Peeking Over Your Neighbors Fence

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

If you are like most Americans there is a good chance you live in a subdivision or neighborhood where neighbors are close at hand and fences divide your yards and provide your privacy. I’m no different. I have great neighbors but do appreciate our fences. As they say good fences make good neighbors.

We do get curious about what is going on in our neighbor’s back yards and will on occasion take a peek over the fence. I sometimes look through the cracks or knot holes that have popped out. Now this isn’t something we hide from each other. We do talk to each other by climbing up on the fence or will even put a ladder against the fence to get a better look. 

We admire our gardens, lawns, flowers and especially the smoke rising from the BBQ. We share gardening and lawn tips and recipes for outdoor cookouts. As divisive as the privacy fence may appear, and it can be, we openly look beyond it and happily share with our neighbors. As a matter of fact there is a sense of pride in being asked about our backyard success. There is also a great deal of wisdom shared and gathered from the peeking across the fence visits.        

Southern Writers Magazine is what I call the ultimate peek over your neighbor’s fence. Your author neighbors are similar to my own. They are happy to see you looking over the fence or through the cracks and knot holes. They do the same. They share their wisdom and seek yours. Each author has a sense of pride in their back yard a sense of pride in sharing with others. They, like us, want their yard as well as their neighbor’s yard to look great. It makes for a better neighborhood and community.

If you had been following Southern Writers Magazine since its first issue you would have taken a peek over the fence of 1,032 author neighbors. Each having a story of their own and each allowing you to peek into their backyard. They know they achieved a great back yard by peeking over their neighbor’s fence and are happy to share with the next neighbor over.

If you have missed taking a peek you can start today. You simply go to our subscription site    http://www.southernwritersmagazine.com/subscribe.html  and subscribe. Whether a reader and want a look inside your favorite author’s way to write or an author and looking for ideas that will help you along the way you will enjoy each issue. So take some time and take a peek. You won’t regret it.

Are You Ready?

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

President Woodrow Wilson once said, “It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything.”

It has been some 6 years ago that Susan Reichert and I sat at a table in the local Barnes and Noble bookstore and discussed the idea of what has become Southern Writers Magazine. Many times I have asked myself if we were ready. I honestly must say, absolutely not. I had never been in the magazine business and had no idea what was ahead. Susan had been some years ago when it was all about the printed word but today everything was digital. We had no idea on what software was needed to produce the magazine or how best to present it but we were forging ahead. If we had decided to wait until we were ready we would not have had our first issue 4 months later or the 3 Million plus page views on our Suite T blog site today.

It is human nature to wait, hesitate or procrastinate when we face the unknown. The fact that Susan and I were partners in this endeavor was reassuring to us both. We felt we could do it if we had the support of the other. Out partnership had started a year earlier when we founded our local writers group. We put out the word and knew of only 3 people that may show up. We were good with that and hoped from that 3 we could grow. We were shocked when at our first meeting 26 writers showed up and the majority is with us today. That initial success was the foundation for our continued success with Southern Writers Magazine. Stepping out on faith can be easier with a partner. Support in any endeavor is a must.

In the world of sales there is a saying, “You can’t wait for all the lights to turn green before you leave home.”  Doing so would mean we would never be ready, never start and, most discouraging of all, never accomplish. You must never question yourself about being ready. Instead think about this idea that has come to you and only you and act on it. It is my belief by not acting on this idea, this gift given you, you have passed on it and it will be passed on to someone that will.

As President Woodrow Wilson said it is a terrible thing to wait because you do not feel you are ready. He went on to say it was his feeling that no one was ever ready. That has been proven to be true throughout our history. Every great success was accomplished by a person or group of people that were willing but not necessarily ready.

What is it that you are wanting to do but do not feel like you are ready to do? Would you feel stronger with support or with a partner? Share your idea and you may find there are others that feel as you do. You may end up with a partner or maybe with a cheering section to help you move along on your own. Ready or not you must act on it or allow it to be passed along to someone else that isn’t ready but is willing take action. So the line starts here, no waiting, start today! You are ready enough!       

Small Town Brilliance

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine      

If you grew up in a small town or have lived in a small town for any length of time you will understand the following story.

Some years ago a writer from the East Coast moved to a small town in northwestern Arkansas to get away to the quietness and do some writing. One night she found herself in one of the local watering holes and met an attorney. They talked about the small town they found themselves in and one thing led to another. She went home with him that night.

The next morning as they sat in his kitchen having coffee the mailman went by delivering the mail. The attorney went out to get his mail from the box returning with not only his mail but hers as well. She was shocked her mail was delivered to his home after a one night stay. She asked the attorney why the mailman would do that. The attorney explained the mailman had no doubt observed her car parked outside and left her mail with his.

We tend to laugh at the simplicity of small town living but there is also what I call a brilliance you get from living in a small town. As noted above the brilliance comes from constant observation of the habits and everyday comings and goings of the same small number of people. This observation goes on from day to day with few interruptions. This closeness, the friendships and even family relationships allows one to develop an unlimited knowledge of the lives around them. In this environment the least little thing will stand out as something unusual, strange or just weird. Individuals and their characteristics become well defined and clear in our minds.  

On the other end of the spectrum is the life of those living in a metropolitan area where the vast numbers of those around us as well as the constant unsettling change of those we come in contact with make it hard to study and get that unlimited knowledge of a few. Small town living has its advantage and we can see it in some of our greatest stories.     

The best example I can provide is that of two small town writers that brought us two great stories. One is Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg, a great story about a small town that was no more than a whistle stop for the train. The book had a small number of characters with great detail about each. Everything bout Fried Green Tomatoes was small town. In this story some individuals become brilliant as they observed those around them.

The other book was Forest Gump by Winston Groom. This was a great story about a small town boy who eventually discovered the world. This book reflected the mall town insight of the main character and how the world looked through his eyes as he ventured out. Forrest Gump was another example of small town relationships and the lifelong relationships that came from them. Forrest took his small town observations on the road and met life’s challenges.

Fannie Flagg and Winston Groom did a great job showing life in a small town. They used what they learned from growing up in a small town and shared it with the world. You can as well. If you didn’t grow up in a small town you make where you live a small town. Focus on a few interesting characters, study them, their habits and observe any interesting features. Find out more about them and go from there. Better yet if you ever have the chance, travel to the small town that Fannie Flagg and Winston Groom grew up in, Magnolia Springs, AL. Sit on the corner at Jessie’s, have a beverage and just observe. The brilliance of a small town just may come to you.