Jonathan Carroll's Blog, page 19

CarrollBlog 1.18

All right Carroll-reading community-- here's a challenge: DT wrote in that he wants to have a tattoo done using a quote from one of my books. He asked if I had any suggestions. I said I would think hard on it. Then it struck me you too should be consulted because some of you know the books better than I do at this point and have your favorite lines. So-- what do you suggest? The quote obviously can't be too long or else it'll take up all of his skin. When (if) I come up with something I think works, I'll post it here. But in the meantime-- start thinking-- and suggesting.

Post your thoughts here: http://www.facebook.com/thejonathanca...

CarrollBlog 11.31

On this last day of the year I was thinking about sea glass and what an extraordinarily good metaphor it is for what we all hope for in life. When it was created and initially used, the glass had no value. It was part of a greenish Coke bottle, a brown wine bottle, olive oil, or a blue drinking glass. Nothing of importance. Use up the contents and throw the bottle away. Somehow or other the glass broke and its pieces were scattered. This one ends up in the ocean. For a long time, maybe even years, it lives there being tossed and tumbled, roiled here and there by the whims of the sea. It's not a good life, but it manages to keep intact. All the time it's in there however, its sharp edges are being worn away by the water's constant movement. The violence of storms, the bleaching sun, saltwater... all these things transform it. Eventually it gets washed up on a beach somewhere. It is the same glass it once was but also something new. Not entirely but almost. The color has been burned away by the sun and the acid sea, making the glass more translucent, ethereal, and lovely. It has no more edges. But without them it has taken on a shape, a form, that is often singular and truly one of a kind. Sooner or later someone comes by and notices it. They are immediately attracted. They love it for what it has become. Often they take it home and in some cases, even turn it into a piece of jewelry or something else valuable. Something to treasure.

CarrollBlog 11.30

OPEN ROAD MEDIA, the wizards who publish my e-books, just sent over a new JC project they're working on that already looks stunning. No details yet, but those of you who enjoy the things I post here AND my work, you're going to love what's coming.

Stay tuned.

TODAY ONLY/November 26: Find my ebooks on sale at 80% off...

TODAY ONLY/November 26: Find my ebooks on sale at 80% off. A present for you or the perfect gift? Today is the day to buy and auto-deliver for Dec 25th! : http://bit.ly/UTLUjB

CarrollBlog 11.23

Fear pounds on the door to our heart demanding to be let in. Joy is modest and often comes into our lives like a shy person entering a room; it can take a while to even notice it’s there.

CarrollBlog 11.12

While walking the dog yesterday, I heard someone coming up behind me so I stepped aside. A man dressed in runner’s clothes and pushing a baby carriage jogged by me. I thought another one of those Dad-joggers who volunteer to take the baby along when they go for their run. But what struck me was he was running pretty fast and the traffic light at the corner in front of us was turning red. When he got to the corner, the man didn’t stop—he jogged across the street. Luckily no cars were coming but on reaching the other side, the carriage caught on something and flipped over. I gasped and ran towards it. A baby screamed and the father, reaching down into the spilled carriage, pulled out---a large animal. It was brown, had big ears and looked very furry. Shocked by this totally surreal sight, I froze. It took several seconds for me to realize it was a baby dressed in one of those cute all body suits made to look like an animal. In this case, a bear cub. I reached the man and asked if the child was okay. He nodded but wouldn’t make eye contact and moved away as quickly as he could. He must have known I’d seen the whole thing and read my mind because it was yelling “You are one lucky motherfucker, *Dad*.”

CarrollBlog 11.9

My recent collection of short stories, THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED A CLOUD, will be released as an e-book across all platforms on November 27. Only $12.95. You can already pre-order it at the Amazon/Kindle store.

CarrollBlog 11.4

Name

When did your name

change from a proper noun

to a charm?

Its three vowels

like jewels

on the thread of my breath.

Its consonants

brushing my mouth

like a kiss.

I love your name.

I say it again and again

in this summer rain.

I see it,

discreet in the alphabet,

like a wish.

I pray it

into the night

till its letters are light.

I hear your name

rhyming, rhyming,

rhyming with everything.

— Carol Ann Duffy

CarrollBlog 11.2

I just learned that for the month of November, Kindle books over at Amazon has chosen THE MARRIAGE OF STICKS as one of their "Kindle 100," which means e-books cheap. STICKS costs $2.99 for all of 11/2012. OPEN ROAD MEDIA, which published the e-book version, said they will also offer the book for that price on all e-book formats in November.

CarrollBlog 11.1

You Don't Know What Love Is

by Kim Addonizio

You don't know what love is

but you know how to raise it in me

like a dead girl winched up from a river. How to

wash off the sludge, the stench of our past.

How to start clean. This love even sits up

and blinks; amazed, she takes a few shaky steps.

Any day now she'll try to eat solid food. She'll want

to get into a fast car, one low to the ground, and drive

to some cinderblock shithole in the desert

where she can drink and get sick and then

dance in nothing but her underwear. You know

where she's headed, you know she'll wake up

with an ache she can't locate and no money

and a terrible thirst. So to hell

with your warm hands sliding inside my shirt

and your tongue down my throat

like an oxygen tube. Cover me

in black plastic. Let the mourners through.