview two other hard-working writers who seem to miss the meaning of downtime.

The first was Lowcountry royalty Dottie Frank, whose 11th novel debuted this week. She decided to kick off her book tour with a benefit for the Charleston County Public Library, and that gave me an excuse to track her down and talk about writing the Lowcountry. Some of that conversation was captured here for a Charleston Scene article, but I gained much more from my conversation with her than could fit into 500 words.

She was charming, down to earth and so generous explaining process and how she feels about her own writing. I was enamored.

The second interview was children's book author and illustrator Jim Young, who has managed to write / illustrate 24 books despite a full-time position at the Greensboro Public Library (yes, how cool is it that both of these writers are very connected to their local libraries?). And you know what was even more amazing? Jim is very calm about the whole thing, so much so that you could mistake him for a yoga instructor instead of a guy who loves being around children and loves painting wacky animals.



His process centers around working at the kitchen table until the last part of the process, so it seems he loves being the eye of the family hurricane. At least, that's what I imagine, although he might have a family as serene as he.

Two different perspectives. Two very different writers, but both fulfilled writing lives. It can be done, and these two are doing it.

Brandi Carlile Got a Charleston Homecoming

Yes, I know, singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile is from the opposite side of the country, not Charleston, S.C. But when she took the stage last evening, she didn't realize we had been waiting for her all this time. She does now and seemed genuinely happy and at home with the at-capacity crowd that filled the Music Farm.

In my concert preview article in last week's Charleston Scene, I quoted Brandi as saying that sometimes a concert is "gut wrenching and sometimes it's just a party."

Last night, Brandi threw us a party.

She threw numerous picks into the audience as the finale for songs. She whipped the cord of her electric guitar around like a tail. She laughed with bandmates, talked between songs, and at one point, asked the crowd with a laugh, "What would you like to hear? The set list has pretty much gone to shit at this point!"

People shouted. Brandi made eye contact and listened. And she played the songs that had been requested. And then she played more. And what is a good party without a Johnny Cash song? Well, not good enough, the band thought, so they threw in the most awesome (yes, I am a writer and should come up with a fresh term here, but, well, it WAS most awesome) version of "Folsom Prison Blues" that has ever been played outside of Folsom Prison.

Thanks Brandi. Y'all come back now, ya hear?