▪ WHILE THE GUITAR IS
PLAYING (Major Mitchell, the author of
historical novels about the American west and children's books,
2007.)
I was privileged a few months ago to receive an e-mail requesting a link to my author’s website. Normally, I wouldn’t have considered such a request, but the fact that this one came from Serbia caught my eye. I began to investigate, and was introduced to a lovely young lady, Suzana Stojanović Suza. While our communication has been via electronic e-mail over thousands of miles, I would like to share a few observations about her from a fellow writer’s point of view.
It is not often that Almighty God pours out multiple blessings or talents upon a single person, but it seems that He made an exception with Suzana. Born in Vranje, Serbia on April 18, 1969, into a family of intellectuals, she began reading and painting at the age of four. She took a thirteen-year break from her art to dabble in music. I use the term dabble flippantly, since she is an accomplished violinist who composed her first piece at the age of fifteen. She returned to her art and writing in 2001 with The Magical World of Horses series, and many of her paintings are now hanging in private collections in Serbia, the USA, Italy, Switzerland and Slovenia. Suzana has developed the habit of writing a short story to accompany her paintings, and as an American novelist, I would like to focus on those stories.
While the format in which these stories appear (usually as a block or one paragraph) seemed a little awkward, I soon discovered her command of the English language is superb. Most of her writing, with the exception of her rendition of The Prince and The Beggar, would be better described as poetry, rather than mere story-telling. The words flow from a deep-rooted emotion that stirs the reader’s imagination. My personal favorite is We will always be together when the guitar is playing. Since I do not know Suzana Stojanović personally, I can only guess at the source of this passion, but I am thankful it has found an outlet in her art and writing.
There are many things a writer can do right as well as wrong. Every piece of art or literature is designed to invoke any number of emotions or visions, and many authors mistakenly try telling the art enthusiast or reader what to see or feel. This is a huge mistake, since we all see, taste, love or hate from our own life experiences. Not everyone likes Rocky Road ice cream or Western movies. Suzana has a knack for writing only enough to allow her fans to experience their own emotions, instead of forcing them to experience her own.
It is worth a few minutes to visit her website, and browse through her art and read the accompanying stories. I believe she would be an interesting person to meet, and wish her success and health for the future.
