Snakes

Some men
are like frozen snakes.
They are stuck in ice
and chilled into impotence,
unable to slither away
and experience their true potency.

They cannot show their fangs
or coil themselves
into a striking position,
their very nature deemed as
a threat to everyone.

So instead of being a
venomless symbol of
conformity crawling around,
nothing special to anyone,

some men salvage whatever
they can of their true selves
and go their own way

for it seems better to be
on a different path than

frozen to the core.

A Different Joke

The joke about old age
has always been,
The mind is the first thing to go.
 
But when it actually happens,
when you are no longer vibrant,
losing that spark that made you
 
so unique, when you try to
put together your thoughts
and the wirings in your brain
 
just won’t work in harmony
and all you can say are
sputtering phrases that even
 
you can’t understand, and when
even words become too much
to muster and all you have is
 
a distant stare and the world
looks back at you indifferently,
not even caring that you’re there,
 
that’s when you would hope
everyone would see that they
may need to tell a different joke.

My Writing Process - Blog Tour

Today is my day on The Blog Tour, where writers and authors answer questions about their writing processes.  My friend Elizabeth Gaucher posted hers last week.  You can check out her writing process here:
 
http://essediemblog.com/2014/03/10/mywritingprocess/
 
Well, I guess it’s my turn to share.  So let’s get to it.

 

What am I working on?
 
With March Madness set to begin this week, I will be concentrating most of my attention on my blog posts for The Man Cave Podcast website (www.mancavepodcast.com).   This will be the second year that I’ve written about the tournament for the site.  I am tentatively scheduled to be a guest on their weekly podcast that is broadcasted via the site and Apple ITunes.
 
I am also working on the second draft of a novel that is yet to be titled.  I started on this project about a year and a half ago during National Novel Writing Month in November.  I’ve been off and on with dealing with it but I figure it I continue to plug away at it, it will get done.
 
Even with all of this going on, I still find some time to work on poetry.  I still participate in open mic events around the city and attend poetry critique groups when my schedule allows.

 
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
 
I did not have any idea about different types of genres until I joined James River Writers organization a few years ago.  I definitely did not think about it when I wrote Nice Guys Finish Last.  But after my experiences with trying to promote this book as well as learning from many of the other writers that have published their own works, I realized that many of the themes and topics that I write about don’t really have a home.
 
I write all of my works from a modern day male’s perspective.  Some of them are my own and some from observations of people I know and don’t know.  I feel that there is a lack of content for that type

of person.  Many times men are portrayed in three different ways:

 

• Courageous hero
• Devious villain
• Emasculated wimp

 
Men are way more than that and I wanted to cover through my own experiences and that of others.
 

Why do I write what I do?
 
The name of my blog says it all:
 
I Got Something To Say
 
The motto applies to whatever format that I write in.  I just feel like there are things that I want to get out there in my own voice. 
 

How does your writing process work?
 
I work a full-time job and some days have to work overtime.  That doesn’t leave me a lot of time to actually sit down and write.  Most of the time I am a pantser.  I have ideas floating in my head and many times I’ll write them down as is and come back to them later.  I have mounds of paper piled up in a corner of a room to prove that.
 
One of the things I really have to fight is not wanting to sit down and write.  I work in IT for a printing company and I spend most of my day in a chair staring at a computer.  The last thing I really want to do is come home to sit in a chair and stare at another computer.  I always try to change locations in the house to give myself a different environment.  Sometimes I write at the kitchen table on my laptop, sometimes I take my laptop into the living room and write on the couch, and sometimes I will write at my desktop.  I also find that writing longhand on a legal pad helps the process along as well, especially with my poetry.

 

NEXT WEEK

 

JP Cane lives in Richmond, Va. He is active in the local writing community and serves on the board of James River Writers. He has published several essays and his first short story, “Full Moon Lament,” appeared in eFiction Magazine. He has just finished his novel, Shadows. Follow him on Twitter (@jpcane) or check out his website ( http://www.jpcane.com ). He enjoys connecting with writers and readers, so reach out!

 

 
Leila Gaskin was born on a dark and stormy night on the other side of the world from Richmond, VA, Leila Gaskin began a life full of imaginative wanderings. Influenced by her journey, Leila takes inspiration from the places she’s lived. She is a member of the James River Writers and the author of several short stories ranging from horror, speculative fiction, science fiction, and urban fantasy. Hot Flashes is her debut novel.
 
With her dog as her co-pilot and the cat as the navigator, Leila explores her world and tells her stories.
 
Check out her website at www.leila-gaskin.com.

 

 
Life is an adventure for Eric Douglas, above and below the water and wherever in the world he ends up. Eric received a degree in Journalism from Marshall University. After working in local newspapers, honing his skills as a story teller, and following a stint as a freelance journalist in the former Soviet Union, he became a dive instructor. The ocean and diving have factored into all of his fiction works since then.
 
As a documentarian, Eric has worked in Russia, Honduras and most recently in his home state of West Virginia, featuring the oral histories of West Virginia war veterans in the documentary West Virginia Voices of War.
 
He is the author of the fiction works: Cayman Cowboys, Flooding Hollywood, Guardians' Keep, Wreck of the Huron, a string of Kindle short stories, two children’s books and is the editor/co-author of the collaborative fiction work River Town.
 
His nonfiction work includes Scuba Diving Safety, Russia: Coming of Age and Common Valor.
 
His blog is located at: www.booksbyeric.com.