Reading Local asked a few other writers to contribute a piece for their re-launching this Summer.
My piece on the theme is now out. It’s a strange little cubicle-landia, ad-agency piece, entitled “Launch Night at Dante’s Ad Agency“, and in the spirit of James Frey, that pretty much happened to me exactly.
My fellow writing-group member Karen Munro had her piece on the same theme (though a different sort of launch) come out last week. It’s called ‘Flight Suit‘, and it’s a great piece. Check it out.
Sherwood Nation, in green and heavily commented. I’d like to think that this book I began writing in earnest in January 2010 in Brazil is nearing completion, 19 months later, as the sun finally begins to shine in Portland.
Phew.
I’ll be reading a new piece at the Hugo House on November 20th under the theme of ‘visiting hours’.
The poet Elizabeth Austen, actor Matt Smith, and musician Molly Rose will also be performing.
The Hugo House has an interview with me here.
I’m taking some fun risks and building some software specifically for the reading, just to really push the ‘how many things can fail at once’ potential as high as it can go. I’m enormously enthusiastic about the project at the moment.
The next day I’ll be teaching a class at the Hugo House, and then immediately after that I will be doing this:
Where I’ll be for several months. First to go to the wedding of my brother-in-law (yay Mark & Tati!) and then to work on a book (yay!).
If you have any Brazil advice, stories, places to see, people to meet — I’d love to hear it.
In which James Patterson got a 17 book deal with Little, Brown and Co. If I’m reading that correctly, all of those books need to be written by 2012 which is a scant two years and some change away.
Wow.
I remember getting a quantity vs. quality lecture from a family friend when I was about 8 years old. At the time, I think it was an argument about whether to eat at Dick’s Drive-in or not. His argument at the time was to favor quantity over quality (he was 16), and it made perfect sense to my 8-year old brain. Not that I’m comparing James Patterson to Dick’s Drive-in. I think their burgers were 49 cents each. It didn’t say how much James Patterson will get for his deal.
James said: “I love writing stories.”
Phew! (wipes brow), good thing. Otherwise, that’d be a nightmarish job. His books average around 400 pages, so for the math-inclined: (400 pages * 300 words/page * 17 books) / 2.5 years = a bafuckzillion.
I’m definitely going to be asking Small Beer Press for a 17 book deal. Guys? How about we ease-in slow with a six pack?
Today is launch day for a book I’ve been quite excited to read — written by friend (and editor!) Jedediah Berry (seen looking entirely the wrong direction in this photo):
There are a number of reasons why this promises to be a most excellent book, not the least of which is: the lead character is a bicyclist who rides with his umbrella! While Jed lives in Northampton, this book was obviously written for bikey, rainy Portland.
Hannah Tinti, author of The Good Thief said:
“Jedediah Berry knows magic. The Manual of Detection combines the intricacy and thoughtfulness of Borges and Kafka with the page-turning excitement of a detective thriller. . . . It made me laugh, thrill, think, and wonder.”
A publisher who did not publish the book, the curiously named ‘Small Beer Press‘ – is hosting a mystery contest to win signed copies of the book. I’ll be picking mine up tonight at Powell’s Books (I’m going to see TC Boyle read – see you there?). Here’s The Manual of Detection at Powell’s.
So Coen and I were daydreaming about what would make the perfect story — a story we wanted to be told right then — and we both came to the realization that there was one subject that a writer just couldn’t fail at, and that’s Cats Driving Cars. Whenever you’ve got cats driving cars you’ve got a successful foundation for a story.
So we went looking for examples and found this.
Hmm.. Now I love Richard Scarry as much as the next guy, but this isn’t doing it.
It was then we realized the last essential piece of the success of a Cats Driving Cars story. It can’t be just any cat. This has got to be a cat who is at the very least aloof. More likely it’s pissed-off, mean, mischievous, has a nasty habit, or is just downright insane. Dr. Seuss understood this:
Here’s the pissed-off cat variation:
There are a number of variations that also work. Mice on motorcycles, if they’re badasses:
While there’s no vehicle involved, traveling dogs with suitcases and insatiable appetites work:
Mischievous cats on cross country skis also work:
Even Ducks on Bikes get there. In the last frame of this book below, duck ambitiously eyes a tractor with a touch of megalomania.
I told my friends David and Lucie this about our theories and they pointed me to Bjork’s video in which she is married to a cat:
Although it gets a little weird for me at the 4:40 mark, I think it’s right on until then.
I’d love to fill out our library (childrens or otherwise) with the Cats Driving Cars genre and its sub categories, let me know if you have any suggestions.
