Inspiration

I recently switched from Blockbuster online back to Netflix for their free streaming of movies and TV shows. My wife and I are hooked on Gray's Anatomy right now, and it's saving us a ton! Anyways, while watching the previews before Pixar's movie Cars, my 2 1/2 year old son saw one for Disney's 1953 Peter Pan. I loved this movie, and now my son does too. He watched it as many times as we would let him. We've since mailed it back and he's currently watching the 2002 sequel Peter Pan in, Return to Neverland. Watching that movie with my son, for the first time in a decade or so, made the whole world come alive to me again. I thought about how cool the ideas were and I remembered my brother back when we were in college together say that he had read the book - and that it had rocked. So I have started reading the book, and it's great to get a deeper read of the story in novel form. From watching that cartoon movie, I wanted to know more about the world of Neverland. I wondered how it all really worked, it's origins, and the back story to all the characters. It inspired me to want to write more fantasy in my own work, as I've been focusing on Science Fiction lately. I can't wait to create my own world for characters to escape into. I know just how I'm going to do it too. The good folks over at The Dead Robots' Society Podcast and Matthew Wayne Selznick of the Podiobook Brave Men Run and many other projects, are going to publish an anthology called EXPLORERS: BEYOND THE HORIZON. I'll let you hear what it is in their words:

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"A short story anthology to be published in 2011. The stories in EXPLORERS will feature characters forever changed by their discovery of lands and worlds beyond their own. Whether it’s by charting new stars, trekking across fantastical realms, sailing new oceans or traversing the wild and unknown spaces between dimensions, readers will find the unimaginable in the pages of EXPLORERS."

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I had a great idea that I think will turn into a novel, but first I'm going to write out a short story for this anthology which will tell of some dudes discovering this world I'm going to create. My world will be much different than Neverland or Narnia but it will be imaginative, it will be mine, and it will start with an N. I was just kidding about that last part :)

I've been inspired. What inspires you? Do you think we would be pushed to create without inspiration? Was there one big moment of inspiration which started you down the path of creating art? Was it an individual or people rather than media that got you going? Is it still a hobby like it is for me, but you dream of it being more some day? If it's more than a hobby, when did you know it was what you wanted to do full time? Leave a comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how inspiration influences our creative output.

I've Been Busy!

So, there is a brand spanking new short story episode I'm very happy with which dropped at the very beginning of this month, but I haven't been posting much else on here. Let me tell you why. My wife and I started doing foster care a few months ago, and have taken in 3 foster kids in that time. First we had a little 3 month old, then for 3 days his 3 year old sister, then an 8 month old. We've only had 2 at a time, but with our 2 1/2 year old son that's three kids in diapers. Yes, we're crazy :) You can hear all about it on a Foster care Podcast I started called Fostering With Love. Now we have only the 3 month old, who's now 5 months old, AND as of last night - an adopted little girl. My wife and I have been waiting for over 9 months to be placed with a baby through a local private adoption agency. Now it has happened! We're so excited. She is a beautiful 3 month old little red head. So now we have our 2 1/2 year old son, our brand new 3 month old daughter, and a 5 month old foster baby boy. Now you know why my podcast episode dropped a few days late, and why this blog has been a bit less regular than normal. As the dust settles I hope to be posting more regularly. I also hope that before too long I'll be posting the first episode of my SciFi/Space Opera novel. It has yet to go through a 2nd draft and get before beta readers, but it's getting closer. In the mean time, thank you so much for stopping by, and you can look forward to a new short story podcast every month. Until next time, this is Dan signing off.

Short Stories of DanDanTheArtMan 05 - The Last Butterscotch

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Henry Jr. and his family are excited about their newborn kittens, but after Mama had made sure they were doing well - Henry Jr. goes to the barn to see them, but after counting them finds that thereâs an extra one. He tells his mama, and they run back to discover there is indeed another cat she had not seen come out of the mother cat. As the weeks go on they notice this last kitten is very different from the others. Find out why by listening in to this episode!

Website: http://writingsofdan.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DanDanTheArtMan

Promos:

John Mierau
http://johnmierau.com/

P.C. Harring
http://www.cybrosisnovel.com/

Sound Effects used from: http://www.freesound.org/

Music used from: http://archive.org/