UPCOMING READINGS: No scheduled readings at the moment. DONATIONS So far (March 2019) I have donated $120 to the Humane Society of Chittenden County. This represents 2018. Thank you everyone who gave a little extra! The Hounds of Spring is available! Published by Leapfolio , a joint venture partner of Tupelo Press , North Adams, Massachusetts. E-edition pending. Purchasing my book from Tupelo Press ( TupeloPress.org ) will directly benefit both the author and the press, so please consider taking this route! Visit Tupelo/Leapfolio and see what else is on offer! It is available on Amazon and should soon be available for bookstores to purchase to sell on the major book distributors, Ingram and Baker & Taylor. Please contact me here or at Tupelopress if you are having problems. If you live in New England or the mid-Atlantic region and would like to...
Studio and Finbar So writing doesn’t just “happen. As with any prolonged effort, strength and stamina must be nurtured. The strength is of the "have faith in yourself" kind and the stamina is the "yes, you do have to go over this manuscript for the twentieth time and (fill in the blank) to make the story work." Writing a short story is a 5 Kilometer race. Writing a novel is one of those crazy ass cross-country marathons people do wearing tutus and shoes made of tire rubber. Even knowing these things there was a part of me that still thought that, now my life was calming down and my energy coming back, I could pop out to my studio and get to work just like that. So, like the New Year’s Resolution jogger, I set out, puffing resolutely. (You know what happened to that jogger? No, because you never saw them again.) The first few minutes went all right as I busied myself with housekeeping tasks: hanging up my coat, tak...
A friend remarked that this part, the writing of new material, must be the most fun. My polite response was "Hmm, maybe," because my inward one was, "Are you fucking kidding me?" For me writing new material is like--no, I'll leave that to your imagination--let's just say, not comfortable. The problem is that in the beginning I know I'm just making stuff up. During this first period, where I am shuffling ideas around, adding and subtracting characters, moving them from here to there, changing names, changing their occupations, height, hair color and other characteristics, believing in what I am doing and believing in the story is a struggle. If, after a time, the story doesn't take on a life of its own, I know it won't float and put it aside. While the problem of awareness of "making stuff up" never fully goes away, in a successful story there is a gradual reversal until the balance shifts from me to the story itself....
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