Voices

Donis here. I'm so glad to read about my blogmates finally achieving a measure of freedom through vaccination. My husband and I are fully vaccinated, too, and though we have gone shopping without masks and out to eat a couple of times, we haven't taken the great leap into travel yet. Part of the reason we're still staying close to home is that vaccinated or not, I haven't been feeling tip-top lately. I did mention a few months ago that I've been experiencing occasional bouts of vertigo, and I have been checked out by specialists who can't seem to find a definitive answer. I keep plugging, looking up new specialists, trying new things, etc. (Acupuncture seems to help a lot). I will say the episodes are much milder now, fewer and further between, but I still get them, so I've become rather neurotic about the idea of flying off into the great unknown. 

I feel better if I don't stare at the computer for any great length of time, which adds to the difficulty of working on my current WIP, not to mention keeping up with my online promotion or even answering emails. However, reading a physical book doesn't seem to bother me, so now that bookstores and libraries are open, I've catching up on my reading. 

I've particularly enjoyed three books I've recently read: Ann Parker's Mortal Music, Sheila Lowe's Dead Letters (available Aug. 3), and Mariah Fredricks' Death of a Showman.

One wonderful thing these three books have in common is their beautiful and appropriate use of style and language, qualities that lift a story out of the ordinary, as far as I'm concerned. 

I think sometimes that writing is very much like singing.  For some singers, their own voices are the most important element of the performance, and the song is simply a vehicle to show off their virtuosity.  For other singers, their delivery is secondary to the song itself, and though their voices are beautiful, they don’t purposely draw attention to them with all kinds of vocal gymnastics.

Both styles of singing are wonderful. I love to listen to a beautiful voice. It almost doesn’t matter what Maria Callas sings since her voice is so gorgeous. Same with Sinatra. His voice and delivery transcend the material.  

Sometimes, however, the song, or the story itself, is so beautiful that a true artist will step out of the way and deliver the music or the words in a plain and straightforward style and let the material speak for itself.