Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Before Paper, Pen, and Keyboards...

'On a dark desert highway,
 cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas,
rising up through the air…'

Although not a literary classic, ‘Hotel California’ is a classic in its own right and, when you think about it, thousands of years ago, this song very well could have been the basis of modern day literature.

Because back before paper and pen, when the majority of the human race didn’t know how to form symbols into recognized words, there was song. 

And poetry.

Stories were passed down through word of mouth.  And a rhyming story set to melody was the easiest way for storytellers to remember the order and wording of a piece.

Like today, some ballads were for entertainment value only- a work of fiction.  But others were strung together in hopes of relaying important historical details- kings, queens, knights and battles both won and lost.   The basis of many religions were upheld by stories about Gods and Goddesses performing impossible feats.

Today, the need to combine our tales with song and poetry is long lost.  The tethers of storytelling rope have been unbound and left us with three separate and very different forms of creative expression and entertainment.

But there are still some artists who hold the power of music and poetry in such high esteem that they continue to combine and express their tale through all means.

Jessica Bell is one of those people.

A poet and lover of words, Jessica’s novel about a housewife who wishes to reclaim the stage  ‘String Bridge’ is being published through Lucky Press in November 2011.  Her book trailer features a song Jessica wrote and performed herself- further proof of her all around talent and creativity.    Check it out!


21 comments:

Aubrie said...

I love poetry. Sometimes it slips into my writing and then the sentence doesn't make sense in a literal way.

Now to check out that trailer...

Jessica Bell said...

Oh my, Katie! This is such a beautiful post! Wow. Thank you so so so so so much!!! *blush* You are so sweet to write such an original post to plug my trailer. BIG HUGS!!!!

Tom M Franklin said...

allow me to recommend kate dicamillo as another author who weaves poetry and prose together so well in her MG books.

-- Tom

Unknown said...

This was insane post! Like Jessica I would have been thrilled to have a shout-out such as this!!! She is very poetic and I know that this novel is going to rock the blogging world... and of course the outside world. Powerful words she's written and the trailer rocked my socks off!!!

Laura Pauling said...

I loved this song and then loved it even more when I learned Jessica wrote and performed it too! Beautiful.

Janet Johnson said...

Isn't Jessica amazing? I am in awe of her abilities. Can't wait to read her book!

mshatch said...

beautiful song, beautiful voice, fabulous post, katie.

Carolyn V said...

Love Jessica's trailer! It's just amazing.

Matthew MacNish said...

Oh man! Well said Katie, you make an excellent point. What a lovely tribute to Jess, and to all things writing and lyrical.

Sandie said...

This is a lovely post - and oh so true. Music and lyrics have been the source of so much inspiration for me, as a writer, and do tell such wonderful stories in their own right.

I've often said more writers should study lyrics as an exercise in brevity. It's probably true that songwriters can get away with far more clichés than writers, but even still there is SO much to learn from that well-condensed thought (in fact I did muse about this in one of my novels... how big things must be summed up in eight beats).

Beautiful post, gorgeous sentiment.

Angela said...

Yes, Jessica is what we would term a renaissance woman. She's so amazingly talented.

Lindsay said...

Yay for Jessica. Can't wait for STRING BRIDGE.

Old Kitty said...

It's a fab trailer and by jingo Ms Jessica Bell has a BEAUTIFUL voice!!! Beautiful!!!! I wish her all the best with her book and her singing too cos that voice is amazing!! Yay! take care
x

Joanna St. James said...

As a non talented singer or poet, I appreciate talent when I see one. And Ms Bell has got it in spades.

Unknown said...

I love this song, Jessica Bell is very talented. As a songwriter and fiction writer myself, I often challenge myself to put my novel in concise song format.

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss katie! for sure miss jessicas got soooo much talents. i already saw her trailer a bunch of times. its soooo cool. shes just real special.
...hugs from lenny

Heather Hellmann said...

This is a lovely post. I especially like how you mentioned one of my favorite songs. I sing Hotel California at the top of my lungs when it plays on the radio (and I am alone).

K M Kelly said...

I'm impressed!

laughingwolf said...

will look for it... with BELLs on! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Hotel California is most definitely a classic!!

LOVE Jessica's trailer - so beautiful!

Christopher said...

Interesting tidbit: Hotel California is also the best song to get a lapdance to, because it's really long and strippers seem to like it. So I hear anyway.

Isn't Jessica awesome?

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