Michael Embry's Blog, page 55

Paper Cuts

I’ve been spending the past month or so making edits on my upcoming short-story collection. I’m currently on the fifth rewrite; about half-way through the process, more or less.
Sometimes I’ll take a few days off so that I can have fresh eyes when I return to editing. But after looking at the computer screen over and over, I often take another approach to get a new perspective on my words -- I touch the print button on the keyboard.
For me, there’s something about holding a short story, chapter from a novel, or magazine article in my hands that provides a different look to my work. It's nice to actually go from page to page. Needless to say, it has more the look and feel of something published.
From the hard copy, I make the necessary edits using proofreading marks and then transfer the corrections to the computer file. I also find it easier to flip pages of paper rather than on a computer screen to check flow, names, scenes, and descriptions (although I keep handwritten note cards for that purpose as well).
I admit this is probably a carryover from my newspaper days when I wrote stories on a typewriter and passed them on to the copy desk. My first book was written with a typewriter as well.
I’ve gradually advanced with the new technology, but sometimes I find that it helps to take a step or two back to get things right.
Until the next time...

Story Songs: In the Ghetto

Elvis Presley was in kind of a slump in the late 1960s, almost  to the point of appearing irrelevant on the music scene. But that all changed in 1969 when he recorded Mac Davis's "In the Ghetto."

The song is about the hardships facing a young boy growing up in a Chicago ghetto without the social supports to help him succeed. Davis pleads that the child needs our help:



"People, don't you understand
the child needs a helping handor he'll grow to be an angry young man some day"


We learn that the boy turns to crime on the streets as he learns to steal and fight to survive in the ghetto. As a young man he eventually purchases a weapon and steals a car, then becomes another victim in the cruel and harsh environment where he was born.
And in the final verse, Davis tells us that it's just part of a cycle as the mother loses a child on the streets while another baby is born in the ghetto:
"As her young man dies,
on a cold and gray Chicago mornin',another little baby child is bornIn the ghetto"
The song was originally titled "The Vicious Cycle."
Davis, who is from Lubbock, Texas, wrote many hits including "Memories," "Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me," and "Stop and Smell the Roses." He was inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006. 
Although "In the Ghetto" was recorded in the late '60s, it is still  timely and relevant song in the 21st century. 
"In the Ghetto" lyrics

Goose Egg

It wasn't the best of days for me at the Horse Cave BookFest. But it wasn't the worst of days either. I'm sure most of the authors would say the same. For me, I didn't sell a single book. Kenneth Turner, sitting at my table, sold one. Bill Ellis, across from me, sold two.

But the day wasn't a total waste. I spent four hours on the road -- going to and from -- but during that time I thought about some story ideas (please, to those in the United States, I wasn't texting!).

The HCB had to combat 100-degree weather, which no doubt kept some people away. And being the inaugural event, I'm sure the word didn't get out as well as it could have been to folks in the area.

The venue was a bit cramped for the 100 or so authors and publishers. I think that might have been intimidating to potential book buyers when they looked inside are realized they were outnumbered. I was told the organizers had to move the event to a smaller place because the air conditioning went out at the original location.

Although I didn't have any customers -- and honestly, I really didn't expect many since I'm not from the area -- I was still able to talk shop with several authors and meet a few others.
Some of the other authors I got to chat with were Steve Vest, Tim Callahan, Bill Noel, Carleton Jackson, Lynwood Montell, Ann Gabhart, Katerina Stoykova-Klemer, Karen Angelucci, Virginia Davis, and Larry Moore. Check out their books at your library or online.

Thanks to the folks at The Bookstore and Two Bears and a Dog Books (how many towns with a populati0n of 2,250 have two bookstores?) and other volunteers for putting on the event. Stop by and visit the stores when you're in the vicinity.

I'm sure the 2013 event will be bigger and better.

Until the next time...

Story Songs: Piano Man

Billy Joel rates as one of the best story-songwriters of his generation, especially with tunes such as "Allentown," "Goodnight Saigon," and "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)." 

For most fans, it all started with "Piano Man," his breakthrough hit in 1974 that is now his signature song.

I remember seeing Joel in concert at Eastern Kentucky University that year. He put on a great show. I also reviewed his album, "Piano Man," for the Eastern Progress, the student newspaper, and boldly predicted that he was America's answer to England's Elton John. Well, it seemed bold at the time! 

If you've been part of the lounge scene, or simply curious about what goes on, Joel captured it all in "Piano Man." It's somewhat autobiographical as he retells his experience working at a lounge in Los Angeles. The lounge is filled with assortment of characters who yearn or dream of a different life:


"And the waitress is practicing politics As the businessmen slowly get stoned Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness But it's better than drinkin' alone" 
You can just imagine the stories that the piano man hears while he takes requests for songs, goes on a smoke break, or after his set.
"It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday And the manager gives me a smile 'Cause he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see To forget about life for a while"
I saw Joel in concert again a few years ago at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., during one of his tours with Elton John. It was another great show. 
And we all sang the chorus to this great song:
"Sing us a song you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight Well we're all in the mood for a melody And you got us feeling alright"
"Piano Man" lyrics




 



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Ramblings: A New Day for Books

Ramblings: A New Day for Books: I'm excited about participating in the inaugural Horse Cave BookFest on S...[image error]

A New Day for Books

I'm excited about participating in the inaugural Horse Cave BookFest on Saturday.
I’ll be there along with more than 100 other authors, publishers, and booksellers. Here’s an article in Columbia Magazine that gives details and a list of authors.
[image error] Horse Cave is located off Interstate 65, midway between Elizabethtown and Bowling Green, in south-central Kentucky. The town is home to the Kentucky Repertory Theatre, Kentucky Down Under, American Cave Museum, and Hidden River Cave. It's a neat town that gets better with age.
We’re fortunate in the Bluegrass State to have several book fairs including the Kentucky Book Fair (Nov. 10 in Frankfort) and Southern Kentucky Book Fest (held last April in Bowling Green).
While some authors are skipping book fairs and bookstore signings in favor of Internet marketing and promotion, I still believe it’s important for authors to meet the reading public. An author gets to know his audience a bit better, and there's the chance to increase the audience as well.
It’s also an opportunity for authors to answer questions and discuss their works, meet other authors, make new friends, renew friendships, and maybe even sell a few books. I know some of my treasured possessions are signed books from some of the authors I admire and read.
Furthermore, it's just nice to get out of the house on a summer day and be around people -- especially book lovers.
The event is produced by The Bookstore and Two Bears and a Dog Books and runs from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Drop on by if you’re in the vicinity. I'll have a bookmark for you.
Until the next time...

Story Songs: Me and Bobby McGee

"Me and Bobby McGee" is one of the few songs that truly captures the carefree spirit of the 1960s. Written by the great Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, it tells the story of two lovers as they move from one place to another, sharing songs and simply being free.

In Kristofferson's original lyrics, Bobby McGee is a woman. In Janis Joplin's hit version, Bobby McGee is a man. That certainly makes sense, at least in the time frame in which the song was written.

The song opens with the pair hitching a ride from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, setting the tone and mood for the story.

"Took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana
And was blowin' sad while Bobby sang the blues,
With them windshield wipers slappin' time and
Bobby clappin' hands we finally sang up every song
That driver knew."
After traveling from "the coalmines of Kentucky to the California sun," they finally part ways in Salinas, and the storyteller yearns to be with her again.

"She was lookin' for the home I hope she'll find,
Well I'd trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday,
Holdin' Bobby's body close to mine."
The song closes with words about their simple relationship, a comfort zone that many of us feel with special people in our lives.

"Feelin' good was easy, Lord, when Bobby sang the blues,
And buddy, that was good enough for me.
Good enough for me and Bobby McGee."
Roger Miller first recorded the song in 1969, topping at No. 12 on the country charts. But it was the legendary Janis Joplin's heartfelt version that brought worldwide audience and acclaim to "Me and Bobby McGee" in 1971, taking it to No. 1, several months after her untimely death It was her only chart-topping song.

"Me and Bobby McGee" lyrics

I'm including Joplin and Kristofferson videos of the song:











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Read My Lips

I’m about midway through the fourth rewrite of my short-story collection.
What’s so amazing to me is that I still find errors, mistakes, typos, and other boo-boos that I thought would have been caught during the first or second reads. I had the same experience with my previous books.
To be honest, I know that I’ll discover or uncover items that need to be addressed in the seventh or eighth read. That’s part of the challenge in reading copy. And I realize, to play on a saying by Alexander Pope: To err is human; to proofread, refine.
One thing I do at this point in the process is to read aloud (when alone) – or at least mouth – the words on the computer screen. Why? I want to make sure they have the correct sound and flow. I find this especially important in dialogue. I want the words to ring real and true.
By reading the manuscript in my normal voice, I believe it gives me a feel for what the reader may experience when digesting my words. If parts sound clumsy, choppy or wordy to me, I believe it will be magnified, and perhaps indigestible, for the reader.
Until the next time...[image error]

Story Songs: Running Bear

J.P. Richardson, more famously known as The Big Bopper, penned a song about eternal love in "Running Bear." The tune, recorded by Johnny Preston, reached No. 1 in early 1960, nearly a year after the plane crash that claimed the lives of Richardson, Buddy Holly, and Ritchie Valens. 

It's a simple song about two young Indians -- Running Bear and Little White Dove -- whose love is separated by their feuding tribes and a wide river.   

"On the bank of the river
Stood Running Bear
Young Indian brave
On the other side of the river
Stood his lovely Indian maid
Little White Dove was her name
Such a lovely sight to see
But their tribes fought with each other
So their love could never be"
They decide that the only way to be together is to meet halfway in the river, but realizing that only their love for each other would survive the "raging river."

"And they swam out to each other
Through the swirling stream they came
As their hands touched and their lips met
The raging river pulled them down
Now they'll always be together
In their happy hunting ground"
"Running Bear" was one of my favorite songs during my pre-teen years. It has a distinctive drumbeat and sax interludes, along with Richardson and George Jones providing background vocals, that makes it a special love song. 

"Running Bear" lyrics

 


 




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Unadvice for Writers

“I am not one of those who in expressing opinions confine themselves to facts.” – Mark Twain
[image error]When I have posts about writing, they are simply my reflections on the craft based on my experience as an author. Although they work for me, they may not -- and probably won't -- work for you.
For those who are writers, or aspire to be writers, there have been countless opinions expressed about this creative endeavor in books, magazines, newspapers, radio, television, conferences, websites, webinars, conversations, blogs or whatever means you seek advice.
And, no doubt, there will be countless more suggestions and recommendations offered on the writing process in the years to come. As the crude saying goes, opinions are like… everyone has one.
I have a bookshelf and more of books about writing. I subscribe to several writing magazines and blogs. I occasionally attend lectures, seminars and conferences about various things pertaining to writing.
So what’s my point in this post? First, I don’t take anything as gospel. Second, I try to take nuggets of information from various sources. And third, sometimes I find grains of salt. It's kind of a collective process for me in picking up bits and pieces from many sources.
That’s what I hope you take from my posts.
We all have our own methods of writing. We all have different time constraints. We all have different things going on in our lives. We all have different interests. In other words, we’re all different in many ways that affect our writing in many ways.
I believe my only sound pieces of advice are to read and write.
But do it your way.
One more thought about advice, this from Virginia Woolf: "Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others."
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