This afternoon, I was watching Bolt with my grandson. Bolt tells the story of the canine star of a fictional sci-fi/action show.  The dog (whose voice is John Travolta) believes his powers are real and he embarks on a cross country trek to save his co-star (Penny) from a threat he believes is just as real as the show he stars in and the character he portrays. This song by Jenny Lewis is part of the sound track and I was so impressed with the song that I decided to try to add this upbeat song to my children’s programs somehow. Lewis is an actress and musician. Her website is here:

From Bolt Lyrics for “Barking at the Moon”(There Is No Home Like the One You Got) by Jenny Lewis

I have got so much to give,
I swear I do,
I may not have nine lives,
But this one feels brand new.

Yes, I’ve lived a good one
I have tried to be true
There are some things
I never realized,
Till I met you.

How the wind feels on my cheeks,
When I’m barking at the moon,
There is no home like the one you’ve got
Cause that home belongs to you.

Woo woo, here I come,
Woo woo, back to you,
There is no home like the one you’ve got
Cause that home belongs to you.

Well, I was in the trouble bad,
I was so confused,
I may not see in color, babe,
But I sure can feel blue.

I have been a lot of things,
They may not all be true.
My experience was so mysterious
Till I met you.

Now the sun will rise in the east,
But I’m barking at the moon,
There is no home like the one you’ve got
Cause that home belongs to you.

Woo woo, here I come,
Woo woo, back to you,
There is no home like the one you’ve got
Cause that home belongs to you.

There is no home like the one you’ve got
Cause that home belongs to you. (Repeat again slowly)

To Live’s to Fly: The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt by John Kruth A Review by Rickey Pittman

This is the second biography I’ve read of Townes Van Zandt. And though I found many points that overlapped with the previous biography I reviewed (A Deeper Blue), I found To Live’s to Fly: The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt by John Kruth (Da Capo 2007) an interesting and illuminating read.

The book contains a great section of photos, and the biography is carefully researched.  With 27 chapters and a Postscript, the book has a good structure and if you’re a fan of Townes, the book is a page-turner that is not easy to put down.  The last hours of my day were spent reading it, and the past few nights, I found myself dreaming about Townes Van Zandt and scenes in this book.

The author works hard, and I think successfully, to let us gaze into the life, mind, and heart of the Texas Troubadour. His songs are worked in chronologically and in a way that provide insights not only into Townes, but also into the lives of those who surrounded him.  After reading this book, I realized how little I really knew about the folk singers of Texas and Nashville.

Anthony DeCurtis, contributing editor for Rolling Stone magazine says of this biography: “Townes Van Zandt was an ornery, unpredictable genius, a songwriter whose gift offered him salvation and damnation in equal doses.  In John Kruth he has found a biographer well-suited to his eccentricities and rough edges, a man who understand him and who brings light into his dark places.”

I think this is a good summary of this biography. If you’re a Townes fan, you need to read Kruth’s book. I liked the book so much that I ordered the two CD copy of Live at the Quarter. It will be interesting to see how this book and CD change my own Americana show.

Advice for Writers from an Award Winning Author

There’s a New York Times Bestseller entitled, Still Alice, a novel by Lisa Genova (Simon & Schuster). For anyone with a parent suffering from Alzheimer’s, this is a must read. Though there are many things I could say about this novel, I chose to do an entry for my blog about her writing this book and the advice she has for aspiring writers. Here is the quote from the Discussion Question section.  She says:

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

I know so many aspiring writers whoa re sitting in a holding pattern, with a work completed, waiting to find a literary agent.  They’re stuck, unable to give themselves permission to write the next book because they’re waiting to find out if their work is “good enough,” waiting to find out if they’re a ‘real writer.”  This state of waiting, of not writing and self-doubt, is the worst state any writer can be in.  My advice is this:  If you don’t find a literary agent falling into your lap quickly enough, if you feel like your work is done and is ready to be shared with the world, self-publish. Give your work to the world. Let it go. And keep writing. Freedom! I was recently in my car listening to Diablo Cody, who wrote the  screenplay for Juno, on NPR and when asked what advice she had for aspiring screenwriters, she said, “Self-publish.”  I yelled alone in my car, “Woohoo! See? Diablo Cody agrees with me, and she’s just been nominated for an Academy Award!”

Explain Your Writing Schedule

I have a newborn baby boy, so these days it’s catch as you can.  But for Still Alice, I wrote in Starbucks every day while my then six-year-old daughter was in school.   I found writing from home too difficult. There were too many distractions—phone calls to return, food to eat in the fridge, laundry to do, bills to pay.  You know you’re procrastinating when you’re paying bills instead of writing the next scene!  At Starbucks,  there were no excuses. Nothing else to do but write. You can’t even daydream there for long without looking crazy.  So you just put your head down and do it . . . My time to write was my time to write . . . I think having a limited number of hours each day to write kept me hungry to get back to it.  I never dreaded it or experienced writer’s block.  Every day, I couldn’t wait to get back to Starbucks, drink chai tea lattes, and write.

Stories of the Confederate South: A Review by Cassie A Barrow, published in Confederate Veteran, July/August/ 2009.

It is essential in today’s society to have books that tell the story of the Confederacy to a younger audience. To do so successfully, the writer must be witty, entertaining, yet relate the truth about the time period, even in fiction.  Stories of the Confederate South is such a book that has a menagerie of different accounts pertaining to the War Between the States. This publication is perfect for middle school-aged children.

Stories of the Confederate South contains ten short fiction stories that deal with varying details of the war. One narrative gives the reader a glimpse of the war against Southern women, while another tells of a present day bias for a Southern boy in the North. “From the senseless death and suffering of children to the strength of Confederate women, Pittman recounts the events of the War from the unique and unforgettable perspective of a Southerner,” as stated in a promotional leaflet for this publication.  Author Rickey Pittman does an outstanding job once again in his writings.  Mr. Pittman is also the author of the children’s book, Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House.

Here are the lyrics to song #9 for my CD of original songs. The melody and chords I had written years ago, but the lyrics only tonight. I’m excited! Only one more song for my first CD of original music.

“Look How Lonely”: A Song by Rickey E. Pittman

Verse 1
I guess we didn’t think the worst could happen,
I guess we didn’t think we’d bleed,
We put our hearts on the line,
Thinking love would not be denied,
Now look how lonely we can be.

Verse 2
Something’s broken now inside me.
Something that no one else can see,
Yours was a love I threw away,
Nothing left now for me to say,
But look how lonely, I can be.

Verse 3
I’m not looking for easy answers,
I’m not looking for your return,
I just hope before my dying day,
That maybe I’ll hear you say,
Without you how lonely I can be.

Verse 4
If I knew my world would end tomorrow,
Tonight, I’d find you and I’d say,
You were the one and only love,
The one I’m still dreaming of,
And look how lonely a man can be.

Verse 5
I tried to drown you in my memory,
But pills and whisky don’t ease the pain,
Your goodbye was a knife,
That cut the chord binding our lives,
Now look how lonely we can be.

Without you, there’ll never be a me.

An important part of any author’s or musician’s life is the promotion of his work. This year, I’m signed up for author events at these Sam’s Clubs. Almost always, Sam’s will have high traffic.  So here is my Sam’s Schedule in Louisiana and Texas:

9/5/2009       9:30 to 11:30 Jackson, MS
10/3/2009 9:00 to 11:00 Longview
10/3/2009 4:00 to 6:00 Shreveport

10/3/2009 12:00 to 2:00 Tyler
10/10/2009 9:30 to 11:30 Alexandria, LA
10/11/2009 2:00 to 4:00 Monroe
10/17/2009 2:00 to 4:00 Dallas

10/17/2009 10:00 to 12:00 Plano
10/18/2009 2:00 to 4:00 Ft. Worth
10/18/2009 10:00 to 12:00 Dallas
11/28/2009 9:30 to 11:30 Slidell
11/28/2009 2:00 to 4:00 Gulfport
11/29/2009 2:00 to 4:00 Harvey
11/29/2009 10:00 to 12:00 Kenner