The Soul of Winter

I love fall and the winter. I can honestly say that it is probably my favorite time. There is just something about that time of year that just makes me happier than the rest. I think of bonfires and hayrides. Chilly nights and calm breezes. Leaves on the ground. Snow. Just thinking of it now makes me miss it. It is, however, August. We are getting close.

I found this when I was looking through some of my older materials, and since I have been thinking of winter, I thought I would share it with you.

The Soul of Winter (Circa 2012)

The morning air is frigid and fierce. It hits you like a hurricane as you walk outside. Clouds roll though the sky blocking out the suns blasphemous rays. Darkness covers the countryside, as the birds call from the heavens, rushing for the warm south. Everyone is home. Everyone is warm and comfortable, save you. Leaves slowly fall, nestling their crisp frail bodies on the nearest frozen surface. Time is still.

Everything is still. Waiting.

Capturing the cold air through your nose, and expelling the breath with a puff of a what seems to be smoke. Too long and your fingers begin to go numb. Nose, ears, are already there. Something is coming. Your heart leaps as the first small flake slowly caresses its way through the sky, coming to a still on the palm of your frozen outstretched hand. Quickly melting away, you sigh. Then another, from seemingly the heavens, follows the same path.

Time is of the essence. Too many days and things will fade to clear skies. Melting snow gives way to green grass and feathered trees. You walk slow, sure to grasp every single moment of winter. Glancing to the left you see impressions in the ground such as the fallen angels may have made. To the right, your neighbor cursing as he scrapes the troublesome ice off of his windshield. You opt to walk, for this will only be but a season. A frame of time in your life.

People watch from the warm houses, as you push through the snow, barley noticing your toes losing feeling. You are home. This white wilderness is yours. Time stands still as you simply watch the snow falling, landing with ease on the ground. The holes you feet have made filling up behind you as you walk. You may lose your way back, but the pull of your heart allows that thought to lapse. You cannot lose your way back from home.

Laying down, atop a hill, letting the snow hit your face at its own grace. Minutes pass. Hours. Staring at the sky, wishing this to last forever. Night begins to fall as you make your way back. Passing those in their homes who have never really lived.

Kicking your shoes off at the door, you make first for the hot chocolate on the stove, sipping it slowly not to burn yourself. Hot in your hand, yet the season it remains. Curling up at the bay window in the front room, aside the crackling fire in the hearth, you stare longingly out the window. Your heart is warm with happiness, yet your soul left you at the door, he longs to wonder the wilderness as a vagabond.

In the morn you will meet again. A love stronger than a prayer. You hold hope for the next day waiting to meet your other half in the snow amongst the naked trees. Alone but not. A paradise. Forever he awaits you. You and only you. You are the body which holds the bloom of winter. You are the hope of a new day.

Ever to wait in the wilderness for his true love in the snow. Holding onto the moment whence he will see your bright face. Waiting.

Never leaving. Always with you.

Stephan J. Hahn

The Pun Enthusiast

I think it is only fair to take a step back and learn a little about who I am, and how I came to write books. My first blog was kind of an overview, a history if you must. I told you about my writing beginnings in junior high, and I also told you about the authors and genres which have influenced me thus far in my career. 
 
First and foremost, I am a father. My family and I live in the Ozarks (which is in the southwest part of Missouri). We moved from Ohio way back in 1999. Remember 1999? It was the year that my Titans lost the Super Bowl by one yard, and have seemingly spent the last eighteen seasons in a rebuilding phase. I wish I could tell you how many early draft picks you need to make a team good, but I don’t know. I digress. 
 
Before that my family lived in Virginia. Finally, the epicenter of my birth, North Carolina. My parents were both in the Marines, in case you were unaware that Cherry Point, NC was a naval base. 
 
I have a wife, named Kendra. I also have two naughty children, Sam and Brooklyn. I say naughty, but my children are simply acting their age. They are what keeps me going. My wife tells me also that there is one on the way. If you think two children is fun, I suppose it can only get better with three. By doing this, however, I will regain my place atop the "favorite child mountain." I am currently the only child to give my mom three grandbabies, and I will hold this title dear to my heart as long as I possibly can. 
 
I love being a father more than anything. 
 
I am the second oldest of six. Yes, six. That is a lot of children to be running around a house. We are all two years apart, and all of us are adults now, so I suppose we are not still running around the house. I currently attend Missouri State University pursuing a Business degree, and I work in an accounting office. 
 
You may notice that I wrote a parenting book. You also may have noticed that I have other books in the works that are not along the same lines. I know you did because you took the time to visit my website and selflessly spread the word about your new favorite author. 
 
I am hoping anyways. 
 
Super Dad Man is inspired by my book A Father's Guide, and the name comes from one of the chapters of that book. The Pearls of Solus series, on the other hand, is a fantasy adventure series. I chose not to be defined by a genre, because my interests are so wide I cannot possibly express them all within the confines of a single genre. I also have many ideas for other works including horror and post-apocalypse. It is safe to say you can expect a variety of books from me in the future. 
 
I am so excited to be writing again, and so excited for what the future holds. 
 
So, how did you come across my work? What interested you about my books? 
 
 
If you have any other questions for me, feel free to ask. I am an open book (no pun intended). For more information, you can visit my website at www.stephanjhahn.com for my monthly author newsletter or follow me on Goodreads.

The Maiden Voyage

When I first started writing, I didn’t want to have a blog.  

I didn’t know if I could find new and interesting things to write about, and share with my readers. I made a point just then, to myself without realizing it, though. The phrase “My Readers.” I wouldn’t be an author or a writer without readers and followers. I would be, but in a weird way. I didn't want a journal. I want to write for myself, because I love writing, but it is truly my readers who will make or break me as an author. 

Please make me. 

I used to write. When I was in junior high was the first time I can remember writing a story. And I loved it. My friend and I started writing a book together. I honestly can’t remember what it was even about, but I remember the opening line like it was yesterday. 

Vroom! A missile whizzed down the tunnel just missing their heads. 

I know what you are thinking. I used the word “vroom” and actually spelled it out. Cut me some slack, I was in junior high. Looking back on it, it almost reminds me of the old Batman TV show were the words like "POW" and "WHAM" would show up on the screen as they fought the bad guys. I know that the reason I did this was because I wanted to hook my readers. Right there at the beginning. I wanted them to be like, “Whoa. This got intense fast.” 

I was new to writing, but I knew that it was the effect that I was going for. 

I can’t tell you what happened to that story, but it was supposed to be something of a war story. One of my all-time favorite books is For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. I suppose I was inspired by his take on the Spanish Civil War. 

I remember discussing this book with my high school English teacher. I was convinced that Halle Berry would play an amazing Maria, if it would ever make it into a current movie.   

It was something about the way that Hemingway wrote that just captured me. I can be easily distracted and sometimes I find reading a book difficult if it is not absolutely captivating. You may ask yourself, how is The Old Man and the Sea captivating? 

Honestly? I have no idea. But I loved it. 

I would read stories such as C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters or Edgar Allen Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum and not fully grasp the importance of what I was reading, or the impact these authors had in their genre. 

And how can you not read the Harry Potter series and not be enchanted and moved by such an imaginative world? Or even journey across Middle Earth with Tolkien and not splendor at the lore and history he created? 

I know I want to be captivating. 

Maybe that is why I chose to start writing again. I want to be imaginative and exciting. I want to tell a story. I want to create a world, and amaze a generation. I want to leave a piece of me here when I am gone. 

But most of all I want to be captivating. 

Stephan J. Hahn