Tag Archives: creativity

RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman

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RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman

Success isn’t what makes you happy. It really isn’t. Success is doing what makes you happy and doing good work and hopefully having a fruitful life. If I’ve felt like I’ve done good work, that makes me happy. The success part of it is all gravy.

Philip Seymour Hoffman Imdb profile

I’ll never forget seeing Hoffman’s work for the first time. It was Boogie Nights, back in the early 2000s. Going in, I had no idea the flick was about the 70s porn industry in Los Angeles, and was a little shocked that the film, despite its subject matter, was so good. One reason was the brilliant characterization Hoffman brought to his character.

Through the years, he continued to deliver seamless characters, and although he was referred to as a character actor in Hollywood–a sign of respect in the industry, an acknowledgement among peers that you are an artist–he also proved to be a worthy leading man as seen in Capote.

I’ll always respect his devotion to doing good work, doing right by the characters he portrayed and focusing on the love of the craft. RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Post by Ife Oshun.


Philip Seymour Hoffman tribute tweets

Blood To Blood Available in Pre-release

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Blood To Blood: Available in pre-release via Amazon (Kindle). Buy or borrow today!

Blood To Blood Novel

Blood To Blood Novel

Finally, after 3 years of writing, re-writing, editing and querying over and over again, my book is out and in the world. Blood To Blood, available in pre-release, is my first novel.

*Major exhale* Phew!

I am so very excited to be sharing these characters with everyone! There’s something very liberating about knowing that I did my part to infuse these characters with the personalities they showed me, and now it’s out of my hands.

During pre-release, the book will be available exclusively through Kindle where you can buy or borrow it. The official release, which will see it available across multiple platforms as well as in hard copy, will be in October 2012.

There’s nothing more I can do with this book except hope that readers enjoy it and fall in love with Angel, Sawyer and Justin, too.

By the way, you may wonder how I chose to celebrate this momentous occasion. I went to see Dark Knight Rises. It rocked. However, my prayers and love energy go out to the people whose lives were forever changed by the senseless killings at a screening this past weekend.

Well, I’m off to write the next story. Hmmm…it may include at least one of the above-mentioned Blood To Blood characters. In the meantime, enjoy an excerpt.

 

My Muses – Van Hunt

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One of my favorite all-time muses is Van Hunt. I interviewed him back in the mid 2000s, but had fallen in love with his eclectic style of music way before then.

Van Hunt

Van Hunt

When it comes to categorizing his style, it’s impossible to squeeze his discography into one genre; he covers everything from soul, to rock, to funk, to pop.

While his music is unpredictable he’s always superior when it comes to creating a specific atmosphere and evoking a mood. “At the End of a Slow Dance” is one of my favorite Van Hunt songs, and continually haunts me years after first hearing it.

 

 

Van Hunt – “At the End of a Slow Dance”

 

 

Van Hunt’s recent album is more rock oriented and has one or two tunes that’s found their way onto my current playlist for the Blood To Blood sequel.

Weekly Word: Inspiration and Work

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“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work.” ~ Chuck Close

Part of the writer’s dilemma is writing, and finding the time to write in a busy schedule. Writing on a daily basis is ideal, but making the time to write, for many of us, is an art.

saraswati I like this particular quote because it reminds me that the work of writing is the most important thing. When I’m writing my creativity flows and I feel the need to write more. There’s a connection with the practical doing of writing and actually getting it done. This doing can be applied to anything, not just writing.

So yes, inspiration is great, but without the doing the inspiration is wasted. Even if you don’t feel inspired, do what you need to do anyway. Whether it’s writing or any other creative endeavor, just do it.

Make it a habit, break it down into manageable steps, tackle the biggest job first, and before you know it you’re not stuck waiting for inspiration. You’ll be actually taking action to make your ideas a reality.