Congratulations, Peyton Sickles!

My son is a freelance photojournalist, and he’s been killing it lately. Last week at the 2022 North Carolina Press Association Awards, he took home two awards personally, and his community newspaper raked in a whopping 31.

Last month I had to cancel my daily subscriptions to the News & Observer, NYTimes, and USAToday because our newspaper distribution guy, Ben, was so inconsistent. We missed nearly forty percent of our papers, and it broke my heart. But Peyton, like me, is a journalist and in this industry. My dissatisfaction with the distribution asshole is no reflection on my support and interest in hardworking journalists. Truthful, vetted news from truthful, vetted news sources is crucial to correct information being disseminated in the community. Peyton’s accomplishments bolster my opinion of the importance of real news, and make me a prouder mom than usual because he has embarked on a career of truth telling that is often difficult. The way he sees and captures the world is a game changer

So, Bravo Peyton!

• First Place – Siler City Controlled Burn
• Second Place – Cyclist Chuck Gillis

Support your local news outlets, y’all. Support the truth.

*Thanks to publisher Bill Horner III for this spectacular photo of Peyton.

Three-Cubed

Today Mr. Sickles and I are celebrating our 27^th anniversary. He’s the WALL-E to my Eve. The Wesley to my Buttercup. The Jack Colton to my Joan Wilder.

That’s 3x3x3. Three-cubed. The Trinity of Trinities. We are the atomic number of cobalt. 27% of the universe is dark matter. The width of a tennis court is 27 feet wide. There are 27 cubes in a Rubik’s cube. Uranus has 27 moons. The Twenty-Seven club includes some of the greatest musicians, including Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix. Eddie Izzard ran 27 marathons in 27 days. Mozart was born on January 27 and produced 27 piano concertos and 27 concert arias. 27 is the only positive integer that’s three times the sum of its digits … like my family. We are the sum of our members, and we Sickles Three are mighty thankful for our health, happiness, and optimism.

Twenty-seven is a big deal. I’m proud of us!

___________________

Photo: Peyton Sickles

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

Even if you believe in something entirely different than I do, vote. VOTE. VOTE. VOTE!

Photo by Peyton Sickles.

Sharing the spotlight with my favorite son

I have the great honor of sharing the spotlight with my favorite (and only) son Peyton today as we’re highlighted through the Chatham Arts Council’s Meet the Artist series. I thought Rachel Flanagan did a great job; the whole process was enjoyable. The arts have been hit hard during this coronavirus quarantining, so shout out to all arts patrons who have helped keep the lights on with arts orgs, and who’ve helped artists pay the bills. I’ve been around the block, but my young, emerging artist is just starting out and his steady work during this period has a hopeful vibe for this proud mother, artist, and arts patron. Seek out local artists and arts organizations and see how you might help support them — not all support has to be financial, either. Boost the signal of their work, send kind words of support, share their contact information with potential patrons and clients. The arts are incredibly important, and through organizations like the Chatham Arts Council, and Hobbs Architects in downtown Pittsboro (who sponsor the Meet the Artist series), there continues to be an audience.

I’m always happy for folks to check out my kid lit stuff and my romance stuff, but I really hope you’ll check out the links for Peyton. He’s an amazing photographer, and a true emerging artist. And if you happen to need portraits, event coverage, a photojournalist, or film development, hit him up.

Peyton Sickles

• Web site
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Twitter

Early Voting Starts Today

Whether you vote on November 3, by absentee ballot, or by one-stop early voting–even if you and I cancel each other out at the poll–you need to VOTE. In North Carolina, early voting starts today (October 15) and runs through October 31. Check out the North Carolina State Board of Elections for information regarding where you can vote early, if that’s your jam.

Since I didn’t raise a lemming, and our son is awake, aware, and active, I thought I’d share a couple photos he captured over the last few months for WUNC of Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar; the 2020 Raleigh Women’s March, and moments from the Raleigh protests in May and in August. Vote for what’s happening in the world. Vote for what you want the future to look like. Vote your conscience. Vote because it’s your right, and your privilege. Just vote.

Bernie Sanders. Photo by Peyton Sickles, for WUNC.

Joe Biden. Photo by Peyton Sickles, for WUNC.

Amy Klobuchar. Photo by Peyton Sickles, for WUNC.

2020 Women’s March, Raleigh. Photo by Peyton Sickles.

2020 Women’s March, Raleigh. Photo by Peyton Sickles.

May 30, 2020, Raleigh Protests. Photo by Peyton Sickles for WUNC.

August 28, 2020, Raleigh Protests. Photo by Peyton Sickles for WUNC.

 

A Nod to the Creators

I’ve been a writer for a long time. I started off at Nortel Networks in the late nineties before being sacked during the dot-com bust of the early millennium, and moved into the non-profit and then media worlds. Along the way I added graphic designer, photographer … and all the other things that are part of my interesting career. I’ve written white papers, grants, reports, essays, book reviews, newspaper and magazine articles, novels, children’s books, radio commercials, playbills, obituaries, and a daily advice column from the perspective of Basset hound Miss Fifi (one of my favorites). I pay attention to the finished product, yes, but I also pay attention to the creative process. I’ve been part of the creative process. And I give a nod to the creators.

Last month, I worked to revise and re-issue my first children’s book, Peggy Noodle, Hula Hoop Queen, which rolled off of copyright when its small indy publisher shuttered in 2016. It was both easy and difficult, challenging and rewarding, but ultimately satisfying. As a published author who is getting back in the game after a life- (and career-) altering trauma, I pay attention to the creators. The creators of the books, of the photographs, of the graphics, of the distribution … I pay attention to where I can submit my manuscripts and article ideas. When I read the news, both online and in print, I look at who wrote the story and provided the photos. Because it matters. The creators matter. There would be no content without them.

Today, the creator I honor is my son, who is an up-and-coming photographer kicking ass and taking names. It started last year with National Geographic, and brings us to today, with the moment in time he captured of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who kicked off a college tour of the Carolinas at UNC Chapel Hill on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019.

Read the bylines.

Know who’s creating the things you’re reading and sharing and enjoying. Know the things they’re creating are the result of hard work, practice, talent, and skill.

Go Peyton! Go creators!