Creation of a Book Cover: String Bridge by Jessica Bell

Note: Read this blog post and learn how you can win a free signed print!

Today I'd like to share with you the process used to create the cover of String Bridge a novel by Jessica Bell, published by Lucky Press.* But first, here is a synopsis of the book:

Greek cuisine, smog and domestic drudgery was not the life Australian musician, Melody, was expecting when she married a Greek music promoter and settled in Athens, Greece. Keen to play in her new shoes, though, Melody trades her guitar for a 'proper' career and her music for motherhood. That is, until she can bear it no longer and plots a return to the stage––and the person she used to be. However, the obstacles she faces along the way are nothing compared to the tragedy that awaits, and she realizes she's been seeking fulfillment in the wrong place.

The topics in this book include: music, performance, marriage, male-female roles within modern Greek society (the setting is Greece; the author is an Australian living in Athens, Greece), rock 'n roll, motherhood, corporate life and work, putting one's dreams aside for one's family, mother-daughter relationships, friendship and loss. Jessica Bell is a poet and musician. A collection of her poetry was released earlier this year under the title Twisted Velvet Chains. 


Simultaneously with the release of String Bridge (in ebook and paperback form) is the release of a soundtrack for the novel entitled "Melody Hill: On the Other Side." The songs are written and performed by the author. Soundmag wrote:

A piece totally dreamy, literally and figuratively, with incredible melodies and a voice kataplitiki over an acoustic guitar to inspire. Emotional flare-ups by Jessica Bell, excellent intonation and expression, and an avant garde philosophy. …a wonderful musical journey.

The first time I visited Jessica Bell's website, about a year ago, she had a mock-up of her novel's cover there, it featured a photograph of a guitar resting in a corner. In fact, the original title of her manuscript as communicated to me in September of 2010 was "Dead in the Corner of My Bedroom." Since this seemed a more likely title for a mystery novel, which String Bridge is not, discussions ensued about a new title and String Bridge was the winner. (The main character was originally named Jane and her husband was named Max. Jane and Max were changed to Melody and Alex.)

Originally, I envisioned a simple ink drawing of a guitar, very linear and spontaneous, with a line that would run from the cursive letters of the title to the guitar in the corner. Yet when I drew this it seemed a little stark considering the vivid prose and pulsating emotional life of the main character, Melody.

I then started drawing the guitar with black and blue ink. Here is the first result:

For some reason I can't remember now, I first envisioned the cover in pastels and presented this to the author. I followed it up with two more versions, essentially the same but with different cursive writing on "String Bridge."

Jessica liked the cover but asked if it would remain "sketchy." That got me to thinkin'…

But first, an explanation of process: In a book as multilayered as Jessica's, I suspected it would take some time to get the cover right. I wasn't worried because I knew as we worked through the process the right cover would emerge, like a sweet surprise, from all the back and forth and musings and questions. Here was my answer, on March 15, 2011, to her question:

"yes, the idea was that it [the guitar] would be sketchy. The whole thing is sort of Picasso-y. But, if you think it looks weird…then let's just stare at it for a week or so and see what else my brain comes up with. It's a process…  …The only other way I could see this would be with bold shapes of color for the guitar to match the background shapes. Sort of like Matisse's cut-out figures. I'll muse on it a bit…"

Jessica had no idea that Mark and I have several cut-outs by Matisse (prints!) over our couch. So, it was surprising when she sent me a link to an image by Matisse adding "How gorgeous is this piece!!!" I told her a print of it was in our home. I then tweaked the guitar sketch further:

I liked the roughness of combining a drawing with tools in Photoshop. Some of the look of the guitar above is derived at by layering multiple drawings on top of each other, treating each layer slightly differently, then combining all layers.

Then Jessica, being a very creative person herself across multiple disciplines, asked "What do you think of adding some loose pieces of paper scattered on the floor with scribbles of lyrics on them?"

I liked the idea, asked for some scribbly notes scanned and emailed to me and soon received several pieces by email including the following:

Now, as we were each, in Athens, Ohio, USA and Athens, Greece, musing on the pastel cover, Jessica sent me the following note on March 16th, always respectful of my creative process but nudging me to "get" her character of Melody a bit more accurately: "…[could you try] to alter the colour a bit. I really don't think a pastel blue fits Melody's character. Could you make the blue a little bit darker and more muddy? Do you know what I mean?"

Yes, I did! The more I was learning about the book, about Melody and about Jessica Bell, the more I saw that the pastel color was not going to fly.

Jessica also provided some color samples by emailing me the following and suggested "Cordoba Blue." (At this point you might wonder what I am even doing as a cover designer, but I liked collaborating with the author who, after all, knows her book and characters much better than I. This is something that I can do as a small publisher. There are many things I cannot do, but this I can do. I love it!)

The official color of Cordoba Blue is
color web: 71adcb
CMYK: 55/19/12/0
Pantone: 7458C
RGB: 113/172/203

I then sent this bolder version of the cover to Jessica and she "LOVE!"ed it. She also "LUUUURRRRRVE IT!!!!" (which might be an Australian thing, I'm not sure, but her enthusiasm was inspiring!)

On March 16, I wondered and sent this note to Jessica: "I am not sure about it…just went and took a nap and looked at it again… I love the body. I like your color of blue. I could take or leave the pages on the floor. I am not sure about the 'neck'….I think we are closer but not there yet!"  Jessica told me again that she was "in love with it." I agreed to stare at it more, but was preoccupied as our dog, Farley, had had major surgery on her back leg in February, required six weeks in a crate, and was still hobbling on three legs... and I was a bit stressed out. Here I am giving her some "mom love."

Jessica, Dawn (her publicist), and S. (her significant other) all loved the cover and Jessica loved the colors and guitar. I said I wanted to "fuss some more." I added black to the strings, black dots to the bridge and red to the keys and bridge. I also added a heart and added a section of darker blue at the top right of the background. The title was reduced in size slightly.

Jessica loved it and asked me to add "Tessa's" name to the bottom of the "I love Mommy" drawing so that it didn't look like the main character, Melody, had written it. I was happy to do that change. Also, I needed to change "Mommy" to "Mummy."

I made those changes and off went galleys to various parts of the world (Australia and England and India and Canada, oh my!) with the cover image above on the front.

Time went by…

Farley's leg healed…

Jessica worked on the CD…

Reviews came in!

I added Magdalena Ball's review on the front cover as well as a note about the CD, completed the rest of the cover and off to print! Here is the final version of the cover. Here is a snippet from Ms. Ball's review: "Jessica Bell's String Bridge is a powerful debut from a promising writer, full of music, metaphor, and just a hint of magic. "

WIN A FREE SIGNED PRINT OF THE GUITAR IMAGE FROM STRING BRIDGE!

Today, November 11, 2011, is Amazon Chart Rush day for String Bridge. Click on the Amazon link to purchase. If you do purchase a printed copy of the book, I will send you a free gift. A beautiful print out of the guitar image above on Epson Presentation Matte Paper, 44 lb, 8.5 x  11, signed and dated. 

Note: This offer is limited to purchases made by U.S. residents on Amazon.com on November 11, 2011 ONLY and is limited to the first 15 folks to email the proper Amazon receipt.

What you need to do to get your free gift...

Purchase a copy of String Bridge using the link below:

Email to me (queries@janicephelps.com) a copy of your receipt dated Nov. 11, 2011 with Amazon showing the purchase. Be sure that on the Amazon receipt or within the body of the email, I am informed as to your mailing address. I will mail you the signed print of the guitar within 1 month; please allow time for mail delivery.

* I am the founder and publisher of Lucky Press, a traditional publishing company. Jessica submitted her query and manuscript to Lucky Press and I was the one who made the decision to publish it. I also design covers for other publishers and self-publishing authors as well as illustrate children's books. My graphic design website is: www.janicephelps.com


Learn more:
Link to String Bridge on Amazon.
Link to String Bridge on Barnes and Noble.
Buy from an independent bookstore using the following link to String Bridge: Shop Indie Bookstores

I have made the guitar image available on various items like T-shirts, Kindle/Nook/iPad/laptop covers, and more at www.cafepress.com/janicephelps.

Jessica Bell's blog: http://www.thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/
Jessica Bell's website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/

Lucky Press: www.luckypress.com/jessicabell.com

Book Trailer on YouTube.com: http://youtu.be/Rv-hRMA0kqQ

Jessica's CD is available online in more than 150 on line distribution points worldwide (iTunes, we7.com, Amazon, Bleep, Juno, HMV, etc). See all points where you can buy here http://awal.com/services/distribution/

"The Story of Beautiful Girl" by Rachel Simon

Like waiting for a holiday, a vacation, or a very special event, anticipation is a big part of the pleasure and following along with Rachel Simon, via her blog and Facebook page, as she did a pre-release tour for her newest book, The Story of Beautiful Girl, helped get me through winter doldrums and kept the May release date firmly in my mind. I had read the online excerpt and was sure ...Beautiful Girl would become one of my favorite books. Titles that are on a special shelf in our home. Books that transport my mind, suspend time, wrap themselves around me like a beautiful quilt of memories.
The Story of Beautiful Girl did just that.

First, as a book designer, let me take a moment to comment on the packaging of this title. The cover art was featured on a CBS Sunday Morning episode (click the link to see the episode) months before the release. When I saw it, held up proudly in Central Publishing's New York office, I called to my husband, "They're showing Rachel Simon's book!" It was exciting, because I was already familiar with the distinctive silhouette of a woman, her hair bound up in a loose bun, her face slightly downcast.

The white background of the jacket has a pearl effect; I'm not sure how that was achieved, but it is understated elegance at its finest. The font used in the title is a work of graphic art and the orange-red letters are raised off the jacket. But wait, that's not all! When you open the book you are greeted with matching colored end sheets splashed with the silhouettes of feathers. A feather is also shown on the back jacket, with a baby's hand reaching toward it. I love the simple beauty of this jacket. It fits perfectly with the story and the sophisticated design continues on each page. And now, to the story...

The Story of Beautiful Girl is dedicated to "those who were put away." Even the front matter supports the design and tone of the story, with a beautiful verse by the Reverend Nancy Lane. I'm not giving it away, because you need to get this book and find these lovely touches yourself.

Simon begins her tale in 1968, with Part I: Hiding. We meet Martha, the widow, Lynnie, a young woman who is mute and mentally disabled, and Homan, an African-American deaf man on the run. The story continues in Part II: Going (1969, 1970) and we become closer to the characters and also learn the significance of the "red feather" as well as more details of past events pertinent to the story.

I don't want to reveal much about the plot, so I'll just say that Part III: Seeking scoots us to 1980, 1988, 1993, 1995, 2001, and 2011. I like the way each chapter has a title, along with the name of the character who is the focus of the chapter and the year. We meet additional supporting characters like Kate who worked at the at the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded where Lynnie and Homan start their story, and other folks whose paths cross with Homan, Lynnie, and Martha. The child hinted at on the back jacket is Julia, Lynnie's baby, who grows to adulthood by the last chapter in a heart-stopping scene that will make you feel as if you hear the music and see the images, like a movie, like a wonderful conclusion of a meaningful film that weaves a story around your heart and enlightens your mind.

There is no doubt that this book will end up in movie form, but a film will not be as good as the book, because only with the author's words can you be brought so closely into the thoughts of these characters. A film might show the events, show other things too, and do much good in bringing to light the story of those among us imprisoned by the limitations of our approach to folks with disabilities, but it will never have subtle beauty of Rachel Simon's writing.

Simon is the author of Riding the Bus with My Sister and The House on Teacher's Lane, and has other books and anthology contributions to her credit as well. Her story is included in Thicker than Water: Essays of Adult Siblings with Disabilities. On her blog and in her books, Simon writes about her sister, Beth, her family history, "building a home with her husband" (the title on the hardcover version of The House on Teacher's Lane), and the writing life and events related to her book. She travels the country meeting with other siblings of folks with disabilities and talking before advocacy and support groups for people with disabilities and their families. And now, with The Story of Beautiful Girl, she has wrapped much of her life and heart into fiction form and presented to us a story of loss and of hope.

This is why I love fiction and those who write it well; who take what means something to them and weave it into a story, not from nothing, but from nearly everything. A writer, in some cases but perhaps not all, doesn't build a story from an empty page, but looks at everything in the world, then decides what to leave out. What is left is the foundation of the story.

In The Story of Beautiful Girl I see the shadows of what was removed. The months and years not explained in the book. The author does a good job of giving enough information so that we can fill in the blanks. It's the only way you can take a story from 1968 to 2011 in 346 pages.

I appreciated very much the Acknowledgments section, located at the end of the book. Don't skip reading this, as it is an important part of the "why" behind the story. I am always interested in how writers get ideas for their stories and Simon mentions a nameless man from 1945 as the impetus for ...Beautiful Girl.

As the parent of an adult son who has mental and physical challenges, including deafness, I noticed carefully the way Rachel Simon portrayed the thoughts and emotions of Homan. It was amazing. Only someone who has spent time with folks with disabilities and interacted with them with respect and humility can then capture so beautifully their viewpoint. This is the effort that a reader may not see within the words on each page, but for those who follow Simon's work and life, the heart in her book will come as no surprise.

You can learn more about Rachel Simon and her work at www.RachelSimon.com. The Story of Beautiful Girl, in my opinion, is suitable for readers 15 and older. I would love to see high school seniors assigned this book and having the opportunity to learn about this important chapter in our nation's history, as well as learning to see things from a person-with-disabilities point of view. We still have a long way to go in our treatment of folks like Homan and Lynnie. And, while places like the School described in this book have closed, there are still state hospitals, nursing homes, state schools, jails, and prisons where people with disabilities struggle to be understood and to have hope. Hope for the basic things all of us yearn for: safety, understanding, family, work, home.

POSTSCRIPT: Here is a 26-minute interview with Rachel Simon where she talks about the bigger issues related to how folks with disabilities and those without relate to each other. She provides insights on what life is like for some folks and how we can understand better how they are just like us. "The big joys that make up their daily life..." She also talks about the "holy work" of telling stories and the way art is woven within "The Story of Beautiful Girl."

Tornado Hits Athens County, Ohio

NOTE: For links to storm information, scroll down to the bottom of this post.

Update: Information on status of recovery and places to contact to help or receive help. WOUB link.

Subtitle of this post: "If dogs could have a look on their face that says 'I told you so!'"

Here's a personal timeline at our home here in Athens, Ohio, which is also the home of Lucky Press LLC (publisher) and Janice Phelps LLC (design). Four tornadoes touched down in Athens County last night, and 2 in nearby Meigs County.


7:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, 2010:
I'm on the couch with the laptop writing and checking FB ). I hear thunder in the distance, know that Jackie our Chihuahua will not want to go outside in it, so decide to get them up early to get out before the rain hits.

7:30-11:00: Tyler and Jackie spend all morning huddled with me on the couch while I work on websites, work on illustration sketches, work on novel, check Facebook. We have a direct look out huge window to our beautiful woods and everything is gray, rainy, and wet. I love it--great day for creative work.

11:00-5:30: working on computer

5:30 - 6:30 p.m. I am on the phone with a publisher, oblivious to weather.

6:30 p.m. We turn the news on and hear reports of storm cells and a "hook" design in the system that looks dangerous. The area between Lancaster and Athens is in danger of tornadoes. I call our elderly friend, David, in nearby Logan (home of the beautiful Hocking Hills) and tell him to stay down on his first floor (he has no TV).

Now, here's where the canine wisdom comes in. Tyler (9-year-old Pekingnese) wants to sit right up against me, behind me on the kitchen chair. Jackie (7-year-old Chihuahua) is hiding under the table, taking a break from wondering why I haven't drawn her Autumn Season illustration yet. Farley just wants our food. After dinner (or more accurately, "supper"), Mark goes off for his ONE HOUR on the treadmill (are you impressed, because I certainly am!) and I wonder how, once again , I can sit on the couch while my husband works so valiently to stay fit.

I pull out exercise mat from its demanding place near the TV, turn on on-demand Parenthood episodes I never saw when televised, and lie on the floor attempting pathetic "crunches." (Cathy, I hope you are reading this.)

Tyler comes and sits right next to me as thunder rolls in. Jackie comes over and sits next to me under the Eames footstool that reminds Mark of the nice chair he no longer has and what about their changes to the headrest anyway? Farley takes Tyler's spot on the couch, positioning herself as close to me as possible, but submitting to other dogs' desire to be closest to Mommy.

Suddenly, a really LOUD clap of thunder. It's approximately 7:10 p.m. Tyler jumps on top of my prone body. If this was a cartoon, there'd be no jumping, no lifting off with the back legs, front legs extended... it would be drawn with a determined dog lifting off the floor, all 4 paws at the same time, and landing just so on my stomach.

I hug him and say, "It's okay. It's just thunder. Everything's okay." I use this as an excuse to put away exercise mat and dogs join me on the couch to watch TV. I had to do this, they needed me.

Our night progresses with a video from NetFlix (Friday night lights and, by the way, the DVD was defective and we missed the end of the show), an hour of reading (Mark, a book on "cosmology" and me a book I bought for 30 cents at Athens County Library sale about a midwestern guy, 60, who is a commercial pilot facing retirement)....

Then! As Mark is reading a book on his iPad, he checks the Web before turning out the light and gets a notice that a tornado touched down in Athens County! The high school is damaged as is the building where the local newspaper, The Messenger, is housed. Time of touch-down: "about 7 pm" -- Tyler was right!

From our other newspaper, Athens News: bleachers in stadium down (twisted), press box went through concession stand, cars in parking lot smashed, mobile homes nearby flipped, injuries....Two 1,000 lb air conditioners were ripped off the high school roof and thrown to the ground. A giant stone sign outside the school (which required a crane when it was installed) was "crushed."

Students and parents had gathered for two soccer games between rivals Alexander and Athens. All students from both teams were accounted for, but can you imagine the panic of parents? There was also a volleyball game going on and the roof was blown off the building where they were playing. 7,500 +/- Athens County residents do not have electrical power this morning.

UPDATE: I drove up to The Plains (about 4 miles away from our home) to check on a friend's niece's home (thankfully OK). Lots of trees down, some roof damage to homes, the high school - you couldn't get close to it, lots of emergency vehicles there - lots of cherry pickers and many many guys with chain saws. So many beautiful big trees down. Metal carports, etc. mangled. No electricity (this update is at 1:45 p.m. Friday). Mark said the electricity is out at Kroger in Athens. Electric service is always a problem in our area during bad weather (storms, snow, or sometimes for no apparent reason -- same with water). I've gotten used to it.

PHOTOS: I've posted photos of The Plains here on my Facebook page, with access to all.

Here is a link to "reader-submitted" photos at The Athens Messenger.

Other tornadoes I remember:

In the late '60s, it was July 4th in Canfield, Ohio and we were at the fairgrounds for fireworks. I was in junior high school then and had crawled under a fence to sit on the field as close to the fireworks as possible, with a friend. We looked up in the sky and saw what appeared to be a tornado. Everyone in the stands immediately ran for cover inside the structure, down where the concessions were sold (and where I later had my first job, selling photos of demolition car drivers!). I can still remember being crowded and up against a wall in the back of the structure, and the press of the crowd. Ugh. Now, all these years later, I heard from my mom the concern she felt as a mom, not knowing where I was amidst those hundreds of people, and how relieved she was when my older sister found me.

In the early '70s, Xenia, Ohio was severely damaged by a tornado. Today, it is a lovely small town and an inspiration to other towns hit by disaster.

The Super Outbreak is the largest tornado outbreak on record for a single 24-hour period. From April 3 to April 4, 1974, there were 148 tornadoes confirmed in 13 US states, including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and New York; and the Canadian province of Ontario. It extensively damaged approximately 900 square miles (1,440 square kilometers) along a total combined path length of 2,600 miles (4,160 km).[1]

The Super Outbreak of tornadoes of 3–4 April 1974 remains the most outstanding
severe convective weather episode of record in the continental United States. The outbreak far surpassed previous and succeeding events in severity, longevity
and extent. source: Wikipedia

Also see "Super Tornado Outbreak of 1974" Farmer's Almanac.

May 31, 1985. I lived in FL, but my parents lived in Brookfield, Ohio during the 1985 United States-Canadian Tornado Outbreak. A Pennsylvania-Ohio outbreak of 43 tornadoes swept through (including 13 in Ontario), one touching down only a mile from their home. There were 88 deaths. A girl I went to school with just had time to grab her baby and get to the basement door before her home flew away.

March 21, 1985: A tornado hit Venice, Florida, a town 1/2 hour south of where I lived at in the 1980s and '90s. A grocery store was damaged and a neighborhood lost several homes. Worse, a woman and man whose RV was parked in a store parking lot were separated forever when the woman was pulled from the RV by the sucking force of the storm and died. (Killed 2, injured 47)

There was also a Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak in 2008 in the Southern US and lower Ohio Valley.

Now, it is "the morning after" the tornado. Some folks are in a shelter without a home. Some are wondering what will go on at their school on Monday. Some are counting their blessings. Time to get dressed and go love my hometown.

LINKS TO MORE INFO:

Latest outtages: AEP and South Central Power
NBC4
Details of storm damage
Athens Messenger
Athens County, Ohio TWITTER
Athens County Emergency Management
Athens County Red Cross
Lancaster Eagle Gazette

What Causes Tornadoes? (What to do when they are nearby. Myths, scientific diagrams, etc.)

"Mary and Max" and "Little Nightmares, Little Dreams"

I often find myself writing about how seemingly unconnected things are connected... the winding way circumstances and deliberate acts join to make the most interesting of days...when least expected. In an attempt to tag a post, I can only enter "serendipity." And hope for the best.

This Wednesday was one such day. It was a funky day. Things were not going right and an atmosphere of gloom and doom seemed to hover over our field of dreams. How to fix it? Take the day off diettogo.com (food is delivered on Wed. and FedX was late and everything was frozen solid, really) and visit the Ohio University Inn, just down the hill, where they have the most delicious breads, salads, steak and coffee.

Not to mention our favorite waiter, Reid. It had only been a week earlier that we'd mused on whether or not Reid, having obtained his degree at OU, was now off in the world doing all the wonderful things we imagined would be found on the path he was working so earnestly to create. This guy has the kind of intelligence, charisma, and energy that a couple in his parents' generation can only consider wistfully.

"I need to go to a movie," I said.
"Dinner out would be nice," Mark said.
"Our food is frozen solid," I said.
"We got a new Netflix movie today."
"What is it?" I sighed.
"Mary and Max. It's claymation."
Rolling of eyes on my part. "Okay, do you want a burrito?"
"Let's go to OU Inn."
Now you're talkin'!

I threw on a dress, (ever notice how dresses are so great because you can throw one on, apply lipstick, and you're suddenly ready for anything?). (Here is the dress, which guy who checked out my books at library called "awesome dress" and I am just ancient enough to really have that make my day; though I wondered if he was doing a "play it forward" kind of thing, being nice to the motherly looking woman.)

At the restaurant, who was there but Reid. (I do not have a photo of Reid, but he kinda looks like this guy.) Already the cloud was moving to Parkersburg way.

"Reid, you're still here!"
"Tonight's my last night!"
Reid shared his story of post-graduate decision making and between his remembering Mark's Pelligrino and my love of real butter and the special bread, not rolls, and his making of the chop house salad (no bleu cheese for me because I am allergic to like everything), Reid informed us he was bound for Washington DC. Had chosen DC over NYC. And the pros and cons. Anyway....

He gave me a hug and I was getting choked up. "I won't wish you good luck," I said, "because I know you don't need it. Everything wonderful is already waiting for you there, you only need to go get it." (Was I talking to Reid or to my son, Jesse? Are all mothers always talking to their own children, well, that's another blog isn't it.)

Mark, good man, left a generous fare-thee-well tip and we returned home to watch the movie, thinking how glad we were we'd visited OU Inn on Reid's last night there. We would have missed not saying goodbye to him.

Now, about Mary and Max. I can't describe it as well as the website, or YouTube trailer. Or wikipedia.

If you are interested in any of the following, this is a movie you will not want to miss! It may become your next favorite movie. (Note: right click on the links and "open in new tab" for some surprising information. You might want to bookmark this blog post for later surfing.)

* The movie, UP!
* Asperger's
* Loneliness
* Australia
* New York City
* Old Jewish men who live alone in a big city
* Young girls who don't feel pretty
* Claymation
* Wallace and Gromit
* Humor and angst
* Obsessive compulsive disorder
* Chocolate
* Mail art
* single people who live with pets
* dysfunctional, alcoholic mothers
* taxidermy
* birthmarks

Marveling at how said dark cloud had moved over our home after the ingestion of a delicious meal in a quiet restaurant... OH, I forgot to mention the piano player! At OU Inn on Wednesdays there is a guy who plays the piano and Mark, who knows these things, states he is right up there with the best guys who play piano in the best restaurants in NYC. I loved all the songs he played and I could name that tune because my parents had a big stereo in our living room and all these songs were played on the record player.

So, doggies settled in, couple with full stomach, and Mary and Max begins. We watched the whole movie... without any talking. It was mesmerizing, wonderful, sad, funny, creative, artistic, enlightening. Jeepers, you've got to see it!

Then, bedtime. On a day that started out so gloomy and progressed to several electronic things going awry, but then picked up with the promise of food, took a turn to teary with the leave-taking of Reid the Waiter... and then a wonderful, thought-provoking movie... well, what could be next! Perhaps the day should be done.

Nope, time to read before sleep. I picked up "Little Nightmares, Little Dreams" by Rachel Simon. This book is out of print (pshcurfurgl that big NYC publisher and its business model). But, I bought a copy at that godsend of writers with long careers and readers with long attention spans, AbeBooks. I started in the middle of the book, because it's a book of short stories and I like that I can do that, just start where it strikes my fancy... so I started with "Twins."

W
O
W
!

"Twins" is the story of a sheltered workshop for folks with disabilities. One day two new clients join the workshop, and they are joined to each other; they are co-joined twins and the story is how they are perceived at the start by the other folks and how everyone figures out how to think about this. It's a great story and rings so true to my experiences with this community. I thought about how a few years ago when we would go to the MRDD (now it is just called DD, which sounds like "DeeDee" to me, and I wish they'd come up with a better handle, liked SNP, Special Needs People, or DAPs, Differently Abled Persons... or something, let's have a vote). Anyway....

...there was a guy there at the dance. He looked to be in his fifties, he was a small guy, not too tall, kinda thin. He was all face, a big smiling face. The biggest smile ever. He didn't dance, he'd start out at one end of the room. Raise his hands in the air, smile going all across his face, and he'd RUN as fast as he could past the girl with Downs Syndrome and a fake plastic guitar, past the old skinny lady with red lipstick and a pink purse, past the "player" guy who was kind of good looking and wanted to shake everyone's hands, and past the table with cookies and pop.... to the other side, where he'd stop abruptly, turn, hands in the air and smile at everyone. Then do it all again.

The dialogue and thoughts Rachel Simon portrays in "Twins" read true. Enlightened. Did the interesting job of portraying someone really different from many of us in such a way that we realize how much we all have in common. What art!

When I turned off the light, I sighed and realized the day had turned out pretty well indeed. When our own creativity let's us down, there are always others to point the way forward.

---Janice Phelps Williams
Please friend me on Facebook, so I can learn what interests you.

Here's what I listened to while writing this post.