M. David Hornbuckle

Author: mdavidhornbuckle

  • Reunion Day 1

    When I was in Dothan briefly in December, I didn’t have a lot of time to explore around my old haunts downtown. Twenty years ago, Mrs. Boomer’s and Poplar Head Pub were the only two hangout spots in all of downtown Dothan. Back then, downtown was mostly empty abandoned buildings and a handful of old wig shops and ghetto clothing stores that would soon be abandoned as well. I always lamented the slow asphyxiation of downtown, and just as I was moving away for college, I considered the demolition of the building that housed the Book & Art shop, where I had worked that summer, the final death knell.

    Now there’s a parking lot there. and dutifully, that’s where I left my car. I was glad to see that at least a couple of blocks of Foster Street have been drastically revitalized with a good selection of restaurants, bars, and shops. In December, I had also visited R.J. Saxon’s, the restaurant/bar that replaced the old Mrs. Boomer’s. Since I knew they had decent food, I met a couple of friends there for dinner. In addition, and not entirely surprisingly my old friend Tena was there with her husband and some other folks. We left just as the one-man acoustic cover band was getting started and walked three blocks (incidentally, the waitress at R.J.Saxon’s discouraged us from walking this distance, which all in our party found quite funny) down to Open Mic’s, a bar run by another high school friend Jay Heisler.

    This is a really great concept bar. There is a stage with full band equipment always set up, and anybody can essentially get up and perform at any time. Someone takes the stage, and the bartender turns off the house music. And if the performance isn’t working, the person will be asked to leave the stage before too long and give someone else a chance. I played one song and promised to come back later to play a few more after the main event.

    Finally, I headed over to District, conveniently located halfway between R.J Saxon’s and Open Mic’s. A cover band played in one room while 80s techno blasted in the next room. I shook hands with some people I didn’t recognize and with others who didn’t recognize me. It was especially good to see Wes Enfinger and Tim Metcalf (who wasn’t in my class, but showed up just to hang out with me–thanks Tim!). Of course, it was interesting to see who had changed a lot and who hadn’t, all that typical high school reunion stuff.

  • A Writers Round Table?

    Ever since I rolled into town a few days ago, I’ve been trying to meet up with various people to involve them in my nefarious art plans. One such person sent me a rather embittered email late last night that included this sentence: “there are some good folks around, but most of the bham writers that are worth anything stay hidden because of the lack of support for good work while mediocrity gets the highest of praises.”

    Well, Birmingham writers. It’s time to come out of hiding. My initial plan for the Southside Fiction Writing Workshop was to be a traditional workshop where 4-8 beginner writers would come to me to help hone their craft. But it can also be a sort of roving salon where more established writers meet and talk about the things that are challenging them. It can be a way for creative people to exchange ideas and encourage one another to do awesome things.

    Among a lot of the people I know, this is basically what happens by default when we just hang out. I was having dinner last night with a bass player I know, and we spent a couple of hours plotting out how we’re going to start three different bands with distinct agendas and take over the Birmingham music scene. And it ended with a lot of specific ideas about who to try and recruit and real logistics of how this thing is going to happen. What we need though is something that is more organized and has outreach, that goes beyond barroom talk.

    I don’t think this person’s complaint is symptomatic of Birmingham writers in particular. Mediocrity wins out in almost every form of entertainment, everywhere. If you want to do something serious, you have to try harder and you have to expect to be ignored by most people. It’s the same way in Manhattan. It’s just that fraction of a percent of people that are interested amounts to a little more because it’s a bigger pool you are drawing from.

    However, Birmingham’s smaller size can be a strength because the “scene” need not be splintered the way it is in New York and other large cities.  It can be more inclusive, and in fact, it has to be. Otherwise, as the person who wrote to me last night said, “get used to reading in front of a mirror and your dog.”

    So this is a call to all serious writers and artists and performers who feel they are doing contemporary, cutting-edge work that challenges mediocrity and the mainstream. Take up your arms. We are going to make some shit happen around here.

  • Culture Shock

    Everybody keeps telling me I’m in for “culture shock” after moving back to Birmingham from New York City. That isn’t quite the right phrase though, since I have a pretty good idea of what cultural differences to expect. After all, I’ve spent far more of my life so far in Alabama than in New York. Sure, I will drive my car more, and it will be easier to find parking when I do. Sure, political attitudes tend to be different, and I expect that will challenge me to be more politically active, like I was in high school and college.

    Other than those things, I plan to surround myself with the same types of artists and weirdos with whom I surrounded myself in New York, which should keep me a little insulated from this “culture shock” people are talking about. There is a thriving and active creative community here, and if anything, it’s more accessible than such communities in NYC. I don’t expect I will get bored.

    On a similar note, there isn’t as much to do on a given night here. In New York, there was so much to do all the time, I often didn’t do anything. There were a lot of things I missed because they were prohibitively expensive or because my time was already spoken for. Here, I’ll have fewer choices, but I think I will probably actually DO a lot more stuff.

    What else? The college football worship? Pretty easy for me to ignore, though I continue to find it amusing when dudes wear their Crimson Tide golf shirts to nice restaurants. Hunting and fishing culture never bothered me, and maybe I’ll have some chances to eat fresh venison from time to time. Maybe people are talking about racism. I saw more overt racism playing out on the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn than I’ve ever experienced in the South. Yes, there are still old school racists here, but it’s rare for me to come across them these days in public.

    And need I mention, for the umpteenth time, how delicious Chick-fil-a is?

  • Day 2: Rambling

    On day number two in Birmingham, I’ve mostly been encumbered by day-job responsibilities and other administrative things like figuring out how to get my car registered here, etc. I have already eaten Waffle House and Chick-fil-a in my first 24 hours here. Clearly I can’t keep up those kinds of eating habits regularly, but I wanted to get that shit out of the way so I wouldn’t get obsessed about it (he says as he remembers to take his cholesterol pill).

    Through Facebook (to beat a familiar drum), I’m discovering, or rediscovering, that all the social scenes here are inextricably linked and people I know from one part of my life are all connected to people in other parts of my life, and a lot of people in Birmingham are connected to people I know in New York in ways that I never knew or expected. I’m hoping that will make it easier to get people involved in all my various schemes and shenanigans.

    Speaking of which, anybody know any really good horn players in Birmingham? I’m ready to start getting Dixieland Space Orchestra 2.0 together.

  • I Have Arrived

    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!

  • On Sale!

    Get it while it’s hot. I don’t know how long these sales will last, but I see this morning that my novel Zen, Mississippi is 28% off at Amazon and 10% off on Barnes & Noble’s website. In case you are wondering, these low prices do not affect my royalties. The discount comes from the bookseller’s cut. So if you haven’t bought your copy already and were planning to, there’s no better time than right now to do so.

    If you prefer to buy the book from your local bookstore, they should be able to order it for you. It will help if they have the ISBN number, which is 0615343112.

  • Zen, Mississippi is Now on Amazon

    My new novel finally showed up on Amazon this morning.

    http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Mississippi-M-David-Hornbuckle/dp/0615343112/

    This means it should be available for general distribution now, so you should be able to walk into any bookstore in the world and ask them to order it. Please do so.

    Also, if you have already read the book, please please please post a review on Amazon. I would very much appreciate it and will buy you a drink next time I see you in return.

    So it’s officially a book now. Woohoo!

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

    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.

  • Save the Date: Book Release Party May 13 at Lolita Bar

    I’m planning to have a book release party at Lolita Bar (266 Broome Street) on May 13 at 7pm.

    I will read a little from the book, play a little music, and have some friends play a little music. Of course, copies of my book(s) will be available for sale and signing. But mostly I just want to have a party and hang out.

    Lolita Bar has happy hour specials until 8, so get there early. I’ll post more information about this event as the date gets closer.

  • The Cover

    The cover of Zen, Mississippi, as well as all the interior design, was done by the multi-talented Marie Mundaca. She also designed my first book, as well as some books by famous people like David Foster Wallace.