Category Archives: authors

Why was Joseph Mitchell Glad Joe Gould Did Not Get Published

Posted on by under authors, books, dailies, writers

Joseph Mitchell (1909-1996) was a journalist best known for his work in the New Yorker. He also published five books, one of which is “Joe Gould’s Secret.” The book is two articles about Joe Gould, one written in 1942, the second in 1964. Reading the book one realizes why Mitchell is still revered as a great writer and journalist.

He wrote about the eccentrics in New York City and Joe Gould qualifies.

Gould, Harvard educated, was a bum, living on handouts from friends, including E.E. Cummings, Ezra Pound, and other writers and artists. They all thought Joe was working on his epic oral history that he said was well over one million words.

At the risk of giving away something about the book-you should read it anyway for the great writing and the portrait of Joe Gould- Mitchell wrote the following:

“I began to feel that it was admirable that he hadn’t (author’s italics) written it. One less book to clutter up the world, one less book to take up space and catch dust and go unread from bookstores to homes, to second-hand bookstores and junk stores and thrift shops to still other homes to still other second-hand bookstores and junk stores and thrift shops to still other homes ad infinitum.”

Yes, that is the life of a book. But though I admire Mitchell, if you love books, is it not the more the merrier. Granted there are so many writers, so many books, that it can be overwhelming with choices and certainly there are undiscovered writers you feel you would love if only you could find them. But that is the joy isn’t it. The search for writers, the search for books is an expedition and I have found many treasures at second-hand bookstores, at junk stores, at yard sales, at library sales, and thrift shops.

But Joe Gould did write something, but to learn what, you must read Mitchell’s book.

Other books by Joseph Mitchell that you can learn abut at Amazon:

Up in the Old Hotel

My Ears Are Bent

McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon

The Bottom of the Harbor

Old Mr. Flood

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Hey Kindle Readers-Want A Free e-Book

Posted on by under books, dailies, e-books

I was going to enter Writers Digest contest for self published e-Books, but there was a $110 entry fee. What?

No thanks.

But I do have the code for the free gift, so the first person who wants the free e-Book gets it. If you have a Kindle or Kindle app (free from Amazon) just write your email address in comments so I can send you the book. I will not allow email addresses to be seen publically as I will not approve comments, thus they should not be shown.

The e-Book is Loonies in the Dugout. Click above on title for synopsis. It has 2 four star reviews. Based on a true story about Charlie Faust and the 1911 New York Giants baseball team, the book is a satire on fame and celebrity and works as both baseball fiction and literary fiction.

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Are These 10 Novels The Best In History-You Decide

Posted on by under authors, books, e-books, fiction

I picked up  “The Novel 100” by Daniel S. Burt published in 2004 at a sale. I mention the date because there is a 2010 revised edition and I have not seen it, so I must stick with his 2004 list. He ranks the greatest 100 novels of all time. Like any writer of a list written by someone with integrity, Burt has the good sense to invite disagreement, going as far to say in his introduction ” If you disagree violently with some of my choices, I shall be pleased.” I advise to not get violent.

I am not going to list all 100, but stick to his top ten and give my thoughts along the way.

  1. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Burt claims it is the second best-selling book in history. Flaubert wrote in 1852 that “What is prodigious about Don Quixote is the absence of art. . .” Flaubert is a bit enamored here. Cervantes clearly has written an artistic book. Flaubert’s comments reminds me of the novelist and Beowulf scholar, John Gardner  who told our college English class that Treasure Island (not on top 100, but Honorable Mention) was not fiction, but something  else entirely, though he could not articulate exactly what he meant. I read Don Quixote decades ago and have forgotten most of it. Certainly deserves top 100, but . . Free Kindle edition here.
  2. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. I recall seeing a hardback edition in my home when growing up. I don’t think anyone in the household had read it. It was thick and intimidating for me, so I stuck to The Hardy Boys.  There is a free Kindle edition here. I just clicked the fun button, so will put it in my reading list, but there are 296 books ahead of it. Must do some weeding soon.
  3. Ulysses by James Joyce. A formerly banned book makes the list. I have a vague memory of either reading a few pages of it in College or actually trying to read it, can’t recall which, but once again a free Kindle edition. It is, I am told, a difficult read, but I believe I can handle it having much reading experience since college. While it has received much praise, D.H. Lawrence, H.G. Wells, and Virginia Woolf thought the book essentially garbage. So it must be good, being controversial and all.
  4. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. This is now the preferred title to Remembrances of Things Past., at least according to Burt. I had no idea until now, so am at a loss to know who made this decision. Keep in mind it is seven volumes. Should make good winter reading. If you begin reading this after Ulysses you are a brave soul as you risk mind and memory. A 99 cent Kindle edition is worth a try
  5. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Another book I have not read and the second Russian to make the list. Sigmund Freud said the book is ” the most significant novel ever written.” If you trust Freud then a free illustrated Kindle edition with one click.  I love clicking for free books, especially classics, and I have some catching up to do. I have read Crime and Punishment though, so I get some points.
  6. Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Time for a bit of a rant. I tried twice to read this book and both times got to a long non-fictional account of whaling that broke up the narrative flow, and I grew bored, then irritated, then gave up. A not needed sidebar and Melville, I believe, was getting paid by the word. Aha! I loved Melville’s short story Bartelby, but I guess I am not into whaling. But Amazon does offer a free Kindle edition.
  7. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. I read this, like Don Quixote, decades ago. I would like to read it again because I recall nothing. Burt said the book has elements that make it perhaps the first “modern novel”  but I think I read it because I heard there were some sex scenes. Were there? Or was that in the movie? No matter. If I read it again it will be for literary value. If there are some sex scenes, so much the better. Literary Free Kindle Edition.
  8. Middlemarch by George Eliot. For those who do not know this was the pen name for Mary Ann Evans. Full disclosure, I have not read the book. Most people prefer two of her other novels Adam Bede or The Mill on the Floss, neither of which I have read. I have read Jane Austen and the Bronte’s in College, so considering my now growing list of unread novels, Eliot will not get into my reading list. Nothing personal mind you. Could not find free book, but there is an illustrated Kindle for 99 cents.
  9. Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. I have read other works by Mann, but not Magic Mountain. Once again I can not offer my opinion, not that it would matter anyway. Burt says, ” it “is the great philosophical novel of the 20th century.” I found a study guide for the book, but no Kindle edition. Don’t know why.
  10. The Tale of the Genji by Murasaki Shikibu. This is the most interesting and intriguing book on the list. In western tradition the novel is traced back to Don Quixote in the 16th century, but Tale of the Genji was written in China in the 11th century. It was written by a woman, one that little is known about, but according to Burt, “With its realistic social setting, individualized characters, and psychological richness, the Genji is deservedly considered unprecedented and the first great novel. I could not find a free edition despite it written a millennium ago and while there are Kindle versions ranging up to 20.99 their is a 99 cent Kindle edition. If this book is everything they say it is, it moves up the line in my reading bin.

Of the top ten I have read only two books, failed at one (Moby Dick) and tasted a bit of few others. Not good for a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. But I have read 32 of the top 100. That makes me a .320 hitter, pretty good for baseball.

None of my following books made a any list, but did get some good reviews.

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Who Was Dr. John Yeoman And What He Did For Writers ?

Posted on by under authors, creative writing, e-books, fiction writers, Uncategorized

I subscribed to Dr. John Yeoman’s blog on writing for years. He died last month and I felt it time to share not only who he was, but some of his helpful blogs and his e-novels. Not only was John’s blogs helpful, written very conversational, but often with humor, and certainly intelligence.

First who he was can be found here 

Now a dozen of my favorite Dr. Yeoman blogs:

How To Shape Great Stories With Word Games

How to Plot A Story (Even If Plotting Scares You Silly)

7 Great Ways To Close A Story (and How Famous Authors Did It)

Do You Make These Six Big Mistakes With Your Writing Blog

How To Cope With Bad Feedback On Your Work

Nine Big Lies That Agents Tell You

Could This ‘Magic’ Trick Rescue Your Story

How To Sell 100,000 novels Without (Really) Trying

Three Ways (Not) To Kill Your Story In Its Cradle

Top Ten Tips For Promoting Your Book-From A Dog

How To Write A Kindle Best Seller

Five Top Tips For Being a Happy Writer

And he practiced what he preached and taught. Here is his Amazon Page. I have read “The Cunning Man” and “The Hog Lane Murders” and they are great for new writers for you can read the e-novel like you read any book, but is also has footnote markers. When you click a footnote number he shows the why and how he wrote that scene and you can learn from seeing what he is doing. Great writing tool.

Thanks John!

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Yearly Writing Goal 1,200,000 words!! Who can do this?

Posted on by under authors, books, dailies, fiction, fiction writers

There is no way I could write 1,200,000 words a year, but according to Wikipedia, the author of the best selling Perry Mason mystery novels, Erle Stanley Gardner, 1889-1970, in his early days writing for pulp magazines had a goal of just that, 1,200,000 words a year.

TIME OUT.

Lets do some math. Feel free to double check as math is not my strong suit. Let us start with 360 writing days, taking off for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mother’s Day, and two flex days. Dividing words by days I get 3,333 words per day. Assuming a 10-hour day that is 333 words per hour. I wonder if he kept a running total at his desk. Did he fall behind and do an extra few hours each day to catch up. There is no way he could do that today with Social Media and the Internet to distract him. Oh what a cut cat video!

Okay I can see 333 words an hour, but doing so ten hours a day, 360 days a year is obsessive compulsive; in other words, just plain nuts.

On the other hand, when Gardner started writing pulp fiction stories he would get three cents a word. If he wrote 1,200,000 words that comes out $36,000 a year which in those days was big money.

Now keep in mind Gardner wrote 82 Perry Mason novels as well as a series about a private detective agency Cool and Lam, another series about District Attorney Doug Selby, and used pseudonyms like AA Fair, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J Kenny, and  Charles M Green. He also wrote at least 205 short stories mostly for pulp fiction magazines, and in his spare time wrote non-fiction travel books.

According to Goodreads Gardner has 344 books listed. Were they counting reissues? I did not count them, and have no plans to do so as that would take up time needed to meet my writing goals; just short of 1,000,000 words. That’s for the next 10 years, fifteen if I take off holidays, Mondays and cat videos. If he did indeed write 344 books as well as short stories then perhaps he did reach his stated goal of 1,200,000.

I had hoped that reading about Gardner’s words goal I would get inspired to write more, to get me a kick in the pants. But the more I think of those ten hour days, I am already tired. I need a nap.

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WHY THINKING IS BAD FOR WRITERS

Posted on by under authors, books, creative writing, dailies

The following is reposted from a previous incarnation of my writing blog “The quill, the e-word, the looniness.”

Thinking is not good for writers. Thinking means analyzing what you are doing, dissecting your sentence, your paragraph, your page. Is everything you want to say there? Is it said the correct way? And are you following all the rules those creative books say you should do? Does doing this numb the mind? If you want to improve your writing, then stop thinking and just write. And here is why.

In his book “Zen in the Art of Writing” Ray Bradbury says,  “. . . the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the effort for a style; instead of leaping upon truth which is the only style worth deadfalling or tiger-trapping.”

I don’t know what Bradbury means by ‘deadfalling or ‘tiger-trapping’, but I understand what he is talking about.

Style can not be calculated. Style is how you write and that reflects who you are; a writers style comes out of his being. Don’t be who you are not. It is impossible for me to write a tragedy, a serious drama, a heart warming love story, or an inspiring story. The reason is that my sense of humor, good or bad, always finds its way into the story. I can’t help myself. That is why the titles of my first two e-novels begins with the word “‘Loonies.” It is part of my world view that there is something loony about humanity, with how we think, our actions, and so on. Whether we recognize it or not we are kind of funny in a weird way.

So I write without thinking. I write with what is coming out of my head, entering my characters mouths’ giving me the opportunity to blame them for their actions or inactions. Consider these two phrases; “He who hesitates is lost?” and “To thine own self be true?” They apply to writing. Don’t think, just let you mind flow and be who you are. I write what I write in the way I write because that is who I am. It will work for you as well. So go trap a tiger.

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Amazon could ban Hamlet ad for holding one thing

Posted on by under authors, e-books

In order to get along we abide by certain standards like ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ and if you don’t abide you go to prison or death row. There will be repercussions after all for those of you refusing to abide by the rules. And, for better or worse, we live in a politically correct society, one in which people are easily offended-and we don’t want that do we. So organizations and businesses create standards to live by, hoping people will not get offended.

Amazon has standards for us writers who publish e-books on their site and they are entitled to do so. I’m sure they review their policies from time to time, but it is interesting to read what they will allow and what they will not.

Example:  Unacceptable books • Books glorifying or promoting the use of illicit drugs, drug paraphernalia or products to beat drug tests • Books with content that is obscene, defamatory, libelous, illegal, invasive of another’s privacy, or contains hate speech • Books with content that is threatening, abusive, harassing, or that discriminate or advocate against a protected group, whether based on race, color, national origin, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age or any other category.

No complaints from this corner. But let us move on to advertising on Amazon, what you can or can’t do.

Examples: Unacceptable ad content • Books with overtly religious or spiritual content • Books that advocate a specific political ideology, advocate for or against a specific political issue, or promote a specific candidate. Objective, educational or historical political content may be accepted • Foul, vulgar, or obscene language, including censored words that indicate foul, vulgar, or obscene language • Images of human or animal abuse, mistreatment, or distress • Images or titles glorifying or promoting the use of illicit drugs, drug paraphernalia or products to beat drug tests • Images or titles that are obscene, defamatory, libelous, illegal, invasive of another’s privacy, or contain hate speech • Images or titles that may be interpreted as threatening, abusive, harassing, or that discriminate or advocate against a protected group, whether based on race, color, national origin, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age or any other category. • Provocative imagery such as blatantly sexual prurient poses or poses that may be suggestive of sexual behavior, including partial nudity, excessive cleavage, or models in lingerie, underwear, or swimwear • Violent or disturbing images or titles. This includes excessive blood, injuries, mutilations, guts, corpses, and weapons being used in a violent or threatening manner.  

Keep in mind this is about ad content and ads should be somewhat clean and respectable. But for me, it seems almost puritanical to ban ‘models in lingerie, underwear or swimwear.’ If people get upset by a woman in a swimsuit, or for that matter, a man in a swimsuit, it says something about that person, something along the lines of unhealthy repression, and though I could go into more details, I may be banned for offending repressive Puritans.

And if people wanted to press the issue they can find something in all those no-no’s in books or cover art; it all depends on how picky they want to be because reading what Amazon says is unacceptable could be everything if you look closely enough.

But it is not a battle worth fighting; none of the ads I created had anything offensive except for the cover of Silent Murder, the knife on the one cover is acceptable on my Amazon page, but is not acceptable in advertising. While it appears to be a double standard, perhaps hypocritical, at the same time both Amazon and myself win.

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I can see their point in much of what I read in Amazon’s policies that they sent me and other writers. I may not agree with everything as I think they have gone to the extreme a bit on some things. For example my favorite No-No that actually got me to chuckle was the following: Skulls and bones. We do not accept images of realistic skulls that may frighten or upset customers. We do not accept images of skulls or bones that appear in or around a grave, or as an exhumed body.

A skull? Really where does it end.

So Hamlet holding the skull in the graveyard in which Hamlet says, “Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well Horatio . . .” is now forbidden as an ad image. 

Some things are just ridiculous. 

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My lustful disease for books now has a name

Posted on by under authors, books, dailies

In my July 6th post I told how I was buried under an avalanche of books, that my purchasing was outgaining my reading by 234 books. Five days later I shared what I purchased at a recent book sale and wondered what disease I had. I was not a compulsive buyer of books, though it seems that way, but I am not. Honest.

What I discovered subsequent to that post is that a bibliophile is  a lover of books. However, a bibliophile can quench his lust in a library without buying books. No what I am is a book collector. Some people bring home stray cats and give them a home. When you consider the cost of a litter box, bowls for food and water, shots, cat food and assorted accoutrements, you are better off bringing home stray books and give them a warm home.  

Years ago I read Bernard Malamud’s “The Natural” and that book has disappeared. It may have been a runaway. I hope it has found a nice home. But I now have two copies. One is a small 1952 Dell paperback purchased because of the cover, a painting by Bill George, on the left, and a 1966 edition from Time Life, cover art by Karl Stucklin on the right, purchased because of an introduction by Robert Angell, Hall of Fame baseball writer. 

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I collect fiction, non-fiction, whatever captures my eye and my lust.

In the book “The Man who Loved Books Two Much”  by Allison Hoover Bartlett, Walter Benjamin is quoted, “Ownership is the most intimate relationship that one can have to objects. Not that they come alive in him; it is he who comes alive in them.” I must admit when purchasing books I get a bit of a high, that coming alive feeling. I love reading the copyright page where you find what edition the book is, which printing it is. I love reading the first paragraph, flipping through the pages, and of course, the cover art.

Other books about the insanity are:

A Gentle Madness by Nicholas Basbanes

To Have and To Hold by Philipp Blom

Anatomy of Bibliomania by Holbrook Jackson

Collecting: An Unruly Passion by Werner Muensterberger

If there is a cure, I don’t want to know about it. I am content.

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How to create a story-FROM WHAT?

Posted on by under authors, creative writing, dailies, fiction writers

While reading “The Curse of Beauty: The Scandalous & Tragic Life of Audrey Munson, America’s First Supermodel” I was struck by lightning, or to put it another way, a light bulb lit up over my head in a cartoon panel; in other words I had an idea.

Audrey Munson was a young woman of great beauty in the early years of the 20th century. She posed for every great sculptor of her time, not to mention painters, illustrators, and photographers. She was in high demand because during this neo-classical time before modernism became the mode of the day, she had, according to artists, the classical Greek form. She also appeared in two early silent films, appearingnude, which she frequently did posing for sculptors.,

In the book the author talked about the artists and how they would make sketches from all angles before making a clay model, then onto the actual sculpture. It dawned on me as the light bulb grew to full illumination that a writer can do the same thing, make sketches I mean.

I could in essence sketch the story before writing. So I thought I would try it for a short story that I must submit by September 1st. I have the beginning of the story, the problem that the protagonist encounters and what problems would arise with said problem and how it will end. You may think I created an outline, but I did not and this is why. It was free form, writing what came to mind without any undue thought process, one thing leading to another, thoughts, ideas within ideas, flowing from brain to fingertips, fingertips to tapping keys, and showing up in Word.doc. I wasn’t outlining by thinking, I was sketching by not thinking, coming up with a sentence here and there, more words, phrases, something to work from.

I would show you exactly what I did, but then you will have all you need to write your story from my notes, win yourself a Pulitzer, get a book deal with a New York publisher, make millions, have swimsuit models draped on your arm-or undraped if you prefer-and get you face on the cover of Writers Digest. I think you understand why I can’t share. Besides with success come problems. You will have too much money and fame, and that leads to drugs, addiction and the murder of a swimsuit model, and you spend the rest of your life in prison. So I am saving you from a life you don’t want. You’re very welcome.

So if you want to write a story, write a sentence or an idea, and then let your mind roam, writing down any thought that comes based on the sentence. Think of it as word association, but using at times more than one word. Example: Using the famous opening, “It was a dark and stormy night”-dark-power outage in the neighborhood-what kind of storm-rain? Meteor? Sand? Maybe a rainstorm in a desert-what is going wrong with the climate- a climatologist is in danger-is it the apocalypse? Well you get the idea. Let you mind go crazy and create a sketch of ideas to build your story on.

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Why telling a story around a campfire makes you a writer

Posted on by under authors, creative writing

I was looking at some of my blogs from a previous incarnation and ran across this post and thought I would share it.

I have no illusions about my writing. I am not a great writer, though if you want to disagree I shall not object. Like most Indie authors who write e-novels and short stories, I have flaws. But I have read novels from writers who have an actual publisher and agent, and I wonder how they got published.

I contend that writing advice is often more analytical after the fact. What I mean is that the advice about structure and plot usually give examples to dissect, to show how it was done. That is fine, but how many writers actually sit down and write a structural outline, with character arcs, denouements, epiphanies, and other literary  analytics.

Of course there are writers that do and my congratulations to all of you, but it seems backward. If you have sat around a campfire and told a story, you are actually writing as you speak. The story you tell has its own built in structure, its own twist, its own climax. When you sit down at the keyboard, instead of keeping all that advice in your mind; advice that can clutter, confuse and cause writer insanity, consider telling a story by narrating in your mind.

Imagine you are telling a story. Listen to your voice, forget grammar, forget everything and just tell your story.  You don’t need long, complex sentences with heavy use of adverbs and colorful description. Trying to impress will backfire. When you hear the phrase ‘a writer’s voice’ it is more than writers style and technique; it can also have something to do with how the author speaks with his voice.

In a good documentary film the narrator can captivate you with his words as he tells the story. That is what story telling is. Narration. You can even speak your words aloud as you pound out keystrokes. I don’t because I am already nuts, but I do listen to my words as I type. I narrate a story (Including dialogue of course). I don’t write it.

I bet you can do the same.

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