How My Creative Pursuits Inform My Writing

by Rhiannon Gelston

I consider myself a rather creative person. Not just in what I do, but in how I view things.

My mom is extremely creative and I do think that it is something that might just be inherent in me from her, but I won’t get into a big nature vs. nurture discussion. I do know I came from someone creative and so it was appreciated while I was growing up. I was exposed to creativity and given some freedom to develop that side of me. We were always making something. I wanted to be an artist and could lose myself (still can) in drawing, painting, coloring, and creating. All of the kids in my family, when creating, knew how to pay attention to the details that mattered and to let the other ones go.

In creating, there is a point where you just have to let go and do it.  I also tend to be very in-tune with what is around me. I notice things. I try and make time to notice things. I think that is at the heart of all creativity – noticing things.  Writing is just one expression of that, one way to capture those moments.

When I write, I throw myself into the moment I am trying to describe and let my imagination and senses take over. I see the colors, I hear the sounds, I feel all the feelings. I love art and the visually stimulating scenes that I see around me on a daily basis, whether on a canvas, or in mother nature. I love music and can lose myself in the sounds of a favorite song, or just as easily in the sound of one of my kid’s big belly laughs, which is also music to my ears. My senses are ready to soak it all in.

These observations of the senses are at the core of my writing. I think everything we do is a creative pursuit in some way. Whatever it may be, how we approach it, how we do it, how we interpret it, and how we remember it, it is all unique to the individual. All of these moments I have lived and noticed, both the big and the small, are the creative pursuits that inform my writing.

***

I’m delighted to be participating
in author Rhiannon Gelston’s blog tour for her latest release, LARK AND
THE LOON.

◊ Genre: Memoir with a Twist
◊ Publisher: WiDo Publishing (July 17, 2020)
◊ Print & eBooks
◊ Paperback: 284 pages
◊ ISBN-10: 1947966251
◊ ISBN-13: 978-1947966253

Lark and the Loon follows
the adventures of a tentative boy named
Lark, as he is catapulted out of all that he
knows, into a courageous journey beyond his wildest
imagination.

Upon receiving a special gift
from his Gramps, Lark embarks on a reflective journey of self-discovery as the
innovative story weaves the true-life memoir of his mother (the author) in with
a fantastical journey. With some special new-found friends, Lark travels back
and forth from a symbolic tree to his mother’s true memories of life and death
moments, and simple moments, found everywhere from wild Africa to their very
own living room. Lark and his friends must ascend this tree and gain the
important life lessons offered along the way if they ever hope to find their
way out. Within this journey, Lark finds these lessons, and ultimately himself,
in the space between imagination and truth in this wild tale.

The story explores friendships,
philosophies, and everyday challenges and joys, both from a child’s perspective
and from a parent’s perspective. This memoir with a twist results in a coming-of-age
story that ultimately leads to a new understanding of self, others, and the
world that surrounds us.

LARK AND THE LOON is
available at AMAZON * Barnes & Noble * WiDo Publishing. Also, be sure to add it to your TBR List
on Goodreads.

Meet the
Author

RHIANNON GELSTON loves to
lose herself in all things creative. She enjoys writing, painting, live music,
traveling, sports, being outdoors, exploring, playing, spirituality, and energy
work. She has a BA in English and an MS in Occupational Therapy with a
pediatric focus. Rhiannon just had her first novel published. It is a memoir
with a twist called, LARK AND THE LOON, available wherever books
are sold.

Rhiannon grew up on Spa Creek in
downtown Annapolis. Home for Rhiannon will always be the sound of the halyards
hitting the masts on a breezy day, a pile of crabs saturated in Old Bay,
raft-ups with friends as kids cannonball off of the stern, and time with family
and friends, in, on, and around the Chesapeake Bay.

She lives in Annapolis with her
husband, their five lovely and lively children, and their black lab, McNasby.

Connect with Rhiannon on Facebook and Instagram.

Be sure to enter the tour wide
giveaway. It ends May 3. The grand prize is a $25 Amazon Gift Card and an eBook
of LARK AND THE LOON. The second-place winner has to be a US
resident as the gift is a signed copy of LARK THE LOON. The third-place
prize is an eBook that two winners will receive. If the Rafflecopter widget
doesn’t work, you can still enter by clicking HERE.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by today.
Doesn’t this sound like an intriguing memoir?

Photo on Visualhunt