Writing Therapy - Posted on June 6, 2014 by billyraychitwood


                                           Writing Therapy

Unless your brains and emotions have been so scrambled that you’re hopelessly lost and unable to vent in any form, try writing as therapy. Who knows, you could save thousands of dollars in psych office visits…

Take me, for example, those who occupy psych offices are loony types – he says rather tongue in cheek but not without respect. Me, I write books and blogs for my therapy and my thought is I might use this space to describe what it is my words and phrases are trying to convey.

My writing first and foremost is hopefully entertaining and connecting with some kindred souls. There is no formula that I use for writing – I simply take off and hope in the end it all makes some sense. Sure, I try to build a cohesive story, mixed with some interesting characters, some philosophical meandering, and a dash of humor. There was a time when I taught ‘Advanced Writing’ and I’m the first to admit that my style probably defies all the rules of good story-telling…you know, the ‘big bang beginning’, the sustaining plot and sub-plots, the unforgettable characters, the action, or, the ‘mesmerizing middle’, and the ‘bigger bang ending’. Don’t get me wrong, I try for these good elements and to one degree or another make them.

Where I likely deviate a bit from rules is my subconscious need to ‘diarize’, to inject so much of me into the narrative and out of the characters’ mouths. You see, I really want to write something most worthy but I have a selfish motive… I want to see if I can find pieces of me that give me a better sense of my life and times. We have all begun somewhere, been delivered to this place or that place, and have our scars to show for the life experiences. Me, I’ve always been an incurable romantic, a risk taker, not so much a multi-task type of guy, more interested in finding and evaluating all the variables in my journey, finding the reasons for this action and/or event.

So, through the made-up characters and the stories (even those inspired by true events) I’m hoping to get a better handle on me. The dialogues and the personalities are my inventions, and somewhere there on the lines and between the lines, am I. There is no question about my writing ability. Humbly, I believe it good to excellent – given a careless mistake here and there. The story will be simple and compelling…interesting but with some digression here and there. The books I’ve written are like the wanderlust author who penned them – hobos looking for a place to settle…but, then, hobos don’t look to settle, methinks.

I’m envious of those good folks who live in the same house, city, community, town for most if not all of their lives… I’ve lived in some beautiful places over my journey and part of me wishes I had never left some of those places. Like now, I’m living in a magnificent home with a bluff view across the valley on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, and, guess what, I’m getting antsy for another move.

Therapy? Hey, I’ve got to do a lot of writing! 

One more thing… I’m finishing up my twelfth book titled “A Common Evil” – The setting is a small fishing village on The Sea of Cortez in Mexico. It is the sixth and final book of my ‘Bailey Crane Mystery Series’ and possibly the best. “A Common Evil” stands alone as do all the books in the ‘Bailey Crane Series’ and there are some musings in the book taken from my experiences while living in this fishing village by the sea. Actually, I can say the book was inspired by some actual events that took place in the very resort where I lived. All the books in the ‘Bailey Crane Mystery Series’ are quick and simple reads that will attest to my claims in this blog post. Obviously, I hope you will read “A Common Evil’ and the rest of the ‘Bailey Crane Mysteries’ — you will find me on and between the lines in each and every book. LOOK FOR IT – COMING SOON!

Thank you for taking time to read “A Common Evil’ when it is available – and any of my novels and/or memoirs now available at links below. If you enjoy one of my books, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend. 

Billy Ray Chitwood – June 6, 2014

Please leave a comment if so inclined. Thank you and best wishes.

http://www.about.me/brchitwood

http://billyraychitwood.weebly.com (Bio – My books – Reviews – Blog)

https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard – Goodreads (My books – Blog – Reviews)

http://twitter.com/brchitwood (@brchitwood) – Follow me

http://facebook.com/billyray.chitwood & http://facebook.com/billyrayscorner

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The Lonesome Train WhistlePosted on December 14, 2013 by billyraychitwood 

A moment of sweet reflection came to me - just wanted to share it with you.

My wonderful grandfather was a section foreman on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad line. In youth I lived for awhile in the old gray two-story section house with my grandparents. The house was no more than a hundred yards from the railroad tracks. Lying in bed each night as the train whistle blew off in the distance, my mind would consider where it could be my life was leading me.

The sound of the train whistle has always brought to me an inscrutable soft sadness.

Hope you enjoy the reflection...


The Lonesome Train Whistle

 

It always came during the night

as mind was most vulnerable,

as fancy replaced reality.

It came and brought tears

of truths that were days

of poignant youth.

It came whispering of all

dreams yet possible to heal

pangs of longing.

It came on evening’s air,

took me to a place

ordained for me to go


Its long mournful wail

lingered long and tender

like a mother’s feathery kiss.

The sound echoed long, its final

note lost in space  

not known by me,

And my days would be softly

blessed in the verity

of those splendid sounds,

That, indeed, life was yet

to be out there on the

lonesome train’s whistle.


BRC – 12/12/2003


http://www.about.me/brchitwood

Please follow me on Twitter (@brchitwood)

http://facebook.com/billyray.chitwood

http://www.goo.gl/fuxUA (my books)

http://thefinalcurtain1.wordpress.com (my blog)

http://billyraychitwood.weebly.com (my main website/blog/reviews)


          

         

The World Is Stretching And Yawning - Posted on June 14, 2013 by billyraychitwood1


The picture is a younger me! Okay, it’s a much younger me! During the days when this picture was taken, the world for me was a rare giant oyster with many lovely pearls. Oh, sure, there were some moments of regrets and despair but, generally, life was piano bars, pretty women, and usually too much of the amber fluid. Drugs were around my life but never really in my life. It was a busy time for making fun the order of every day, impressing the girls with my wisdom and wit, and, of course, my ‘etchings.’

For the most part my friends were attorneys, textbook salesmen, and mostly anyone who answered one question correctly. That question: “Are you a turtle?” If the answer was not, “You bet your sweet ass I am!” it would take a little more time but, really, anyone could be my friend. The turtle question? Just something silly my generation thought up to keep everyone amused – as you can see, it didn’t take a whole lot to amuse us! Sort of like some of the weird words and phrases of today… There was, however, a most definite difference ‘then’ as opposed to ‘now.’

‘Then,’ there was not the subterranean build-up of world issues. There was not the economic and job worries of today. And, certainly, there was not Terrorism – oh, there was some mayhem and murder, that kind of terror, but not the kind that gets into your subconscious mind and bubbles up too consistently in the current ‘now.’ I’m not writing about ‘the good old days’ – yet, there were good days mixed with the ‘down’ days when I allowed myself to think about the mistakes I was making or the sadness that was of my own making. In the ‘then’ days there were bad governments and there were good governments, depending, of course, on political leanings. Perhaps what I remember most about the ‘then’ days was the feeling of Freedom, that sense that, even with my periodic goofs, our world was reasonably within some tolerance level of diplomatic solution.

‘Now,’ it is more a feeling, a sense, that the world is ‘stretching’ and ‘yawning’ in some peculiar and scary ways. Some say we are seeing ‘Revelations’ come to pass (for those who might not know, ‘Revelations’ is a book in the New Testament of the Bible). Some say we are on the downward slope of our Democracy, that when Freedom and Liberty are eroded by too much government control and entitlements, we are heading down the proverbial slippery slope. Some say we are just going through a generational phase where the digital world is making our lives more accessible and bringing the world together too fast. There are new ‘words’ in the ‘now’ lexicon. There are new faces appearing in the crowds, their lips speaking in different tongues and their gestures not always friendly.

I guess we have always had our calamitous moments, mass murders, our children kidnapped and killed. It just seems tougher today to know who to believe, who to trust, when and where to visit, what to do and how to act when we get there.

Of course, when I think about it, I’m in ‘Twilight,’ and perhaps my senses are losing (or,  have lost) some of their acuity. Maybe those ‘then’ days are happening for someone else as I write these words. Maybe the ‘now’ is not so bad after all. Yeah, sure, and maybe 9/11 did not happen at all!

The world is stretching and yawning! A lot is happening, perhaps too much for the old brain to process, too many social networks to monitor, too many machines. If not stretching and yawning, is the world getting too tightly bound? It just seems to me we’ve lost some stability, lost some of the old standards that were so important to us once upon a time, lost some of the texture that made our part of the world so great. We write about our world and what is happening in it, but who can truly say where we stand on the timeline of history? Who has the compendium that can accurately foretell our future. Is it our government? Is it the Bible? Is it God?

Please follow me on twitter (@brchitwood)

Please preview my books at http://www.goo.gl/fuxUA (IAN1)

Please see a bio sketch at http://www.about.me/brchitwood

Please visit my main website/blog at: http://billyraychitwood.weebly.com

      

A Fanciful ThoughtPosted on May 15, 2013 by billyraychitwood1
       
Two Americans who know how to speak only one language, English, sit at a small sidewalk cafe in Paris, France, sipping latte, watching the people pass and listening to a musical language which they can now miraculously understand. Birds are chirping, dropping momentarily from their flitting maneuvers to pick up a crumb of food. The sun is shining in a clear lucid sky and there are smiles on the faces of the people. Happiness abounds.

A waiter appears at the small sidewalk table and speaks a few words in French: “Do you care for more latte or do you care for a menu?”

“No,” says one of the Americans, glancing at his watch, “we must be going. We’re meeting friends at the ‘Arc de Triomphe’ along the Champs-Elysees in twenty minutes.” After directions are confirmed the Americans pay their tab and leave the lovely cafe.

There was no confusion, no doubt, in the language exchange while neither of the Americans spoke French and the waiter spoke no English.

How can this be? A Frenchman and Americans having a dialogue, understanding every word that is spoken? Where has the world gotten?

Finally, we have in many ways made all the brilliant technology pay off. There is now a chip worn in an attractive wrist band. The chip is activated by a small square pen-like device that is clipped to a shirt pocket or to the inside of a coat. On the pen is a menu of languages spoken all over the world. In France, the two Americans chose French from the menu, spoke in their native tongue, and the words were perfectly understood by the waiter – and, of course, any French person they should meet. The words of the Americans are spoken in English but come out in French, and, likewise, the waiter responds in his native tongue and it comes out in English. One small chip on a wrist band controls the conversation.

Marvelous! you say, and marvelous it is. Any person on the planet can now own this ‘Language Chip Band’ for a pittance. People can travel the world and never again be troubled by a language barrier, whether it be France, Bulgaria, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, you name the country.

Now, perhaps Love can spread! Now, perhaps Wars can be no more! Now, perhaps a real world community can exist. Now, perhaps Peace in all parts of the world can flourish.

Not so fast, you say!

Yes, of course, you’re right. Not so fast! There will still be power-hungry people. There will still be greed. There will still be mayhem, murder, and evil. And, is this technology possible? My personal belief does not matter so much, but I do believe there are so many wonderful human advancement possibilities that we have and really know nothing about… ‘smart pills’ (I just took one – yuck, yuck!), new energies, new medical breakthroughs… Think about it, really! We put people on the moon. We can identify anyone anywhere with a satellite positioning itself. Our Mathematicians, our Scientists and Technologists of all kinds know so much, our Governments, all know so much more than we can ever believe they know…

So, why are some technological secrets kept from us? (If, of course, you choose to believe there are secrets…) Because of that power and greed and selfishness and, most of all, because of Trust. Love cannot come without Trust and Faith! Faith, Love, and Trust can come, but it seems to me must come when we on this globe can at least communicate with each other, cannot lose each other in translation. Faith, Love, and Trust can come when we begin to let go of our prejudices, when we begin to know and understand that we are not just one person or just a few elites…we can never reach the glory that is out there for us unless we try to eliminate bias, hatred, ignorance, selfishness, and evil from the world…

This is all a fanciful exercise, but can it not come to pass? Can we not all see that a global union of bodies can achieve Faith, Love, and Trust, that our world can be the promised Nirvana, that promise that just maybe got us all started on this orbital journey?

Who knows but the chicken and egg conundrum Maker, our God, that Designer of all our myths and truths!

PLEASE FOLLOW ME ON:

twitter (@brchitwood)  and http://facebook.com/billyray.chitwood

SOME OF MY WEBSITES:

http://billyraychitwood.weebly.com

http://www.goo.gl/fuxUA (IAN) (short bio and my books)

http://www.about.me/brchitwood

http://linkedin.com/brchitwood

http://amazon.com

http://amazon.co.uk

I’ve been honored with a nomination for the ‘Very Inspiring Blogger Award’ by Mr. Francis Baraan IV (@MrFrancisBaraan on Twitter) for which I would like to most sincerely thank him. it’s always a pleasure to receive these award nominees but it’s also a bit tedious and time-consuming in fulfilling the requirements that are attached to them. I have been honored with a few of these awards, and, while it takes some time away from my writing and/or maintenance chores of the social networks, it is always gratifying. An ‘Award’ nomination makes one feel validated in some sense for her/his blog observations, for her/his writing in general, makes one feel that there is in her/his possession some talent that is recognized by others. In fact, it might come to a person that this nomination may be the only recognition they will ever get in their writing. If I appear somewhat ‘tongue in cheek,’ forgive me, for it truly is an honor to receive such an award.

Mr. Francis Baraan has a truly lovely blog site and he was also awarded the ‘Very Inspiring Blogger Award.’ It’s my hope that you will visit http://mrfrancisbaraanivblog.wordpress.com. (Please note that the lovely library room in the background of this site is already spoken for by me.) There is a most noble title to this post: THE BIBLIOPHILE CHRONICLES: MOSTLY A LITERARY BLOG — FRANCIS BARAAN ON BOOKS, READING, WRITING, WRITERS, AUTHORS, AND LA DOLCE VITA. Please visit this most worthy wordpress blog and prepare to be impressed. That was my experience, and I’m sure it will be yours.

As with most awards there are some mechanics that go with with acceptance of the nomination. The nominee is to acknowledge the nominator in the most kindest of words, momentarily forgetting the possible disdain he or she is feeling at having to navigate through the laundry list of chores. The nominee is to enumerate seven facts about herself/himself heretofore not necessarily known by the social network community, perhaps even the world. The nominee is also to nominate fifteen other people for the award — again, understanding that any friendships developed with those nominees over the preceding years are likely to go through some sort of purgatorial-like status before amity can return.

I would like to state that my dear friend, Jhobell Kristyl, also nominated me sometime back for this and two other awards, ‘The Reality Blog Award’ and “One Lovely Blog Award.” So, I hope I’m not stepping on the protocols but I’ll handle these generous and wonderful awards together. Please let this be okay with my friends, Francis and JK. I sincerely thank them both for the Award(s).

Also, relative to protocols, I’m changing my nominees format. Since I’m doing the nominating, it seems only proper that I set the requirements. HERE ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR MY FIFTEEN NOMINEES: 1) You may or may not acknowledge and thank me for the nomination; 2) You do need in accepting to show the award on your blog; 3) You must reveal seven things about yourselves that heretofore have not seen daylight; 4) THAT’S IT! You may if you wish nominate others for the award (in any number) but it is not mandatory. To recap, thank me if you like, show the Award on your blogs, and reveal in a specific post seven things about yourselves that have not heretofore been known. Simple enough?

Here are the seven revelations about myself, some shameful, some which never should have been revealed:

1) I’m an emotional cripple…not necessarily big news to the people who know me: I cry at heart-rending, death-disease-pending, and maltreated animal books and movies; ergo, I try to stay away from these books and movies. What makes this confession rather ridiculous is that, in some of the books I write (nay, all the books that I write), there are sections where I cried while writing them – and I cry when I re-read them. Guess it stands to reason that an emotional cripple will cry when he’s writing emotional scenes. Know what? That’s not embarrassing to me. In fact, I’m thankful for it. And, instead of blaming my age, I can say that it has always been that way for me.

2) In some ways I’m a Jekyl/Hyde kind of guy – particularly when it comes to the internet and the functions I must perform on it. First of all, an anachronism like me perhaps should not be on the internet. There are so many things I do not know, that HTML stuff, all the widgets, settings, and interneteze. I’m basically a humble guy with a tender heart (as you already know) but there are times when I rage, rant, rave, and come fairly close at times to throwing this laptop into my beautiful Canterra fireplace in front of which I sit posing as a author… Mostly, though, you can rely on my being a sweet, decent, law-abiding human being. (My wife is now looking over my shoulder and laughing full-throttle – at a safe distance, of course!). 

3) I love ‘thin’ milkshakes, not the thick stuff that you need a spoon to drink it (make that, eat it!). However, the milkshake has to have a slow-moving texture, thick enough to know there is ice cream within the ice. What kind, you ask? Thin, Chocolate milkshakes I crave most earnestly in the hot months particularly – made with vanilla ice cream (home-made if possible) and Hershey syrup. (At this point, as she reads these words, I’m giving Julie, my wife, that over my shoulder boyish smile with flickering eye countenance, and she’s not looking too pleased as she goes to the kitchen to pull the blender from the cupboard.)

4) Okay, Julie is not looking over the shoulder at the moment, so I can write this (Oh, sure, I’ll get her ire later!), but here’s the thing: even here in Twilight, a pretty lady, bursting out all over in that itsy bitsy teeny weeny polka dot bikini can still get the old motor running. Now, it’s of course a totally different kind of experience from the ‘young buck’ days – if you get my drift… Naturally, I love to pieces this lovely wife of mine, but, gee whiz, some of the damsels out there in the world today! Whooee! Please understand that this is only a thought process!

5) I’m basically a shy guy but get me around a group of fun-oriented people and I sorta have to show off! It might take a heavily laced drink to get me started (one is about all I can handle these days), but look out, I just might put on a one-man show: sing a few songs I’ve written, dramatize a few moments from the pages of my books… It’s all okay. I might overdo it once in a while, but, usually, the performance is in front of friends who know anyway that I’m going to make an ass out of myself. You see, it’s just me crying for attention! And, I get the attention, but the next day brings some remorse… The way I figure it, like, if I’m lying on the soiled and overused leather sofa of the shrink, I’m getting rid of some junk piled up there in this ego of mine… No real harm done, I’m thinking.

6) I was once a woman-chaser of the worst kind… You will find all of this if you read my memoirs. It’s all rather shameful, I suppose, but I’ve made it this far and just might as well lay it all out so people can decide to hate me, love me, maybe, at least, read me – that is, read my books. Hell, that’s why I wrote them, trying to find pieces of myself that could make some sense of me. The truth is the truth and it’s not going to set me free, but it helps me live a lot better within myself. Women-chasing is frowned upon, but I gotta tell you, I had me some times back in the day… (Oops! Julie’s back with my chocolate milkshake and I gotta get it from her before she pours it all over this graying head of mine!) Love that woman, and I didn’t spill a drop! She loves me. That’s the most warming thought this old mind and body needs to have.

7) This one is not so pretty but might as well put it out there. My mortality is something that lingers a spell now and then. It’s not so much I fear death. Hell, there are times when I would almost welcome it, particularly when this or that body part is not working or at some point has needed to be replaced. It’s the ‘legacy’ thing more than anything. I would like the people I’ve loved, my Mom, my wife, my kids, grand kids, greats, grandparents, my good friends, even my Dad and including some of those women I chased once upon a time, that they really were loved and they meant a lot to me. There was no cheapness in my love affairs. They all had worth. There were mountains I could have, should have, climbed and did not. There was so much more I could have given the world. There was much too much selfishness in my living, not enough giving of myself, not enough accomplishments that would match whatever talents I was supposed to have… So there it is. It all did not get done. BUT, there are nine books, a tenth being written (very slowly, he says), and maybe they will count for something. Maybe someone can benefit from them. MAYBE I can see me better with the books I have written. SO, mortality, death, does not scare me… I just wish that I could have given the world more and maybe not taken so much from it… It was likely all ordained, so it is what it is! I continue to enjoy life. I have family who love me, friends who care about me. GUESS when I think about it, I have a pretty good legacy as it is… AND,a big plus! I have my faith! It has undergone some altering since my Appalachian days of youth, but it is there. Yes, God, it is there! After all these orbits, You await…

Okay, that’s over!

Here are my fifteen nominees for ‘The Very Inspiring Blogger Award.’ You are all beautiful in your blogs and deserve this award. I’m just hopeful you won’t send me ‘hate mail’ and become too unruly over all of this.  Actually, it’s good to network… You just might find a viral track for a book or two.  Although it is not incumbent on you to list fifteen people for the Award (you can list any number, or, none at all), I am listing here fifteen deserving people, and, again, all they need to do is display the Award on their blogs and reveal seven things about themselves in a post — acknowledge me in your post if you like. Just remember, I’m an emotional ‘dude’ and would appreciate your mention of me.

1) John Dolan - @JohnDolanAuthor (Twitter) –http://johndolanwriter.blogspot.com

2) James McCallister - @jumeirajames (Twitter) – http://i-nation.me

3) Linda Howard Urbach - @LindaUrbach (Twitter) –http://www.madamebovarysdaugher.com

4) Eden Baylee - @edenbaylee (Twitter) – http://edenbaylee.com

5) Diane Strong - @DianeIStrong (Twitter) – http://dianestrong.wordpress.com

6) Cameron Garriepy - @camerongarriepy (Twitter) –http://camerondgarriepy.com

7) Dianne Gray - @Zigotide (Twitter) – http://diannegray.au.com

8) Mary Meddlemore - @MaryMeddlemore (Twitter) – http://marymeddlemore1.wordpress.com

9) Rick Mallery - @RickMallery (Twitter) – http://rickmallery.wordpress.com

10) Sheris Bessi (Eternally Me) – @sherisbessi (Twitter) – http://theothersideofugly.com

11) Seumas Gallacher - @seumasgallacher (Twitter) – http://seumasgallacher.wordpress.com

12) Dianne Harman - @DianneDHarman (Twitter) –http://DianneHarmon.com

13) Katherine L. Logan - @KathyLLogan (Twitter) –http://katherinellogan.com

14) Virginia Lee - @dagonsblood (Twitter) – https//dagonsblood.wordpress.com

15) Arthur Crandon - @arthurcrandon (Twitter) – http://www.bit.ly/TfzLl2

If you would like to know more about me, here are some links:

http://www.about.me/brchitwood

http://www.billyraychitwood.weebly.com

http://www.goo.gl/fuxUA

http://www.thefinalcurtain1.wordpress.com

http://www.facebook.com/billyray.chitwood

http://www.amazon.com (billy ray chitwood)

http://www.amazon.co.uk (billy ray chitwood)

This old guy - that would be, me - is feeling some familiar aching but also some semblance of hope and well-being. That big old Sea out my window has a lot to do with that last part. All in all, life has treated me fairly and squarely and I'm a pretty lucky fella.

We can all be devastated at times, when those ugly events hit us, like a simple marathon turning into a terrorist plot, panic and pain, like a tradition turning into another date to remember a tragedy caused by people who find it easy to hate and to kill. A tragedy can chip away at our hearts and our hopes, and it's terribly difficult to write about. All life is precious to most of us, and we can't quite process the minds that come up with the acts of terror. Like so many of you, I'll grieve for the eight-year old boy who died. I'll grieve for the boy's sister who lost her legs. I'll grieve for the mother of the two who suffered brain trauma. I'll grieve for all those maimed and seriously damaged by this act of terror. I'll think of it as another surreal event to add to our sad days of remembrance. I'll spend some time wondering why it had to happen. I'll do what most of us will do, care and grieve. I'll be reminded as I so often am of an 'Anon' saying: "Life is really simple... People insist on making it complicated." Now, I guess I could throw out some Mark Twain gems as well - he surely knew how to simply define some of our worst moments and some of our critters (politicians and otherwise!).

Guess I'm going to the Sea outside my window and that wide pale blue sky. It gives me some peace and deliverance. It makes me think about a lot of things, like, maybe, all this good and evil is going to be with us through life. It makes me think that just maybe there's something good coming down the road on a day we least expect it, maybe something really good that some of us can't really wrap our minds around too well, maybe something that will make all the hurt and the pain go away. Guess that's what this big old Sea is trying to tell me. At least, it seems the only place I can go to lessen by a few degrees this latest human evil.

Wish there was some way to share some of this beauty and perhaps diminish some of those bad feelings you're having now. But, then, maybe you, too, have a Sea, an Ocean, a mountain, a meadow, or a desert that can give you some peace.

For me, it's this big blue-green Sea, this wide pale blue sky, the constant Sun, and this abiding faith that all we do, all we witness, good and bad, will make some sense at some incredible moment in the total arc of our time on this planet.

Follow me on twitter: @brchitwood

Preview my books: http://www.goo.gl/fuxUA