FLASH WORDS:

NOW AVAILABLE in e-book and paperback....
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DEATH BY CHOPSTICK - a sequel to MURDER ON THE ROCKS!

In the sequel to Murder On The Rocks! there is a return to China and freak accident in a plane crash along the way, setting the tone for Felly’s experiences and observations of a swiftly developing country sometimes likened to an overturned apple-cart. So much has changed in the four years since her last visit to the mainland: more cars than bicycles in post-Olympic China are crowding the ever widening highways, for one thing. And when a colleague dies in a suspicious chemistry lab fire, Felly realises ... read on >>>

Death By Chopstick was featured in a recent CRY radio interview listen to it here >>>

UNCOMMON BOUNDARIES - Tales and Verse

For all of you who have loved and learned and are still lighting candles rather than cursing the darkness, Shers Gallagher brings a simple joie de vivre – joy for life – by drawing on her lovely muse and weaving together a fine collection of stories and poetic thoughts. Order now through Amazon.com Order now through Lulu.com
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*MURDER ON THE ROCKS! was highlighted in Cork newspaper and radio show... Listen to it now >>>

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Welcome

To Aisling Books

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Please explore the site and contact us with your findings.... We started in 2009 and hope to welcome new authors soon. If you are interested please check out the menu About Aisling Books

BETWEEN BOOKENDS - A COLUMN

When an Artist Meets an Artist

The Soul of an Artist

Where does the 'Creative Muse' come from?

As a novelist, songwriter and poet, I feel my soul speaking - often living - through my words. There have even been times in my life when others have suggested I was writing my own story. I even had one lady go so far as to tell me that I’d had an experience induced by past life memories.

I grew up in theatre when method acting was the modern trend and we young Thespians were drilled by those in charge to not just act out the lines but to BE the part. I’ll never forget the countless fuss, criticism and redirection till whatever measly little part I had became believable in the eyes of the tyrannical director. Looking back, I feel lucky that this sense of 'realism' stuck with me long after retiring from the ‘smell of greasepaint and roar of the crowd’. I’ve taken on this self-same approach in my work as an author who lives and breathes the air of each and every one of her characters, some of which aren't even human! Whatever I attempt to involve my readers in, I have felt a thousand times more while tapping into the creative muse, which is a wonderfully exhausting process. Delving into a project designed to make the reader experience what moves my heart and soul, it's my hope that I can stir each to hear and recognise my voice as they journey along with me and my characters.

Everyone with talent deserves their moment in the sun! Though no longer on-stage, I live for the brief encounter - that epiphany - when I open the door of my world and invite you in to live my tale right alongside me. And this, I believe, is the honest wish every artist - to move you as they are moved.

© Sherry Marie Gallagher 2011

Where an Artist Meets an Artist

The Revelation of an Artist

What makes 'GREAT' literature?

Great literature reveals to us the layers of the universe which are replicated in ourselves. We become able to see ourselves simultaneously as unique individuals and as individuals who disappear into grains of sand on a beach.

No living person accepts his or her humanness easily. People spend their lives either seeking meaning or seeking to run away from meaninglessness. Good literature uses unforgettable characters who are also trying to deal with the question ‘Why?’ to allow us to explore possible answers to that question.

Is life a ‘tale told by an idiot’? A ‘dream’? Meaningful or meaningless? Why do we exist? Great literature allows us to feel either our oneness with or our separateness from the universe. If a work affects us in this way it is excellent literature – no matter what critics say. If a work does not touch us it is not good literature for us, but it may be for someone else.

How an Artist Creates

The inspirations of an artist

How do we 'CREATE' the something out of nothing?

Many authors agree with me that the first few weeks of writing a new novel or any kind of created work is the most painful of experiences. Yet, it’s the most thrilling as well. And it’s one of the very few times when I feel a 'God complex', or the touch of the divine, feeling what it must be like to literally create something out of nothing.

How exactly do my characters, my setting and plot appear out of the void, as it seems? Amy Tan addresses the subject brilliantly in her talk: ' Where Does Creativity Hide?' And I believe, as she does, that there is never a complete answer to this question. It's a question that my writing students have often asked me as well. They would like a pat answer, a formulaic process to put them at ease like a road map on their journey, pointing out and directing each step they take along the way. And I could give them one, such as telling them to make a skeletal outline or keep a diary by their bed. But I would be cheating, as I don't do these things myself. I never have, as I’ve found them such ‘finite’ attempts to reach a more ‘infinite’ quality I seek with my work. For me, the inspiration has always come as a Eureka! – a flash of brilliance - that comes upon me irrespective of where I am, who I’m with or what I'm doing. And I do admit that having something to write on is handy when this happens.

My first novel, Boulder Blues, was written as to remember a past that had remained with a lot of black holes still to be filled in, as well as a prompting by others to tell the tale of those experiencing, trapped in and living through the Counter-culture movement that hit the '60s-'70s youth culture like a tsunami. It wasn’t a biographical piece by any means. Yet, it captured the essence of the time I’d lived through as a young adult, my cultural surroundings and the people I mingled with as a performing folk musician and artist commune dweller. I did, however, want to preserve memories of a few very zany characters I’d known and loved, and who’ve since passed on. I wanted to resurrect their characters by giving them and their antics life in my fictitious tale. It also brought me so much joy mixed with occasional bitter-sweet memory to do so. I didn’t actually begin writing Boulder Blues until the death of an old boyfriend, a Vietnam veteran, whose name one day appeared out of the blue in the local newspaper. It was then that my characters and scenes seemed to come out of the walls and clutter my life, bringing flashes of memory with them. Sometimes I almost felt schizophrenic with running dialogues, as, in particular scenes, I found my characters running away with me. And quite often they just wouldn’t shut up! Magical experiences such as this continued to occur until this story was told.

So, was I creating my own life in this way? I don’t really have an answer to that. All I know is that, when this Eureka! happened, I was at a place in my soul where I was willing to let go and give my imagination free reign. I gave my characters voice and allowed them to speak to and through me. I even took on their beliefs for at time, as I truly relived the ‘60s culture while I was writing one of its many stories. In that way, I could almost call it historical though the tale itself was, again, purely fiction. Yet, during the process of creating something out of nothing, I discovered a buried youth that I had let out to play again. And that experience was a fantastic one! For a time, I had merged with my characters and become a part of the story itself.

In such away, I believe we authors tell our tales to bring meaning to our lives. And, thus, we create something out of nothing.

© Sherry Marie Gallagher 2011

WHY an ARTIST CREATES and COMMERCIALISM

Is creative energy dampened by commercialism?

To me it seems this particular topic can be a big struggle for every artist who likes to create for the sake of creating. Yet, when all is said and done, I've never met anyone who doesn't appreciate feedback. During the holiday season, especially, feelings are mixed while trying to sell one's product and/or receive kudos of recognition, whether one is a performing or fine artist, and not get caught up in the sense that worth is only by how it is measured and by whom. It's a dilemma for sure that requires a fine balance. I've even known musicians who've quit just when attention begins to reach an uncomfortable level, claiming it was interfering with their enjoyment of just gigging. Hmm, I can see their point, but....

As a storyteller, I think I'm at my best when not pushed. When the creative spirit fills and moves me I just pour out thoughts, words, images and feelings, which is what I like best. If another appreciates and/or buys my work, I'm always left with a 'child at Christmas' feeling. I'm astounded. And, knowing my personality so well after all these years, I don't really see that it’s really ever going to change.

Yet, what saddens me most is that artists have to struggle so with the pedalling of their art to just have their basic needs met. And as another mentioned, this is when we're driven to give into our more practical natures and make compensations for the lack of 'ca-ching'. Only rarely are artists subsidised for their work, and there are those few given notoriety for their talents. Some are luckier than others, and there are others too who are just plain creative craftsmen and craftswomen. Even so, too often the majority of talent is left underpaid and ignored. I'm all for more community support for artists everywhere. Some people have the slogan: Shop (fill in country)! I say: Shop our local artists!

And, honestly, the humanities seem the last venue that people are currently investing in. Rather, they're cutting way back on their life choices. Class attendance in the liberal arts and softer sciences have tapered back while people attempt to work more at existing jobs, menial or not, to bring in currency that perhaps has been lost on stock dips and realty investments. Work hours have been cut back as well as pay in some places, and/or extended with heavier workloads that are not as well compensated as before in others. Not to go unmentioned is the continually rising unemployment, which doesn't include the short-term need for workers during holiday season. Jobs being made redundant and contracts not extended elsewhere are still very much a part of our current global economy, which affects the way individuals invest their time and money. So, the question for many artists is: do I still create, economy be damned? And, if I do, do I still invest in quality regardless of pay, or the lack of it? It's a hard question with often discouraging outcomes, enough to dampen the creative spirit if not checked.

Who is the Artist?

Through the artist’s looking glass

Composites and Discoveries of Personal Theme

I've recently been amassing stories, poems and songs that I’ve collected over the years. And I’ve done so with the full knowledge that such composites are typically not best sellers. However, the magic of doing so is in the discovery of a personal theme pulsating throughout – of common threads of ideas, literary symbolism and ponderings. Such awareness can be absolutely magical! But not only has this discovery been interesting, it has also proved slightly disturbing. How so? There are many areas in our being, I have found, that have grown irritated by an unwillingness to let go. Be it the memory of a loved one, personal triumph, defeat or even the inability to recognise and let go of the passing of youth, such memories are those we cling to until they fester within, such as what physically happens to one suffering from diverticulitis, which is a physical blockage in the colon.

During the process of accumulating what I call 'creative expression in written form', I've recognised so acutely all the places that I too have been lingering in and not letting go of. In a nonlinear world, you might say that this is where I dwell. And these are images played and replayed like slides and film reels of people, places and things that are no longer a part of my reality. Yet, they exist just the same as if they are genuinely there. I can see them, touch them, feel and even sometimes taste them. And they have taken up enormous 'virtual space'. Simply said, these are what the mind’s eye sees of lost youth and loved one’s passed on, even situations run and rerun that are no longer happening and haven’t occurred in a very long time. Honestly, there is nothing wrong with a healthy dose of rehashing the past now and again. It is the very bulk of personal history and storytelling after all. Yet, such feelings and emotions surrounding memory can be blinding, even blocking us from moving on and experiencing the fullness of our present life as we prepare for and anticipate what is around the corner.

In so many ways, I’ve found this act of gathering personal work into a cumulative body an enlightening experience. It has allowed me to see with clarity where I’ve been ‘dwelling’ – perhaps too long – and enabled me to hopefully let go of the virtual spaces that are truly no longer a part of my reality.

©Shers Gallagher 2010