http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net Tribe.net. Local Connections http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/4a88172f-c9f9-45cd-adcd-11accba14a29#cd967ffd-242c-4945-b32f-430ddc583595 Rachel Baker at Old Musty Books writes, "If you are looking for something different with a great story line, I would suggest reading these books. They are very well written and draw the reader into the story, possibly against their will." My blog entry has the details: http://deviationstrilogy.blogspot.com/2009/06/thank-yous.html Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:23:56 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/4a88172f-c9f9-45cd-adcd-11accba14a29#cd967ffd-242c-4945-b32f-430ddc583595 Elissa 2009-06-24T22:23:56Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6ae0ea2c-c931-4888-b787-9d1787d49319#5c2560bf-4a3a-4015-b41e-177bb1f67e78 Very nice poem, Jon. A moving tribute. The emotions come through plaintively. Clever use of the gem stones, a symbol of your father's profession, as a a metaphor for emotional value. I have a feeling your father would be proud. It was nice of you to share your story of your two fathers on the day dedicated to the celebration of fathers. You were very lucky to have not one but two fathers who were such an important part of your life. Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:04:18 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6ae0ea2c-c931-4888-b787-9d1787d49319#5c2560bf-4a3a-4015-b41e-177bb1f67e78 Celestia 2009-06-22T16:04:18Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6ae0ea2c-c931-4888-b787-9d1787d49319#d532db6f-1ab6-450c-bdce-a3ff5f0f5fb4 well, in my case, two...my father and my step-father. I was raised by both. My mother remarried when I was only five. My father passed in 2000, my step-father in 2004. here's a poem I wrote for my father, based on how I think he viewed the birth of my brother (his first child): My World There I was, walking through the world, unknowing and unknown. And there I was, walking through the world, unknowing and unknown, and lost. It was, a windy day, As many days are windy days in New York City, in the 1950's, in the jewelry district. And I was walking through the world, unknowing and unknown, and all I had was nothing, and I was walking through the world, and it was a stark and cold and windy day. And there were many days, and many years, and many decades, walking through and seeking and grasping and wishing, and hoping and unknowing and unknown. And I was seeking and grasping, and walking through the world, unknowing and unknown. And then, it happened, You were born, gentle as a new lamb, beautiful beyond any gemstone I had ever seen. And my days of lost wandering, so quickly gone, my world, my treasure, my all, my purpose, you were my everything, gentle as a new lamb. The world found its center, the world found its meaning, and I was home, and I, at last, was home. And through the years I treasured you, wishing I could give you, everything and anything, and my all, if I even had that to give. My son, I am sorry that I must go, I love you and will always love you, my dear, dear son. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ My father was an interesting guy. Brilliant, jewelry designer. Classic depressive, (like me, apparently). Didn't tolerate any limitations very well...a big fan of the greats...whether it was Picasso, Beethoven, Shakespeare. He taught me a love of quality. Step-dad was a trip. Real character. Very funny. Life of the party kind of guy...gregarious, giving....also, well, pretty much a professionally talented gambler. Ran crap games at Fort Dix during WWII. When I got arrested in an anti-nuke protest in NYC in '79, I was afraid to tell Dad where I was. So I asked him to pick me up at 100 Center Street (the address of the jail). He goes, "100 Center St., eh?" knowing full well what it was. Then he told me the story. He was in a crap game. The whole game got arrested and put in a holding cell (at 100 Center Street). They were all completely bored. So, what did Dad and his buddies do? They bribed the guard for a pair of dice and kept the game going in the cell! Gotta love it.... They both taught me tons, were extremely caring and nice to me. I owe them both so so so so much. Rest in peace, Dads.....God grant you his rest and blessings. Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:48:39 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6ae0ea2c-c931-4888-b787-9d1787d49319#d532db6f-1ab6-450c-bdce-a3ff5f0f5fb4 Jon 2009-06-22T14:48:39Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#f4e26a7a-2757-4288-a9ce-1bf70edbb9b0 Yah, there's not too much going on in the real world scene in my town, but this is a good idea too. Cheers Jon Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:44:30 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#f4e26a7a-2757-4288-a9ce-1bf70edbb9b0 niki 2009-06-22T03:44:30Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#bf51ecd9-13b1-48b1-aaaf-d9ab04170619 for now, you might just want to join some writer's groups in the real world, start interacting with other writers dealing with similar issues. Many writer's groups contain folks who have published and those who have not. It is a nice mix, you can learn what to do if you want to try to climb that ladder...and where you want to fit into the whole scheme. Selling work is very much a job, complete with politics and the hustle. If you are writing for your heart and soul, you have to find out how to preserve that purity, while seeking to get published. I don't think there are going to be any easy answers in that realm. best of luck, Jon Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:58:01 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#bf51ecd9-13b1-48b1-aaaf-d9ab04170619 Jon 2009-06-21T19:58:01Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#c75e5eb6-8092-41a8-a4d7-b78c1387cc3b You're welcome. If you're at all serious about getting your work published, finding an agent is a *must*. I have never heard of anyone getting a work like a collection or a novel published without an agent, except in the case of some who self-publish via the internet. But that is not easy to do, and you have to know exactly what you're doing to get anywhere w/ that. You are wasting your time and energy if you plan on sending manuscripts in directly to a publisher. if you're going to put in the time and expense, you may as well shop around for an agent. If you try one agent and get rebuffed, keep looking. There are thousands of them. Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:35:10 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#c75e5eb6-8092-41a8-a4d7-b78c1387cc3b Celestia 2009-06-21T00:35:10Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#95ef17c1-85b9-46d0-abcd-b54c84f571d9 thanks for the feedback. i've never considered an agent, despite knowing how difficult the industry is to manuver. I'll look into it more, thanks all! <3 Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:35:19 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#95ef17c1-85b9-46d0-abcd-b54c84f571d9 niki 2009-06-20T20:35:19Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#cde469fa-b327-434f-9fcf-74cb3d8b2e79 oh yeah, absolutely, an agent is always the way to go. soliciting some publication cold is very very very difficult way to get in. usually you have to network with other writers, know people who know people...or your stuff doesn't even get read... but it is not all doom and gloom, you just have to write, get a few things published...and then as people become familiar with your writing, it becomes easier... Sat, 20 Jun 2009 02:01:50 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#cde469fa-b327-434f-9fcf-74cb3d8b2e79 Jon 2009-06-20T02:01:50Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/ca64fc18-6232-4254-aee7-cc096cc905e0#b90645c8-886d-4d90-9b50-fa70502efcc2 *Pansies A deer broke through the border bushes of my garden at dawn and made breakfast of my pansies. Before I scared her off banging on a pot, she stared me down and I saw my soul in her frightened, haunted eyes— pleading for a pardon— a reprieve from execution— for understanding—to be left her dignity. It was a reflection in forest ponds black as onyx, clear and still as vanquished steel, I saw an identical twin from a parallel universe where my life could have been, riding away on a unicycle— a fast-peddling clown in oversized shoes, an obsolete circus act from a childhood memory, faded like the sun-blanched wallpaper of my sitting room where you enter stealthily through the unlocked door to the garden and cross the floor with noiseless steps, the clicking heartbeat of the old clock resting on the mantel next to the granite bust of my hero Dostoevsky is the only sound to stir the room where I snooze in a chair after waiting up for you. You drop a feather kiss on my forehead and like the heat of a house fire I feel approaching before I see the swirls of Cimmerian clouds curl around me, come to consume me, I know you are there. Looming above me like a hummingbird suspended from invisible threads ready to make a succulent meal of garden nectar you appear an apparitional vision of a dream and I whisper, “Are you real?” In answer, you lead me to bed, our clothes are shed like molting skin, our sweat stains the sheets ripped from the mattress, our legs and arms entangle in a helicoid pretzel, the chemical fountains of our loins surge in concert, a rush of botanical fluids burst from pistil glands; you kiss my throat and sigh. In the kitchen, I make us tea and blot your scratches with cognac-- you hold an ice cube to my swollen, bitten lip and say you’re sorry. “Don’t leave me again—I will die without you!” I want to plead like the mirrored eyes of the deer that held me in its ephemeral stare that morning. But you won’t hear because you’ve already gone, vanished out the back way while I slept, imperceptibly as the morning mist from my garden, leaving me only your marshy seed, still inside me. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:31:34 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/ca64fc18-6232-4254-aee7-cc096cc905e0#b90645c8-886d-4d90-9b50-fa70502efcc2 Celestia 2009-06-19T22:31:34Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#f974a8b1-422c-407f-ba6b-2c6a4b593327 I may have a name for you. Give me a day or so, and I'll do some research on it. A friend of mine from college had a collection of short stories published several years ago. Her husband had a friend who knew a book reviewer at a magazine in New York City. He had a link to an agent with an excellent track record, and an interest in collections of short fiction. The agent loved her work, and he found a publisher--a respected commercial house in NYC. I don't think she made much money on it, but she did get published, and it opened a lot of doors for her. I don't know how good your work is, but if you have completed a project and you feel good about it, at the very least, you ought to have a professional with reliable judgment review it for its possibilities. This was about 10 years ago, though, so I can't be sure the information is still current. But I can try. p.s./for publishing creative work like yours, it's always best to go through an agent. I've been told that, with rare exception, none of the reputable publishers accept unsolicited submissions. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:27:39 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#f974a8b1-422c-407f-ba6b-2c6a4b593327 Celestia 2009-06-19T22:27:39Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#dd5ff2ac-0bfd-444d-a5d7-5d267a73fdd0 not offhand maybe you could do some kind search through old Writer's Digest magazines...maybe there would be an article in there... or just connect with a general fiction writer's group, in the real world...maybe some folks there could help you congrats on the project! best of luck Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:50:00 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#dd5ff2ac-0bfd-444d-a5d7-5d267a73fdd0 Jon 2009-06-19T20:50:00Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#1d590eb2-f8ae-434d-99b5-4beaf99e183d anyone know anything about finding publisher's for short collections, like 5 stories @ 75 pages total? genre: satire, graphic novel, ficiton Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:28:21 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/b076fbdb-3839-4e5d-8d42-e2862795c6cc#1d590eb2-f8ae-434d-99b5-4beaf99e183d niki 2009-06-19T03:28:21Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/ca64fc18-6232-4254-aee7-cc096cc905e0#62ebe052-c0dd-4d21-8b5f-e9c85bce11e2 nice images, thanks for sharing Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:21:56 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/ca64fc18-6232-4254-aee7-cc096cc905e0#62ebe052-c0dd-4d21-8b5f-e9c85bce11e2 Jon 2009-06-13T03:21:56Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/ca64fc18-6232-4254-aee7-cc096cc905e0#491a10b5-ee4d-4ff4-8cdf-1038c7ecab45 Here is something of mine: *Firewood Gathering firewood in the field behind the house twigs blackened and stiff as charred matchsticks grasped in chubby mittens the crows scold, scatter brightly, fiercely, deathly, louder than their raucous laughter sharper than eyes that burn from heatless light the children’s boots punch holes through a plaster-meringue floor tinged Arctic-blue with cold as Grandma’s fist hits hard into bundled dough for bread Grandpa cracking walnuts at the kitchen table swallowed in a lumpy sweater of ash-tone the collected sticks crumbling hot in the woodstove Careful, meticulous, they pick out the shattered fragments of shell scarring the pock-marked face of an ancient, splintered bowl, a relic from another day. He conducts an orchestra of fingers that move and glide through air like silent violins that fear the night. Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:13:18 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/ca64fc18-6232-4254-aee7-cc096cc905e0#491a10b5-ee4d-4ff4-8cdf-1038c7ecab45 Celestia 2009-06-12T17:13:18Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/0bb4b434-33c6-4cb6-b498-05f99cd92242#1189197b-78be-4a86-9c52-a53090810d79 Gorgeous images. Thanks! Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:37:03 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/0bb4b434-33c6-4cb6-b498-05f99cd92242#1189197b-78be-4a86-9c52-a53090810d79 Elissa 2009-06-12T05:37:03Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/0bb4b434-33c6-4cb6-b498-05f99cd92242#e8c48b39-00b2-4958-9ec7-51aaac290189 so glad you enjoyed it! (me too!) here's a neat picture: a National Geographic photography spread - includes a photo of the trail that Zen haiku poet Basho took around Japan... http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/02/bashos-trail/yamashita-photography Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:43:48 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/0bb4b434-33c6-4cb6-b498-05f99cd92242#e8c48b39-00b2-4958-9ec7-51aaac290189 Jon 2009-06-12T02:43:48Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/0bb4b434-33c6-4cb6-b498-05f99cd92242#167e63b8-4c8f-40cc-80f7-eb0a2da4177c Jon, this is so cool! Reading down the page is a meditation in itself. Thanks for this. In a way, it makes me think of the film 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould. Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:35:28 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/0bb4b434-33c6-4cb6-b498-05f99cd92242#167e63b8-4c8f-40cc-80f7-eb0a2da4177c Elissa 2009-06-10T17:35:28Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/0bb4b434-33c6-4cb6-b498-05f99cd92242#e0b2c843-e5d3-445f-b956-93208732352c Thought folks might get a kick out of this website: http://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/basho-frog.htm It has 31 different translations of one of Basho's haikus. The range is so big, between the various pieces...you can hardly recognize them as being the same poem. I guess the only way to truly tell is study Japanese! take care, Jon Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:01:11 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/0bb4b434-33c6-4cb6-b498-05f99cd92242#e0b2c843-e5d3-445f-b956-93208732352c Jon 2009-06-10T10:01:11Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6ae0ea2c-c931-4888-b787-9d1787d49319#7bfc1c85-257c-47e0-baca-1598e078266a thanks so much photo is really so great (and not my shot) - all I really had to do was read the ingredients to a box of cereal and it still would have been great... Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:47:32 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6ae0ea2c-c931-4888-b787-9d1787d49319#7bfc1c85-257c-47e0-baca-1598e078266a Jon 2009-06-10T09:47:32Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6ae0ea2c-c931-4888-b787-9d1787d49319#2d940a3c-8a1b-4e84-93ca-06dd0ed1afb3 Forgot...I meant to add I love your photograph too of the lightening bolt to go with your haiku. Perfect! Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:21:06 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6ae0ea2c-c931-4888-b787-9d1787d49319#2d940a3c-8a1b-4e84-93ca-06dd0ed1afb3 Celestia 2009-06-09T15:21:06Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6ae0ea2c-c931-4888-b787-9d1787d49319#5df22206-4215-4e14-846c-0c56e76d444b Jon, I love your poetry! What beautiful, inspired, sensuous work. I bow before you humbled, grateful for you sharing your words with the world. Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:19:56 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6ae0ea2c-c931-4888-b787-9d1787d49319#5df22206-4215-4e14-846c-0c56e76d444b Celestia 2009-06-09T15:19:56Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6ae0ea2c-c931-4888-b787-9d1787d49319#12c0944a-3ac5-41eb-a211-ddd1d99fdecc Blue Line Heralds Speak Etching Pieces Of The Sky Lightning Sky Batik (with photo below) http://www.moonraker.com.au/techni/lightning.jpg Sun, 07 Jun 2009 04:20:23 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6ae0ea2c-c931-4888-b787-9d1787d49319#12c0944a-3ac5-41eb-a211-ddd1d99fdecc Jon 2009-06-07T04:20:23Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6f828726-ca0b-4bc7-912f-c2fd373880b2#27ca81fb-f7ea-426c-bd9d-d6a07c70c7b8 HI everyone, I'm disseminating this nice interview with Natalie Goldberg ( plus Greg Levoy & Miriam Sagan) and I thought that it could be interesting to post it in this tribe... ; ) warm greetings Zorro Interview with Natalie Goldberg: "Life is detail" http://www.futureprimitive.org/interviews/156 ...also: Interview with Gregg Levoy Gregg Levoy is the author of Callings: Finding and Following An Authentic Life and This Business of Writing (Writer’s Digest Books). He has written for the New York Times Magazine, Washington Post, Omni, Psychology Today, American Health, Reader’s Digest, New Age Journal, and many others, as well as for corporate, promotional and television projects. A former adjunct professor of journalism at the University of New Mexico, and former columnist and reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer and USA Today, he is the recipient of a 1st-Place writing award from the Associated Press, and a Genesis Award for "Outstanding Newspaper Commentary" for a New York Times Magazine essay. http://www.futureprimitive.org/interviews/138 Interview with Miriam Sagan Miriam Sagan is the author of over twenty books, including a memoir, Searching for a Mustard Seed : A Young Widow’s Unconventional Story (Winner best Memoir from Independent Publishers, 2004). Her poetry includes Rag Trade, The Widow’s Coat), and The Art of Love. Sagan directs the creative writing program at Santa Fe Community College, and has taught at the College of Santa Fe, University of New Mexico, Taos Institute of the Arts, Aspen Writer’s Conference, around the country, and on line for writers.com and UCLA Extension. She has held residency grants at Yaddo and MacDowell, and is the recipient of a grant from The Barbara Deming Foundation/Money for Women and a Lannan Foundation Marfa Residency. http://www.futureprimitive.org/interviews/120 Thu, 21 May 2009 21:14:21 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/6f828726-ca0b-4bc7-912f-c2fd373880b2#27ca81fb-f7ea-426c-bd9d-d6a07c70c7b8 Zorro 2009-05-21T21:14:21Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/019314ff-d27a-405e-addd-664fca8f4efb#244cef2b-10b4-4a39-a062-39c78a8241cf Thanks, Jon! I grew up in Brooklyn, so Coney Island was like a home away from home when I was a kid. My high school was one subway stop away. For me, the first day of summer was the day I could look out the train window and see the Wonder Wheel turning again. Congratulations to your friend, too! What lit mag is it? Thu, 21 May 2009 17:02:21 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/019314ff-d27a-405e-addd-664fca8f4efb#244cef2b-10b4-4a39-a062-39c78a8241cf Elissa 2009-05-21T17:02:21Z http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/019314ff-d27a-405e-addd-664fca8f4efb#18c0d89f-e039-4224-872f-f8d168252674 Congrats! My friend has a literary magazine. They did this one issue all on the Coney Island amusement park in NYC. It won a national award. It was such a great combination of photographic art and interesting writing on that one theme. I love it when it all comes together like that... you know, like a haiku...the magazine itself just becomes this integrally perfect little moment. Wed, 20 May 2009 11:09:29 GMT http://CreativeWriting.tribe.net/thread/019314ff-d27a-405e-addd-664fca8f4efb#18c0d89f-e039-4224-872f-f8d168252674 Jon 2009-05-20T11:09:29Z