Jack Walker Press

Writers distort the limitations of time. When Bob Seger wrote Like a Rock, he animated the feeling of being a fit teenager on an endorphin-fueled run. I drove to St Louis to see Seger on his farewell tour. His white hair and small shrunken body, startled me when he came out on the stage. Where was the black-haired rocker I remembered? Yet, when he sang Like a Rock, I felt his strength and the reflection back at the certainty and power of youth, his and mine. And that power existed on that stage and in my experience with the community of fans. I felt it. That feeling was a living entity. My relationship with  Jane Eyre, Bob Shacochis, Ma Joad, Jane Kenyon, and more characters and writers are living connections. Jane Eyre struggles to be good; Bob Schacochis confronts the hypocrisy in the façade of rightness; Ma Joad carries hope and dignity for every underdog, and Kenyon slows me down to experience-just as Bob Seger did. And I return to these writers and characters because the persona in their voices offers readers experiences that add meaning to life.

Your stories, thoughts, and memories exist within you for now. Writing turns them into matter, reanimated by every reader. Find the voice to tell your stories.

–Amy Lou Jenkins

Here's your concise email with four items to bolster your lit life a few times each month. Look for some variety, and expect that each item seeks to serve your writing and reading life.