It's all about you...

People ask me if I talk with a Texas twang (For those of you who have never heard that term it's another way of saying a Texas accent.) I would have to say yes to that. but my neighbors might disagree. As a teacher for 24 years I suppose midwestern English has been browbeaten into me and as a result I sound Texan to people from other places but not so mush to my brother Texans. But, enough of me for now. I was going to talk about you guys. I was setting here thinking about you... oh not you personally, but the many yous that make up the viewers and readers of my blogg and how you come from such vast backgrounds. I'm sure some of you who read my books have a variety of accents. Here on my blogg I get a breakdown of where my audience is from. I love looking at it. I have viewers from the UK, Germany, Philippines, Spain, France, Malaysia, the USA and other countries too. Thank you for just being you...  and reading my work. 

In the novel I'm currently writing much of the action happens in Fort Worth. So here is a pic I took the last time I was at Sunshine Square. For those of you who have never been to Sunshine Square I think it's terrific. It is a small town atmosphere in the big city - quaint shops, and historic buildings. There is even a bed and breakfast where in the cowboy days it was one of those places where men went to party with the ladies. (Can anyone say the best little 1880's whorehouse in Texas.) Of course today it is all posh and modern in the décor with original Picassos, Warhols and other fine art hanging in the library room. You don't get in there without being a guest, but there are lots of other things to see  and do at Fort Worth's Sunshine Square. Oh and while you're there take your copy of my book "Spies Lie and Spies Die"... and if you don't have one yet... get one.  

 

Larger than Life

Here in Lubbock, we love our favorite son... Buddy Holly. We have a Buddy Statue, a Buddy Museum, and we have even moved the Allison House (Where one of the Crickets lived) to the museum grounds. (Funny they didn't move Buddy's old house too. It was just down the street from the Allison house.) Anyway, All to say that we love Buddy, his music, and his band (The Crickets). I guess you might say we've made him bigger than life. Here you see enormous Buddy glasses (a sculpture) which sets just outside the Buddy Holly Museum. I suppose being larger than life has it's advantages and it's disadvantages too. It would make it hard to fit into everyday society. I mean if Buddy was alive there would be people swarming to get his autograph and such... and imagine the paparazzi. Then I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be living in Lubbock Texas. As I understand it he had moved to New York or somewhere before he died. Why... you ask? Because Lubbock just didn't get his music. Some liked him but some really didn't. That is the way of things. Pardon the paraphrasing but I think that even the Bible says that a prophet is not respected in his own country. There is no denying that Buddy (and his band too) was a fantastic entertainer, songwriter and what some would call a poet. The Plains of West Texas has produced many musical talents like Waylon Jennings, Mac Davis, The Gatlin Brothers, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks; and Actors too like Woody Harrelson, Barry Corbin, and Chance Crawford (best known for his role in Gossip Girl.)   But, Let's not forget the famous (and semi famous) writers from West Texas which include Elmer Kelton, Kambri Crews, Carol Hall, and of course Me... Dan Dwayne Spencer author of "Spies Lie & Spies Die" and "The Secret King and Poetry of Praise."

A person with the persistence of a virus.

This is a special thanks to my sister who without her persistence my books would have never been published. I told her that getting a book published takes a person with rhino skin and the persistence of a virus. I didn't know that she would turn that very attitude on me and pester me until I got my tales (not tails) 'in gear' and finalize my stories. It is to her that my book 'Spies Lie and Spies Die' is dedicated. It is 250 pages with 9 short stories of mystery and adventure. Check it out.

E.R. Burroughs on Successful Writing

I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly.
– Edgar Rice Burroughs – 

Tarzan of the Apes, John Carter of Mars, The Land that Time Forgot

This is exactly how I feel about writing. My first stories, which were total fantasy, were bedside tales I told my children. They were exciting adventures set in a make believe land. Each adventurer was a child and placed in a different exotic location. I have put some of these stories down on paper and plan to make a book out of them, but for now I will continue working on my new novel. Outside of the fact it is an adventure story, I'm not telling what it is about yet, however, it is thrilling even if I say so myself. Until then, if you haven't read one of my books they are available online at Amazon and Goodreads... just click the link below to take a look. 

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William H. Gass on the subject of Alchemists

“The true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words.”

― William H. Gass - from 'A Temple of Texts' ―
National Book Critic Award Nominee
Faulkner Award for Fiction Nominee

If you haven't checked out one of my books this is your chance.

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It's part of being a novelist

This handsome little devil (of course) is nonother than Dan Dwayne Spencer (me) at age 8. If you are following my blog then you remember I told you I was a young fashion plate. Here I am in a long sleeved shirt with woven stripes which was normal as playwear... not the norm for most kids age 8, but by now your getting the idea that my childhood was... different. Oh give me a break, it was the 50s and everything was different back then. To an 8 year old the world is very small. For me it consisted of the yard, the house, the shops that mom or dad frequented, the neighborhood... oh, and school. You might say what about friends? surely friends were a part of your world? The answer to that is... yes and no. I had neighborhood friends who I could go and visit, and the kid next door (my most enduring friendship by the way) who was welcome in our home. However, school friends were exceptionally rare as mother forbid having them over, but family was always welcome. So... that was my world. I suppose I lived a fairly seclude life. Learning the social graces was - awkward. Aside from 4 schoolmates, friends at school were actually acquaintances. This is just how I was raised.  It is probably no surprise that I was (and am) somewhat introverted, and perhaps my own introversion might have played a part in how my parents raised me. Its hard to say... What I can say is that an artist or a writer must be somewhat introverted. It is enviable. We have to be able to feel comfortable spending time alone (hours on end) to produce the work (stories, paintings, or songs.) It is a part of the creative process. The next time a person says that you are creative... remember that it is also saying you are at least partially an introvert. I spend hour upon hour trying to craft a fictional world in my novels that is believable to my readers. Each character must have good and bad qualities and the situations they find themselves in must be... unique. The whole thing must be three dimensional or it is flat... boring... and unseasoned. The interactions of the characters must have a ring of familiarly to it... no matter the unfamiliar situation or environment they are in, after all, what fun is reading fiction if it doesn't take you to some unfamiliar place, meet exciting people, and put you in some kind of altered reality (scared, romantic, wonderment... etc.) Go ahead... read one of my books... Remember I only write adventure stories so you'll know what to expect.  

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Oh No... He's at it again

Well, Big Daddy Dan was seen at the karaoke bar again (ha, that's me.) This song is titled Desperado and of course is a karaoke cover of the Eagles hit. The words of the song are almost entrancing as poetry alone. When it came to writing songs (or poetry if you look at it that way) Don Henley and Glen Frey had amazing skills and talent. In the song the singer is warning a friend about his wayward lifestyle. Friend, don't take the risks. Change the kind of women you are attracted to. Sadly we all know that in reality people don't change like that. Personality preferences are a part of who that person is. If a person is in love with someone who constantly makes bad choices then romance and even marriage isn't going to change that. I know that the song was written as a guy friend talking to another guy, but many women think that they can change a lover only to come to the realization (years later) that he is what he is. I don't mean to say people don't change because they do and we see it all the time. Literally everyday alcoholics or addicts of all kinds change their behaviors... cheaters become faithful, and sinners become saints. This doesn't happen without real effort. The person must have the burning desire to make the change... no one can make that commitment for them. In my book 'The Secret King and Poetry of Praise' there's a group of Egyptians fleeing Egypt. They are escaping the wrath of the Egyptian Ruler, Auknan, and the Regent Queen Mother, Hept. The exiled Egyptians are hiding in the land of the Hebrews and attempting to blend in with the common people of Israel. This requires that they take on Hebrew names and Hebrew ways. The character Nachet takes the Hebrew name Namaan, and (unlike Amon and Kamia) he has trouble accepting the Hebrew God. It isn't until later in the book that he has his trial by fire and makes his conversion. See both my books on the Amazon web store and at Goodreads web site. 

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The Presentation for the Rotary Club in Post, Texas

Sorry there are no actual pics of the event in this post... I finished my presentation for the Rotary Club in Post, Texas and it went great. What wonderful people. (South Plains people are indeed wonderful but these guys were terrific.) Thank you for having me. As for pics... I was talking so I didn't get one of the event myself, I'll get one from the Club President or maybe the Assistant Governor of the Rotary Area and post it later. It was all great fun.

If any group or organization would like for me to come and speak about writing and publishing please contact me at Dan.Dwayne.Spencer.Novelist@gmail.com

CLICK HERE - Books by Dan Dwayne Spencer

Arts & Science was Hard Work

Title: Arts & Science

Artist: Dan Dwayne Spencer

Media: Polychrome Pencils and Pasted Paper

In this drawing I used a variety of images. Some are native and tribal while others are mechanical and organically futuristic. I drew the tribal (almost mystical images) on a dark background and contrasted that by drawing the organically mechanical imagery on white paper (which is also pasted to the surface of the drawing.) At first there seems to be no continuity to the composition... but as you stop looking at what is drawn and (if possible) blur the imagery into shapes... you get a pattern of triangles, polygons, rectangles, and squares... the overall design of shapes is a pleasant composition. It takes a lot of planning and crafting to complete a drawing like this. Nothing on the page is accidental. No shape is random. The spacing is visually tested and judged. My writing is much the same. I do write spontaneously but after I write there is a huge process of editing. The story is sliced, diced, and pasted together. Words are rearranged... substituted... removed... and revised. My plots are reviewed... supported... added to... and reduced. I look for just the right word to put in just the right place. Writing is really like Harlan Ellison said, "People on the outside think there's something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn't like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that's all there is to it."

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Speaking at the Rotary Club in Post, Texas

I'm excited about speaking at the Rotary Club in Post, Texas tomorrow.

Some things that are only imitations.

As you already know by reading my blog that I like to go to West Texas car shows. Pictured here are two very different cars. On the surface they look old and redesigned into hot rods, but that is only on the surface. The truth is that one is a rare off the showroom car designed to have that retro look and the other is pieced together with hours and hours of patients welding and sanding... bondo, paint, and ordering parts only to have them chromed by custom shops that specialize in plating and chroming. Now that I've told you about the differences I'm sure you have noticed which car is the retro designed one. Yes, it is a collectors item. It is called 'The Prowler' by the Chrysler Plymouth Corp. between the years of 1997 and 2002. The 1997 version in violet is worth about $47,000.00 today. (It was pretty pricy back when it was new.) Ok, That being said I want to make another comparison. In my book "The Secret King and Poetry of Praise" I have the Egyptians (my lead characters) hiding in the land of Israel. To escape the wrath of the evil Egyptian witch, they are pretending to be something they are not. The thing about 'The Prowler' is that one day it will not only be rare but it will become a true antique... something that the chopped rod will never attain.  In my book the impersonators pretend so well that they start to believe in the Hebrew God and they start to abide by the Hebrew laws... not because they must but because they want to. It becomes a choice for them to trust and believe in the one God. I know that this makes it sound like a religious story but it is really just an adventure story set in the bible days.  

'The Secret King & Poetry of Praise' by Dan Dwayne Spencer   Available through Amazon.com   

My GQ Pose

In an earlier blog I told you that I was a fashion-plate when I was only four and five years old. Well, here I am all of five years old and doing my GQ pose on my parents sidewalk. See that green house with a red door? It was where I called home for twenty three years. Most people think is strange that my parents never moved, but that was home and as my mother said, "A bigger house is just more house to clean." So, they didn't see the need to upsize. I lived there through college before I moved out. After college I worked for various art services. Then I met my Mary. (Did you know that Mary is the most common name for women in general. It's true.)  I wrote her a poem and... What you want to hear it... Humm… Well okay but only one stanza... that's all. Here it goes:

When we’re apart my heart begins to slow

It’s like the distance between us seems to grow

Then I tally the priorities inside my head

It all goes back to something that you once said

My life changed with three little words

I know it must sound completely absurd

But it became clear even though I’m not very clever

That your love and mine would last forever

That about wraps this article up. Read 'Poetry of Praise' to get more of my poetry. 


CLICK HERE - Books by Dan Dwayne Spencer

Spies Lie & Spies Die

The West Texas Mountian Range

This is another of my pictures of the West Texas mountain range which I took with my instamatic camera. I love how the cattle break the horizon line. This time I was on my way back to Lubbock from Brownfield. (One of these days I feel I must write a story which is set in Brownfield, Texas. It was my home away from home for almost ten years.) I have to say I enjoyed teaching my classes there.  This is a brief account of my career leading up to teaching at BMS.  I left teaching at Monterey High School and took the job as the Art Director for KAMC and KLBK Television. It was invigorating. I worked there during the "TexasSize" era. That was a brief time around the year 2000.  I was there seeing all the feeds during the terror attacks on New York. I personally did the screen art used 'on screen' from 2000 to about 2004. I left The Television station and returned to teaching again. - this time in Brownfield. I find it funny how people like to compare things... they ask if I missed teaching at one of the biggest schools in Lubbock and later teaching in a small town. (It's not that I disliked Monterey, but you see, I had this great opportunity.) Where I ended up had great people, classes of 18 to 30 instead of 35 and sometimes more; I'd say what's not to like. Sadly I left because of a family tragedy. Funny that I had been writing on a story here and there all the while I was teaching and doing artwork. I always said that Art was my profession but writing was my vocation. Now I guess it's both... I hope you enjoy my books "The Secret King & Poetry of Praise" and "Spies Lie & Spies Die." They were a long time in the making. (Thanks to my Sis and my Wife for encouraging me to pursue publication.)

Are you the protector type?

Title: Night Bird (The Guardian)

Artist: Dan Dwayne Spencer 

Media: Polychrome Pencils & Graphite

I've always thought of owls as the protector types. It' somehow comforting to think that you have a guardian watching over you. I started this drawing after attending the Texas Tech satellite campus at Junction Texas. It is (or was at the time) a campus for grad students working on their master's degrees. It's located in a beautiful and peaceful bend of the river. Lots of trees and grasses grow up along it's shores. Well, as I said I got it started and the owl was almost finished when I lost motivation. I used the unfinished picture as a classroom example showing how to use the media but I just couldn't find the drive to finish it. Then one day I was looking back through old photos and ran across some I had taken that summer when I was attending grad school there at Junction campus. I got out the old owl and I could finally see what had been eluding me. What it had been all along, but I just couldn't see it. The trees and the river. The Moon Spirit reflecting in the glossy water. His braids becoming owl feathers as the water flowed. In my book "The Secret King & Poetry of Praise," Joseph tells Naaman that he has always thought of him as the protector type. Indeed he must be persuaded to protect the Secret King but he comes through and his belief in the Hebrew God is solidified.    

My Guradian Angel

Title: Guardian Angel    Artist: Dan Dwayne Spencer    Media: India Ink and Watercolor Wash

This is a very old drawing. I finished drawing it back in the 1970s when I first went to Texas Tech University. I had many offers to buy it, but she is my guardian angel and has hung in every office I have had since I began my professional career... Well, except maybe one office. I don't remember her hanging in my office at 'Jester's Art Service.' She hung behind my chair when I was the Art Director for KAMC and KLBK Television. I imagine that the angel who appeared to Nachet in "The Secret King and Poetry of Praise" looked similar. Maybe more muscled. Yes, definitely more muscled.  

Are our lives guided by FATE?

Title: Fate      Artist: Dan Dwayne Spencer      Media: Polychrome Pencils and Graphite

This is a drawing I finished about 1997. Reading the drawing left to right... the depiction is an abstract of a bird in flight, but it can't out fly Fate. The last picture on the right is of the birds skull; the remains left after the ravages of time has consumed it. Between the now and later is the Earth Spirit Fate. The drawing drew quite a bit attention before the accident... you see, it no longer exists except in digital form. When I was teaching in Brownfield it hung in my office (I had a little office area joined to my classroom there.) Anyway, the roof leaked and this drawing was ruined... totally beyond repair. I think there is an irony in an artwork titled "FATE" going through the creation process and the destruction process in a matter of years. I write my stories like that too. I let the adventure bloom and develop through the creative process of writing. I may go back and rewrite a section or take something out but the adventure is there by... fate. Some people write because it is there job. I write because I have to. I've done it for years - I went from a manual typewriter to my electric Smith Corona, then to a word processor with 240Kb memory, then to a computer with a 5.5 inch floppy disk. Later there were smaller discs and now jump-drives. Through the years lots of my stories were lots, misplaced, or on discs that were unrecoverable. So you see, I never let anyone read them... sometimes not even my wife. Now days I let her read all my stories. My sister also asked to read them. I'm sure she was curious, but that started it. They pressed me and pressed me to publish. So the rest is history. I have two books published and another I expect to release in December. I have a collection of children's short stories waiting to be released and I have a bible story coloring book I personally illustrated that I may release next year. Look for great things to come.

Buddy Holly was a West Texas Writer, a world class poet

The picture featured here is really the birth home of Lubbock's favorite son... Buddy Holly. Now there was a writer for you, a world class poet. His birth house was just around the corner from where my parents and I went to church for years (and years) and down the street from the Texas Tech Stadium. Busloads of people would stop there to see it. Usually they were on some world famous tour of Buddy Holly's home town. There was a great debate whether or not to tear down all the old houses in that area and build a new and more prosperous neighborhood. It went on for quite a few years, but it somehow lost the battle. Now that area is a thriving metro area of townhouses, fabulous housing for the University students, restaurants and shopping. Everything changes... even if it is a part of out history... even if it has great emotional value... and even if it is irreplaceable. It may have the best outcome and sometimes it is a sad ending.

In my short story "A Christmas Season in Hell" from my book "Spies Lie & Spies Die" The professor is looking for someone with an original story... an original thought. He didn't know that below him in a sealed room that person had been waiting for him. What was Edgar's story. Why was he sealed up in that room for forty years?  How would his story finally end after the professor falls into his morbid tomb?


CLICK HERE - Books by Dan Dwayne Spencer

The Potter, The Kiln, and The Secret King

I taught pottery for ten years in public school. (Remember I was a teacher. I primarily taught fine art.) Well I find it interesting that a potter can physically change the shape of the clay and form it into anything... any vessel he/she wants. This was the kind of transformation Amon, Kamia and Nachet had to make in "The Secret King & Poetry of Praise." It was important for them to remold themselves into Hebrews and assimilate into the Jewish culture. Needless to say... not an easy task. They even had to take on new names. I guess that brings me to another point about pottery and the potter. When the potter finally puts the clay vessel into the fire... it goes through a stressful process becoming even something different than it was when it was still under the potter's hand on the wheel. It becomes stone. It will never be the same again. It will be (from that day on) what it was when it came out of the kiln. There is no turning back for the clay. Nachet's kiln was the burning house in Bethlehem and his resolve tempered him into a real Hebrew... not someone pretending to be a Hebrew. From that day on there was no pretending. His Hebrew life was set in stone.    

What is the difference in fences and walls?

This is a unique picture I took in a little West Texas town called Meadow. The house was rather ordinary, but it had this great fence which was surrounding a side yard. I couldn't resist framing this pic with my instamatic. In my book "The Secret King & Poetry of Praise" it's a good thing my characters Nachet and Amon didn't build a fence like this or else they couldn't have seen those three wise men coming up to their little house just outside the walls of Bethlehem.

(Ok... So, I don't know if Bethlehem actually had a wall... but most towns of any size built in that time did and the horrible smell of the firing clay would have made it all but necessary for the potter's shop to be outside or on the edge of the town.) So I have to ask... Is the structure here a wall or a fence? It could be used as a wall for a little village. Humm… maybe.


CLICK HERE - Books by Dan Dwayne Spencer

Your books sure are different from each other. How do you classify your writing?

Question: Your books are so different... how do you classify yourself as a writer?
Answer: Yes, on the surface my books seem very different. It is easy to only look at their differences, but let's stop and step back looking at their similarities. Everyone has an adventure. It started when you were born and goes till you die. (We don't like to think about that... but there it is.) Some of us have plain or ordinary adventures. Selke in "The Secret King" has an exotic adventure. It was set in a romantic time period and he had the privilege of being Jesus' best friend as they grew up together. What one might miss is that the whole story is really about Selke not Jesus. If a person is expecting to read a religious story focusing on Jesus... then they will probably be disappointed when they read "The Secret King." The character Selke is like everyone of us. We have a life full of events and adventures. our adventures are usually about us... the Me, the I, the Ego... not about anything else. That is until we open up to include others into our adventure. Sometimes these others go along with us on our adventures, and sometimes we go along with them on theirs (even if it is by coincidence and not by choice.)  This is what happens to Selke. He is having his own adventure when he is forced into Jesus' adventure. You might not have realized it but Selke is even mentioned in the bible. No... not by name. He is simply called "a man." But back to our topic. Selke's story is an adventure. I write adventure stories. Yes, I simply insist that  all my stories are adventure stories. Not all have ghosts, not all have detectives, not all have journalists, but they all have characterized people who are having an interesting adventure.  (Actually thinking about the similarities... if you look close enough you will agree that each one of my stories has a savior.) Find them on Amazon.com