The Chaos of Living

 I retreated to a bookstore today
and found a refuge from the chaos
of living.

Though I went there alone, I was
not by myself, for the books did
whisper and their voices were clear.

There I sat, drinking coffee
and medicating on poetry, as
the world passed by.

And there I found a fellowship
of mentors, whose stories
were not unlike my own.

Robert Frost walked through
The Dismal Swamp, then spent
his life masking a darker side.

Hart Crane, John Berryman,
Ann Sexton and Sylvia Plath
each committed suicide.

Keats was, “Half in love with
easeful death,” while Shelly’s dance
with the reaper cost him his life.

Joseph Brodsky was banished
to the Far North and finally
exiled from Mother Russia.

But, The Soviet’s loss was
was America’s gain; I wish
I could have met him.

Milosz looked upon darkness
and questioned the value
of ornamental poetry.

And there’s the Psalter.
A collection of laments
written by people of faith.

I understand the world is
broken and life’s not easy,
but- must it be so difficult?

-Cameron Dockery

 

A poet looks at the 20th Century

 I took a few minutes this evening to read, "Encounter" by Czeslaw Milosz and was once again moved by the heart of a young man who looked Evil in the eye and brought a response.  As  a Polish Poet he lived among the most abused people of the twentieth century. It  describes an encroaching darkness that was changing the face of Europe. A darkness referred to as- The Holocaust. The year was 1936 and he was only 25 years old.

Encounter

We were riding through frozen fields in a wagon at dawn.
A red wing rose in the darkness.

And suddenly a hare ran across the road.
One of us pointed to it with his hand.

That was long ago. Today neither of them is alive,
Not the hare, nor the man who made the gesture.

O my love, where are they, where are they going
The flash of a hand, streak of movement, rustle of pebbles.
I ask not out of sorrow, but in wonder.

- Czeslaw Milosz  (1936)

The following link takes you to an excellent lecture by Edward Hirsch about the poets of Post War Poland. 

http://youtu.be/2jcNX3KfM5o

Old Type Writers & Yesterday's Methods.

 Long ago and far away, in a world long forgotten, those who held a passion for the written word labored tirelessly over one of these. For the day it represented quite a leap in technology. Those who depended on it were thankful for innovation and all it represented. During that time most people didn’t earn much money, but that was OK  because things were cheaper then. Gas was a nickel a gallon and movies were only a dime.

While some refer to that era as “The Good Old Day’s” and nostalgia occasionally walks through the yesterdays all of our lives, if given the chance, no one would seriously consider going back. Yesterday is fun to ponder, the memories are sweet, but the fact of the matter remains, as compared, “The Good Old Day’s” left a lot to be desired.

Today’s recent shake up of the publishing industry serves as a point of reference. Those who finally walked away from the gatekeepers of antiquity have found a platform that’s given them a voice, as well as, an opportunity in this digital age. I’ve been tracking the shake up and fall out for a few years now and it appears the tipping point has arrived and the Dominoes are falling.

The detractors will fight until this rising tide eventually shifts and carries the antiquated out into a sea of obscurity, where arrogant cronies of an out dated system deny the facts and lament the losses, while hanging on to yesterday’s methods and still yearning for The Good Old Day’s.

While I’m by no means an authority on the matter, I’m left scratching  my head when considering  the Classic Works of literature that were self-published.  For instance, Charles Dickens Self-Published, A Christmas Carol which has become on of the best selling Holiday Classic’s in the history of print. James Joyce self-published Ulysses, as Beatrix Potter did with The Adventures of Peter Rabbit and Tom Peters with In Search of Excellence.

Did you know Upton Sinclair, Thomas Paine, Edger Allen Poe, Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, e.e. Cummings, all self published at one time or another? That only represents a short list, there’s many more. It goes with out saying John Gresham got the last laugh when he persevered and pushed through the rejection letters and slush piles of  would be agents only to self- publish A Time to Kill . (Can’t you imagine those agents now? “Dang, I hate it when that happens.”

I love to read and have amassed a considerable library over the years. I enjoy walking into a book store and sitting down with a good read and a hot cup of coffee. I am not naïve enough to believe print will soon be gone, but I do maintain publishing as we know it has, is and shall continue to change. Soon, it will become obvious that  yesterday’s antiquated methods no longer suffice.

The time has never been better for a wannabe writer to throw caution to the wind and go for it. Come along…I’ll see you on the other side!

http://www.camdockery.com

Luck: The place where preperation meets opportunity.

In my last post I shared how during the middle ages The Renaissance was put on a much faster track by Gutenberg's innovation in printing and likened that to what Bezos is doing with Amazon. I also said the current shake up in the publishing industry was nothing less than a revolution.

Hugh Howey has done an extensive study and  posted the numbers.  Follow this link and check the verdict. By every appearance self-published authors are finding themselves on a level playing field. As stated before, "Gone are the days when gate keepers of an antiquated model held writers at bay..." The playing field has been leveled to such a degree that if you have a desire to write and the discipline to get it done you can publish your work and bring it to market.

Those in the know say luck plays a big role in determining who's successful in this business and I believe it. However, Joe Konrath suggest, "Luck favors those who are prepared."  I once heard luck defined as: "The place where preparation meets opportunity."

These are exciting times for all the wannabe's of publishing. I am a wannabe and have been for quite sometime. I made a run at it a couple of years ago and even managed to sell a few hundred dollars worth of my titles on Amazon.

However, last spring I came to a painful conclusion that at best my material was only mediocre and the only way  to improve a dismal performance was to take responsibility and get professional. So with that I pulled all seven titles off Amazon and went on a hiatus.  During the process our family moved to another residence that was in serious need of a remodel and my wife underwent a kidney transplant.

Now the house is about finished and the new kidney's preforming well. Things are looking up and I'm I am back at the keyboard. In a few weeks I'll  have my first title re-uploaded to Amazon and I believe those of you who are familiar with my previous titles will be pleased with the improvements.

When the editing is completed  I'll post a  few excerpts while waiting for the cover art to come in. I'm excited about the opportunity! How about you? Everyone has a story. What epic tale has been germinating in your mind and beating in your heart? Are you up for a challenge?  Write it, have it edited and secure a cover artist.

Who knows? Maybe that place where preparation meets opportunity will collide on the pages of your story and the world will take notice.

www.camdockery.com





  

Renaissance to Revolution

It was in the middle of the 15th century when Johannes Gutenberg brought innovation to the world of printing. Though block printing had been around in Europe for over a hundred years and the Chinese had been printing on cloth since the third century, Gutenberg brought something new to an antiquated and cumbersome process.

The result of his vision changed the nature of communication and became a catalyst during the Protestant  Reformation. It put the Renaissance on a much faster track and moved world toward The Enlightenment.

Today, vision and technology have once again joined hands and the antiquated is challenged. While the tide of yesterday's norm reluctantly recedes a tsunami of something new and digital is crashing the beach!

Leading the day is none other than Steve Bezos and all things Amazon. In just five short years digital publishing is heading toward critical mass as the causalities mount. The Closing of Borders is old news, Barns and Noble is in trouble and the coveted Big 6 of legacy publishing is now reduced to 5.

While some say history repeats it's self  I don't think that's the case here. My opinion of time is that it moves in linear fashion and therefore can not repeat upon it's self. However, it often gives and appearance of repetition and the reason for that phenomena in this case is simple. Human beings are inquisitive and constantly searching for a way of doing it bigger and better.

Technology and creativity will always feed off each other and in the process something like Google  comes along and the world takes notice. It was just a matter time before the computer age produced another venue.

My wife gave me a Kindle for Christmas in 2010 and I quickly saw the possibility for a wannabe writer. I stumbled on a few blogs and learned if you're passionate enough and work hard it's possible to produce a quality product that is easily brought to market.


Joe Konrath and Hugh Howey are big examples of what can happen for indie authors in this digital age. No one saw it coming, but once again technology and creativity linked up and human potential went through the ceiling.

 Konrath earned one million dollars in 2013 and Hugh Howey published the first installment of Wool as a short novella in 2011. Popular demand drove him back to the key board where he turned in four more installments and has since packaged the collection and sold the print rights to a main line house, while retaining digital rights and selling the movie option to Hollywood.

Thousands of others are earning anywhere from a modest supplemental income to a replacement income and while that's become old news the current  trend is growing exponentially.


History suggest there's something familiar about Gutenberg's innovation during the middle ages.  It looked a lot like todays shake up of the publishing industry. Both were and are serious game changers. The former helped ignite the Renaissance and the later... a Revolution.

www.camdockery.com

Square Pegs & Round Holes

An old idiomatic expression from the 1800's declares, "You can't put a square peg in a round hole." While the genius behind that saying remains anonymous the implication is obvious: "Some times there are those among us who just don't fit."

Question: Is that a bad thing?
Answer: No. It's a good thing.

 

History is replete with individuals who struggled to fit into some expectant norm only to find themselves on the cutting edge of revolutionary innovation. Bill Gates with Microsoft, Steve Jobs with Apple, Mark Zukerberg with Facebook, and Jeff Bezos with Amazon, represent such forward thinking world changers.

While it's true the aforementioned belong to a rather elite fellowship of square pegs who leveraged great success into tremendous wealth, a brief survey reveals three of the four dropped out of college without earning a degree. (Gates, Jobs and Zukerberg)

With our recent celebration of Christmas I'm taken back to first century Palestine where from a humble village and quaint carpenter's shop there emerged a square peg named Jesus of Nazareth. By all accounts He was a reject. John tells us, " He was in the world and the world was made by Him, but the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not..."

He was a reject who did not fit the status quo, yet when they crucified him they printed his name in three languages. He remains the single most controversial person in the history of mankind, who in the words of Phillip Yancey, "...so graced the instrument upon which He died it has become the most recognized religious symbol in the world today."

If at times you've felt like a square peg drifting in a sea of round holes wondering if perhaps you will ever fit in... do yourself a favor. Don't look down. Look up! You're in good company!

 

         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I wrote and posted this to Facebook just after Christmas and since that time have given the proposition considerable thought and come to a conclusion that never in my life have I felt more like a square peg.

 

The frustrating question is..."So, what's a guy to do?"

 

My wife calls it a mid-life crises, but I'm convinced there's more to it. I'm 51 years old and realize some men struggle with significance and call everything into question around this time and station in life. However, the water I'm treading seams to run a little deeper. 

 

When I was 30 years old my wife and I uprooted our three children and relocated 5000 miles to Alaska where we spent 15 years pastoring a church and experiencing another part of the world. While that move came at great cost and with much sacrifice... we have no regrets. It was Awesome!

 

That move was somewhat birthed out of discontent. We knew there was a calling on our life and ministry to do something different and at the time did not realize we were just a couple of square pegs.

 

This time around... there's no longing of the heart to invade another part of the world. North Carolina is home and we are happy to have returned. However, something is pulling at the heart strings and the mystery of it is wearing on me.

 

If anything I'm saying resonates with any of you readers I'll sign off with....

 

Happy to meet you. One square peg to another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Extended Hiatus

To those of you who follow this blog I'm sure it seems as if I've fallen off the face of the earth. The reason for the extended hiatus is I'm in the middle of remolding and relocating. Our family is moving to another house that needs a make over and I'm standing at the cross roads of overwhelmed and panic. Well, not actually in panic mode yet, but seriously pushing the envelope.

My writing thing has taken a hit over the last several weeks and the itch is killing me. I am helplessly addicted to literature and writing and am convinced of two things. First, one day I will grow up. And secondly, when the day finally comes and I've stepped over the threshold of wannabe, I will have broken into and onto the cherished prize of Amazon's top 100 best sellers.

Until then... Pass me the hammer, a paint brush and order me a cheese burger!