Category Archives: writing

Update Update and Short Story Contest

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It has come to my attention that I haven’t updated this blog in more than a month. So here’s a quick run-down. I haven’t been writing much here because I’ve been writing a lot elsewhere.

First off, Steel Toe Review is getting better all the time, publishing new work every day or two. And we are hosting our first short story contest with a $100 prize. You can see the details on the home page of the STR site. This is a themed contest. I have long had this idea that Birmingham/Red Mountain is sort of like a spaceship that landed 120 years ago in the middle of Alabama. This probably has a lot to do with my fascination with Sun Ra, but also I think Birmingham just makes a lot more sense when you think about it that way. So I’d been thinking about writing a story like this but I never got around to it. So now, here’s $100 incentive for other people to write it for me. Exciting, no?

Secondly, I’ve been writing new songs, performing, and recording. This coming Friday (March 11), my band is playing a show at the DanielDay Gallery/DreamMecca Studio in Lakeview. Our sister band Results of Adults are opening for us. There is a $10 donation at the door, which I know sounds a little steep. BUT it’s BYOB, so you will save lots of money by bringing your own beer.

New Issue of STR is Online, Sort Of

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We believe we can say that our first issue was a success both from the standpoint of the quality of material we ended up with and with the readership we acquired. However, we are making a couple of changes based on lessons learned over the past two months.

December was slow, traffic-wise, what with all the holidays and such and all the content we were not posting. To rectify this, moving forward, we are going to start taking more advantage of the blog format facilitated by the WordPress platform we are using. Instead of doing a typical “issue” every month or two as initially planned, we will begin posting content as we approve it.

For the January 2011 issue, we have already made our selections, but we will post one or two pieces every couple of days throughout the month. We will keep doing an editor’s note periodically along with a table of contents that will be updated as new work is posted, thus creating the illusion of preserving the old-fashioned print media paradigm of “issues.”

To kick off the new issue, please enjoy Brent Stauffer’s short story, “A Good Snow.”

Toot Toot

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Today was my last day tutoring at Woodlawn High School for the semester. I really only got three sessions in because the program started only this month, I was going twice a week, and one week it was canceled due to testing. Next semester I hope to be able to commit to more days. I’m only barely starting to break the ice with these kids. But today I made some noticeable progress with them.

I have four students, a girl and three boys, all tenth graders. Even though I was told what to expect, it’s kind of shocking how poor their basic spelling and grammar skills are in general. Between the handwriting and the spelling, I can’t even read what they write a lot of the time, and I have to have them read it aloud to me (I’ve also caught them more than once “reading” something they hadn’t actually written down). But three of them seem to have a genuine interest in bettering their situations and improving their chances of one day going to college. The fourth one, one of the boys, is kind of a trouble maker and so far hasn’t written a single word. We’ll call this one Bradley. On the day of our second session, I found him hiding between stacks in the library trying to avoid me. Then he “accidentally” threw his pen in the trash along with a piece of paper (on which he had written nothing but his name), and he refused to go through the trash can and retrieve it.

Sigh.

I’m trying to get them to focus on a simple expository essay about how to do a task. One boy is writing about how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Another is writing about how to cook an egg. The girl is writing about cleaning her room. I’m trying to get them to add more details each week, to describe even the most obvious steps in the process, explain the importance of the task. Have an introduction and a conclusion.

Bradley spends each session either bothering the girl sitting next to him (I will not have them sitting next to each other next semester) and claiming he can’t think of anything he knows how to do.

Me: You don’t have to do any chores at home?

Bradley: No, I got people to do that.

Me: Do you know how to cook anything, make anything, fix anything?

Bradley: No.

Me: Is there a video game you are good at?

Bradley: I don’t play games.

Me: Do you dress yourself everyday?

Bradley: My mama does that for me.

Me: Now I know you’re just being goofy. Think of something.

I tried to get them to ask and answer questions like why you would make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (because your mom isn’t home, the ingredients are in the house, it’s easy to do, and you are hungry). And the steps involved are more than just (1) get the bread (2) get the peanut butter and jelly (3) eat the sandwich. You have to open the peanut butter, spread it on the bread with a knife, etc. I said to explain it as if you are explaining it to someone from outer space who has no idea why or how this is done.

It’s hard to get them to recognize these concepts, but today I outlined it all on a dry erase board. I really felt like a teacher for the first time, and they all copied down what I wrote, even Bradley.

Technically, I should go there again on Thursday, but the kids already told me not to bother. All their classes are having end of the semester parties. They will be there, but they won’t be there. So I said fine, I’ll see them all in January.

Despite the difficulties, this feels very much like the sort of thing I’m meant to be doing right now. I’ll get more involved in the program in 2011.

STR and Tritone Represent at NOLA Bookfair

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I acquired a table at the NOLA bookfair to promote Steel Toe Review as well as my two books.

On the way down, I stopped at a Chick-fil-A in Meridian, MS because I had to attend a conference call for work. I was there for almost three hours, during which I overheard the manager discuss with several people his theories about the similarities between the U.S. today and Germany in 1939. He also refilled my drink several times, so I let it slide. Languid Christian music was playing on the p.a. I ate two chicken biscuits.

I picked up my much overqualified editorial assistant at the New Orleans airport because she was flying in from Florida. It was nothing short of miraculous that we found each other there, since I was running late, she wasn’t sure if I was coming to get her, and she is the last person on earth who doesn’t own a cell phone. But I guess since I tolerated the Lord for three hours at Chick-fil-A earlier in the day, He was looking after me.

The divine intervention didn’t end there–for example, getting back to our motel each night after the relentless debauchery and decadence that being in New Orleans seems to necessitate. Also, my assistant and I each randomly encountered people we knew but hadn’t seen in more than a decade and whom we did not know now lived in New Orleans. But I’m getting things out of order.

After checking into the charming Super 8 motel and inspecting it for bed bugs, the first stop was the official pre-party for the book fair, where Jordan Flaherty, author of Floodlines, was giving a talk about post-deluvian community organizing. Flaherty was funny and inspiring, despite the fact that I personally have very little emotional brain space at the moment to care about anything at all (cf. this and this, but I’m digressing again already).

We saw our first jazz funeral parade of the weekend as we were leaving the party. We headed down to Frenchmen Street, where the fair would be taking place the next day, drank way too much bourbon, and then called it a night.

Early the next morning (okay, about 10 am, which is early by N.O. standards), we set up our table. I had a surprising amount of interest in both the books and the literary magazine. I met several writers, whom I asked to submit to STR. I was asked to be on the radio. And my assistant and I ate shared a muffaletta that was bigger than both our heads combined.

We also saw another, much larger funeral parade, which I came to find out was in honor of the famous photographer Herman Leonard.

There was an after-party for the book fair at an undisclosed location. We were supposed to call a number after 7pm for directions. That was far too complicated for us. But we did attend the book fair-related Books & Burlesque show upstairs at Le Maison. The book theme was a stretch for several of the burlesque acts, but it was pretty entertaining. Somehow, I got roped into the audience participation segment of the show, which turned out to be a trivia game (we didn’t win, sadly).

The revelry continued after the burlesque was over, until the wee hours of the morning. Around 10 am (again, early by N.O. standards) we were awakened by what seemed to be a rocking gospel band performing just outside our motel room. Neither of us had the energy to actually get up and look out the window, so we still don’t really know what happened. But speaking of music, I forgot to mention that there was incredible music everywhere we went, more than I ever remember from my previous trips here. On every street corner, at every bar, many styles of music, expertly and joyfully performed.

When we finally managed to get up on Sunday, we met up with friends at Court of Two Sisters for their famous jazz brunch (more excellent music, not to mention amazing foodstuffs). This had to be followed by yet another nap, which was then followed by a home-cooked meal at another friend’s house.

It will require several more blog posts to fill in the details on some of these events. There are definitely stories worth telling. New Orleans never fails me in that respect.

Radio Radio

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I’m supposedly going to be on the radio in New Orleans Monday morning (about 7am Central time — remember to account for the time change). Christopher Tidmore will be interviewing me about my novel Zen, Mississippi on his morning show, which you can also listen to online right here.

I met Mr. Tidmore this afternoon at the NOLA Bookfair, about which I will write more after the weekend. He is a writer for the Louisiana Weekly who ran for the state House of Representatives here in Louisiana in 2007. He seemed intrigued by the title of my book. Perhaps he will still want to talk to me after he has actually read it.

One quick story about the book fair, because it relates to radio. I sold two books to a very nice lady who swears she heard about me on NPR yesterday, which I’m pretty sure could not possibly be true, and I even told her so, but she stuck to her story. So maybe I’m more famous than I thought.

Forty Thousand Words

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I’ve just passed the 40,000 word mark in the new novel I’m working on. My first novel ended up around 60,000 words, and I expect this one to be a bit longer, so I think I might be about halfway done. It has taken me a long time to reach this point. Some people can write 40,000 words in a few weeks. I’ve been working on this for a couple of years, and much of that has been just sketching out characters, writing plot outlines, and researching. And I’ve also put it down several times for weeks or even months at a time.

I tend to write slowly, and I do all the things you aren’t supposed to do when you are writing a book. You are supposed to just write and write and write and don’t start revising until you reach the end. You are supposed to devote time to it every day at a particular time.

I torment myself over the wording of every sentence before I type it. I’m terrible at free writing. I will revise a chapter two or three times before I start the next chapter. Especially if I’ve taken a break from the work for a while, I will start from the beginning and revise everything I’d written so far before I start adding more to it. I write every day, but sometimes that is just writing for work or writing in this blog. Some days I don’t make any headway whatsoever in the novel or in any of the short stories I might be working on.

Really, it’s amazing I get anything done at all. So I just wanted to commemorate here this little moment of victory over the written word. 40,000 words. Done. Halfway done anyway.

Send Me Stuff to Read

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I’m beginning to accept submissions for my latest project, a literary arts web magazine called Steel Toe Review. We are accepting fiction, plays, poetry, audio, and video. Basically anything interesting. Preference is given to people who live in or are connected to the Birmingham area in some way, but work from anyone anywhere will be considered if it is of high quality and fits our aesthetic model.

For the first issue, I’m mainly interested in work that has a new take on conventions associated with traditional Southern writing and art. However, submissions need not be limited to Southern themes. I hope to have the first issue out in November.

For more information see the manifesto and submission guidelines.

I Have Arrived

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About four and a half hours ago, I arrived at my parents’ house in Birmingham. I’ll be looking for my own apartment here later on this week. I expect to keep this blog more up to date from here on out. I have a LOT of creative projects that I plan to get started on now that I have no excuse not to.

The first thing on the agenda is to get the Southside Fiction Writing Workshop off the ground. I want to use my experience as a writer and workshop leader to help other people in the area to hone their fiction writing skills and also to access the parts of their subconscience that lead to inspiration. I think this is a little like group therapy, and I like that. I believe this is one of the clearest ways that I can use whatever talents I have to actually help people recognize their own potential and be better versions of themselves.

Now if I can just get a few people to sign up…

If you are in the Birmingham area, spread the word.

Other things I’d like to start here, which I’ll talk about in more detail later:

Any of my Birmingham friends that want to help out with any of these things, get in touch!

Zen, Mississippi is Available for Pre-Sale on Lulu.com

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You can buy Zen, Mississippi right now on lulu.com and have a copy in a week or so.

Buy it here: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/zen-mississippi/8076267

I’m calling this a “pre-sale” because it will be another 6-8 weeks before it will be available for general distribution. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll find it on the shelf in your local bookstore, though I’ll do what I can. What it DOES mean is that you will be able to go in your local bookstore and ask them to order it, and they should be able to easily get it for you. It will also be listed on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com and possibly other websites where books are sold.

Even then, I make a couple of dollars more if you buy it directly from lulu.com, but I’m not concerned about how much money I make. I’m concerned about the easiest way to get this book in peoples’ hands, and if ordering it from Amazon is what’s easiest for you, then that is just fine with me.