Saturday Spotlight for August/3/2013

Daily Literature Deviations is proud to feature this special recognition article!
You can show your support by ing this News Article. We hope this gives you some insight into the person behind the art. Please comment and the features and congratulate the artist!


Artists will be featured in a special news article every Saturday. Major points to SilverInkblot and LionesseRampant for doing the hard work and research that goes into these articles!  

Today's featured deviant is:
Creativity-Squared!

Questions

 

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing.

My name is Creativity-Squared. I'm a writer and artisan crafter deviant. I've been featured on DLD three times, which is a great honor. When it comes to writing, I prefer prose over poetry in any context. I enjoy writing short stories and short non-fiction pieces on topics that I'm interested in. I write often for the college newspaper--this is one of the ways I improve my writing.

2. How do you feel about dA as a literature community?

As a literature community, dA is very diverse. There are all sorts of writers on deviantart, which makes it so awesome. Depending on the places you submit your work, you can get some very useful critiques and encouragement from other writers. In my three years on deviantArt, I really have not gotten a rude or non-constructive critique of my work, and I feel that this really says something about the whole of the literature community on dA.

3. What is your writing process like?

My writing process depends on what I'm writing. If I'm writing a non-fiction piece, I will do a bit of research first, and then sit down and write the piece, organizing it before reading it over and editing it. If I am writing a fiction piece, I'll usually replay the scenes in my mind until I'm satisfied, then just sit down and type. If I'm using a prompt, I'll usually just run at it and see what I come up with. I'm used to doing research before writing though, so the internet is always helpful.

4. Are there any authors that have influenced your work?

I've taken many literature courses at college, and one of my favorite time periods in literature is the realist/naturalist period of the late 1800s/early 1900s. Some of my favorite authors that I admire and hopefully are influenced by are William Dean Howells, Ray Bradbury, and others. I'm also reading a novel by Kim Edwards right now ( The Memory Keeper's Daughter) that I hope influences my work.

5. What advice would you give to a beginning writer?

If there was any advice I could give to a beginning writer, it would be to never reject criticism. All criticism has some merit. Also not to beat yourself up if you go through periods without writing. Sometimes that happens. But the more you write, the more your writing evolves with you, so it's always a good idea to practice.

Prose

Doyle's CuriosityDoyle had never seen or touched a dollar bill.
Of course, he had heard about what was called now as physical money—but it was only in the context of "It's a good thing that we all got rid of physical money a long time ago. It's really less hassle!"
Doyle was used to the concept of EC. After all, it was all he had known, and he had possessed an EC card since he was eight years old. That was the age the government gave children EC cards, and parents were required to place an allowance (however meager they wished) into the card.
EC, or electronic currency for short, was adopted by the United States and most European countries before Doyle was born, and even before his parent's time. The switch to EC had been done rather quickly, by an exective order by the president of the day, so he had heard. There had been government sponsored bonfires of paper money, and most coinage was seized by federal officials and melted into ore. That was all Doyle had heard about the transfer to EC. Most p
"Doyle's Curiosity" by Creativity-Squared


Doyle's SecretThe wails of sirens pierced the air as Doyle walked down the street. He looked up, watching idly as three police cars sped past him, going far past the speed limit that citizens were allowed to drive.
The young man shrugged and put his earphone back in his ear, brushing aside his sandy blonde hair in order to insert the earpiece. He continued home through the maze of mostly grey, sleek buildings, taking the long, winding route through the city.
Finally, he unplugged his earbuds as he walked up to the concrete steps of his building. Like most of the residential buildings in this part of town, the apartment building was several stories high and built of grey, bulletproof concrete. Doyle thought that the residential buildings were never very pretty to look at from the outside. Inside the complex was a different story, but the building planners definitely could have created the residentials look a little more family friendly. Nevertheless, the residentials served a purpose, like everything
"Doyle's Secret" by Creativity-Squared


Shattered StreetlampThe glass from the lamp shatters; there is a tinkling crescendo as the thousands of pieces fall to the ground. The light flickers and goes dim before dying completely. He can still see—the light from the other lamps around him still shine, but it is barely enough for him to look around. He bends down and picks up the rock, weighing it in his hand. He contemplates whether to do it again.
“What are you doing?”
He starts; looking around him frantically, he sees the silhouette of an older man coming towards him. As he comes closer, his fear turns to contempt for whomever this was; no doubt he was going to get in trouble for this. “Fuck you, old man,” he mutters under his breath.
“Excuse me?” The older man is closer now. Looking up, he recognizes the familiar face of his psychology professor. “I'm quite disappointed, Cliff.”
Cliff's eyes widen. “Professor Trombley?”
His eyebrows furrowed as the lined face continued to frown.
"Shattered Streetlamp" by Creativity-Squared


Family HistoryWhen Pat found out about her uncle's death, she was sad, but not sad enough to cry. After all, she didn't know Uncle Randy very well, and she had only met him on about five or six occasions. But he had seemed like a very nice man—he didn't have any enemies as far as she knew.
Her father was very upset when he heard the news. Pat's mother had been the one to pick up the phone—she wordlessly handed it over to her father. He listened and nodded, making muted whispers now and again before hanging up. Then without a sound, he walked into her parent's bedroom, shutting the door.
It had been the only time that Pat had heard her father cry.
Pat did not go to the funeral—she was not asked by anyone, and her mother told her that she was not close enough to Uncle Randy to have to endure a funeral. So she stayed home and read in her room while her parents were gone. She remembered his smiling face and his kind words and was saddened by the fact that he wouldn't be around anymore. On
"Family History" by Creativity-Squared




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~ The DailyLitDeviations Team ~


_{Prepared by:  LionesseRampant}

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