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Chris Deal (author of Cienfuegos), Sean Ferguson, Anthony David Jacques, and Tim Beverstock discuss the life of a writer. Where does appropriate pride in a writer’s work and overt egotism intersect and is there a definitive line to be drawn between the two. Get ready for some personal introspection from these four fantastic writers.
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It's that time of year again, when it is acceptable for elitists to boast of their hipster cred. Of course, I am referring to the Top (number) Lists of the year. I'm going to squeeze into my skinny jeans, wrap a scarf around my non-coated body, and crack open a PBR while I compile my best books of 2010 list. The top five Rationale: these are my five favorite books that were published in 2010. Of course, disclaimers apply; I couldn't read every book published, I may not have given some books equal attention, and on and on. However, I can still cull a few favs from the admittedly too-short stack of 2010 books I read. And here they are, in no particular order. What I said: Wolf Parts is vicious fairy tale excursions. Wolf Parts gives metaphor to the ambiguity of adolescence, turning the cautionary tale of “Little Red…
In the next few years I'm going to be pushing more paper on you than the schoolyard drug dealer's less popular friend, the Zig Zag dealer. My novella, As a Machine and Parts, will be published by Aqueous Books sometime in the future. Yes, I could qualify any of my unpublished books with such a loose time frame. But I mean it. The contract has been signed. The Zig Zags have been distributed. The party probably won't happen until 2012 or later, however. That should give you plenty of time to read my other two forthcoming books, vomit a few times, and forget them long enough to make that mistake a third time.
(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) Last night's The Simpsons struck me as especially coincidental. Not only have I posted about the show twice in the past week (11/26/10 and 11/24/10), but the episode shares subject matter with my upcoming novel, Stranger Will. Of all things, messenger pigeons. Random. What makes it even stranger (no pun intended...unless you laughed; then, pun intended) is that literally ten minutes before the episode aired, I was doing some messenger pigeon related research online. Fingers crossed that The Simpsons starts a cultural demand for messenger pigeon paraphernalia. UPDATE: Making this an official night of stringed coincidences, I happened upon a Science channel show called Oddities, which features a museum/store full of specimens meant for the morbid (mummified cats, taxidermied two-headed cows, and so much more). This could possibly be my new favorite show. But the coincidental part; the shop featured in this show…
Most of you have liars for parents. Most of you were probably given the stork spiel when asked age-inappropriate questions about the origins of things. Some of you may have been told the truth, in graphic detail, from honest, though morally disinterested, parents. I’m here to tell you the truth. Birds and bees have nothing to do with it. Rémi Carreiro is responsible. Rémi Carreiro gives birth to book covers. Also, he may have some kids; I don’t know. When mocking up cover designs for Stranger Will, I began by searching for some seed images. Quickly, and thankfully, I found Rémi Carreiro’s Flickr gallery. While I ultimately chose his Park Bench image for the cover (well, actually readers of this blog chose the image, via a vote), this guy has some amazing images, many of which feel so perfect for book covers. See what I mean: NOTE: The images captioned…
(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) I caught a rerun of The Simpsons a few days ago, one in which the author of Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom, makes a cameo. I wish for less popular books and authors to get The Simpsons treatment, but I say that only because I am a less popular author with a less popular book. Hint, hint, The Simpsons. Trust me, Matt Groening, you'll need my mediocre grasp of pop culture and my general irrelevance to stay alive for another 20 years. Also, you'll need miracle medicine. What are you, like 70 years old? In this same episode, Grandpa Abe tells a story about how he introduced the book Gone With The Wind to an ungrateful Clark Gable. Unfortunately, I could not come across a good screenshot of the book itself, so this image will have to suffice.