Beginnings ( #BOTB Results & #IWSG )

Another year has come and gone, leading to another beginning of another year which will come and go.  Personally I'm looking forward to another good one, but optimist that I tend to be I always look forward to more good years...

       

Arlee Bird several years ago before having shed a mustache and several pounds and those extra pounds were in no way connected to the mustache.

I'll get to my first Insecure Writer's Support Group of 2020 in a short while, but first let me report in the results of my first Battle of the Bands of this new year...

Battle of the Bands Results

         My Battle of the Bands for January 1, 2020 was between versions of Simply Red's "Holding Back the Years" as performed by the Isley Brothers and Jimmy Scott.  To my ears both versions were outstanding, but many of you seemed a bit disconcerted with Scott's vocals.  Upon first hearing his version (yes, the vocalist is Jimmy Scott who is a man) I was also a bit thrown off, but the overall musicianship in this rendition quickly won me over.  After all, I chose to use this version for a good reason:  I liked it!

      And because I liked the version by Jimmy Scott so much I decided to give my vote to that one.  As far as I'm concerned, the version by the Isleys is fantastic and I probably like both versions about equally, but Jimmy needs my vote.  His voice takes some getting used to, but he had the goods as far as putting forth a good jazz interpretation of a song.

Final Vote Tally

Isley Brothers         11 votes

Jimmy Scott              3 votes

Simply Red                1 stubborn vote

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The Insecure Writer's Support Group

Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. 

The co-hosts for the January 8 posting of the IWSG are T. Powell Coltrin, Victoria Marie Lees, Stephen Tremp, Renee Scattergood, and J.H. Moncrieff.

January 8 question - What started you on your writing journey? Was it a particular book, movie, story, or series? Was it a teacher/coach/spouse/friend/parent? Did you just "know" suddenly you wanted to write?



           Among my fondest memories of childhood was listening to adults tell stories.  My mother entertained my sister and I with stories of her childhood.  Some of the show biz friends of my parents also told tales that captured my attention even though they likely thought I wasn't listening. And then there were the movies and television shows I would watch.  I grew up with stories and once I learned to read and write I was on my way to a fascination with writing.

         The first story I recall writing was a horror tale that I composed for a third grade class assignment.  Somehow naturally gravitating toward the "write what you know" school of thought, I drew upon my experiences of traveling across country with my family as we relocated from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to San Diego California. However the real writing inspiration came from Rod Serling's Twilight Zone.   

         As a fan of scary movies from early childhood, I was drawn to Twilight Zone soon after I had discovered the show on television.  I relished the surprise endings and the quirky stories fueled my imagination.  Far into college and into the present day that show--which still can be found regularly in television reruns and other sources--has influenced my writing to a great extent.  And it was watching that show that made me think that writing might be something I could potentially do one day.

          Maybe writing didn't turn out quite like I dreamed, but then those Twilight Zone shows had those surprise endings.  In my life I've lived plenty of stories with surprise endings.  The nice thing is that the big story is still continuing and more surprises are sure to come.



         Next post will be another Battle of the Bands on Wednesday January 15th!