Sumiko Saulson's Blog, page 66

Interview with JZ Murdock, Author of Death of Heaven

The Author:

JZ Murdock

JZ Murdock began writing early in life, after reading Frank Herbert’s seminal novel, Dune and completing his first short story in the 10th grade. I grew up watching Horror movies, perhaps from a bit too young of an age. His first true horror story was “Andrew”, now a novella in Amazon Prime and in the “Anthology of Evil”.  His story “Poor Lord Ritchie’s Answer to a Question He Knever Knew” was named Rutger Hauer’s “International Story of the Week” in 2004. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Minor in Creative Writing, and completed a year-long program of script and screenplay writing with The Annex Theatre, in Seattle, WA. He works in Information Technologies world as a technical writer and a web/network administrator. Currently living near Seattle, JZ was born in Tacoma, WA and grew up spending summers with his mother’s family on the east coast. He studied Buddhism and Aikido during his first year of college and serves on Board of Directors for his local Aikido dojo.

The Interview:

Q. I was excited to learn that we have something in common in that both of us have returned to fiction writing after a long sabbatical punctuated with non-fiction writing. What do you think it is about science fiction and horror that makes authors want to come back to it after years away?

A. Interesting. And cool. Well for me, after years of technical non-fiction

Anthology of Evil

writing I felt a strong urge to start actually enjoy writing again. It was something I once loved to do and it had become a bit of drudgery. But I had learned a lot over those years. Attention to detail, getting used to finishing large projects, how to be critical in writing, and how to take a critique that was typically delivered in a rushed business setting with reasonably little concern about my feelings as the writer. Sometimes that was a little hard to take. But after the military and university, it wasn’t really that hard.

When I first interviewed for my first tech writer position, I didn’t even realize that I was being interviewed. It was in a social situation and I thought I was off-handedly being asked if I had ever considered being a tech writer. I replied that I really didn’t know if I wanted to do that, as there is no character development, no tension, and no punch at the ending. I was kidding, but it’s true. It’s all in reverse. In technical writing you take the mystery out up front, in order to eliminate it as quickly as possible since the goal is to move things along as quickly as possible. But once I realized I was being asked about a job and it was not just casual interest, I changed my tune.

Isaac Asimov in his first autobiography, “In Memory, Yet Green”, had written that all the first great Science Fiction writers were military Tech Writers, so tech writing seemed like a good idea. My first published short story by the way was “In Memory, Yet Crystal Clear”. I’m sure there is some correlation there. Anyway, that interview led to my getting my first high tech job. It was at US West Technologies on a high-level internal design team, developing internal applications. We were changing how the company worked and it was an amazing experience.

Fiction, especially Speculative, Science and Horror Fiction, is fun. Or it should be. After all, that’s what it’s really all about. It’s about enjoying the writing and the reader enjoying the resulting story from the other end, and they want it to last as long as it’s enjoyable. I was lucky in that my non-fiction readers seemed to enjoy my manuals and articles. I had published some articles in computer news rags here and there.  But it’s nothing like the pleasure you get from fiction. And for me at least, in SF and Horror it’s enhanced. You are attempting to take your reader on a roller coaster of a ride, show them the most intense things, things they had never seen before, things hopefully that they have never imagined; all the while knowing that they are safe.

How the author feels while writing it can move through the page to the reader.  Some of my first horror stories were written in the basement of a huge hospital during my free time while working nights on a DEC VAX mainframe. It was spooky to write there alone, and hopefully that comes through to the reader.

Q. “Simon’s Beautiful Thought” was a very thoughtful piece, sort of a science-fiction romance. What inspired you to write the story?

Simon’s Beautiful Thought by JZ Murdock

A. I am in several online writers’ groups. One of them set the scope for the next story we were to write as, obsession. So I tried to think of how I could twist that around. I thought I should try my hand at some romance and “Simon” was what fell out onto the page. I don’t really write romances and I thought that I should push myself to see what came out. You see, I’ve adapted two romantic novels to screenplay, one paranormal romance for TL Mitchell (Dark of kNight) and one espionage romance for Kelly Abell (Sealed in Lies). So I thought I should try my hand at it.

The story that came just after “Simon” was “The Fall”. It was really based even more on obsession but also rejection, and it led to L. A. Lewandowski writing an article about it on Indies Unlimited (http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2012/0...). She had asked to read my story, “Poor Lord Ritchie” (in Anthology of Evil), a medieval tale that the actor, Rutger Hauer chose as a winner in a contest he held back in 2004-5. I had mentioned something in a writing group online and she was curious why Rutger picked the story, when I had said that he liked stories that in his opinion, had “heart”. He also said that was how he chose his acting roles. Ms. Lewandowski was sure that the author of that story was a guy. After all, it is a very “guy” kind of story. But then she read another story of mine, “The Fall” and then she was sure the author was a woman. It left her conflicted and she asked me if I minded if she wrote her article on it and not to tell her if I were male, or female. It was a fun situation and I couldn’t have been more pleased to receive such high praise.

Q. Was “Death of Heaven” your first novel length work of fiction? What would you like the readers to know about the book, your vision, and your process in creating it?

Death of Heaven by JZ Murdock

A. Yes, “Death of Heaven” is my first finished novel. I’ve made several false starts at the novel length over the years and never could seem to get through to the end. These last few years I have been working on screenplays and then just happened to fall into a situation where I could put out an anthology of short stories. So in December 2011 I put all my short stories together and ended up with a five hundred-page book. That was simply.

So I split it in half. At that point a storyline started to fall into place based upon “Andrew”, a novella and the last story in “Anthology of Evil”. By the way, that is not a book for everybody, although several stories in there have previously been published. Between the two, you can see how my writing is developing between the Anthology and “Death of Heaven”, and certainly whatever comes next.

So, at that point back in December/January, the second book started to form in my mind and I began to build it. Rather than an anthology, it’s a multi-layered tale of detailing how nothing we understand of our life, our species, or our universe for that matter, is quite what we have grown to believe since the beginning of history.

“Death of Heaven” is a story about two childhood friends who experienced a horrific event when they were young and it changed them forever. Then they come back together as adults after they have both had even more life-changing trauma. They find that they have tapped into something, simply unbelievable.  Then the book develops through the stories of others as told to one of the two friends, mostly contemporary stories, but also going back into unrecorded history. The reader experiences all of this through the eyes Jimmy as he listens to his friend, James, who is receiving these tales from a super being who we come to find has more to do with our species and our planet than we could have ever imagined.

They then discover that not only do they have to deal with changing their entire concept of everything they’ve ever known, but they also come to find that they need to prepare for some globally horrific events; things that Humankind very well, cannot survive.  I would have to say that if you don’t like books where you are constantly kept off balance, I would consider reading something else. Also, if you can’t get past the quotes at the beginning of the book, go find another book to read.

Q. Do you categorize “Death of Heaven” as apocalyptic horror, science fiction, or a little of both?

A. I gave that a lot of thought. Typically, it would be labeled at Science Fiction, yet I call it Speculative Fiction and consider myself a Speculative Fiction writer. It could be Apocalyptic Horror but it encompasses far more than that. Actually, this is typical for a lot of my stories. They can be hard to define clearly as one thing or another.  “Andrew”, the base for “Death of Heaven” is a good case in point. Is it a ghost story? Is it Science Fiction? Is it Horror? Apocalyptic Horror? I leave that for the reader to define.

Q. Has your experience in both writing and study of non-fiction subjects aided you in your development as a fiction writer?

Field Theory – Non Fiction by JZ Murdock

A. I believe so. My University degree is in Psychology and I got deep into Phenomenology. How Humans relate to the phenomena in the world around them. Where things happen related to us, within us, around us, and between our minds and our physical brains; what we perceive as reality, or actuality. I am pretty active with my brother and my son in discussions of reality, the physical and Meta universe.

What is a “ghost”? Something we should ignore as nonsense? Spirits of the deceased? Cross overs from parallel universes? Simply natural recordings playing back from within the environment? Are they spiritual (or religious) in nature, or scientific? We tend to find that area very disturbing to consider. Between those two concepts of the spiritual and scientific, lies a vast universe simply ripe for Horror.

Q. Do you think there is something primal in the human psyche that makes stories of the end of all humanity seems more frightening than our individual, personal confrontations with our own mortality? How much do the Judeo-Christian apocalypse and Book of Revelations play into events in your novel?

A. I don’t know if the apocalypse is primal or not. I do think that we consider something like the end of Humankind in a higher level of consideration. We know it’s a horrible thing but in the end we are really just fearful of our own demise. We hope to die comfortably and if there were any way to continue on once we’re done on this plane of existence, wouldn’t it be nice if there were more? Either in “paradise”, on another planet, or through some form of reincarnation?

Q. Is there anything you would like the readers to know about you or your books that we haven’t talked about yet?

A. I’ve always thought of my writings as an acquired taste; something not fully acceptable to the masses.  Although I am getting better at writing for a wider audience, I doubt I’ll ever get to the point of a Stephen King and really, I have no intention of trying for that. My first published short story was “In Memory, Yet Crystal Clear” (in, “Anthology of Evil”). My friends told me that it would never sell, although they did like it well enough. And yet, it was the first story I ever sold.

Will there be an “Anthology of Evil II”? Well, I’ve already started compiling one, but most likely not for this year.

I’ve written for a few anthologies now both from Zilyon Publishing: “The Undead Nation Anthology” (“Gumdrop City”, based on a true crime pedophile serial murderer), and “Rhonny Reaper’s Creature Features” (“The Conqueror Worm”, a story detailing the traumatic events in the childhood of the two main characters in “Death of Heaven”).  By the way, both of these anthologies give their proceeds respectively, to cancer and diabetes research. I guess, if someone liked my stories there then they might enjoy “Death of Heaven”. I’ve always felt I was a hard core, Science Fiction reader. And so, I wrote “Death of Heaven” for myself, as that type of a fan.

If you liked that book, then you might like delving further into my past writings in “Anthology of Evil”, as you can see my progression as a writer. But if you start with “Anthology of Evil”, you really won’t expect what hits you in “Death of Heaven”.

I should mention that my first zombie story is, “Japheth, Ishvi and The Light”, and is in “Anthology of Evil”. I have now submitted my second zombie story to ZombieFiend.com for their upcoming anthology. It’s a short story called, “Mr. Pakool’s Spice”. They had a couple of requirements for submitting that plot-wise, I had to adhere to. I think it is an interesting story. It follows a widower trying to get his two young children though the winter woods of Oregon, to safety among roving bands of zombies and one particularly spooky character they call, “Mr. Pakool”, because of his strange hat. That character is stalking them with no small degree of ill intent.

I’ve been asked about getting involved in zombie stories, but I grew up watching them. I loved, “Night of the Living Dead”. George Romero and Tom Savini are heroes of mine. I finally got to meet Tom Savini at last year’s ZomBcon in Seattle. What a great day that was. And, “The Walking Dead” on cable is just too much fun; and now Clive Barker is working on a zombie project. So I guess, at least I’m in good company.

To sum up I just want to say that I’m really only getting started.  And also, thanks so much, to everyone.

Contact Information:

Author’s Web: jzmurdock.com

Blog: Murdockinations.com

 

The Great T-Shirt De…AAAAAaaah!

I am thinking that is probably a statement of the obvious: it costs money to promote your books, money that you should be accounting for in an accounting system of some sort that you use to track how much you are spending to make whatever you earn. In fact, you might not be earning money: you could be losing money. I have set up my book-selling business so that I do not lose money, so the amount of money I invest in promotion is not-more-than-I-earn.

Sometimes it is as much as I earn, though. Yea. I try to avoid that.

I try to earn money.

For that reason, I’m thinking about this:

Frankenzombie Tee – Green Ink Interior

or, alternatively, this:

Frankenzombie Tee – Green Square

Those are one-color green ink on black tshirt designs that my neighbor, Rene can provide to me for less than 1/3rd of the cost of any online printing four color ink designs I was able to locate (well…unless I want to order 1,000 tshirts. I don’t want to order 1,000 tshirts. I only need 10 or 20 tshirts). The really cool thing about it is that I also will get to support a local business.

So… tell me… do you like the first one, or the second one better?

That Crazy Chihuahua Contest! Vote Today!

Today is the Day! Vote for one of our two furry contestants, and the winner’s human will get a signed copy of Solitude. The winning Chi-Dog will also have the opportunity to represent the Chi-Dog in the book, “Crazy”, who acts as a sort of intermediary between Margo and force of mother nature in the book, among other things.  You don’t fool with Mother Nature.

Although Crazy the Chihuahua is definitely a girl, both of the dogs whose photos were submitted are boys… but that’s okay! Benji was played by a girl dog sometimes, right?

So without further ado…

CONTESTANT #1

Kimberly Ann’s Benny

CONTESTANT #2

Nietzsche (submitted by Brenda Wood)

You can vote on my Facebook Page, here:

https://www.facebook.com/authorsumikosaulson

You vote by liking the pictures.

Thanks! And don’t forget: Oakland SPCA has tons of adoptable chihuahuas if you want to adopt a Crazy Chihuahua of your very own.

Pini’s “Red Death”: Facebook censors sex, not violence.

LezGetReal’s hilariously censored version of Bunchh

The Controversy:

It’s not an East Coast/West Coast Thang: In a perfect example of the age-old argument over the American censorship bias that considers sex somehow more heinous than violence, Silicon Valley based Facebook censors (or at least the computer programming that represents them) tagged as inappropriate an ethereal, innocently-posed topless cartoon of the blue-skinned androgynous  character Bunchh from Wendy Pini online animated comic, “Masque of the Red Death.”

There is quite a bit of thought-provoking dialogue occurring on gay-and-lesbian websites about the somewhat gender-neutral character, whether or not she (he?) is a pre-op transexual, and what Facebook’s decision to ban her pink nipplyness might mean.

You can see aforementioned toplessness on the artfully designed poster available at the Masque Cafe Press Shop:

http://www.cafepress.com/masquereddeath.676338667)

Wendy Pini says on the Masque Facebook Page:

“[L]et’s get one thing straight…Bunchh is an hermaphrodite, NOT transgender. Both are cool, but Bunchh is perfectly happy being “just a little bit of everything.”

Regardless of what Bunchh’s gender is, we have to ask ourselves why cartoon breasts are considered objectionable? I know from personal experience that many kinds of fictional depictions of violence are perfectly acceptable on Facebook. Look at my “I, Stammer” ‘Meatface’ artwork and the any-number of zombie depictions I keep posting over there.

The Comic

Me with my signed Masque print (Anton)

“Masque of the Red Death”, based on the Poe story of the red plague, is a beautifully rendered ride through an apocalyptic event occurring in a dystopian future.  Stephan is her Prince Prospero, son of a wealthy magnate of biotechnology. Much of the future revolves around biotechnological attempts to extend life, but at a monetary cost. The availability of extended life but only for the rich leads to an extremely beautiful yet superficial society for those who are able to pay.  The story’s central characters are a gay couple, Stephan and Anton. Stephan is broody and demanding, Anton is romantic and giving, but they compliment each other.

Bunnch’s role in all of this is as party planner, publicist, and moral compass. Her bubbly personality and love of the fabulous make her an usual figure to choose as moral compass: yet she is. She is the balance that bookend extremes Anton and Stephan lack. She is the Cassandra in Stephan’s Troy, because she is the only one who seems to sense, almost intuitively, that death will arrive on their door.

I was extremely excited when I first learned that Wendy Pini, half of the Richard-and-Wendy Pini team responsible for the popular fanfic spawning comic book and graphic novel franchise “ElfQuest”, had published an apocalyptic work of science-fiction horror based upon Edgar Allan Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death.” It was as if two of my most closely held memories of adolescent joy had met and combined somehow in a collaborative work of art. I spent the entire eighth grade sitting around the school library reading the collected works of Poe, and one of my first activities upon reaching adulthood was sitting in my dingy hotel was reading through the entire first five books of the ElfQuest graphic novels, lent to me by a friend.

The “Red Death” in Poe’s Masque is most likely based on Tuberculosis, a condition that affected his wife at the time he wrote it. The Pini retelling of Masque has a lot of the Tuberculosis type symptoms, but for many such as myself, who lived through the many deaths in the American AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, it also evokes memories of that dark chapter in our young lives.  We were coming out of the 60s and 70s sex revolution and free love when we came of age, and we didn’t know that in a little while, the party would be over and death would be at our door. Many of my friends died: including a young man named Robert Bunch.

When I see the Bunnch character, I always think of him.

The Links:

You can watch Wendy Pini’s wonderful online comic here:

http://www.masque-of-the-red-death.com/

Two other takes on this controversy can be found here…

http://www.pinkbananaworld.com/viewcontentHTML.cfm?id=556912

http://staceyachika.com/art-and-porn-and-elves/

Today Only! Frankenzombie, Free on Smashwords!

Frankenzombie

Today Only: the Horror/Dark Humor shorts “Frankenzombie” and “I, Stammer (In Disbelief)” are available FOR FREE on Smashword! “Hungry Minds”, an autobiographical tale of school yard bullying, is free every day.

Click on the link to go to my profile: to get either “Frankenzombie” or “I, Stammer” for free, look for the coupon codes on their respective pages, and enter them before checkout. They are part of the Summer/Winter promotion on Smashwords which ends today.

“Frankenzombie” is part of the upcoming horror anthology “Things That Go Bump In My Head”. It will be in Laurel Books in time for Halloween so you can definitely pick up your copy at the “Haunting Laurel Bookstore” event. The book will contain both genre-shorts in the science-fiction and horror style I most commonly write in, and a dramatic pieces like “Hungry Minds”.

You can pick up your copy of Frankenzombie for free HERE:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/SumikoSaulson

Haunting Laurel Bookstore for Halloween

Haunting Laurel Bookstore

Well, I was very excited to learn that I’m confirmed for a book reading at Laurel Bookstores this October, for the night before Halloween.

It’s all going down here:

http://www.laurelbookstore.com/

Evangeline and the Drama Wheel

In Oakland, so I hope to see a lot of my friends and neighbors there. There will be a Halloween Costume Contest, a book to the winner (if you’re thinking that book is going to be “Things That Go Bump In My Head” which is to be released on November 1st, officially, then you’re brilliant: that’s the plan).

The other writer I am going to be speaking and reading with is Serena Toxicat, author of “Paper Wings” and “Evangeline and the Drama Wheel”, which you can purchase at Laurel Bookstore, of course… and also, on Lulu. She will be reading from the Science Fiction/Dark Fantasy work “Evangeline and the Drama Wheel”, which is about a futuristic interspecies/alien cybernetic cybergoth band with an extremely drama-cursed life and a vagabond lifestyle. Read its excellent reviews here:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/serena-toxicat/evangeline-and-the-drama-wheel/paperback/product-5126625.html

I will be reading from “Solitude”.

We will also be more than happy to sign books for you while you are there, and of course you can purchase the titles (not just the ones that are being read, but all of our titles) at Laurel Bookstore.

I’ll post more about the costume contest and prizes closer to the time of the event. I’m going to go look into getting “Frankenzombie” print goody bags for the kiddies now.

 

 

 

Zombie Author of the Week Interview on The Dead War Series

This week only, I am author of the week on:

THE DEAD WAR SERIES.

It went live today! Check it sometime over the next week (before I’m replaced by the next Zombie Author).

Oh. Smashwords? How cool.

Coming Soon! November 2012!

I have five different people I am talking to right now about future interviews.. wait…no, six now. Okay, so, cool. Very nice. One of them is actually based out of Oakland so we may have a rare treat in the form of an on camera interview.

So… three of the people who I’ve been talking to about interviews have their works on Smashwords, so I finally checked it out (I know, I’m kinda slow) and it’s pretty awesome. I have Frankenzombie on there for 99 cents right now and I, Stammer for free. I think that might be a good tool for promoting the short story anthology coming out in November.

Have I told you lately that I have a short story anthology coming out in November? No? Well, in that case let me remind you: my fourth book, a short story compilation entitled “Things That Go Bump In My Head” and named after this very blog is coming out in November, just in time for your Christmas Shopping! Or whatever other holiday you may be shopping for, such as Kwanzaa. But the world isn’t actually ending in December, and you will need gifts. In the case the world does end, I formally apologize but no, there will be no post-apocalyptic book purchase refunds if that mediocre movie 2012 turns out to be somehow based in reality. 

I am tired. Is it too late for coffee? No, you say?

Thank you! And without further ado… here I am on Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/SumikoSaulson

Rethinking: The Moon Cried Blood

Another Satisfied Customer – what’s up with TMCB?

Those of you who have liked my Facebook author page (advertised there in the gutter of my webpage/blog here) are probably aware of the fact that from time to time, I receive photos of people holding my books (and I am always very, very glad to receive them). This all started when I received a photo of my first contest winner, Kateryna Fury, holding a copy of “Warmth”. That was for the

That reminds me: we have another contest going on right here

http://sumikosaulson.com/2012/07/03/announcing-the-crazy-chihuahua-contest/

When I received the most recent photo, of a guy who bought all three books

The Infamous Blood Clot Cover

standing and grinning happily with them, I was thrilled. Then, not much longer, I took a good look at the covers (he has the original Lulu editions, not the Amazon Createspace set) and I thought, Whoa! The Moon Cried Blood, it looks HIDEOUS! I mean… it’s all purple, with stars, and a moon that looks like a horrible blod clot in the middle of it. The guy looks really happy to have the books, but me? I don’t feel happy about the way this cover looks. It looks kind of like the cover for “The Little Prince Has A Really Bad Acid Trip”. Which is not remotely what I was going for. In fact, the “Blood Clot Cover” series emerged from some attempt to update the original, “I look like Young Adult Fiction but I am not” cover.  Yet… it wound up worse.

The Too Childish Cover

The version for Createspace wasn’t as bad, it was just boring. It was all black, with the blood clot paintball moon zooming and oozing across the cover. Still, both of them needed some serious rethinking. Neither really showcased the subject matter appropriately. ’ve had a lot of trouble getting the right concept for a cover for the book, because it really is a horror/fantasy narrative with a coming-of-age story arch: to the extent that The Firestarter could be considered a coming-of-age story for Charlie McGee or the first Dune book could be considered a coming-of-age story for Paul Atreides.  I have, infact, blogged about how troublesome this very cover was here, in this very blog at least twice. Let’s see…

here…

http://sumikosaulson.com/2012/04/02/hello-world/

in my second post, and again here…

http://sumikosaulson.com/2012/05/18/the-label-factory-character-development/

in a nice article about character development that somehow ends up getting

The Orange Cover – Lulu

into my repeated theme of dismay over that cover, which started out confusing the crap out of people because they thought it was a Young Adult fiction work (no, it is not).

So I went back and redesigned the cover using one of my acrylic paintings as the basis for it: the work is hanging in my living room right now and is called “Cat Lady”, and while the story has wolves-and-other-creepy-things that are not cats, the piece actually goes with it pretty nicely.  I ended up revising both the Lulu and the Amazon/Createspace versions of the book so that they have orange covers to go with this particular piece of artwork. I asked my readers (people who have read this book) if it represented the story well enough, and they think it goes with it nicely.

Here is a photo of just the painting, “Cat Lady” sitting on the side of my house with another one called “Computer Love” . I have to photography them outside, my indoor lighting is awful:

[image error]

“Computer Love” and “Cat Lady” on the wall by my garden

 

The Orange Cover – Createspace

I wish I could find and burn every copy of the “blood blob” version of TMCB, but I can’t. I managed to rehome the YA-Cover version with some family members, so I guess that the “good” thing about the blood-blob one is at least it sold – although in no where near the numbers of “Solitude” or even “Warmth”. I am planning on promoting the novel around Christmas time, along with the Short Story anthology I am working on.

I am a lot happier with the orange covers. I am happy that all of my covers are distinct from one another – and I can only hope easily distinguishable from the covers being used by other self-publishing authors. The goal is go be noticed by the reader, my direct audience.

Writing: What’s Your Process?

Today in class, we had a writing exercise where we were to write about a typewriter: either one in the class room, a specific other typewriter, or the typewriter in general. I chose to write about the one and only typewriter I’ve ever personally owned: a 1936 Royal Deluxe, very similar to the one shown below (that isn’t the one, but if you click on it you can go directly to the blog of the person who owns it).  However, I neither started nor finished as a person who used a typewriter.

1936 – Royal Deluxe

My earliest writing was done in pencil or ink in a seemingly endless series of notebooks. In my teens, my preference was quite specific: I had to have black and white marble patterned composition book. But I was an early adopter when it came to the personal computer. My father had a Commodore Vic-20 in the house the moment it arrived on the market.  I was busily lining the text up on columns the best I could and sending them off to a dot-matrix printing. My interest in implements of writing went back even earlier: I used my mom’s boyfriend Rene’s typewriter (needless to say, my parents were divorced) when I was nine. I was twelve when my dad got the first Commodore.

Commdore Vic – 5 KB of pure power.

But the Commodore didn’t have the sheer power of the Royal, a found object that came at the best of all possible times. I was a nineteen year old girl who had just moved out of my middle-class family home in the suburbs of Honolulu (that is, Palolo Valley) for a dream of making it somehow, in San Francisco. That dream ended up in the Tenderloin.

Debris Box

One day when I was walking out of my crappy hotel on the corner of Eddy and Mason, I happened to walk past an industrial-sized pine-green colored debris box: for those who do not know what those are, they are like garbage bins, only much larger. They are often used for the removal of furniture and as this one was, for the removal of construction waste.  A hotel was under construction, and this container was being used for both. I can’t find a picture of a green one on the Internet (maybe in this day and age it stands for “recycling” or something”) but it basically looked like the orange one shown here.

I also paint, and I saw some boards that looked like they might be useful, so I

Sumiko in the late 80s

scaled the side of the box with my then-younger, then-130 pound body checking for potential canvases and ended up tumbling face forward over the edge into the waste receptacle. The boards were actually broken sheets of drywall, and didn’t look as though they would survive the trip back over the side of the bin, even if I were able to muster the strength to hoist one over. I was about to leave, when I saw the sunlight glint upon something dark and metal just so.

It looked like a typewriter.

I hefted a broken sheet of drywall off of the object and had a closer look. It was, indeed, a typewriter of what appeared to be cast iron, with round keys at the end of arms that jutted forth from it, angled like a spider’s leg. It looked more like a cash register than a typewriter, but a typewriter it was in deed. It was a typewriter with a sticky R key, but otherwise in functioning order. It was in the case in which it originally came: a thing like a beige suitcase with a handle in an amber colored plastic, as I recalled it. I have no idea who owned it before, but this was at the end of the 1980s so the typewriter was already a bit in excess of 50 years old even then. The Royal Typewriter favored by Ernest Hemingway was at least half a decade newer than this model.

I don’t use the same things to write now as I did then.

What do you use to write with?

Do you think it affects your writing process?