THINK about this simple notion…some of us desire to live in the skin of others

OK.  Let’s get real.  We all (well, at least a significant number of us) have fantasized about living the life that some celebrity, friend, or family member enjoys. While these desires probably do not approach coveting under biblical strictures, we project and then try to keep those thoughts or actions as private as we can.

So, here is the question for the day.  How many of us fantasize about the life of a writer?  Gotcha on that one, heh.

We enjoy the words, the creativity, the manner in which writers bob and weave, intersect and juxtapose words, sentences, paragraphs and meld those characteristics into a piece that changes our life.

And there is Tara L. Marta.

Scranton, in northeastern Pennsylvania, United States, is a city “at the center of the Lackawanna River Valley…nestled between the Pocono and Endless Mountains.”  Scranton exhumes nature as evidenced by “Nay Aug Park designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, and [the park] includes a zoo, museum, two Olympic sized swimming pools and a great gorge topped with a treehouse.” 

Creativity juxtaposed with nature.  There is a symbiosis. 

Tara L. Marta (photo provided)

Tara L. Marta is tempered by the urban dynamics associated with residing in Scranton, and it may be safe to suggest that she has been affected by that city’s ambiance. More importantly to aaduna, she is a testament to understanding the life of a writer, the life many of us will never experience in actuality or elect to visit in fantasy.

Here is the opening salvo to Marta’s story, “A Writer’s Life.”

          The white screen stared back at me in an antagonizing manner; its soft glow illuminating my oval face, as I drifted into oblivion. My fingers lingered on the alphabet waiting for the signal to move at a steady pace, yet I had nothing to offer. Fragmented thoughts had become my nemesis, and I sat in my new leather chair waiting for something enigmatic to happen – nothing did! Behind me, a bookshelf – physical proof that it can be done if one is daring enough to dive headfirst into a wading pool filled with hundreds of others who share the same ideas. To my right, framed posters of Mark Twain basking in the glory of success, a complacent look etched upon his face. On my left, a paperweight bearing a quotation from Benjamin Franklin: “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” They were all against me; I felt their presence surrounding me as I searched for the words – words that likely poured from their pens readily and easily, with hardly any effort at all. I leaned back in my chair, resting my head against the palm of my hand. And I waited. . .

You can finish reading her story in the summer 2016 issue of aaduna!

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aaduna - a timeless exploration into words and images - is a globally read, multi-cultural, and diverse online literary and visual arts journal established in 2010.  Visit us at www.aaduna.org where we put measurable actions to our words.

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