Which Way Do I Go?

Navigating your way through a novel as you write it can be a tough course to plot. The seas can get rough out there on the white ocean of the blank page. There are all kinds of traps lurking to pull you down in the undertow or set you sailing for the wrong shores.

There are always several critical junctures in the first draft process where as an author you must choose a path. The way you go at that moment will then set your course for the next thick chunk of pages. No amount of outlining or pre-thought will prevent you from making the wrong choice every now and then. How will you know it's wrong? Because will lead you toward a dead end. The tricky part then becomes finding out where you made that wrong turn.

But then there are also those times when the road ahead is so clear, you start seeing several moves ahead. You're making connections with the material that you missed in the planning because there are some deeper things that you can only discover once you've gotten in and started mucking about. 

I share this as someone who was in the first predicament last week, only to go back and find myself in the wonderful latter scenario this week. The writing process for a novel is quite a journey and it never ceases to fascinate me no matter how many times I go on the adventure. 

Try, Try, Again

There are many aspects to being a full-time professional writer that take some getting used to...long hours with a sleeping (sometimes farting) cat in your lap whose paws manage to find keys you never knew existed on your keyboard ... or microwaving the third cup of coffee because there are no other office workers to run the endless cycle of the machine. You just have to adapt and these things get easier.

One part that doesn't ever really get easier is having a project rejected. But you still have to get used to it, because every writer (really every creative professional) gets rejected ... a lot. It's part of the process. That doesn't mean it feels any less like a punch in the gut each time it happens. 

It's never as bad as the illustration I did to show my point. It never comes back with a bold "You're Stinky" on it (well, not most of the time anyway). But no matter how kind the rejection, basically it's the same as a six year old sticking their tongue out at you and telling you that you are a stinky monster. It always feels personal. That's because as the author, you invest so much personally in the characters who you're trying to find a home for within the pages of a book. Being rejected is basically someone saying your characters are not welcome here. 

That's how it feels anyway.

The reality is, publishing is not only about coming up with a great entertaining story, it's also about finding the right partner to pair it with. There's a lot of trial an error there. (Which is where an agent helps). This is the fact that I always keep in the back of my mind. It's what helps me lick my wounds and get up again the next day and try, try, again. After all, these characters need a home. 

Traveling the Internet

For today's post, I want to direct you to an interview I did about The Heights. I talk about all kinds of good things about the development of the idea, how I went about tackling the task of contemporizing a classic, what I changed and why.

You can find the interview on a blog I read regularly called edge of seventeen. [link]

Also, the new paperback cover is now up, so I thought I'd share it. The hardcover painting was done from this photo test, so it's very similar but different enough to be worth a look.

I'm very happy with it. Hopefully the stores will be too. It comes out in December, so if you missed the hardcover (or didn't want to pay the hardcover price), mark your calendar.

Weekend Music Roundup

I'm doing a slightly abbreviated roundup this week, not because I'm lazy, but because I've got a novel to write, leaves to rake, furniture to move, etc. etc. etc. Though I do realize that five albums is probably plenty for the average music fan, so I guess I don't feel so badly about it. Well, possibly a little. That's why I'm throwing in a single for some level of atonement.

Oasis - Falling Down (A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding in your Mind): I hadn't heard about this limited edition vinyl until I saw it at the Princeton Record Exchange. The song, taken from the latest album, is reworked into a double sided 12" clocking in at over twenty minutes long. I was intrigued because as Oasis fans back in the day, my friends and I always hoped the band would expand into something more experimentally psychedelic. Though far from perfect, this is definitely worth the listen. It's very much just a remix, but it does have an expansive feeling to it that adds new life to the song and adds something to the bands already impressive catalog.

Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Old Money: For the last several years, Omar (half of the creative force behind Mars Volta) has been releasing these prog-jazz solo albums. Some have been more interesting than others. Some have been more Mars Volta while others have been more jazz fusion. This one is kind of in between. There are elements of both. The music is always fascinating and there's always a story within it...if you have the patience to listen for it.

Sebadoh - Rebound EP: Part of my ongoing rediscovery of Sebadoh, I've been listening to this five song EP version from '95 (there's also a just an A/B side single version). All the tracks on here are examples of the Sebadoh sound that I love, that being the acoustic Lou Barlow sound. A great talent, he was really doing things that didn't become popular for another decade.

Country Joe & The Fish - Electric Music for the Mind and Body: This one blew me away, which is saying a lot because after loving their later I'm Fixin' to Die album recently, I had very high expectations. It surpassed them all. A blistering psychedelic record, this album is like listening to an artifact from some other place.

Lou Reed - Transformer: This is one of those revered albums that has always been on my "I Need To Check This Out At Some Point" list. Though, I must admit, I was always skeptical. It just didn't appeal to me for whatever reason. But, I've been surprised in the past, so I gave it a shot. My verdict: What does everybody hear in this album that I don't? I mean, it's certainly not bad, but it's certainly not amazing. It's a slightly above average singer/songwriter album by a musician and lyricist who is obviously feeling a bit bankrupt creatively. Listening to this is the equivalent of listening to the worst Velvet Underground album...I'd rather listen to the better VU albums.

Television - Marquee Moon: This one falls under the same category as the above...one I always was told to listen to but it never appealed to me. My thinking was, ehh another New York late '70s CBGB's band, heard it. The difference from this and the above album is that I couldn't have been more wrong. WHAT A FANTASTIC ALBUM this is. It doesn't sound like those other bands, it sounds way, way ahead of it's time. 

Scraps

When the end of the world comes, 

there will be me

  and nothing else.

the lawn will stretch out forever,

  the green, beautiful to see.

the trees, never drop a leaf.

A few weeks ago, I cleaned out my office and sifted through mountains of old scraps and notes, searching for anything that might be useful. The above is something I found on one and thought was rather good. It seemed like a proper poem to share on a Friday when the sky is shedding flurries and appears ready to shatter. (The photo is the farm I lived on for two years when I was five...also seemed fitting). 

Finding a Path Through the Forest

I have the maddening process that I go through on every novel. I find my character and place her in the proper setting. Then I let them wander and see where they take me. Inevitably, I find that 20 pages later, they've taken me some place I never wanted to be. In every book I've written, there are early scenes that no one has ever read. This used to result in lots of swearing on my part, or the punching of computer screen monitors...but I've long since gotten used to the fact that this is how I write. I adapt. I'm not a caveman, after all. No need for punching things.

My newest character led me to this place yesterday. I looked over the first two chapters and thought to myself, this wasn't the book I wanted to write. It wasn't bad. I thought the writing was fairly good. But it wasn't the book I wanted to bring to life. So...it was time to sit and comb through the forest of notes again and find a new path for her to skip along. 

After a long day of frustration and thinking, I finally sat down in the evening and began to move forward. I'm happy to say, I now have a clear path...a path that should lead me to the place I want to go. No sense ending up in Kentucky if you're aiming for Kansas, if you know what I mean. Just have to keep the leash a little tighter this time around.

Weekend Music Roundup (Monday Evening Edition)

I didn't have time this past weekend to get in the needed music roundup, but better late than never. This week was somewhat slow in new acquisitions, mostly because I'm still digesting the deluge from the weeks before. But not to worry, on my way home from Philly today, I made a detour at Princeton Record Exchange and picked up some key wishlist items that will be on here next weekend. But enough of the future, I need to focus on the present.

Elizabeth and the Catapult - taller children: So I'm cheating a bit here because this is one I actually got at the record exchange, but I'm really loving it as I listen to it. This feels very much like a '70s soul folk record but still very modern. Great voice (ala Amiee Mann) and a groovy beat. Plus, the cover art is amazing at LP size.

Natural Snow Buildings - Shadow Kingdom: This is the "new" one I spoke of last week and it's fantastic. Clocking in at around 2 hours, this is another drone folk masterpiece. It's somewhat of a mix of my two favorite NSB albums, combining the kind of drone of Daughter of Darkness with the folk of The Dance of the Moon and the Sun. Could drag for some, but a great record to listen to while writing.

Brendan Benson - My Old, Familiar Friend: Part of the $9.99 mall blitz, the new one from Brendan is a solid effort. After leaving his solo career behind for a few years to be with the Raconteurs, he returns to "familiar" territory. It covers the same range of his previous solo albums and satisfies. I'm hoping to discover further listenings will reveal more depth to this album, compared to the previous. Even if it doesn't, this still a good set of indie pop.

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast: The newest album from one of the smartest song writers today. What I love about Andrew Bird is the way he combines brilliant, innovative lyrics with brilliant innovative musical compositions. It sets him apart from the pack and makes his albums consistently feel like your listening to something special.

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges: For some reason, I always want to like this band more than I do. Again, picked this up during the big sale because I'd wanted to hear it for some time. I really liked the video that was on heavy rotation last spring. I was hoping this would be their album that reached me. And though it certainly wasn't, it is still rather good. It reminded me of The Flaming Lips in pieces. I liked it, I just didn't love it even though I wanted to.

Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt II: I was far from excited when I saw this one announced some months ago. I'd heard the latest Chef mixtape and found it only okay. In my NYC late teens and early 20's, I heard the call of Wu as members of the Clan released classic after classic. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx was among those classics. The shine on the flying W has waned on this decades releases and this Part II felt like an attempt to cash in on former glory. Then I started reading about others like me who were unconvinced being won over. So I got it...and yeah, it's tight. As good as the first? Never. But still the best to come of the Clan in nearly a decade for sure.

Gnarls Barkley - St. Elswhere: This was one of those albums that has been sitting on the wishlist for about two years. I never committed for whatever reason. I bought the second one before this one, and loved it. I sort of always felt that this one couldn't be as good. It isn't. The great thing about Gnarls Barkley is their unique sound. However they were still finding their sound on this album, so it's hit and miss, unlike the second album which is all hit. That said, there are still a handful of tracks on here that are fantastic.

The Beatles - Meet the Beatles: This is the Beatles at their earliest. Of course, I know most of the songs on here (though some were new to me), but I bought it on vinyl because I sort of wanted some Beatles on record and this is one of the few albums I don't have already on CD. I've always liked the raw garage sound of the early Beatles and that's what this is. The songs "Little Child" and "Hold Me Tight" were good additions to my Beatles catalog.

TWO FIVE STAR ALBUMS FROM THE VAULT

O'Death - Broken Hymns, Limbs & Skin: One of my favorite albums from last year, this one came out a few months before I started doing this blog, so it never made it on. O'Death are one of the best bands around, playing their peculiar brand of death folk (or gothic country if you prefer that term). "Home", "On An Aching Sea", and "Angeline" are some of the stand-out tracks that showcase this album...howling vocals, bone rattles, and furious pace. This ain't your parents folk.

The Family of Apostolic: This is a psychedelic folk album from 1968 that I adore. A lot like The United States of America only there is no intention on here to ever make this a commercial album. While listening to this lo-fi gem, you can sort of hear the roots of the kind of indie lo-fi of The Microphones, Neutral Milk Hotel and Guided By Voices. This album is available for free by the band here.