A BRIEF NOTE ABOUT AUTHORS (AND LOTS OF IMAGES)
By Alex Ness
March 23, 2026
TO MY READERS
I've discovered that my doctors had known way more about my health than were telling me, and only now do I also know that I've had a return of cancer
without questions. It would be true to say I am in remission, but it isn't a hopeful thing. The recent clarity of the situation does explain a great deal of the last 4 years of issues. Prior that, I had a broken neck, messed up shoulders, and that was a lot to deal with. But currently with lymphoma cancer, diabetes type 2, recurrent mono, I wonder how to go forward. I also know,
in the past I was told grave expectations for all the different health
issues, and mostly, rather than killing me, they just suck. I appreciate that they haven't killed me, and perhaps
they won't. However, I sleep little, I'm in near constant pain, and
my desire to write remains great, but my mind isn't always able, as it had
been in the past.
Facing delays, disappointing efforts and lack
of funds, I can't go much further. If you are interested in buying
copies of my work let me know. My facebook offers a look at what I have
available usually, though my books for sale are many, I have to catch up
with other projects before I am done sorting. Currently therefore it'll
be a couple weeks before I begin sharing. My good friends have helped.
My my wife and son have allowed me to endure, and my cousins and besties
are responsible for giving me hope. And I am grateful to all of them.
Reasons I like Hemingway's work? His economy used words to create a canvas of light and shadow, the absence of information becomes as telling as the kind of words create detail. Whatever you choose to see, a subject covered in light casts shadow. Wherever something doesn't become illuminated, is it the narrator's decision to not express, is it a case of not knowing, is it meant to evoke isolation, quiet and absence. I like many authors, I like many genres, and I am aware that some authors, perhaps many, do exactly the opposite than Hemingway, choosing to leave no detail unconsidered. They are each writing, but the finished work is largely different.
FRANZ KAFKAKafka writes clearly about subjects that are confused, complicated, and difficult. He uses his voice to describe the emptiness mental illness can feel like. He also offers tools to consider how someone who is lonely, left alone kind of loneliness, or uncomfortable amongst many people. To live in this kind of reality is difficult, painful and hopeless. Kafka often reached into the dark heart of personal despair and gave it clear perceptions. His lucid clarity makes for tales not told for their horror, but can evoke such pain, the reader is left agreeing. Perhaps though, other than to further dig, one is not interested in revisiting those works.
ALBERT CAMUSAlbert Camus wasn't telling stories that people had an easy time interpreting the meaning. He was telling human interactions and choices in the form of story. He was explaining through them his desire to have humans rise to a level of being able to hope, be happy and struggle but overcome fears. For me his writing brought understanding and awareness, and purpose. We all labor, and all have a task, but however difficult or constant the struggle is, our purpose is found in how we go about our life's tasks. He would say, we must find in ourselves the knowledge that we can be content in our labors, and find happiness in that. It changed my life, really.
ANTOINE de SAINT-EXPÉRY
The Little Prince was such a great book that I endeavored to understand it in the original language, not the translated one, so that my brain could grow in reading it. Saint-Exupéry is able in novella or short stories to penetrate my heart and infuse it with hope. More than most anyone else.
YUKIO MISHIMAMy best friend reads Cormac McCarthy and says it is difficult but worthy of the time spent. McCarthy was seriously talented, but for me it didn't come with a reward for the effort. Mishima is my difficult writer. He constantly told stories that have beauty, but death, isolation, alienation, and sorrow mixed with patriot blood. His personal grief over being closeted in a sexually repressive society, his belief in beauty as a truth, and shedding of blood to atone for acts of violence, led him to a ritual suicide the day he sent off his final manuscript. I can't unread his work, it lingers in the palette.
CLIVE BARKERWhile I read Stephen King, and think him a great writer, he didn't pull my trigger. I find his work very much smart and able, but King is nowhere near as interesting as Clive Barker. The reasons for this comes from original ideas, beautiful darkness, and characters that bring ruin to the idea that there will be a happy ending. I never interviewed Barker, never tried to either. But I like him, his work, and find it a good time to invest in a story. Movies based on his books are less interesting to me.
MICKEY SPILLANE
I love the power and economy of Spillane's writing. It is crime, but nothing like a real detective no matter how well he details the investigation. It is a raw, violent and well told tale, and every work manages to evoke a mystery, without redoubling the themes and characters time after time.
LINKS:
MY POETRY AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com
HERE: Poplitiko.Blogspot.Com
MY PUBLISHED WORKS
Social Media
https://bsky.app/profile/alexanderness63.bsky.social
https://x.com/alexnesspoetry
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