Jamie Patterson's Blog, page 3
July 12, 2012
July 8, 2012
July 2, 2012
Brainerd and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
The last week or so the last flight of the day to Brainerd, Minnesota from MSP has consistently gone late--about 3 or 4 hours late, which means most of the passengers could have driven there and back and there and back and there (again!) after landing in Minneapolis before their connecting flight to Brainerd even started boarding.
The one night the plane went on time (early, even!) was Friday night and I think Cyndi Lauper being a passenger on the plane might have had something to do with it. At least that's what I like to think. I went down to the gate just so I could see, with my own eyes, the Cyndi Lauper. She was pretty much just plain awesome.
80s - Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
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The one night the plane went on time (early, even!) was Friday night and I think Cyndi Lauper being a passenger on the plane might have had something to do with it. At least that's what I like to think. I went down to the gate just so I could see, with my own eyes, the Cyndi Lauper. She was pretty much just plain awesome.
80s - Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Powered by mp3skull.com
June 26, 2012
Childhood Heroes
Just read that Nora Ephron died today.
My heroes growing up were Ephron and Erma Bombeck. In full disclosure, Kent Hrbeck (batted left, threw right), Frankie Sweet Music Viola (lefty all around), Rabbi Mark Levin (across the street), and my Uncle Lon (cool dude all around) were right up there with Nora and Erma. Since being a ball player, a rabbi, and a cool dude just weren't in the cards for me, all I really wanted to do for the longest time was write columns or movies. I remember seeing an interview with Nora where she said of her writer parents that they always told her "everything is copy."
I might have been in high school when I heard this, maybe younger, and I thought copy meant that everything was copied so I carried around for years the idea that there was nothing new, just new ways of looking at the same old things. It wasn't until college or maybe even my first gig in PR that I realized copy was just plain old writing (or written matter, to be precise).
I still think, though, of my first interpretation of Nora's words and I think these two ideas: the need for new ways of looking at the same story and that everything in life is part of that story really influenced the writer I am today. Sure as heck explains how I found myself writing creative nonfiction.
It's never fun mourning the loss of a childhood hero but I'm glad for the chance to remember what it was like to be introduced to Nora and her work and to see the possibilities for my own life, however distant.
My heroes growing up were Ephron and Erma Bombeck. In full disclosure, Kent Hrbeck (batted left, threw right), Frankie Sweet Music Viola (lefty all around), Rabbi Mark Levin (across the street), and my Uncle Lon (cool dude all around) were right up there with Nora and Erma. Since being a ball player, a rabbi, and a cool dude just weren't in the cards for me, all I really wanted to do for the longest time was write columns or movies. I remember seeing an interview with Nora where she said of her writer parents that they always told her "everything is copy."
I might have been in high school when I heard this, maybe younger, and I thought copy meant that everything was copied so I carried around for years the idea that there was nothing new, just new ways of looking at the same old things. It wasn't until college or maybe even my first gig in PR that I realized copy was just plain old writing (or written matter, to be precise).
I still think, though, of my first interpretation of Nora's words and I think these two ideas: the need for new ways of looking at the same story and that everything in life is part of that story really influenced the writer I am today. Sure as heck explains how I found myself writing creative nonfiction.
It's never fun mourning the loss of a childhood hero but I'm glad for the chance to remember what it was like to be introduced to Nora and her work and to see the possibilities for my own life, however distant.
June 25, 2012
Huey, Harriet, and a Bone
One of my favorite things is to watch Huey go into a complete panic after I give him a bone. He'll walk blocks with a bone hanging out of his mouth, trying to figure out what the heck to do with the thing. He always comes to the same conclusion: eat the sucker. This photo is mid-decision.
June 18, 2012
Lost Edens at the Strand
My friend, Ray, just sent a picture of Lost Edens on the shelf at The Strand in New York. It feels a little bit like the gnome in Amelie getting photographed around the world!
June 17, 2012
June 7, 2012
More IPPY. Maybe More Blogging. Maybe.
Thanks, everyone, for all the really sweet congratulations on the awards Lost Edens has received. And even more thanks to everyone for reminding me I should blog more often and maybe about things other than winning awards? (I'm looking at you, Joe Bernard.)Duly noted. Just let me write one more time about the wonderful IPPY awards. The awards are open to publishers who produce fewer than 50 titles a year and has international submissions, which made the awards party even more fun. We met some really wonderful people, some who had sold over 20,000 copies in just a few months and some who have sold just a handful in over a year but all had amazing books. I'm going to include a few of the winners I met here and if you see any that might be interesting then, heck, support an independently published author!
My dad, my book, my medal (silver, essay/creative non-fiction), and me. Thanks, again, Dad for making the trip.
Here's Tom French, his mother, and his sweet daughter. This is one of the coolest ideas I've seen in a long time. The book, River Views: A History of the Thousand Islands in 3-D, comes with a 3-D viewer so you can see old photographs in 3-D. It won a silver in the Regional Book Awards for the U.S. North-East. If you know anyone who likes history this would be a really nice gift.
Daryl Sahli and his wife, Karen, made the trip from Brisbane, Australia. They were the first people we met as we filed into the venue and they were so delightful. Daryl won a bronze in Military Wartime Fiction for his book, A Skirmish in Africa. Set in his native Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the 1970s.
Finally, Coleen Christian Burke who won a gold in Holiday for her book, Christmas with the First Ladies: The White House Decorating Tradition from Jacqueline Kennedy to Michelle Obama. Keep it in mind for a nice Christmas gift, yeah? My dad had a marvelous time chatting with her dad, pictured on the right, and I only overheard portions of the conversation but a good chunk was waxing philosophical about fax machines.
And there you go! I promise to post something mundane about Huey, or my bathroom renovation, or finishing my doctorate but first I'm going on vacation.
Until then.
My dad, my book, my medal (silver, essay/creative non-fiction), and me. Thanks, again, Dad for making the trip.
Here's Tom French, his mother, and his sweet daughter. This is one of the coolest ideas I've seen in a long time. The book, River Views: A History of the Thousand Islands in 3-D, comes with a 3-D viewer so you can see old photographs in 3-D. It won a silver in the Regional Book Awards for the U.S. North-East. If you know anyone who likes history this would be a really nice gift.
Daryl Sahli and his wife, Karen, made the trip from Brisbane, Australia. They were the first people we met as we filed into the venue and they were so delightful. Daryl won a bronze in Military Wartime Fiction for his book, A Skirmish in Africa. Set in his native Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the 1970s.
Finally, Coleen Christian Burke who won a gold in Holiday for her book, Christmas with the First Ladies: The White House Decorating Tradition from Jacqueline Kennedy to Michelle Obama. Keep it in mind for a nice Christmas gift, yeah? My dad had a marvelous time chatting with her dad, pictured on the right, and I only overheard portions of the conversation but a good chunk was waxing philosophical about fax machines. And there you go! I promise to post something mundane about Huey, or my bathroom renovation, or finishing my doctorate but first I'm going on vacation.
Until then.
June 4, 2012
IPPY Awards
Three cheers for Jim Barnes ("the IPPY hippie") and crew for putting together such a wonderful night. My dad made the trip to New York with me to accept the silver award in essay/creative non-fiction and we both had a really wonderful time!
May 29, 2012
Awards!
I've been so honored this spring with one lovely recognition after another for Lost Edens. The book has been recognized as the runner-up, the finalist, and as being shortlisted for the Santa Fe Writer Project (short-listed), The Sarton Memoir Award, the San Francisco Book Festival (autobiography, honorable mention), ForeWord Book of the Year Awards (women's issues, finalist), Indie Book Awards (relationships, finalist), Independent Publisher Book Awards (Essay/Creative Non-Fiction, silver), and Indie Excellence Awards (Book Cover Design-Non-Fiction, finalist).
I can't even tell you how thrilling it has been to learn of each of these honors. To top everything off, I got word today that Lost Edens won an Indie Excellence Award under Divorce (of course!).
So there you go: memoir, autobiography, women's issues, relationships, essay/creative non-fiction, and divorce pretty much sums up the book nicely!
Thanks to everyone involved in the Lost Edens project, especially the wonderful Emily Mahon, who designed the book cover; I'm so glad she was recognized for her good work!
Cheers!
I can't even tell you how thrilling it has been to learn of each of these honors. To top everything off, I got word today that Lost Edens won an Indie Excellence Award under Divorce (of course!).
So there you go: memoir, autobiography, women's issues, relationships, essay/creative non-fiction, and divorce pretty much sums up the book nicely!
Thanks to everyone involved in the Lost Edens project, especially the wonderful Emily Mahon, who designed the book cover; I'm so glad she was recognized for her good work!
Cheers!
