Holiday Tunes with a Vengeance

Since Cindy can't stand 99% of all Christmas/Holiday tunes, I've decided to listen to them only in the car when I'm by myself. I also thought it might be fun (I have a twisted concept of "fun.") to see what tunes are played the most...or are the most obnoxious...or both.

Here are the most played holiday songs in the Baltimore/Washington DC area...according to my car radio:

1. "Last Christmas" – Wham

I wish this tune had stayed with last Christmas, or the Christmas before that. I have an uneasy feeling that it will be with us Next Christmas, forcing This Christmas to be Last Christmas, looping forever into a Christmas Wham-O-Rama.

2. "Same Old Lang Syne" – Dan Fogelberg

It just barely qualifies as a holiday song, but that doesn't stop stations from assaulting the airwaves with what is undoubtedly one of the worst songs of all time (holiday or otherwise). Sorry, Dan, but this one is excruciatingly bad. (And I was a Fogelberg fan until this came out. I think a lot of people were.)

3. "Jingle Bell Rock"

I really don't mind listening to this one, either version. And the best thing about it? As long as it's playing, "Last Christmas" and "Same Old Lang Syne" aren't.

I have yet to hear the David Bowie/Bing Crosby duet "Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth" and have only heard "I Believe in Father Christmas" once. I've also yet to hear "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer," for which I'm thankful.

More on this story as it deteriorates.

Now Playing = Pieces of the Sky – Emmylou Harris
Now Reading = Vellum – Hal Duncan
Four and Twenty Blackbirds – Cherie Priest

Books Everywhere/Research? Fun????

Just finished a great book I heard about at WFC, The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. It's several years old, but time has not taken away the book's power. It's a time-travel/Holocaust book, but that description hardly does it justice. Hannah, a Jewish teenager from 1988 New Rochelle, NY, goes back in time and finds herself in Nazi-occupied Poland. She thinks her presence there is just a dream, but she finds it harder and harder to remember the "real" world and who she was in it.

In this scene, Hannah is a prisoner in a concentration camp. She and another girl, Shifre, are forced to scrub burned bits of potato from a cauldron. To escape the drudgery, the girls imagine what they wish they were eating.

"An orange, I think," she (Shifre) said slowly....

"An orange," Hannah echoed, pleased with the novelty. "I'd forgotten oranges." ...

"How about...pizza!" Hannah said suddenly.

"What is pizza?" Shifre asked.

"It's...it's...I don't know," Hannah said miserably, fingers in her mouth, blurring the words. "I can't remember. I can only remember potato soup."...

"Well, do not cry over this pizza. Tell me about it."

"I can't," Hannah said. "And I'm not crying over the thing, whatever it is. I'm crying because I can't remember what it is. I can't remember anything."

Yolen does a great job of portraying what it must have been like for the Jews in concentration camps trying to grasp the thinnest vapors of their former lives. It's a tremendous book.

I also finished Jeff VanderMeer's Veniss Underground a few days ago, a book that just knocked me out with its combination of raw power and beautiful language.

I'm working on a new story and doing some research for it...and (Let me look around the room...nobody in the closet...) I'm actually enjoying it. Maybe I'm just excited about the story.

Next time I'll have my report on the most obnoxious holiday tunes of the week.

Now Playing = Secret Story - Pat Metheny
Now Reading = Vellum – Hal Duncan
Four and Twenty Blackbirds – Cherie Priest

One Story Down...

"Where the Vultures Feed" has been accepted by Southern Comfort, an upcoming sf/f anthology. None of the authors will be paid, but all proceeds from the sale of the book will go to Hurricane Katrina relief. I'm very excited!

Now I think I'll go write another story...after I have some more turkey...

Just Two Words...

New story, new rejection. "Fingerpaint" got rejected this morning (via email) by Lone Star Stories.

I think for some reason e-rejections are easier, at least for me. It's sort of like spam – you're not exactly sure what might be in there, so you check it with the hopes that it'll be good news. It's not, so you print it for your file (You DO keep your rejections, right?) and delete it.

A rejection via snail mail seems more like a formal pronouncement from on high. "Your story has been weighed in the balance and has been found UNWORTHY! Here! Here's official documentation from the hand (or copier) of King Editor (or humble servant slush-reader*). Send this drivel to someone else!"

Actually, it's not that bad. I was on a web-site the other day reading about all the traumatic experiences people have with rejection. Don't get me wrong, rejection isn't fun, but it's not as bad as a root canal either.

I don't really mind rejection letters if I can learn something from them. When an editor says "It was too this or too that" or "I didn't understand this or that" I usually know what I have to do. Even when an editor says "Interesting, but the story did not appeal to me enough to accept it," that tells me I haven't yet read that magazine/ezine enough to know that editor's tastes. That takes more time and effort to correct, but it can be done. (Assuming that you want to adjust your story to a particular market, as opposed to finding the right market for your story in the first place.)

It's the rejection letters that tell you absolutely nothing that frustrate me the most. I know editors/readers don't have the time to give a critique to every story, but two words would be nice. Every rejection I get from Strange Tales has two words at the bottom in red pen. A horror story I had rejected contained the words "simple madness" at the bottom. Okay. That tells me something. Another had "confusing story" at the end. That's all I needed; two words. I knew I had to make it less confusing. And the editor didn't have to give me a dissertation; just two words.

In the P.O.E. Writers' Group, critiques were five minutes each. At Clarion, two minutes. I'm proposing a two-word critique for all editors/readers. Just two words. Even if they're "This sucked," that helps. Just two words. "Read more," or "You idiot," or "drop dead," or even "Subscribe now".... okay, forget that last one.

Just think...two words could revolutionize rejections for thousands of writers. No longer would egos be crushed like teachers' chalk on the last day of school. No more despair, no more suffering, no more dark, bottomless pits of misery due to lack of feedback...

"Dream on."

Now Playing = My Funny Valentine – Chet Baker
Now Reading = Veniss Underground – Jeff VanderMeer (almost finished)

* JJA – The Slush God - is the exception.

Creature of Habit

Yesterday I felt like I was aimlessly wandering around the house, not knowing what to do. It felt weird not being down at Capitol Hill, leading the workshop. Our final session last Sunday went very well, as did the entire ten-week workshop. I miss hearing all the great stuff the participants created each week. I hope they'll all continue their writing.

Malcolm (the director of DC Writer's Way) has asked me to lead another workshop in January, so I'm very pleased about that.

Sending two stories out tomorrow. I'm about 1,000 words into a new one. If I can just get "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" out of my head....Just what is the new old-fashioned way?

Now Playing = The Way Up – Pat Metheny Group (can't get enough)
Now Reading = Veniss Underground – Jeff VanderMeer (Wow!)

It's Here: The Music You Love to Hate

It's a milestone that I "celebrate" every year. This year's winner is "Sleigh Ride" by the Ronettes. That's right: it's the first Christmas/Holiday song I've heard this year.

I could have been worse. Paul McCartney's awful "Wonderful Christmastime" would have gotten stuck in my head for at least two weeks. Or it could have been Elton John's "Step Into Christmas," which I did step in just a few minutes after I got off the sleigh.

Man, I just hope I'm spared anything from The Kenny G Christmas Album.

Some songs I actually look forward to hearing. I rarely hear the David Bowie/Bing Crosby duet "Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth." Although if I heard it enough times, it would probably enter into the Most Hated category.

Cindy absolutely despises any of the Chipmunks Christmas tunes, which I can understand. She also hates John Lennon's "Happy Christmas/War is Over," which oddly never really grates on my nerves, despite the chorus of kids.

There are a few songs that enjoy hearing, but don't get much air time. The ONLY John Denver Christmas song I like is the almost never-played "Christmas for Cowboys." A great anti-Christmas song is Emerson, Lake and Palmer's "I Believe in Father Christmas," which also doesn't get much play. (The version you'll hear, if you hear it at all, is usually the big overblown orchestral production number version.) "O Holy Night" is my all-time favorite Christmas carol, but not many singers can pull it off. (Nor should they try.)

How about your faves and least-faves? Send 'em in.

Now Playing = Anything but Christmas music
Now Reading = Paint cans, that's about it. Kitchen's almost finished.

Adventures in YA Land (and a Brief Discussion on That Potter Kid)

One of my New Year's Resolutions (begun a couple of months early) is to read more YA spec-fic. Why? I enjoy it, for one thing. For another, I've been wondering if this is the audience I should target in my own fiction. Many of my stories lately have had YA protagonists. We'll see.

Anyway, I've read maybe ten or so YA novels this year, most recently Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters Vol. 1: The Secret Hour. Teenager Jessica Day and her family move from Chicago to Bixby, Oklahoma for what could yield nothing but extreme culture shock. Big-city Jessica is suddenly elevated to the top of the popularity list at Bixby High, but a few of the stranger kids are keeping their distance. They know something's not right about Jessica.

Jessica discovers that she's a Midnighter, one of a select few who can live in a secret 25th hour each night at midnight, while the rest of the world is frozen in time. Weird things happen during this hour and not just to Jessica. But Jessica seems to be the only Midnighter who doesn't know her purpose in the 25th hour.

Midnighters is my first experience with Westerfeld and it's overall a good one. He sets up a creepy atmosphere and places in it teenagers that act and talk (for the most part) like real teenagers with real problems. The pacing is good and the story imaginative. I was never bored and I cared about the characters.

And it has depth. The novel takes a look at what it means to be a teenager no one understands, no matter how hard they try. In a way, they are alone in their own complex world and Westerfeld understands this. I think many teens will read this book and relate to it, far more than they relate to Harry Potter. Which brings up a brief digression...

Casual readers (usually parents) ask me all the time what I think of the Harry Potter books. They're good reads, I tell them. The pages turn, you have fun and you put the book down. But there's no depth. There's no great use of language. Nothing sticks with you.

There are so many YA books being written today that DO have depth, that DO utilize wonderfully written prose, that DO stick with you because they MEAN something. (Don't tell me Harry Potter "means" something. Every kid in the world feels like he's walking in a world of Muggles.)

Westerfeld does a pretty good job in all of these areas. Yet as much as I enjoyed the book, I could never get away from the feeling that The Secret Hour's entire premise was to discover Jessica's hidden power so that the series could really get going in future volumes. I suppose that's just the way things happen in introductory books: you learn where you are, who the characters are, and what's at stake. Westerfeld gives us all of that, but I have a feeling that the really good stuff will be revealed in Book 2 and 3.

Now Playing = Secret Story – Pat Metheny Group
Now Reading = Veniss Underground – Jeff VanderMeer

I Must Be Learning Something...

I got "Results May Vary" rejected from Asimov's yesterday – after a 99 day wait – and read through the story with excitement. Wait a minute, your story got rejected, pal. Yeah, but now I know what's wrong with it.

Really. I started reading through the story and thought, "That doesn't belong there. This doesn't flow. That isn't what I meant. This setting doesn't reflect the main character." I saw where things should go, what was weak and needed changing; probably not everything, but quite a bit.

I guess I've learned a thing or two during those 99 days since I sent the story out. Learning is a wonderful thing.

Library Rant

Our county really has a pretty good library system, so I shouldn't complain. But I will:

I went to the largest branch today, about five miles down the road from where I live. I sauntered down the sf/f aisle (one aisle, front and back) to see what was new. A few things, nothing I couldn't live without. I did notice, however, nine copies of Jasper Fforde's Lost in a Good Book. Nine copies. I've read the book (and it is good) and enjoyed it. But do we really need nine copies of a book that came out two and a half years ago? If so, I'd expect about 78 copies of The Da Vinci Code. (Give me strength.)

Oh, there's more.

I found that The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 18 is a Young Adult book. Yep, that's right. Not only that, Kelly Link's Magic for Beginners is in the non-fiction section. Instructional, I suppose.

The CD section is a real dinger too. Anything by Emmylou Harris is filed under "E," which is embarrassing, but understandable. Also The Alan Parsons Project is under "A." Also understandable. Other artists – most of them – are correctly filed under the first letter in their last name. So my question is why is Johnny Cash filed under "N" ?

Now Playing = The Way Up – Pat Metheny Group (filed under "M")
Now Reading = (about to start) Veniss Underground – Jeff VanderMeer

Tainaron

It's hard to believe that so much can be packed into so short a book, but at 124 pages, reading Leena Krohn's Tainaron is like a crash course on the depths and intricacies of life. Krohn is a Finnish author whose novella is available in English from Prime Books. Its list price is a bit steep, $30.00 for such a short book, but I found it worth every penny.

The book is a series of thirty letters sent from a city of insects. The visiting narrator relates in these letters not only the unusual customs and practices of a strange city, but also something of what it means to truly live, die, and face change. We learn about this strange city, which is fascinating in itself, but we also learn about the narrator and, more importantly, ourselves.

Tainaron, like all great books, is multi-layered and rich. You can examine it from several different angles, all of which yield wonderful little treasures. And the language is beautiful. (There are a few instances of typos and awkward translation, but not many.) You can read Matthew Cheney's excellent review of it here.

Now Playing = The Way Up – Pat Metheny Group
Now Reading = Midnighters: The Secret Hour – Scott Westerfeld (YA)

Nooooooo! Say It Isn't So!

I'm really bummed out. It's the end of SCI FICTION. No more new fiction after the end of 2005. You can read the bad news here. Editor Ellen Datlow's farewell message is there too.

What a lousy way to start a Saturday...

World Fantasy Report Part Two: The Panels

As I mentioned last time, some of the panels were good and some were pretty good for catching up on sleep. A couple of them were very good. I could give you a detailed rundown of the panels I attended, but it would take too long and I'm too lazy, so here's the flash fiction version of each:

Gender-Bending in Fantasy
Gender-bending (the term recommended over "feminist") fiction, while recognized and lauded by the James Tiptree, Jr. Award , is a hard sell to many publishers and magazines. The Tiptree committee is basically looking for work that explores gender roles. They've sure picked some great stuff in the past and are seeking to recognize more.

The State of Fantasy and Horror
Rough, especially if you're in the UK or Canada. If your last name isn't Clarke or Gaiman, good luck getting published. Seek out the small presses and magazines. People who read fantasy novels usually don't read fantasy short stories. Fantasy SS writers have few markets (F&SF, Realms of Fantasy) and almost no SS tradition, while horror has an extensive SS tradition. In fact, horror writing is probably at its best in the short form.

Working On Your Craft: Writing as an Evolving Process (Part I)
To join a critique group or not? To have a first reader or not? The panel was pretty much divided. L.E. Modesitt remarked that critic's comments usually reflect more of them than of you the writer. Joe Haldeman says when critics consistently see something wrong with your work, that's probably what's right with your work. Interesting. He insists that characters, not plot, generate stories. Bottom line: keep writing and try to write something better than you did the last time.

Curse Words & Other Ways To Tell It Isn't a Children's Fantasy
"What's the difference between children's books and Young Adult books?"
Children drink Coke. Young Adults snort it.

The YA market is hot, mostly in the fantasy realm, but you can't push the limits like you could in the 90's. Some adults are just beginning to recognize that much YA writing is very good. YA writers get very offended when adults say things like, "That YA book was actually good. When are you going to write a real book?" The writer's response should be "Do you ask pediatricians when they're going to start treating real people?"
Just write what's appropriate and true. No kid says "Shucks" anymore; don't write it.

Good vs. Evil: Philosophy in Fantasy
A real snoozer until two panelists almost came to blows. Some boxing gloves and a ring would've solved the whole thing (and been much more entertaining).

Fantasy in Unexpected Places
No, not THAT kind of fantasy in THOSE kinds of unexpected places. While the "sub-Tolkien maggots sell," the use of language can lift traditional fantasy to another level (Clarke, Wolfe, etc.). When we're in the world of the strange, but not quite sure what's going on, that can be exciting. When your reality is challenged, you want more. Try to distance yourself from what's traditional. Push your stories into experimental directions.

The Art of Review and Criticism
Writers, be nice. Jerks get bad reviews.

The Reader: Foundation of Fantasy
One of the good ones, well moderated by Ann VanderMeer. Anytime a writer promises to give the reader entertainment value, the work is usually dumbed-down. You have to learn to read well; exercise your reading, read things that are difficult. Read structurally, look for shapes and patterns. Good writing intrigues readers.

What does the writer owe the reader? To make the story work on every possible level. There the obligation ends. Jay Lake states "I don't owe you (the reader) anything. If I try to write for you, I've failed. All I owe you is what I owe the story."

Dark Fantasy for Kids (As opposed to light fantasy?)
How dark is too dark? Jane Yolen: "I don't mind the torture, just don't show it fingernail by fingernail." Some kids' comfort levels are in different places. Dark can show where you have or haven't been. For some, the darkness is a cup of borrowed courage. For others, it's recognition. For still others, dark stories are a path away from their own darkness, a reminder that you don't have to remain stuck in the same place.

That's it! Enough!

Now Playing = "My Funny Valentine" – Chet Baker
Now Reading = Tainaron – Leena Krohn

World Fantasy Report Part One

If you blink, you'll miss it. At least that's the way it seemed at WFC 2005, a whirlwind, but a good whirlwind; I'm still recovering from lack of sleep, too much food (and yes, drink) and too many books brought back. (I believe the final count was twenty books, seven magazines. Plus I brought eight to get signed.) I would have bought more, but I waited too long to pick up Charles Coleman Finlay's new collection and Stephen Jones's Horror: Another 100 Best Books.

Seven members of the Clarion Class of 2004 showed up (one more than last year). We had a great time getting together again and a hard time saying goodbye. (More on these wonderful folks next time.)

The panels were mostly good; some were tolerable, some were good, some were very good. The two best were "Fantasy in Unexpected Places" and "The Reader: Foundation of Fantasy" moderated by Jeff VanderMeer and Ann VanderMeer, respectively. Both moderators did a great job of keeping the panels focused and on-task, which I greatly appreciated.

Although I'm normally very passive around people I don't know, I did meet some really great folks, bringing the total number of people I've met in my life to around, oh, say eighty-two?

Many more details to come. Right now I've got to make some room on the shelves...

Now Playing = "Medicine Hat" – Son Volt (Many thanks, Trent)
Now Reading = You name it
Just a few of the new books I'm looking to make room for =
Perfect Circle – Sean Stewart
Weapons of Mass Seduction – Lucius Shepard
Veniss Underground – Jeff VanderMeer
Tainaron – Leena Krohn
Dead in the West – Joe R. Lansdale
Vellum – Hal Duncan
Black Juice – Margo Lanagan
Greetings and Other Stories – Terry Bisson
The Last of the O-Forms – James Van Pelt

World Fantasy 2005

World Fantasy 2005 is only one day away! It'll be great to see my old Clarion partners-in-crime again – eight of them, hopefully – as well as several of our instructors from Clarion 2004. I'm also looking forward to meeting my email friend Kelly Shaw, who's started writing book reviews for Strange Horizons. (Check out the great stuff on Kelly's blog, too.)

Of course Madison, WI will be a bit colder than Tempe last year, but it doesn't matter where they hold the con. It's just a great feeling knowing that for a few days out of the year you're among friends, people who love what you love, who are just as strange as you are (or stranger).

So no blogs for a few days, but I'll have a full report when I return.

Now Playing = The Pines of Rome – Respighi – Berlin/Karajan

Margo Lanagan/10th Time Around

If you haven't heard of her yet, you will soon. Her name is Margo Lanagan and she writes stories so good I'm in awe. She's published several books in her native Australia, but so far, the only book available in America is her collection Black Juice. Good luck finding it, though: it's being marketed as YA, and while the protagonists are young adults, these are definitely not stories only for YA. (I've yet to find it at the usual bookstores, although it is available on Amazon. I hope to pick it up this week at WFC.)

I've only read the two stories she has in the eighteenth edition of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, "Rite of Spring" and "Singing My Sister Down." Both stories involve rites of passage, in a manner of speaking. The characters are at the same time ordinary and extraordinary, familiar and completely foreign. While reading them, you have the sense that you're in another world, yet right in your own backyard. And the writing is absolutely spellbinding. Seek Lanagan out.


How many roads must a story walk down before you call it a loser? (Sorry, Bob.) I just sent out a Clarion story (revised, of course) called "Where the Vultures Feed." It's been rejected nine times previously. That's right, nine.

Why do I keep sending it out? I don't know, maybe because it's a story that's very personal (Aren't they all?), one that I believe in very strongly. It generally got good comments at Clarion and I believe the revisions have strengthened it. Maybe I'm too close to it, but I still think it's a good story. But if it gets rejected again, it's time to retire it. I've got too many other stories to write.

Happy Halloween...is there any candy corn left?

Now Playing = Bitches Brew – Miles Davis
Now Reading = Why Should I Cut Your Throat? – Jeff VanderMeer

Lucius Shepard's "Salvador"

I haven't read that many stories by Lucius Shepard, but the ones I've read, I've read over and over. Right now I'm studying "Salvador." (You can find it in his collection The Jaguar Hunter. More recently, it's appeared in Dozois's The Best of the Best anthology.)

The first two sentences provide a great example of why beginnings are so important. In the sentence, Shepard introduces a character, a setting, and cause for incredible tension. No specific details – you don't really know who Dantzler is or what he's doing in a place called Tecolutla, but you know enough. All in twelve words; a very simple sentence, too.

The second, much longer sentence, is loaded with description of the setting, insight into Dantzler's character, and a feel for the tone of what's to come. Plus it advances the plot. It's long (76 words), but it's still just one sentence.

I studied those first two sentences for a long time and kept coming back to them throughout my reading and rereading. Shepard really sets the framework of the whole story with those two sentences. When you filter the rest of the story through them, it works powerfully. And when you get to the end of the story, you know that Shepard has not only played fair with you by remaining true to those first two sentences, but he's also taken you somewhere with them that he could not have taken you without them. The guy's good.

Think I'll be spending a little more time on my own openings...

Now Playing = "A Foggy Day" – Chet Baker

Creativity - Train, Plane or Boat?

This morning I started reading Dylan's Visions of Sin by Christopher Ricks, an examination of not only the presence of the seven deadly sins in Bob Dylan's music, but also the four cardinal virtues and the three graces. (Can you name them all? I couldn't.)

The book presupposes that the reader has

1) something of an appreciation of Dylan
2) something of a knowledge of Dylan's music

In the first chapter, Ricks mentions that while he obviously believes Dylan is a superb writer/poet, Bob's probably not conscious of all of the subtleties and shadings present in his own work. He includes this quote from Dylan:

"As you get older, you get smarter and that can hinder you because you try to gain control over the creative impulse. Creativity is not like a freight train going down the tracks. It's something that has to be caressed and treated with a great deal of respect. If your mind is intellectually in the way, it will stop you. You've got to program your brain not to think too much."

This is very much in line with what Jeffrey Ford taught us as Clarion. I constantly labor to shovel coal into my little train, to follow the track, to make all the proper stops at the proper time. Jump off the train. Instead, jump into a boat (no motor, no oars) and let it take you where it wants to go, at least during the first draft. Maybe this is so hard to do because I spent so many years teaching, analyzing what a student is doing wrong and trying to fix it. It's a perspective shift that's hard to overcome.

But overcome it I did, at least for awhile – The first draft of my short story "Fingerpaint" is finished, coming in at just over 3,000 words.

Now let's see where this boat is going.


Now Playing = "I Looked Away" – Michael Nesmith
Still Reading = Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman
The Best American Short Stories of the Century – John Updike, ed.

The Speed of Stories/Movies for Halloween

It's a nice feeling having a story that just seems to flow out of you. The story I'm working on now is doing just that. It's been so long since that's happened (pre-Clarion) that I'm almost scared of the way it feels. I'm about 2,000 words into "Fingerpaint," a story that probably will end up being a little less than 3,000. I don't know if I should second-guess myself and the way the story's progressing, or just let it continue. I can always second-guess during revision.

Thanks to my friend Kelly for recommending some good movies to rent for Halloween. I'm particularly looking forward to Dead Birds. Some movies that I've enjoyed gearing up for Halloween:

The Old Dark House
The Bride of Frankenstein
The Fearless Vampire Killers
Evil Dead 2
The Haunting (original)

What's everyone's favorite movie to watch during Halloween?

Nine days until World Fantasy!

Now Playing = The Best of Louis Armstrong: The Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings
Now Reading = Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman
From Ghetto to Glory: The Story of Bob Gibson

New Printer/New Story/New World Series

My old printer crapped out this weekend, so I gnashed my teeth and went out to purchase another one yesterday. I almost stopped at Best Buy first, but I've had trouble getting people to help me there in the past. I've also heard others through the years voice the same thing.

I'd read in Good to Great how Circuit City is one of the eleven "good to great" companies in that book's study. (If you have ANY interest at all in business, I highly recommend the book.) So I tried Circuit City.

This particular location wasn't good, great, or even awake. I had to chase down someone in a red Circuit City shirt and even after I snagged him, he was no help. I wiped the dust of that place off my feet and waltzed down to Best Buy.

Man, things have changed around Best Buy. Long story short, I got great, fast, friendly service. The guy helping me even gave me his card and said to call him if anything goes wrong. Best Buy will get my business from now on. (And to top things off, Best Buy had free sampler CDs of Bob Dylan at Carnegie Hall 1963.)

Started a new story tonight tentatively titled "Fingerpaint." Will try to finish it and send it out before WFC so I'll have at least three stories out there.

Ah, a new World Series starts tonight! This should be fun. For once, I like both teams.

Now Playing = "Lush Life" - Chet Baker
Now Reading = Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman

David Lynch's Eraserhead

About 20 years ago I saw Eraserhead for the first time. I was in college and didn't really know anything about the film before I sat down to watch it. Come to think of it, I didn't know anything about the film after I watched it either.

But in later years I began to appreciate Lynch's talent through films like The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet and most recently Mulholland Drive. So I decided to give Eraserhead another try.

The first thing that strikes you about the film is Lynch's visual style. The stark black-and-white images literally burn themselves into your skull and you start believing in this depressing post-industrial wasteland you're watching. The sounds of the film add another level of depression and creepiness. I can't imagine the film without the sound effects.

The DVD I saw contains a long (almost an hour and a half) reminiscence with Lynch on the making of the film, which is interesting, but reveals nothing of the film's meaning. Only at the very end does Lynch state that no critic or viewer has ever come close to grasping his interpretation of the film. I'll give my thoughts in a minute. (If you haven't seen the film, don't read any further.)

First of all, many people poo-poo on the movie because it was a film school project. So that means you can't take it seriously? I don't think so. I certainly admire the risks Lynch takes in the film. Whether you think it works or not, you can't ignore the power of what's on the screen. So forget that it's a "student" film.

Second, it sets the stage for later Lynch. Roger Ebert lambasted Blue Velvet for not playing fair with the audience because it contained what Ebert thought was inappropriate humor in such a disturbing film. Humor is in Eraserhead as well, mostly in the first third of the film. I think it's somewhat absurdist humor, but it tells us a little about Lynch's (or the main character Henry's) world.

What does the film mean? Good question. Most people (if they finish viewing the film at all) walk out with WTF expressions on their faces. I can understand their feelings. You can't really watch Eraserhead once and expect to understand it. I don't even pretend to have the thing figured out, but I believe I've picked out some of the film's themes that work for me:

Fear of fatherhood. Although he does try, Henry (John Nance) doesn't really know to take care of the "baby" (one of the most disgusting children in film history). His fear is evident in almost every frame and especially the moment before and after he picks up the scissors (what an awful scene), foreshadowed earlier by the chicken incident.

Fear of marriage/responsibility. You see this early in the film.

But for me, the biggest theme is Henry's always wanting to find a woman who understands him. I may be way off, but it's no mistake that the film contains three very different women. Does Henry find the woman that's best for him in the end? I don't know. Does the assembly line of pencils in the dream sequence signify the sameness of industrialized humanity? Does the eraser symbolize that everything in our lives can be wiped out and brushed away? Does Henry go to heaven with the Radiator Woman?

I don't know the answer to any of these questions. But that didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the film. And I plan to see it again. Someday.

Hey, maybe I can do my hair like Henry....

Now Playing = "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)" – Bob Dylan
Now Reading = Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman
Stable Strategies and Others – Eileen Gunn

Creepy in Vermont/Notre Dame/Baseball

Just finished Joseph Citro's Shadow Child, a creepy little book set in rural Vermont (Citro's home state). Citro makes good use of the Vermont winter, rural isolationism and local folk tales to create some really nice tension. I read most of the book while on vacation in Vermont and even though it was autumn, it felt pretty spooky reading the book at night.

Citro's style is very readable, very natural; nothing fancy. He wants you to turn the pages and you do, but he's not the type of writer you typically associate with "page turners." He also uses multiple POVs, which works for this story quite well. I had a pretty good idea where the story was going, but the way Citro led me was somewhat surprising and satisfying.

Speaking of surprising, I was hoping that Notre Dame would pull out a victory over USC (University of Spoiled Children) on Saturday. Man, that ending was a real shocker. Wouldn't you know it – the one time I pull for Notre Dame, they lose. I normally don't like Notre Dame because of the incredible bias the media and sportswriters have for them. Even when they're mediocre, they're lauded into the Top 25. (I remember one year they got invited to a bowl game with a 5-6 record. Come on!)

But I was pulling for them on Saturday. Weis is a good coach. In the long run, he'll figure out a way for ND to emerge stronger as a result of Saturday's loss to USC. When Weis gathers a little more talent and a couple of his own recruiting classes at ND, watch out.

And how about baseball? Some weird officiating (especially in the ALCS), but some great games! We already know the White Sox are going to the World Series and it looks like they'll play the Astros. Would that be a pitching battle or what? You probably wouldn't see many games with more than four runs, but with such great pitching, who cares?

My Trip to Vermont

Whew....

Back from our trip to Vermont, which was somewhat a disappointment in the foliage department, but a definite food and drink fest.

The fall colors weren't as varied as Cindy and I would have liked – a few fiery oranges, fewer reds, mostly lighter yellows – but still beautiful. Everywhere we traveled in Vermont (mostly the west/central part of the state) offered great scenery, inviting attractions and a welcome lack of gaudy signs and franchise overkill. More on some of those attractions in a moment; first the food.

On Monday night I had a wonderful free range oven hearth chicken with asparagus, garlic mashed potatoes and a super-smooth vegetable gratin. Heaven. Neither Cindy nor I could find any room for dessert, so we went back the next night for a chocolate bomb that was the bomb.

The next morning I got zipped up by sampling the various maple syrups at The Maple Museum. I never realized that the best of the syrups you can get in stores consist of only 3% maple syrup. Vermont (100% maple) produces syrup grades:

Fancy – light amber, mild maple flavor
A-Medium Amber – a traditional maple flavor
A-Dark Amber – a heartier maple flavor than A-Medium
Grade B – Very strong maple flavor, really stout stuff

They're all great and we bought some of all of 'em! (Just drop on by our house for pancakes anytime.)

Some of the touristy stuff was pretty good, as touristy stuff goes: The Norman Rockwell Museum, The Calvin Coolidge Museum, The Vermont Country Store (a really fun place) and the Robert Frost Trail. This last one is a great idea, mainly because it honors a writer. It's an outdoor trail interspersed with Frost's poetry every few yards. (It's ironic that there's a signpost at "The Road Not Taken" that points the correct way to go. You actually could walk in the other direction.) I'm not a huge Robert Frost fan, but just the thought of having poetry posted along a nature trail is way cool. I wonder if we'll ever see the Ursula K. Le Guin Nature Trail or the Kelly Link Rosebud Garden Path. Wouldn't that be cool?

(Cool also was Frost's cabin where he spent several summers writing, although you can't go inside).

We visited two breweries, the Long Trail Brewery and the Otter Creek Brewery, both of which have excellent offerings. I liked the Otter Creek Octoberfest beer best of all.

A lot of the really great stuff in Vermont you have to find on your own, but it's worth the effort. I met a guy that owns a used bookstore in Middlebury – he actually used to live in Bowie, MD (just five miles down the road). He sold me a Lucius Shepard book* and told me about a great restaurant in Middlebury called Tully and Marie's, where I had an absolutely succulent leg of lamb with carrots and potatoes.

The cottage where we stayed also served meals Wednesday thorough Sunday, so we ate there during our last evening in Vermont. The ribeye was exceptional, but the maple flan for dessert absolutely took me to another plane. Man....

So all in all, a great trip. Great food, great attractions, great used and independent bookstores, great people. I'm a Vermont fan for life.

Now Playing = "Sophisticated Lady" - Duke Ellington (America's greatest composer)

* I also discovered Vermont writer Joseph A. Citro's work (horror/suspense) which I highly recommend.

Blog Vacation

No posts for the next few days. Cindy and I will be driving to Vermont this week; my first time. (To go to Vermont, not to drive.) Hopefully some fun stuff to report.

Now Playing = Biograph - Bob Dylan
Now Reading = Looking for something to take on the trip...maybe Eternity and other Stories - Lucius Shepard

Flightplan (Spoilers) and a Small Rant about the Current State of Filmmaking

I suppose I'll see just about any movie starring Jodie Foster. Don't get me wrong, I'm no John Hinckley. I just think Foster's a talented actor who usually picks good films, so it was inevitable that Cindy and I would check out Flightplan.

As the film opens, Kyle Pratt (Foster) is flying from Berlin with her six-year-old daughter and the body of her recently deceased husband; they're taking him to America for burial. Did I mention that Pratt is also an engineer of this particular jet? (Hmmm, I think that might be important...)

Pratt, her daughter, and about 400 other passengers board the plane without incident. Mom takes an innocent enough snooze and wakes up to discover her daughter missing. Pratt checks around and no one's seen her. In fact, no one saw her board the plane. Sure enough, she's also not on the flight manifests. "Mrs. Pratt, have you recently had a traumatic experience?" the captain asks.

"Why, yes, my husband just died."

"Hmmmm...could be...you're IMAGINING your daughter was on this flight?"

And so it goes. Now you'd immediately think you've got the story figured out and you may be right. Here's the deal: (SPOILER ALERT from here on.) With this type of missing persons story, located in an extremely isolated area, there's only two choices: either Pratt is delusional or someone's nabbed the kid. It's either one or the other. If Pratt is delusional ("And it was all a dream...") the audience should demand their money back and never see another film by director Robert Schwentke. If she's not, then obviously someone on the plane is lying about not seeing the kid. It's just a matter of who did it.

The "who" is pretty easy to figure out. Go with your gut feeling. Foster's character should have been smart enough to do this; I mean, come on, she designs jet engines...that's almost rocket science.

Still, up until this point, Flightplan is an acceptable thriller. Just barely acceptable, but worth your time. But when the motivation for the kidnapping comes to light, plot and believability fall completely apart.

I didn't believe one iota of the motivation of the kidnappers. First of all, their elaborate scheme is far too much trouble. To pull off this kidnapping would require the kidnappers to spend more money and resources than they'd see from the kidnapping. It would also require an inordinate amount of time, research and just plain dumb luck. It's just not feasible or believable.

And by the way, the Arab terrorist suspicion subplot is unnecessary, pathetic and downright embarrassing. Completely unacceptable.

So what we've got for our $9.00 is a good performance from Foster, a couple of good dialogue exchanges, and a lot of views of the inside of a plane. Cheaper than a plane ticket to Cleveland, but also about as exciting.

So this brings me to my latest rant: (If you've spoken with me or read my blog, you've probably heard this already. Bear with me.) Why, why, WHY do we as moviegoers continue to put up with bad scriptwriting? If I'd read a novelization of the film, I'd have thrown it across the room. So would you, I'd bet. The major American studios obviously believe the moviegoing public either doesn't care about good writing or are idiots. But for the most part, we continue to accept illogic in our films (and television) that we would never accept in our novels.

I know someone's saying, "Well, you're talking about two different groups. Most of the people who see movies don't read novels." Okay, maybe so, but they can think. To have a film set up a premise then completely ignore that premise is illiterate filmmaking and I'm on a campaign to expose it for such. Be on the lookout for it. You don't have to look very far.

You really have to search for intelligent films these days. You can often find smart, good independent films and foreign films that don't follow the Hollywood "formula." Seek them out. When I discover them, I'll gladly point them out. And I'll continue to expose illiteracy in film. You're welcome. Glad to be of help.

Now Playing = "Visions of Johanna" - Bob Dylan
Now Reading = The Blue Girl - Charles de Lint

Busted by Neil Gaiman

Went to the Neil Gaiman book signing Sunday night at Borders, Baileys Crossroads, VA. That store brings in a lot of big-time writers, but since it's a pretty long drive for me, the only other time I'd been there was to see Orson Scott Card. But since I was already in DC (only 15 minutes away) and I wanted to see Gaiman, I decided it would be worth the effort to go. It was.

About an hour before the event, I bought the new Gaiman book Anansi Boys and visited with my good friend John, talking books, music...all the important stuff in life.

Gaiman finally came out – wearing all black, of course – gave a brief intro., then read the dedication of the new book. He said he'd already started the tour by reading portions of the book from the beginning, so we were treated to a scene from Chapter Two. With 300+ people in front of me, I couldn't see Gaiman too well, but I did see everyone around me, following along in their copies as Gaiman read. I don't know – it reminded me of watching the first day of classes as a college freshman or kids in catechism class or something. (Take that for what you will.)

I couldn't hear most of the questions during Q&A, but heard most of the answers. Gaiman's early influences were The Chronicles of Narnia and Michael Moorcock's Stormbringer. (And later Delany, Zelazny, Ellison) His school library had battered copies of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, but not The Return of the King. So when he finished the first two volumes, he read them again. Two years later when he won the school's English prize, the judges told him he could have any book he wanted. "The Return of the King!" he demanded.

John and I finally got to meet Gaiman at about 11:00 PM. He was visibly tired (The event started at 7:30.), but still very cordial and courteous. I handed him my copy of Anansi Boys to sign and also an advance reader's copy of Stardust. Gaiman took one look at the cover of the ARC and froze. "Just a moment," he said. "I've let this go on too long and I'm going to do something about it right now."

Oh crap, I thought. He's got something against signing ARCs. I'm in for it now.

He calls for his agent and she comes over in an instant. "Look at this," he says, pointing to the cover of the ARC. I'm looking for the nearest exit, figuring Gaiman is going to rip up/batter/put a blowtorch to my ARC, but I want to figure out how to grab my copy of Anansi Boys away from him so I can at least survive the experience with something.

"This cover," Gaiman says, "was never published except on the advance reader's copies. This is a lovely cover. Can we get this cover on the next edition that comes out?" The agent made a note of it and nodded vigorously.

Gaiman gave me a smile that seemed to say "I'm glad we got that settled." So was I. He signed and I exhaled.

He handed the books to me and I thanked him. "You're very welcome," he said.

The Carter Family

Anyone who says they love country music and has never heard of The Carter Family just flat-out doesn't know what they're talking about. It's like someone claiming to love Rock 'n Roll who eschews The Beatles or Elvis.

In the mid-1920's, the tall lanky A.P. Carter from Clinch Mountain, Virginia began roaming the countryside searching for folk songs. He learned them from mountain folk and arranged them for himself, his wife Sara, and their sister-in-law Maybelle. It was literally a local family act. Nobody had any idea anything would come of it.

The Carter Family's music by today's standards seems primitive and simple. A.P. sang bass (badly) and sometimes played fiddle. Sara had a lovely backwoods voice that once you hear, you'll never forget. It's beautiful, sad, haunting. Sara also played autoharp and occasionally guitar. But Maybelle was the one with the true instrumental gift.

Maybelle's playing style continues to influence country and bluegrass guitarists. She had a way of playing the melody on the bass strings while strumming chords that still amazes me. On many songs, you can hear some great blues licks. I don't know what she listened to in those Virginia mountains, but something spoke to her and stuck. She was incredible.

The Carter Family songs are usually dark in tone and often deal with lost love, a dead or dying family member, death in general, or a longing for an afterlife better than the life they lived during the Great Depression. Starkly simple, yet amazingly powerful songs. They still pack a wallop 70+ years after their release. I suspect they always will.

At the time, radio stations in the U.S. had fairly strict limits on broadcast strength. Mexico, however, had no such restrictions, so when the Carters signed on with a Mexican radio station, their music was heard all over the United States. At the height of the Great Depression, the Carter Family's music reassured down-and-out people that they were not alone; the Carters knew their hurts, their pains, their broken dreams.

Even after their success was assured and the Depression was over, the Carter Family couldn't escape another type of devastation. Sara separated herself from A.P., but still remained a part of the musical act. Yet A.P. continued to love her until his death. It's a heartbreaking story, well documented in the excellent book Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/074324382X/ref=lpr_g_1/002-6009553-1588856?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Most of the Carter Family recordings from their early years (1928-35) are available on CD in sets or individual discs. The Rounder label released several individual discs years ago, but these are often hard to find. Many excellent import compilations are available. I bought a five-disc set (which I'm listening to right now) from JSP Records in London, very reasonably priced on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005TPB7/qid=1127588337/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-6009553-1588856?v=glance&s=music

The Bear label in Germany also has a set for sale which can run you up to $300. Even with 12 discs and a 220-page hardcover book included, that's a lot of money.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004WH98/ref=m_art_li_6/002-6009553-1588856?v=glance&s=music

I don't care for the single-disc Can the Circle Be Unbroken, which consists largely of re-recordings of tunes from the late 1930's that they had recorded better in the late 1920's. But for a first-time listener, it's probably a good place to start:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004RC8J/qid=1127588452/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-6009553-1588856?v=glance&s=music

Okay, that's two long posts in a row. A shorter one next time. Or maybe not...I'm going to a Neil Gaiman booksigning tomorrow.

Self-Publishing

A few of the Clarion Class of 2004 have been knocking around the pros and cons of self-publishing. Although self-publishing has experienced an enormous amount of growth during the past few years, my friends and I agree that:

1 – Self-publishing is not the route we want to take.
2 – Self-publishing may be good for special projects (especially non-fiction), but it's probably not going to get you long-term wide exposure/recognition.
3 – In most cases, Self-publishing is a cheat.

Let me explain each point:

1 – Only one of us involved in the discussion could name a self-published sf/f book that was very good (and it was eventually picked up by a major publisher). The traditional route – while it often provides little room for feedback on what you're doing right or wrong – still accounts for 99% (or more) of the significant sf/f fiction being published today. Having said that, a friend of mine who is a very good mystery writer insists on self-publishing. He's also very much a people person and enjoys promoting himself 50 weekends out of the year. Self-publishing works for him and he's very satisfied with it. But I believe he's the exception.

2 – My friend Trent has a relative who self-published a non-fiction work that he was passionate about, but realized would probably have very limited appeal. I think in those cases, self-publishing is probably the way to go, especially if you can target that limited audience by word-of-mouth, conventions, web sites, whatever. I've got a book for first-year band directors that's about one-third finished. The market for that book is so limited, self-publishing might be an option. (But first I have to get off my ass and finish it. That's another topic for another time....)

3 – The biggest problem I see in self-publishing is that many writers either don't know the truths of the publishing industry or else they're running away from them. As one of my friends commented, many writers probably think "Hey, my stuff is just too different; that's why it's not being published." Could be. Could also be because it's not very good. But my shunning the traditional channels, most never learn that.

I know that many writers send work out through the traditional channels, get a few rejections and think "Screw this." What a lot of them have never been told is that there's a process that you have to learn. It's not an easy process. I certainly haven't figured it all out yet or I'd have stuff published on a larger level. But even long-time published writers still get rejection slips. (And conversely, crap still gets published every day.)

The first thing you have to know is what an editor wants. Sometimes even a magazine's guidelines aren't much help. Reading the magazines you submit to certainly helps and reading good writing helps. But as some famous coach once said, somebody's got to tell you what you're doing wrong or you have no chance.

An old band director mentor once told me, "To have a good band, you've only got to go through three steps: Step 1 – Know what a good band sounds like. Step 2 – Know what your band sounds like. Step 3 – Know how to get from Step 2 to Step 1.

How do you do that? Read good work. Study it. Imitate it for awhile if you have to. (Just don't try to pass off someone else's work OR style as yours.) Go to conventions, meet editors, talk to them, ask them what they're looking for. They'll tell you. Really, they will.

Find good readers who will give you an honest assessment of your work. Not Mom, not Aunt Susie, not a family member. Find a first reader who you can run things by.

Send stuff out. Send more stuff out. Keep sending it out, even after it gets rejected. I've got stories that have been rejected eight or more times. I still send 'em out. (But eventually you've got to either rework the story or forget it and move on.)

I know, the form rejection letters tell you nothing. But if you've got a first reader, if you're studying good work, if you're giving yourself to your writing, if you believe in yourself, EVENTUALLY you're going to get a different kind of rejection letter. It will not be a form letter, but a typed or hand-written note from an editor. It will convey that fact that you're close and getting closer. When that happens, throw a party. You've made a major step.

Maybe I'm crazy (just ask Cindy), but I think the journey is the fun part. If it was easy, everybody would be a published writer. My rejection slips show I'm getting better. I'm much better than I was this time last year. I'm getting closer. I'm just afraid that writers who self-publish never learn any of the lessons you learn from going down the traditional route. Sure, it's frustrating. Sometimes it hurts and sometimes it's depressing. Sometimes you even regret what you've done to trees. But you keep trying and keep believing. Keep on keepin' on. Hang in there.

Now Playing = Atomic Funk – Various artists

YA Novel

I'm really excited about the YA novel I'm working on. I put down about 1000 words this morning and am still energized to do more. I'd been cranking out about 500 words a day, but today I feel like the dam has burst. Right now I'm 14,000 words into it, six chapters. I've never seen a word count on a YA novel, but I would guess this one will probably end up between 60,000 and 80,000 words.

My main concern is that I can now see several different directions the novel can take. I don't know that we ever talked about that at Clarion, what to do when you have many options. I suppose choose the one that appeals to you most and the one that does the most unexpected things.

Still listening to those CDs. I discovered that alphabetical order can be a very unsettling thing. Although I love them both, listening to Buddy Holly immediately after Jimi Hendrix is a real shock to the system.

A Few Random Thoughts

Watched a little horror film I'd heard about through the grapevine, May (2002), which was a nice surprise. Great job by Angela Bettis as the title character. I've been thinking about the film all day. Not a masterpiece, but quite good. Recommended.

Wrote only a few hundred words on my YA novel, but I "structured" a good bit of what's to come. It's a little creepy revisiting both my own experiences as a sixth-grader in a new school (it was actually fifth grade for me) and those of the kids I taught. A new school - or anything new - can be terrifying to a 12-year-old. But I'm having fun with the novel. (No nightmares yet.)

I'm also having fun with the Wolverton CD Collection Tour. I'm glad to have been partially responsible for those of you conducting your own tours. A few minutes ago I listened to Kelly Joe Phelps's Roll Away the Stone, which contains some outta-sight blues guitar and vocals. Gotta check out more stuff by that guy.

Now Playing = Tales of Mystery and Imagination - The Alan Parsons Project

Something About Those Rejection Slips...

I don't know why, but lately the rejection slips tend to light a fire underneath my butt. Got one this afternoon from Gordon. I appreciate his notes - he always takes the time to tell me exactly what didn't work for him. It's this story's first time out. As long as it's a story I think fits his magazine, I'll continue to give him first shot.

I am somewhat concerned that I only have two stories out there right now...I've been focusing on a new novel, but I really need to give equal time to the short stories. Steven Barnes recommends learning the craft of the short story first - I'm sure other professional writers do also. But I don't see anything wrong with chipping away on that novel if it's something you feel strongly about.

But here's the good and the bad about the short stories: Things start out pretty well, I feel good about where they're going, then BAM! Don't know what to do next. This has happened with the last two or three stories. I think it really boils down to the fact that I don't know the character(s) as well as I should and need to spend more time there. We shall see.

Now Playing = "No Expectations" from Beggars Banquet - Rolling Stones

CD Purging

It seems like every year I try to listen to every CD I own. It really doesn't take as long as you might think, especially since I work at my computer for several hours a day.

Ever put on a CD you haven't heard for awhile (or completely forgot you owned), listen to a couple of tracks and say to yourself, "What was I thinking?" Well, since I'm only about a dozen discs into the project, that hasn't happened yet. I'm sure it will.

But I did find a nice surprise today. Fleetwood Mac's Tusk. Now let me qualify this by saying I believe Fleetwood Mac is probably THE most over-rated band of all time. Christine McVie's songs are often nice, but mostly fluff. Lindsey Buckingham never dazzled me with his guitar work. And sorry, Rumours is listenable, but it's no masterpiece. Come on, REALLY listen to "Dreams" "You Make Lovin' Fun" "The Chain" etc. and tell me that's greatness.

But Tusk is different. Some people call it Fleetwood Mac's White Album, which is probably accurate. The album is very experimental, nothing like anything the group did before. (You should also understand that the early incarnation of Fleetwood Mac [pre-1975] is nothing like the band from their self-titled 1975 album on. Sort of like the difference between Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.)

The album came right on the heels of the ridiculously successful Rumours. I wonder if the band members thought, "Man, we'll never top that; let's just go nuts and have fun." They went nuts.

But the results work, at least for me. (Even the bloated USC Marching Band can't ruin the title track. Well, not much.) Tusk is unpredictable, humorous, angry, sloppy and ragged in places, and downright confusing in others. But at least they took a few chances. (If you check it out, get the two-disc version. The one-disc version chops up one of the band's best songs, "Sara.")

Live Jazz/Teaching Again/The Return of the Cowboys

Cindy and I went to hear the Airmen of Note last night, featuring jazz clarinetist Eddie Daniels. Some great music, but I wished that Daniels had varied the program a little more and talked about himself a lot less. Still very enjoyable.

Before the concert, Cindy and I discovered a great little restaurant in NW DC called Dish. They specialize in dishes "like Mom used to make," but zipped up a bit. Very nice, moderately+ priced.

This afternoon I taught for the first time in five years, at the Capitol Hill DC Writers Way workshop. I was a little nervous at first, but got back into teaching mode quickly. I've got a really great group to work with. They're already producing some nice writing.

Are the Cowboys back? They looked pretty impressive beating San Diego 28-24 at San Diego. If the 'Boys can stay healthy, I think they could make some real noise this season...but I don't want to get my hopes up too much. It's only Week One. (By the way, it's not easy being a Cowboy fan in Washington DC, but I've been a loyal follower since 1975. Can't stop now.)

Read "The Calorie Man" by Paolo Bacigalupi in the Oct/Nov F&SF double issue. An outstanding and frightening story, one that I think should be considered when talking about the best stories of the year.

Now Playing: Roses in the Snow - Emmylou Harris

Books to Louisiana/Where's Bob?/Writing

At church yesterday there was a whole list of places in Mississippi and Louisiana accepting all sorts of donations for Katrina relief. One church in Lafayette, LA requested books, so I sent a box this morning, consisting of lots of kids books and novels. Hope the books will help take someone's mind off of things for a few hours.

Went to Costco for a number of household items, hoping to find Dylan's new Bootleg Vol. 7, to no avail.

But I got a nice chunk of the third chapter of my YA novel done. That felt good. Also began revisions on a short story...hoping it will tell me how it wants to end. Didn't happen this time. Can't force these things.

New double F&SF came today - cause for celebration! Of course Cindy didn't quite see it that way...

The 70's Forgotten Film Retrospective # 4: The Driver

It's happened to all of us: you see a movie from the 70's (or some other decade we'd like to forget) that starts out fairly interesting and then some visual aspect or snippet of dialogue jumps out at you and screams "I'm from the 70's!" and blows the rest of the movie for you. That really doesn't happen with 1978's The Driver. In fact, you almost feel like the movie is too contemporary; it's really a noir film ripped out of the late 40's/early 50's and dropped into the 70's. And for the most part, director Walter Hill pulls it off.

The Driver (Ryan O'Neal, in a cool, ice-in-the-veins performance) is sort of a freelance getaway driver for hire. Extremely detached, he lives the minimalistic life in spades: he lives in cheap hotels and appears to own only the clothes on his back. He doesn't even have much to say. (I read that his entire dialogue adds up to less than 350 words.) His standards are high and he won't work with just anyone. Maybe that's why he's never been caught.

Bruce Dern is The Detective, a guy who's seen it all, done it all, and knows it all, and isn't shy about telling you so. He's trying to catch The Driver (he calls him The Cowboy) while incidentally trying to train a new detective. Dern tells him at one point, "I'm not here to teach you. But you're here to learn."

Dern always has the ability to play smug, yet intelligent types who know they have the brass to get what they want and don't mind rubbing your face in the asphalt every once in awhile to remind you of it.

Isabele Adjani plays The Player, the most oblique character in the film. Who is she? Who's she really siding with? What's her angle?

The characters make the film. (They don't have names and appear in the credits as The Driver, The Detective, etc. How cool is that?) Aside from The Detective, dialogue is stripped down to a minimum. (And I believe this causes his character to suffer in a few scenes.) With so little dialogue, every action from the characters, every glance, every nuance is important. What they don't tell you is usually more important than what they do tell you. The Driver could almost work as a silent film; it's so visual, you don't really need very many words.

As for the visuals --- To call The Driver a car chase picture really doesn't do it justice. Sure, there's some great chase scenes, no doubt. This film was sort of at the tail end of the classic car chase scenes like Bullitt and The French Connection (which weren't car chase movies). They don't look as high-tech as today's car chases, but they're still impressive (although some of them go on a little too long).

On the DVD I saw, The Driver clocks in at 90 minutes with a bonus deleted three-minute introduction that was cut from the film. I think it was wisely cut; it explains too much too early, taking away a lot of the fun. Watch it only after you've seen the entire film.

I've read that a 135 minute version exists, presumably with more chase scenes. I don't see how added chase scenes would help. The movie works at the 90 minute pace for a reason. Recommended.

Gulf Coast Relief Effort

I found out that all of my relatives in Central Mississippi are safe. Some suffered no damage to their houses, some severe, but as far as we know, no one's home was completely destroyed. They all have their electricity back on and are in reasonably good health.

My cousin in New Orleans did make it out safely. He's staying with his brother in Memphis.

Cindy and I just made our first donation to help the hurricane victims. Again, I encourage everyone to give anything you can. Any amount would be appreciated. We plan to give more in the next few days.

Here's a link listing several organizations that are accepting donations:

http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/animal_environ/hurricanes/?source=AOL&cmpgn=NEWS&RTP=http://news.channel.aol.com

A Challenge

It's painful for me to watch the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. I grew up in Mississippi and visited the Gulf Coast dozens of times. In graduate school at the University of Southern Mississippi, I drove down to New Orleans at least a couple of times a semester. These places are very close to me and I hurt for all those affected. Even with the news footage, I can't imagine what those people are going through and how they'll even begin to reconstruct their lives.

I want to challenge everyone reading to postpone that book purchase, that movie ticket, that restaurant dinner --- whatever you might normally spend on yourself this week and donate some much-needed money to the hurricane relief effort. To be honest, Cindy and I haven't decided exactly where to send our money - there are so many options (and I'll try to post some of them here this afternoon) - but we will send something out today. I hope that you will too. And please take just a moment and say a prayer for these people.

Running Sucks

I hate running. I really do. Before yesterday, I hadn't run in about three months, just enough time to let the beer and pizza find a nice, comfy place in my system, blood stream, etc. My cholesterol is even down to a good level for me, 235.

So why run when I hate it so much? After a few weeks of it...heck, really after only one or two runs...I love how it makes you feel. (AFTER the sore muscles.) And I want to be in reasonably good shape by the time I'm 50, which is a heck of a lot closer than it used to be.

On to a more pleasant subject: writing. I'm very excited about two projects - actually three - going on now. I started a new short story on Sunday that I've been thinking about for the last three days and can't get out of my head. I'm also taking some time to work on what I hope to be a YA novel based loosely on one of the stories I wrote at Clarion.

The third project is the DC Writer's Way workshop. I participated in the workshop in 2002 and have been fairly active in the readings. Earlier this summer I was asked to lead the Capitol Hill workshop which starts in a couple of weeks. The workshop participants are usually beginners who are looking for direction, how to get started, that sort of thing, but there are often some writing veterans present. Should be a lot of fun. I have no doubt that I'll be the person who learns the most. You always do when you teach.

Now Playing = The Forgotten Arm - Aimee Mann

Andy Duncan's Beluthahatchie

I had read several of these stories before going to Clarion last year, where Andy was an instructor. I recently read some of the stories I hadn't covered before and re-read others because they're so good.

"The Map to the Homes of the Stars" is probably my favorite Duncan story. In it, Jack lives by himself in the same town that he and his best friend Tom were dying to get out of as teenagers. Both Jack and Tom hungered (lusted is probably more accurate) after nearly every girl in town, but many they considered out of their league for several reasons, some of which were imposed upon them by the small thinking of the townspeople. After Tom and a girl do escape, Jack is haunted with their ghosts and the ghosts of what might have been in his own life.

The story succeeds on so many levels; it's a great story in its own right and contains many laugh out loud scenes that all teenage boys (and maybe some girls) can relate to. But on a deeper level, it's a chilling horror story that haunts deeply. The opportunities we had and didn't take. For some, that's terrifying to consider.

I absolutely loved "Liza and the Crazy Water Man" and can't wait to read it again. Andy not only knows how to capture wonderfully wacky Southern characters, he also knows his history, and in this case, his music history. "Liza" contains such great writing that even though you wonder for awhile where the speculative element lies (It is there), it's such a joy to read, you don't care about anything else.

"Fortitude" is, I believe, a masterwork. General George S. Patton sees himself placed in battles and situations he's already experienced. Like "The Map," "Fortitude" is a haunting story, but haunting in a different way. In one extraordinary scene, Patton lies wounded in a foxhole carrying on a conversation with a soldier and the ghost of his father. I don't know how Andy pulls this off – maybe I'll study it one day – but the scene (like the entire story) is extraordinary.

Now Playing = Young Americans – David Bowie

Baseball

Wednesday night Cindy and I completed our pilgrimage of the three local baseball stadiums. We'd seen the Bowie Baysox early in the season, so early we almost froze from the fifth inning on. The team isn't very good, but the price was right and it's a fun atmosphere.

About a month ago we went to Baltimore and saw the Orioles beat the Yankees (pre-Palmiero steroid controversy), which was a lot of fun. Watching thousands of obnoxious Yankee fans reduced to shame at the very end: priceless.

Then Wednesday night we saw the Washington Nationals beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 at RFK Stadium. So here's my comparison of Camden Yards vs. RFK Stadium:

Parking: The nod goes to RFK – Much easier to get in and out of, plus you don't have to deal with parking garages.

Concessions: Camden Yards – You can buy food and/or drink from the street vendors for much less than they charge at the stadium AND Camden lets you bring it in. Not so at RFK. Four bucks for peanuts? Try two on the streets of Balto.

Security: Probably a little better at Camden, although they're a little uptight about it. I expected RFK to be more anal, but they were actually pretty cool.

Fans: Orioles were pretty catatonic. Maybe they were intimidated by the Yankee fans until the final inning. Nationals were much more spirited; of course it's their first year and they're doing surprisingly well, so why not yell your head off and act a fool?

Ticket prices: We were given our tickets to the Nationals game (Thanks, John and Lera!). We paid $8 or $9 for upper level at Camden; RFK upper level is $5.

Entertaining roving vendors: Much more colorful characters schlepping beer and peanuts at RFK.

Overall I'd have to hand it to RFK.

Now I'd love to do the same comparison for the Ravens and Redskins. Anybody got any tickets?

Now Playing = "Stop This World" – Diana Krall

Another Novel?

I wrote my first novel in 2002. Don't worry; you'll never see it. For several months I've been tempted to write another, even though I feel I haven't even come close to learning what I need to know to write a good short story. But that pull is there.

I got about 20,000 words into a new novel a few months ago and realized I wasn't ready for that particular story. There's too much about the characters I don't know yet. I'll come back to it, but I've recently started another that I feel more comfortable with. I'm really excited about it for a couple of reasons:

1) It's based on a story that I've been thinking a lot about, one I did at Clarion called "His Greatest Performance" about a weird old silent movie actor who lives across the street from a twelve-year-old boy. I think it's got possibilities and it's a story I'm excited about. At least for now the story is flowing very well; it sure doesn't feel like work.
2) I think I've finally got a process I can work with. Kelly Link uses this method; I think Michael Swanwick does too: Start the story, write what you want (or think you want). When you go back the next day, spend some time with what you've written - read it over and edit. Add some new stuff, but don't edit. Let it flow. The next day, start at the beginning. Keep editing. Get to the point where you stopped. Add new stuff. I think this allows you to edit and polish as you go and not wait until the end. Sure, I'm sure I'll go back and change stuff, but what I've written seems a lot more like a finished product than it did before.

Seems to be working for the beginning of the novel and a new short story I'm working on as well.

Almost finished with The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens, most of which is very good. After Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, it's nice to read some short fiction.

Now Playing = "The Crippled Lion" – Michael Nesmith

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

A few months ago I read the first hundred pages of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and gave up. It was frustrating going, but the problem was mine, not Susanna Clarke's. It all started when Kelly Link recommended the book to me at Clarion last summer. She recommended several books to me and every one that I read I enjoyed tremendously. Back then, it was just another book on the list. I knew little about it. (I didn't even know that at the time it was still awaiting publication.)

I saw it come in when I was working at Barnes & Noble and was shocked at its staggering size. I tried to evade all talk/reviews/rumors about the book, but over and over I heard the inevitable "Harry Potter for Adults" tag being thrown around. I wanted to read it, but didn't want to shell out $28.00 to see if I'd like it. After all, I'd never read anything by Clarke.

When it finally came to my library, I had to wait. A long time. Then as I was ambling around the library one afternoon, there it was. So I grabbed it, took it home, fed the dog, and settled down to Part I: Mr Norrell.

After 100 pages, I turned it back in to the library.

I think most of the problem was with me, but possibly part of the problem was in the book's promotion. Bloomsbury heavily promoted the book, milking Neil Gaiman's "Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years" quote to the nth degree, setting the book up to a standard impossible to meet. This combined with the "Harry Potter for Adults" (which was probably NOT devised by Bloomsbury) probably had a lot to do with my expectations for the novel.

In short, I expected something to happen during the first 100 pages.

Well... it doesn't. And it does.

When you think about it, Clarke has done something extraordinary. She's created a world out of a country – England – and then created a world within a world, the magical realm. It's also a lost world. At the beginning of the book, the York society of magicians laments the fact that magic, real magic, has vanished from England. With elegant language, rich description and a very light touch, Clarke creates a world (You could almost call it an alternate history.) that does not contain flashy, sensational 4th of July tpye fireworks, but nonetheless is magical in its atmosphere and characterizations. The world she creates and the characters that inhabit it reminded me of the world of Jane Austen: very proper, very British, and never, ever in a hurry.

Not exactly what you'd expect when you hear Gaiman's quote or the "Harry Potter for Adults" blurb. That's a different expectation.

The second time I picked up the book, my expectations were different. I felt more comfortable in Clarke's world. I didn't expect fireworks. I still didn't think a lot happened in the first 100 pages, but I was willing to go with the author.

My patience paid off. I suspect yours will too.

The book is not so much about what happens (Much of the "action" takes place off-stage until about the last third of the book.) as it is about what is suggested and implied. It's important to get inside the characters of Norrell and Strange. Just as importantly (maybe even more so), readers have to know how the rest of the characters will react to them. And since so much of what happens is implied, the reader is forced to look at the bigger picture of what's going on here. The implications of the story are quite large if you spend much time thinking about it (and you should).

Clarke has spent a lot of time and effort in getting the details just right. Sure, sometimes she goes overboard. Several of the footnotes could be sliced for my tastes; others are essential and engrossing. The most fascinating aspect for me was the books that were mentioned. Dozens of books of magic are alluded to and they're all fascinating. (I dare you to not speculate on just what types of wonderful things are lurking inside those volumes...)

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a book that requires patience. It's not a page-turner. It took me about a month to get through it. Any expectations of Harry Potter, Tolkien, high fantasy, or just about anything else will have to be abandoned if you're to enjoy the book. Don't compare it to anything else because there really isn't anything else to compare it to; in this, Gaiman is correct, and if that's what he means by his blurb, I'm inclined to agree with him. In this fast-food culture we live in, Jonathan Strange is a multi-course dinner to be savored. Pace yourself. Eat slowly. Enjoy.


Now Playing = "Nevada Fighter" – Michael Nesmith

A Few Good Films

Sometimes it's nice to take a break from reading and watch a movie or two. I've seen some pretty enjoyable ones during the past few weeks.

First, Cindy and I went to see War of the Worlds on Saturday. It's been out for a few weeks, so I was pretty surprised to see a packed theatre. (Of course it was a Saturday and it was also hot as blazes outside.) I'm a sucker for Spielberg; I'll pretty much go see anything he does (although I haven't seen them all). There are some incredible visuals going on as well as good storytelling. Not a "great" film, but quite good.

I didn't really expect much from the Battlestar Galactica mini-series (on DVD from NetFlix), but was pleasantly surprised. The effects were quite refreshing, especially for a TV show. Sure, most of it is formula - not only formula, but formula generated to 1) get the SciFi Channel to back at least one full season and 2) to get you to watch it - but it's formula done well. I'll probably rent at least the first disc of Season One.

The real viewing experience of the past week has been The Decalogue. I've only watched Decalogue One, but it is an incredible film. The first film was so sad, yet so well done I have an inner struggle whether to watch it again or go on to the second film. It's hard to describe. The film deals with human problems, problems for which there are no easy answers. You won't leave the film and wander around the house looking for something to eat; it'll stay with you, it'll make you think, it'll make you ask yourself many questions. You may not like the answers, but The Decalogue is a collection of films you can't ignore.

Sort of makes Must Love Dogs look like dust bunnies in your basement.

Now Playing = "Space Oddity" - David Bowie

Clarion Journals

Even though it's been over a year since Clarion, I'm geared up to put my journal online. I've read a lot of good ones from years past and from those who've just finished. I know that reading the journals from others helped me tremendously. I'm just returning the favor. I should start posting in the next few days.

www.awolverton7.blogspot.com

A 20-Minute Story

Some days you go out scouting for books to sell and nothing shows up. When that happens, there's only one thing to do: Buy books for yourself.

I was in the neighborhood, so I decided to check out Daedalus Books in Columbia. I immediately found one book that Kelly Link had recommended at Clarion, The Cutting Room by Louise Welch. I was tempted to pick up a new edition of The Complete Stories of Eudora Welty, but I already have an earlier (beat up) edition. So I schlepped around the store some more...M.T. Anderson's Feed was there, but I was looking for Thirsty. The only spec fic that really tempted me was F. Paul Wilson's The Barrens and Others, but I decided to pass on it. (I've got two of his other books waiting for my attention as it is.) I also passed on Sharyn November's Firebirds, only because it was a book club edition.

Then I saw an anthology of short stories (literary) including several short shorts that writers had written in 20 minutes. I didn't read any of the stories, but I did go home and try to write one.

Now I will normally spend about 10 – 15 minutes on a freewrite. (For those of you new to the term, a freewrite is simply an exercise in which you write for the allotted time without stopping to think, rest, or most importantly, edit.) Usually a freewrite will yield one or two good ideas or maybe even one good line for future use, but it's never a complete story.

But this time I decided to write a completed story in 20 minutes. (Plus Malcolm is looking for submissions for The Journal, so I hoped to kill two birds with one stone. Sorry...sometimes only a cliché will do.)

It wasn't bad. I gave it to Cindy and she pointed out a part that was confusing. I decided to sleep on it and fix it the next day, which I did. So I sent it to Malcolm a few minutes ago. Even if he doesn't accept it, it was fun and it allowed me to free myself from some of the other stories I've been bogged down with.

Now Playing = "If Not for You" – George Harrison

Bullet/Some Thoughts on Writing Bleak Stories

We found out today that our greyhound Bullet does not have bone cancer. We took him for X-rays today and he definitely has arthritis, but shows no signs of cancer. We're so thankful he's okay. We can treat the arthritis and have a couple of options. Bullet has been sleeping like rock, but the doctor said he should be less groggy tomorrow. Can't wait to see him jumping around, ripping up and down the stairs, acting like a big goof.

I was a little nervous about submitting a story to my Clarion buddies, but I finally did. Even before they critiqued it (a story called "The Post-Game Show"), I knew it wasn't the best I could do. As John S. mentioned, it is a bleak story with no hope at all visible anywhere. I guess I see so many people who have no hope, have nothing to believe in and I guess that hopelessness is what I wanted to portray. But John's right, there should be some ray of light in there. I also think I'm still trying to throw too many ideas into my stories, clouding the main theme(s).

My first thought was, "Man, I didn't learn JACK at Clarion; my writing still sucks!" But I think I'm able to see things that I know are problems now, if I step back and look at my stories from someone else's eyes. That's hard for me right now, but I think it will come. I also have to train myself (other writers may disagree) to move on to something else for a time when I'm stuck on a story. I did that today and got a great opening for a new story.

10:20....read or watch Twilight Zone? Hmmm......

Now Playing = "Diamonds and Rust" – Joan Baez

Night Moves/Twilight Zone

The latest entry in my continuing series of Forgotten 70's Films is Night Moves [1975](which was a film at least a year before it was a song by Bob Seger). Gene Hackman plays Harry, a private detective hired by a middle-aged, second-rate Hollywood starlet to find her missing daughter (played by a VERY young Melanie Griffith). Harry takes the case, despite the protests of his wife (Susan Clark).

The film is part Sunset Boulevard, part Raymond Chandler, part Elmore Leonard. For some reason, the film has been largely forgotten, which is a real shame. Directed by Arthur Penn (who will always be remembered for Bonnie and Clyde, and rightfully so), Night Moves is a way above-average detective flick with great acting, characters, and direction. Penn is excellent at making his camera convey character information. There's a great shot where the four leads are all in one room, trying to sort things out. They're all in one room, but Penn has positioned them in such a way that we see their individual isolation, loneliness and utter helplessness. The last ten minutes of the film, while a little confusing, are edited very well. When you see it, you'll understand how important an editor can be to a film.

Book sales have been going pretty well, so yesterday I treated myself to buying the first season of The Twilight Zone (at Costco, of course). I immediately watched two episodes last night, "Long Live Walter Jamison," one of my favorites. The audio commentary with Kevin McCarthy wasn't so great, but the episode looks sharp and clear. Really a nice job, considering these episodes are over 40 years old. I also watched "A World of Difference," just because it had been years since I'd seen it. Can't wait to jump into some of the real classics like "Time Enough at Last," "Monsters are Due on Maple Street," and many more.

Now Playing = The Older Stuff – Michael Nesmith

Why Are We Here/End of the World/A Purple Giraffe

It seems that several of the stories I've read lately have to do with The Meaning of Life/What are We Here For? Today as I was waiting at the doctor's office (to get a tetanus shot, thanks to an old bed frame I moved), I read a couple of stories from the new Hartwell/Cramer Year's Best Fantasy 5: Dale Bailey's "The End of the World as We Know It" and David D. Levine's "Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely." I thought both were well written and effective.

In Bailey's story, a man wakes up to find that everyone he knows is dead. Also dead are the telephones as well as all television and radio stations. A part of the man continues going through the motions, realizing that the world has probably just about run its course, but still he follows familiar routines. Levine's "Charlie" is more comical (although Bailey's story is not without humor): a purple giraffe comic book character comes to realize what he actually is, a character in a comic book. He can't get anyone else to believe him – his friend the orange squirrel or the rhinoceros doctor. "There are no readers," they tell him. But if they don't exist for the readers, why are they there?

Both stories seem to ask the question "Why are we here?" I think it's enormously interesting that writers are still asking the question. The answer says a lot about your worldview. Is life just a cruel joke? Is there a purpose? Is there a God? (I believe there is.)

I suppose these would be labeled "postmodern" stories. I enjoy reading them and I've written a few that I would consider postmodern. However you classify them, these are good stories and ask questions that people want answered. Interesting reading.



Now Playing = Blood on the Tracks (The New York Sessions) – Bob Dylan [Thanks, Trent!]

Late-Night Reading/Afternoon Reading/24

I should have been able to sleep last night. Cindy and I spent the day spackling and sanding the new room in the basement, then went to Home Depot to buy primer, paint and other fun stuff. Then we tried to figure out how our Murphy Bed is assembled. (No instructions.) Plus I worked on a story. (That's the strenuous part.)

Anyway, I couldn't sleep. So I got Gregory Frost's new collection Attack of the Jazz Giants off the bookshelf and read the first story, "The Girlfriends of Dorian Gray," a wonderful twist on the Dorian Gray tale and a commentary on dieting, weight, relationships and more. Good stuff.

But I eventually drifted off to sleep. Until my greyhound Bullet got me up at 5:15 to go to his "area." Was wide awake, so I tried a story from the new Hartwell/Cramer Year's Best Fantasy 5, John Kessel's hilarious "The Baum Plan for Financial Independence." Great characters, small-time thieves who stumble on a secret passageway while robbing a house. Kessel has a lot to say about our comfort zones. The story especially resonated with me as it seems to partially address the way we sometimes think too small. Wonderful story.

This afternoon I got to read the first part of one of my new stories at a Writer's Way reading at Malcolm X Park in DC. It was fairly well received for an audience that usually does not consist of any spec fic readers. I also met a couple of people who are interested in signing up for the workshop I'll be leading on Capitol Hill this fall, which should be a lot of fun.

Received The Year's Best Fantasy and SF for Teens (Hayden and Yolen, eds) and Kelly Link's Magic for Beginners, which I've already begun to devour. The title story, "Magic for Beginners" is pure Link: a wonderful, un-put-downable story that works its own magic as a story, but demands to be read multiple times for the depth and richness she's so good at. Plus it's fun.

Cindy and I also started watching the first season of 24 last night. (Okay, so we're a little bit behind.) With two episodes down, so far it's pretty good. It's good to be back with Netflix.

Now Playing = Elephant – White Stripes

Back in Town, Swimming in Short Fiction & Movies

I've been back from my Georgia/Arizona trip for a few days now, almost caught up with all the stuff I had to do before I left. I actually did get to work on a few stories while I was away and one of them is almost ready to send out. Looks like Gordon Van Gelder will get the first shot at it (whether he wants it or not).

Read a couple of books on vacation that I enjoyed pretty well – Robert McCammon's Boy's Life and Steve Hamilton's first mystery (and Edgar winner, I believe) A Cold Day in Paradise. I didn't read very many stories, but since I've been back I've read a couple of older ones – Harlan Ellison's "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" (excellent) and "The River Styx Runs Upstream" by Dan Simmons, which just tore me apart.

Almost as good as the Simmons story was the Harlan Ellison introduction to the Simmons collection Prayers to Broken Stones. In it, Ellison describes a workshop experience that started out abysmally: he really ripped into an old man who apparently had little talent, but refused to stop writing. (The old guy had written something like 62 novels, all unpublished.) Then Ellison read a story by Simmons that turned everything around. It was an early version of "The River Styx" and Ellison was really moved by it. He declared Simmons a bona-fide writer on the spot and told him he would be blessed/cursed for the rest of his life as a bona-fide writer.

Two extremes at the same workshop. Sometimes I wonder which one I'm closer to.

Cut back on my cable channels and rejoined NetFlix. Ah...goodbye local video stores and your choking late fees, bad selection and unresponsive employees.

Now Playing = Beggars Banquet – Rolling Stones

Cooling Off in Arizona

Cindy and I are visiting my mom, my brother and his wife, their two dogs and two horses in Arizona. Yesterday was a nice toasty 112 degrees. Good for a nice jog. Cindy saw a sign advertising a local marathon...in January.

We took my mom to church yesterday. You know you're in a retirement town when ALL of the church parking spaces are handicapped. But the people were friendly and the service was nice. One of the prayer requests in the bulletin read: "Please pray for the pastor's wives." Hmmmm....How many does the guy have?

Haven't really done much writing yet (Hey, I'm on vacation!), but I brought a few stories that need some attention. I'll probably do a little work today. My brother Bob has a great house that has a little patio on the roof. It's great for sunsets, or an evening drink, or just sitting around talking. I'd love to do some writing up there, but I probably wouldn't be able to do much after 6:00 AM or before 9:00 PM. (I still can't get used to this time. I've kept my watch set to Eastern time, confound it!)

Reading some stories from Cicada magazine, which are very good. My Clarion buddy Trent has had a story accepted there. I found a copy at a library sale and will probably go back and pick up the others I saw. Plus there's a used bookstore nearby....I'm there.

Reading Robert McCammon's Boy's Life which I'm enjoying about 80% of. I'm about 100 pages from the end and I'm hoping for a good ending. He's thrown a lot of ingredients in the soup; we'll see what comes out.

To all those at Clarion - hang it there, you're almost done.

Now Playing: Bob's Air Conditioner. Sweet music....