Inspiration From a Gifted Writer

As you know, I've highlighted a few different writers on this blog ... Faulkner, Hemingway, Hunter S. Thompson and so forth. I never cease to be amazed how talented some are, and where their passion, pathos and inspiration come from. It varies for all of us, of course, some positive, some not. Mine, personally, has come from multiple sources, people and lessons learned. Most recently, a friend of mine, Allie Hanley, an entertainment writer and film contributor in Seattle who writes for www.culturemob.com, was the last in a long list of influences that made me finally sit down and start writing this blog.

Among other things, Allie encouraged me to get off my hind-end and just start writing ... something, anything!  "The key is to just write daily," she told me, "in a journal, on a blog, whatever: JUST WRITE!"

Well, I've been talking about it for years. I have a couple of "Next Great American Novels" struggling along, but not very quickly. I really have wanted to write and do want to get my voice out into cyberspace; so ... with Allie's prompting, and several good examples, I bit the bullet and did so. And you know? I am loving the challenge. Don't know what you think about it, but the hits I'm getting would suggest that people like the concept, and the content. I hope so. I am certainly enjoying the experience.

Thank you, Allie, for the kick in the caboose; thanks to all of you who've inspired me and taught me (my grandmother, author Lucile Tate, among others--she's a future blog post subject; Og Mandino, CS Lewis, Malcolm Gladwell.... the list is long and growing). Thank you all. I appreciate the push.

It's not Shakespeare, but I don't think it has to be. Thanks for reading....

JP River

Note: If you'd like to read some of Allie's awesome CultureMob articles, go to http://culturemob.com/author/alliehanley