August 2013 Issue of The Scribblers Newsletter

Welcome to the August issue of the Scribblers.  This month we have an original short story by Jamie Baker, writing prompts and a look at David Baldacci.  I hope you enjoy it.

Should I Buy Curtains?

A metaphysical look at window dressing.

 by 

Jamie Baker

A couple of weeks ago, far into the late shift at work, I was standing in an empty office waiting for a co-worker.  On one of the desks I noticed a small paperback book, Focusing, by Eugene T. Gendlin PH.D. 

Over the next couple of nights I read the first 40 pages or so of the book.  Gendlin, through years of study and teaching, believes that the physical body has knowledge that can be imparted to the conscious mind through what Gendlin calls the felt sense.    By quietly and intently, but in a friendly way, focusing on our physical sensations we can gain self-knowledge.  The felt sense is what your body is trying to tell you about your emotional, mental and spiritual self.  The felt sense can help you understand what you are truly feeling and wanting, surmount obstacles, make decisions, solve problems, find relief from tension and chronic pain, and refine your personal belief system.

 

Wow!  Really?  All that?  Ok, I was hooked so I looked the guy up on the internet.  The Focusing Institute has been around for more than 30 years and the website invited me to explore all kinds of ways to spend my money.  After window shopping, no pun intended, for a few minutes, I got the felt sense that I could not afford to do much more than browse. 

 

However, I did find a side bar about another focusing practitioner, Ann Weiser Cornell, PH.D.  She wrote a book called The Power of Focusing and she has a website where I was able to read the first chapter of her book.   The language is clear and her writing style is smooth and engaging.  One section was about getting over procrastination and letting go of addictive behavior.  That’s for me, I thought.  The website invited me to listen to a 45-minute pre-recorded seminar called “I want to get that done…why don’t I?”  Hmm, I’ve been asking myself that for years.  So I listened in.

It was a lot of metaphysical jaw-jacking, with the typical feel good phrases about listening kindly but in a detached way to our inner self, yada yada, but the most interesting parts were the exchanges that Dr. Cornell had with several of her students.

  

After several minutes of guided session focused on the question “I want to …. but I don’t”, Dr. Cornell invited others to describe what they wanted to do and what they had learned in the focusing session.  

Here’s the exchange between JoAnn, from LA, and Dr. Cornell, almost word for word (I listened a second time, just to be sure my ears and I were hearing the same thing, and wrote it down as fast I could):

“Hi, my name is JoAnn and I’m from LA.’  JoAnn sounds like she is middle aged and speaks with the precise enunciation of the perennially uptight.

  

“Hello Joann, welcome.” 

“What I want to do is buy curtains, but I don’t.”

“Ah, and were you able to discover what is blocking you from buying curtains, what part of you doesn’t want to get curtains?”

“Yes, I realized that if I don’t get curtains then others can see what my mother is doing to me.”

“Oh my goodness,” says Dr. Cornell, “isn’t that wild.”  She sounds like she’s reading from a grocery list.

“If others can see what my mother is doing,” JoAnn continues, “then maybe she won’t kill me.”

“What a wonderful insight, how lovely.   Now that you understand your true feelings maybe you can go ahead and get those curtains.”

Huh?  Or maybe you should call 911, or maybe you should move, or maybe you should have your mother committed.   Anyway, I bought the book, I’ll let you know how it is. 

 

 August Writing Prompts

1. I opened my front door and saw my neighbor, Barry, chasing a man out of his house with a double barrelled shotgun.

2. John and Shirley checked out of their motel and drove down Pacific Coast Highway.  Going around a sharp turn, a blue van with 2 men inside came up behind them, ramming their car. 

 

A Look at David Baldacci

David Baldacci was born August 5, 1960 and was raised in Richmond, Virginia. A graduate of Henrico High School, he received a B.A. from Virginia

Commonwealth University and a law degree from the University of Virginia, after which he practiced law for nine years in Washington, D.C.

Baldacci began writing stories as a child, when his mother gave him a notebook in which to record them. He wrote for more than two decades, penning short stories and later screenplays without much success. While practicing law, he turned to novel writing, taking three years to write Absolute Power. Published in 1996, it was an international best seller. He has since written 25 additional bestselling novels for adults as well as three novels for children.

Baldacci and his wife, Michelle, are the co-founders of the Wish You Well Foundation, which works to combat illiteracy in the United States.


Baldacci became involved with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society after his sister, author Sharon Baldacci, was diagnosed with MS.

He made a big splash on the literary scene with the publication of his first novel, ABSOLUTE POWER. A major motion picture adaptation followed, with Clint Eastwood as its director and star. In total, David has published 26 novels, all of which have been national and international bestsellers; several have been adapted for film and television. His novels have been translated into more than 45 languages and sold in more than 80 countries; over 110 million copies are in print worldwide. David has also published three novels for children. 

He has received numerous accolades for his writing: most recently, he was inducted into the 2011 International Crime Writing Hall of Fame and received the 2012 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award.

Absolute Power tells the story of a fictional American President and his Secret Service agents who are willing to commit murder in order to cover up the accidental death of a woman with whom the President was having an affair. It was made into a film, Absolute Power (1997), starring Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman.

Baldacci has published more than 20 novels and most of his novels have ended up in New York’s bestselling list. He has also written two young adult novels which are Freddy and the French Fries: Fries Alive! and Freddy and the French Fries: The Adventures of Silas Finklebean. He also published a novella “Office Hours” for Holland’s year 2000 “Month of the Thriller”. Besides this, in 2002 he published a short story as part of a mystery anthology, which was called “The Mighty Jones”.

In addition to writing novels, Baldacci wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of his novel Wish You Well; the movie was shot on location in southwest Virginia in the fall of 2012 with Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn, Josh Lucas, and Mackenzie Foy in the lead roles. Baldacci is a consulting producer on King & Maxwell, a TNT television series based on his characters Sean King and Michelle Maxwell.

While David is involved with several philanthropic organizations, his greatest efforts are dedicated to his family's Wish You Well Foundation®. Established by David and his wife, Michelle, the Wish You Well Foundation supports family and adult literacy in the United States by fostering and promoting the development and expansion of literacy and educational programs. 

In 2008 the Foundation partnered with Feeding America to launch Feeding Body & Mind, a program to address the connection between literacy, poverty and hunger. Through Feeding Body & Mind, nearly 1 million new and used books have been collected and distributed via area food banks.

Baldacci's novels have been translated into over 45 languages and sold in more than 80 countries. Over 110 million copies of his books are in print worldwide.

Some of his most bestselling novels include: Absolute Power, Total Control, The Winner, The Simple Truth, Saving Faith, Wish You Well, Last Man Standing, The Christmas Train, Split Second, Hour Game, The Camel Club, The Collectors, Simple Genius, Stone Cold, The Whole Truth, The Sixth Man.

David lives with his wife and their two teenagers in Virginia.