Dial tone

Tags

alone, community, disconnected, genre, mental illness, reading, tribe, writing

I’ve been in a bit of a daze lately. I’ve been feeling disconnected from the rest of the world for a while now and so often when I try to reach out, to find some common ground, I find the earth’s been salted by screeds of hate or the hands on the other side would rather push me back into the darkness. Or that there’s nothing out there that sees me enough to even push back.

I walk around in life alternately invisible to the point that people run into me with carts, skip past me in lines, stare through me and like piece of meat hung out for dogs. Drivers are either honking and licking their car windows at me or their cutting me off and merging into me because they don’t know I exist.

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Book Review: DOVE SEASON – by Johnny Shaw

Tags

desert, dove season, dying father, family, farmers, friendship, hookers, imperial valley, jimmy veeder, johnny shaw, loyalty, mexian, steinbeck

Lauren O’Brien talked me into pulling this out of my TPR pile. I managed to tip the pile, and had to crawl behind the entertainment center to retrieve a stack of book.

Totally worth it.

I’ve always liked Steinbeck. His ability to tell an entertaining story with characters who seemed real and genuine, people of the lower and struggling classes, people like those I’m related to, grew up with. People like the ones in Dove Season.

And yes, Johnny Shaw is like an extra-sweary, extra-drunk, ribald, modern-day Steinbeck. And it’s not just his down-to-earth (salt-of-the-earth even, though he pokes fun at the expression) collection of Imperial Valley residents. It’s in the descriptions, too.

Just the first few paragraphs are so delightful I think I made everyone I passed read them.

There is something about the desert that pisses everything off. 

It could be the heat. Or the barren landscape. Or the stark desolation. It doesn’t matter the why. The fact is the desert brings out the desperate worst in a thing. In an environment where nothing is meant to survive, life seethes.

In the desert even the plants have chips on their shoulders. They’re water-starved and sunburned fighters. Forced to wrestle their way through rock and earth. Cactus, yucca, and saw grass can all draw blood. No one goes to the desert to see the fall colors, mostly because those colors are an unbeautiful shade of brownish.

There are no cute calendars devoted to the creatures of the desert floor. Whether a rattlesnake or a scorpion or a centipede, under every rock some scaly, poisonous monster waits for the chance to bite the next unsuspecting ankle. Even a desert hare will take a finger off the dumbass that tries to pet it. If the desert can make a bunny that angry, imagine what it does to the people.

Jimmy Veeder has gone home to visit his dying father, maybe talk out some things they never talked about – his father’s old war stories, life before he was born and his mother died, that sort of thing. His dad? He doesn’t want flowery speeches or maudlin conversations about death. Doesn’t want to dredge up the past too much either. He’s after two things: The Big Laugh and a Mexican hooker named Yolanda.

Things don’t go well, a very funny romp across the border ensues, people die, and things get real.  Just know that finding Yolanda only causes more problems and strap in for the ride.

The structure is two-part, each with its own death and the consequences thereof, consequences that merge together like DNA to form a zygote. The novel, though, is no zygote. Fully formed, beautifully written. And funny. Touching, but really funny.

Pros: Terrifically written, well-paced, great plot, wonderfully real characters. Nuances and beer brawls…. It has a lot for almost everyone

Cons: If you have issues with beer, swearing,… if you see moral issues as clear-cut and unchanging, or you prefer reading about rich people doing fancy things, this might not be the book for you.

Bottom line: If you love story, read this book.

Review: PROTECTORS: Stories to Benefit PROTECT

Tags

abuse, anthology, bill cameron, charity, child abuse, collection, dan o'shea, fiction, glenn g. gray, joe r. lansdale, ken bruen, matthew funk, neglect, patricia abbot, Protect, protection, protectors, short stories, thomas pluck, wayne d dundee

Forty-one pieces of writing from 41 writers of crime, noir, horror, fantasy, western, and other pulpy goodness. It’s a helluva bargain and the proceeds to go toward lobbying the protection of children from abuse. That last bit is reason enough to plunk down your dollars, but that doesn’t mean you walk away empty-handed. These aren’t just fluffy pieces, churned out in a fit of charity. Some are hard to read, but it’s because they’re haunting, not for lack of grammar and spelling. I mean, you have people like Patricia Abbot and Ken Bruen involved.

As with any story collection, some are better than others. But, like anything, “better” is a subjective term so your opinion and mine may differ. That said, I’ll tell you about a few of my favorites and if you want to tell me about yours, the comments are open.

“Black Shuck” is one of the longer, if not the longest, of the stories and that gives it space to spread out, not in a blobbish way, but in a layered, atmospheric, moody sort of way that drags you deep into the holler and makes you wonder how you or anyone else will ever get out.

“Adeline” left me with all manner of whatifs, both historically and within the story, the even-if-the-plan-worked-was-it-enough sort. “Done for the Day” is about fourteen kinds of sad and desperate. I found it had almost draped over me the day I read it during lunch and had to shake it off vigorously. “Take it Like a Man” serves as a glimmer of hope in the shape of what, for a while, seems like an all-too-familiar tragedy.

“Planning for the Future” might be easier to accept as a story if I hadn’t met girls like that at work. And “A Blind Eye” is about what can happen when ignorance and meanness are met with an overtaxed system. It’s easy for people outside such systems to wonder why no one would catch the first or report the second, but people inside know how hard it is to spot the girl in Funk’s story and how easy it is to mistake something innocent for something malicious (and vice versa), such as in Gray’s tale.

To summarize or give away anything feels unfair. These stories are so compact that it feels like an injustice to let anything out of the bag. Plus, I prefer wandering blindly into short stories. If you’re not that kind of person, editor Pluck has been giving you a taste of one per day over on his Facebook page.

Pros: Most of the stories are very strong and some are by well-known names. Your favorites and mine may differ, but it’s a solid collection and it benefits and good cause.

Cons: Because of the theme, some of the stories can be a trigger for people who have suffered abuse or may be unpleasant for people who dislike reading about abuse. There’s a lot of protection and vengeance in these tales, but just the same… If, however, you feel strongly about the cause, consider giving a copy as a gift or donating to PROTECT directly.

Bottom Line: 39 stories and 2 poems for $4.99 (digital) or $15.95 (paperback) is a good deal. The fact that it goes to help a good cause? Gravy or whipped cream or bourbon — you know, whichever.

 

Bouchercon 2012

Tags

#bcon2012, bouchercon, cleveland, crime family, drinking, eating, readers, shotgun honey, travel, writers

As always, Bcon2012 was more fun than I can recap without forgetting something, someone or some important something.

I learned that Mary Higgins Clark is tiny and adorable. Also, that if you wear too-high heels it’s hard to see her down there and you might nearly kill her in the bathroom. Luckily, I stopped well short of her, so I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have a hit or restraining order out.

I learned that it’s possible to leave the lobby for lunch with 5-6 people and arrive at a restaurant as a party of 13. Yelling “Scottish Hooters” in a crowded square might be partially to blame. Being part of #sabrinasposse is mostly to blame. Related: Giant Ginger Ape is a serial massaging furry freak. Ginger Ape is a drink you can get at Todd Robinson’s bar.

I learned that Josh Stallings is not only a great guy with a big head, but loud enough not to need a microphone.

I learned Dan O’Shea’s jacket precedes him. Becomes him. Takes him on long walks by the beach.

I learned a lot about tattoos from Katrina Niidas Holm. I also learned it’s best not to cross her because she can get across a bar like a flying squirrel.

I learned about editing and beer from Tommy Pluck. I learned about coffee from Kent Gowran. I learned about bras from Christa Faust by way of Sabrina Ogden. I learned that pinstripe tights are a big hit. I also learned you can walk a long way in five-inch heels, but that crime fiction writers and fans go through a lot of ice. (If you walk that far in heels, youl’ll want to ice your old ankle injury,which is when you’ll realize there’s no ice in the hotel.)

I learned that people in Cleveland are much cleaner in their public restrooms than people in Florida — even the people in bowling alley basement bathrooms. Related, I learned that Clevelanders like to keep their bathrooms in basements at the end of dark hallways, which is creepy if you’re from a place without basements or if you work with a lot of sex offenders or if you have a mother obsessed with all the bad that can happen in the world.

I learned Holly West is charming, her husband is equally charming, Erin Mitchell is adorable, Glenn Gray is generous, Johnny Shaw is a big dude — well, #sabrinasposse is made of big dudes, in general, — Joe Myers is not the same as Joe Meyers, but he can play him on TV (not really).

I learned a lot of gossip that I dare not repeat. Mostly about the size of…

I learned Hilary Davidson packs using Harry Potter in a Tardis.

Basically, I met a lot of cool people. I hung out with a lot of cool people. I wore a lot of ridiculous shoes. I drank a lot of beer and coffee. I ate a lot of veggies. (Speaking of, The Flaming Ice Cube was AWESOME and, related, I also learned Joe Myers is Human Google Maps.)

Photos:

Scottish Hooters

#sabrinasposse walking to the Hall of Fame. I don’t know what Tommy or Mick said to Holly West, but she’s clearly amused.

Katrina Niidas Holm moderating. Hilary Davidson, Joy Castro, Robert Olen Butler, Bruce DeSilva, Hannah Denison, and Cathy Wiley round out the panel.

Cleveland

Browns Stadium. A little surprised to see it said that instead of Soda-Beer-Insurance Stadium.

#randomactsofcupcaking with Sabrina Ogden and Erin Mitchell

Dan O’Shea’s jacket reads at Noir @ The Bar.

Josh Stallings proves he’s a badass by reading from his memoir, to be published by Snubnose Press.

In Cleveland’s “warehouse district.”

Peter Farris

Josh Stallings and Sabrina Ogden

Eric Beetner as a wine-swilling giant.

Todd Robinson with a very-amused Hilary and Dan Davidson.

These two (Katrina Niidas Holm and Chris F. Holm) are much more adorable than they appear to be in this photo. Kat is also much more dangerous. Like a baby wolverine, that one.

Colin Campbell pontificating about animal “equipment” while panelists Josh Stallings, Ryan David Jahn, Jonathan Woods, and Bill Loehfelm look on.

The new Shotgun Honey crew, Joe Myers and Jen Conley.

Todd Robinson, Glenn G. Gray, and Joe Myers at breakfast.

Dan O’Shea aiming for Sabrina. Thomas Pluck is not amused.

Getting some perspective on Kent Gowran.

Book Reviews: Honesty and all that jazz…

Tags

books, dishonesty, fake, honesty, integrity, lies, reading, real, reviews, sockpuppets, writing

There’s been a lot of rabble-rousing on the internet the past week about fake reviews, paid reviews, sock-puppet shenanigans, and other unethical behavior.

All that? I lack the time today to cover this in depth and people more eloquent than me have tackled it already. So, I’ll just stick to this blog and this little mouse’s hovel of the internet.

Reviews here might be for books I bought, books I was given, or books I got through Net Galley. How I got my hands on it doesn’t affect what I say about it. No one pays me for the opinions on this blog. And I don’t review things I haven’t read.

That said, I try not to bash books here. Yes, I’m snarky, bitchy, cantankerous, and cranky in general, but not about books. If it wasn’t my thing, I’ll say so — and explain why so you can still decide if it’s for you. (We all like different things and that’s great!) If I hated it so much my only opinions are of the vitriolic type, I just won’t mention it. You’ll never know unless you know me personally and we run out of other things to say — or you ask me directly offline.

Because of all the things I lack, a strong filter seems to be the thing that most hampers me socially. Sorry.

That said, enough of this. I have books to read, stories to write, and a lot of hummus to eat.

 

To e-Read or not to e-Read

Tags

books, digital, e-publishing, e-reader, electronic, ereader, ipad, kindle, nook, publishing, reading

There’s been a lot of chatter lately about ebooks. Publishers are trying to figure out how to sell the rights (i.e. who to sell them to, exclusivity, percentages, yes or no to DRM…) and how important electronic reading is, morally and financially, in the scheme of the industry.  Authors are caught in all sorts of dilemas — possibly earning better royalties versus seeing their name printed on an actual book; how long they can live on a print versus digital backlist; whether or not they’ll even be see as legitimate by their associations (particularly, as of last June, a genre I don’t read).

Readers have their own host of quandries.  They’re trying to decide if e-readers are worth the initial cost, of if the cost of the digital copy is more or less (or even fair) compared to a new or used copy at the nearby bookseller.  If all your books are gathered in an e-reader, you’re hiding information from visitors that you might otherwise publish online to strangers. How long does the electronic copy last (are you “renting” or “buying”?) and who decides what you can do with it? Is it preferable to “beam” your favorite new author to your friend, or pass her a worn paperback?  How safe is your fancy e-reader at the beach?  How do you find out about new titles without cover art, dust jackets, and blurbs?  Do your kids need to learn to read and do they need to learn to read words on paper?  Does it cut us off even more from the Real World (if passersby, other cafe patrons, coworkers, and fellow train passengers can’t glance over to see what we’re reading and how far along we’ve gotten; if those people can’t lean over and say, “I read that last week and it was awful/awesome.” or “My daughter told me to read that; is it any good?” — And doesn’t that last query take us back to the matter of how will we find good reads without dust jackets?)  What happens to the rest of the senses if all books smell the same, feel the same?

I have a friend who’s a judge and a bit of a minimalist when it comes to what she carries.  She keeps a wallet in one pocket and her phone in the other.  She carries no purse, no makeup, no pens or scraps of paper, no matchbooks, no books.  I can’t fathom how she does it since I pull out literary journals, paperback novels, and library books out of my bag if I have to wait in line at the deli, if I have to wait in line for the copier, if I have a few minutes to spare before my friend shows up, if I’m dining alone and the people watching isn’t very good.  I keep notebooks for spare ideas and everything from fountain pens to wooden pencils in case I need to write down a note, a phone number, an idea, an observation, a grocery list, anything.  She loves her Kindle.  She can keep digital versions of her professional publications on there along with the latest novel for book club and no one around her has to be the wiser as to whether she’s pondering chases in case law or a Leon Uris plot.

An older woman at Sleuthfest carried around her Kindle and instantly bought the books of presenters that she thought sounded interesting.  She couldn’t exactly get the authors, who were sometimes sitting just feet from her, to sign her new books, though.  And she had to annouce to the authors that she’d bought their books because they couldn’t exactly see her clutching their little babies to her chest like so many other attendees.

Personally, I have a few problems with e-readers in general.  One, I can’t smell the books.  I realize that’s crazy talk, but I want my books to smell like aging paper, mold, dust, or new binding glue — even if I currently have a cold and can’t smell anything.  Two, I want my books to be lend-able.  I want to tell my friend, “Here, you have to read this.” (And, knowing the one friend, she’s going to sniff the darn thing.)  I don’t want to say, “You have to download your own copy of this thing.”  What if she hates it?  What if the file gets corrupted or expires before she gets to it?  What if she can’t afford it now, but she falls in love with it and goes on to buy the rest of the author’s backlist?  I want reminders that I haven’t read something.  I have dozens of websites bookmarked.  I rarely, if ever, get back to them.  If they’re filed away electronically, they aren’t in front of me.  I forget.  If I have a pile of unread books on my shelf from my last trip to the independent bookseller, from my trip to the Book Fair, from who knows where, I can remember to read them when I’m home sick, when I run out of money for more books, when I’m finally in the mood for <insert random genre here>, when it pops up in the queue for book club…  I like to write in books — mostly nonfiction — having little arguments with the author or reminding myself to research a point in more depth.  I like seeing how much of a book I have left, how far I’ve come, visually.  I like not encountering technical difficulties, DRM, and low memory.  I like being able to read in the tub, on the beach, in a tent, at a picnic, during a rest on a bike ride, while boating… without worrying about losing expensive equipment.   And, I like reading in the car (when someone else is driving) and I’ve discovered that reading things on my Blackberry tends to make me a bit carsick, while reading paper — whether a paperback novel or a glossy textbook that for some reason smelled like formaldehyde — doesn’t make me motion sick in the slightest.

Now, if I read a lot of professional journals that I had no interest in saving or if I read things of a very time-sensitive nature, like financial theory or the latest “Who Moved My Cheese” business bestseller that would be un-buzzworthy by the time I’d gotten to chapter two, I might see myself getting an e-reader for that purpose.  If I read a lot of self-help books, I might get myself an e-reader so people I pass wouldn’t feel sorry for me.  At the moment, though, I don’t.

Sleuthfest

Tags

books, conference, convention, crime, entertainment, fiction, mystery, novel, road trip, sleuthfest, thriller, travel

…was fun and interesting.  Because camping was very much not an option Saturday (a little before “happy hour” it was pouring rain that was cold enough to cause steam to billow off the heated pool of the Deerfield Hilton), I opted for a third day of mystery/thriller tomfoolery.

I still have a bit of an issue with mystery/thriller fiction in that it feels, oftentimes, too “entertainment” and not enough “literary.”  At the same time, if you read too much of it, a good deal of “literary” fiction starts to feel like a bunch of poor grad students trying to prove how clever they can be in a way that reminds me of the Dar Williams bit about not wanting to “be your Yoko Ono.”  I guess it’s why people started putting Red Bull in their vodka; one made them too sober and one made them too drunk.  (Although, I will not drink Red Bull, especially with vodka, so I can’t fully explain that phenomenon.)

I found this book in hopes of making mystery/thriller fiction less of a guilty pleasure and more another thing I read.  (My excuse for certain young adult fiction remains that I find it in my classroom or my co-teacher’s classroom, though sometimes it’s actually quite good and other times it’s just because a lot of the kids are reading it and they want me to join them.  I still cannot finish anything Stephanie Myers has churned out, sorry.)

I also met some very nice, interesting, warm, funny, etc. people over the weekend.  If you’re looking for something to read, might I take a moment to pimp their tomes:

Reading vs. Writing

Tags

reading, writing

I posted the reading list for 2010 as a separate page rather than a blog post because it seemed like it’d be easier to find that way (for me, for you, for the evil monkey that…).

I’ve only managed to finish two books this month.  I realize the month still isn’t over, but I haven’t decided yet if two books is a worthy investment of time or not.  I love to read.  I just wonder how often I’m reading for entertainment, escape, to study the craft, to procrastinate…  You know, all the reasons people read.

How do you know, for sure, when your time would be better spent writing than reading?  How do you identify when the reverse is true?

2009 Reading List

Tags

amazon, comics, fiction, journals, nonfiction, reading, reading list, stories

My goal for 2009, reading-wise, was to read at least one fiction and one non-fiction book each month.  As the year came closer to ending, I also was kind of hoping to hit 50 “books” or “book-like” texts by the time the ball dropped.

I also realized that for 2010, perhaps I needed a better way of organizing or catagorizing or listing or whatever. (I guess we’ll all find out what I came up with in a week when January comes to a close.)

So, for now, here’s the 2009 list:

January:
Fiction:
A Canticle for Leibowitz** by Walter M. Miller

Nonfiction:
How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill

February:
Fiction:
Until We Meet Again by Anne Schraff (bloody awful, but I needed to read it to write a quiz for a student)
Catch-22** by Joseph Heller
Weeping Susannah by Alona Kimhi (translated by Dalya Bilu for the British publication)
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe (translated by Alfred Birnbaum)

Nonfiction:
Florida: A Short History by Michael Gannon

March:
Fiction:
The Torrents of Spring by Ernest Hemingway

Nonfiction:
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness by William Styron

April:
Fiction:
Girls At War by Chinua Achebe
The Sirens of Titan** by Kurt Vonnegut (The seeds of the short story “Harrison Bergeron” are in there.)

Nonfiction:
Bless Your Heart, Tramp and Other Southern Endearments by Celia Rivenbark (Torturous, as I failed to find her brand of humor anything but shallow and painful.)

May:
Fiction:
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Angels & Demons** by Dan Brown (A good romp up until the improbable escapes and “Luke, I am your father” nonsense.)
Witness by Karen Hesse (picked it up in my classroom. It’s oddly reminiscent of Spoon River Anthology)
Tangerine by Edward Bloor (Another classroom read…it was oddly good even though it was about a seventh grader.)
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (I need to stop picking up random books in my class.)
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll’s House by Neil Gaiman (Okay, it’s a comic, but it’s more literary than that Bluford book from February.)

Nonfiction:
The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise by Michael Grunwald

June:
Fiction:
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck (Love Steinbeck)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man** by James Joyce
Backwater by Joan Baur
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (Love me some Vonnegut, too)

Nonfiction:
Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children’s Minds and What We Can Do About It by Jane Healy, Ph.D.

July:
Fiction:
Blindness** by Jose Saramago (If you can get past the punctuation and fecal matter, it’s a worthwhile read.)
Small Craft Warning by Tennessee Williams

Nonfiction:
Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie by Barbara Goldsmith (Surprisingly, there’s a love story or two in there.)

August:
Fiction:
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes (My co-teacher was doing this one with our shared classes.)
East of Eden by John Steinbeck (Awesome opus!)
Neuromancer** by William Gibson

Nonfiction:
How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster
A Moving Target by William Golding

September:
Fiction:
The Sun Also Rises** by Ernest Hemingway

Nonfiction:
Hemingway: A Biography by Jeffery Meyer

October:
Fiction:
Other Voices, Other Rooms** by Truman Capote (It helps to go into it assuming it to be a very long short story more than a “novel.”)

Nonfiction:
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America by David Hajdu

November:
Fiction:
The October Country** by Ray Bradbury
California by Amra Brooks (Fabulously bent.)
Gulfstream: South Florida’s Literary Current Vol. 25 (paper ed.) various authors
Ghosts for Jesse Jewel by Amber Frangos (storytelling poetry — excellent)
American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman

Nonfiction:
Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean by Les Standiford

December:
Fiction:
Candide** by Voltaire

Nonfiction:
Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy B. Tyson

**Book Club Picks (Note: I was at a concert during March’s meeting and I’d read the book before so I skipped that one.)

The Artifice Wish List

Tags

artifice magazine, lists, writing

…is so much better than my Amazon Wish List.

A sample:

• 4 labyrinths created using parentheses, footnotes, endnotes, etc
• 3 comics (.pdf format, please)
• 5 stories that involve pictures, not as illustrations, but as an integral part of the stories themselves
• 7 diagrams of horrible machines
• 1 story designed for easy disassembly and transport
• 1 story torn from a bookkeeping ledger
• 1 mathematical proof
• 3 stories or poems in the form of rules to an imaginary game
• 4 stories that involve giant animals in some way
• 2 poems based in whole or in part on Akira Kurosawa movies
• 3 poems or stories based on internet memes
• 3 pieces that will stump our graphic designer
• 1 ode written in code

For the rest, head over to Artifice.