ALL BOOK COVERS ARE HYPERLINKED - CLICK THEM
from the publisher
Talent Lies
Everywhere!
Welome to the July issue. The more I publish Books & Pieces Magazine, the more I realize that talent lies all around us. There is no shortage of talent, people gifted in a wide range of abilities, each with a story to tell, a journey they’ve taken, filled with rises and falls, successes and failures. Each interview offers something slightly different. I want to know how these people tick. What’re their fears. What drives them. And, more importantly for me, what can I learn from them. Life is a journey of learning. Death is when you stop learning. And even that is debateable. Michaelbrent Collings is a well known, er, is a very decent and genuine person. award-winning, bestselling, creative force Read the interview for an in-depth look at of nature who has pushed boundaries in the man and his writing. his life to reach a place of relative stability. Greg Goodell hails from Emmett, Idaho, I say ‘relative’ because, as you will hear a rural community well known for its cherin his own words, life is an unpredictable ries, fruits and vegetable harvests. He is a journey that one has to adapt to, weather, man with many talents, although he humsurvive and hope for fairer days ahead. bly denies most of them. He has played in I heard of Michaelbrent through a cirbands with many notables, written songs, cuitous route: one day while looking up recorded albums, performed live, taught all people from my past, I searched for a cre- manner of instruments, and, most recently ative writing teacher of mine from decades put together Dynamic Arts Studio where he long gone. I knew at the time that he was does everything from sound management, a published author and poet, with many recording, producing, teaching youngsters books under his belt. I found him and real- as well as adults, mostly as a one man orized that he had moved to Idaho, where I ganization, although friends help out along live. His name is Michael J. Collings, and the way. his son is Michaelbrent. I met Greg some years ago when I deAnd then I received a message from cided it might be nice to learn to play the Michaelbrent. He was also in Idaho, not far acoustic guitar. I’ve watched him disasfrom me. A lunch interview was in order. semble, repair and reconstruct old analog And what did I learn? Many things. He multi-track deis a pragvices, guitars, matist who you name it. puts family What did first, values I learn from honesty, and Greg? You’re despite the everything you image of allow yourself a horror writto be. And Books ‘N Pieces Magazine — JULY 2022 — www.BooksNPieces.com
3
