Writing Workshop…again

September 3rd 2009

Last Saturday, I let my friend Valerie Wells talk me into “driving her” to a writing workshop in Jackson while her car is in the shop.  Happy to do her the favor, I grabbed my binoculars and gear bag and headed out.  I had no idea what was to come.

I enjoyed myself.  I found the workshop full of helpful advice, the moderator intelligent and happy to share her real expertise, the other participants interesting and creative.  It was pretty much unlike most writing workshops I’ve even done.

Okay, I’m an old dog…what can I say?

Here’s a link to our moderator’s column in today’s Jackson Free Press.  Yeah, I’m the ‘birding columnist’ she’s talking about….

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/editors_note_art_is_the_best_revenge_090209/

Posted by Lin Harper under Serve It Cold | No Comments »

“Overwhelmed” – to quote Lin

July 2nd 2009

It’s been a long, dry spring. Dry in more than one way. Especially dry where my blogging is concerned. Lin sometimes laments that she isn’t blogging much and seems to feel very guilty about it. I can seemingly go months without thinking about it because I’m working on other writing; then Lin mentions it and off we go.

“I’m overwhelmed,” she says, when what she means is that she’s said “yes” to too many projects, activities, invitations, and life in general, even though we both know she really does want to do it all. I guess I’m overwhelmed with the ideas bubbling in my head, the stories that call to me to revisit them, to write a few more pages. I’m overwhelmed, too, and although I never consciously choose to ignore the blog, it is clear that I choose to ignore it rather than spend my “writing time” writing here. And, no, I don’t feel guilty at all. If you want to hear my voice, read my columns, buy my book, or listen to the podcast. Until then, get outside and look at the sky and see what you can see. It’s what I do when overwhelmed, and I highly recommend it.

Posted by Ron under Serve It Cold | No Comments »

Update #2: Trying Something New

April 15th 2009

Lin bought herself a tiny little videocam and is busily driving me crazy with it. We are back in town from a great weekend in Dauphin Island, AL. DIAL is a birding hotspot for spring migration and the list of migrating birds we saw is far too long to mention here. We will be posting it (eventually) in eBird, if you want to check it out.

As for now, here’s a new thing we’re trying.

CLICK HERE for a short video of me talking about a popular birding site on Dauphin Island, AL.

Posted by Ron under Serve It Cold | No Comments »

Updates

March 8th 2009

Lin and I are working on the site. We’ve neglected it terribly with all other work we’re doing, but I just added a video of my reading at the Oak Grove (MS) Public Library in December. That’s also on my “Appearances” page, if you want to take a look. Michael DeVries, Librarian out there in the wilds of Oak Grove, did the video, so give him some snaps for that. Be patient with me — I’m not procrastinating (as Lin likes to say) – I’m WRITING! But I did want you to know I haven’t forsaken the site.

It’s spring. Keep an eye on the sky! Between bouts of reading SERVE IT COLD & SPITE, of course.

Posted by Ron under Serve It Cold | 1 Comment »

Hate Mail!!

January 25th 2009

Well, I guess that it had to happen sooner or later. You don’t think that writing a bird-watching column would be all that controversial. Sure, I’ve had people who wrote or even called me to tell me that was just wrong about something I said in a column. And, yes, most of the time they are right. It doesn’t bother me–much. And a little embarassement is good for the blood circulation. And I knew before the story ran that I was venturing into deep water by presuming to have an opinion on a serious subject. But you can find a whole list of former teachers, bosses, and wives that will tell you that I’m a slow learner. And I’m sure that my mother would have something to say on the subject.


Well here is the saga of Mr. Homeland Security, Don’t Build This Fence!!

Letter from Tom the Fifth Generation Texan
I just read your naive little piece in the SunHerald and it must be nice living 1k miles from the border…but don’t fret they’re headed your way as well, and we really don’t care how much you enjoy the wildlife and the excellent birding in the Valley. Perhaps you like to visit there because the valley has about the same percentage of schooling as does Mississippi.

If the fence is a bad idea what would be your idea of a good one…my idea is punji sticks and claymores, but idiotic tourists(I’m not saying who) might stray across these as well, and that could get messy, not that I would care.

Please, in the future keep yourself and your nancy-boy ideas in your “liberal” Ha Ha, haven Mississippi.
Tom, a fifth generation Texan.


Ron’s Reply
Tom,
If you don’t stop jerking your knee at all us Liberal Mississippians, you’re liable to hurt yourself.
What do I think is a good alternative to the fence? I personally liked the electronic virtual fence idea. I know the test stretch proved laughable, but just because a bush was identified as a illegal immigrant doesn’t mean you should trash the whole project. Hey have you ever tried to chase down a tumbleweed on a windy day?! Our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan rely on electronic sensors as do embassies around the world, but we can’t make them work on the border? Our continued reluctance to hire more border patrol officers assures that the future of this fence will be a 3 million dollar per mile support to hand sensors on. Why not just work on perfecting the virtual idea NOW.
–punji sticks? In my last mystery novel (Spite, from Lulu.com) one my characters ran afoul of a bamboo whip–punji stick to the chest. I can’t imagine that this would be popular with the border patrol.
Fact is, I expected to get some hate mail for this column. But I expected it to come from the Midwest where the fence has its strongest support. Maybe they’re just slow to react. Of course those guys want the fence to run along the Ohio River instead of the Rio Grande.
Do you think that we don’t have an illegal immigration problem in South Mississippi? We just had the largest illegal immigrant raid in history at transformer plant thirty miles from my house. And I live in an area that has one of the highest concentrations of chicken houses and processing plants in the country–guess who works in those plants? AND, surprise- surprise, several of the tens of thousands of guest workers who came to South Mississippi to work in the clean-up and rebuilding after Katrina missed their bus back home. I don’t know where you live in Texas, but unless it is in the Valley or in South Houston, I bet we’ve got more Tiendas per capita than you do. Not that I’m complaining about that. I do love Texican cooking.
I didn’t just decide to spew ignorance around on a whim. I spent a long time researching my story. And I’ve got friends and relatives in Texas, including a few in the Valley. Now, my relatives are much more likely to share your views than mine; but they’ve got an excuse–they are originally from Mississippi where fear of change is a tradition. But my birding friends in the Valley don’t support what they call the wall. The Texas Governor doesn’t support it. No Texas legislator from the Valley supports it. No Valley Mayor supports it. No Valley city council supports it. No Valley chamber of commerce supports it. I must say, that Hildago is taking the project much better than other places, but I think that’s because Hildago got the Feds to use and improve their existing levee system and old fencing–no disruption, no destroying parks and recreational land and free flood control (sounds like a good deal if you can get it).
I believe that controlling our borders is essential (by the way did you MISS that part of my column?), but I don’t think that relying on some joker sitting in Washington with a map and a magic marker is the way to do this. The miles of fence to be put up was arbitrary. Who decreed that what we need is 700 miles of fence on the 2,000 mile border? I expect that it was the same guy who promised that all 700 miles would be finished by January, 2009. The fence path was so poorly drawn that it would have put one of the buildings on the UT Brownsville campus on the Mexican side of the fence.
I’ve been trying to kick my libertarian habit for thirty years and learn to accept that the freedom-sucking Federal government will have its way, but when the Feds show up in your town and and say we’re going to cut your property in half an deny you access to the southern half, how will you like it?
You say that you’re a fifth generation Texan. I find that interesting because many of the ranchers whose land is being sliced in two are also fifth generation Texans. And some of these families owned the docks that Richard King and Mifflin Kenedy brought their first steam boats up the river to Brownsville. The Valley is not a stranger to legacy and opportunity. Think about it. If you have worked on a long-term project–say planting a stand of hardwoods and rehabbing the pond that your grandfather dug on the property–maybe even put up a couple of wood duck nests. Then one day you find two guys and a transit and level messing around your pond. You go down to tell them that they must be lost, and they tell you that, no, they’re not lost. They are shooting the path of a brand new four-lane highway that’s going to cut your land in two right at the pond. They say that this will be an important road so that gamblers can get to the coast faster and lose their money. (This kind of thing happened here recently just north of Gulfport.) It’s for the public good. How would you feel about that?
Do you really think that building this fence, in this haphazard way is going to reduce the number of illegal immigrants butchering chickens in South Mississippi? If you think so, just use google maps to look at the fence that they’ve actually built along the Arizona border. I hear people in Yuma actually like their piece of fence, but it hasn’t been too popular anywhere else. The fence shows up as a nice black line, but you can also see the thousands of trails through the brush, along the ridges, and in every stream bed. I’ve traveled along a good bit of the Arizona border–yes looking at birds– and I can tell you that there aren’t nearly enough deer out there to make those trails.
Tom, I’m sorry you don’t care that I enjoy watching wildlife and eating great food in the Valley. I would be happy to see you come to one or more of our casinos on the Mississippi Coast. But please make sure to spend lots of money while you’re here so you can balance out us birders going to Texas. A 2003 a study by Fermata inc.(http://www.fermatainc.com/ttt_trail.html) estimated that birders traveling to Texas had an economic impact of almost $4,500 per birder (I certainly hope that I don’t reach that average, mind you). And I can’t imagine that the hunters and fisherman spend any less.
You may be a fifth generation Texan, but I’m at least a tenth generation redneck–no brag, just fact. There is a story around here that I find hard to refute. Folks say that Blackwells always think that they’re right, regardless of the facts. We Blackwells say why would we ever think that we’re wrong? I tell you, being right all the time can be a burden. Truth is, I’m stubborn as the day is long. And I want what I want. And what I want is more woods and swamp and scrub and mountains and less concrete and four-lanes and fences. Is that so much to ask? Hell, by the time they get though covering the land with strip malls, and highways, and fences you won’t be able to tell a Mississippi swamp from a Texas prairie and it won’t matter what generation you are and where you’re from.
So, Tom, whenever you get around to coming over to spend some that Texas good money in Mississippi, drop me a line, and we’ll go to the swamp and I’ll show you some Mississippi birds. Then we can go find a Tienda and argue about Mexican food.
I do thank you for taking the time to read my work,
Take care,
Your liberal, Long-haired Redneck, Nancy-boy, Libertarian, Nature Nut,
Ron Blackwell

Posted by Ron under Blogs | 3 Comments »

A Sparkling Solstice Wish

December 15th 2008

Dear readers,

And dear you are to me. I want to thank you for all the help, the messages of encouragement, and the patience that you have shown Lin and me this year. Your word-of mouth support has helped spread my readership all across the country.

This year, In addition to my two bird-watching columns in the Hattiesburg American(every other Thursday in the Home section) and the Biloxi SunHerald(every Sunday in the Outdoors section), I published the second book in my Jonny C Mystery series, Spite. And I’m thrilled to announce that my collaboration with Mobile artist, Georgia Godwin, The Legend of Crow-Baby, is now available from Lulu. This book is a tribute to my father and the young crow that came to live on the farm with Daddy, not as a pet, but as a friend.

In 2009 we are looking forward to audio versions of both Spite and The Legend of Crow-Baby to be produced by our friends at Dancing Cats Studios. I’m working on the third book in the Jonny C series, Cold Comfort, and we are also working on a compilation book of my bird-watching columns. Stay tuned!

You can find links to my columns at RonnieBlackwell.com. All of my books are available from my new Lulu storefront: http://stores.lulu.com/ronnieblackwell

Thanks, again.

I wish you a new year full of feathered angels!

Ron

Posted by Ron under Serve It Cold | No Comments »

Shhhhh! Crowbaby is Incubating

November 6th 2008



I know, I know, I’m the world’s worst blogger. There should be some sort of award, you think? I sort of missed all of September and all of October, and, yes, that is not quite up to the blog a day that Lin wants me to write, but I do write. I’m writing every day and most nights. Most of this writing is going to the columns for the Hattiesburg American and the Biloxi Sun Herald.

But I’m also working on the third book in the Jonny C Series, short stories set in the Jonny C world of Catherine, and on my newest book, a richly-illustrated book called the Legend of Crow-baby. Actually, my work on this book has been minimal for the last several months while my illustrator, Georgia Godwin, her artistic advisor, Barry McPhail, and Lin–yes, the writer’s wife, Lin have been planning, editing, and creating what I think will be a stunning book.

The final push on the book came this past week. In a mighty effort the team fought distance, distractions such as jobs and classes, and an endless production cycle armed only with hand-roasted coffee (Sumatran peaberry & Kenyan Tegu) and Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Amber Lager.

We did it. Yes, I said “we.” After all someone had to roast the coffee. We are now waiting for our print on demand company, Lulu.com to hatch our first two copies of The Legend of Crow-baby.. Stay Tuned

Posted by Ron under Home | No Comments »

I’m with Lin

October 21st 2008

and just not that into it today. New post coming. I promise.

Posted by Ron under Serve It Cold | No Comments »

And Now….

September 8th 2008

it’s September! What happened to August?! Unbelievable!

Work is coming along on COLD COMFORT (8 chapters in). Martha and Paul are frantically working on scripting for SPITE, trying to get some of that done before lovely baby Eliza Rose arrives in early October. Lin has done an editing blitz on SPITE to clean up the few errors we found once we released it. And, I . . . well, I’m writing, when Lin doesn’t have me working on household chores, running errands, or generally dealing with life (i.e., my mother’s birthday, a doctor’s appointment, etc.).

Today, I took a break and went to the Hattiesburg Arts Council meeting at lunch, and now am home, settling in for an afternoon of reading, research, and writing. Gotta get that column for the Sun Herald ready for Thursday. Be sure to check both newspapers this week; I’ll have articles coming out in both the Hattiesburg American (Thursday) and the Sun Herald (Sunday).

Posted by Ron under Serve It Cold | No Comments »

August!

August 3rd 2008

July passed in a wave of hellos, goodbyes, birthdays, butterfly counts and trips around the state to visit relatives and for Lin’s work.  It’s been a busy and productive month, although I don’t know how to explain it in tangible form.  I could name the tasks done (maybe) but it has felt more like preparation to do rather than doing.  Learning new things is so much part of this job of “writing” that I cannot separate the two, cannot tell when learning something new begins (or ends) and the creative process takes over to morph that into something else.

August . . . the hot month, the month of humidity and days that last forever, the noise of buses passing the house in the mornings, and the quiet of kids gone back to school during the days. A good month to be inside, to be learning, to be writing.

Posted by Ron under Home | No Comments »

Next »