My Very Own Blogetary (Blog: Web Log; etary or ary: engaged in or pertaining to)

Kaz and Chandra have on two separate occasions reminded me lately of how what we read inspires us as writers. And I know Christina can’t walk through a bookstore without coming home with something and she writes all the time.

I have a pile of books to be read, but about a month or two ago I was hanging out  in Barnes and Noble (my first mistake) and saw books on the shelves there that had been on my Amazon Wishlist for years. They were Riddle Master and Cygnet by Patricia A. McKillip. There was one other that intrigued me by her, more recent, called Solstice Wood, more of a mythic realism type story where the other two are straight high fantasy. So, they came home with me because I love her writing and can’t stop myself. I can’t say I’ve read all of her books, but I’ve read many. The first one belonged to my best friend’s sister. It was called The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. This was before the internet; the picture on the book is nothing like any of the editions on Amazon. I had never heard of her; it was the only book I had ever seen by her. I read and read and read it again. I couldn’t find anything else and thought it must have been the only thing she’d ever written. Then I found out differently and did my best to work through the books I could find.

Anyway, I’m in the middle of writing all sorts of things right now, fantasy fiction (short and long), articles, documents, etc. And besides the McKillip books, I have others waiting for me to read by Jeaniene Frost, by Vikki Pettersson, and others - newer, shinier, more action than you can shake a stick at. But my brain only wants McKillip right now. I want magic. I want dragons and swans and crows and high towers. Girls who run barefoot with diamond pins that drop out of their hair and boys who hear a call and have to search for it.

Solstice Wood was good. It still had McKillip’s magery with words, and subtlety, but it wasn’t enough. Too modern. Too many cars and cell phones and shiny modern things. So, I’ve been wending my way through the RiddleMaster Trilogy and then through the two Cygnet books, where I can hide in the forest between old trees, perched on moss-covered rocks, listening to the music of running water and the occasional rustle and call of birds and other wildlife.

That’s what I’m reading.

McKillip’s writing normally has cover art by Kinuko Craft. Glorious work, and true fantasy art. Below is the cover for Song for the Basilisk, though the illustrator has done several fairy tale covers as well.

I got a rejection today on a favorite story. It had been gone for so long I had hoped that they were holding on to it to send me the nice fat generous acceptance envelope instead of the skinny, mean little self addressed stamped envelope. But that was not the case.

So, I cried a little, ranted a lot, went through the story to see if their comments held water (didn’t, in my opinion) and then printed out another copy to send somewhere else, trying to damp down the inner demons who repeatedly tell me I’m a hack and a fake.

In the middle of this, trying to buck down and do some work for pay, I was reading some favorite blogs and came across this blog by Lilith Saintcrow: Hack Manifesto. You can also read it at The Midnight Hour.

She made some interesting points, such as that “hacks” were hardworking horses of the 19th century and nothing to be ashamed of. Also that there are many revered “hack” writers, both famous and popular: Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Stephen King. Her manifesto made me want to strive to be a better hack.

It got me to thinking, what are your favorite “hack” writers? Anne Perry? Andrew Lloyd Webber, Garry Marshall? Louisa May Alcott? J.K. Rowling?

I’ve been doing a little research on writers and their emotional, psychological, and physical health lately. This afternoon whilst I was eating lunch, a program came on the radio (I usually listen to KCRW during the day) that was, I believe, particularly apt: Hollywood on the Couch. Claude Brodesser-Akner interviews Dennis Palumbo, a former screenwriter himself, who discusses some of the common emotional setbacks that creatives (such as writers, directors, and actors) face. As he points out, therapy is the same everywhere, except here. You might not have time to listen to the entire broadcast, but they do discuss writers first before going on to directors and actors.

One remark that made me laugh and spit up my water: Writers are ego-maniacs with extremely low self-esteem.

One of the things I really like about my friends is that I can wonder aloud about whether or not the building we’re in could be secured against a Zombie attack and they’ll go there with me.

I was reading this tonight and it struck a chord. Thought I would share it here with you during our poetry month:

Poetry by Marianne Moore, 1921

I, too, dislike it: there are things that are important beyond all this fiddle.
Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one discovers in
it after all, a place for the genuine.
Hands that can grasp, eyes
5          that can dilate, hair that can rise
if it must, these things are important not because a
high-sounding interpretation can be put upon them but because they are
useful. When they become so derivative as to become unintelligible,
the same thing may be said for all of us, that we
10             do not admire what
we cannot understand: the bat
holding on upside down or in quest of something to

eat, elephants pushing, a wild horse taking a roll, a tireless wolf under
a tree, the immovable critic twitching his skin like a horse that feels a flea, the base-
15        ball fan, the statistician-
nor is it valid
to discriminate against ‘business documents andschool-books’;
all these phenomena are important. One must make a distinction
however: when dragged into prominence by half poets, the result is not poetry,
20         nor till the poets among us can be
‘literalists of the imagination-’
above
insolence and triviality and can present

for inspection, 'imaginary gardens with real toads in them,' shall we have
25     it. In the meantime, if you demand on the one hand,
the raw material of poetry in
all its rawness and
that which is on the other hand
genuine, you are interested in poetry.

Happy Poetry Month!

Since this is Poetry Month, Southland Poets of the Fantastic, who are kind of associated with the Science Fiction Poetry Association, are putting on a Science Fiction Poetry Reading in Pasadena, California on April 14 at the Santa Catalina Branch of the Pasadena Public Library. I’m sure they would love to see people show up who enjoy poetry and the world of scifi/fantasy.

Happy Poetry Month!

Mom sent me a YouTube video of an old What’s My Line episode, which kinda got me clicking around until I went from that to Doris Day to this. I think it could be considered an anthem. Sorta. Kinda. Just watch it and see.
Or maybe you prefer this more Gothic version.

I’ve just begun reading Rachel Vincent’s Rogue. Can you tell?

Yesterday I went to a writer’s workshop at the Craft and Folk Art Museum. I’ve always meant to go there, but never have before. This workshop was the cost of admission ($5!) so I wasn’t sure what to expect. What it was was the first hour discussing myths and legends from around the world illustrated by a collection of antique puppets.

Cool AND Creepy!

The second hour was spent discussing some of the archetypes we had viewed and doing a few visualization exercises on archetypes. There were so many places we could have taken the discussions of these topics and so many ways to explore them, potentially. But we only had two hours and it was a single workshop, not a series, so it needed to be a survey and skim over the top type of class just because of that. I really appreciated the woman presenting the class. She had curated the exhibit and had a fairly extensive background in world literature, as well as a writing background. There were some interesting people at the class, too. Ages ranged from a 5-6 year old there with her mom to a couple of women in their 60s, I think.

It wasn’t really a writing workshop in the sense that it stretched your writing chops to the next level, but it did kind of stir the brain with information presented in a different way. Some of the information was new to me and some of it I already knew, but presented from a different angle and with visual input as well as auditory, it was refreshing. I forget I need fresh input from different sources to keep ideas flowing. Easy to get stuck in the same old loops.

I remember a scene from Topsy Turvy where Gilbert (of Gilbert and Sullivan) is going through a slump. His wife convinces him to go with her to an Asian Exhibition. The fresh input stirs up his creative juices and the Mikado is born. (Whether or not that’s the true story, it’s the one presented in the movie.) That scene and it’s connection to a rejuvenation of an artist’s creativity has stuck in my head. I don’t know about other creatives out there in the rest of the world, but I know it’s important for me to go out and seek new input, such as going to the museum’s workshop. As we discussed in this class, we are each the hero of our own story and we are in charge of and responsible for our own quests and how they turn out.

And I know I’m a broken record, but it’s POETRY MONTH! Go ye out into the world and seek ye the WORD of the POET!

;-)

Today we had our monthly writer’s group. A couple of internet savvy people did a presentation on having an internet presence, websites, blogging, etc. One of the things they pointed out is understanding at the outset what the purpose of that site will be, whether it will be for personal or professional use, etc. It was an interesting discussion. One of the points brought up is that these mediums are used as a communications tool between other writers or between writers and fans, so some sense of openness and vulnerability is expected. However, you can go over board on that and share too much on your website, blog or in your social networking profile.

I know I go back and forth a lot never quite finding the middle. Sometimes I’m the creative who staunchly believes that we should be able to express ourselves no matter what and not censor ourselves. After all that’s what creativity is all about. It’s what the First Amendment is all about, and I truly think that too much stifling goes on. On the other hand, when in a less passionate mode, I get the need to be more circumspect and “professional” in our web presence. It is our “presence” on the web.

On the THIRD hand however, I remember hearing a discussion on Marketplace (American Public Media) one afternoon about internet privacy. The young businessman being interviewed talked about how the internet is essentially making us live what appears to be transparent lives, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. For one thing, he pointed out that since lots of kids have made asses of themselves online, it’s something they can all share with each other as they mature. So when their boss Googles them and finds pictures of them hugging a toilet after a college party he also knows that everyone else in his office (and even he) has something like that of himself online somewhere. So we all know we’re faulty. This could be a good thing. If we all admit we’re faulty then maybe we can break down some of those barriers that keep us apart and keep us from reaching out to each other.

The other way transparency can work, however, is that people just figure out ways to contact online companies and social networking sites and have things permanently deleted. And then never share anything personal with anyone online ever again so long as you virtually live. That’s a possibility in a cyber world where every one is snooping out everyone else’s business. The “meanness” factor comes into play then, too. People think that because they’re anonymous or not really known, they can be mean to other people or about other people in cyberland where they wouldn’t be so mean face to face. Why be vulnerable and open and share yourself and your emotions and struggles and weaknesses on your blog or in forums or on social networking sites when people are just going to tear you to shreds over it. I don’t know about you, by I already have tapes running in my head 24/7 telling me how bad I am. I don’t need anyone else doing that to me. But because of that behavior, people may decide it’s not worth it to be transparent on the web. So they decide to just put up a pretty facade and share nothing. That’s not a workable solution either.  After all, it’s about communication.

Then there’s the third option where people use a “friends only” or “friend lock” feature, or keep a forum or blog in private mode so that only certain people can read what they share. This was an option recently shared on NPR and that I’ve seen used on both Tribe and Live Journal. Other people do things like have one blog under one name and a profile somewhere else under another name. It’s a beginning. A compromise.

Blogging is still a tool that is being figured out. Like all tools, it can be used for either good or evil; either wisely or foolishly wielded. It all depends on the people and the purpose. For example, on my blog, I’ve been asked sometimes what is the purpose to sharing my rejections (or “passes” as some friends have called it). I figure since I’m sharing my victories and struggles and things I am learning, then I should share my defeats. Also, as a working writer, I need to keep track of my correspondence every time I send something out for submissions and get a reply. This is important for business purposes. One thing that was pointed out in one of my recent writing classes is that auditor and accountants like redundant records. So,  if I have a record of my rejection from the magazine (email or slip of paper via SASE), a notation on my spreadsheet, and a note on my blog, making it part of the public record, and I have a number of those throughout the year, then I can say that yes I am making a concerted effort to sell my writing and be a working writer.

Other writers choose not to do things that way on their sites or blogs. They do it differently. They have a different purpose and a different journey for their writing and their web presence. It’s all personal choice. And no decision is ever perfect or chiseled in stone. Lots of mistakes or twisty turns along the road can be made along the way, but that’s just part of the whole life experience thing. Right?

Oh and, in keeping with that public record thing? Yeah, got a rejection today - slip of paper via SASE. It was one I completely forgot about and no big deal. It’s just life. The maybe I got the other day turned into a no as well, or more of a “it’s nice but we just don’t have a market for it here yet” kinda thing. Again, that’s life.

More cool news though is that I completed one of the stories I have been working on and I feel good about it. Letting it “cook” a bit before going back to it and seeing what else to do with it. Not sure where it belongs but I like it. It’s an animal story. I’ve begun to notice lately that a lot of my stories are animal stories. Many people don’t like animal stories, or maybe it’s more fair to say they don’t get animal stories. Maybe they’re literal minded (”dogs can’t talk!”, etc) or just don’t get it or think it’s simply not done anymore. They forget that animal stories have been around since the beginning of the world and will continue to be around until the very end. Anyway, I like’em, no matter what other people think. I also like to anthropomorphize things (Brave Little Toaster anyone?).

Native American and African folklore are just two traditions with animal tales. Let’s not forget Aesop’s Fables, the Bremen Town Musicians, Puss in Boots, The Chronicles of Narnia, Black Beauty, Black Stallion, My Friend Flicka, all the CatFantastic anthologies edited by Andre Norton, Magic Tails anthology and others edited by Martin H. Greenberg, Good Dog Carl, Wind in the Willows, The Goose Girl, Dragonriders of Pern series by the McCaffreys, etc, etc, etc. But that’s a soap box for another day. Right now I’m glad I finished this story and I just wanted to share that.

Have a nice night and don’t forget it’s still poetry month. Go read some poetry, write some poetry, enjoy some poetic type things.

The above from zark.com.

Got a “magical maybe” today. I like those. I’ve been so busy scrambling for paying work that I’ve lost the focus on tracking the stories that I’ve sent out. It’s kind of nice to have lost track. Freeing in fact. So much ego can get wrapped up in being published or not being published and what is and is not a viable mode of publication. It’s easy to forget the reason you’re writing.

Also got “Brainfever” — you know — that condition when you turn off the tv or the stereo and the lights and tuck yourself into bed but your brain is still going. And going. And you think, well maybe you could try to let your dreaming mind work this out so you try to picture things behind closed eyes, but your eyes won’t stay closed and you just won’t sleep. And there are parts of your various and sundry stories sticking in your head and telling you what won’t work, what will work, and they’re arguing with you and each other, and you’re arguing with phantom “other writers” in your head about what does and doesn’t work…..

Finally you give up. Sit up. Stick your feet in your slippers and stump over to the computer and hope you can get it all out on the screen and still get to sleep at a decent hour so you can get up in the morning and not feel like a slob.

Yup. That’s why I’m up right now. Brainfever. Currently working on 6 stories and a poem. When I seem to hit a wall on one, I move to another. Eventually most of them get done, after a while, though there may be one out of a bunch that ends up being shelved until I can figure it out. It doesn’t always work, but it does most of the time. And they’re calling me again. So, off I go. Besides, Pye’s tail keeps thwapping my mouse. Not sure how much longer I can keep him from messing things up.

Oh, and remember, it’s poetry month. So go out and enjoy some poetry.

And if you’re going to be in the MidWilshire area (in LA) on Saturday afternoon and would like to come to a writer’s meeting then send me an email and I’ll let you know where and when. We’d love to have you!