Monday, November 02, 2009

Author Bill Walker Provides My Very First Guest Post

I am so honored to introduce you to Bill Walker. His book is called "A Note From An Old Acquaintance." I received it last week while on sick leave and was surprised to open it and find a personalized autograph. Thanks so much Bill.

Without further ado, here is Mr. Bill Walker's Guest post.


"Different things inspire me to write. It could be a book I've read or a movie I've seen, a feeling that steals over me on a lazy summer afternoon or a lightning flash of thought that latches on to my subconscious and won't let go. Inspiration comes from so many different places. The only inspiration that fails me is the inspiration I deliberately seek. Inspiration cannot be coaxed or coerced; it must flow naturally from thoughts or events. Now, that I've waxed philosophical, allow me to be a little more concrete. 

When I was in the sixth grade, I had a teacher who was truly an inspiration. Mrs. Beecher was a terror to those who would disrupt her class--a stern taskmaster--but she was fair-minded, too, and would always give honest praise and constructive criticism. That way, you knew that if you impressed her, you were truly doing fine work. 

Anyway, every Monday Mrs. Beecher would put thirty new vocabulary words on the blackboard. As a class, each of us was expected to take those thirty words and use as many of them as possible in a paragraph. I took that as a challenge to write the most interesting stories I could, using as many of those words as I could. Most of those stories were of the scary variety, and I wish I still had some of them, just so I could see what I was thinking.

Back then, as now, I really love that feeling of creating a world that never existed before putting pen to page and making it as real as I can. At the risk of sounding blasphemous, it is a bit like playing God. Yet, what is truly inspirational is that moment when your characters take over and begin to work through you. It's as if they really do exist. For me that is the most inspirational moment a writer can experience."

After reading Bill's post I can see that the character of Brian in A Note From An Old Acquaintance surely did exist to Bill as he did to me. Please look for my review of A Note From An Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker tomorrow.

4 comments:

  1. Great post! Congrats Maria on the guest!!

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  2. Just wanted to thank you for hosting me, Maria. Hope you enjoyed the book.

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  3. I had one of those stern yet wonderful teachers in fourth grade :) Looking forward to this review!

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  4. WooHoo, girlie... You are hitting the big time now!! I am so proud and excited for you all at once. Congrats on your first guest post.
    It couldn't have happened to a more wonderful woman!
    I think it was a terrific post, I love hearing stories about teachers who inspired people, I've had a couple of teachers who have really inspired me, also!
    I am really looking forward to your review.

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