My Telling Hands

I self-published my first book, "Telling Hands" last June. Since then I have been working on another book, actually I have switched back and forth between two manuscripts trying to decide which one I would publish and worked primarily on one for a while. Now, I am back on the other, and plan on finishing both.

I have a tentative publish date for one or both of the stories on March 1, 2015. So, we have that to look forward to.

Also, to let y'all know, you can still order my book, "Telling Hands" from Amazon, or if you know me personally, directly from me. Several of my audience has requested copies, but have fallen through on the payment and/or delivery arrangements. Please contact me to finalize that. If you have read my book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. If you don't feel comfortable with that, let me know how you liked it. I'm always ready to listen to your opinions.

When I looked upon these hands, they told me a story. Then they worked to tell you the story, just to go on and tell more stories. :)


Jamie Godwin Brooks
http://www.amazon.com/TellingHands

 

 

 

 

 

Weirdos Like Me

There was a time a couple of years ago when I was first starting my book, "Telling Hands," that I happened upon a pretty in-depth personality test. Since I was the subject of the book, I thought it research to complete the test. The iPersonic Personality Test takes only a few minutes to take, and it will tell you which of the sixteen Myers Briggs Type Indicators you belong to. I held my usual skepticism while answering the questions, but the results were astonishingly accurate.

The results came back that I was an INFP. The test gives you suggestions on which career you should pursue based upon your personality. It said I should be either a teacher or a writer! I was already a teacher and was working on my first book, so I'd say it was pretty good. I wished then that I had taken the test ten years ago, it would have made the search for a suitable job easier.

Being that I am proficient at research -due to my love of learning- I looked up famous INFPs to get a feel of who would be some-what like me. As it turns out I had already developed a preference for many of the famous INFPs listed. Many of them were authors; George Orwell, J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare, and others. One of the artists listed was my favorite painter Vincent van Gogh. I used to have a copy of "Starry Night" hanging on my wall at the age of fourteen. After my wreck when I was sixteen, I threw away my notebooks of poetry and eventually got rid of the van Gogh print, because I didn't understand it. I couldn't remember the connection.

"Starry Night" Vincent van Gogh

After restoring myself to my former self, (confusing, right?) I also restored the connection to my inner world that, as an introvert, is actually my strength. Publishing a book about my life was possibly the hardest way to start a writing career, but it had to be done. I had to put it all together so I could move forward to write about other things.

I have since started painting. I love it. I have completed three, thus far, and like the writing, it feels right. I have so many ideas of what I want to write, and what I want to paint. INFPs make up only 4% of the population, and even though I don't have many INFP friends, I can read the writings of the great creative INFPs that came before me, and look at Van Gogh's paintings; enjoying the other worlds the weirdos like me have created. I know they aren't really weird, they are just different, and beautiful, but in their own way.


Sincerely,
Jamie Godwin Brooks
Telling Hands

Alabama Pines

I noticed yesterday that Alabama native, Jamey Johnson, released a new song and was giving away free downloads. I've been a fan of Jamey for several years. He has a good first name, he is from Alabama -just down the road from where I live now- and he has a realness about him that comes across in his songs.

The song is "Alabama Pines." You can download it here: http://biggassedrecords.com/collections/download

In a note posted on the site, Johnson writes that "Alabama Pines" is his "love letter to the time and place from whence I came."

I think I know how he feels. I wrote my first book "Telling Hands" thinking along those same lines. My love for my home is one of the themes in the book. I tell about my connection to the land, and her people.

In the book, I recall my grandfather, and how he used to sing us songs. Listed in the book "Telling Hands" are a few of the songs he would sing us, one of which was "In the Pines."

"In the Pines" is a is a traditional American folk song which dates back to at least the 1870s, and is believed to be Southern Appalachian in origin. The identity of the song's author is unknown, but it has been recorded by many artists in numerous genres. Traditionally, it is most often associated with the American blues musician Lead Belly, who recorded several versions in the 1940s, as well as the American bluegrass musician Bill Monroe, who helped popularize the song (in a different variant, featuring lyrics about a train) among bluegrass and country audiences with his versions recorded in the 1940s and 1950. -per Wikipedia

When I listened to Jamey Johnson's "Alabama Pines," I thought about my Paw Paw singing "In the Pines." Oh, how I would love to sit with him on the porch and hear him sing it once more.

Someone I know, who used to be a truck driver and make runs to California all the time, told me once that the best part of going out west was coming back home; that moment when you start seeing the pine trees again.

There's just something undeniably lovely about those pine trees, and the way they sway in the wind.

~ Jamie Godwin Brooks
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KRVTJ9K

The Alabama state tree is the Southern Longleaf Pine.

A Great Gastby Year

The year of 2014 was all very exciting and turbulent. One of the many things I challenged myself to do was look long and hard at "The Great Gatsby." It began at the New Year with curiosity over the Gatsby parties.

Intrigued by, not only the then recent release of the movie, but also of the grandeur of the story. I read the book. I carefully followed the easy flow and roll of Fitzgerald's words as they sank, soaked into my heart.

Following along with the development of the book, over time, I watched the Robert Redford version of the movie. Then, I visited the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald museum and fell farther for their story. I began to see both F. Scott and Zelda differently. I have noticed that great works of literature are oftentimes misrepresented, if not completely misunderstood. That is a terrible shame, writers write because they have something to say, they spend months or years examining their creation, sometimes to say the truest of words and express the biggest ideas of the world.

I have a true appreciation for the craft and hope I can produce a work as beautiful.
 
Bless Zelda, she was a true gem. I have the sincerest of intentions to read some of her writings in this 2015 year.

But, to get back to the story, I did also watch the 2013 film based on the book. It was amazing. I loved it, and hated it, and it made me believe in the ability to create a story so full of romanticism and truths, real enduring characters, and to have it be appreciated.

Fitzgerald's obituary described him as epitomizing the "sad young men" of that time and that, "The promise of his brilliant career was never fulfilled." http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0924.html

I have to disagree. "The Great Gatsby" did receive critical acclaim when it was published in 1925, but to create a work that is timeless, that can be enjoyed and loved dearly 90 years later is actually; the epitome of a writer's dream career.

This New Year's Eve, I did attend one of those Great Gatsby parties, with the understanding necessary to live in that world, with the ability to step into the book and dance as if I was alongside Gatsby in the less fashionable West Egg, thus concluding my year of Gatsby, 2014.

Sincerely,
Jamie Godwin Brooks



Here's a few pictures; they kind-of go along with the experience.

Reading "The Great Gatsby" poolside.

Exploring the Fitzgerald's home in Montgomery, AL.



The Great Gatsby New Year's Eve Ball