Sightlines: A Family Love Story

Again we have the chance to visit with Janet Riehl from St. Louis, Missouri. Her writings are inspirational so without much to-do, I'll let her explain about her latest project.

G: Janet, I had the privilege to hear your latest poetry project that you shared with your dad and his music. Tell us about your project.

J: You're referring to our 4-disc CD "Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry and Song." It's an audio book of "Sightlines: A Poet's Diary" published in 2006. Since then, I've given talks and workshops around the country. Folks told me how hearing me read the poems added so much to their interpretation. I always included music in my presentations because I find that it helps break up the continual flow of words, and slows my mind to hear the words better. There are the original 90 poems recorded in a Nashville studio, plus 40 songs we recorded via mini-disc in my father's parlor.

My father is 93 and passionate about the music of his young manhood. He's played string instruments all his life, especially fiddle. The book is a down home family love story beyond death. I wanted to bring this love story in more strongly by including my father's music. I this case it's even more powerful because my father and his music group are playing that music.

G: What encouraged you to begin this project?

J: After the publication of my poetry book I appeared on podcasts, and gave talks and workshops around the country. Folks told me that hearing me read these poems added so much to their understanding. I always included music somehow in my presentations. The musical interludes provide a rest in the intervals between poems and allows for fuller integration...rather than a stream of words. I'd long wanted to make an audio book. Finally, a visit to Nashville in 2008 to see two blogging buddies there, turned into the perfect push to just go for it.

G: Please tell us what you like to write.

J: I've written poetry, short fiction, and personal essays. There is a thread of memoir throughout everything I write. I enjoy reading novels, but can only go as far as producing novelettes. I'm more of a sprinter, I suppose in that regard, rather than a marathon runner.

G: How did you get started writing?

J: My first publications were in junior high school in a small magazine called "Kaleidescope." My father recently discovered these among his papers, and we celebrated the work of that young writer. As an English major I wrote many papers, but I didn't start writing for personal pleasure until I began what would become a life-long diary habit in Africa. The quiet and spaciousness of that environment provided the ideal conditions for fostering my writing voice. I didn't publish again until maybe 2000 when literary magazines started picking up my work.

G: Do you belong to a writing group? Have they helped you in your writing projects?

J: I attend meetings of two writing groups now, mainly for the nurturance of socializing with other writers. While I have belonged to writing groups in my adult life, on the whole I've found that critiquing has led to more harm than good, and has dampened my desire to continue writing or working any given piece. This stems in large part from the fact that critiquing is widely misunderstood as criticizing and that rarely are good ground rules set in place and agreed upon.
I much prefer a writing buddy--someone who is on your side, but can guide you in your work. I've had a number of writing buddies in my life, set up in a variety of ways, and each time I've found these arrangements have moved me and my work forward.
What we most need is appreciative inquiry.

G: Do you have a writing schedule?

J: When I am in the midst of a directed project, then I write regularly, usually in the morning when I wake up before the demands of the day take hold. In between projects I might free write or journal, but not on any regular schedule. I find that times of dormancy or light lifting are useful. Also, this resting period for writing allows me to focus on expression of my other talents.

G: Do you write full-time or do you have a "day job?"

J: I made my living for 20 years in work that somehow involved a variety of professional writing. No matter what the core work was, writing was a required skill. I was so grateful for my English major background which provided the skills of interpretation, analysis, making connections, organizing my work, discipline, and yes...writing. I've used these skills throughout my professional life.

In 1989, shortly after I turned 40...and the year of the big earthquake in the Bay Area where I then lived, I left the corporate world, and never had a straight job again. I consulted, taught youth art classes, substituted in schools, ran a family literacy program. These were things that used my professional skills on a limited basis, and gave me time to put my creative projects in the foreground. Currently I work on my writing projects full time.

G: What is your next project that is coming up that you’d like to tell us about?

J: We are in the midst of quite a few projects. We are in the midst of launching the audio book. Your readers can get their own download sample at my blog-magazine of Riehlife . I went to Nashville in April to celebrate in a launch party with the people there who collaborated with me to make the dream a reality. We're in the publication preparation phase for a poetry anthology of family and friends that my father has put together titled "Worth Remembering: The Poetry and Some of the History."

I'm in the beginning phases of writing a memoir titled: "Finding My African Heart: A Village of Stories." But, this will take years to complete.

G: How would you like to be remembered?

J: First of all, I think of my sister Julia who died in 2004 as "worked for peace and social justice; world class physicist." hen I think of my mother who died in 2006 as "family visionary and general of large scale domestic creative projects." For me? There's still some time to go, I hope. Maybe something like, "She worked to create community wherever she was, around the world, in hopes of greater harmony and peace." That certainly seems to have been the theme of my work. It's an ideal. Like all ideals, it is never fully realized, but it's good to have an anchor.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you, Gwyn. I've enjoyed sharing time with you and your readers.

G: You are more than welcome. Come visit us again. Once more, visit Janet's blog and click on "Riehl Life: Village Wisdom for the 21st Century" for connections through the arts, across cultures and generations. While you're there, you can click on the Tour Schedule. There's a contest on each stop that gives participants a chance to win an audio book. Who knows, you might be a lucky winner.