Truth About Fiction and Non Fiction

Congratulations to Neil Gaiman for the publication of The View from the Cheap Seats, a collection of his non-fiction essays, speeches and more. And huge thanks for him sharing this nugget of truth and insight: 

"It's a relief that it's published: I don't think I've ever been as nervous about a book coming out as I have been about this one. You can hide behind fiction. You can't hide behind things that are about what you think and believe."

 ~ Neil Gaiman on the publication of The View from the Cheap Seats.

The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction

Now that I have been working as a journalist for about six months, the truth of the above words hit home. 

And, it's not just the sharing of my personal thoughts and beliefs -- which my weekly food column give me an opportunity and forum for -- that is hard.

Writing stories about real people and real issues comes with responsibility that weighs on your soul.

Today I have two front page stories in the paper. One is about a 97-year-old World War II veteran who continues to work as a laundry delivery man. Jack Brownfield is a modest, practical West Texan, which means he's a man of few words and a lifetime of deeds. 

Getting his story out of him was not an easy task and took several visits. I'm honored he shared his story with me and I hope I was able to do it justice: http://bit.ly/WWIIVeteranJackB

Here's the Photo Essay on Jack Brownfield: https://spark.adobe.com/page/hfUSr/

I also wrote about a story about local government not following proper procedures. This one was hard because it was a mix of a lot of good and a lot of bad, and trying to present the complex story in a fair and balanced way was important to me.

http://bit.ly/CountyParkPlan

Well, that's about it for this time. Keep reading and finding treasures hidden in words.