Janette Patterson
Schafer is a classically trained singer and published author. She has
performed for many opera companies, theaters, universities, and
orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. A native of Venezuela, she moved
to the United States as a small child. She was raised and educated in Michigan and is an alumna of Central Michigan University School of
Music. An accomplished free lance writer, her articles, poems, and
short stories have appeared in over 50 magazines, newspapers, and
literary journals. Her first book of collected poems, "Other
Names and Places," was released by LBF Books in November 2004. She
currently lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with
her husband, Garth
Schafer, and their cats, Samwise, Mummah, Rose, Daniel and Nora. 
This section is a
list of good-for-you books that are great sources of the Vitamins
I (intelligence, inspiration, and imagination.) While many of
them are for writers or musicians, keep looking for updates to this
section based on your feedback and recommendations. There are
some links if you want to pick the book up for your library.
Don't like brain-broccoli? Scroll down to skip this section.|
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I have always loved this book and found it to be a useful tool. Not only does it have helpful writing exercises, it always encourages critical and outside-the-box thinking. It also includes how-to's and exercises for drawing, architecture, and other kinds of artwork. There is also a workbook that was written later, but the original book stands alone quite nicely without it. 
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Artist's Way by Julia Cameron This book is particularly useful for writer's, but it also serves as a kind of "lifestyle manual" for anyone with a working or aspiring career in the creative or performing arts. What I found most helpful about it was that it helped teach good habits in making time for writing and practicing while also giving you exercises to get the pen moving and the brain thinking. For you existential types, there is also a great deal of emphasis on the spiritual and otherwordly nature of creativity without being preachy or cumbersome about it. The author, Julia Cameron, also has a ton of books that are meant to partner with this text including a journal and some meditation books (if you are the journaling or meditating sort.) 
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Soprano On Her Head by Eloise Ristad If you are a musician and do not have this book, you definitely should. This is a wonderful book and my copy was given to me by my first voice teacher. What makes this book so marvelous is its insight into the actual reality of trying to make a living at what you love doing. It's not all peaches and cream and warm and fuzzy. Its about real people who struggled to have confidence in themselves and the creative career paths that they chose. This is also a good book if you are stuck in a rut. Not for the timid, this book will challenge you to shake yourself out of your comfort zone and pursue everything you've ever dreamed of. And besides, you have to love a book with a title like that. 
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Pocket Muse by Monica Wood Pardon my gush, but I love, love, love this book! Its one of the best cure I've found for writer's block yet. This valuable text is chock full of quirky pictures, thoughtful exercises, meaningful quotes, and stories that will help keep you going when you can't remember why you wanted to be a writer. Its also a practical guide for getting published, making time for your writing, and creating your own inspiration. 
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Mythic Journey by Sam Keen and Anne Valley-Fox This is the quintessential helping-you-find-yourself text. If you have ever toyed with the idea of writing an autobiography or memoirs, this is a good place to start. Its the only book that I know of that is a writer's guide to piecing together your own personal story. The exercises really make you dig into your psyche as you uncover and examine your life, upbringing, memories, psyche, and belief system. In addition to the writing practices, there are fine examples of personal writing and thought-provoking quotes. It will take some time to get through, it will probably make your cerebrum hurt, but the investment of time is well worth it. You think, therefore, you are. 
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Mind by Natalie Goldberg This is a very hands-on guide to writing. If you are beginning to suspect that I like books with writing exercises, you are correct. (Warning, moment of digression.) Anything that helps get your pen moving is valuable, even if the immediate result is less than stellar. I've found many times in my writing that some of my best works are germinated from a scribble, a thought, a line or two, or a few paragraphs that I couldn't quite piece together at the time. (End of digression, back to the book at hand.) Book contains tons and tons of exercises with a lot of how-to. Also a great cure for writer's block. 
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I know what you're
thinking. A book of baby names? Is she serious??? You
bet I am. I picked up a copy of this book at a rummage sale as a
whim. Little did I know at the time what a goldmine it was.
Can't think of a name for your elf, heroine, teenager, alien, leading
man, or drug lord? Pick up the book and just start thumbing
through. I've also found (on one occasion) that the right name
can inspire a story on it's own. 
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"I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals. I'm a vegetarian because I hate plants." - A. Whitney Brown
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| "The
really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway." -George W.
Bush "The greatest single source of wealth is between your ears." -Brian Tracy "Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it." -Benjamin Franklin |
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"An
intellectual is a person who has discovered something more interesting
than sex." -Aldous Huxley "Great sex is great, but bad sex is like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." -Billy Idol "Sex is one of the nine reasons for reincarnation, the other eight are unimportant." -Henry Miller |
| "A
working knowledge of occult science is indispensible to UFO
investigation." -Trevor James "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere is the fact that none of it has tried to contact us." -from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes "I believe there's something out there watching us. Unfortunately, its the government." Woody Allen |
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"One
good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." -Bob Marley "There is no doubt that the first requirement for a composer is to be dead." -Arthur Honnegar "Music is love in search of a word." -Sidney Lanier |
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| Death and Life, Gustav Klimt |
The Frame, Frida Kahlo |
Irises, Claude Monet |
Cafe at Night, Vincent van Gogh |
Girls at Piano, P. A. Renoir |
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| Flower Seller, Diego Rivera |
From the Lake I, Georgia O'Keefe |
Old Guitarist, Pablo Picasso |
Madonna, Edvard Munch |
Hand With Globe, M. C. Escher |
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This page created & Copyrighted by Janette Patterson Schafer (© Copyright 2009). Site maintained and updated by Garth Schafer & Janette Patterson Schafer.
Site Removed from AOL http://members.aol.com/OperaJanetteS/ January 2009. Site restarted on GESWho.net on Friday February 20, 2009. Site last updated Friday, February 20, 2009 7:14 PM .