![]()
Book Details:
Incandescent Visions by Lee Hudspeth Category: Adult fiction 18 yrs +, 64 pages Genre: Poetry | Publisher: George Lee Hudspeth Jr. Release date: December 2019 | Tour dates: Jun 1 to Jun 12, 2020 Content Rating: PG-13. Curse words: Three total, of the “mild” variety (godd*mn, hell, sh*t... one use for each). No f-words. No violence, no sexual content, no drug use, no underage drinking. Book Description: Having written numerous works of nonfiction, this is Lee Hudspeth’s debut book of poetry. Incandescent Visions explores the meaning of the human experience, as the author encourages his readers to ponder the universe and their place within it, and to catalyze their own creative potential. From the sublime shores of the Mediterranean to the majestic expansiveness of deep space, this book contemplates nostalgia, perspective and the gift of love. Through five short yet powerful, thought-provoking chapters of contemporary poems—and a dash of elegant, evocative haiku—Hudspeth takes his readers on a journey across the inner landscape of struggle, triumph, self-realization and imagination. Buy the Book: Barnes & Noble ~ iBook ~ Kobo ~ Amazon.com ~ Add to Goodreads
Three Essential Tools for Any Artist: Planning, Positivity and Creativity Objectively, any artistic endeavor is a multi-step, multi-variable and detailed process. Subjectively, the process will also be an emotional roller coaster. These observations are true regardless of the activity’s scale. I’ll provide two examples here. If you intend to write and self-publish a book, that’s a large-scale undertaking (perhaps as long as twelve or more months, depending on the word count). If you intend to write and post a blog article, that’s smaller scale (perhaps five to ten hours). Smaller scale activities can still be complicated, detailed and capable of raising your emotional temperature. Remember that the business and marketing side of your creative activities can be very time-consuming too. Now, take a deep breath. Okay... I suggest that you set your expectations for any project at the outset, because it’s going to be a marathon not a sprint. Keeping the big picture in mind will help you when you get tired, frustrated and confused. On the upside, at times you’ll also be euphoric, proud and confident. Keeping everything—where “everything” means the combination of your creative output and the administrative work necessary to release it to your audience—in perspective and staying positive will allow you to be your best creative self. Planning will help you by providing a road map of your path forward, as well as a record of how you got to where you are today. I vigorously recommend that you write everything down. I use a big Word document for this purpose. It’s my work and marketing planning diary; a repository of tips, tricks and resources; and a treasure trove of random thoughts and notes. I use Word’s Outlining feature to quickly organize this large document. (For reference, my version of this Word document now stands at 160 pages. I’m not including the dozens of data-intensive Excel workbooks I maintain. Sometimes Excel is much better suited to tracking data than Word, but that’s a topic for another blog post.) Staying positive of course involves being optimistic but also includes reducing negativity. Ignore any naysayers, starting with yourself. It’s easy to be self-critical, believe me. When you hear that nagging voice in your head, doubting the value of what you’re doing, ignore it. Replace negative self-talk with a strong connection to your initial vision, faith in your personal creative spark and the support of your family, friends and superfans. (One of the themes of my book Incandescent Visions is recognizing self-criticism and learning how to fight it.) If you’re feeling stuck or drained creatively, I suggest that you take one action, small or large; other actions will follow naturally, and you’ll find yourself on your own path to self-discovery. Several years ago I was pondering this fundamental question, “How can I be more creative?” I had put in three decades of full-time work and felt the need to renew my interest in art and creativity, and launch my “second act.” The first action I took was a visioning exercise. I found some quiet time, let my imagination run unconstrained, then wrote myself a letter describing those imaginings. One of the resulting aspirations was to do more creative writing. I decided to put effort into realizing those dreams and, long story short, twelve months later I had published this book. In summary, by planning ahead and setting realistic expectations for your artistic projects, you’ll better regulate the process and your emotions throughout. Staying positive encourages you to think freely, clearly and creatively. Breaking down large tasks into smaller components allows you to develop inertia and observe yourself making measurable progress: positive feedback loops are awesome! I wish you the best on your creative journey. ![]()
Meet the Author:
Lee Hudspeth is a poet, writer, musician and fellow human being. Incandescent Visions is his first book of poetry. He is the co-author of ten nonfiction books in the field of Information Technology. He has written articles for professional journals like PC Computing and Office Computing. He is the author of over one hundred articles in the online magazine The Naked PC, which he co-founded and co-published. He lives in Southern California with his wife, two sons and their cat. Find out more about Lee, his books and his music at LeeHudspeth.com. Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ goodreads ![]()
Giveaway Details:
$50 Amazon Gift Card or 1 of 2 Autographed copies of INCANDESCENT VISIONS (3 winners) (USA and Canada) Enter the Giveaway by filling in the Rafflecopter below.
1 Comment
11/26/2020 07:15:54 pm
Lu Ann, I enjoyed writing this Guest Post. Thank you for sharing my poetry book with your audience with a Guest Post and a Spotlight. Best wishes to you.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Categories |