Have you ever been so completely smitten in the brain and the heart and the soul so perfectly all at the exact same time by some one thing that you instantly become a seasoned junky to its call? Whatever it may be – you see it, smell it, hear it, taste it and it’s undeniably meant to be another part of you. Fusion.
This doesn’t happen with everything on the planet. Not everything that bounces off our brains and our 5 silly senses meshes with us in that way that raises the hairs on the backs of our necks like primordial spikes and gets jammed under our fingernails. These are the kind of things that ride the line, are almost painful when they plow into us – I’d imagine this ache is our soul expanding, stretching at the seams, working into warm soreness like muscles.
These are very Important Things. These are very Rare Things. They should not be mistaken for mere rushes of adrenaline; you didn’t just miss a step on the stairs, fool.
Things that are made of this stuff do not embarrass us in public – shameless, all of us, to whatever it is – and the moment of titanic impact clogs our airways with its intensity; we need to come up for air. Sometimes this happens to me in the charcoal dark at 4am, sometimes on the bus when we turn left on Broadway and even sometimes when I’m just crissity-cross-legged on my favorite chair in my moccasins. Let me tell you about that last one.
Good writing. Good writing is an infection. Good writing pitches a tent at the top of your stomach and you’ll never eat again because what’s been done with the words there is full enough. This doesn’t always happen on the favorite chair with the moccasins, though. Good writing – like a great many of these things that put electricity in our soul places – sometimes arrives at an odd or inopportune time. Sometimes you get grabbed by the wrist and dragged away before you want to be. It’s no bueno.
But not tonight. Tonight, you can even have a beer to wash it down. Join writer Will Lavender this eve, Friday, January 11th for the first InKY Reading Series of 2013 at The Bard’s Town for a shot in the arm of something good.
A former creator of both poetry and short fiction, Kentucky native Will Lavender has now turned in his writing career the way of the novel. Taking inspiration from both the thriller and mystery genres of fiction, Lavender’s first book, Obedience, earned him a spot on both the New York Times and international bestseller lists and has been sold in 13 countries. His second novel, Dominance, was released in 2011 and met with similar success.
The literary shindig starts at 6:30pm, with open mic – as always – for the open-minded offered in the mix. Willing to drop by? I can’t promise you a soulmate moment, but I can promise you the chance. And you have to step out into the world to find those blood-pumping chances wherever they may be.
The Bard’s Town is located at 1801 Bardstown Road.
Photo: Courtesy of Will Lavender’s website www.willlavender.com
