Tayari's Blog: August 2008
August 29, 2008
Labor Day Links!
In light of history being made all over the place, he blogosphere is pretty slow in terms of literary stuff today. This is all I could come up with.
Posted at 02:30 PM | ![[comments]](http://www.tayarijones.com/images/comments.gif){kind=small}
Comments (3)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Up South
Last night, I went to Housing Works to celebrate the publication of the 2008 edition of New Stories from the South, edited by ZZ Packer. What a fun time was had by all.
Did you know that ZZ Packer is a southern writer? Well she is. A Georgia Peach, to be exact. She explained that she was drawn to stories that were southern, with a small "s". To demonstrate this, Brett Anthony Johnson and Stephanie Dickneson read their short stories to show us how it's done.
There was a trivia quiz-- to which I knew hardly any of the answers. (It's what ZZ writes about it introduction-- there is more than one south. I'm from the other one.) There was also food. "Crawfish Cheesecake" is so much yummier than it sounds. Imagine a cross between the cornbread dressing and macaroni and cheese. Add a pinch a cayenne pepper and some crawfish tails. I know. It sounds crazy, but it was delish. (Kind of like shrimp and grits-- tasty in the mouth, but crazy sounding when you see it on a menu.)
Such a fun party. Algonquin books is such a fantastic host and Maud Newton MCed it just right and got us all out in time to get home to watch the Democratic convention.. The bloggers-- Nichelle & Nichelle were in the house, as well as short-story goddess, Julie Orringer. The highlight, of course, was meeting Isabel, a member of our blog community. Keep writing, Miss Lady.
Posted at 10:09 AM | Comments (3)
Category:
Living For The City
August 28, 2008
Z.Z. Packer in NYC!
Don't forget about the party tonight. (I guess I should say the *other* party tonight.)
On Thursday, August 28, at 7 pm, Algonquin is sponsorong an evening with ZZ Packer to celebrate the publication of the 2008 New Stories From The South. There will be food, there will be Maud, there will be trivia, and PRIZES. All you need to get in is a $5 donation. Proceeds will benefit KARES (Katrina Arts Relief and Emergency Support) and Housing Works.
Here's a link to the invite in a size you can actually read.
Posted at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
Living For The City
August 27, 2008
Throw Flowers At Her Feet
Reading my horoscope made me wonder if Michelle Obama is a Saggitarius, too.
According to the Guinness website, the world record for opera singers receiving curtain calls is Luciano Pavarotti, who got 165 after his 1988 show at the Deutsche Opera in Berlin. If that mark is ever broken, it may soon be accomplished by a Sagittarian performer. That's because you people will be at the peak of your potential to garner acknowledgement, recognition, and rewards in your chosen field. Here's a secret about how you can take maximum advantage of that potential: Imagine that there is a higher, finer level of excellence that's beyond what you've understood as excellence up until now. Then figure out what you'd have to do to rise to that higher, finer level.
Non-Sags out there can get yours here.
Posted at 07:41 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
Current Events
August 26, 2008
Tuesday's Finds
Lynn Brown finally found a publisher for her poetry debut. That's the only good news in this whole dismaying story. (Thanks, Shayla for telling me about this.)Posted at 07:15 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
The New Morrison Novel: In my hot little hands!
A couple of days ago I was tootling down Jersey Ave, here in Jersey 
City, and I stumbled upon the coziest bookstore, Imagine Atrium. I could not believe that I live within 3 blocks of an independent bookstore and didn't even know it. Me, being me, I walked right in and introduced myself to Garrad, the owner. We talked a lot about books and about the importance of supporting local businesses.
On the check out desk was a novel displayed in a little stand. A sign underneath said, "Review This Book For Our Website." I, thinking on my feet said, "Do you have an early copy of the new Toni Morrison novel?" Garrad said, "No, but maybe I could get it." I will spare you the details of me dancing a jig and urging him on. Today, he called me and told me that I could come and pick it up.
Imagine Atrium is part of "Indie Bound" the organization of independent bookstores, formerly known as Booksense. The difference is that Indie Bound is not about just about bookstores. It's about spending your money in your community. It's about fighting the homogenization of our culture. It's about raising awareness and it's about rigor. Indie Bound is about supporting institutions that support you and not handing over all 
your resources to the big chains that don't really care about readers or writers or citizens in general.
If you are ever in Jersey City, check out his store. He cares about what we care about.
Posted at 06:45 PM | Comments (1)
Category:
Jersey Journals
August 25, 2008
Requiem for A Sweater
I love this one orange sweater. I bought it years ago, when I 
was living in Champaign, IL. It cost me a pretty penny, but I figured I deserved it because I was staying home over spring break to write. It turned out to be the perfect garment for the travelling writer. The color looked great on camera and if I wore it at the podium it really showed up well. I could wear it upside down as a shrug! It could be casual or spiffy, depending on what I wore it with. Foxy or reserved, all depending on what I wore under it. Oh, I love it so.
It's an all purpose good-vibe article of clothing. It's a great first date sweater-- because it's so bright, yet classy. It's a terrific post-break-up garment, in the spirit of Chrissette Michelle's "Be Okay." I can throw it on with jeans to make a ratty outfit "casual-cute." I can put it on with a black pencil skirt to say "at work, but not lame." Sigh.
But all things must come to an end. My sweater is old now. It's sort of stretched out of shape. After several weeks of research, I tracked down the manufacturer, Skif International. They don't have the orange yarn anymore. After comforting me as I sobbed into the phone, the customer service person asked me to mail in my beloved sweater. Maybe they could match it? In any case, she is going to send me some yarn swatches, so I can see is there is something else I would like to have.
I must admit that I feel a little silly even writing this post. Does this put me in same category as that kooky lady who spent her life savings cloning "Booger," her dearly departed pit bull? Maybe so. But still, as I am boxing up my sweater now, I ask you send it some positive energy. I haven't been this nervous since I sent Johnny Baby Feline to Alabama on Fly Pets!
(click mosaic to enlarge.)
Posted at 11:18 AM | Comments (4)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Monday Morning Links
Posted at 07:20 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
August 24, 2008
Troubled Enough?
On Friday I went to see the new documentary about Hurricaine Katrina, Trouble The Water. When I arrived at IFC theatre in the West Village, the line was 
wrapped around the block; the theatre was sold out. (But as you know, my name means “she is prepared” in Swahili, so I already had my tickets.) Before the show, Danny Glover and the directors stood on stage to remind us that the fate of indie films is word of mouth. We all promised to tell someone.
A friend of mine was worried that the film would be too sad for her to endure. “After seeing the Spike Lee film on Katrina, I just don’t know if I can take anymore.” She needn’t have worried. Trouble The Water is an uplifting hopeful film. "Inspiring" seems to be the word that the critics can't get enough of. This the film’s strength as well as its vulnerability.
Trouble The Water is a documentary within a documentary. 26-year old Kimberly Rivers happened to buy a off-the-truck camcorder a week before the storm hit. When she is unable to afford transportation to leave New Orleans, she starts videotaping her neighbors as they prepare. It’s clear that everyone thinks the storm is going to be bad, but no one knows that the neighborhood will be destroyed. Her footage is spliced with the professional documentary work of Carl Deal and Tia Lessin.
Kimberly Rivers is the most compelling character—man or woman, black, white or other—that I have seen on the large screen in recent memory. She is smart, talented, humorous and compassionate. You can’t help but wonder what she could have become were she not hobbled by the triple obstacles of race, class, and gender. (Although this was not emphasized in the film, I could not help think of how America squanders so many of its talented young people.) Witnessing her and her husband take care of the neighbors, save the elderly, negotiate with FEMA, escape New Orleans and return again really does buoy your faith in people. They are a much needed antidote to the Bill Cosby castigation of the working-class black folk.
Plan ahead!
Sarah Schulman, who knows everything about NYC called me yesterday to 
tell me to get my tickets early for events at the 92nd Street Y. I was too shy to tell her that I didn't even know which events were happening. They have some yummy stuff this season. Toni Morrison is reading on December 9. (Update: I think I have a connection to get an early copy of A Mercy. I'll keep you posted!) My terrific boss, Jayne Anne Phillips will be reading in February and Natasha Trethewey will be doing her thing in April.
Posted at 08:53 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
Living For The City
August 23, 2008
Saturday Morning Masochism
Circa 1983.
Posted at 09:54 AM | Comments (6)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
August 22, 2008
Living For The Weekend Links
Posted at 12:56 PM | Comments (1)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Here Kitty, Kitty!
My novel is acting like my cat, Johnny Baby Feline. I left it alone for a week while I went to Atlanta. Now that I am back, it's not speaking to me.
I am trying again today to reconnect with my manuscript, so it was nice to see this encouraging horoscope.
Michelangelo never finished two-thirds of the sculptures he started. Basketball mega-star Michael Jordan failed on 26 different occasions when he was given the ball to try the game-winning shot as time ran out. Of Bob Dylan's 57 albums, maybe only 15 of them are masterpieces. I bring these facts to your attention, Sagittarius, in the hope that they will give you some perspective on the down times in your own track record. More importantly, I want to let you know that in the coming weeks you should have access to the kind of energy that Michelangelo, Jordan, and Dylan had when they were creating their legends.
August 21, 2008
This needs to be worldwide..
This needs to be worldwide. Ain't nobody got what I got. This is how Kim Rivers Roberts approached two documentary film makers 
who had come to New Orleans to make a documentary film about Hurricane Katrina. The film makers, who are white, were turned away by the National Guard. Kim Rivers Roberts, who is black, was unable to get out.
There is a really interesting article on the movie they made together, "Trouble The Water," over at Salon. I would like to see the film and judge it for myself. The article is such an odd review. On the one hand, it certainly piqued my interest. I love the idea of a woman who bought a stolen camcorder recording the devastation in her community. I like that she was not commissioned by the filmmakers, but she felt the need to document. I am uneasy with the marketing angle (I think that's what it is?) that she's a self-described "street hustler." (I am just so street-hustlered out!) And I am weirded out by the description of the screening at Sundance as a "cathartic, almost explosive ritual".
Oh, just read the article and see what you think. The more I think about it, the more uneasy I feel. But at the same time, I don't think it's fair to Ms. Rivers Roberts for me to bristle at her work because of the way some privileged person in Salon said it made him feel.
(Trailer for the film is in the post below.)
On another note. (And this was the initial point of this post, but I got distracted.) The film is being screened in Denver and Minneapolis, adjacent to the Democratic and Republican conventions. I was wondering what books and/or movies do you think the nominees should be forced to watch if they want to be president?
UPDATE: I just visited the official website for the film. I was pretty impressed.
August 20, 2008
Back Home Links
I'm home! I have to go buy some milk, coffee, etc. But meanwhile, here's some reading material.
couldn't find a worthy manuscript?? If anyone knows anything, email me!(Mr. Major, btw, is the stern looking gentleman on the right.)Posted at 07:29 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
GCSU Convocation Address
On Tuesday evening, I had the honor of delivering the convocation 
address at Georgia College and State University. The full text of my remarks are below. (Photo is of me and President Dorothy Leland.)
Before I begin, I should tell you that I tried very hard to arrange my remarks to you this evening in a compelling rhetorical order. I was actually hoping that I could come up with something with a little bit of a rhyme. When the organizer told me that the theme of my talk should be “Reason, Responsibility, and Respect,” I thought “This should be easy. Reason, Responsibility, and Respect. It doesn’t exactly rhyme, but all that alliteration is good and there is a certain rhythm there." But as I worked on this speech, I was having the hardest time organizing my thoughts. Finally figured out the problem. My thoughts about the best advice for you, as you embark upon this, one of the most exciting and challenging phases of your life isn’t going to follow any rule book. There’s won’t be a catchy slogan, and it most certainly won’t rhyme. The purpose of education is resist order, explore chaos, and hopefully return not only with respect for the messiness and complication of life, but with a profound appreciation for the disorderliness of truth.
August 19, 2008
So Far, So Magical
I'm back in my room after a busy but rewarding day. At 9am, I met 
with the terrific 9th graders from the Early College program. They had all read Leaving Atlanta and had lots of questions for me in Q&A. The organizers told me about ten times that these were 9th graders, but I kept forgetting. They were sharp and funny, respectful and curious. (That's them on the left)
After the Early College students, I met with the freshmen who read Leaving Atlanta on their own over the summer. I think it's safe to say that we had a great time. The students met with their reading circles right before the Q&A, so they arrived with questions in hand.
Sometimes before paying me a compliment, a student sometimes said, "I am sure you hear this all the time.." The truth of the matter is 
that writers go really long stretches without any feedback from the world. The encouraging words from these readers will prop me up for a long time to come. (The students on the right are members of the GCSU's class of 2010!)
Well, I am all talked out and am drinking herbal tea to get my voice right for tonight.
Posted at 02:58 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Andalusia-- The O'Connor Home
After the morning sessions, Karen McElmurray took me over to Apalusia, the Flannery O'Connor home. The small staff was very 
enthusiastic and took me on a tour. The home is large, but not very fancy. The dedicated caretakers have done a good job preserving the grounds. You can see their care on the photo here. I also took photos in Flannery's bedroom, which is lovingly preserved. Unfortunately, love and dedication could not mend the disrepair of the buildings. Mending takes money.
As a daughter of the state of Georgia, I am ashamed that the state legislature or some other body has not stepped up to the plate to protect such an important historical landmark. I foolishly expected the home to be refurbished, perhaps a gift shop and welcome center. 
I secretly hoped to see at least a few peacocks, as Flannery was famous for her flock of 50 birds. In short, I fully expected to see something on the scale of the Hemmingway Home in Key West.
Instead, the house is in sad shape despite the hard work of the Andalusia Foundation. There is a hole in the staircase wall that leads clear to the outside. Other homes on the property are almost falling down.
Our national treasures deserve so much more than this.
Posted at 02:52 PM | Comments (1)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Hitting The Ground Running
Just a quick entry in the only down-time I think I'll have between now and the convocation tonight.
I am here in Milledgeville, Georgia. They put me up in the sweetest B&B ever, The Antebellum Inn. I've stayed here before and the lovely 
inn keeper, Jane, remembered me. If you ever stay here, be sure to ask for The Garden Room. (If I lived in Atlanta, I would drive down here just for a little getaway.) The photo is of my room. They are going to have to drag me out of here when it's time to check out!
Today's agenda involves a Q&A session with local highschoolers, 2 Q&As with the GCSU students, lunch with faculty, dinner at the president's house, and then the Convocation address. Although I should ask to be taken by to the hotel between lunch and dinner, I MUST go get a quick peek at Flannery O'Connor's home. THEN, I'll come back to The Garden Room.
Thanks again, everybody for the input on the speech. I like what I've written, but I need to practise. I am not trying to memorize it like an Easter Speech, but I would like to be comfortable enough that I don't have to keep my eyes glued to the page!
Wish me luck!
Posted at 07:36 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
August 16, 2008
Southern Fried Links
I've been ripping and running around Atlanta and I also took a quick trip to Hilton Head with Dear Old Dad. I'm low on new material to blog about, but I did find some good-looking links I wanted to share with you.
could have used the advice!Posted at 07:48 PM | Comments (1)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
August 14, 2008
Quality Time
It's good to be back in the A.
Posted at 05:02 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Can I Borrow Your Minds For a Sec?
Hey everybody. Greetings from Atlanta, my natural habitat. The trip is going fine. I've spent some quality time with Dear Old Dad and have caught up with some old friends. (I was in a really cute store in College Park and the proprietress turned out to be a grade school classmate!) I have taken pictures, but I don't have my cord. I'll post them when get my act together.
I don't know if I told you, but I am here to give the convocation address at Georgia College and State University, out in Milledgeville. The deal is that the incoming freshmen are all reading Leaving Atlanta. I'll give a few Q&As on Tuesday morning, but in the evening, I'll give a speach. The organizers told me to tell them what I think young people need to know starting college.
My first thought was that this would be a breeze since I have lots of opinions. But I have been working on this speach for almost a month now and it's, well, CORNY. Of course they need to know to follow thier dreams. Of course they need to know to be open to new ideas. Blah, blah, blah. I think they key is to employ fiction writing techniques. You know: get away from abstract ideas and get to something specific.
I am wondering, hoping, pleading, that you folks can share some advice given to you early in your life that made a difference. Tell me who said it and how. If you can still remember it, there was something about that moment that made it stick. Tell me what it was. You can do it in comments, or email.
Thanks!
Posted at 08:55 AM | Comments (4)
Category:
The Writing Life
August 12, 2008
Some Things To Read While I Get Situated
I am on my way to Atlanta and I am not sure what the blogging situation is going to be. So, here are some things to read while I am getting myself together.
Posted at 12:10 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
August 11, 2008
How Do I Keep The Flame Burning?
I am trying to get myself ready for a ten-day trip to Atlanta, my natural habitat. Since I travel all the time, I have all the airport rules down pat and I know how to get the most of my suitcase space. What I am worried about is my novel-in-progess. Because I insist on being real with myself, I have accepted that I am not going to get much writing done when I am in The A. For one, I haven't been there in over a year and there is a lot of catching up to do. Secondly hometowns cause everyone a certain level of anxiety and-- for me at least-- writing and anxiety just don't mix.
I don't want to be away from my novel so long that I have to get reacquainted with it when I get back home. So what can I do to keep the novel warm for ten days? I have come up with a plan and when I get back I'll tell you how it worked.
One thing is to make sure that my writing space is all clean and nice for when I come home. I think I need to widen the net and make sure the whole apartment is welcoming. The only other thing I can do is to print a chapter or two and take it with me, folded in half in my purse. When I am sitting in restaurants to wait on my fabulous (yet frequently tardy) friends, I can jot notes. Maybe I should visit some of the settings of the novel? I don't want to neccesarily work on the book, I jut want to keep myself focused on it.
If anyone has any ideas, please leave them in comments. My work has been going so well this month. I hate the idea of losing my momentum.
Standing Ovations
for folks who read this blog! Keep the good news coming!
Posted at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
August 10, 2008
Rainy Sunday Links
Posted at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
The Case for Pen and Ink
I have been writing for the last month or so with pen and ink. I started this because when I write on my computer I start surfing the net, doing email, playing solitaire, etc. With pen and paper the only potential distraction is doodling and that's not really a lure for me. What I have discovered is that I am way less likely to delete large chunks of texts when I am using paper and pen. On the computer, I can get drenched with a wave of self-loathing and highlight and delete three of four pages, all with a couple of keystrokes. (I suppose I could act like a writer in a movie and throw my handwritten pages in the trash, but I am not that sort of drama diva.)As a result, I am writing through my problems instead of just giving up.
Also, using pen and ink, I don't read through the work as much as I am working through a chapter. Maybe it's just that those typewritten pages are easier to read? When I am using the computer, every hour or so I scroll up and read it all from the top. This makes me self conscious and interrupts my flow. When I am handwriting, it's like living in a house with no mirrors. I just write without worrying what it looks like. I just move on, move through.
(My favorite: a Waterman fountain pen, fine nib. I like Waterman because the pens are a little bit fancy, but not so expensive that I am scared to use it. I prefer to bottle-fill because I get such satisfaction from measuring my progress by how much ink I use. Ink in use today: Levenger is the brand, Amethyst is the color.)
August 08, 2008
End O' The Week Links
Posted at 03:28 PM | Comments (3)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Rushdie's New Roomie?
Sherry Jones asked her publisher, Random House, to send her new book 
to Islamic studies scholar Denise Spellberg, hoping to get a blurb. Spellberg wrote back telling the editor that Jones's novel, Jewel of the Medina, was so offensive that it would be the same as declaring war against Islam. Random house pulled the book and Jones is madder than a wet hen.
This has sparked the usual conversations about who gets to write what. You know that argument. And we can probably guess that a lot of people who would never read a novel written by an actual Muslim woman would proably read this. I'm thinking about the Memoirs of a Geisha crowd and all those Tony Hillerman readers. This quote from a Guardian article profiling Alexie, should be considered:
He (Alexie) says he has always argued that non-Indian artists doing Indian work should certainly enjoy success, "but I think, for instance, Tony Hillerman's work [mystery novels set around reservations] should be classified as what it is - colonial literature... I think there's an arrogance amongst white Americans about their relationship to the oppressed people that prevents them from seeing themselves as coming from a position of privilege."
On another note, I sort of empathize with the scholar who refused a blurb. I was in that situation once. I was asked to blurb a book that I found so offensive that it made my teeth hurt. Even the letter asking for the blurb was so problematic that I almost hired an exorcist. After a lot of soul searching, I decided to tell the editor that this book wasn't the racial feel-good novel, she was making it out to be. My letter was met with a curt "thank you for your opinion" and the book went on with production. I don't know if I was trying to save the author from embarassment, or if I wanted to make sure that I wasn't condoning with my silence. In the end it didn't matter because they blew me off anyway. And the book did just fine.
Posted at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
The Writing Life
August 06, 2008
McSweeney's 28!
I just received my copy of McSweeney's 28. Wowza. I hope I can do it 
justice in this post. The assignment was for writers to write fables that both kids and adults can enjoy. The resulting stories are printed as small illustrated hardcover books, presented in a lovely box. The cover you see here is really four tiny volumes.
My story, "LaKeisha and The Dirty Girl" is in the lower right hand corner. I love the way it turned out. Love it. Love. It! The beautiful factor is off the chain.
Other contributers include Sarah Manguso, Nathan Eglander, Brian Evenson, Daniel Alarcon and many others.
Lunch Hour Links
Some interesting stuff out there today.
Posted at 10:57 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Seeking Scandals & Love Stories
Or even scandalous love stories!
Hi Everyone. I am reaching out for a little help. I am getting a lot of really good work done on my novel. (Whew. For a while there I was getting really scared. Do you remember when I posted about going on a road trip without your wallet? I feel like I have been looking for my wallet for more than a year now, trashing the apartment, cutting open the sofa cushions, ripping up the carpet, just searching. I've found it now-- it was in the freezer--and am happily on the road. For this to make any sense, check out this and this.)
Anyway, I have a character who likes to talk about celebrity stories in a way to illustrate some fundamental truth. The character was born in 1948, so she has a lot of pop culture time to work with. I was wondering if anybody out there can remember a pop culture scandal from say 1950-1980. I would prefer something that has sort of been forgotten. I've already thought of Al Green and the Grits. I need something like that. Oooh. I just remembered the Teddy Pendergrass incident. Marvin Gaye and his daddy happened a bit too late, 1983. I would especially love to hear about a scandal that was a little bit before my time, but anything, really would be helpful. I'd even like to hear about a great or tragic love story. Leave it in comments and if the comment thing is acting up again, send me an email!
August 05, 2008
There's A Party and We're Invited!
I just got the best invitation in the mail. And me, being me, I called to find out if I could tell EVERYBODY. Michael Taeckens, the publicity contact from Algonquin said yes, and now I am shouting it from the rooftops! Well, rooftops in NYC since this is where the party is being held.
On Thursday, August 28, at 7 pm, Algonquin is sponsorong an evening with ZZ Packer to celebrate the publication of the 2008 New Stories From The South. There will be food, there will be Maud, there will be trivia, and PRIZES. All you need to get in is a $5 donation. Proceeds will benefit KARES (Katrina Arts Relief and Emergency Support) and Housing Works.
Here's a link to the invite in a size you can actually read. You'll need to RSVP. This will be FUN.
Posted at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Living For The City
The Willesden Herald Incident: A Coda
Maybe you remember The Willesden Herald's annual short story contest. The big drama was that the judges could not find one single story worthy of the prize. (It sounds like the set up for a fairy tale or an opera, doesn't it?) When the panel-- chaired by one Zadie Smith-- announced its decision, TWH posted a sort of "what NOT to do" list on its blog.
Like much of the rest of the blogosphere, I posted about the list, even endorsing some of the advice. Nevertheless, I couldn't help noticing a little, well, racism, in some of the entries. I gently-- ever so gently-- pointed this out.
Flash forward to yesterday. A representative from the judging committee left a comment indicating that ours was one of the few blogs that he felt was worthy of response. He's concerned that our observations "contain some damaging aspersions." This is the part I love: the commenter that was responded to in detail was, Kirk Larsen, one of my genius undergraduates-- who called TWH out on its creepy Al Jolson reference.
You can read the whole thing and form your own opinion. (You have to scroll down to comments.) The response kind of falls into the three basic categories of defending yourself against charges of bias: A)It was IRONY. Can't you people recognize a joke when you see one? B)I am just talking about my individual a-historical experience. and C)I have friends (relatives, what have you) of color! (Somebody call Carmen Van Kerckhove, ASAP!)
August 04, 2008
Monday Links
I think I am going to have to up the espresso intake. I am typing with my forehead on the keyboard.
Brooklyn.Posted at 08:51 AM | Comments (2)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Up and At Em!
I may have mentioned that I like to get up early. Tayari Jones, the mild-mannered novelist is just the secret identity of a super-hero(ine) called MORNING GIRL! Well, someone must have slipped some Kryptonite in my Lillet last night. Although I had my writing room tidied by 9 pm and I was all jammied up and tucked into bed by 10, I didn't wake up until 8:30. That's ten and half hours. Anyway, I got up, had some coffee, and was still feeling a little drowzy until I found this link on Misstra Know It All. Rise and Shine Everybody!
Posted at 08:25 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
The Writing Life
August 02, 2008
Titles That Were Not Meant To Be
In the post below this one, I wrote about all the crazy file names under which I have stored the chapters of this novel I am trying to finish. While perusing "My Documents" I found evidence of many of the discarded names for my novels. Here are the finalists:
Leaving Atlanta, at one point, was called:
The Untelling had a lot of failed titles: My editor's reasons for vetoing them are in quotes.
Current book has a new title, but I am afraid to unveil it until the book is done. Instead, here is a quick guide to what is it NOT called:
The File Name Game
This may be more of a problem to novelists than to other writers, but I am having some serious issues with file names. As I am rounding the corner with this book, I wanted to make a big file with all the chapters in it. This has turned out to be more than a notion.
For one thing, I don't write in order, so the files are not neatly labeled "chapter one", "chapter two", etc. Instead, they are strange summaries like "RaleighMakesHisMove.doc." This method gets tricky when I changed my mind about Raleigh making a move but forgot to change the file name. There are about twenty such files and I have to figure out what is in there.
The other thing is that I am seeing how hard I have been struggling with this manuscript. These files are stashed in folders that reflect my state of mind. There are at least three folders labeled with discarded titles for this book. The first, OUR MUTUAL SISTER contains a good five chapters when I thought the book was kind of about a sisterly love-triangle. Then, there are the chapters I wrote when it was called THE BIGAMIST'S DAUGHTERS. (I am now saving in a folder called simply, NUMBER THREE.) Inside these folders are the pep-talk folder titles: 2006Baby!, TheHomeStrech, YouCanDoIt, etc. When I decided to do a radical rewrite after some helpful but painful criticism from a reader I called it PostSmackDown.
When I am done with the book, I will save it all in a file with a special name. It's corny, but I did it with my first two books and it is sort of a cheesy good luck charm. When everything is done, I call the file "enchilada" as in "the whole enchilada."
As some wise person once said, "Hey, whatever works."
August 01, 2008
Congratulations Are In Order
for people who read this blog! (thank goodness. I needed a good news fix!) Drumroll please....
Posted at 12:47 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles