Second Draft Complete

This week I finished the second draft of the novel I'm calling Barnes County. While there are likely still some larger revisions necessary, it's just a strong line edit that is left. It is time to look closely at the word choice, the flow, and the the sounds of the words. This is where I should be reading it out loud, though that's hard to get away with in public.

It's been about a year and a half's labor and it feels like a long time coming. But there it is, 435 manuscript pages of hard work. And still more to come.

One of these days I'll have to tell you what it's about.

In the Death Cab

New Death Cab for Cutie. Very nice. Makes me think I need to go see them when they come to Red Rocks next month.

If Only

Rowling tells court she's stopped working - Yahoo! News: "Rowling told a New York court on Monday that the demands of the case had caused her to halt work on a new novel. The author, who wrote seven novels about the boy wizard, said the stress has 'decimated my creative work over the past month.'"

Oh, poor, poor, Ms. Rowling. Too busy raking in millions and suing a fan to do any decent writing.

This woman is a joke.

Book Review: The Lives of Rocks

The Lives of Rocks by Rick Bass

For such a well-reviewed book, this short story collection was extremely disappointing. The stories, though they contain lyricism and apt descriptions, were naive, as if written by a first-year MFA. Nearly each of the ten stories contained some element that was far-fetched, hard to believe, or simply unnecessary or out of place. It's as if they were written by someone just new to the craft and exploring what he can make happen in a story. Either that, or they read as autobiographical, but no less far-fetched. The kind of stories that would be defended by "Well, that's how it happened."

Rick Bass has a name that carries with it some credibility and so coming to this collection with a high expectation and anticipation, I was extremely let down. Let me not discount Bass's ability to put together strong sentences, vivid descriptions, all filled with content that demonstrates his wide ranging knowledge. I only wish he'd been coached some on shaping the stories into what they could have been.

First Freelance Piece

This week, my first piece of freelance journalism was published. I'm happy. I'm proud. But let's keep it in perspective. This is a relatively small trade publication, ACTE Global Business Journal, published by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives. Don't ask how I got hooked up with them.

It feels good, though, to see my name there in the glossy print. And it really wasn't hard work. 1500 words. I've written more 20 page papers than I can count, so this wasn't difficult at all. I had nearly 3000 words to start with and had to cut it back.

There are two things that may be better than see my name up there under the article's title. First, I got paid. That would definitely be the first time I got paid for my writing (other than minimal prize money). Second, I can hopefully use this credit to get more writing gigs.

Book Review: A Sport and a Pastime

A Sport and a Pastime by James Salter

I was very surprised by this book for many reasons. I simply wasn't aware of Salter until just a few months ago, though this novel was published in the early sixties. It is reminiscent of many classics. The style is like Hemingway. If Hemingway was in a colorful mood. It is also reminiscent of On the Road. It is told from the point of view of one character, telling the story of another more colorful and heroic character, here also named Dean. It does benefit from these characteristics, and it is beautifully done in its own right.

Most surprising might have been just how dirty it was. I mean truly explicit. It is not for the faint-hearted. Makes Henry Miller seem tame.

It was the perfect kind of book for a quick three-day immersion. I'll definitely have to read more Salter in the future.

Judging Your Literary Taste

It's Not You, It's Your Books - New York Times: "Sloane Crosley, a publicist at Vintage/Anchor Books and the author of “I Was Told There’d Be Cake,” essays about single life in New York, put it this way: “If you’re a person who loves Alice Munro and you’re going out with someone whose favorite book is ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ perhaps the flags of incompatibility were there prior to the big reveal.”"

Yes, I will judge you by your literary tastes. Let me in your place and I will gravitate to your bookshelves, head cocked sideways, reading titles. Unless, dear lord, you don't have bookshelves. It's almost as disturbing as not having a stereo. And if you don't have bookshelves or a stereo, I'll bet you have a large TV centered in your room like a shrine.

Books definitely tell a lot about a person, though I can't say I've ever dismissed someone because of their literary tastes. I've been attracted to someone based on their literary interests. I once went on a date with a woman because we had struck up a conversation about Steinbeck. She turned out to be about as dull and dry as the Salinas Valley. Books provided a perfect way to strike up a conversation. On a plane last week, the man across the aisle was reading American Pastoral. We ended up talking about our children instead. His wife was reading Driving with Dead People. I'm not sure what this says about them. Their child, crying most of the flight, was watching Elmo DVDs. That might say more about them. Or at least it explains why they thought they could read on the plane with a toddler.

(Also, I almost stopped to talk to a woman at the airport who was reading with an Sony Reader.)

Regarding the quote above from Rachel Donadio's piece in the NYTBR, I list Alice Munro among my favorite writers...and there's only one person in my house who read The Da Vinci Code. It wasn't me.

Children find woman's head on beach

Children find woman's head on beach - Yahoo! News: "LONDON (Reuters) - Children playing on a Scottish beach discovered a woman's severed head in a plastic bag, police said on Tuesday.
The discovery, along with a hand, was made in the town of Arbroath, Tayside police said. 'Officers attended at a stretch of foreshore near to South Street shortly after 10:30 a.m. after the grim discovery was made by children playing on the beach,' a statement said.
'They found what appears to be the head of a woman concealed in a plastic bag. A hand has also been recovered from the beach.'
No other details were immediately available."