on writing: "That I prefer writing to having written."

some notes from the land of writing and revisions - i am now in the finishing stage of the larger revision of my Masala Moments travel novel. and as so often, the final 10 pages are the most difficult.

while working on the revision, i copied some notes on revising that i came across, the first is from Twitter:

"Letter by letter, word by word, sentence by sentence, page by page. It's that easy to write, and that hard."

 and this one, from „Ways of Going Home“ by the Chilean author Alejandro Zambra:

"I'm waiting for a voice. A voice that isn't mine. An old voice, novelistic and solid. Or maybe it's just that I like working on the book. That I prefer writing to having written. I'd rather stay there, inhabit the time of the book, cohabit with those years, chase the distant images at length and then carefully go over them again. See them badly, but see them. To just stay there, looking."

those last words made me think: maybe the revision, and the time it takes to get those last pages together - it could also be connected to seasons. with the snowy and overcast winter days, the pages of Masala Moments take me back to the days there in India, under a sun that was so persistent that it seemed to be all-encompassing, reaching even through the sentences coming from there. and i want to just stay there, looking. until the sun is returning to the days here.

bookphonebox II + the why of storytelling

In November, i discovered this "bookphonebox" in a town near here: a telephone box that some people turned into an open free book exchange by installing shelves. it’s not guarded or anything – you can just go in, look at the books that are there, bring some books from your own shelves to share, and take some books in exchange. surprisingly, it works. (well, i guess someone probably stops by every other day to check. but still.)


This week i visited it again, and they had Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” there, and a book from German writer Monika Maron – both books i once wanted to read, and there they are. Capote even in original English. what’s the chance for that, i wondered.

Capote: i never read In Cold Blood, but i read his bio (and blogged about it in German: Capote..) - what struck me is his note on writing the book: that it was the most interesting experience of his life, that it changed his life and his attitude of almost everything  - that it is a grand work, and even when he failed writing it, he would have achieved something. 

*

The Why of Storytelling

And then, this morning, a link in twitter, forwarded by Chris Galvin from the 30in30project: The Why of Storytelling, with this thoughtful quote: 

"Stories bring us the cultures we never had a chance to be a part of, and they give us an opportunity to live the lives we never had. Stories are the least we can make for the next generations; stories are the most we can give the world.”"

Which made me remember the Joan Didion quote: 

"We tell ourselves stories in order to live."

Looking for the full quote, i arrived at a place that seems to be a collection of quotes on writing and on stories, from authors, named: ninety meetings in ninety days, from rkvfry magazine, an interesting project itself  Here's the Didion page with quote: Joan Didion 

And another quote from here, from the time when i read one of her collections:

“I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”

Currently Reading: Invisible Cities, Forgotten Highways

this blog post is inspired by the blog series "It's Monday! What are you reading?" which is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. more about that, at the bottom of this post



Currently i am reading two books that feel like counterparts: the first is about imaginary cities, the second is about (very real) historic walking trails through the wilderness:

Invisible Cities
The author of "Invisible Cities" is Italo Calvino, who was born in Cuba and grew up in Italy. A web friend of mine read his "Winter Night" a while ago and recommended it, saying: "..that book really wowwed me – it is a writer’s book, a book for writers. I’ve posted several entries while reading it, the final entry sort of sums it up: If on a winter’s night a traveler – Finale."

The same Wow goes to Invisible Cities from my side. The book, on first glance brief, describes a fictive ongoing conversation between Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, which includes 55 portraits of imaginary cities, and each city reads like a zen riddle that hints at society, architecture, the shapes we form to live in. Both a metaphorical and philosophical book, it also adresses the nature of journeys - and of language. A quote from it and an abstract photo it inspired, here: Cities and their Mirrors

Forgotten Highways
Again, it was a blog recommendation that I followed here: Shonna in Canada blogged about the book in September: "This fascinating book details one summer in the lives of the authors who were inspired by history to hike five mountain trails first found by four early explorers." (full review: Forgotten Highways)

The book turned out to be a great follow-up on the 2 other walking memoirs i read this year, and both immensly enjoyed: Wild by Cheryl Strayed and A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, with "Forgotten" Highways adding more of the historical dimension of those trails. The first 2 books already made go and look for the classic long-distance walking route here in Europe,the "Jakobsweg", and find that it crosses through near here, which lead to a walk there already (walking "El Camino de Santiago", or: a home journey)

Open City, Empty City, Invisible City - Walk, Wild, Highway
Like the "Walk" theme, the "City" theme is now starting to form a book chain, starting with reading "Open City" by Teju Cole earlier this year, and then "The Empty City" by Berit Ellingsen not long ago, and now Invisible Cities. I tried a book collage, to visualize the reading journey - if you know of other books that might fit well into this picture, let me know.



Print books and e-books
Another thing that the collage is showing if you look at it closer: both "Wild" and "The Empty City" are e-books, their titles are only printed for the collage. "Wild" is the first book i read as e-book, and if it had been available i the format, i probably had ordered "Invisible Cities" as e-book, too - but i found it as second-hand version with this wonderful cover, and Forgotten Highways has photos and maps included, so for both books it feels, print is the more fitting option. The same goes for the "long-term" book i am currently reading -- which is missing in the picture, thinking of it - it's "A History of the World in 100 Objects". In the book at a reading pace of 1 object / day, i reached the chapter on "First Cities" just now while reading "Invisible Cities". (More about the 100 Objects, here: a History of the World in 100 Objects)

*****

It's Monday! What are you reading? This blog post is inspired by the blog series "It's Monday! What are you reading?" which is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. participating blogs are listed in this Linky Book List

Previous reading blog entries are collected here: bookshelf + monday reads. there also is a visual bookshelf, just click it to get there:



Some lines about me: I'm into roads, stories, places, crossings, and all the things they lead and connect to. I edit BluePrintReview and the blueprint book + lit blog. Apart from being an editor and blogger, I am also an author myself. My new book Worlds Apart just launched:

Worls Apart: the true story of 2 friends, 2 journeys, and 10 life lessons  
In the global world, a traveler from Europe and a teacher from Asia meet in the web, share their journeys, and the joys, longings, and life lessons that wait along the road. Captured in letters and photos that reach from China and India to Germany and the Mediterranean Sea, a dialogue across continents and cultures unfolds: Worl(d)s Apart

ti/me, or: Sea, Thievery, and Small Stones

In August, Aubrie Cox at Yay Words wrote: "I will take small poems until Saturday, September 15th about the sea and/or thieves/thievery. As I have with other projects, I will take up to 5, and I’ll at least take one."

i noted the words down: Sea / Thievery, and wanted to send something early - but ended up running late, and took the note with me on a drive a day before deadline. it was there, during the drive, while standing on the third red light in row that the lines above came together.

Sea Bandits
from that red crossing in Germany, they now found their way into the Sea/Thievery issue, you can find it here at Yaywords, the introduction to it also is about time: Sea Bandits.
the visual above is an illustrated version, in the issue, you find the text-only version of my ti/me piece right after the sandcastle on page 1 (which includes this moment of "opening a car window just to breath the wind")

Small Stones
and in a parallel of format, i came across this note from Fiona Robyn in twitter:
"lots more people are dropping a #smallstone or two into the twitter-river. join them - mindfulwriting is good for you: why & how to write small stones"

so easy, to forget those little habits that are good for us. and seeing that the 100 days of summer are nearing their end, i might continue there with a small stone series

today: Author live chat Worl(d)s Apart with door prizes and video - ask me about writing, travel, anything :)

From book to questions: After the launch of "Worlds Apart" last month, Folded Word now organized an Author live chat at Goodreads - which will take place: today!

Live Chat - Tuesday, September 25, 2012 
the chat will include 2 highlights: "Everyone who attends the live chat will be entered to win a signed copy of the booklet TRANSITION written and crafted by Dorothee. We will also be unveiling the first video excerpt from WOR[L]DS APART during the event."

time is: 07:00 pm in Berlin
which is 06:00 pm in London
which is 1:00 pm in New York
which is 10.30 pm in Delhi
which is 10 am in San Francisco

(Goodreads shows the event in Greenwich Mean Time)

there also is a question thread for all who aren't able to login at that time:

"Our first author Q&A thread is now open:-) Dorothee Lang and Smitha Murthy, authors of WOR[L]DS APART, will be monitoring this thread all week. Ever wonder what joys/fears come from travelling alone? Are you curious about what it is like to teach English in China? Do you love talking about the way the internet brings people together? Dorothee and Smitha would love to share their experiences and hear about your own."

i'm also happy to talk about writing, the web, inspiration, photography... if you are curious about anything, just leave a question.

Invite + Folded Link: 
Here's the link to the event note in the Folded Word blog, and here's the live chat announcement:


WORL(D)S APART Live Chat with Dorothee Lang: September 25 
Join Dorothee Lang, co-author of WOR(L)DS APART and editor of BLUE PRINT REVIEW, to discuss her travel adventures and how she translates them into words. Simply log in to your GoodReads account, visit the Folded Word Fan Club, and join the discussion in the "Live Chat" thread in the "Author Q&A" section.


Dorothee, along with Folded Word's editor in chief J.S. Graustein, will be standing by to answer your questions in real time. Everyone who attends will be entered into a drawing for a door prize (details coming soon). - And if all works out, Smitha Murthy will join the live chat, too.

*****


More about the book:
Worlds Apart - a true story about 2 friends, 2 journeys, and 10 life lessons:  

In the global world, a traveler from Europe and a teacher from Asia meet in the web, share their journeys, and the joys, longings, and life lessons that wait along the road. Captured in letters and photos that reach from China and India to Germany and the Mediterranean Sea, a dialogue across continents and cultures unfolds: Worl(d)s Apart

PS: Amazon currently has the book in direct stock

florish & fade & 2 skies

wednesday. long list of things to do. and parallel to that, a note: to take time.
so i start the day with sorting some files. and find this image i meant to post at the end of december. "my year in status". the ending-line is made for these days: "just to add some challenge to things".

a bit later, cup of coffee while stopping by at the virtual notes blog roll. glad i took the time to piece this one together. which really, didn't take much time. but now is a space of word and link flow. this morning, on the top of it: "Planting Seeds: Fade and flourish", by Fiona Robyn, with a line that also is made for these days: "If I'm not careful, I get snagged by all these things-to-do. Tangled in them. I am netted. They pull me down."

and with a poem, to create space. one that spoke to me, in its fragmented lines:

*

Need not end. Indeed, nothing. Step
out. Grist for wits. Shadow of your
shell. Stand there.

No other ground. No
other. And the world concerns you every-
where, but do not identify with it.

Let light onto us. Flowers through the
gate, flowers skimming
the wall. A carpet of petal.

Treasures below the earth. Neither in
this world nor another, guarding.
Nothing but fade and flourish.

- Keith Waldrop

*

and 2 sky links of these days:

there's a new book up in daily s-press: Habit of a Foreign Sky, by Xu Xi

and Rose Hunter is interviewed in Dark Sky: Spotlight on Rose Hunter

a quote from there, in response to the question "How has the Internet affected literature?", which leads to a passage on plurality of voices, and the connections and exchange of ideas the internet makes possible:

"By exchange of ideas I don’t just mean direct commentary between people of course. I mean the kind of exchange you get from reading online journals and the blogs of other writers. It makes a difference to read the viewpoints of the people who are your contemporaries I think, more or less, rather than picking up a volume of Paris Review interviews, for example. Which I like as well, don’t get me wrong. But they don’t make me feel part of anything, like the online “community” does.

That seems to have run a bit off-topic, but maybe not, as well. I think I was going to say something about inclusivity, and plurality of voices, and the removal of gatekeepers. I do think it’s opened up opportunities for writing that deviates from a certain accepted style. It’s a wonderful smorgasbord out there. It can get overwhelming, but for me it’s not much different from stepping inside a big brick and mortar library and seeing books for miles and realizing there’s just no time in life to read them all. It’s a bummer, but that’s life, and it’s much better than there being too few books at least."

worlds

this weekend, i came across 2 links that kept me returning to their webpages. one was the Ars Electronica festival with the prize winners of this year. the funny thing was that the Ars website itself doesn't directly link to the winning works, or has them even directly embedded. so i went on a web search. found a stellar short film (Nuit Blanche), sound and light installations, and then clicked to the hybrid prize - which i expected to be some hybrid web installation, a merge of image and text and sound. not so. the hybrid turned out to be "Ear on Arm: a modification of body architecture". yes. this literally is an ear transplanted into an arm, and with it, a controversial crossing of artistic (and bodily) borders.

the second link is also about borders - an Afghan Women's Writers Project. reading through the pages, i imagined myself caught in such a situation: growing up and living in a country that comes with so many physical and intellectual restrictions. where as a woman, you aren't free to leave your house alone, and have to veil your whole body. where writing down your thoughts is a dangerous act. where education is limited, out of your reach. it's hard to imagine.

the Ars Electronica almost feels frivolous in contrast - but then, art is about having the freedom of being frivolous - and about the freedom of crossing lines, of being "unappropriate", of challenging expectations and established objectives and perspectives.

and on the other hand, a large part of the Ars Electronica is very much about this world: REPAIR is part of the Ars, a world project that "invited visionaries in the arts, sciences and business who have begun to do their part to fix what’s broken, and who aim to make us aware of the fact that we already possess the knowledge, techniques and tools to get the job done."

more notes and links about Ars Electronica and the Afghan Writing Project are up in Daily s-Press: ArsElectronica festival + The Afghan Women’s Writing Project

and funny. now, at the end, i finally found the subpage of Ars that i looked for from start: a page with introduction / summing-up videos of the Ars event. it's filed under "Showcase".

today: daily author talk + 2 new two² pages

today: a day of words.

now up in daily s-press: the second author talk. it was a joy to put this together, and it almost feels as if this talk happened for real, in a small café with bookshelves on the wall. here the link: Jessie Carty + Mel Bosworth author talk

this talk also made me think of the note Daniela Elza from Canada left in the comments after the first talk: "I think there is a lot of value in these conversations. We learn from each other just in the mere asking of questions. Let alone answers. It is wonderful to be able to talk across continents.
The whole idea of mapping the inside and the outside is a wonderful definition for writing. And walking this territory is transformative. And reaching to each other across and within is doubly so." - Daniela Elza

& blueprintreview:

the next 2 pages of the new two² issue of blueprintreview are online:

• Dream Girl - a dream story
• and Two, Too: An Other Inspiration - a poem.

happy friday~~

why we write (or: space base camp)

since one week, i am part of the Folded Word Writing Camp - which means: writing a complete short text every day, be it twitter story, microfiction, short poem. i am also still joining the weekly 52/250 themes. i was a bit anxious about this: all those texts to be written. yet what happened so far is that i follow the challenges - and parallel to that, write more. and read more. summer word camp, it really is.

the Writing Camp stories are not accessible, but the 52/250 are online - the one i wrote for the previous week is a flash fun story. the theme was: "Allergic Reactions". this is partly inspired by a true small town moment, and partly on the magic realism side of words: Redeye Rabbit. but it really is just a fun little story, in contrast to the next:

the theme for this week is: "Space Camp". the idea i had for it was to write a fun alien story. but looking at the world from space, i ended up with a story that reaches from past to the future, and is about mankind, and its hopes and struggles: 5000 years.

i did some research for the story - on the energy resources. and on the timeline of writing. which starts 5000 years ago, with the first words, the first transition of thoughts and tales into a lasting shape, in a form that can be picked up later, by oneself or others. 5000 years - a time span almost impossible to imagine. and even harder to imagine for me: a world without writing and reading.

why we write - it is one of the questions that keep moving through these days. there was the author talk with Rose that touched the theme, in the talk this passage is about taking images: "While traveling, I tried to capture the places I visited, or rather: the mood of the journey -- Then later, back home, this way of photography continued: to find the angle / viewpoint that captures the moment, and the photos now often stand for themselves.."

reading through this again, i realize how this is only partly true - i almost always try to combine text and image. there are single images published, yes. but just look at this blog. or at blueprintreview. and the note that the reviewer of NewPages wrote about it:
"BluePrint Review is an online journal constructed to ease the complex and beautiful convergence of language and art and all the possibilities this entails."
which leads to another key word of these days: possibility. last week, i came across an essay on writing in the Metazen blog which was about writing, and also touches possibility: "Pi in the Sky" by Michelle Elvy: "The possibility for numerous outcomes – the possibility of anything, really – lives on the writer’s page. To write about that possibility, and to do it with the precision of black on white, word on page, is a thrill."
then there was this other quote from Laurie Sheck, which i already picked up in the author talk: "...when you create a book you create a space that you wander around in."

and then, today: Annie Dillard. Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek. this book that found its way to me just at the right time. today i returned to the first chapter, to these lines on the world and writing: "Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery ... We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what's going on here. Then we can at least wail the right question into the swaddling band of darkness, or, if it comes to that, choir the proper praise."

the wider view. space camp. and: folded word base camp. it all somehow connects. and i want to linger longer with those thoughts. and at the same time, i want to get the new issue of blueprintreview ready for launch now. can't wait, really. (which, as it happens, is the theme for the following story challenge, too: can't wait).

related links: current projects, on writing, 52/250 + 24/7

2 secrets to success

today, i came across 2 secrets to successful books. they both were up in the web, so, not that secret. they couldn't be more different:

Secret 1
includes 6 easy steps. the first being: "First, all you have to do is have a great idea..."
to complete all 6 steps, you might need a couple of year, some dedication etc. easy.
the whole secret, here: The Secret to Success / Cliff Garstang, Perpetual Folly blog

don't have the years and the dedication? and no experience and idea either?
no problem.

there always is..
Secret 2
takes just 10 days, or less. and earns you 100% guaranteed 1000$ minimum etc etc etc
that's what the mail from World Freelance Writer promised.
all you need is to buy a book named "The 10-Day E-Book". it costs an easy 105$. it's not up in Amazon. the website that advertises it is about 3 feet long. it reads like a satire. from the 10 days, exactly 1 is planned for "free"writing the book, with this key advice: "The best way to write your e-book in the least possible time - using "freewriting" - all based on proven psychological principles."
my guess: another word for this secret might be .. scam.
if you really want to take a look, here the page - again, beware, this is a scam: http://www.10dayebook.com/. if you scroll to the very bottom, you find this 9 little words in the footnote: "Guaranteed outcome may not be typical. Read our disclaimer."

the whole thing is set in HongKong. a nice distance away for any complaints / refunds.

------------
thinking of it, i guess i should send this to Writer Beware Blog.

but i also wanted to add a link that is more on the real side, a blog note that is related to secret 1: Years and Years - this is from September 2008, about the long time overnight success often takes, with a note from a literary agent who writes about a vampire story that was little-known for a couple of years until it turnd into a Twilight bestseller.
.

writing rules

writing rules i came across recently:

• Don't Make a Scene, Make Trouble (Up the Attic Stairs / via handful of stones)
  Often, what I get are vignettes, scenes, slices of a story. What I want is the whole story. And for that to happen on the page, the writer needs to do one thing. Include conflict. .. Your character needs to confront this conflict, or else.
  
  
• Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing (a writers life / via everyday i lie a little)
  My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.
  If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
  

Regine Sylvester: Soll man so leben?

Regine Sylvester is a german journalist of both sides - born and grown up in East Berlin, now writing for a Berlin newspaper. when i saw the book, i was drawn to it by the cover, and the title:
"Soll man so leben? - Kleinere Texte zu größeren Fragen."
"Shall one live like that? - Short texts about large questions."

turned out, the book is a collection of essays she wrote, reflections of the changes that came with the reunion, on a personal level. so interesting, to read the "east" side of things, and so fitting, after reading the "west" reflections of Inge Jens in November, "Unvollständige Erinnerung" - "Incomplete Memory".

the book also includes a note on writing: in the forword, Sylvester tells about the struggle to find a fitting concept for a collection. her editor asked: "Why are you writing?" - "Because I still figure out options to live, and as a journalist, I can explore how others are living," she answered. "Then that's your theme," the editor concluded.
.

hand writing

since i am back from frankfurt, i spent some time each day with a notebook (of the paper kind). just me, the page, a pen. and words. in another place than a computer screen.

"it makes a difference," i wrote to a friend. and it does. most of my recent short work comes from this paper nest. like, "Absorb". or the micro story that i wrote for fictionaut: "Three" - which actually was a poem in the beginning. -- not sure if writing on paper would work for longer texts for me. (i probably would need to work on my handwriting first.)

but so fitting, the mail i received today: the Nano pep talk. this time, from Lynda Barry. starting with those lines:

"Dear Writer,
Reconsider your hand. Reconsider writing by hand. There is a kind of story that comes from hand. Writing which is different from a tapping-on-a-keyboard-kind-of-story. For one thing, there is no delete button, making the experience more life like right away."

here's a link to the pdf: the whole Lynda Barry pep talk, handwritten.
.

Best American Short Stories 1997

the new issue of blueprintreview is now in the selection stage. parallel to that, i am reading the collection "The Best American Short Stories 1997" - as first selected by Kartina Kenison, and finally picked by E. Annie Proulx, who noted in the introduction:

"The process of choosing stories for this collection was simple enough: one reads, sorts, reads again, considers, sorts, scribbles, tears out hair, reads again."

which basically sums up the blueprintreview selection process, too: read, read again, sort, re-sort, read, surrender, return, read..

interesting sidenote: Proulx then adds that it was suggested to her to read the stories 'blind' (with the author's name effaced), and comes to the conclusion:
"It did not work for me. It seemed absurd that any reader charged with this task of selection would choose stories because of an author's name or reputation."

thing is, the reason i picked this story collection was exactly because of an author's name: E. Annie Proulx name on the cover. after reading her novel "Shipping News" in spring, i felt her choice of stories would be worthwile, too.

plus, i liked the way Proulx arranged the stories in a broader context, by sorting them into four categories, 'as a reminder of the rich possibilities of the story form':

Manners and Right Behaviour
Identifying the Stranger
Perceived Social Values
Rites of Passage

~

story / lines

sunday. terrace weather. and a good book: 22 essays on narrative and story-telling.

"22 Arten eine Welt zu schaffen" - "22 ways to create a world"

it starts with Homer's Odysseus in chapter 1. moves straight on to James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake in chapter 2. and is coming at just the right time. a time that is all about narrative, and about finding the way to tell the same story in a different, stronger way.

repetition patterns / virtual book tour

this monday i posted about books constructed out of overlapping short stories: Daniel Kehlmann's novel-in-9-short-stories "Ruhm", and j.a. tyler's upcoming novel/novella-in-stories-or-something, "In Love With A Ghost".

and now i just came across the next book with overlapping short stories: Ben Tanzer's book "Repetition Patterns", defined as a "story cycle":

"..and I suddenly saw exactly what Tanzer was going for here, of how exactly these stories actually all fit together as a giant remarkable jigsaw puzzle, and how they touch on much bigger issues than their childhood pop-culture fascinations might let on at first. As I made my way through this entire collection for the first time, I realized that .. Ben was creating a very realistic-feeling yet fictional town for all these stories to take place, literally jumping back and forth in time over a good twenty-year period, with it never exactly clear whether our narrator is the same person in every story, but definitely with some shared friends between one story and the next, and definitely with shared locations whose fates we can watch progress non-linearly over the decades. It's no coincidence, after all, that existing fans of these stories have referred to them before as Sherwood Andersonesque, and in fact you can see this manuscript in many ways as Ben's attempt at creating his very own Winesburg, Ohio." - official publisher statement

which then made me go to Ohio, and find this: "Winsberg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson - A critically acclaimed work of fiction by the American author Sherwood Anderson, the book, published in 1919, is a collection of related short stories, which could be loosely defined as a novel. The stories are centered on the protagonist George Willard and the fictional inhabitants of the town of Winesburg, Ohio."

it seems to be the week of coming across 80-year old modern constructions.

some other interesting aspects of Repetition Patterns:
- it kick-starts with a virtual tour (that's how i came across the book)
- it's released as an electronic book, on a pay-what-you-want basis.

P.S: ah, and the joys of online logic: i just downloaded the book. here's a clue: after purchasing via paypal, press the "return to the donations coordinator" -button. it will take you forward to the download page.

Daniel Kehlmann - Ruhm

this weekend, i finished Daniel Kehlmann's new novel Ruhm (Fame). it's a book that feels, after the huge historic / scientific, almost classic novel he wrote before, he wanted to write something very different. so he wrote a contemporary novel that in fact is "a novel in nine short stories". with characters that overlap - side characters from one story turn into the main character of the next story.

the second story starts with a passage that explains the concept: in it, an author is the main character, and he tells someone about the concept of the novel he writes. and the concept is exactly the novel of the book in hand.

interesting connection in theme: today, j.a. tyler posted about his upcoming novel/novella In Love With A Ghost: "it will be a novel or novella or novel-in-stories or novella-in-stories or something of the like."

line to remember from Ruhm: "Ein Roman ohne Hauptfigur! Verstehst du? Die Komposition, die Verbindungen, der Bogen, aber kein Protagonist, kein durchgehender Held." - "Interessant", sagte Elisabeth müde.

e-z guide to publishing

webpage of the day:

an E-Z guide to publishing
how to fake it from start to end, story, blurbs, reviews included.

kind of bewildering.

the vampires

the Twilight books seem to be the trend of these weeks.

here two blog posts with notes on this phenomenon:

Jessica Papin on Vampires etc.
"God bless the vampires. They saved Christmas."

and this, from September 2008:
Overnight Success Takes 2 to 10 years
"For example, in the young adult world, Stephenie Meyer’s name is on everyone’s lips. As an author, her Twilight books seem to “come out of nowhere”. But the first book Twilight was originally sold in late 2003 and the initial hardcover of the title released in 2005."

going south & 3 lines

two interesting essays on writing:

Going South / Tim Hallinan
reflections from "There are three things that tell me when I'm in trouble on a book.."
to "So what should I do when everything goes south?.."
coming with this great quote: "Annie Dillard once said that writing a book was like taming a lion – every day you stay out of the cage, it's more dangerous to step inside."

Wednesdays mean marketing / your book in 3 lines
"One of the first and most important pieces of information you’ll need in order to market your book is a quick two-to-three sentence spiel about your book. While this seems like an easy thing to do, it’s not as easy as it seems. I liken the process to Hollywood. Everyone there wants to hear the synopsis of the next blockbuster in as few words as possible..."