As my website has morphed and changed over the years, and I have switched providers I have always used Blogger as my, well, blog! Then in 2020 things started to get a little odd, shall we say. Flying back from the UK in March of 2020 I was receiving emails canceling performances. I scrambled and changed the way I did business, and adapted, and looked for storytelling work. And it came. But the blog fell by the roadside.
I had thought with my current provided, I would move everything there, but there are things I cannot do there, that I can here. So I don't think I will be moving, but will have a small apartment of blogs over on my website. And I hope I can get this blog rolling again. If you want to see what I put in the 'apartment,' it's here: https://www.diamondscree.com/news
Welcome, or Welcome Back!
I learned a lot of new stories in 2020, but with the event of on-line work, this meant I had to learn even more because people were seeing me from all over the world, and at many more venues (on-line). Normally I would have been able to use the same story at quite a few in-person venues, as people in a new town, or festival would not have heard them. This all changed with the event of on-line work. And I don't think this will change totally. We shall see!
With the world seemingly going to Hades in a hand basket, I think stories are needed more than ever. Especially the folk and fairy tales, myths and legends. These stories teach us about tyrants, about uphill struggles, the world around and give us hope. There are stories which teach about tyranny and how it comes to be - teaching us to watch out for it. The stories make us think, and I believe there is little of that going on. We hear 'stuff' and are triggered. We have no, or very little tolerance to hear what other people say. We can no longer have discourse. Sharing folk and fairy tales, I believe, can open up discourse. They can poke a hole in a reality which rapidly deflates - they can shatter the mirrors and blow away the smoke. And what I think right now is so important, is that they can make us laugh, and by golly we all need some humour in our lives! There are a couple of places (again with the two homes!) where I have shared videos of recordings I made. There are here: https://www.youtube.com/c/SimonBrooks
and here: https://vimeo.com/smbrooks
I recorded an album in 2019 and 2020 which released in 2020. It's called A Flight of Tales, and of course has artwork by Rob Brookes! Marek Bennett, comic book artist and musician was the guest member for the band. My website has most of what I have released for sale as both physical CDs and downloads if you are interested.
https://www.diamondscree.com/merchandise
I also started a new podcast in 2020 called Lindyline. Although it started off as a serialized book, it has morphed into traditional tales, some public domain literary tales, and original stories for kids. You can find that here: https://smilinsimon.podbean.com/
I have been invited, once more, to Timpanogos which I thrilled about. It is a wonderful festival out in Utah and this year, will, we hope, be live and in-person! And what a line-up! Donald Davis will be there, of course, and Ed Stivender will be MCing. The rest of the line-up are, from left to right, Donna Washington, Doug Elliot, Josh Goforth, Lyn Ford, Megan Wells, Nestor Gomez, Randy Evensen, Regi Carpenter, Tim Lowry and Willy Caflin. Some of these folks are not just colleagues, but over the years have become friends. Others I have not met before and am looking forward to seeing and meeting. I am also working on a bunch of new stories! This all happens in September, so plenty of time to prepare! If you want to know more: https://timpfest.org/
It was a little hard going from 6,000 people here at Timpanogos in 2019, to telling stories to a camera in 2020, I have to say!
So what's new? I made a lot of friends on-line, and got to see some remarkable storytellers from all over the world. Things are slowly going back to in-person. I am booking gigs for the Summer Reading Program at libraries, schools, and camps, and festivals - mostly, at this point, in-person. Keep an eye open on the calendar for those sorts of things. https://www.diamondscree.com/new-events
So what's new with you? Any plans? Any great books you've read? Let me know! I would love to hear from you!
Peace,
Simon
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