✉ Drawing with Words by Gene Desrochers

Today returning author Gene Desrochers takes over our blog to talk about 'Drawing with Words'. 

Gene's latest novel is Sweet Paradise (6 March 2021, Acorn Publishing, 307 pages), a Noir Murder Mystery, book two of Boise Montague series.

"Boise is back! Gene Desrochers returns his readers to the island paradise of St. Thomas. You'll feel the warm tropical breeze as Private Investigator Boise Montague must discover [what happened to] the matriarch of a wealthy island rum producer. [...] Outstanding writing and the vivid setting will keep you transfixed." --R. D. Kardon, award-winning author of Flygirl and Angel Flight 

"Talented author Gene Desrochers delivers a suspense-filled tale overflowing with duplicitous characters and greed-driven agendas in lushly authentic Caribbean environs." [...] A 5-star read." --Laura Taylor - 6-Time Romantic Times Award Winner

|| Synopsis || Teaser: KCR Preview || The Series || Author Guest Post || About the Author || Giveaway & Tour Stops ||

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Drawing with Words

by Gene Desrochers

The written word imposes itself on my life.  It does.  I like it that way, but sometimes I wish I drew better.  I draw basic stuff.  Funnels, cubes, stick figurines, a cloud with lightning shooting out of it, shiny apples, and, of course, car profiles.  I can’t draw anything good, anything people would note as worthy.  An action shot of Superman would be worthy.  They say all those complex drawings are composed of shapes bandied together using curvy lines.

I draw with words.  Words obsess me.  I analyze them and pick apart which word best describes the shimmying of a washing machine or the cool touch of a metal stop sign on a winter day.

Dean, professor, and author Cynthia Lowenthal

Words pull me in faster than images.  One of my English professors, Cynthia Lowenthal, once talked about her obsession with words by describing an opera she attended.  She said, and I’m paraphrasing here, that she could not stop reading the words above the action on stage.  Even when attending an English opera, her eyes were drawn to the words, so much so, she would forget to watch what was happening, which would have told her a lot of the story through the expressive faces and activities occurring on stage.  Even the costumes expressed a lot about each character.  Regardless, the words engulfed her, pulled at her mind.  Not a gentle tug, but a pull as real and powerful as magnetism.

She was right.  I notice it every time I put the subtitles on to watch a movie if I can’t understand what a character said.  Before long I find myself absorbed in the language, the little white words at the bottom of the picture frame.  They draw me in and before I know it, I’m reading rather than watching.

Is that bad?  Everyone says our culture has become obsessed with media and everyone talks about needing to “read more.”  If that’s true, then no problem, you can do both.  Put on the television and put on the captions!  You are reading and getting a visual image.

Who isn’t drawn to the words over the image?  I wonder.  I love images too.  Art fascinates me.  A lot of art talks about what the images represent.  A skull represents virtue.  The color red represents danger or blood.  All this stuff trying to get back to what it represents in language or ideas.  Language does it nicely, with concise shapes and sounds our mind thoroughly enjoys.  Even in language subtleties exist, making each sentence and word have varied connotations for different writers and different readers.

How do I keep the written word from imposing itself on my life?  Simple answer: I don’t.  It imposes. Once you are in language, there’s no escape.  The more I think about it, the more I realize that I crave more imposition.  The more I understand and the deeper I go down the well of the English language, the richer my life and my consciousness becomes.  Without it, my thoughts would be simple, or at least harder to pinpoint.  My brain would be less evolved and that is special.  I love that I have language.  I’m lucky to have enjoyed the privilege of being literate.

I’d still like to be better at drawing Superman.

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Boise Montague is adjusting to his new life in The Caribbean. Murder is once again on his doorstep, and Boise must not only confront a killer, but the island's dark history and his own inner demons.

Sweet Paradise
Available NOW!

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