fires

Thought when I woke up to blue skies that we’d seen the worst of the fires and smoke. Then I went out and saw this:

and it’s another 103 degree day. Don’t know how the firefighters do it, but we’re glad they do. (CBS studios in the foreground, fires are miles back in the hills) Here’s the current fire map.

UPDATE: Saw the fires burning all along the ridge of mountains last night. By morning, the Station Fire quadrupled in size. Sunlight is orange – more hot weather and 8% relative humidity. Yikes.

 

filling the well

Okay, I have to admit I’ve run dry. Going to the movies to see if I can refill the well. If that doesn’t work, art museums or galleries almost always do. There’s something about painting….

Here are two artists sites if you’re in the same fix.

Filling the Dry Well from an artist who worked on James Cameron’s new movie, Avatar

and the great Paul Shardlow – you can tell he’s having fun with these. Enjoy!

 

back home

Been back a couple of days, mostly getting organized again. Have started one of my classes for a certificate in postsecondary reading. Not surprisingly, there’s a lot of reading.

Getting my head back into my novel and have a self-imposed deadline of about 6 weeks to finish the first draft.

A few links:

book/daddy has a short interview with Attica Locke (who has a gorgeous website and new book out in the vein of Mystic River and The Wire. She’s been getting great reviews.

RIP Dominick Dunne

Slattery’s top 10 books that don’t get enough respect. One of my mentors, Rob Roberge would concur on Dave Hickey’s Air Guitar. (hipster alert)

And just for fun…

Okay, back to work on the novel.

 

away for the weekend

Will be back probably the middle of next week. Happy writing!

 

O’Connor

If Flannery Had A Blog has excerpts from novels, letters, bios, articles, etc.

 

more on the Google settlement

More voices are joining counsel at William Morris with concerns about Google’s settlement with authors that would allow Google to profit from digital versions of millions of books it has scanned from libraries.  The Justice Department is involved too. If you have questions or want to opt out, go here.

Could you toss a 500 page manuscript?

Review of Richard Russo’s latest. Something to look forward to.

 

life advice blog

A friend of a friend started Life Advice From Old People - featured on the local news here in LA right now (yes, CBS affiliate, right now). Great clips – love the Russian math prof. He’s adorable. Give it a read.

 

quick note

For those of you in the Greater Los Angeles area, WritersBloc is having some great events with John Irving, E.L. Doctorow, Barbara Kingsolver, etc. I find it particularly thoughtful that Doctorow is coming for my birthday (heh).

Working on the novel today and starting to sort in preparation for packing Thursday. (Chicago Friday for long weekend)

 

annotating

Been getting some submissions for Annotation Nation(on hiatus till September) that are either book reviews or life histories. Also saw a question on how to annotate in the discussion forums for College Confidential, so here are some helpful links:

Peter Turchi has a list of resources. His own column (scroll down) is excellent.

Read Francine Prose’s Reading Like A Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them.

I am starting a certificate program in postsecondary reading and annotating was mentioned there, too. Here it is in a nutshell: active participation in the reading process; read with a pencil in hand and make notes; interact with the author (what are they doing?); develop your own marking system; identify the main point, key ideas, specific craft issues, and determine the strengths and weaknesses of the narrative.

My primary admonition would be, if you are a writer and you’re serious about it, do not be lazy about reading.  Be rigorous with the narrative, whether reading another’s or writing your own.

 

Monday odds and ends

Good Reads has 10 Questions with Lev Grossman and 10 with Rebecca Wells.

Also Project2996 to post tributes to all who died on 9/11 is taking sign-ups.

Had a quiet weekend. Back to work on the novel after a hike this morning. I have a scene that’s become a bit ‘sticky,’ but I think I finally solved a problem and have a good deed return to bite a character in keeping with the dark humor so far.