LBN Guest Blogger: Sylvia Rochester

This week we’re pleased to have multi-published Hammond author Sylvia Rochester as a guest blogger offering invaluable writing advice. In addition to her many books, she’s an accomplished artist. Be sure to attend her book signing from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 7, 2018, at The Art Station in Ponchatoula.

  

Thank you for the opportunity to visit with you. I’m an author and artist and find the two professions to be inseparable. In fact, each enhances the other. Maybe what works for me can work for you.

From time-to-time, we have all experienced the dreadful writer’s block, and we’re left searching for a reason and a cure. It could be your muse has tired of the same old diet of words, words, words.

“But that’s what writing’s all about,” you say.

Is it? Technology is great, but the computer is not the epitome of inspiration or the end-all for emotions. So where do you go to find a remedy?

First, step away from the keyboard. Now, close your eyes and open your mind. It’s time you expose yourself to the world around you, find that special niche that has eluded you. In other words, you need to feed your muse by embracing other artistic endeavors.

Are you musically inclined? Then go for it — play an instrument, write a song, sing.  Don’t think you can do that? Then just listen. Shhh, can you hear it? Like Keats said, "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter.” Music can fill your imagination with stories and plots you never dreamed existed.

While I love music, painting is my go-to trigger. There is not a landscape that doesn’t demand a story. Who lives there? What do they do? What year is it? What secrets lie in the shadows? As I paint various subjects, I’m feeding my muse, and she loves this new diet. My senses soar, and I can 

…feel the gentleness of rain against a face, the warmth of kitten, the touch of a child’s hand in mine, a loving embrace,

…smell the fragrance of a long-forgotten perfume, a savory meal simmering on a stove, the aroma of cherry pipe, the clean scent of pine woods, honeysuckle in August,

…marvel at the sight of reflections in a still lake, the majestic mountains reaching for clouds, the vastness of the canyons, the turbulence of oceans,

…taste the sweetness of a tawny port or the salty tears of betrayal.

Soon, sub-plots emerge. Characters appear. My painting and writing have become one. It can happen to you. Whatever activity you choose, be daring and bold. Give it your all, and you’ll find an unending supply of stimulus—seeds of creativity waiting for cultivation.

I hope you’ll visit my website, www.sylviarochester.com. I’m the author of 11 books of various genres. My latest release, "Deceptive Assassin," is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Wings ePress. Buy links are on my website. While there, be sure to enjoy my gallery. Like my books, I paint a variety of subjects but specialize in Louisiana landscapes in oils.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.