'Tis the Season

I don't know what it is about winter and the holiday season that always makes me wish the world would suddenly turn into a cartoon. Imagine what a great place it would be if there were a catbus roaming the countryside or if we could be hit over the head with an anvil and see blue birds circling our heads. Good times, that's what it would be.

I realize I will probably never get my wish. So instead, I would simply like my own pet cartoon. One that would follow me around much like the daemons in The Golden Compass.  My cats try their best and satisfy this urge to some extent, but alas they can't fly no matter how many times they've promised me they would grow wings. 

So, if anyone out there is looking to make this perpetual kid happy with a gift...send a cartoon character my way....preferably one with the hilarity of Daffy and comic timing of Pebbles and the charm of Totoro.

Season's Readings

I've been pondering the end of the decade for the past week, which was really the first time it dawned on my that the 0's were ending. Of course, like everyone else, I've been mentally putting together my best-of lists. I think it's a basic human need to rank and categorize everything. It just helps to sort us out in our own minds, which is important as we often identify ourselves but what we like and what we don't like. 

In that spirit, here is my list of my favorite books of the decade. I figured I'd start with books as it's a subject on which I have a little bit of credibility. 

THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy-

Hands down, I think this is the best written book of the decade. Reading it, you can't help but feel the overpowering sense of sadness the permeates every page. It's a sadness not only for the father and son, but for all of humanity.

In my opinion, the brilliance of this book stems from the fact that as the reader, you are forced to feel all the things the main character refuses to let himself feel because he must concentrate on surviving. He can't allow himself to feel the sorrow around him or to feel sorrowful for the boy...the reader, safe in the world, can't help but feel those things as we become a surrogate for all the suffering. 

One of those rare books that will never leave you.

REPETITION by Alain Robbe-Grillet -

The only book my favorite author of all time wrote this decade (his only in many many years) is one of his best. Set in a isolated section of post-war, lawless Berlin that resembles a Burrough's Interzone, this book touches on many of Robbe-Grillet's favorite themes of looped nightmares, illicit behaviors, and circular mystery. Certainly not for everybody.

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES by T. DiTerlizzi and H. Black -

Certainly this was the decade of fantasy in Children's Lit, but unlike most, I wasn't so terribly impressed with a certain boy wizard. For me, the real prize was this series about two brothers and a sister discovering a more set of foes in an ever expanding world right in their own backyard. Both the fantasy elements and real life elements are spot on. All five books are the definition of a page-turner. 

RISING UP AND RISING DOWN by William T. Vollmann-

One of our nation's unsung literary treasures is William T. Vollmann. Due to the length of many of his works, he is still widely unread. It's a shame too. Not only is he an incredibly important fiction writer, he's also one of the most in-depth writers of non-fiction. This book is a condensed 4,000 page abridgement of an original 7 volume work which chronicles the nature of violence through human history. Incredibly gripping and informative and should probably be taught in high schools in lieu of studying individual wars.

POPULAR MUSIC by Mikael Niemi-

A fantastic coming of age story about a boy growing up in Norway in his small village. At times hilarious, always moving, this is one of the best coming-of-age stories I've ever read....being that the theme is my specialty, this is one where I really know what I'm talking about.

GLUE by Irvine Welsh-

Though most of Irvine's best work was done in the '90s, he still continued to give me a lot of good reads this decade. This is the best of his '00s output. Like a more refined and ambitious Trainspotting, Glue follows a group of friends from childhood to adulthood, examining all the different paths life can take. Though they end up in vastly different places, they are always tied together by these shared experiences. Anybody who grew up as part of a close knit group of friends will identify with this book. 

LENORE - Roman Dirge

Lenore is the original cute little dead girl which has been copied and marketed to no end in the Hot Topic's of the world. But that exposure of imitators doesn't diminish the originality and humor of the Lenore books. Lenore is one of those characters whose unique spirit just grabs hold of you and keeps you laughing along the way. She's like a twisted female Calvin...but like, dead. Great comic with great art and great stories with lots of imagination.

OLIVIA by Ian Falconer -

If you would have told me this would end up being my favorite picture book of the decade the first time I saw it, I would have said you were crazy. Sure, I liked it, but didn't love it. Over the years though, I've really grown to love it. The more time I spend with this book, the more amazed I am at how, in so few words, Oliva can feel so alive.

JUNIE B. JONES is a Graduation Girl by  B. Park -

This, my favorite children's book series of all time, began in the '90s but continued with many strong titles this decade. The Graduation one is by far my favorite of this decade. It's the book where America's favorite kindergartner is about to move on to 1st grade (Personally, once the Junie B. First Grader books started, I thought the books slipped). The funniest thing ever written can be found in this book when Junie helps with her class graduation poem:

"Roses are Red, 

Violets are Blue,

Graduation is Here,

And Your Feet Smell Like Stink!"

ICY SPARKS by Gwyn Hyman Rubio -

This is another coming of age book, but with a twist because young Icy has tourettes. This is the kind of examination of some misunderstood child that became extremely popular in the decade, but rarely has it been captured with such genuine feeling as it is in this book. It's not coddling or sappy, it's raw and moving. Icy is one of those characters you want to befriend. You feel yourself wanting to shout and scream at the other characters to leave her alone. A truly remarkable book about a truly unforgettable character. 

SARAH by J. T. LeRoy -

Forget the controversy over who wrote what and the way the industry was hoodwinked...who cares? None of that prevents this from being one of the best books of the decade, and one of my personal favorite books of all time. I read this when it first came out, back in 2000, and it's definitely one of a handful of books that really influenced my wanting to write YA* (not that this is YA by any stretch, but it's about a young teen character). The writing is pitch perfect and the story is a perfect blend of surrealist realism. Add in its emotional impact and it's certainly deserving of all the hype it received.

Last, but not least, THE LOOKING GLASS WARS by Frank Beddor...see my review of each of the three books here:

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3 

* for those curious, the other titles are Smack by Melvin Burgess, I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This Much by J. Woodson, I Am the Cheese by R. Cormier

Weekend Music Roundup

I realized the other day that this will probably be the last roundup before I get together my year end list....and then I realized, with much dismay, that I would also need to make my best of the decade list. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was sitting in a corporate cubical in SoHo putting together my best of the decade for the '90s. Time flies. 

So, here it is, the last weekly grab bag of my musical tastes before somewhat more structured lists appear for the high holidays.

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More: I really enjoyed the two 2008 EPs released by this indie bluegrass band from London but worried this subsequent full length might get a little repetitive because both EPs, while very good, felt very much the same. Though this album maintains many of the characteristics, there's definitely an expansion here. The songs are moodier and more spacious. Solid addition to the new British indie folk movement. 

Lee Fields & The Expressions - My World: I've been loving this album of late. Lee Fields has that old deep soul voice that at times make this album feel like your listening to some artifact from the early '70s, if it weren't for the expert inclusion of hip-hop and house beats that effectively update the sound, giving a new and familiar feel at the same time. 

Magic Lantern - High Beams: Psychedelic drone rock from the L.A. area...always a soft spot in my musical tastes. High Beams doesn't stray far from the formula followed by a lot of these new stoner bands, but it does a fair enough job of it. A bit too much like a lot of other things to stand out, but if that's your genre, you should definitely turn the high beams on for a listen or two. I know I have. 

Diplo & Santogold - Top Ranking: This one had been on my wishlist for quite some time. Essentially a remix album, but not in the traditional sense in that there is also a ton of new material. Basically, Santogold's debut is the skeleton for this dub album, beats and lyrics are used and reworked and reshaped into a record that ranges from hip-hop to dancehall. The result is kind of uneven. There are some amazing tracks and a lot of not-so amazing tracks which all left me feeling like it was a bit of mess. The good tracks though...pure gold. 

Golden Animals - Free Your Mind and Win a Pony: More psychedelic rock from Cali, but this one is more blues inspired. It grooves. It rocks. It's fabulous. 

Diamond Head - Lightning to the Nations: This 1980 British metal gem was recommended to me by a friend recently and I'd never heard of it. Though, upon listening, I recognized some songs right away from early Metallica covers. This album has to be one of the earliest thrash metal albums, but it's also very transitional. While developing a lot of elements that won't be heard widespread for another 6 years or so, it also has the very heavy blues feel of Black Sabbath and the frantic garage punk of Radio Birdman. The combination is pretty awesome.

South San Gabriel - The Carlton Chronicles: This is one of those bands that I ignored for a long time because its name. Yes, I'm guilty of that. If the band name seems uninteresting or gives me some association that I don't care for, I tend to be dismissive. Horrible, but hey, I'm human. But I also tend to go back at some point and get over those blocks. In this case, it was a win for me because this is stellar album. Very much in the indie quasi-country folkish sphere as Palace, Okkervil River, Midlake and others, this is beautiful album.

Blind Willie Johnson - The Soul of a Man: I've had this for a few months and though I was familiar with some Blind Willie (and blown away by it, hence the acquisition of this), I wasn't terribly excited by this collection at first. This week, I decided to give it another listen after "John the Revelator" came up in my ipod shuffle not too long ago (one of the aforementioned songs that blew me away). This time I knew what to expect and was in the mood for these acoustic gospel blues that sound as if they recorded in a tin shed circa 1923. Blind Willie's gravel voice is the voice of a ghost come to warn of the other side. Unbelievable. And now, right up there with Blind Lemon Jefferson in my book.

How A Story Grows

When writing a novel, there's always a little uncertainty in my mind as to how much should I plan out and how much do I allow the story to find its own path. 

Having no path beforehand tends to make a story fizzle out after 50 or 100 pages and then there's no where to go, because you had nowhere in mind to begin with.

An extremely detailed outline to start a book can suck all the life out the writing as you becoming a quasi-computer programmer plugging in words to get from point A to point B. 

Finding the right balance is something I think writers learn over time and through  lots of mistakes. 

Yesterday, I was at one of these pivotal moments in my new novel. I was finishing a scene and as I was coming to the close of it, realized that was the last scene I had really sketched out and I started to panic a little wondering where I was supposed to go next. Sure, I have dozens of scenes that I know I need to write, it's not like I was blank. But the sequence of those scenes and how the lead into and affect others is critical. 

After I finished the chapter I had been writing, I contemplated and frustrated and then finally, was illuminated. Yesterday in the late afternoon was one of those rare moments where everything came together in my mind. Suddenly the path ahead was clear. Though to be sure, I always allow for a few detours along the way.

Children Gather Round...

Yesterday, I posted a quote from myself...a quote I live by. 

I thought today I'd post another such nugget of wisdom that I also live by:

CHEATING 

is a part of

WINNING!

This mantra has led to a forever ban on me ever being the banker in a game of Monopoly. I can live with that.

The Definition of Truth

As long as you believe it to be true,

it may as well be the truth.

The Collector

I have a theory that all writers are hoarders and collectors. Go into any writer's workspace and I bet you are sure find some kind of collection. Books would certainly be the most obvious. In a game of Family Feud, it would have to be the number one answer on the board. Music would probably be high up there two. I'm certainly guilty of both. 

Another collection that sprawls through my workspace is my toy collection. Action figures mostly. The shelves above my writing desk are reserved for some of my favorites (pictured above). Basically, if my collections weren't so obsessively organized, I would be a few small steps away from the old lady living in some trailer full of trash and stacks of newspapers filled with news that hasn't mattered in decades. But it's not my fault. Collecting is simply part of the fabric of being a writer.

Writers collect all sorts of intangible things. Bits of conversations. Habits we've observed others doing. Faces of strangers that strike us as interesting. We collect all of these things and use them to make our stories  and our characters come to life. Just as reporters collect facts to give a better picture of the truth, writer's collect snippets to give a better picture of their fiction.

Yesterday's Collected Piece comes from the old lady in the Post Office who mumbled her way through the purchase of one book of stamps for 10 minutes without regard to the growing line behind her because she wanted a Holiday Collection of which the Post Office did not have. That's not the piece though...what made it into the collection was when she turned around and I saw that she was much older than the dyed black hair suggested from the back. But it was the bright lipstick that caught my attention and I wondered why it is old ladies wear such an abundance of bright red lipstick to compensate for lips that have gone thin. It's like a man with a hairpiece...it only exaggerates what you're trying to hide. 

Odds are, there will be an older lady with bright lipstick in the novel I'm working on because that's really what writing is...a mosaic of thoughts and images collected over time and placed into a story.