The Blues: To the Promgoers

On Writing: Working in Two Worlds

     I've written here before of my interest in manual typewriters and the changes they make in my writing process. I have four of the things now, three-quarters of that stock picked up from the eternal yard sale set up a block or two from my favorite bar. My babies represent four of the big classic brands: Underwood, Olivetti, Royal, and Olympia.

 

Olympia Carina 1 (Early 1980s)

The Olivetti Lettera 33 (types in cursive, 1968)

Underwood Universal (1950s)

Royal Quiet Deluxe (1948)

     I love writing on the things. They smell like machine oil, dust, and ink and make quite a racket. The work feels like work, percussive, like I'm pounding the words out rather than politely poking them into my hard drive and Cloud. The downsides are, of course, the inability to save files electronically and a certain inflexibility in the editing room. 

    My heart leapt, then, when I found USBTypewriter.com. The fellow there, Jack Zylkin, has rigged a way to use a manual typewriter as a computer keyboard, linking it to your desktop, laptop, or iPad with Ye Olde USB port. Zylkin sells an "easy" conversion kit and a "DIY soldering kit." He also sells full conversions, but I think enough of my skills that I will attempt the process myself ... and then beg for help.

      Here's to the best of both worlds! 

What I'm ... May 2, 2013

Reading:

Every Last Drop by Charlie Huston. — This is the fourth book in Huston’s hard-boiled vampire series, featuring undead tough guy Joe Pitt. Half-life ain’t getting any easier for Joe, and, early in the book, a cranky old bat chews his eye out.

The Promise of Water by Andrea Crossley Spencer — This is a work-in-progress by a schoolmate about a man with a dark secret and a missing sister. Feels like you’re going to see this one in the bookstore someday.

Fiction Vortex  — A brand new sci-fi e-zine that picked up my short story, A Feeble Gleam of Stars, for mid-June publication.

Writing:

I’m about 150 pages into the latest revision of Leaving Home. Having a good time ripping, shredding, and rebuilding … but I’m kind of a masochist.

Listening to: 

I don’t even know. Music, possibly static. My brain hurts. But I’m intrigued by the new Snoop Lion disk.

Watching:

Doctor Who, the back half of Series Seven — I’ve been a fan of the Doctor since high school, and was part of a startup fan club in 1988. The last few episodes … how can I say this gently … kind of bite. The new companion is fine but Matt Smith seems to be thinking about something else. Plus, the scripts suck eggs.

Defiance — Siffy went back to science-fiction, and I kind of like it. There’s a lot of potential here, if they can stop lifting ideas from everything else. Confession: When I first heard the title, I secretly hoped it was a Deep Space Nine spin-off.

Drinking:

A lot of water — My classroom gets north of 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the afternoons. Gotta hydrate.

On Writing: Back to the Whiteboard

Used to be, I’d hear authors talk about how this book took three years to write, this one took four, and I’d wonder what was wrong with them. How could they possibly be going that slowly? Even at a page-a-day pace, any hack can have 365 pages at year’s end.
     Then I wrote a book in earnest, and I’m beginning to understand.  Leaving Home, the manuscript that earned me an MFA and a raise at my day job, started with a short story in the spring of 2010 … and still isn’t finished.  

On Writing: Literary Urinal Encounters

I peed next to Andre Dubus III this weekend, an unscheduled celebrity encounter during the New Hampshire Writers Project’s annual “Writers Day.”

For the event, the NHWP hauls in a relatively big regional fish (Dubus of Haverhill, Mass., this year, Vermont mystery writer Archer Mayor last) and makes him or her the keynote speaker. Lesser known but still top-quality local writers are pulled in to fill the pool with panels and workshops. (I went to a great one on writing suspense with Hallie Ephron that I’m still thinking about.)

Dubus is likely best known for The House of Sand and Fog, an Oprah’s Choice book that I waded through in the early naughts. His latest book, the memoir “Townie,” is much better. Here he is, at Southern Vermont College, talking about writing in general and memoirs in particular. It’s worth a listen

By the way, Dubus is not my first celebrity urinal encounter. That honor goes to Rene Auberjonois, who was Father Mulcahy in the film version of MASH, Chef Louis in The Little Mermaid, not to mention Odo in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

What I'm ... (April 4, 2013)

Reading:

The Disaster Diaries: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Apocalypse by Sam Sheridan — The closest thing to a real Doc Savage talks about how he got apoca-paranoid when he son was born and what he did to prepare for the worst. Each chapter starts with a doomsday scenario, which is followed by a how-to for surviving it. Powerlift your way out of an earthquake!

Publish This Book: The Unbelievable True Story of How I Wrote, Sold, and Published This Very Book by Stephen Markley — A tongue-in-cheek but true(?) tale of one man’s journey to write and publish the very book he’s writing about writing and publishing the very book he’s writing.

Writing:

Finishing up a short story about a boy, an old man, and a snowplow.

Poised to rip the top off my novel Leaving Home and plunge my hands into its steaming guts.

Listening to: 

Lincoln: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack by John Williams — Nicely orchestrated, mostly classical. I haven’t seen the movie, but I kind of like the music.

Dusty in Memphis by Dusty Springfield — Makes me want to be THE son of a preacher man.

Watching:

House Hunters International — Because I live in New Hampshire, and it’s fricking cold.

Community, Season 1 — It took me a couple of episodes to get into it, but now it’s like potato chips. I can’t keep the bag closed.

Drinking:

Labatt Blue – Way good when its cold.

Coffee -- A friend brought me a can of the good stuff back from Puerto Rico in return for not letting his cats die.

On Writing: A Word Cloud

I made "word clouds" out of pieces from a short story collection I'm working on. The site I used builds the clouds based on how often a word appears in a work. It's interesting to see the character names and themes rise out of the cloud, along with evidence that I use "nodded" way too often in a couple of these.

The Chicken Spot

What I’m ... (March 21, 2013)

 Reading:

Superheroes  -- A collection of superhero short stories, but not your usual “kapow.” Subtle, nuanced, and from interesting POVs and characters. Features work by Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) and Hugo winner James Patrick Kelly.

Amoskeag Journal proofs – Southern New Hampshire University’s venerable (thirty years old next month) literature journal is due out on paper, Kindle, and Nook round about April 19. It features contest winners, National Endowment of the Arts favorites, and Peabody nominees, to name a few, and I get to catch the typos.

Listening to:

The New York Times’ Book Review podcast  -- Voices and journalists made for print interview authors, talk about trends, and tell you what’s going to be on the cover of the New York Times Book Review.  It’s a great way to learn about new authors without taking your hands off the wheel.

Same Trailer, Different Park by Kacey Musgraves – This is who I hoped Taylor Swift would become in her twenties.  Life issues, poverty, sadness, and sweetness … almost real country music.

Watching:

Green Lantern: The Animated Series  on the Cartoon Network   -- What the movie should have been. Captures the cosmic feel of the Green Lantern and his Corp.  Number three in my top three of DC Nation shows that should not have been canceled (Batman: Brave and the Bold, Young Justice and …)

Californication, Season One – In another universe, I am someone more like Hank Moody. I’m just glad it’s not this one.

Drinking:

Chocolate stout from Milly’s Tavern.

Jameson’s Irish Whiskey leftover from St. Patrick’s Day.

On Writing: I’m kind of a big deal … in South Africa

A couple of Septembers ago,  I submitted to an online horror and SF journal called Something Wicked. Run by actor/director/writer  Joe Vaz, Something Wicked  started out as a quarterly print journal in 2006 and went the way of the Internet in 2011. In 2012, the journal fell on hard times (just after it ran my story, It Pays to Read the Safety Cards -- which became my novel, Leaving Home) and ceased regular publication.

Vaz and company picked themselves back up and started to publish anthologies, the first – Something Wicked, Volume One – in September 2012. Volume Two is slated for an April 2013 release, and my Safety Cards is in there.  

What I’m … (March 6, 2013)

Reading:

Good Kids by Ben Nugent – a coming-of-age-loss-of-innocence tale about two people who made each other a promise in early days and now … The theme and voice reminds me a bit of “Adults” by Alison Espach.  “Okay, we’re grown up … now what?”

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan – a short story written by a Google futurist is expanded into a novel with (so far) no sign of stretch marks.  Love of a girl, love of books, and love of computers, wrapped up in a quest for the ultimate. You can catch the short story on Escape Pod.

Listening to:

Boys & Girls by Alabama Shakes. Love this album. Bluesy rock goodness from Georgia. Right up there with peaches and REM.

77 by the Talking Heads.  The debut of one of my favorite bands. "Psycho Killer." ‘Nuff said.

Writing:

I’m nearly happy with the second act of the Mercury novella.

Drinking:

Snowgaritas – take your favorite margarita recipe and replace the ice with snow. A seasonal specialty.

Watching:

Double Divas  -- Two friends save relationships and keep the "girls" comfortable with their lingerie shop outside Atlanta.  A series on Lifetime.