I’ve never been the biggest fan of memoirs about writing, but when I read this post on Alex George’s blog about Ann Pratchett’s The Getaway Car: A Practical Memoir About Writing and Life (Kindle Single) (affiliate link), and saw that it’s less than $3, I decided to pick it up.

When I read Pratchett’s Bel Canto (P.S.) (affiliate link) …well, I can’t tell you why I loved it so much — only that I did.

And I loved The Getaway Car, too.

Pratchett’s Early Approach

While many new writers daydream about making it big, Pratchett mentions she went into writing thinking that success came only after death — so she was prepared to just get by doing what she loved. She’d wait tables and not have children or want for more because, as long as she lived a simple life, she could write without stress.

Focus!

All she wanted was to be a happy writer — not a rich writer…and it didn’t take much to make her happy.

From the start, she lived a life where writing came before climbing the corporate ladder or other trappings that often pull people away from the dream of making it writing. She worked a job that allowed her to think about stories, and not about work.

Maybe we can’t all live as lean a life as Pratchett did in the beginning, but as one who’s turned down several offers of becoming a manager because I know it would take even more time from what I’d rather be doing, there really is something to living on enough to get by and keeping at the dream of writing, instead of striving for even more material things.

(I freely admit that all the lawyers-turned-writers and doctors-turned-writers destroys this theory, but Pratchett’s point is really about sacrifice, and in reading interviews with those who did balance a career and writing, they usually sacrificed sleep for writing.)

Pratchett’s Honesty

I admire the honesty in The Getaway Car. Pratchett dislikes parties because it’s where people come up to her and say annoying things like, “Everyone has at least one good novel in them,” and then ask her to write that novel for them. She talks about the struggle to remain kind to those who make it seem like all that’s needed to make it writing is to one day sit down for a month or two and write and BOOM! you’ll make it!

To this point, Pratchett says:

“Why is it that we understand that playing the cello will require work, but we relegate writing to the magic of inspiration?” … “If a person of any age picked up the cello for the first time and said, ‘I’ll be playing in Carnegie Hall next month!’ you would pity her delusion…”

Art Does Not Just Happen

Some may find the first part of The Getaway Car a bit harsh. Some people believe writing’s all about inspiration — that by dabbling in being creative, one day they will write a book. Pratchett isn’t scolding those kinds of people; she’s just telling them that writing is hard work.

What she’s really getting at — what the entire memoir is really getting at — is this:

“Art stands on the shoulders of craft, which means that to get to the art, you must master the craft.”

Most people who want to write at some point in their lives aren’t willing to put in the time to master the craft. They want the story that’s in their head to magically flow to the pages. (Another thing Pratchett talks about quite a bit, in beautiful detail, in the first part of the memoir — the reason there are butterflies on the cover of the e-book.)

I love this quote because I wanted the third novel I’ve written to be my first, but at the time, I knew I hadn’t mastered the craft of writing. So I wrote my first novel, and then a second that only exists on a hard drive. It took me 20 years to get to the point of feeling confident enough to pull off my last novel, and to tackle what I’m working on, now.

Other Gems from the Memoir

Regarding how what’s often in one’s head is often not what ends up on the page.

“I can’t write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing.”

On writer’s block:

“I did not, however, get writer’s block, because as far as I’m concerned, writer’s block is a myth.”

(She wraps that section up with a quote from a writing student in a group she once addressed; one of the moments in the book that made me laugh out loud.)

On the effort of writing, assuming that everybody does, in fact, have at least one good novel in them (which Pratchett does not believe, but offers to make this point):

“Only a few of us are going to be willing to break our own hearts by trading in the living beauty of imagination for the stark disappointment of words.”

On writing daily:

“While I’ve had long periods of time when I’ve written every day, it’s nothing I’m slavish about.” … “I’ve gone for months without writing and never missed it.”

Then there’s this — again dispelling the myth of the magical side of writing:

“No matter what you may have heard, the characters don’t write their own story.”

On rewrites:

“I do a great deal of tinkering, but I never make any structural changes…”

Regarding research:

“I try to conduct my research after I’ve started writing, or sometimes even after I’ve finished.” … “I hate to see a novel in which the author has clearly researched every last detail to death and, to prove it, forces the reader to slog through two pages describing the candlesticks that were made in Salem in 1792.”

Amen!

The Last Three Sentences

The $2.99 e-book is worth it for the last three sentences that sum up writing better than anything I may have ever read. It’s like paying a dollar a sentence for some of the best advice out there. (Or you can go read Alex George’s blog about the memoir — he reveals the last three lines at the end of it.)

If you truly live it and understand the sentiment in those last three lines, you know writing.

Who Should Read This?

The Getaway Car is something I wouldn’t recommend to somebody just starting out…or hell, maybe I would.

The things Pratchett says might be ignored by many new writers, much like the part of the book that made me laugh out loud. At the same time, when I was still very new to writing and I looked to people with experience and heard them say, “It’s not easy, and it’s rare to see the first big thing you write meet with success,” I took it to heart.

I had a blast writing my first novel, and it has some moments I’m proud of in between all the goofiness. But had I written my last novel first — as I originally wanted to do — I’d have made a wreck of a good thing. So if you’re a new writer, and patient, The Getaway Car may be for you.

Pratchett’s memoir seems to work best for people who have written for awhile. While almost blunt, at times, it’s not cruel. Those who have been writing awhile will appreciate her honesty.

It’s a memoir for people who know how hard writing can be, but still choose to do it because they also know writing’s rewards.

No real update today, but I want to share something worth checking out.

Author, Alex George, has a wonderful “story in five photos” entry on his blog, chronicling the evolution of his latest novel, A Good American (affiliate link), from a blank page, through several drafts, galleys, and the actual novel.

More than that, though, it shows what goes into writing a novel — all the ups and downs. The close calls and total rewrites after thinking, “This is done and ready to go.”

The entry serves as inspiration to us all, whether the goal is to release your own e-book, or take the traditional route. It’s why I was up early before the day job, today, working on my latest book.

It takes time to do something well, and Alex’s post is a great reminder of the payoff.

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Oh! Alex’s A Good American, was recently picked as the Indie Next List’s #1 Pick for February of 2012! So check that out, too.

I first heard of Shawn Kupfer when his book, 47 Echo, was reviewed on The Nerdist blog.

So imagine my surprise when shortly after, he moved to Texas and not only ended up working where I work, but in the same department. And not just the same department…but on the same project!

Small world…

Shawn doesn’t write about small worlds, though. 47 Echo brings readers into the not-too-distant-future where convicts serve as the do-anything troops in a war against China fought in old Cold War territory: Russia. Not totally sci-fi, and not totally a military story, it’s probably best to let Shawn describe the book.

Shawn, please tell us what 47 Echo is about.

Basically, it’s the year 2019. The United States is in a war with the People’s Republic of China, the Democratic Republic of Korea, and about half of the Russian military, and it’s not going well. To bolster the front-line troops, Congress has passed the Convict Conscript Act, emptying out the prisons and putting everyone serving time into convict units. The worst offenders — multiple murderers — are placed in Marine Echo units, like the titular 47 Echo.

How did you come up with the idea for 47 Echo?

It was a bunch of different statistics that came together. I started looking at numbers — I have a bit of a number obsession — and I realized that China has a standing army of 5 million. They have compulsory military service in China, but it’s not been enforced, because there are so many volunteers. Then I came across an infographic that showed what each country in the world was the world leader in — for North Korea, it was percentage of their population that were soldiers (13 million active troops), and for America, it was the percentage of the population in prison (more than 2 million). All of those numbers came together and started planting the seeds for what would become 47 Echo in my head.

I kind of put the proverbial chicken before the egg in leading with the book. Can you tell us who you are and how you came to be a writer?

Sure! I’m just a guy… 33 years old, currently stationed in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. I was writing stories ever since I can remember — for a fourth-grade “write a short story” assignment, where other kids turned in a sheet of notebook paper, I turned in a typed, bound, miniature novel with characters, research, and illustration. I’ve kind of been doing that ever since, with a few noticeable gaps here and there.

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

To be quite honest, it’s the freedom to do and say anything I want. I get to create my own little worlds, populate them with people of my own creation, and watch the results unfold. I’ve often said I entertain the hell out of myself, and if other people dig it, that’s a great thing. But first and foremost, it gives my brain something productive to do, and it’s a lot of fun.

What’s the worst thing about being a writer?

Those times when you want to write, but can’t. Most writers I know work day jobs to keep the proverbial wolves from eating their way through the door, and I’m no different. Most writers I know also would love to do nothing but write for a living, and there’s that disconnect where you wish you were working on your own projects, but you’re stuck in an office working on someone else’s stuff for eight to ten hours every day.

Back to 47 Echo. You do a great job balancing military lingo without losing the reader in a flood of acronyms. Do you have a military background, or consult with anybody to keep things accurate?

A bit of both. I grew up an Air Force brat, the son of an meteorologist who eventually went into Special Operations. Then, in my early 30s, I worked as a contractor for the Department of Defense. And though I was born into it, I do keep current with a few friends in the Army and Marine Corps. A lot of the slang in 47 Echo, for example, comes from a Marine pal who’s deployed at the moment — the Army Rangers talk like Army Rangers because I have two friends who served in the 75th Ranger Regiment.

An oddball question. The new Muppet movie comes out next week. Who would you rather fight: Animal armed with a straight razor, or Fozzie the Bear with a shotgun?

That’s no contest. Fozzie with a shotgun. Going up against Animal with a straight razor is only slightly better than facing down a mental patient wrapped in barbed wire — there’s no way to defend against either one. But Fozzie doesn’t strike me as someone who went to the firing range a bunch, and his aim is probably pretty poor. Also, you can reason with Fozzie. There is no reasoning with Animal.

You’re quite prolific, having written eight book length stories in the last two and a half years. What’s your secret for staying productive?

Simply, keep writing. Even if you don’t “feel like it,” even if you think you’re putting absolute crap onto the page — just keep going. Keep producing. Set a goal every day, and don’t give yourself any excuses not to hit it. Stay up late if you have to. Bow out of the movie you really want to go see. Writing is a job — a fun job, but a job — and if you treat it as such, then your productivity stays where you need it to be.

So is it safe to say you don’t believe in writer’s block?

I don’t really anymore. Or, when I come up against it, I just force myself to push through it — I know I can fix any mistakes in editing later. Of course, there was an almost decade-long stretch before I started the Twitter Novel Project in 2009 where I completed almost nothing… so I figure I got all of my writer’s block out of the way already.

With your output, how attached are you to the things you write?

Interesting question — I *like* everything I write, otherwise I wouldn’t have written it… but I’m not one of those writers who thinks “my words are my children!” Ask my editors — I’m pretty easy to work with on that score. They want to change something, sure. Makes sense to me. If someone wanted to do a spinoff or adaptation of one of my works, I’d be interested in the result, not hyper-protective of the source material… because the thing I wrote is always there, always its own thing.

An off-the-wall question: what’s one of your favorite guilty pleasures?

Low-budget films. I love them, even when they turn out to be train wrecks. I’m pretty forgiving of low-budget and indie stuff, and I can usually find something I like about every film I watch. And I watch a lot of ‘em.

A little bit more about 47 Echo. While the main character, Nick, has a past, he’s a nice and fair guy (as long as you don’t mess with him). What led you to creating Nick?

Nick’s a character who, though he’s guilty of the crimes that caused him to be sentenced to 47 Echo, believes in right. He didn’t fight his conviction, because convicting him, in his mind, was right. He’s a character that fits perfectly into the world of the novel, being half Chinese and half white (English extraction, specifically). He’s a full-fledged American, having grown up in Southern California, but people take one look at him and see the enemy. And though he’s subjected to racial discrimination (until they need his fluency in Mandarin Chinese, of course), he still does what’s right. All of these factors kind of combined in my head to create the perfect character to fit into the time and place of the book.

Dreaming big for a moment, here, let’s pretend a big studio decides to make a 47 Echo movie. Who would you want to see in the role of Nick?

That’s a tough one, as there aren’t a great many Asian leading men of about the right age. Of course, saying that, I came across a comedian called Steve Byrne (funny guy, definitely check him out), who could probably pull it off and do a stellar job with it. He’s half Korean and half Irish, so he looks close to the part (I’m not one of those people who thinks “Any Asian! Good! Throw him in there,” but it’s been very tough to find a half-Chinese, half-English actor).

How about a director for the movie?

I’d love to see Joe Carnahan take a crack at it. I’ve enjoyed his films for a while now — I even enjoyed the “A-Team” reboot he helmed. He can handle action well, and I dig the hell out of his visual style.

A random question: can you tell us a couple of your favorite books?

Oh, man, there are tons. Anything by Douglas Coupland. “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” by James Joyce. “House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski. “The Right Stuff” by Tom Wolfe. “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. “Black Hawk Down” and “Killing Pablo” by Mark Bowden. I also dig a lot of true crime and military history, though that’s not a shock to anyone.

What are you working on right now?

As per usual, bunches of stuff. The third 47 Echo book, a couple of collaborations with other authors, and the book that’s been following me around for a couple of years now, *Blunt Force Trauma,* which is about violence addiction.

How many books do you have planned for Nick and the 47 Echo world?

As many as they let me tell. I could pretty much go on forever with those guys — the war lasts longer than a decade, and my original plan was at least one book taking place in each year of the war.

Any words of advice for writers just starting out?

Yes. Keep at it. Keep going, keep putting words on the page — some of it might be crap. A lot of it might be. But keep working, and honing your craft. The story you really want to tell is out there just waiting for you. Don’t give up until you get there. Then, once you get there… keep going.

Thanks for your time, Shawn. Before wrapping this up, anything you’d like to say before leaving?

Thanks so much for having me! Um, as I walk out the door, I probably should shill for a second and mention that the second 47 Echo novel will be out in June 2012, or thereabouts… so keep an eye out.

For More…

Pick up 47 Echo on the Kindle, here, or get it on the Nook right here.

Check out almost daily musings about writing and many other things on Shawn’s blog, or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

I’ve been told by some people–including readers of The Juggling Writer–that I should let people know what I’m doing and have out there a little more often. So…while I typically don’t say, “Hey, this is what I have out there to buy, listen to, or sign up for,” today I’m saying, “Hey, this is what I have out there to buy, listen to, or sign up for!” And I figured while I did that for me, I’d share what some friends are up to as well…

My Stuff

Ebooks – It started with a few short stories as a test and moved on to a novel. Want to read a short story about a goofy bulldog that eats everything it sees? Look no further. Ever wonder what would happen if you drank the juice from a Magic 8-Ball? Your answer is right here! Or maybe you want a story about an FBI agent on the verge of retiring and racing to solve a case that’s haunted him for years…maybe something with an old-timey circus? Got that covered, too!

Or maybe, just maybe…you’re thinking, “It’s been a busy, hot summer and I didn’t get to take that vacation I wanted. You know what would be cool–taking a road trip without leaving my home for less than the cost of a gallon of gas. If only someone decided to write a humorous coming-of-age story about a family traveling cross country in a possessed station wagon!”

It’s called Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors, and it can be yours for just $2.99.

(These ebooks are available on Barnesandnoble.com, too. If you’ve read anything you liked above, consider taking a moment to review it where they’re available or on your blog. I’m pretty friendly, too, and open to interviews.)

Newsletter – Maybe you like The Juggling Writer so much that you think, “I’d like a little something extra each month. Why doesn’t Christopher have a newsletter or something?”

I do, and signing up is easy.

And if you want a sneak peek at what the newsletter is like before signing up, check this out to see what you’re missing. (You can view past newsletters there, too.)

Podcast – Don’t want to buy Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors or put the effort into reading it? Maybe you’re thinking, “Hey, Chris–sounds groovy, but I like having my books read to me. (Preferably by the author.) And while $2.99 for an ebook is more than a fair price, I still like FREE!”

Well, you’re in luck!

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So there–I did it! A [somewhat] shameless plug!

Now that that’s over, check out some of these cool people below!

Friends and Online Acquaintances

Writers:

Mark Hosack – Super dad and all around nice guy. If you like over-the-top noir, check out the trailer below (NSFW)…and if it’s your thing, buy the movie.

Mark Finn – I have quite a few friends named Mark. When this Mark isn’t busy running the first theater in Texas to show 3D movies or serving as Toastmaster at ArmadilloCon this weekend, he writes things (particularly about Conan the Barbarian creator, Robert E. Howard). A badass among badasses!

William Mize – William Mize started writing paranormal detective stories before paranormal detective stories were cool. Check out his books here and here.

Rick Klaw – Rick bought the first thing I ever wrote with the hope of publication. His essays on being a geek are here, and he recently contributed to Jeff VanderMeer’s beautiful Steampunk Bible.

Shawn Kupfer – I first became aware of Shawn’s writing when his book, 47 Echo, was mentioned on The Nerdist blog’s Writers You Might Like feature. Then, oddly enough, he not only moved to Texas, but he ended up working for the same company I work for…in the same department…on the same project! He’s one of the hardest working writers I know. I’m about to go to bed, but Shawn…the safe bet is he still has a couple more hours in him tonight…

Erik Lundy – Eric Lundy is a redneck Renaissance Man! When he’s not doing stand up comedy about growing up in Arkansas and Missouri (check the NSFW link below), he writes and draws things. If you’re in the mood for some FREE crime fiction all collected and ready to read, check this out. Erik’s currently busy celebrating National Sandwich Month.

Artists:

John Picacio – I met John almost 20 years ago at a comic book convention. He is, by far, one of the kindest people you can hope to meet–and it’s no wonder why he’s won a World Fantasy Award and been nominated for the Hugo numerous times. (If he can finally win a Hugo next year in his hometown of San Antonio, that would be the coolest!)

Check out John’s blog for some incredible art–and there are few better ways to track the days of 2012 than by using this calendar! (Cover art right below.)

John Lucas – Joltin’ Johnny Lucas pencils and slings ink all over comic book pages. If everybody worked as hard as John we’d have world peace–because we’d all be too busy doing what we love to fight and do stupid things!

Shane Campos – If you like clean lines and color, you’ll dig Shane’s art. Coming up through the Texas independent comic book scene, Shane’s moved on to hip, commercial art you can even wear.

Ivan Chan – Ivan began finger painting a handful of years ago as a way to relax. While I prefer dogs to cats, Ivan’s enlightened cat art is great stuff!

Martin Thomas – Maybe you’ve always wondered who painted that famous image of Spider-Man? Maybe you’ve wondered, “What’s that guy up to, now? Damn, I even think it would be cool to hear what he sounds like!” Check out Martin’s animation on the only movie review site you need, Spill.com. (He voices Leon.)

Brian Denham – Best known for a run on Iron Man, Brian Denham’s another hard-working comic book artist living in Texas. While his site hasn’t been updated lately, if you follow him on Twitter you’ll get plenty of first looks at what he’s up to.

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Whew! I planned to mention other friends (musicians and other talented people), but this is getting long and it’s getting late. I’ll finish the big list up soon, but I definitely wanted to mention a few regulars around here…

Friends of The Juggling Writer:

C.M. Stewart – While The Juggling Writer may not get tons of traffic, I’m cool with that because I’ve met some cool people–like CM Stewart–through this blog.  Her recent review of my ebook, Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors surprised even me with her observations, and I wrote the damn thing!

Paul Lamb – Paul Lamb has a blog that, for some reason, I love reading in the morning.  There’s something very relaxing about his views of writing that I always look forward to reading.  Especially in the morning. A great way to begin a day.

Lisa Eckstein – Lisa Eckstein does a great job discussing her experiences as a writer, while always making time to highlight other writers and writing information at the end of each blog post! It’s like a 3 for 1 deal…for FREE!

M.E. Anders – M.E. Anders divides her blog with a weekly writer interview, a discussion focused on her past, and a book, podcast, or movie review. I’m glad my 50-day social media break posts have inspired her to think about the way she uses social media.

Anthony Wendell – Anthony Wendell’s Redshift blog features his poetry. He once lucked into going to a Stephen King lecture that was crashed by John Irving. Oh, how I envy Anthony Wendell!

Tammy Raabe Rao – Tammy Raabe Rao is a designer and photographer in the Boston area. When she’s not taking photos of circus performers (including jugglers!), she devotes her time to animal rescue programs (particularly guinea pigs).

Cynthia Griffith – Cynthia Griffith is a historical costumer and a very patient person (she married me, after all). She’s also a mighty fine artist and juggler, too! (One of Cynthia’s recent costumes in the video below.)

And Now…Your Turn!

Anything you want to plug? Don’t be shy–mention it in the comments!

It’s been one of those weeks at work, the kind where time moves back and forth in an odd dance in the mind, making it feel like minutes are hours and hours, minutes.

Deadlines, chaos, and nerves–there’s something big to work on, and when the sun meets the horizon (at this time of the year, a reminder that you’ve been at work far too long–especially when you watched the sun rise above the horizon on the way in), you crave company that won’t talk about work and maybe even something to speed along forcing the tension of the day from your shoulders to fall and gather like dust with others’ tensions on the floor of a bar or quiet living room.

Conversation and a cocktail; it doesn’t get much better than that!

The Power of a Drink

“First we must understand what, functionally, a cocktail is. I will inquire into no man’s reasons for taking a drink at any hour except 6:00 p.m. They are his affair and he has a rich variety of liquors  to choose from according to his whim or need: may they reward him according to his deserts and well beyond. But when evening quickens in the street, comes a pause in the day’s occupation that is known as the cocktail hour. It marks the lifeward turn.”
- Bernard DeVoto, from The Hour.

I love a good cocktail. (Personal preference: the martini.)

It is not that I want to lose myself in spirits, but rather–celebrate all that mankind has wrought in a perfect cocktail glass glistening with condensation and filled with gin, vermouth, and lemon oil swimming on the surface. One can argue that a dash of orange bitters belongs in or fouls the drink; I’m fine with either.

I’m also fine with olives.

Bernard DeVoto was not fine with olives in a martini.

“Who?” you probably ask.

DeVoto was a professor turned writer, known for writing about history and literary criticism (he was not afraid to try cutting through the bone with his opinions).

And yes, he even wrote about cocktails…

The Book

Bernard DeVoto’s The Hour: A Cocktail Manifesto (affiliate link)  was the first book I read this year. Of those who prefer olives in their martinis, he said:

“And, I suppose, nothing can be done with people who put olives in martinis, presumably because in some desolate childhood hour someone refused them a dill pickle and so they go through life lusting for the taste of brine.”

Followed by this:

“Something can be done with people who put pickled onions in: strangulation seems best.”

Do not take DeVoto as an authority on the martini; read him and appreciate a time when we put so much effort into everything we wrote. (The book was written in the late 50s.) Whether you agree with him or not, it’s hard not to appreciate the way the curmudgeon put words together. I’m sure the originators of many classic drinks (including the martini) would scoff at DeVoto’s arrogance and call him out on his inaccuracies, but that’s not the point.

He’s really damn funny!

The Evils of Rum…and the Enemy

“We are a pious people but a proud one too, aware of a noble lineage and a great inheritance. Let us candidly admit that there are shameful blemishes on the American past, of which by far the worst is rum.”

DeVoto has a flair for asserting his opinion in ways you can’t help but appreciate, whether you agree with him or not.

I’ll say it right here: I know very little about rum. I can’t recommend an aged rum worthy of pouring into a glass and sipping straight, like scotch or whiskey. In general, the rums I’ve had (even some more expensive rums) have left me flat. They have only been worthy of mixing–not savoring on their own. (If you have a recommendation of a good sipping rum, I’d love to hear it.)

Still, I wouldn’t say rum is the biggest blemish on the American past…and neither is DeVoto. Remember, while he started out an English professor, he moved on to writing about history and knows many of the true blemishes on the country’s past.

Reading The Hour was a reminder that many no longer appreciate–or even recognize–great satire and sarcasm.

Were a writer to say today that rum is the worst thing to happen to the country, instead of readers appreciating the ridiculous humor, many people would be outraged…perhaps even writing to publishers calling for the writer to never be published by them again.

Those people could do well with a fine drink to calm them down.

No drink (save the martini and whiskey) are spared in DeVoto’s The Hour. Cookbooks aren’t even spared:

“I’m talking about cookbooks. Every publishing house has from three to a dozen of them and they are money in the bank. Soon or late, usually not very late, this season’s novel about the bitch with the compassionate heart in rural Georgia or the court of Louis XV stops selling. A cookbook never does. In season or out, fat years or lean, it is the mainstay of the publishing business. The grandchildren of the author, who lived in an era when recipes began “take four pounds of butter and four dozen eggs,” set up trust funds for their grandchildren and the publisher loves them more warmly than the novelist who makes Book-of-the-Month Club every time. I don’t know how many cookbooks are sold, but it must be upwards of a million copies a year. Every copy has enough virus in it to infect a city of fifty thousand; every copy is a recruiting office for the enemy.”

Who (or what) is the enemy?

Pretty much everything except martinis and whiskey; all the drinks created to bulk up the “Beverages” section of cookbooks.

I’ll spare the details, but of these drink recipes, DeVoto says:

“Merely to read the formulas paralyzes the stomach muscles for as much as twenty minutes and a single sip would send the iron dog of the epoch they originated in galloping toward the nearest fire hydrant.”

Some other gems:

“Throw away that bottle of grenadine. Never buy another one.”

“Cheap liquor is grudge liquor.”

“Don’t have much to do with people who drink sherry at any time except with soup; there’s something wrong with them.”

“Orange bitters make a good astringent for the face. Never put them in anything that is to be drunk.”

“Let’s be clear about this: no Manhattans or rum.”

“Remember always that the three abominations are: (1) rum, (2) any other sweet drink, and (3) any mixed drink except one made of gin and dry vermouth in the ration that I have given.”

I don’t dare tell you what DeVoto thinks about punches and those who make and drink them.

The Martini

It’s probably clear by now that DeVoto was a big fan of the martini. I’ll let his words carry his feelings about the drink:

“The proper union of gin and vermouth is a great and sudden glory; it is one of the happiest marriages on earth and one of the shortest-lived. The fragile tie of ecstasy is broken in a few minutes, and thereafter there can be no remarriage.”

And remember, the martini should only be taken during “The Hour.”

The Hour

So why have I devoted so much time to a review about a tiny book that’s really just a curmudgeon’s celebration of the martini?

Because the final chapter of The Hour is one of the most soothing things I’ve read in years.

Imagine that stressful week at work, when all that can go wrong does go wrong. You’ve worked late; the sun has slipped behind the horizon and you rush through the city to find camaraderie and something to take the edge off a rough week.

It’s not that you want to lose yourself in the bottom of a glass; you just want to go from the stress of a busy week at work and lose yourself in a world where everybody knows your name. (Or where you can, at the very least, relax and discuss things that really matter–things beyond the toil of the days–with people who appreciate time away from work as much as you.)

Can you hear your body settling into the over-sized chair and smell the distant whiff of juniper and lemon oil?

The last chapter of DeVoto’s The Hour is like having that second martini after a long week of work. With words, DeVoto does in one small chapter what took distillers hundreds of years to do with their craft.

Gone is the sarcasm. DeVoto talks about drinking in clubs he’s frequented for so long that “my friends’ grandchildren stand up and offer me their chairs.”

He celebrates the hour as a time not be locked away in clubs with stuffy men talking business, but taking drinks in the company of smart women. (I found this attitude interesting given the time the book was written, a time when women were still seen more as cute objects than equals. DeVoto goes as far as saying that if you can’t have a martini in the company of a smart woman whom you adore, a martini isn’t worth having.)

He also writes:

“So it is a good place to reach just ahead of the pursuing feet. Tiptoeing across the almost dark cavern of the lounge (at the hour all lamps should be shaded and only a few of them lit, for if the body is in shadow the soul will the sooner turn toward the sun), I take my drink to a chair so big that one’s head cannot be seen above it’s back, by a window that faces a cross-town street. We are near enough the avenue to hear the traffic diminishing. This is the hour of diminishing, of slowing down, of quieting. Thus islanded in dimness and the murmur of traffic fading toward silence, one is apt for the ministration. Calm against background tumult is an essential of the hour; it is the firelight shining through the cabin window on the snow of the forest, the strong shack beside a lake whose waters a gale is hurling up the shore.”

"Certainly I'll have another one. The water of life was given to us to make us see for awhile that we are more nearly men and women, more nearly kind and gentle and generous, pleasanter and stronger, than without its vision there is any evidence we are. It is the healer, the weaver of forgiveness and reconciliation, the justifier of us to ourselves and one another. One more, and then with a spirit made whole again in a cleansed world, to dinner." - Bernard DeVoto

I don’t read many crime novels, sci-fi stories, horror shorts, or fantasy epics. It’s not that I have anything against genre fiction (in fact, I think everybody who writes should start out with genre fiction because it’s a great way to learn structure) — it’s just usually not my kind of thing. So it says even more that I really enjoyed Chuck Wendig’s Irregular Creatures.

Chuck Wendig’s TerribleMinds blog is one of the writing blogs I look forward to reading everyday. Wendig’s a cool guy who dispenses great writing advice in a much more direct way than I.

Turns out he’s a damn good writer, too.

Wendig’s Experiment

Irregular Creatures is Wendig’s first leap into e-book publishing. It was something he talked about on his blog, and it didn’t take long for him to stop talking and do it. (I started experimenting with e-books, in part, because I read about Wendig’s experiences with electronic publishing.)

The Irregular Creatures Review

Irregular Creatures is comprised of 9 stories — the first weighing in at approximately 14,000 words.

“Dog-Man and Cat-Bird (A Flying Cat Story)”

This story seems to be a favorite among readers.

Oh, sure, it has a cute, flying cat, but there’s a lot more going on. Beneath everything there’s an underlying theme of creating art we love vs. working a day job we hate.

The story’s about Joe, a sculptor who hasn’t created much of anything, lately, and the stress it puts on his marriage. Joe finds inspiration in a flying cat he finds in his garage one night; he creates a prophetic piece of art that plays a role in saving his son from a very strange attack.

I don’t think there are many readers — regardless of their tastes — who wouldn’t find things about this story that they love. It’s just a damn good story, and at 14,000 words, it’s worth the $2.99 price for the e-book.

But wait — there’s more!

“A Radioactive Monkey”

If you’re in a bar and offered a Radioactive Monkey, best not to drink it.

To find out why, you’ll have to buy the e-book.

“Product Placement”

I warmed up to this story very fast; partially because it reminded me of something one of the guys in my writing group would write. But the more I thought about it, I just loved the way Wendig makes the reader feel like the character in the story.

Without giving too much away, reality begins doing some strange things to Donnie, who has even bigger problems than his little dimensional glitch. His girlfriend is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby.

“Product Placement” is a great example of a story that shares its secret with the reader. We feel like Donnie, wondering if we’re losing it while everybody else is oblivious to strange changes going on around us.

I loved the way this story unfolded; one of my favorites in the collection.

“This Guy”

A short glimpse of a person’s descent into madness.

Over and over…

A macabre slice-of-life!

“Mister Mhu’s Pussy Show”

By now, it’s clear that Wendig can write. He’s funny, old school while still being hip, and he does an excellent job pulling readers into his stories.

“Mister Mhu’s Pussy Show” is a great example of the kind of thing I normally wouldn’t be into that surprised the hell out of me.

Wendig’s descriptions in this one drop the reader into the underbelly of Bangkok. It’s not a pleasant story, but even if it’s not your thing, you have to step back and be impressed by the writing.

Damn fine stuff!

“Lethe and Mnemosyne”

The shortest story in the collection drops fast, and I really liked it. There’s not a big resolution; there doesn’t need to be a big resolution with this story.

What I liked about it: Wendig puts a situation in the reader’s head, makes that situation sooooooooooo ridiculous but vital to the survival of the characters and an entire town, and leaves the reader thinking, “What would I do in that situation?”

Giant chicken — hell yeah!

“The Auction”

From comments on Wendig’s blog and reading other reviews, this seems to be a second favorite story in the collection.

It’s kind of like what would happen if Wendig channeled Ray Bradbury, Clive Barker, and Terry Gilliam. It’s a story about a father who takes his son to an auction where some of the strangest things imaginable can be had.

Wanna buy a Sasquatch? Check!

That kind of thing.

Benjamin’s father brings him to a strange auction. Dad tells Benjamin to stay close as he makes a phone call. Dad talks and talks and talks…

Benjamin does what I would have done: he wanders off.

He finds a mermaid for sale.

Tie it all together with a huckster holy man and chaos, and you’ve got yourself a mighty fine read!

“Beware of Owner”

Solicitors beware; some people aren’t content simply slamming the door in your face!

Some rough stuff, and a perfect example of a writer giving the reader just enough to make things even worse in our minds.

“Do-Overs and Take-Backs”

A kid from a rough part of town…a guy who has it all, but still isn’t happy.

A hobo hermaphrodite in a suit of magical rags. (Yep, you read that right!)

Stuff happens in between some mighty fine writing.

Redemption happens for some; not so much for others…

A good end to a great collection!

Who Would Like Irregular Creatures?

Fans of Joe Lansdale should dig the hell out of Irregular Creatures.

That doesn’t mean it’s just for fans of horror, dark fiction, or strange tales; Lansdale does so much more than he gets credit for writing, and Wendig’s that kind of writer, too.

The first story alone is worth $2.99 — and there are 8 stories after that. Not a bad deal at all; I had a great time reading it and will definitely buy more Chuck Wendig stories when they come out.

(Link to Wendig’s “Books for Sale” page where you can purchase Irregular Creatures.)

*          *          *

Oh, and if you’re in the mood, you can listen to an interview with Chuck Wendig about writing here.

He talks quite a bit about outlines, so writers really should check it out!

Before tackling the first adult novel I remember reading, John Irving’s The World According to Garp (Modern Library) (affiliate link), the first adult fiction of any kind I remember reading was James Thurber’s short stories,  “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” and “The Catbird Seat.”

I read them because they were available, and they were short.

Also in the bookcase was a collection of John Cheever short stories. I didn’t read them all, but I wanted to read the books my mom, sister, and stepfather read that were in the bookcases in our house. The shorter introduction to more serious fiction was the perfect segue to bigger things (which consisted of John Irving, Stephen King, Richard Adams, and Robert Pirsig at the time).

I love reading short stories, and I love writing them.

I recently saw Cal Morgan of Fifty-Two Stories (among many other things), speak at the Writers’ League of Texas Agents Conference. Since then, I’ve been catching up on short stories on the site.

Some of my other favorite places for very short writing (some of which aren’t short stories, but still…they tell a story, sometimes, better than something much longer):

@veryshortstory – One of my favorite writers online.

@hellobigfoot – Not necessarily stories, but Bigfoot’s Twitter feed puts some funny stories in my head!

Six Sentences Blog – Stories told in six sentences.

Unhappy Hipsters Blog – You may not agree with me, but one of the best writers online!

Ballard Street – Some of Amerongen’s strips say so much with so little.

I believe Haruki Murakami when he says in his book, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running(affiliate link):

“Most of what I know about writing I’ve learned through running everyday.”

The parallels of running any kind of distance and writing are very similar.

There’s a sense of monotony, a feeling of “when the hell will this end?” There’s a certain kind of mental pain involved in both actions. Running and writing don’t require too much gear: for running, shorts and shoes; writing, a pen and paper.

You can run or write anywhere.

There is something else running and writing have in common: a quiet sense of huge accomplishment when a novel or big run is done.

*          *          *

I haven’t read too much by Haruki Murakami. My first exposure to his writing came when a friend loaned me a copy of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International) (affiliate link). I liked the dreamy quality and duality of the storyline. I’ve read some Murakami short fiction, but that was it.

One evening while knocking around a bookstore, I was surprised to see What I Talk About When I Talk About Running in the athletics/running section of the store. I knew Murakami liked to run, but I didn’t know he wrote a book about running. Thumbing through the book, I noticed he also talks about writing in the book.

I’ve done a lot more writing than running in my life, but in recent years, I’ve started running here and there–it’s something I enjoy. So of course, I had to read the book.

*          *          *

This is definitely a book for runners, but if you like Murakami’s writing, or if you write and want to read a different kind of writing book, it’s worth reading. While I’ve never run a marathon (and don’t see a time in my life that I ever will), I agree with statements like:

“…writing novels and running full marathons are very much alike.”

It’s not a ground-breaking statement; I’ve heard writing compared to many hard things, including several female writers saying writing a novel is worse than childbirth. (I don’t see a time in my life that I ever give birth, either!)

Early on, Murakami tells readers that he’s not out to write pretty prose or do anything more than put down his thoughts about running and writing for himself. And that’s what I like about the book.

It’s simple.

When he describes running the reverse course of the first Marathon run, the feelings he describes are similar to the ups and downs experienced when writing a novel. When he talks about those perfect runs when the weather is just right, it is a reminder of those times when all the words come together, like a cool breeze coming down a mountain when you’re starting to overheat.

Murakami does devote a couple chapters of the book to writing. Even if you’re a writer who hates the thought of running, it’s worth reading the sections he devotes to writing and what it takes to sit alone in a room for hours and hours, isolated from loved ones–even if it’s just for reassurance that you’re not alone in feeling like this:

“No matter how much I write, though, I never reach a conclusion. And no matter how much I rewrite, I never reach a destination. Even after decades of writing, the same holds true.”

It’s always nice when you hear writers you look up to dealing with the same nagging feelings as the rest of us. That’s nothing new to me, but I find it comforting–not because it means Haruki Murakami struggles with rewrites and a sense of perfection, but in knowing that if that feeling is always there, I should begin treating writing more like a race.

We can only do the best we can do in an allotted amount of time or distance (word count), but we can’t go back and rerun a race we just finished.

The best we can do is learn from each race and do better the next time we sit down to write.

*          *          *

From the morning I started running a couple years ago after playing tennis with a friend from work, I’ve noticed my writing has improved. When I walk, I think about writing; when I run, I think about nothing.

It’s an act of mobile meditation. I don’t feel a thing until I stop, but somewhere deep in my mind, I’m working on things I don’t seem to resolve when I walk and actively think about them.

Murakami is a writer who views becoming a novelist as a not-so-healthy profession. The sitting, the isolation, the inability to never stop working in his head…he sees it as a toxic act. I wouldn’t go that far, but I know what he means when he says:

“For me, the main goal of exercising is to maintain, and improve, my physical condition in order to keep on writing novels.”

“To deal with something unhealthy, a person needs to be as healthy as possible.”

*          *          *

Whether you run or not, I think every writer can find something worthwhile in What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

Murakami’s rise from becoming the owner of a jazz club to becoming a revered writer in Japan and around the world is inspiring, and it’s all there in the book, step by step on the pavement as he runs along creating a life where he–

“…placed the highest priority on the sort of life that lets me focus on writing.”

That’s something we should all be doing if we really want to make it writing.

In Murakami’s world, there are no excuses. If you are “too busy” to write, you are simply not a writer.

“Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that’s the essense of running, and a metaphor for life–and for me, for writing as well.”

I recently watched Richard Nash’s talk about the future of books and publishing. (I found it here, on Booklife.)

There are some great points made in the presentation, but there were two that really stuck out:

1. The reminder that the long form narrative is a feature, not a bug.
2. Most writers — whether they know it or not — want a connection.

Feature, Not a Bug

Some writers and publishers are thinking short and gimmicky these days.

They see a report saying books sales are a little down and they think people don’t have time to read, so they must go with shorter content, or make enhanced e-books that can compete with video games and the Web. (At the same time, many people miss the line in that linked report stating that adult long form fiction saw an almost 7% increase in sales in 2009.)

Nash talks about the strength of the long form narrative, how the medium is a feature, not a bug.

I’ve seen a lot of buzz about this video for an enhanced e-book version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland the past couple weeks. If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know I’m in favor of e-books. But this enhanced e-book demo leaves me flat. There’s nothing I see in the demo that enhances the reading experience. It looks very distracting and gimmicky.

More than that, it seems to treat the long form narrative as a bug — not a feature, like something in need of repair.

There’s strength in the time it takes to read a book.

Nash talks about this and the importance of connections for writers and readers.

The Connection

Nash has seen many writers who thought being published would make them happy. He’s seen writers who seemed let down when they finally got a book on the shelves and was left with a feeling of is that all there is?

More than being published, Nash speculates, most writers really want a connection.

Nash talks about the investment of time, and what readers and writers get from the time it takes to read a book. (By treating the long form narrative as a feature, not a bug.)

Nash talks about how when you buy a book the author is “…inside a person’s head for 15 hours and you own that proxy object, that cultural proxy object that connects two people to one another in a deeper, deeper way than any other medium.”

Books connect people.

Deeply.

When I’ve heard people talk about TV shows at jobs, the talk is rarely deep. But when I’ve heard people talk about novels, there’s a much deeper connection. They don’t just talk about what happened like TV talkers — they talk about how what happened affects the world around us. They often talk about symbolism and social issues, not just who kissed whom in a grab for TV ratings.

The writer, Seth Godin, is big on Tribes. He sees importance in being the person who connects people to other people, even if that connection doesn’t directly benefit you as the leader of a group. It’s about sharing and connecting people; it’s about being altruistic and hopeful.

Writers have the ability to connect people like this in big ways.

Even if you never hear from the fans reading your writing, if you have a following that’s stuck around or grown, it’s a safe bet that it’s at least in large part because you connect people.

Readers invest more hours with one story or idea than any other medium out there. To stick with it, whether they contact the author or not, the author’s made a connection with the reader. And when a reader has invested so much time in something and they find somebody else who invested that much time, they connect and talk, sharing the experience and the ideas that came with the experience.

The act of writing is the act of creating tribes.

If you’re looking forward to having time away from your day job this weekend to write, think about how readers will connect with you and how you will connect readers when you sit down to write.

Writing can be a very powerful thing.

*          *          *

If you have some time to kill, here’s Richard Nash’s presentation:

I recently finished Haruki Murakami’s memoir about running and writing, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

While it’s much more about running than writing — even if you don’t like running — it’s worth reading if you write. The parallels between distance running and writing a novel are obvious even if you don’t run, but in Murakami’s hands, the parallels carry even more meaning.

There are so many great lines in the book, but this line when Murakami discusses his decision to become a writer stuck out for me:

“I placed the highest priority on the sort of life that lets me focus on writing.”

It seems obvious: if we want to be writers, we need to make writing a priority.

But I know people — some of them with the potential to be great writers — who always mean to get to writing, but never do.

It’s a lonely profession that seems attractive to many people, but because it’s not easy and it takes time to build up to the point you can finish even a weak novel, it’s easy to put it off and say you’ll get to things another day.

I’ve been guilty of this at times; it’s an easy thing to do.

At the same time, I’ve placed a high priority on creating the sort of life that allows me to make writing a priority most days. Obviously, for a writer juggling a day job, writing, and life, there are times other things take priority.

The important thing is making writing a priority on some level, and letting that priority grow.

For me, it’s meant passing by promotions that would have required overtime, taking away from time to write, exercise, and spend time with loved ones. I’ve spent vacation time writing, instead of taking vacation. (That’s something I’ve fixed in recent years — getting away from work and writing even for a couple days is important.) I’ve passed up some social events in order to write…and I’m pretty social and enjoy getting out.

Maybe for you it means waking up a little earlier and writing, or getting away from your desk and other people on lunch break and writing for an hour in the middle of the day. Maybe it means occasionally going to a library all day or even checking into a hotel overnight to dedicate a block of time to writing and remind yourself that it’s worth making writing a priority every day.

Murakami was a busy man when he really began focusing on writing. He owned a jazz club working long hours, booking musicians, working behind the bar, and running the business.

Somewhere in it all, he made time to run and write.

At the risk of losing other things that made more sense to him and the people around him, he placed the highest priority on creating a life that allowed him time to write.

Have you?