Personal Time in Quiet Places

By Keith N Fisher

I don’t have a Dead Author’s Society review today. I don’t have a special new book to report on. After commenting on Facebook the other day I’m determined to keep my mouth shut, again. So today I’m sitting in the public library catching up on a little writing time.

I have a subject I’d like to talk about, but keep going to the end. You can read the update on my writing projects. I knew you were interested. Well, even if you weren’t, I’m going to tell you about it anyway.

Do you remember the words to the theme song of Cheers? If you missed the eighties, Cheers was a popular television sitcom about an alcoholic bar owner, along with the crazy antics perpetrated by his customers. Anyway, the song goes, Listen to it here

Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot
Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You want to be where you can see
Our troubles are all the same
You want to be where everybody knows your name

By Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo

Does it sound good? Would you be shocked to learn that most of us already have a place like this, it’s a place called the family. I know there are circumstances where home and family, are hostile environments. Unfortunately, church can be likewise, but for the most part, your family can be for you, what the customers of Cheers were to each other.

Besides church and family, I’ve known a few places like Cheers in my short life, but I’ve, also, learned that sometimes I need a quieter place. A place to be alone and think. We all need a place where there are no expectations, and no distractions. We need a place where clarity seeps into our psyche.

I had a deadline so I came to the library, but I remember a solo backpacking trip about thirty-one years ago. I spent all day off the beaten path, following deer trails and breaking the bush, so to speak. I climbed a peak in the middle of nowhere, communed with nature and enjoyed the beautiful view.

Something touched my heart that day, and I fell to my knees in gratitude for the opportunity to see such beauty. After my pounding heart settled down, I heard myself think. My thoughts were focused in honest reflection of my life’s direction. I was able to move forward with clarity.

Because of urban development, that place no longer exists, but I can go to a similar place. Not by backpacking, or climbing peaks. I can go there by leaving my electronic gizmos in the car, finding a quiet place, and turning my thoughts away from problems. Some people get there through fishing. Others whittle.

Before long, while focusing on nothing, clarity occurs and I realize the solution to my problem.

Try my solution and carve out a little quiet personal time for yourself. Let me know how you get to your quiet place.



Now, the update, I’m currently working on the sequel to The Hillside. With 40,725 words and 153 pages, I’m about half way done. I still don’t have a name for it, but I sat down with a white board the other day and listed all the things I still need to write in order to tell this story.

The Hillside is in the hands of the proofreaders. I think you’ll like the book. With nine different points of view, and several characters, it tells the story of the owner of the Hillside Bed and Breakfast and the quests who stay within the walls. It’s women’s fiction, but there are elements for all readers.

I’ve been drafting a new story called Star Crossed. It’s the story of high school sweethearts driven apart, then coming together later in life.

The other books on the list continue to sit on the back burner. I write this blog and two others each week and love to review new books.