Look at the Clouds

Rickey Pittman is an author, singer and songwriter. He writes literary fiction, children’s picture books and poetry, and is also a noted songwriter and storyteller. He hopes that the work he produces will have an impact on people – an emotional connection enough to get a person searching.

article by APRIL HONAKER and photography by KELLY MOORE CLARK

Author, singer and songwriter Rickey Pittman considers himself fortunate to do what he loves on a daily basis. “I’m doing something a lot of writers don’t get to do,” he said, “making a living from my writing.” Pittman holds a Bachelor of Arts in New Testament Greek and a Master of Arts in English from Abilene Christian University, and he is qualified to teach college-level and secondary gifted English classes. Given his skills, Pittman has found the perfect work-life balance that allows him to teach while still promoting his books and performing regularly. Pittman teaches online as an adjunct instructor of English for the University of Louisiana-Monroe and for Louisiana Delta Community College. Teaching online gives the “Bard of the South” freedom to travel on a whim, which is necessary to be successful as a writer and performer.

“I get up early and stay up late and defeat the powers of ignorance and darkness,” he said. The hours are long, but Pittman is no stranger to hard work. “If it was easy,” he said, “everyone could do it. When it gets hard, I have to talk to myself and say, ‘This is what you signed up for.’” Despite the early mornings and late nights, Pittman said, “I enjoy my work more than ever before. I’m so happy doing what I’m doing that I couldn’t go back to doing what I was doing before—moving rocks for people that sometimes don’t know what they’re doing. I want to stay free—no office hours, no boring meetings for me.”

Pittman started writing before college. He had done some freelancing and news writing. He even wrote a regular column about the American Civil War for a north Texas newspaper, and he dabbled in poetry and songwriting. But Pittman didn’t begin to see writing as a true career path until college. “The switch that changed me completely and totally was reading Hemingway’s short story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place’ in English 102,” he said. “I felt the characters and identified with them in some way. There’s also a slight historical element, and I loved the dialogue. Hemingway is a master of dialogue.”

In 2007, Pittman discovered children’s picture books and has since published eight of those. Over the years, he has become better at identifying his audience and identifying writing and publishing opportunities. One picture book that has become a local favorite is “Cajun ABC,” which provides a tour of the culture of south Louisiana through the alphabet. Although it’s a picture book, it’s meant to be enjoyed by the whole family. “We designed a book even adults can make discoveries in,” he said. The book describes plants and animals of the Acadiana landscape, as well as the customs, food, music, literature and language of Cajun culture. The book even contains a glossary of terms and a map of Acadiana that can be annotated by the family.

Although Pittman is originally from Dallas, Texas, his wife, Karen, is a Cajun. “Her ancestors, the Jeansons, were some of the first to come here from Acadia, which is now knows as the Maritime Provinces of Canada,” he said. Her family introduced him to Cajun culture, teaching him to hunt, fish, garden and more. Pittman has also written children’s picture books about a handful of other alphabets, including Irish, Scottish, Confederate and Rio Grande Valley. These books were motivated in part by his love of history, and he said, “They’re great tools for literacy.”

In addition to writing children’s picture books, Pittman also provides programming for children and gives presentations at schools, libraries, museums, festivals and more. In fact, he gave 130 presentations last year alone. Most of these presentations feature singing, costumes and storytelling. They’re designed to be fun learning opportunities for elementary and middle school children. They’re interactive, informative and designed with state benchmarks and standards in mind.

Although much of Pittman’s work caters to children, he also writes literary fiction and was the 1998 winner of the Ernest Hemingway Short Story Competition. His novel “Red River Fever” tells the story of Clifton Ray, a good ole boy who lives along the Red River, hangs out at bars and generally causes trouble. That trouble escalates when he becomes infected with a mythical fever steeped in lore that has reared its head periodically throughout the region’s history. Pittman said the story was inspired in part by conversations he had with his grandmother about crazy things some of the local boys had done. But there is also a little of Pittman himself in Clifton Ray. “I’m still a bit of a redneck, cracker, south-mouth,” he said, “and that comes out in the dialogue. I’m also belligerent. My wife tells me that, and it’s a fairly common southern trait.” When it comes to storytelling, Pittman draws from his own life and experiences to lend the stories greater authenticity.

According to Pittman, his work shows the things he’s interested in and the things he wants other people to know. “I like to tell the stories history has forgotten and to say the things others might think but won’t say,” he said. He despises all forms of censorship but acknowledges that testing the limits, which is something he isn’t afraid of, can sometimes get a person in trouble. In the writing process, Pittman rarely thinks about how others will respond to his work until he’s in the editing stage. Focusing on the story and how he wants to tell it gives him a sense of freedom. In general, Pittman believes that if you can get an idea across in a different way without offending anyone, you should. “I don’t believe in shock lit,” he said, “but I still try to get people to see things as they are.”

At the same time, Pittman said, “I don’t like stereotypes. Life and people are more complex than what the media and politics have made them appear to be.” As a result, he doesn’t mind challenging stereotypes. “I don’t mind putting readers on the spot,” he said. “I don’t mind making them uncomfortable.” One of Pittman’s children’s picture books, titled “Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House,” tells the true story of a black child rescued by Jefferson Davis’ wife, Varina. The child lived with the Davises until Union soldiers invaded Richmond and captured Jefferson Davis. “That’s a story left out of the history books,” Pittman said. In one of his short stories, Pittman goes on to describe Jim Limber’s abduction by Union troops from the Davis family, which reportedly occurred during Jefferson Davis’ capture. The story can be found in Pittman’s short story collection, titled “Stories of the Confederate South.”
Whether through songs, children’s books or stories, Pittman said, “I want people to see and think things they’ve never thought before. My motivation is definitely not fame. I like to make people laugh and think and sometimes hurt.” For Pittman, the biggest clue that he’s written something powerful is when it moves him. “My favorite thing to do,” he said, “is to write something that touches me, that I know is good, that I can feel.” Recently, Pittman recorded a song that did just that. “I can hardly sing it without getting choked up,” he said. The song, called “Look at the Clouds,” was inspired by a moment when Pittman’s mother told him to look at the clouds and see what he could see. She told him that someday he’d see more. For Pittman, writing this song was a kind of discovery—a beautiful one. “I make so many discoveries in my present life, too,” he said, “and I’m amazed by them, amazed by my own ignorance, I guess.”

As a person and a writer, Pittman intends to continue learning and growing. “Like in sports, if you don’t strive to improve, you won’t,” he said. “If you keep doing the same things, you will get the same results.” He believes writers should strive for perfection. “The search for perfection is important for a writer,” he said. “It keeps you from settling for less than what you can do.” To continue improving, Pittman reads, practices and analyzes the work of other writers. Although reading can help improve a writer’s style and technique, it can also provide inspiration.

Pittman recalls reading a book called “The Orchid Hunter” that not only provided inspiration but also helped him learn about an area he’d known little about before. “I didn’t realize there was a whole tribe of people who build their whole lives around orchids,” he said. After reading the book, Pittman grew more interested in orchids, bought an orchid himself and wrote poems about orchids. For some of his work, quotes have also provided inspiration. They can provide ideas and insight or help establish the tone and sensory details.

When inspiration doesn’t come from books or from a flash of experience, Pittman often turns to one of the most traditional methods of idea generation. “I’m still a believer in the old-fashioned practice of brainstorming,” he said, “and not a light drizzle—a storm.” Sometimes Pittman even turns to writing prompts to jumpstart his creative process and says he enjoys the challenge. Although many writers blame their lack of productivity on a lack of inspiration, Pittman believes a person can write successfully about anything, even a pencil. “I can’t really explain where my ideas come from all the time,” he said. But inspiration is never too far away.

When it comes to actually doing the writing, Pittman said, “I put myself in lockup to get a first draft done. Then I come back and tweak it and get input from friends.” Fellow novelist Billy Dunn has been a great sounding board for Pittman, along with members of the creative writing faculty at ULM, especially Bill Ryan. Pittman described Ryan as a “brutal editor.” Another friend who has been especially influential is Jed Marum, an award-winning songwriter with whom Pittman co-writes songs and tours about twice a year.

Although he draws help and inspiration from a variety of places, Pittman is a true workhorse. His favorite poem that he connects to his writing is a sonnet by the Romantic poet John Keats called “When I Have Fears.” It explores the speaker’s fear of death and of being unable to accomplish and experience all the things he desires. It begins with the lines, “When I have fears that I may cease to be / Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain.” It suggests the speaker is afraid of not being able to write everything he wants to write before he dies. Pittman can relate. He said, “I want to get as much done as I can before I die.” But for Pittman, the work is not purely about production. He doesn’t want to create more work purely for the sake of being prolific. He hopes the work will have an impact on people.

“I would like it to emotionally connect to people enough to get them searching,” he said. “I fear for an America that believes everything media and politicians say, and I want to revive an interest in history. If you don’t know history, you’ll repeat it, and often repeat it worse.” If Pittman can help people, young and old, develop their knowledge and appreciation of history, if he can spark their thirst for truth, he will have done his job.