The first time I traveled internationally, people from other countries assumed by my accent that I was from Dallas. Ha! Maybe in the future they'll hear me and assume I'm from Nashville!* Actually, living here for 20-plus years now, I still haven't lost my South Carolinian accent. (Two trivia bits on accents: Did you know that you form your accent based on where you live the first 11 years of your life? And, the South actually has 22-plus dialects! I love that, among many things about the South.)
*The above also references the popular new nighttime soapsuds drama eponomously named
"Nashville." (Note to self: "Tap-tap. C'mon and go ahead and get that blog post written about the show, will ya?!")
Once upon a time when people learned I lived in Nashville, they'd say something about country music. It was always an eyeball roller and squirm provoker. Defensively, I and many others in such circumstances would be quick to explain there was so much more to our fair city. Until country music became H.O.T. Then we got over ourselves. While the show, "Nashville," does showcase that genre and many of the other wonderful musical varieties oozing out of every cell of our city, we still ain't just about music. (Excuse the hillbilly stereotyped language. I cain't hep meself.)
Oh, Nashville–this is a city of art. Musical art. Visual art. Literary art. Creative art of all types. Even tech types. And so, I'm back on this "Arts Friday" (ressurrecting that old theme from "The Journey with Grace,") to blast a horn for two other Nashville-area authors and their works. They are posting today in our authors blog hop, in their own blogs, about their work, just as I did about my own work in progress last week. Please go visit their sites and leave a word of encouragement. It can feel kinda lonely out here in the blogosphere sometimes.:
I've known Kathy Rhodes for about a half-dozen years now via the Williamson County writer's community. She's the queen and whip-smart-talented in the creative non-fiction genre. You'll love her voice of Southern comfort–like wamed, smooth butter, slathered and seeping fast into a porous slice of your grandma's fresh baked herb bread. You can check her out via my blog roll anytime you're hanging out here on my page. Or, go sign up for her blog updates. Go, Kathy! I'm looking forwarding to reading what she's onto next. Ambitious, that one!
Julie Gillen's work is new to me. But she's connected with Kathy and also my blogger friend, Bill Peach. (Check my blog roll for a link to Bill's blog–right now, this is Julie's space.) I'm impressed. She seems mighty ambitious, too, and I like her voice. Take a look!
And one more shout out to the author who started this link in the chain: Charlotte Rains Dixon. Her novel published Tuesday. wOOT! (Charlotte has ties to Nashville, the city, too, as she coaches clients here and mentors at the Middle Tennessee State University Writer's Loft.)
Thank you for reading and indulging us a teeny bit. Just like all those crooners, songwriters, painters and sculptors, all dubbing this creative mecca, called Nashville, home–we wordsmiths of the book variety need you, too! xoxo
Photo: From the show "Nashville"–crooner, swooner, gritty hard-life survivor, songwriter, torn and worn lover…you get the point. A little bit of everything in this well-watched plot. More on that later! Source ~ ABC.com
