eat the meatball

America [Try saying wren] by Joseph Lease

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:42:25 GMT

This week, the final lines of Lease's poem (opening line"Try saying wren.") have replaced my usual mantra of "No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." (Famous quote from Waiting for Godot)

Damage, via Nick Flynn, or Happy Spring

Wed, 18 May 2011 18:38:08 GMT

"The thing about damage is that if you can lead someone right to it, like
a sleeping bear, point to it, say, shhhh, donʼt wake him, then it likely is already
toothless. At least for the winter months. Come spring everyone is damaged, all
over again, whether they talk about it or not. Itʼs just the world waking up. Itʼs the
sap running through the trees, itʼs the ice starting to thaw. Whatever damage has

been sleeping is now awake, once more. True damage is not merely a
reenactment of past turmoil, but part of nature, embodied somehow. Thatʼs why
itʼs a good idea to stretch out each morning, if just to be aware of where in your
body the damage is lurking today."

From Nick Flynn's essay What is the Wind (the allure of the damaged man)
He's a marvelous writer and poet, and it's a terrific essay, especially if you've had a baby, or are afraid of having a baby, or were afraid of having a baby, or even if you just like good writing discussing damage, and believe in the possibility of healing or the impossibility of healing but nonetheless the beauty and danger of Spring resonate for you.

Who doesn't want a mentor? And what a mentor!

Tue, 17 May 2011 15:56:06 GMT

If you're an aspiring or journeyman poet or fantasy writer, and looking for a little mentorship, I highly recommend my friend saladinahmed. He's an award-winning writer, and a marvelous human being. Whip-smart, funny, nurturing, wildly creative--really, I can't say enough good things about him. Check out the details of his offer (and his qualifications) here: http://www.saladinahmed.com/

Book Giveaway!

Wed, 11 May 2011 15:54:37 GMT

John Joseph Adams is doing a giveaway of his anthology The Way of the Wizard. So if you want to read some amazing stories by authors such as George R. R. Martin, Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Ursula K. Le Guin, Genevieve Valentine, Desirina Boskovich, Orson Scott Card, and many others others, enter now!
And if you've ever wanted to read a Leahy story...and this one about pigs, no less!...I managed to sneak a story into that anthology, too!

Language & Survival

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 01:47:33 GMT

If you like to think about language, and also about the exigencies of being human, I highly recommend reading Michael J. Deluca's (boonofdoom ) story "The Eater" and blog post over at Apex.
Compelling and haunting. Well worth your time. And imagination.

Stories!

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:06:47 GMT

If you haven't read Cat Rambo's "Close Your Eyes," Peter M. Ball's "The Birdcage Heart" or Gavin Grant's "Widows in the World", what are you waiting for? They're free, online, and each, in their own way, extraordinary.

The Minimalist cooks with videos!

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 22:51:55 GMT

I love cooking. But I don't always have a lot of time.
If those two sentences ring true for you as well, check out The Minimalist, Mark Bittman--well worth your time, if you don't know him already.

HUZZAHS FOR SHIMMER

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 04:22:36 GMT

Earlier this week, Shimmer officially released Issue 12. Huzzah huzzah!

It's a beautiful issue, full of stories of transformation, and I feel terrifically lucky (gulp) and proud to be in the company of such talented authors.

Heartfelt thanks to Beth Wodzinski and all of the marvelous and dedicated Shimmer staff--who work with such love to make Shimmer the remarkable and lovely magazine that it is-- and with a special thank you to Editor Joy Marchand, whose extraordinary sensitivity and rigor made "No Place Like Home, or Building the Yellow Brick Road" a far better story than when we started.

My story had its origins in a Codex contest, and I'm very grateful to that community for inspiring "No Place Like Home . . ."

And I still can't get over the fact that sometimes, when I'm lucky, I sell a story, and then wonder of wonders, someone illustrates my story! Many thanks to Kristina Stipetic, who did such a fabulous job illustrating my story, and whose art blog can be found here.

And for a lovely sample from the issue, check out Monica Byrne's epistolary story, which she's graciously provided for free.

KGB FANTASTIC FICTION RAFFLE

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:58:26 GMT

In case you haven't already heard, KGB Fantastic Fiction is holding their annual raffle.
A worthy cause, and some truly fabulous prizes to be had. Check it out here.

The Way of the Wizard

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 22:49:36 GMT

I've announced this elsewhere, but a few months ago I sold my story "Too Fatal a Poison" to The Way of the Wizard. About a month away from launch, and I can finally stop holding my breath--it's really going to happen!

It's a tremendously exciting sale for me. I've always loved wizard stories and this anthology is a marvelous mix of superstars and newer writers--and I feel awfully lucky to be in such esteemed company. Every time I look at the TOC, I have to find the nearest fainting couch, while I recover my wits.

Many thanks to all of you who gave me invaluable feedback, making "Too Fatal" a far, far better story than it was--especially you old crotchety Salooners (yes, this means you, Mr. Cody, Mr. Newman, and Mr. justinhowe ), Jeanne Cavelos, and Michael J. Deluca, aka boonofdoom . Thank you!

Beyond my joy in "Too Fatal" finding such an extraordinary home, I would be very remiss if I didn't acknowledge the special debt this story owes to John Joseph Adams.

Here's what happened. A while back, I sent an early version of "Too Fatal" to F&SF. John picked it out of the slush, contacted me, offered excellent editorial input--both gentle and incisive--and worked with me on the resulting rewrite.

While F&SF ultimately passed on the story, John stayed in touch with me, followed what was happening with that particular story and then, when he was putting together The Way of the Wizard anthology, encouraged me to submit "Too Fatal". Luckily, he still believed in the story and was able to find a slot for it in his anthology.

All of which makes him kind of a godfather for "Too Fatal," and one to whom I am very grateful.

Makes you believe in editors everywhere, doesn't it? And even the merits of the slush pile!

For those of you who have an interest, the anthology should be available in November, at bricks-n-mortar locales. Or, at Prime Books, or, of course, here.

And, to whet your wizard's wand, cover art and TOC.

Hello Again

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 15:53:14 GMT

Haven't posted in many a moon, due to a focus on offline life, but I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things.
Very sorry to have missed folks' news. Been keeping up on some closed forums, but not here.

Let me begin with the life-changing news:
We had a beautiful, unutterably amazing little boy--our son, August--who will be eight weeks this Thursday.

"What did my fingers do before they held him?

What did my heart do, with its love?

I have never seen a thing so clear.

His lids are like the lilac-flower

And soft as a moth, his breath.

I shall not let go.

There is no guile or warp in him. May he keep so."

Excerpt from Sylvia Plath's "Three Women", a fairly extraordinary poem, given to me by my dear friend Mia Tagano
(warning, much of the poem is significantly darker than the above excerpt)

It is a wonder, having a child.
Even if it does tend to limit one's online time.
Cheers to those I know.

From XKCD

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:26:28 GMT

via Mike Arauz, courtesy of xkcd.com/

William Blake

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:20:39 GMT

For you illustrators & artists:

"I curse and bless Engraving alternately because it takes so much time and is so untractable, though capable of such beauty and perfection."

William Blake

For those of you in New York, the Morgan has a terrific William Blake exhibit.
For those of you not in New York, how about the terrific online exhibit?

Of Mud and Tubs, or Two Stories

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 01:23:26 GMT

"Beneath the flowers, the mud world rises, seeping from below. An extra twist in the way my thoughts turn."

From "Sympathy Bouquet" by my friend Justin Howe(justinhowe) available for download at Ruthless Peoples Magazine.

"All I want is the other half of my brain back, the half that's sealed up in this plastic tub. A blank spot in my cognition, like a severed limb, an absent spouse."

From "Starlings" by my friend Michael J. DeLuca(boonofdoom) available to read at Abyss & Apex.

Okay, they're really about more than mud and tubs.
You'll see. Go check 'em out for yourself. They're well worth your time.

Douglas Sirk on Thinking of the Heart

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:28:42 GMT

"There's a thinking of the heart, too. At the same time as you can be an intellectual; you can be very sophisticated. I think the great artists, especially in literature, have always thought with the heart."

--Douglas Sirk, filmmaker, in an interview with Peter Lehman 1980, courtesy of senses of cinema

Easy to say, harder to do.
Recently watched All That Heaven Allows--lovely film although certainly sentimental in ways, and a bit of a melodramatic bodice-ripper--but that was one of the styles in which Sirk worked. The sentimentality is cut by any promise of happiness coming at a cost.
And his interview was fascinating. Fascinating man, fascinating filmmaker.

Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer & Shimmering Clouds

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:58:28 GMT

I've mentioned it elsewhere and many of you already know, but I sold my story "No Place Like Home, or Building the Yellow Brick Road" to Shimmer a few months ago. I'm thrilled about the sale. Not only do I love Shimmer, but it's the perfect home for this particular story.
The story originated out of a Codex sound prompt and contest, and was the first non-flash story I wrote after Odyssey.

I was on the road (playing Elmire in Tartuffe) and so sent the contracts in from out and about.
Marvelous to return home, for many reasons, among them a lovely note from Shimmer's Editor-in-Chief Beth Wodzinski, accompanying my copy of the signed contracts.

Also, courtesy of Elizabeth Hand and theinferior4 some fascinating? beautiful? worrisome? shimmering clouds, as reported by Wired.

Books, Breasts, and Team Dragon

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:21:28 GMT

James Maxey, author of the terrific Dragon Age fantasy series Bitterwood, Dragonforge, and Dragonseed, is giving away signed copies of Dragonseed to the first 50 folks who contribute to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer foundation. Clicking here will take you to his personal fundraising page, and you can find more info at his blog.

Great cause, great series, and you get to be part of Team Dragon.

Frank Chimero Poster

Sun, 03 May 2009 19:08:42 GMT

Many other cool posters, and more info about Frank Chimero here.
I have some memory of having seen this posted elsewhere too--forgive me for not recalling--but at least I must give credit to my ever-more-current-than-I-am-friend-but-who-is-wonderfully-luckily-kind-to-me-nonetheless Mike Arauz.

For all you artists--Katherine Anne Porter Quote

Fri, 01 May 2009 18:14:37 GMT

"In the face of such shape and weight of present misfortune, the voice of the individual artist may seem perhaps of no more consequence than the whirring of a cricket in the grass, but the arts do live continuously, and they live literally by faith; their names and their shapes and their uses and their basic meanings survive unchanged in all that matters through times of interruption, diminishment, neglect; they outlive governments and creeds and societies, even the very civilizations that produced them. (The arts) cannot be destroyed altogether because they represent the substance of faith and the only reality. They are what we find again when the ruins are cleared away. And even the smallest and most incomplete offering at this time can be a proud act in defense of that faith."

Katherine Anne Porter

courtesy of my amazing friend Michiko, who found it via NPR

Ursula Le Guin & Alan Lightman reading

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:17:30 GMT

I woke up yesterday to a pleasant surprise--an email in my inbox informing me I'd won two free tickets to the Ursula K. Le Guin and Alan Lightman reading at the 92nd St Y! Luckily the_slow_train could join me, help me take advantage of the unexpected bounty, and it was a great night.

Mr. Lightman read excerpts from his current WIP and also Einstein's Dreams. Ms. Le Guin read a poem, and excerpts from Lavinia.
The readings were terrific and in the Q&A afterwards, both authors were funny and articulate.

"First to create difference -- to establish strangeness -- then to let the fiery arc of human emotion leap and close the gap: this acrobatics of the imagination fascinates and satisfies me as almost no other." Ursula K. Le Guin
"It is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception and compassion and hope." Ursula K. Le Guin
"Some say it is best not to go near the center of time. Life is a vessel of sadness, but is noble to live life and without time there is no life. Others disagree. They would rather have an eternity of contentment, even if that eternity were fixed and frozen, like a butterfly mounted in a case." Alan LIghtman, Einstein's Dream

April is the cruelest month...but cruel ain't always so bad

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 01:07:55 GMT

oh, you who are young, consider how quickly the body deranges itself
how time, the cruel banker, forecloses us to snowdrifts white as
god's own ribs

An excerpt from my favorite new poem I've discovered so far this April:

corydon & alexis, redux
by D. A. Powell

And speaking of cruelty and favorite things I've run across recently...in case you missed it, check out

tinaconnolly 's terrific, fresh, dark & vivid story Turning the Apples at Strange Horizons.

Stormchaser, Stormshaper

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:41:36 GMT

If you want to read a terrific, beautifully written story today, check out Erin Hoffman's Stormchaser, Stormshaper at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

Meet Me in St. Louis

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:18:34 GMT

Although that's the city, rather than the show.

Yep, out and about.
In St. Louis for a production of Miracle Worker, playing Helen Keller's mother, Kate Adams Keller.
Profoundly inspiring story and it's been fascinating to reacquaint myself with the historical facts of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan's life. Absolutely extraordinary individuals.

To date, what's most caught my imagination is how deeply intimate her relationship to language was.
Of course, more radically than for most, language was her entry to the world.

For all you writers out there, two quotes from Helen Keller's first book (she wrote four!), The Story of My Life. Fascinating read, by the way.
Here, Helen's trying to explain how an early unintentional plagiarism came about,("The Frost King" incident.) She was only 11 at the time (!), but horrified when she found out. Unintentional plagiarism aside...
I think what she says here speaks beautifully to the glorious problem of writing:

It is certain that I cannot always distinguish my own thoughts from those I read, because what I read become the very substance and texture of my mind...It seems to me that the great difficulty of writing is to make the language of the educated mind express our confused ideas, half feelings, half thoughts, when we are little more than bundles of instinctive tendencies. Trying to write is very much like trying to put a Chinese puzzle together. We have a pattern in mind which we wish to work out in words; but the words will not fit the spaces, or, if they do, they will not match the design. But we keep on trying because we know that others have succeeded, and we are not willing to acknowledge defeat.

In the second, Annie Sullivan (in a letter) describes one of their lessons. Again, Helen was only 11 at the time.
Clearly, Annie was not a materialist, you philosophers. But still. I think you writers will appreciate what Helen said:

At another time she asked, "What is the soul?"
"No one knows what the soul is like,"I replied; "but we know that it is not the body, and it is that part of us which thinks and loves and hopes..."
I explained to her that the soul, too, is invisible...
"But if I write what my soul thinks," she said, 'then it will be visible, and the words will be its body."

Oh and holler if you want to meet me in St. Louis. ;)

Toasted ravioli anyone?

Happy 2009! A poem in honor of new year's revelry, perhaps.

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 05:06:38 GMT

Be Drunk
by Charles Baudelaire Translated by Louis Simpson

You have to be always drunk. That's all there is to it—it's the only way. So as not to feel the horrible burden of time that breaks your back and bends you to the earth, you have to be continually drunk. But on what? Wine, poetry or virtue, as you wish. But be drunk. And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace or the green grass of a ditch, in the mournful solitude of your room, you wake again, drunkenness already diminishing or gone, ask the wind, the wave, the star, the bird, the clock, everything that is flying, everything that is groaning, everything that is rolling, everything that is singing, everything that is speaking. . .ask what time it is and wind, wave, star, bird, clock will answer you: "It is time to be drunk! So as not to be the martyred slaves of time, be drunk, be continually drunk! On wine, on poetry or on virtue as you wish."

From Mr. Richard Powers

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:12:14 GMT

‘“What is it that you need from these books? What can you learn from them?”

How can you tell him? On every urgent page, in every book born of human need, however flaccid, puerile, slight, or wrong, there is at least one sentence, one where the author is bigger than the writer, one that sheds the weight of its dead fixations and throws off the lead of its prose, one sentence that remembers the prisoner in his cell, locked away nowhere, victim of the world’s shared failure, begging for something to read.”

Richard Powers, Plowing the Dark