Jamie Patterson's Blog, page 11

If I am a Poet....

I stumbled on a website for poets, complete with an in-depth question/answer section, which included the question: If I am a poet in a financial crisis, where do I go for help?

I love how specified calls for help and--in turn--offerings of help are. It made me think of questions that didn't make it on this in-depth list:

If I am a poet and I've run out of gas on 35W, who do I call for help?
If I am a poet and my dog eats a chocolate bar, where should I take him?
If I am a poet and I've got writer's block, what should I do?

Now that last one the professional writing teacher in me would take seriously and try to answer. But the writer in me would likely not be as much help, as I suffer the same. Which leads to the last question: if I'm poet without words, where do I find them?

The Grand Master Plan

Some people have asked what the plan is for Lost Edens and so I thought I'd share what the current (ever-evolving) plan is:

The last several months were dedicated to building a web presence: blog, twitter, goodreads, amazon. Basically making Lost Edens "real" in the virtual world. With the thanks to a terrific publicist, Stephanie Barko, I think we can check this box.

Next up is knocking out all the awards submissions, most of which are due in the next month or so. Best case scenario Lost Edens gets a win or two here and there. Really, though, submitting for awards is one of the best ways I knew to get the book into the hands of people who might read and pass along or tell others to read and pass along. So I've applied for every imaginable award. Every. Single. One.

The hope, then, was that with the credibility of online reviews (to show people have actually read the book!) and then, perhaps, with the credibility of an award (let's hope for at least one out of the bunch, eh?) then it would be even easier to go bookstore to bookstore hoping they'll carry the book.

Hard work. So far, Lost Edens is carried in exactly two bookstores and exactly two bookstores are currently considering it. We're starting slow because I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. (But I'm having fun doing it!)

So next steps would be the e-Book, due in January and using my hard-earned flying privileges to literally go town to town, book in hand. I'm going to try and visit as many indie bookstores as humanly possible.

The ultimate goal? I won't have to work quite as hard to sell the second book, although I'd be delighted to have a second book to sell at all. And with that, back to the reading and writing for me, which is as much a vacation as I could hope for.

Vacation. What to do? What to do?

All the snow melted and it's been just beautiful. They closed the stairwells around the lake, though, and pushed all the docks out. Another couple of weeks before it's white here and white to stay for awhile. Lucky for me, I own over 100 sweaters so I'll keep toasty warm. I took five bags out, though, so there's progress. I'm hoping to get down to 20. This is what I do with my vacation. Sort through sweaters, read (Surprised By Oxford and You Deserve Nothing, so far. I recommend both.) and buy random music. Today's purchases included below for a delightful sampling. The sounds of freedom.


Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside A Broken Phonebooth With Money In My Hands

Phil Collins - Invisible Touch

Ellie Goulding - Lights (Bassnectar Remix)

Rusted Root - Send Me On My Way

Powered by mp3skull.com

First Best Seller List!

Okay, okay. So it was thanks to the book signing at Warwick's, but Lost Edens made their best seller list dated for November 20. Thank you, Warwick's! They still have a few copies on hand so if you're in the San Diego area you can hop on over to La Jolla if you're in the mood to say hello to a copy.

Probably the one and only time I'll be ranked higher than Stephen King.

Very cool!

26 Coats. Way More Sweaters.

You might recall the beginning of my No Shopping for a Year (NSFY) endeavor. It was summer, then, so I didn't feel like I could adequately assess my coats and sweaters. Now that it's snowed once, I thought it was time. And oh my. I had no idea. I have 26 coats hanging in one closet (out in the picture below) and more sweaters than I want to count. I feel like Felicity but the funny thing is I bet you money that anyone who sees me on a semiregular basis would be shocked to learn I own more than one black dress, the one lululemon sweater I pass off as officewear, and my beige coffee-stained jacket.

I never wear this stuff.

Which is why I stopped shopping. And now I'm hoping to get down to just one closet but after an initial assessment I want to keep 20 of the 26 coats. Removing six an empty closet does not make. Hmmm...now that I've pulled everything out of the closet I wonder just how long it will take me to get it all back (all that remains, that is!).

Beautiful day in the Neighborhood

Note the temperature!
The dessert table at the club. Deeelicious. Dad and me in the mirror.

Feeding the duck away from the no-feeding-the-ducks sign.

A Proper Thank You

The decision was made to keep Lost Edens as a book stripped down: no dedication, no acknowledgment. Just the story. I was just moving over to my Mac so I won't be tempted to work on my great vacation and found a draft of an acknowledgment-type page on the desktop.

I thought it fitting to post today. The list of thank yous has grown since I wrote this so I might need a part 2. For now, though, thank you to everyone who helped make Lost Edens a book!


This was a labor of love for so many more people than who will receive proper credit. Everyone mentioned here contributed directly or indirectly to the book you hold and this project would have been far less if any one of them had not been part of it.

To Ma, Papa, Lon, and Denise, who gave me, Huey, and Jack homes when we didn't have one. To Jeni who flew on a day's notice to help me through the darkest moments. To John who was at my side trough all of it, even when I didn't know I needed you. To James for being so wise and a source of strength. To mom and dad, who allowed me the space to have my own journey and the support to make the journey possible. Thank you.

You loved me, for better or worse.

To Russ and Lisa, I could not have survived without your willingness to talk anytime, without your kindness, without your devotion to being a good friend to me. You extend the same grace to Ben and because of this you have taught me an important lesson in how to be a true friend. Thank you.

You loved me, for better or worse.

To Mandy, Ben H., Lacey, Phil, Yara, and Joe. I couldn't ask for truer friends. You were there through everything and were so supportive. Thank you.

You loved me, for better or worse.

To all of my family but to Grandpa, Claire, and Aunt Ann in particular for your willingness to listen and offer hope, kindness, and a warm hand. Thank you.

You loved me, for better or worse.

To Michaela and Ted. You are present as far as my memory stretches. Having people in the world who have grown with me and are bound by friendship and not blood means so much to me. Thank you for being part of my journey.

Thank you.

To Sue and Laurel. You read these pages before I was even comfortable owning them. This book simply would not have happened without your encouragement and enthusiasm.

Thank you.

To Dr. Miller and Fr. Mike, you eased my pain, gave me tools, and helped me to make sense of what appeared to be senseless. I could not have asked for better guides.

Thank you.

To Jenne, Kevin C., Rachel, Aaron, Gilli, Julie, Sarah, Kaus, Sarah, and Dave. For your kindness, thank you.

To Bazil, Max, Heather, Jacqueline, Stefan, Devon, Ben, Yua, Sam, Shan, Andrea, Harriet and all the lovely people who have called 67 Dunloe home. Your friendship, love, and the community you provided made the trip across the Atlantic worth it every single time. You helped me in ways you might never know. I am thankful.

To Jordan, Dara, and Milt at Beaver's Pond Press. I was so fortunate to cross paths with each of you. To Jennifer, a kind and patient editor. To Ryan, a kind and patient designer. I am thankful.

To Emily, for creating a beautiful book cover. Thank you is not enough.

To Andy, for creating a beautiful website. Thank you is not enough.

To Stephanie, you are a magician who created an audience for the book out of thin air. I am grateful every day that you took on the project.

Thank you, all.

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!

I officially just finished editing the last dissertation in my queue and am taking my first proper vacation in over four years. Very excited. And quite paralyzed by indecision. Take the time and stay home to write or go to Tokyo on Saturday to visit James and then to Paris and Geneva with my parents the following Sunday? Both? Either or? Neither?

Ah, the freedom working for the airlines brings.

Today, though, a delicious meal at the club. One of these days someone in my family will cook. Just not today. Especially not today.

Natalie Merchant - Kind And Generous

Powered by mp3skull.com

What to say About Marriage?

A really lovely piece on Lost Edens published today in the Winona Post.

It raises some terrific questions and I got a pretty great kick out of this line: "excuse me for living. I just fell out of a hearse."

Reminds me of another of Uncle Lon's famous colloquial expressions. Today we got to chat and he said, "yeah, well ,whatever blows your skirt up."

Hilarious!

The Martyr, The Rebel, the Witness

Sometimes there are things that are just unavoidable. This morning I went to Starbucks with my mom, sister, and nieces and as I was entertaining my 2-year-old niece by walking back and forth from the table to the wastebasket I saw Chuck Palahniuk's book Damned on a table.

When I got in the car for the short ride home what do I hear but Palahniuk on Minnesota Public Radio discussing what he thinks are the three main characters of all great American fiction: the martyr, the rebel, and the witness. He gave terrific examples from Gone With The Wind and from a few other books and movies.

The idea is that there are three main characters: the martyr who will be killed by being obedient in the world, the rebel who will be destroyed by the world, and the witness who says "you're all crazy" and lives to tell the story. He went on to say that these are the three phases we all go through and that he tried to create in Fight Club one character that embodied all three.

Made me think of my favorite books and it sure isn't hard to buy into Palahniuk's theory. Then it made me think of Lost Edens and how the book very, very clearly goes from obedient martyr (chapters 1-10), to rebel (chapter 11!), to witness by the final chapters.

If I ever pursue a PhD in literature I think I'd know what my research interest would be, now. Must finish current doctorate program first.